I Like These Tunes

I'm back and I brought some friends!

2008-10-08T00:00:00.002Z

And we're gonna start a party over here >>>> http://welikethesetunes.blogspot.com

See you there!

Get used to one style and you know I might switch

2007-05-13T17:13:00.000Z

Micky Slim is blowing up a gale this year, and will continue to do so if he keeps putting out remixes like this. This whitelabel release is sure to make it to a full official release at some point, and if it doesn't, I'll eat my hat.

Taking a party classic and giving it a remix is usually an easy way to get a reaction from the dancefloor, but when it's done THIS well, it's even guaranteed a reaction like no other.

House of Pain - "Jump Around" (Micky Slim Remix) [White]

It starts off for the first 1 min 33 secs by giving you the odd recognisable cue along with the "Jump" shouts, giving you a hint as to what is to come, or what you think is to come. 1:54 and the bassline kicks in and raises the roof. Then after 3 mins, you get the breakdown, and you've gotta give props to Micky Slim for basically letting the original play for a whole minute, until the chorus, which is when it gets interesting. 4:40 mins is when the motherload hits. Now if the dancefloor isn't going mad for it by now, they have no soul. I would have the next minute of of the tune on a loop for a good few minutes and I don't think I'd ever get bored :)

In fact, maybe that leaves it open for a bit of editing...bring the track in at the breakdown, so that they think it's just the original, then just loop the rest of the track for a few minutes once the bassline comes in.

Related Links
Mickey Slim on Myspace

The Hoff and Good Music sometimes do go together

2007-05-13T14:54:00.000Z

And I don't mean that perm haired American drunk who is a musical superstar in Germany, but Christian Hoff, the up and coming talented producer from Boston, in the UK.

Of the top of my head, there are six producers this year that have been floating my boat with every release, and Hoff is certainly in that Super Six.

This guy has a sound that is ripping up dance floors, with his remix of Don Diablo's "Blow" almost doing what it threatens to do by blowing your speakers, and turning JAKAZiD's "Cillit Bang" advert chart attempt into a more than passable dancefloor smash is no easy feat, but his Vocal Dub Mix is well worth having in your collection, as I've mentioned before.

And now he's got a couple of samples up on his Myspace page that are certainly worth looking out for when/if they make the record shops. The Prodigy one really gets going after the breakdown, in my opinion, and the Chemical Brothers is banging from start to finish.

Prodigy - "Smack My Bitch Up" (Christian Hoff Remix) [Myspace Rip]
Chemical Brothers - "Block Rockin Beats"(Christian Hoff Remix) [Myspace Rip]

Related Links
Christian Hoff Myspace Page

Men Are So Damn Sexy

2007-04-29T00:17:00.000Z

At least I think that's what it translates in to!

The Admirals feat. Seraphina - "Männer! (Scheisse Sexy)" (Major Remix) [Superstar Recordings]
This German band is taking the world by storm with it's electro/house/rock fused efforts. I'm making that up as I'd not actually heard of them before this track earlier in the year. It's good though, I like it :)

As Major is actually a member of the Admirals, this is basically just another interpretation of the original rather than a remix by a 3rd party producer. Actually, I think this IS the original, in terms of it being the charted version. That's if it got a chart release, as I'm just going by the video I found on youtube; presumably it's a bit like when Tom Neville remixed "I See Girls" into a proper chart success. I'm not being very helpful today, am I? Sorry.

The vocals are all in German as you'd expect from a German band, but it doesn't really matter that much. The electro bassline and breakdowns are the key ingredients on what makes this track stick in the head. Seriously, one listen and you'll be "hook"ed..

Related Links
The Admirals official site
The Admirals on Myspace
Superstar Recordings on Myspace
Youtube video of the song
Juno link to buy the tune

Feeling High, I'm on Top

2007-04-28T23:43:00.000Z

Swain and Paris - "Come As One" (Si McEvoy Remix) [Spinout Records]
This release is a total label love-in. Swain and Paris do the original, though I think that in itself was a remake of a slower Kevin Swain original. And then you have this peak hours remix from Si McEvoy, the "Events Manager" for Spinout records, who likes his productions seriously dirty.

It's got a great groove going on, courtesy of the vocal cut-up nonsense underpinned by a simple but more than effective electro bassline, and a funky beat that keeps things bouncing nicely.

