I can remember the first time I heard a record on DFA. It was Morgan Geist’s remix of The Rapture’s “House Of Jealous Lovers”. My man Jwan played it for me at his house all the way back in 2002 when it dropped, and I was feeling it because Morgan is generally the man. So we flipped it over to check out the original, and I was horrified. What came out of the speakers was music so awful that I almost couldn’t imagine how Morgan managed to turn it into such a gem. Since then, I have generally avoided DFA since everything they put out seemed to be into that same kind of hipster dance-rock thing that just grates on my nerves. I love New Wave, Post Punk, and that kind of stuff as much as the next guy, but the songs just were not there on the DFA records. I did buy the Carl Craig remix of Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom’s “Relevee” but that was more of a testament to C2’s brilliance than anything done by the original artists.
Things seemed to change for DFA in the latter part of 2007. James Murphy put out a good Fabric mix CD (which I keep hoping to run into since I want to own a hard copy of it) that featured some great tracks and illegal edits that had been on vinyl only up until then. It also included the stunning “Still Going Theme” (which you can hear in my mix here) that was purely deep house music of the highest quality. Shortly thereafter, I heard the dope Chicago-inspired “Classique #2” by Hercules & Love Affair which was also an essential house jam. At this point, I still considered this to be nothing but a blip on the radar.
Now, it seems odd to say it, but for me DFA has quickly become a must-check label. I just got in three new ones, and they are all stunning old school flavored house music. Syclops dropped the ridiculous “Where’s Jason’s K”, which sounds like a drum machine and synthesizer gone haywire but is in all actuality a Maurice Fulton production! You can hear his italo, and electro roots in this one, but it is 100% 2008 vibes. The second Hercules & Love Affair 12″ “Blind” also dropped recently, and it is beautiful as well. They even enlisted Frankie Knuckles to do a mix! Probably the most surprising to me though was The Juan Maclean’s “Happy House”, the Lee Douglas mix of which Richard Carnage had included on his guest mix for us. That version was cool, but the original and Prince Language dub are even better. After hearing this one, I went back and checked Juan Maclean’s older stuff, and I still hate it. He just managed to get it very, very right on this one.
Who knows if all of this is part of some renaissance of real house music, or if it is just a really good streak of awesome tunes. Either which way, despite a couple lackluster 12″s through the past couple months, DFA has my ear! Let’s hope they can keep it up, I am really enjoying what they’re doing right now.
P.S. I know you all love my MS Paint skillz! 😉
19 Comments
You heard the Deepchord/Echospace remixes of the Shocking Pinks? I haven’t heard the originals – nor do I have any desire to! – but those are fantastic.
Agreed, these last batch of 12″s have been fantastic. I also had to do a double take when seeing what label these tracks were appearing. Hopefully, they’ll bridge the gap between quality music and Shit Robot releases.
If only other major players in dance music could return to form or follow suit and cut the crap. That’s right i’m talking about you Tresor! Even the mighty Planet E has disappointed me lately, minus the Tribe project and Live recording, the last few 12″s have been craptastic. Perhaps I’m the one that’s crazy, those latest records and majority of DFA back catalog aren’t meant for people like us, Lactose Intolerant.
wow… just checked out the clips of the syclops 12″ – that a-side is crazy! wasn’t aware of that at all – thanks for the heads up… now ‘on my list’ !
I probably have a bit of a higher tolerance for DFA stuff than you pipecock (I like the Delia and Gavin stuff even beyond the C2 mix for instance and I can listen to some Rapture and LCD Soundsystem for sure), but I agree that this latest string of releases has been great. Juan Maclean’s “Give Me Every Little Thing” (which also has a Cajmere remix) is another one you might like although it never quite lives up to the greatness the intro promises.
maurice fulton was caning that Syclops track in his sets for a good while, great track.
and, yeah, also wasn’t feeling any DFA up until recently
Lol Tom, your paint skillZ do indeed, suck.
You make me giggle man, keep that pecker up.
I like a few of the releases (mainly syclops and relevee), though there is just something about DFA’s manufactured trendy image that really turns me off.
