TF22: Refried Beans 2009
Sometimes I like to cook something with what is left in the fridge. And sometimes it is even yummy. This time I do it with 2009 music, music I have been listening continuously in a loop on my ipod but haven't mixed in yet. Hence "refried beans".
TF22- Refried beans 09 by marc fleury
I keep my ear close to the speaker for good music, or rather "music I like". I have a lot of time, so there is a lot of it. Not everything is brand spanking new in there, in fact some stuff in there is downright old, early 80's and such. But everything has caught my ear in one way. The melody, the pads, the drums, the mood, the pace, the bass, the vocals, the memories, whatever.
The resulting mood is ironically down-tempo (ironical because I don't particularly like down-tempo) it starts at a sluggish 100BPM and lazily climbs up to 120ish... and it is definitely melancholic, in the off-tones. It has hip-hop, house, electronic, techno, some rock (gasp!). Like I said, it plays like an ipod shuffle on a partied out sunday morning.
Tracklist:
1/ Find me in the World, DSL, Ed Banger.
Most excellent french hip-hop... this track actually has some pedigree in it, the manager of the head banger label, Pedro Winter, has been a stable fixture of the parisian electro night. I also think he was the manager of the Daft Punk for a long time. The lyrics are great, I like the way the french rapping sounds.
"Te faire ramasser par le samu social, c'a te rend bestial,
je te dis ca avec passion mais je me peterai pas une corde vocale,
je dis pas ca mais je rhyme que sur ma boite vocale".
"Being picked up by the homeless service turns you into a beast."
You just can't make up stuff like that, very french in its social angst about money and people.
2/ Footprints, Stratus.
I like the pad line at the end, the swirling melody and synth pad sound that seems to spiral out of control in slow mo. I like the continuous transform whaaa-whaaa sound. It is a good light track very chill and space in a way.
3/ Same Sun, Bazoo Bajoo, Prins Thomas Diskomiks
I really like what the nordic disco invasion guys are doing. These have been putting out killer track after killer track and they do it with style. They DJ'ing also superb. I recommend Todd Terje and Prins Thomas, they crack me up every time. A certain insouciance about it all and a dead-on ear. It apparently started as an teenage underground love affair with space-disco and turned into this most excellent style. Again a dubbed out, chill, slow and downtempo track. It has some heaviness, in the step drums, to it. Be patient with this track and it will grow on you. I like the break, the hypnotic voice and the drum re-uptake, the electronic finish.
4/ The Swamp waltz, Steve Moore remix, Arnaud Rebotini
Another Parisian artist. Arnaud Rebotini was unknown to me until I heard this track on a Joe Goddard Resident Advisor mix a couple of month ago. It was an instant ear catcher for me. The original is quite good. I also listened to all the other remixes of the swamp waltz and, well, I really find this one stands out. Steve moore has produced an inspired remix, check out his production on soundcloud, the guy has talent. I love everything about this track. The progression, the pad line (from the original) very spooky, the 808 clear bell, and the melody, the way it builds up, the messiness. This one is extremely slow, for a modern track, clocking at 112BMP, when it fact it is quite rich in texture. And it feels that way, it stands out in modern production. And here I thought clubs couldn't clock below 130bips due to the widespread chemical abuse? There is nothing laid back about the track, it in fact manages to be quite overwhelming...
5/ The bottle, C.O.D
Ok, I cheat here. For those that have listened to the Goddard RA podcast, the waltz is song number 4, and this is number 3, in other words I play them in reverse order he does. Pity is that I couldn't find the same exact original on itunes. Goddard must have the original vinyls....You can hear the limits of sound production in the 80's... The stuff still sounds good but the sound production quality is frankly sub-par in this particular cut. Whatever, the melody on this one is so good. One of those catchy urban tunes. It brinks back memories. I even drop the mix at "here is another one" like Goddard does :). I am such a copy-cat.
6/ Single girl, Knight Action.
Another song from another RA compilation. Resident advisor has been a steady source of tunes for me. I can't remember which one, just that instantly liked the first line of lyrics on first hearing and went and bought it. It is funny to think that this one was a big chicago club hit in 1984, possibly a floor filler of the day, today it sounds very down-tempo at 110 BPM. You can see on the wave form how that 80's production is essentially maxed out at least on the itunes version :) and the sound levels are off. I like the off-key melody and the key change, I also like the lyrics even with all the cheese. I also love this picture of the author Duanne Hamm.