Related Links
Kevin Swain on Myspace
Si McEvoy official site
Si McEvoy on Myspace
Spinout records on Myspace
Buy this track

just a primarily 1970's fad dance, or a kick ass electro tune?

2007-04-26T01:03:00.000Z

Hook N Sling & Kid Kenobi - "The Bump" [Cr2 Records]
What a massive tune this is, from the Aussie collaborative efforts of Hook n Sling and Kid Kenobi. No fancy vocal edits, just the odd bursts of female "Ahh" sounds, and a standard drum pattern. It's simplicity is the key to this track's success. That, and the bassline that thumps along very nicely, and maybe those little wobbly synths that keep popping up all over it. In fact, there's not much else I really need to say about it as I can't really do it justice with words.

Related Links
Hook n Sling official Site
Kid Kenobi official site
Kid Kenobi on Myspace
Cr2 Records official site
Cr2 Records on Myspace

Mary J Blige never sounded so good

2007-04-25T22:49:00.000Z

Joshua Harvey, also known as Herve, The Count of Monte Cristal, among others, and one half of ILTT favourites Speaker Junk, so you know know that his output going to be one worth checking out, regardless of which alias he's using this time.

This one is a few months old at least, and I'm not sure where I got it from, but I believe it's since been re-released on the excellent Dubsided label, that Switch has set up. All I know is that the moment I heard it, and not realising it was an Alias, my first thought was "This sounds like Speaker Junk".

It samples Mary J Blige to absolute great effect, but it's the bassline that gives it that recogniseable Speaker Junk bounce.

Voodoo Chilli - "Look What You've Done To Me" [Dubsided]

Related Links
Herve on Myspace
Speaker Junk on Myspace
Speaker Junk official site
Dubsided on Myspace

Face The Music

2007-04-23T00:08:00.000Z

The Black Ghosts - "Face" (Philipe de Boyar Remix) [Southern Fried Records]
There's been a lot of talk about London-based The Black Ghosts lately, what with "Face" and "Anyway you choose to give it" both being given top quality remix treatment by the likes of Switch, Boy 8 Bit, Kissy Sell Out, The Whip, Playgroup, and more. But without doubt, two of my favourite remixes so far have been the Fake Blood Remix of A.Y.C.T.G.I, which is proper electroclash with some great beats, and the Philipe de Boyar mix of "Face", which I don't think has got enough praise if Hype Machine is anything to by, what with everyone focussing on the Switch and Kissy Sell-Out Mixes of it, so here's my attempt to redress the balance.

This mix of "Face" by PdB, a Swiss Producer, is along similar lines of a lot of the french house sound, after being heavily influenced by Daft Punk in his early DJ career, so if you're into the likes of Teenage Bad Girl, Justice, et al, then this should fit in nicely into your collection.

But don't just get this, get them all. Every single remix of both Face and AYCTGI are worth owning, so get them all.

Related Links
Philipe De Boyar official site
Philipe De Boyar on Myspace
The Black Ghosts on Myspace
Southern Fried Records official site
Southern Fried Records on Myspace

I'll Behave, ya!

2007-04-22T22:02:00.000Z

Will Bailey - "Ill Behaviour" [Red Leather]
Well everyone will know what this samples, and another example of a classic dance track brought up to date and given a fresh new sound.

Bailey is one of a number of up and coming producers who are putting out track after track of quality productions, and no surprise that he's connected to Toolroom. In fact, I first heard about Bailey through his remix of "Crunch" by another huge ILTT favourite Richard Dinsdale (who it should be known has put out a quality remix of The Dub Pistols' "Rapture", and another quality original, "She Wants Me". The man just doesn't make a bad track).

But, getting back to Will Bailey, you only have to check out his Myspace page for more evidence of this guy's talent. The cheeky mixes of Beastie Boy's Intergalactic, and King Bee's "Back By Dope Demand" oozes everything that I like in a dirty electro production. Killer basslines, vocal edits, and funky ass beats.

Related Links
Will Bailey on Myspace

Afterhours mixes are for wimps

2007-04-14T23:06:00.000Z

I have so many tracks to post about, but I keep going out and getting drunk and watching football rather than posting on here, so there are plenty in the archive from recent months that I can post about.

So this is one of those tracks, and by christ is it heavy.