There is a Syclops album coming very soon though, so keep an eye out for that.
that aspect of the label turned me off a good bit as well, but does that even exist anymore? if it does, it certainly isn’t in line with the kind of music they are releasing. it seems like they did that thing to get paid, and now are interested in putting out good records. these new ones are good but dont seem to be getting the hype like the older stuff did, except for maybe the H&LA album which i have only heard clips of so i can’t really speak on it.
Maurice Fulton is the man.
Absolutely love his remixes and production work, check the other Syclops 12’s and his Bubbletease podcasts which are 30 minute pieces of musical happiness.
Actually can someone start a thread about Maurice Fulton?
I’ve shyed away from most of the DFA stuff, as it all seems a bit ‘Nathan Barley’, but will check the recommends on here.
that syclops is definitely the best of the bunch that you mention, what a brilliant hook. would mix well with that malik record on unirhythm from a few months back. i’m not feeling “blind” but i didn’t care for “classique #2” either, and that “happy house” remix is enh, just so so. but good lookin out on the syclops. thx
^^ the classique #2 record was all about the b-side ‘roar’, the a-side does nothing for me. roar is amazing though, the pitch-shifted vocal effect reminds me of an old phuture track. i love ‘roar’ – it’s got some magic combination of darkness and soul which really hits the spot for me. i recommend giving it another listen!
That Blind track was utter gash imo. And the Frankie Knuckles rmx could have been anyone throwing a dull old house beat over the original.
Haven’t got around to checking out a lot of that other stuff, but Still Going was stunning.
New Fulton? Woohoo.
To continue the line of thought from jtechnoir about Planet E, what strikes me about some of the recent releases is how blatantly they copy Carl Craig tunes, I’m really surprised he’s putting them out at all, encouraging further rip offs of which there are already far too many floating about right now.
On the otherhand, the Ican release on the otherhand shows how it should be done, use the opportunity to drop your own distinctive vibes (like on their new label) and of course I’m looking forward to the forthcoming LP from Kenny Larkin.
that frankie knuckles mix is pretty gash, when i listened to the start of it i was lovin it, good groove – strings and bass worked really well but my problem was as the track went on all that really happened was sound after sound was introduced and the feeling i got was almost like listenin to one of those “big” commercial house tunes. like it was just oh well bring in this, then this, then this.. with no ideas about how to really freak the track, nothing creative, just a kind of “tried and tested” approach. i was so disappointed that it took this route. not to disrespect frankie i just think i would have preferred to hear something a bit more creative to really make use of the sounds/groove..
that juan maclean joint is pretty nice tho
fulton has def been on fire, well evidenced on the bubbletease podcasts mentioned above. two of the last three have this remix of (what i think is) nicole willis’ “holding on” that just kills. really looking fwd to the full length syclops, as well as his set at apt (nyc) tmrw night.
was only recently that dfa really caught my ear as well, mainly due to “still going theme”. i also enjoyed a couple of the releases on the death from abroad sublabel (namely, mock & toof’s k-choppers, the joakim remix of gucci soundsystem and that altz re-release). not sure how well those would go over with most readers here though.
fuck that Nicole Willis remix is a bomb indeed, i need that shit! I’m sure Maurice wants to cane it a bit longer before us mere plebs get our greasy mits on it 🙁
he played some cool electro track on one of his recent bubbletease mixes, real NYC old-school sounding
i’ve really been digging the LCD 12″ of “freak out/starry eyes” and “hippie priest bum-out.”
I don’t know what you are talking about. DFA has always been a top notch label for me. I love the original “House of Jealous Lovers” – it has such energy and a great hook. I prefer it to the Geist remix.
Other highlights on the label:
LCD Soundsystem – Beat Connection
LCD Soundsystem – Yeah (this is the JAM! Come on, that breakdown is fucking mental.)
Black Leotard Front – Casual Friday (groovy disco)
Black Dice – Smiling Off (Luomo Remix) (basically a Luomo track with some cool vocals)
And those are just the ones I own. I am sure a couple slipped past me.
Of course Still Going Theme is beautiful. And the Hercules & Love Affair album is a treat.
Still going on Theme and the new Fulton track are both nice tracks but I’ve also been really enjoying LCD Soundsystem – 45:33. There’s a really nice spaced out disco vibe in all four tracks on that one. I think this is where James Murphy’s heart really lies.