808 Sτατε - 90 (1989)

The Sgt. Peppers of early acid house, and it's not too hard to understand why in retrospect. Highway blaster 'Pacific 202' features a ridiculous bassline set against a punchy horn refrain, singlehandedly establishing the basic feel for every Sonic The Hedgehog game OST that would define 90's gamer culture for years to come, while techno and the 21st century's obsession with 8-bit get a heavy dose of foreshadowing in rave friendly beat epics like 'Cobra Bora' and 'Sunrise'.

Whatever your retrospective impressions may be, it was albums like this that changed the musical landscape seemingly overnight in the year of our Lord of Ten, Nine and Eighty Nine, and everything you probably love as far as electronica still feels that shift today.

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5amantha Jam3s - 5ubconcious (2010)

This weekend's dose of awesomeness is some gorgeous electro-House-pop-soul stuff that works like magic no matters where you are or what your doing, though movement of some kind certainly makes the sonic flow even more savory. Miss James's voice, to be more specific, sits somewhere between that inner city croon of Tracey Thorn and that one chick from OceanLab...and fuck if it isn't a treat in the wee hours of the morn or dusk.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Listen Here - "Illusions"


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DJ Kawasaki - You Can Make It (2008)

Being that it's Saturday night, I'll treat you guys to some great Japanese smooth House with lots of soul/jazz influences (and a variety of English guest vocalists to boot). Kinda like Kyoto Jazz Massive-lite with some techno beats thrown in. It's been a highway burner favorite of mine for a quite a while now, so lets see how it fares with you lucky ducks.

Listen Here - "Because Of You"


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Pendulum - Hold Your Colour (2005)

Arguably classic post-Y2K drum & bass debut from a couple of Australian wankers...with a little twist on my part. The album sold out pretty quickly upon its initial release, and was reissued in 2007 with two new tracks replacing 'Another Planet' and 'Still Grey' which closed out the original LP. The problem, however, is that much of this brilliant record's flow was lost because now every single damn song had something like 3 FREAKIN' seconds of silence at the end of it.

Therefore, I have taken a fair amount of time and liberty to clean up, arrange a bit and ultimately upload THE definitive version of Hold Your Colour for the pleasure of my devoted fans. I've cut away the silences at the end of every track, re-added the two missing tracks from the original release, and also kept the two 2007 reissue tracks as well. The result: 16 great D&B cuts that bleed together into a wonderfully singular experience, brought here in 320 CBR that was converted from FLAC every step of the way.

The sample track below should be a good enough indication of the album's sound for the skeptics, so I won't waste my type on a play-by-play. I don't expect to be thanked for my wonderful audio editing abilities either, but I did a helluva job here. Enjoy!!

Listen Here - "Sounds Of Life"



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Grum - Heartbeats (2010)

Graeme Shepherd, AKA Grum, is an odd bloke hailing from the U.K., who up until his 2010 debut Heartbeats was mostly known in production/DJ circles for his various lauded remixes of popular House staples. In taking off with thirteen tracks of original material though, it seems he's set his sights on new horizons with the hopes of making his own stake in clubs across the world.

That said, this record certainly works wonders for the dancefloor - it's a curious blend between Daft Punk inspired electro pumping and 80's soft pop along the lines of Genesis and Madonna, with certain tendencies from both sides of the equation taking their own particular emphases depending on the track at play. Hell, 'Cybernetic' and 'The Really Long One' wouldn't be out of place on Discovery at the very least. But then you hear something like 'Through The Night', with that whole Yamaha keyboard layering the atmosphere and watery vocals going in and out, and you're like "Why is Hall & Oates Private Eyes playing? 1981 was a long freakin' time ago!" But as my ex-roommate used to say - "The party's only over when the music stops."

Fans of the 80's, fun, early House and less chaotic electro-pop will find much to love here. Everybody else will probably be too busy listening to Sonic Youth B-sides or something. Their loss!

Listen Here - "Through The Night"



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OceanLab - Sirens of the Sea Remixed (2009)

If Tracey Thorn had BT's babies back in 1996, the resulting mix might turned out something like today's upload. OceanLab are a trio who are categorized under a rather pretentious tag: "progressive vocal house trance"...though I suppose in this case its a ridiculous label that's not too far off the mark. Oodles of post-90's dance beats, superbly stratospheric vocals and bunches of keyboards that remind me of Deep Forests's schmaltsome awesomeness run amok on this excellent set of remixes, coalescing into an ideal night drive soundtrack...or if you just want to impress people who do a lot of ecstasy. 

So switch on your treadmill and turn this bastard up nice and loud. Minds will blow and eargasms shall be brought forth from oh-so-distant English dance clubs, fabled realms where Portishead and Primal Scream are probably still cool to remix for your high school's after-prom parties.

Happy headtrips amigos!

Listen Here - "Satellite"


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