Nino Anthony - "Dancefloor" [Peak Hour Mix] (Portamento Records)

Available in Afterhours or Peak Hour flavours and i'm sure the Afterhours one does have it's purpose but I'm all about the peak hour, blow the floor away, mixes on here.

Right from the kick and dirty white noise drum patterns, you know you have something special. the synths join in and you know something large is about to drop, but it keeps you waiting.

And when it drops, hell yeah! There's no vocal snippets, no clever edits, it's just layer upon layer of pure heavy bassline driven tech house that you can't help but bounce to.

US based Nino Anthony is dropping some great stuff this year, including the more recent "Smack Talkin", which is more driving tech house, though this time with the vocal edits, and "We Don't Play", all on his own Portamento Records label.

Related Links
Nino Anthony on Myspace
Portamento Records on Myspace

Strange Things are Happening...

2007-04-09T23:27:00.000Z

Marcella - "Stabbing Sally" [Audiojack Vox] (Renaissance)
After first making an appearance on the Terminal 4 label last year, "Stabbing Sally" gets a re-release with additional remixes this time round from Luke Dzierzek and Audiojack on the Rennaisance label.

Marcella is a dutch DJ, and yes, Marcella really is a woman, so big props for making it in a predominantly male environment, and even more so for making such a great track. While she's probably only really known inside her native Netherlands at the moment, she's certainly a name to keep an eye on as she makes a name for herself internationally, especially if she produces more quality tracks like this. She's a club and radio DJ as well, so she's gunning for fame on all fronts right now.

Leeds-based Audiojack meanwhile are not unknown, having burst onto the scene in 2006, with the awesome "Robot", and "Coastline", as well as producing remixes for the likes of Paul Woolford, and more recently, Vandal.

It's fair to say that the original Marcella track is pretty good in it's own right, but this is the version I would plump for due to that juicy trademark Audiojack sound. As with the Luke Dzierzek mix, there's a Dub and a Vox mix, but there's nothing annoying in the vox mix that would stop me from playing that one out.

Related Links
Marcella Official Site
Marcella on Myspace
Audiojack Official Site
Audiojack on Myspace
Renaissance Official Site
Renaissance on Myspace

I Like These Mixes

2007-04-07T23:45:00.000Z

It had to happen eventually. Sooner or later someone would send me a full length mix that I just had to post about. Solcofn, an ILTT regular reader and contributor has dropped this mix into my lap that I just had to post about.

73 minutes long, and not a duff track among them, unless you count that dodgy final track. Shame on you, Solcofn, for ruining what was otherwise a fantastic 73 minutes of great track choices, some of which I've been wanting to post up myself, but I think I only have set rips rather than proper versions, so I've had to wait.

JACKED - A SOLCOFN MIX (APRIL 2007)

Another mix tommorow!

She's just a girl who claims that I am the one

2007-04-03T21:09:00.000Z

Starzoom - "Billie Jean (People Always Told Me)" [Dave Moureaux Remix] (Gusto Records)

The original mix of this is bordering on one of those overplayed house tracks where they take a sample and then loop it, e.g. the beatfreakz, Call On Me, the Baywatch theme, etc, but perhaps just about gets away with it, though Hi_tack(y) do try to drag it back down into the depths of hell with their mix.

Other than the mix I've gone for, perhaps the only other one worth talking about is the Robbie Long & Stormtrooper Remix, which is mainly a Techno with vocals that are just a bit too fast for my liking, but the stand out bits are the drum n bass style breakdowns. if the rest of the track were like that, it'd be played by me a lot more.

So, what we're left with is this Dave Moureaux Remix, which comes in two flavours, the Dub and the Vocal. It starts with some edits that sound like they've come straight out of the "Glitch VST" that I've played about with myself. Sometimes it can sound quite tacky, overused and detracts from the production (at least in some of my attempts!) but I think it fits this production really well. The bassline and synths remind me of a D.Ramirez mix, but as with yesterday's track, it's the stuttered filtered vocals that win me over, though it's not so over used that I feel the need to go for the Dub. In fact, that element of being familiar is quite key to this track being a big hit, in my opinion.

I've not been able to find any info about Starzoom or Dave Moureaux, but certainly a name to be keeping an eye out for in future.

As for Gusto, well, they've been behind a number of big chart crossovers in the last year or so, such as hi_tack's "Say Say Say", Filterfunk's "S.O.S. (Message in a bottle)", and Uniting Nations "Out of Touch" all featuring on their label recently, and this is a worthy addition.

