Mr Bones and I are always talking about records that are naive, by that we mean not polished to within an inch of it’s life, they sound like whoever was making them did it for the love and nothing else. Below are 5 tracks that really embody this spirit.
I don’t actually own any of these (sob) as they are out of my price range but maybe one day!
Some people seem to master the art of hypnotic grooves that are in no rush to go anywhere but you can listen to on loop for hours. T.L.T are masters of this craft and create trippy records that open rooms and set the early tone of nights so perfectly. Here are five that draw you in and in…
This was initially going to be a love in for the hunky balearic duo The Pilotwings but I decided to expand it out to encompass the Brothers From Different Mothers label. The record label operates out of Lyon, France and whilst difficult to pigeonhole, seems to have a love for the youthful exuberance of breakbeats, with releases touching upon jungle, footwork and early UK breakbeat house tracks, whilst other tracks have elements from balearic to Chicago house – Chris Frieze.
Little more than a cut up break, jungle noises and some beats. With all the best house music, it’s the simple things that work.
Dj Normal 4, who has previously released alongside Bufiman (Jan Schulte, Wolf Muller), is one of the torchbearers of breakbeat. Instead of sounding like a pointless carbon copy, he captures the excitement and energy of the those early records and makes them sound current and relevant.
This cut, which comes from The Pilotwings debut album and should be purchased for the cover alone, is a lush, balearic groover that contains all manner of lovely eighties sounds and sultry french utterances.
This cute little 7” certainly packs a punch. Jungle breaks, soaring pads and the occasional mc chant. The sound of California sunrises, Michiko Koshino and Vicks.
The latest release on the label is a 4 track ep and this B2 is my pick of the bunch. Early Italian house, shimmering balearica and Chicago house all rub shoulders to create something that sounds like it could have been produced tomorrow or 20 years ago, and I think this encapsulates my love for the label- timelessness.
Quality re-issue label focussing on Italian disco producers and arrangers working in the golden era’s of the 70’s and 80’s. This label is building up quite a few releases worth picking up on nicely cut 12″s. What’s not to love?
This was so difficult to do and it could be a different five tracks if you had asked me next week and another 5 tracks if you had asked the following month. I know I’m supposed to do a small description of each track but I’d really just be repeating myself five times over. This is what techno is to me, science fiction for the ears, music from the future and outer space. I’d love for someone to make a really weird, fucked up Sci-Fi movie and only use the music of Drexciya for the soundtrack. Instead of descriptions, just find a quiet space, put ur headphones on, turn up the volume, shut your eyes and enter into the world of Drexciya! – Domenic Cappello
Jan Schulte is a man of many faces/talents/pseudonyms and arrived as a refreshing force to be reckoned with over the last few years. Mixing break beats, house mentalities, live instruments, synths and weird FX means he’s creating a lot of fresh stand out records. Here are five that get regular plays.
Don’t have much to say about this label apart from it’s pushing the boundaries of interesting ‘dance’ music into all the right territories. Covering many of the sounds I like and putting the fakers to shame. Hats off to them!
I’ve fallen in love with the Swedish imprint Born Free, as it’s releases are unique and fresh sounding. Their club ready output in particular is just what I look for in modern dance music, hypnotic grooves built around a few key elements that sound huge on a decent soundsystem. I also love the broad range of styles they release across, meaning you never really know quite what to expect. Here are five personal favs from their back cat.
For a decade they reigned supreme in my mind. Going back on these records now they still sound amazing. As a label they managed to salute the past without being a pastiche, which is incredibly hard to do.
Below are 5 that still have people asking ‘what is that record?’
I have loved a lot of this Austrian man’s output over the years, mainly because he confidently hops between modern jazz, funk, panel beating techno and slow mo electronics and as executed in such a timeless fashion, a lot of his releases (esp from the nineties) still make perfect sense today. He seems to have slowed down a touch in more recent years (haven’t we all) but here are five from Patrick Pulsinger’s extensive back catalogue that in my opinion are still good to go.
