So far in 2015 Resident Advisor has reviewed 570 releases they categorize as “Singles.” As a part of their review system for music, RA employs a rating scale of 0.0 to 5.0 in increments of 0.1. This degree of increment is much higher from their previous rating system. This was something they announced to a…
Twisted Pepper closes…
I can’t say I was hugely surprised with the news that Bodytonic’s Twisted Pepper will be closing its doors this week. Even though it is Dublin’s most well known and highly regarded dance club of the last ten years it also felt like its time, in its current incarnation, was up. Clubbing – and Dublin…
SH2000 Mystical Bliss
Whether in outer space or inner space, Russia’s SH2000 on Volking Music is a deep affair. Mystical bliss, Satcitananda, when the track unfolds itself at 3am, lost in the strobe-light, when the present moment is intensified beyond all recognition… I guess you had to be there.
Omar-S – “I Wanna Know”
Another one of the big jams from earlier in 2015, Omar-S’ “I Wanna Know” remains one of the most potent killers in my record bag even after so many months of hammering it. The vocals by James Garcia combined with the slightly cheesy synths give this a similar vibe to early Chicago house or lo-fi…
The Galleria
Morgan Geist’s newest project The Galleria is a throwback to an older sound. Unlike Metro Area’s boogie and Italo, or Storm Queen’s classic house, The Galleria mines the far less critically popular genre of Freestyle. In my Pittsburgh crew, Freestyle has never really gone away. We still play shit like Alisha, Lisa Lisa, Expose, Debbie…
60 Miles – 01
60 Miles is the new project from John Daly and Frawl (who is one half of the Never Learnt label and whose own debut 12″ recently dropped), the first 12″ of which is going to drop in the next couple of weeks. I wasn’t expecting it to be leaning so much towards the techno side…
Bezier – Mina
Bezier, or as he’s known on the streets and in the sheets, Robert Yang, is responsible for some of my favorite dance music of the recent past. Using sounds and rhythmic structures that are influenced by Hi-NRG history, he twists and upends the genre to great success with productions that I’m always impressed by. I…
Kan You Kick It?
I first heard KanKick on the classic DJ Babu (Beat Junkies, Dilated Peoples) “Comprehension” mixtape (dubbed Maxell cassette, photocopied j-card and handwritten labels.) After laying down one of the hardest sessions of beatjuggling and cutting ever documented, the turntablist Babu graciously opened up the full B-side for his LA underground friends to get on with…
Louie Vega 2015 Edition
Continuing on with talking about some of my favorite records of 2015 so far, Louie Vega has probably had one of his best years in a hot minute. He has dropped no fewer than three absolute anthems already, and with a full album on it’s way that sounds dope from clips, there’s a possibility of…
COOL ANALYSIS, DAWG
About a year ago, I became a columnist for Attack Magazine. It has been fun writing opinion columns and providing analysis to a very wide audience that stretches beyond the confines of the genres I participate in. When Attack approached me about doing this, their primary concern was that the column lead discussion as opposed…