Additionally, one that I don't think really made much impression on the charts at least, is Don Diablo's "Blow", which is well worth owning. Also, ILTT tip for 2007, rising star Christian Hoff does outstanding work in one remix of it. Worth having that as well, along with a lot of other productions by Hoff.

Related Links
Gusto Records official site
Gusto Records on Myspace

Pump it, stomp it, jam, trip on this!

2007-04-02T23:29:00.000Z

Sometimes I need a kick up the arse ocasionally, or I get a bit lazy, or get a little bit bored/sidetracked and end up doing other things instead. So thanks to David, who sent me an email last week asking why I wasn't doing any updates on this blog - it's nice to be reminded that there are some people out there who actually find this blog useful and consider my selections. :)

The real reason for my absence was that I'd actually managed to lose my entire collection of recent electro tracks as my cheap MP3 player/USB Hard Drive decided to give up the ghost, meaning everything I had was no longer accessible. This annoyed me somewhat, and I decided not to bother collecting any new stuff for a while while I sulked.

But I finally got off my ass due to much bugging from Phil, who kept pestering me to update the blog, and I finally decided enough was enough, and that I should stop moping around, and just start building up a new collection, so that I could start mixing again, and therefore start keeping this blog up to date again.

So with that, here's a fucking HUGE track to kick things off with. Currently number one on Beatport's chart, and no surprise really. The original is a classic anyway, but this gives it a fresh up to date sound that is just mind blowing.

Global Deejays feat. Technotronic - "Get Up (Before The Night Is Over)" [General Electric Remix] (Superstar Recordings)

One listen and you'll be hooked. The other remixes aren't bad, but this one is the main act that ticks all the right boxes for me. Solid beats, a bassline that makes you weak at the knees, stuttered vocals that are still immensely singable, and a breakdown that is heavenly. What a way to make a blogging comeback.

Global Deejays were responsible for another favourite of mine, "The Sound of San Francisco". It's cheese, but with enough meat about it that they get away with it.

P.S. My electro collection isn't a totally lost cause, as I've pulled the 2.5" 40gb HD out of the casing, and if I can get a little external USB drive thing for it, I may still be able to recover all the older stuff I've blogged about previously.

Related Links
Global Deejays official page
Global Deejays on Myspace
Superstar Recordings official page
Superstar Recordings on Myspace

Music History

2007-01-27T23:10:00.000Z

Prinz & Wallus - "Musikgeschichte" [Dennis Hurwitz Remix] (Scream and Shout Recordings)

I wouldn't have been surprised if this had been out on Mena, given the melodic synth hook that stays in your head for days.

This is an all-German affair, full of relative new comers, with the original made by Roger Prinz and Sascha Wallus, from Hannover, remixer Dennis Hurwitz from Essen, and the record label coming out of Cologne. It's the 9th release on the label.

Related Links
Roger Prinz official site
Roger Prinz on Myspace
Sascha Wallus official site
Sascha Wallus on Myspace
Dennis Hurwitz on Myspace
Scream and Shout Recordings official site
Scream and Shout Recordings on Myspace

this old man, he played one

2007-01-26T02:15:00.000Z

A quick one today:

Tube & Berger - "The Young And the Wild Ones" [Kolombo Mix] (Kittball Records)
Something a bit more laid back than previous days. vocal snippets and some nice synths overlaying a bassline that pulsates throughout.

Tube & berger are probably best known for their big "Straight Ahead" track featuring Chrissie Hynde, which itself was a rerecorded version of their "Geradeaus" track, with a german vocalist.

Meanwhile Kolombo is one third of loulou players, who've done remix jobs for Sharem Jay and David Eckenback over the past few years, but is doing stuff under a solo moniker so that he can explore and experiment with his sounds, from dark electro to minimal.

Related Links
Tube & Berger official site
Tube & Berger on Myspace
Loulou players official site
Kolombo on Myspace
Kittball Records official site

I Just want you to use me

2007-01-25T23:44:00.000Z

Mind Electric - "Dirty Cash (Money Talks)" [Dirty South Club Mix] (Art & Craft)

An update on the original Stevie V club classic, a new vocalist, and a new sound to bring it up to date, without varying too much from the original.

