There's an abundance of parties in and around Barcelona during Sonar so making the right decision can be tricky. Here are our picks for Friday and Saturday. Tickets have been on sale a little while so are on final release. Grab em while you can.
We don't often post mixes that aren't part of our series, but this one is just a bit too good. Recorded at a jam with friends in 2010, Even Tuell cruises through for almost three hours, flying the Workshop Records flag.
Even Tuell - meandyou. Mix 01
Meandyou., who will play host to a full Workshop night at the Soup Kitchen in Manchester on Saturday, also caught up with Tuell for an interesting interview.
No doubt about it, this one is special. Maurice Fulton tears up the rule book in emphatic style on his latest album for Running Back records. The aptly named 'Blink of an Eye' LP is outstanding from start to finish, with brilliantly orchestrated tracks that simultaneously harness a plethora of styles. Intelligent percussion, cosmic synths and jazz interludes are a common theme throughout. Clips below courtesy of Juno, but all of the full tracks are available on Youtube.
The LP appears to be sold out at most of the online retailers but if you are quick you can still grab a copy over at Redeye. Failing that you can always download it. You can catch Maurice Fulton in action this weekend at Pleasure Principle along with a whole host of other quality acts. Lineup and tickets are available from the Pleasure Principle website.
Praveen and Travis, aka Braille and Machinedrum, return to Hotflush in their Sepalcure guise with a third EP to follow up their self-titled debut album. Make You features five brand new tracks that draw from all different styles and are blended together with the exceptional drum programming and production that put Sepalcure on the map in the first place.
Make You EP - Sepalcure [Hotflush Recordings]
Whitney Houston samples, jungle breaks and beautiful synths aplenty make this fourth Sepalcure release as must-have as the previous installments. You can get your copy right now on wax or digitally at Juno.
NYC radio show, Beats In Space, has been broadcasting weekly since 1999 and has since spawned club nights and a record label. Last summer the label expanded to include B.I.S. Records, an offshoot strictly for exclusive bootlegs and special edits, after radio show host and label boss Tim Sweeney took a trip to Italy. There he met DJ Steve, butcher by day and resident DJ at a local nighclub by night.
"This guy was the real deal. He was playing dubplates, vinyl, cassettes, and reel-to-reels. All special edits he had done over the years. I couldn't believe what I was hearing." - Tim Sweeney
Special Cuts #3 & #4 - DJ Steve[B.I.S. Records]
A handful of those edits and dubplates were recorded in NYC after DJ Steve appeared on the Beats In Space radio show and became the starting point for the Special Cuts series. The first 12" came out at the end of last summer and this month sees cuts #3 and #4 become available on very limited vinyl via Juno and Phonica.
Next up to bat in our exclusive mix series is Presk. Last year the Dutchman released a string of solid EPs on labels such as Fourth Wave and Audio Culture but has been pretty quiet so far this year. Back in February he took his talents across the pond for a pumping reshuffle of Tazz's 'Piano Kinesis' on New Kanada but there's no news of any forthcoming releases as of yet. The mix comes in slightly shorter than usual at 50 minutes but packs a full punch with heavy, dancefloor ready jams throughout.
HH MIX #043 - Presk [download]
01. A Guy Called Gerald - Groove Of The Ghetto [Bosconi]
02. Delano Smith - Mariana's Song [Mixmode]
03. Panos & Sentenza - Tabletop Romance [Soweso]
04. Unknown - Untitled [???]
05. Roman Lindau - Pop Moderne [Fachwerk]
06. Felix Lenferink - Third Bouree (Frits Wentink Remix) [Fourth Wave]
07. Bobby Champs - Stanton Shuffle [WNCL]
08. Sei A - Hawk Tone [Kompakt Extra]
09. Tazz - Piano Kinesis (Presk Remix) [New Kanada]
10. Marcus Worgull & Osunlade - Reno [Innervisions]
11. Unknown - Untitled [???]
12. Will & Ink - First Fermat B1 [forthcoming Will & Ink]
13. The Oliverwho Factory - Before [Dolly]
Previous Hush House guests and firm favourites Outboxx have never let themselves be pigeonholed. Be it slow, dubbed out grooves or more uptempo house, Jacob and Matt haven't skimped on quality production. Their self-titled debut LP on Idle Hands proves no different.
Having released an album sampler earlier this year, you would be forgiven for expecting a similar sound throughout the album, although that doesn't seem to be the case. Slow jam 'Home' kicks off the proceedings, with warm keys and soulful vocals perfectly easing you into the rest of the record. 'All The Right Moves' is a smooth, easy listening affair, the rhodes hook and snipped up vocals all working together to create a definite summer tune - expect to hear this on a few terraces.
All The Right Moves – Outboxx[Idle Hands]
'Jewel City' brings the LP back down to slow jam territory and is a welcome interlude after 'Jaded' and 'Sunshine Mills'. 'Thrashing Groovster' and 'Withdrawal' take the record darker, with brooding basslines and melodies; the pair haven't often ventured into such territories but they pull it off with aplomb. The album comes to a close with 'My Destination', a deep and indulgent tune that is sure to shake a few sound systems in the near future.