7/ Torch, Margot, Extrawelt remix.
I must admit that the entry of the modern production sound with the woosh and waaaash is soothing to my ears after the harshness of the 80's production. It is a relief to go back to modern sound texture, it is fuller, calming. For me the processed voice does this track. I like this warped sound, very spacey. I like the fact that I can't understand a SINGLE word of what they are saying. You must understand that growing up in france, to us, ALL songs sounded like this "whaaa hahahaha", so maybe I like the throwback to a simpler time when I could focus on electronic sound and melody and not what they were saying... of course if you like country music for the lyrics and the stories they tell (like my in-laws from Georgia) then your experience was vastly different. I sort of feel sorry for "native americans", understanding the lyrics in songs must have been a distracting curse. he he.
8/ In and out of my life, Adeva, Pridz remix.
The original was a late 80's hit. I remember buying the album with adeva face on it and thinking the vocals were floating far above the record and begging to be sampled out of what was a mediocre surrounding and remixed. I close my mind's eye and ear, wait 20 years and voila! and a Pridz remix at that, no less!
I love the original singing by Adeva, just powerful diva delivery. The remix is inspired. The bassline is just what the doctor recommended for that sampling. A very classic line gets a princely modern treatment. Definitely more "big-room" than the rest of the mix.
9/ Spaghetti Circus, Still Going.
Still in the vocal house vein. I love the "deep south" soul sounding vocal in the beginning. I love the piano line over the guitar, very housey in a sense. Then the spacey guitar is quite good, I like that sound, the reverb treatment makes it landscapish. This is an all around barn burner. I dovetail back into in and out just for the mixing fun of it and the fact that I couldn't get Manila to stick on the Spaghetti stuff :).
10/ Manila, Seelenluft, Ewan Parson mix.
This is a CATCHY tune. Period. It is one of those songs where you hear it once and you think you have known this track for ever. I like the lyrics, "then my seat started rattling, sure that wasn't part of the show, so I started to dance, without wearing no seat belt, so I started to dance without wearing no life vest". The little bleepy melody. It also has an innocence in the sound, probably the voice of the kid. Whatever it is, I like it.
It also has an interesting property, it works and goes with everything in mix... few tunes show this chameleon ability (I call it musical chicken, everything tastes like it) I think it is something about the harmonics they adopt and how they decompose.
11/ Any Day Now, Scott Ferguson, ElectroVox remix.
I love the deep south soul vocal and feel in this house gem. It is otherwise a down-tempo house track but it has this soul vibe. I am also quite happy with how this mixes with manila. I stretch the vocals to the max. I only use the first part because that is the part I like. The second one frankly sucks balls. Never seen a track so asymetric. A for the first part, F for the second. Go figure.
12/ 7 nites, 7 days, Jori Hulkonnen, Muzique Tropique's Love the Bass Remix
Jori Hulkonnen is a finnish genius. Period. Ever since he published "when we was attached" (was it 8 years ago already) on F communication, Garnier's french electro label, I have been a follower of his production. I think him a complete musical genius. His ALBUMS are totally worth it btw. On this track, I love the deep south voice, this is not the first time he uses the soul voice, and it totally works for me. As I continue my love affair with Jori H...
13/ Cereal Killaz, 3773, A23P's distension mix
Speaking of geniuses... I have gotten to know Al Nesby a.k.a A23P a bit through facebook and a common friend. This particular track, a remix of his, is a gem. I am not sure he himself realizes it. It hits all the right notes for me on drums, sound production, the originality of the result and the hard driving pattern. In find the drum pattern after the break to be epic. Very driven. IN fact I like it so much that I kind of extend it here from the skimpy minute Al gives us to about 3 minutes. For some reason the track made me think of a film score for a matrix style sci-fi movie, a chase scene to be precise... after thinking about it I think it is one of the first scenes in the club where trinity talks to neo for the first time... this is unreleased material directly from Al. Just superior electronic music.
14/ Found a place, Tony Lionni.