But it was a hard one to call between this mix and the original (not the original original) mix. They're both equally good, and I'm still not entirely sure why I've decided to post this one instead of the original (original). I even ended up buying both of them last week so that I didn't have to decide which one to leave behind.

So that's my suggestion, Get both, because they really are both worth having. The basslines in both are the main draw, and of course, the familiarity with the original (original original) version.

One thing I do like about this mix of it though is the sliding bassline, and the orchestral stab/synth sounds that punctuate the track, compared to the original (not the original original).

Phew.

Related Links
Mind Electric on Myspace
Dirty South official site
Dirty South on Myspace
Art & Craft official site (via their parent company Incentive Music)

if you're coming home with me you're running out of time

2007-01-24T00:47:00.000Z

Firstly let me mention a tune that was sent my way recently. Solcofn - a fan and regular visit of ILTT since it began - has remixed ATOM's "Digital Technology" track, and apparently they're both due out on release soon, on Kusic Recordings. I'm not the biggest fan of minimal house, but I can appreciate the production that goes into these tracks.

I've not heard the original yet, so I can't really compare the remix to it, but I thought I'd give it a mention. You can check it out for yourself at Solcofn's Myspace Page.

Now onto the main attraction :)

Space Cowboy ft. Nadia Oh - My Egyptian Lover [Ben Macklin Remix] (Tiger Trax)

Continuing my trend of posting up big well known tunes months after everyone else has probably already got them, here's my favourite mix of a big tune that was released last week. Actually I say my favourite mix, it's a hard choice between this and the original. they both offer something different, and so it's worth having both in your box, in my opinion.

There's also a few other remixes such as the Loose Cannons 'Luxurious' remix, and the RogerSeventyTwo Mix which are worth checking out, and the later being a new name that I've not heard of before but will be looking out for more of his stuff in the near future. The Paul Jackson one seems relatively pointless, as it's too much like the original for my liking, and the orignal is pretty damn good in itself, so you might as well stick with that one.

But this particular mix that I've posted, I think I've put my finger on it. it's a cross between King Roc, and D. Ramirez, which is no bad thing at all. The beats and the bassline are reminiscent of D. Ramirez, the breakdowns are King Roc. And it's the shortest 7 min track I've experienced in a long time. if that's not a mark of quality as well, I don't know what is. Ben Macklin is on my research list for this week (along with the aforementioned RogerSeventyTwo).

P.S. Nadia Oh....oh yes.

Related Links
Space Cowboy on Myspace
Space Cowboy official site
Ben Macklin on Myspace
Nadia Oh on Myspace
Nadia Oh official site
Tiger Trax official site

One Post My Love

2007-01-23T01:16:00.000Z

N'Dea Davenport - "One Day My Love" [D. Ramirez Vocal Mix] (Curvve Recordings)

I can't believe I missed this one last summer. No idea how it happened, given my love of D. Ramirez. My defense is that there were a lot of remixes available of this at the time, and I somehow missed the D. Ramirez version in among a bunch of crap. (That might be a tad harsh, as it's not really crap, just not my thing)

Luckily someone I know knew how much I loved D. Ramirez stuff, and played it one night recently in a set. I think it was the dub version, but the production was unmistakable, and I knew I had to have it. I went searching and decided that it'd be the vocal mix that was the one for me.

The vocals perfectly suit the remixed production to a T, the breakdowns are gorgeous, and the bassline and synths that make up the main hook is top banana. Now that I've found this I'll definitely be including it in a few sets in future.

This is a solo effort from N'Dea Davenport, better known for her work in The Brand New Heavies, and perhaps less known for her backing vocals on the Robbie Williams hit Lovelight, which was featured in this blog (albeit the soulwax ravelight dub mix of it).

Related Links
N'Dea Davenport official site
N'Dea Davenport on Myspace
D. Ramirez on Myspace
Currve Recordings

People Don't Post No More

2007-01-22T00:31:00.000Z

Well, I don't..not for a while anyway - which is a good thing as I've got loadsa tracks I wanna post about. You've probably heard a few of them by now, but I don't care, I need to start somewhere so it might as well be right from where I left you last time.

The Rapture - "W.A.Y.U.H (People Don't Dance No More)" [Simian Mobile Disco Dub Mix] (Vertigo)

It's been a long while since the last post, 2 months now? We're in a whole new year, so happy new year! better late than never!