However, the real gem comes midway through the LP. 'Lost Soul' is Outboxx's only venture into garage on the record, and it's clear they know what they're doing. The 2-step beat and girl next door vocals are somewhat typical of the genre, but it's the incidental synth and echoey melody that really set the tune apart. Instant replay.
Outboxx's debut LP is set for release on Idle Hands on 22nd April but you can give their brilliant mix for us another listen in the meantime.
As we just about get around to recovering from our first birthday last month, we’re back at The Garage on Friday 19th April. The good people at Echo Festival have put together quite the line-up for their sophomore year on the Croatian coast, and even invited us lot to host a stage on the Thursday night. So we thought it’d only be right to return the favour and throw a little warm-up bash here in Leeds. The line-up’s the same, although unfortunately it’s not taking place on a beach - you’ll have to come with us in June for that.
Marbled World - Christopher Rau[Never Learnt]
Hamburg’s Christopher Rau has released on labels such as Mule Musiq, Ethereal Sound, Pampa and Hypercolour – not forgetting two cracking albums (and a bunch of singles) on Smallville. He collaborates with his mate Moomin under the name Roaming too. You’d probably call his music ‘deep house’, but you won’t find any shufflers in here. It’s melodic, highly attractive and just a little bit quaint, yet never fails on the ‘floor. DJ sets from Mr. Rau are relatively hard to come by on these fair shores, so don’t miss out.
Fabric Promo Mix - Christopher Rau
It’s been a crazy six months or so for October. Since we hosted his Leeds debut back in September the boy from Bristol has (deep breath): turned in a stellar Resident Advisor podcast, put out a couple of widely-acclaimed releases in collaboration with Will Saul and John Osborn (as well as a recent solo outing on NYC’s Voodoo Down Records Records) and even made his Panorama Bar debut last month. Those of you in attendance back in September will know what’s on the menu – rugged, well-oiled house and techno from a real pro.
RA. 339 - October
And as if that isn't enough, Fullbarr Records will be taking over Waxwerks again! Grab your tickets now and we'll see you on the 19th. RA users can keep up to date here.
Following up from Nick Höppner's on-point delivery for the Panorama Bar mix series certainly isn't easy, but resident DJ and club favourite Steffi is more than qualified for the task at hand. The Dutch born DJ and producer is one of the clubs longest standing residents and she thoroughly understands the genetic build of the club's hard-to-define music policy.
Steffi's concept for the mix was to ask some of her favourite artists for exclusive material, thereby keeping the mix as contemporary as possible. She ended up receiving unreleased material from Fred P, Dexter, Juju and Jordash, and Big Strick. To compliment the exclusive material, she has also included one of her own unreleased productions. Steffi has always been a selector who doesn't settle for anything less than the best records she can find and this mix is no exception.
Doze - Endian[Electric Minds]
The mix begins slowly with a deep melancholic vibe throughout the first five selections and crescendos nicely with Fred P's ethereal cut 'Project 05'. Things take on a more urgent tone with Naoki Shinohara's 'Timeless' as we move from here to the next phase of the mix. Juju and Jordash provide the exclusive track 'A Stab in the Dark', which sits before a series of eclectic and disco infused selections, breaking up the mix nicely. The mix enters its final phase with Steffi's exclusive 'DB011' and really hits its stride, concluding with 'Latency' by Obsolete Music Technology as well as 'Juan Two Five' by Trevino.
This compilation provides a great impression of what Panorama Bar is all about. For those that have been, it's easy to envision people dancing around the small booth suspended by chains while the morning light seeps in through the shuttered stain glass windows as the mix draws to a close. In fact, the only thing about this mix that isn't like a night in the club is that at just over an hour it provides only a brief glimpse of the experience.
Timeless - Naoki Shinohara[Metrolux]
01. Palisade - 18:30
02. Endian - Doze
03. Big Strick - Hayday
04. Chris Mitchell - Lonely Nights
05. BLM - The Nest
06. Fred P - Project 05
07. Naoki Shinohara - Timeless
08. Juju & Jordash - A Stab In The Dark
09. John Barera & Will Martin - Reality
10. DJ Fett Burger - Disco Tre
11. Juergen Junker - Post Reunion
12. Steffi - DB011
13. Dexter - Jawada
14. DJ Skull - Don't Stop The Beat
15. Obsolete Music Technology - Latency
16. Trevino - Juan Two Five
Ostgun Ton will release Panorama Bar 05 on May 13th, preceding it with a rather special Klubnacht release party at the end of this month.
Progressing at a steady rate of only one release per year since 2011, Glasgow label All Caps recently served up its third 12", courtesy of Kowton. Described on the label's soundcloud simply as "an ode to ruff sqwad", it isn't difficult to guess which path the Bristol producer took with this one. With drums pushed to the very limit and piercing strings to match, 'TFB' acts as the perfect follow up to Helix's skewed grime experiment 'Stacks Riddim'.
TFB - Kowton[All Caps]
Despite the variety of styles so far, All Caps already seems to have a solid aesthetic in place, consistently gritty and functional dance music. If the latest Soundcloud offering is anything to go by, the fourth release is set to swing things back in a 4x4 direction once more.
20 - Guy Evans[forthcoming All Caps]
Kowton's release is available for pre-order via Rubadub, complete with a Karenn remix on the flip. Follow All Caps on Facebook to keep up to date.