Finally some techno. Of course the vocals work here and are the only ones I could really super-impose on the sonic chaos that al summons up for us. You will notice that I keep it to the bare minimum. This track is a great techno sounding minimal inspired production. It appears on a Berghain club compilation (the mythical hard minimal techno Berlin club). Vocals, piano, cool sound production. The extent of the loop must be 2 bars, but who cares when you are blown out of your mind?
15/ One moment, Cari Lekebusch.
So let's take the same formula and repeat. Take a loop (the vocals in this case) a nasty high-hat drums pattern, a simple base, sprinkle a few pad notes here and there, tweak the hell out of the sound and VOILA another mind-blowing killer techno track. The last two tracks are about as close as I get to minimal, more minimal and I fall asleep :) they sound full. It does wash, rinse and clears your mind doesn't it?
16/ Obsession for the disco freaks, Robotnick, Rory phillips.
I love Robotnick. Robotnick is an italian old-timer. He is a superb electro producer and DJ. To see him DJ is a trip. He must be 50, smokes like a chimney, dances to his own dope, and drops killer tune after killer tune. All with an edgy and underground vibe. Speaking of tune this one is a beauty. In 3 solid parts, "obsession" sports an alien sound in the middle. The first time I listened to this I wondered how the hell he made that transition... just superb sound and a great melody. Excellent electro track.
17/ Dead Souls, Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia, Long distance remix.
Another parisian track. This one is a marathon WMC remix of a track, coming in at 11 minutes long. It takes for ever to build so I just key in on the melody and vocals. I immediately liked the french sounding voice "what a greeeaaat live, melanchoooly is my wife" of mademoiselle caroline garcia, just so cool. Then the second part with the spacey guitar has a very hypnotic quality to it. Maybe it is the 10 minutes of bleep bleep that does it. However, while remixing this I went online and check them out and then...
18/ Dead Souls, Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia. Original mix.
I found this video of them singing dead souls in the Rex club in Paris. I first thought it was a new version and then realized it was the original. I find the original a thousand times better than the WMC remix. I think this song is fantastic. The video has a joy division feel to it. The lyrics and melody are just great. The vocals are superb and the french accent really adds to it. Also the delivery is different than the remix. You have to watch the video and see Caro dance while she sings, I love it. She defines geek cool.
I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I have.
TF22- Refried beans 09 by marc fleury
I keep my ear close to the speaker for good music, or rather "music I like". I have a lot of time, so there is a lot of it. Not everything is brand spanking new in there, in fact some stuff in there is downright old, early 80's and such. But everything has caught my ear in one way. The melody, the pads, the drums, the mood, the pace, the bass, the vocals, the memories, whatever.
The resulting mood is ironically down-tempo (ironical because I don't particularly like down-tempo) it starts at a sluggish 100BPM and lazily climbs up to 120ish... and it is definitely melancholic, in the off-tones. It has hip-hop, house, electronic, techno, some rock (gasp!). Like I said, it plays like an ipod shuffle on a partied out sunday morning.
Tracklist:
1/ Find me in the World, DSL, Ed Banger.
Most excellent french hip-hop... this track actually has some pedigree in it, the manager of the head banger label, Pedro Winter, has been a stable fixture of the parisian electro night. I also think he was the manager of the Daft Punk for a long time. The lyrics are great, I like the way the french rapping sounds.
"Te faire ramasser par le samu social, c'a te rend bestial,
je te dis ca avec passion mais je me peterai pas une corde vocale,
je dis pas ca mais je rhyme que sur ma boite vocale".
"Being picked up by the homeless service turns you into a beast."
You just can't make up stuff like that, very french in its social angst about money and people.
2/ Footprints, Stratus.
I like the pad line at the end, the swirling melody and synth pad sound that seems to spiral out of control in slow mo. I like the continuous transform whaaa-whaaa sound. It is a good light track very chill and space in a way.
3/ Same Sun, Bazoo Bajoo, Prins Thomas Diskomiks
I really like what the nordic disco invasion guys are doing. These have been putting out killer track after killer track and they do it with style. They DJ'ing also superb. I recommend Todd Terje and Prins Thomas, they crack me up every time. A certain insouciance about it all and a dead-on ear. It apparently started as an teenage underground love affair with space-disco and turned into this most excellent style. Again a dubbed out, chill, slow and downtempo track. It has some heaviness, in the step drums, to it. Be patient with this track and it will grow on you. I like the break, the hypnotic voice and the drum re-uptake, the electronic finish.