While I'm here I think I'll post my top 5s of 2006!

5 Top TUNES

Richard Dinsdale - "Wallop"
Tough choice between this and Crunch, but this one just about wins. Lovely sound to it, very funky, great beats and a hint of cut up vocal. typical dinsdale greatness.

Ferry Corsten - "Junk" (D. Ramirez Vocal Remix)
If I had to pick one D. Ramirez track for the year, this would be it. Tough choice though. As I said, so many to pick from this past year, and everyone has their favourite, whether it's his remix of Plump DJs - "Electric Disco", or the charted Bodyrox - "Yeah Yeah" remix, which probably would have been my other choice, had this one not popped up towards the end of the year.

King Roc - "The Tip"
I originally jumped on the Tom Neville mix of this track, but over time I've found the original to be my preferred version. It's got a bit of everything in it in terms of what King Roc can do in his productions.

Dave Spoon - "At Night"
Big Big tune, for me at least. had to play it LOTS AND LOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mason - "Exceeder"
I can understand why this got a chart release, but I hate the chart version with the princess superstar vocal, retitled "Perfect". Far from it in my opinion. The original is king.

other notable inclusions: Robbie Williams - "Lovelight" (Soulwax ravelight Dub), Cajmere - Say U Will, Marc Romboy vs Blake Baxter - The Club (Early), ah, what the fuck am I listing them for. they're all posted on the blog, read the archive you lazy fuckers!

5 Top PRODUCERS

D. Ramirez
Not put a foot wrong all year, with top class remixes coming out left, right and centre. No surprise he got chart success through his remix of bodyrox - Yeah Yeah, once it'd got a new vocal on top (which in my opinion ruined it). Not for the first time this year with Chris Lake's "Changes", Mason's "Exceeder" and the Tocadisco remix of The Egg's "Walking Away" entering the charts courtesy of a vocal being added to it in a bootleg which then became official. Coincidently, Tocadisco got ripped off as he only got his original remixer fee, and missed out on the windfall when it reached the charts. Not sure if that ever got resolved in Tocadisco's favour, but I wonder if D.Ramirez got the same treatment.

Richard Dinsdale
I expect this guy to be huge. He's done some great remixes ("Your Mistake", "Velvet Dreams"), and some great originals ("Wallop", "Crunch", "Pulling Me Under"), and I guarantee one of his tracks will blow up in 2007 and make him a house hold name.

SebastiAn
This guy is just amazing. The release of Ross Ross Ross, and the remixes of Kelis and Uffie this year, has shown that his 2005 productions were no fluke.

DJ Touche
Churned out quality productions in 2006, with remixes of Cajmere's "Say U Will", Wekan - "Skid" and Phunk Electric's "Video Games Crash"

King Roc
It was the Tom Neville remix of "The Tip" that got me onto this guy, and on further investigation found some quality productions in "Digerital" (on the "Tirades of ENV" EP), "Better ways", and "Take Me Away".

Other notable inclusions: Chris Lake, for "Changes", "Babaloo" (with Trophy Twins) and Shake (With Micky Slim), Trentemoller for continuing to producer remixes that are right up my street while doing originals that aren't quite my cup of tea but worth listening too once unless you're really into Minimal, and finally Micky Slim ("Raw Kemistry" remix, and Shake, with Chris Lake). Oh, And Aaron McCllelland. He'd have been in my top 5, but he spreads his tracks out in so many aliases it's hard to put him down in the list. :)

4 Top LABELS (it's late, and I don't want to think about #5 too much right now)

Mena
Home of the most melodic electro house of the year. Aaron McCllelland and his various aliases have come up trumps time and time again. In fact so many of the releases on this label have been McCllelland that I don't know who's NOT him. Col Hamilton, Yer Man, Effin & Blindin, One Motion, etc, have all produced some cracking tracks for this label this year, and will no doubt continue in 2007. Maybe they'll even get their website up and running sometime this year!

Toolroom
Mark Knight's label was home to Dave Spoon (the brilliant "At Night"), Richard Dinsdale, Robbie Rivera, Noir and even D.Ramirez (the Toolroom Allstars EP) in 2006. If you're thinking about heavy duty electro basslines then this label was synonomous with it.

