Well, we got through it, the most boring month of the year, from here on in it’s just going to get warmer and hopefully more exciting.
Unless you’re in Australia, in which case it’s going to get colder and there’s never a dull moment because all the fauna is constantly trying to kill you.
Lucky bastards.
(Seriously, I’d take a box jellyfish to the balls right now if it could mean just 15 seconds of sunlight.)
Anyways, enough of my kinky fantasises, you’re not here to get sucked into the depraved recesses of my demented mind – that’s unless yee want to like – no, no, don’t be creepy, remember, they’re here for the music…
Music that includes plenty of electro and breakbeat bizniss, plus some grungy headbanger techno, an interesting spin on one of all time classics and a little nu-skool jungalism before I start going off on a rant about a really stoopid and unnecessary rebrand… (you know the one I mean.)
Cool Surprise Of The Month
January’s biggest surprise was the ep, 4 Aphex Guitar Covers by Irish producer/musician ZOiD.
ZOiD is singular talent indeed, a die-hard technohead who also trained to become a jazz musician, don’t think I’ve ever met one of those.
Although his output generally defies categorisation, this particular EP comes with a rather thick coat of Ronseal varnish.
So no surprises for figuring out that it consists of four well-known Aphex Twin song covers played on guitar.
A lot of thought was put into selecting the tracks, and an equal amount of love, with each showcasing both ZOiDs musicianship and his talent for arrangement.
If you’re sceptical about the notion of jazz guitar versions of RDJ favourites like Avril 14th and Alberto Balsalm click below and be prepared to be pleasantly surprised.
Also, whether intentional or not, ZOiD shares a name with a line of toys I was obsessed with as a child, which also prompted me to involuntarily write this demented article.
Electro / Breaks / Breaks
My tune of the month is Poppin’ by James Shinra.
Shinra is one of my top producers of the past few years, one who’s equally adept at making forward-thinking home listening as he is crafting bass and breaks-heavy bangers.
Poppin’ falls squarely in the latter category; a filthy slice of jaw-grind electro that sounds like the bastard child of Stanton Warriors and Radioactive Man.
This release is part of a splinter project called Shinra Electro Company (I see what you did there!) the idea being to release more dancefloor-orientated tracks under this umbrella. Based on this one I can’t wait to hear more.
Now who’s up for some deconstructed jazz style experimental wonky bassy breakbeat goodness? Anyone? Anyone at all?
Maybe I’m not selling it.
Honestly I dunno what the hell to even call this but it grabbed my attention the instant I heard it and hasn’t let go since.
It’s called R&B from Kreggo and it’s out now art-aud records.
From abstract jazz to spaced out electro funk and deep Martian ghetto house, on Former City Records, this release from DJ Pirna wins best EP name of the year
Yeah, yeah, I know it’s just the end of January but not sure how any other release in 2024 can top the title “It Smells Like Bootyhole On Mars Bring Me Back To Earth”.
Especially loving this one called Freak Show.
Back to some more traditional-sounding electro with plenty of acid, just the way I like it, the Ionosphere EP from Lake Haze is another of my fav releases for January.
On the same tip, but much harder, the Termination Point EP from SVK is some proper peak time, dark and sweaty electro that certainly doesn’t skimp on the 303.
Acidic electro is just one of the flavas on Oltrefuturo’s Aural Deception Ep, out now on Trule.
Course that’s just the lure. Dangle a 303 in front of me and you’ve got my attention. Then hold that attention with the addition of intricately crafted broken beat experiments full of tribal percussion and layers of dubby atmospherics… I’m not that complicated of a person really.
Part Ten by The Accomplice is a 3-track EP, which features the original version of the track Co-conspirator, plus two remixes by Drexell and D.Vices. The Drexell version is has more of an old skool dubstep vibe while D.Vices brings some more bubblin’ acid to the table.
Beelzebufo from BufoBufo is a four track EP on Klasse Works. It’s a curious blend of electro, acid, dreamwave and breaks, while the track Ectoplasm has more of a bouncy UK garage vibe with deep bass, snippets of acid and vocal slices snatched from Orbital’s Belfast.
Jungle / Drum ‘n’ Bass
Let’s face facts, this section’s hardly ever gonna be drum ‘n’ bass, much like the million University Challenge memes I’ve scrolled through this past month, we need jungle I’m afraid.
WNCL Class of 2023 is a compilation of releases on London’s WNCL Records with tracks from the likes of Hooverian Blur and LMajor, the latter doing a rather sweet interpretation of the classic rave anthem, The Horn Track.
Techno
My techno track of the month is Fckng Breed from Midirama & Zuzana Hakl.
This is actually the second time Midirama has won this prestigious accolade but well, this came in via Bandcamp alerts and when I clicked to listen I instantly knew the competition was over.
Fckng Breed is an unapologetically cheesy and schranzy remix of the Nirvana track Breed, from the album Nevermind.
A peak time, jaw grinding have ‘em bouncin’ off the walls headbangin’ techno banger. 🤘
Now there are some labels out there which pride themselves on the breadth and diversity of genres they release. Then there are others which opt to focus on just one style but do it extremely well.
303 otakus AcidWorx falls into the latter category. It’s a Japanese label where the focus is purely on acid techno, nothing more, nothing less. That said there’s still plenty of room for innovation within that narrow category as this album confirms.
AcidWorx Best of 2023 is a pretty self explanatory title and tracks range from more subdued psychedelic slow burners to corrosive, peak time nose-bleed insanity.
House
Been ages since I last knocked up to Jack’s house, so here’s some house finally.
This one’s from Bristol’s own Om Unit, who I’ve featured here before and I’m certain to feature again.
This time around he’s taking a stab at remixing an all-time classic. E2-E4 Edit is his take on Sueno Latino, which ads a breakbeat loop behind the four to the floor house beat to give it a little more funk.
It’s pretty minimal though and, at over 7 minutes long, I view this as more of a DJ tool – something to drop mid set to get the nostalgia going, especially if you want to mix up styles zipping back and forth between more breaky stuff and house. Because that’s exactly how I intend using it. 😊
Little Yelling Clouds
AKA my Who Gives A Shit Of The Month
So I decided to move this section down here (to stop it falling into the wrong hands.)
That way we get into the music first and then I can have my little old man yells @ clouds rant bit at the end, makes more sense, no?
Anyways, yeah, my who gives a shit of the month, or ain’t broke don’t fix it of the month, or just fucking WHY?!
(Seriously, why why why?)
Clearly the execs at Pioneer got coked out of their fucking skulls one night and woke up one morning to realise they’d issued a press release to say they’re changing their company name to Astra Zeneca or whatever the fuck it was, I’ve forgotten the name already.
But apparently it’s to be in “clearer alignment with our customers”, which quite frankly I’m not due to budgetary constraints but now that I think about it the new name does kinda sound like the frat house of a bunch of tribal tatted tech house tossers.
“Brah! Brah! You hear the new name for Pioneer? It’s awesome brah!”
Think of all the money could have been spent on doing something worthwhile though, all the money spent on designing new logos, all the materials and media that has to be changed, all that money pissed away on hipster consultants – for fuck all.
It’s Alpha something, Alpha Romeo? No, that’s a car. Alpha Blondy? No, he’s a reggae singer… nope, forgotten it already.
You’re Pioneer, you’ll always be Pioneer and that’s what we’ll call you.
it’s like Twitter. You’re called Twitter, Twitter. I don’t care if the richest cunt in the world bought you and tried to change your name, you’re Twitter and that it, end of story.