4/ The Swamp waltz, Steve Moore remix, Arnaud Rebotini
Another Parisian artist. Arnaud Rebotini was unknown to me until I heard this track on a Joe Goddard Resident Advisor mix a couple of month ago. It was an instant ear catcher for me. The original is quite good. I also listened to all the other remixes of the swamp waltz and, well, I really find this one stands out. Steve moore has produced an inspired remix, check out his production on soundcloud, the guy has talent. I love everything about this track. The progression, the pad line (from the original) very spooky, the 808 clear bell, and the melody, the way it builds up, the messiness. This one is extremely slow, for a modern track, clocking at 112BMP, when it fact it is quite rich in texture. And it feels that way, it stands out in modern production. And here I thought clubs couldn't clock below 130bips due to the widespread chemical abuse? There is nothing laid back about the track, it in fact manages to be quite overwhelming...
5/ The bottle, C.O.D
Ok, I cheat here. For those that have listened to the Goddard RA podcast, the waltz is song number 4, and this is number 3, in other words I play them in reverse order he does. Pity is that I couldn't find the same exact original on itunes. Goddard must have the original vinyls....You can hear the limits of sound production in the 80's... The stuff still sounds good but the sound production quality is frankly sub-par in this particular cut. Whatever, the melody on this one is so good. One of those catchy urban tunes. It brinks back memories. I even drop the mix at "here is another one" like Goddard does :). I am such a copy-cat.
6/ Single girl, Knight Action.
Another song from another RA compilation. Resident advisor has been a steady source of tunes for me. I can't remember which one, just that instantly liked the first line of lyrics on first hearing and went and bought it. It is funny to think that this one was a big chicago club hit in 1984, possibly a floor filler of the day, today it sounds very down-tempo at 110 BPM. You can see on the wave form how that 80's production is essentially maxed out at least on the itunes version :) and the sound levels are off. I like the off-key melody and the key change, I also like the lyrics even with all the cheese. I also love this picture of the author Duanne Hamm.
7/ Torch, Margot, Extrawelt remix.
I must admit that the entry of the modern production sound with the woosh and waaaash is soothing to my ears after the harshness of the 80's production. It is a relief to go back to modern sound texture, it is fuller, calming. For me the processed voice does this track. I like this warped sound, very spacey. I like the fact that I can't understand a SINGLE word of what they are saying. You must understand that growing up in france, to us, ALL songs sounded like this "whaaa hahahaha", so maybe I like the throwback to a simpler time when I could focus on electronic sound and melody and not what they were saying... of course if you like country music for the lyrics and the stories they tell (like my in-laws from Georgia) then your experience was vastly different. I sort of feel sorry for "native americans", understanding the lyrics in songs must have been a distracting curse. he he.
8/ In and out of my life, Adeva, Pridz remix.
The original was a late 80's hit. I remember buying the album with adeva face on it and thinking the vocals were floating far above the record and begging to be sampled out of what was a mediocre surrounding and remixed. I close my mind's eye and ear, wait 20 years and voila! and a Pridz remix at that, no less!
I love the original singing by Adeva, just powerful diva delivery. The remix is inspired. The bassline is just what the doctor recommended for that sampling. A very classic line gets a princely modern treatment. Definitely more "big-room" than the rest of the mix.
9/ Spaghetti Circus, Still Going.
Still in the vocal house vein. I love the "deep south" soul sounding vocal in the beginning. I love the piano line over the guitar, very housey in a sense. Then the spacey guitar is quite good, I like that sound, the reverb treatment makes it landscapish. This is an all around barn burner. I dovetail back into in and out just for the mixing fun of it and the fact that I couldn't get Manila to stick on the Spaghetti stuff :).
10/ Manila, Seelenluft, Ewan Parson mix.
This is a CATCHY tune. Period. It is one of those songs where you hear it once and you think you have known this track for ever. I like the lyrics, "then my seat started rattling, sure that wasn't part of the show, so I started to dance, without wearing no seat belt, so I started to dance without wearing no life vest". The little bleepy melody. It also has an innocence in the sound, probably the voice of the kid. Whatever it is, I like it.