Data Records
Being owned by MoS and all that goes with it, this label picked up more than a few big tracks in 2006. If it was a big chart smash, there's a good chance that it was on Data Records and a reasonable chance it was after initially being released on a smaller label. A few examples: Beatfreakz - "Somebody's Watching Me" and "Superfreak", Supermode - "Tell Me Why", Fedde Le Grand - "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" (on various labels like C2/CR2), Sharam - "Party All The Time" (Spinning Records, Yoshitoshi, etc) , Mason - "Exceeder" (Various), Prydz vs Pink Floyd - "Proper Education" (out on Prydz' own label first). They've been quite prolific, no?

Ed Banger Records
With Justice, SebastiAn, Uffie and DJ Mehdi on this label, they've had a good year. Absolute brilliant productions from all.

Related Links
The Rapture official site
The Rapture on myspace
Simian Mobile Disco official site
Simian Mobile Disco on myspace
Vertigo official site

Thankyou ma'am

2006-12-17T14:26:00.000Z

Mark Mendes - "Wam Bam" (Mar186)

I'd not heard of Mark Mendes before this track, but I'm gonna be tracking down more of his stuff if it's like this. He's a young (only 19) Canadian producer, and if he is capable of churning out tracks like this at his age then there are good things to come in future.

This track reminds me of a richard dinsdale production, the beats, the bassline and the vocal edits. The only downside is that for the length, there's just not quite enough variation in it to really keep me interested for the whole 7 minutes, but it serves it purpose in a set.

Related Links
Mark Mendes on Myspace

Existing just to kiss you

2006-12-16T14:05:00.000Z

2-4 Grooves - "Like The Way I Do" [Steve Murano Electro Makeover Remix] (Get Funky!)

Melissa Etheridge never sounded this good. What a fucking tune this is. Wobbly slightly distorted bassline and cut up vocal, a la sebastiAn, justice, switch, etc. There are loads of remixes available for this tune, which I gather is out in the charts this month, probably already, but this remix is the star of the show. 2-4 Grooves are a german production team who've done lots of those dodgy house tracks where they take a sample from the 80s, and then turn it into a house tune. This is their first official release, and it's pretty much more of the same. However, this remix from fellow countryman Steve Murano, turns it into a proper tune.

Related Links
2-4 grooves official site
Steve Murano official site
Steve Murano on Myspace

Back once again with the ill behaviour

2006-12-15T23:57:00.000Z

It's been a long time, I'm sorry I left you, without a dope beat to step to.

That's enough quoting of lyrics, but you get the point. There's been a lack of posts in the last 2 weeks, so here's a seriously heavyweight track.

Wally Montana ft. 45 Flat - "45 Flat Theme" [Digital Dog Cut Up Remix] (Audiofreaks)

This is the (digital) dogs bollocks. A HUGE banging Hip Hop/Electro track. Imagine that Tom Neville mix of "I See Girls" that did the business last year, but BETTER in every way.

Just an awesome track all round and rightly getting cained by DJs all over.

Wally Montana is apparently an alias, or his original name. Nobody seems to know, according to the official press release type stuff. All they're willing to say is "Wally Montana aged 30, lives on Sunset Avenue". Which is nice to know, but I've gotta say, it's the remix work from Digital Dog that should grab the headlines on this. Digital Dog are actually 2 producers from London, Steve Cornish and Nick Mace. The work on this remix is vert similar to the production on Digital Dog's "Dirty", which also featured 45 Flat. Worth checking out just to compare them. They've also done remix work for Fatboy Slim, on "Champion Sound".

Related Links
Audio Freaks official site
Digital Dog on Myspace

We are the brand new stars on the block

2006-12-01T21:25:00.000Z

Monosurround - "Cocked, Locked (Ready To Rock)" (Hammarskjold)
Erik Schäffer and Ramtin Asadolahzadeh joined forces in 1999, and have been churning out original productions and remixes ever since. This is their most recent track, and what a cracking one it is.

Electro house basslines, with punky shouty female vocals and a thumping beat.

Related Links
Monosurround official site
Monosurround on Myspace
Hammarskjold official site

loving the fuzz

2006-11-30T01:41:00.000Z

Jacob Todd & Kelly Noland - "Promises" [Patrik Bjorkman Mix] (Emote Music)
This track is bloody awesome! that fuzzy bassline is the dogs bollocks. Great track, and the vocal is not overused, so it gets my vote over the dub mix.

Related Links
Jacob Todd official site
Patrik Bjorkman official site