It also has an interesting property, it works and goes with everything in mix... few tunes show this chameleon ability (I call it musical chicken, everything tastes like it) I think it is something about the harmonics they adopt and how they decompose.
11/ Any Day Now, Scott Ferguson, ElectroVox remix.
I love the deep south soul vocal and feel in this house gem. It is otherwise a down-tempo house track but it has this soul vibe. I am also quite happy with how this mixes with manila. I stretch the vocals to the max. I only use the first part because that is the part I like. The second one frankly sucks balls. Never seen a track so asymetric. A for the first part, F for the second. Go figure.
12/ 7 nites, 7 days, Jori Hulkonnen, Muzique Tropique's Love the Bass Remix
Jori Hulkonnen is a finnish genius. Period. Ever since he published "when we was attached" (was it 8 years ago already) on F communication, Garnier's french electro label, I have been a follower of his production. I think him a complete musical genius. His ALBUMS are totally worth it btw. On this track, I love the deep south voice, this is not the first time he uses the soul voice, and it totally works for me. As I continue my love affair with Jori H...
13/ Cereal Killaz, 3773, A23P's distension mix
Speaking of geniuses... I have gotten to know Al Nesby a.k.a A23P a bit through facebook and a common friend. This particular track, a remix of his, is a gem. I am not sure he himself realizes it. It hits all the right notes for me on drums, sound production, the originality of the result and the hard driving pattern. In find the drum pattern after the break to be epic. Very driven. IN fact I like it so much that I kind of extend it here from the skimpy minute Al gives us to about 3 minutes. For some reason the track made me think of a film score for a matrix style sci-fi movie, a chase scene to be precise... after thinking about it I think it is one of the first scenes in the club where trinity talks to neo for the first time... this is unreleased material directly from Al. Just superior electronic music.
14/ Found a place, Tony Lionni.
Finally some techno. Of course the vocals work here and are the only ones I could really super-impose on the sonic chaos that al summons up for us. You will notice that I keep it to the bare minimum. This track is a great techno sounding minimal inspired production. It appears on a Berghain club compilation (the mythical hard minimal techno Berlin club). Vocals, piano, cool sound production. The extent of the loop must be 2 bars, but who cares when you are blown out of your mind?
15/ One moment, Cari Lekebusch.
So let's take the same formula and repeat. Take a loop (the vocals in this case) a nasty high-hat drums pattern, a simple base, sprinkle a few pad notes here and there, tweak the hell out of the sound and VOILA another mind-blowing killer techno track. The last two tracks are about as close as I get to minimal, more minimal and I fall asleep :) they sound full. It does wash, rinse and clears your mind doesn't it?
16/ Obsession for the disco freaks, Robotnick, Rory phillips.
I love Robotnick. Robotnick is an italian old-timer. He is a superb electro producer and DJ. To see him DJ is a trip. He must be 50, smokes like a chimney, dances to his own dope, and drops killer tune after killer tune. All with an edgy and underground vibe. Speaking of tune this one is a beauty. In 3 solid parts, "obsession" sports an alien sound in the middle. The first time I listened to this I wondered how the hell he made that transition... just superb sound and a great melody. Excellent electro track.
17/ Dead Souls, Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia, Long distance remix.
Another parisian track. This one is a marathon WMC remix of a track, coming in at 11 minutes long. It takes for ever to build so I just key in on the melody and vocals. I immediately liked the french sounding voice "what a greeeaaat live, melanchoooly is my wife" of mademoiselle caroline garcia, just so cool. Then the second part with the spacey guitar has a very hypnotic quality to it. Maybe it is the 10 minutes of bleep bleep that does it. However, while remixing this I went online and check them out and then...
18/ Dead Souls, Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia. Original mix.
I found this video of them singing dead souls in the Rex club in Paris. I first thought it was a new version and then realized it was the original. I find the original a thousand times better than the WMC remix. I think this song is fantastic. The video has a joy division feel to it. The lyrics and melody are just great. The vocals are superb and the french accent really adds to it. Also the delivery is different than the remix. You have to watch the video and see Caro dance while she sings, I love it. She defines geek cool.
I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I have.
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