electronic directory » Selection

happy birthday soma – 20 years, 20 favourite records

Kazuumi — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 04:30:15 +0000

It doesn’t sound like too long ago, but the electronic music industry has come a long way since the nineties. Today, August 1st, 2011, marks twenty years of Soma Records. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it ?

On the 1st of August, 1991, Soma Records released its first record, "Eterna" by Slam / "I.B.O." by Rejuvination, a great track and great split release with some Detroit and/or Chicago-rooted dance music. Nowadays, Soma is, as they describe themselves, one of the world’s leading electronic dance music labels.

Slam – Eterna

Rejuvination – I.B.O.

So far, the label has managed to release more than 80 albums and over 300 singles, from the likes of Slam, Funk D’Void, Alex Smoke, and The Black Dog, to name just a few. The Glasgow-based label continues to wow the electronic music world with their music, without a doubt.

Happy Birthday !

Here’s our list of twenty of our favourite Soma tracks:

01. Dove – Fallen from Soma 2
02. Slam – Positive Education from Soma 8
03. Desert Storm – Scoraig 93 from Soma 13
04. Daft Punk – Da Funk from Soma 25
05. Skintrade – Andomraxess from Soma 27
06. Funk D’Void – Jack Me Off from Soma 29
07. Chaser – Sides of Iron from Soma 33
08. Maas – Look At Me Now, Falling (I:Cube Simple mix) from Soma 54
09. Envoy – Emotional from Soma 59
10. Funk D’Void – Herbie On Rhodes from Soma 66
11. Scott Grooves feat. Parliament/Funkadelic – MotherShip ReConnection (Daft Punk remix) from Soma 71
12. Silicone Soul – Right On 4 Tha Darkness from Soma 83
13. Master-H – Magic K from Soma 101
14. Slam feat. Tyrone Palmer – Lifetimes from Soma 107
15. Funk D’Void – Diabla (Funk D’Void’s Heavenly mix) from Soma 112
16. Schatrax – Mispent Years (Silicone Soul dub) from Soma 128
17. Alex Smoke – Don’t See The Point from Soma 165
18. Funk D’Void – Nineteen Ninety-Two from Soma CD23
19. Slam – Stepback (Christian Smith & John Selway remix) from Soma LP29
20. The Black Dog – Sleep Deprivation 2 from Soma CD83

essential albums july – september 2010

Kazuumi — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:00:11 +0000

2010 has been a fine year for albums so far, as The Black Dog released a brilliant ambient album "Music For Real Airports", A Guy Called Gerald returned with the even deeper and more subtle "Tronic Jazz The Berlin Sessions" and Robert Hood served up yet another masterpiece "Omega". There are more albums coming out by Niko Marks, Fabrice Lig and Akin Khan.

Akin Khan – Headron [Organica Music Labworks] (out on July 19)

Tony Blunt’s Organica label keeps up the deeper techno pressure with an artist album from Wuppertal’s Akin Khan. It is a wonderfully deep affair, where levitating synths vie for attention with on-point percussive work and satisfying keys. Personal favourites include the magical "Momentum", a melancholic number entitled "Cone of Vapor" and the sensuous "Iconoclastic Riot".

Tracklisting:

01. Semicon
02. Momentum
03. Ident
04. Live Engine
05. Depth of Field
06. Mionix Saiph
07. Cone of Vapor
08. Drone
09. Solar Plane
10. Verve
11. Sentinel
12. Noctilux
13. Iconoclastic Riot
14. 7th Armada
15. Grain
16. Retrospektive

Have a listen and pre-order your copy here:

Related Links:

Fabrice Lig – Genesis of a Deep Sound [Fine Art Recordings] (out on July 23)

Fabrice Lig serves up a real gem that shows why he is such a well respected figure. Unlike many techno albums where monotony too often takes over, this album holds the attention from start to finish, due to the variety of styles and the intensity and quality of the music on show. Every track holds its own, but high points include the hypnotic beauty of "BC 98", the electroid magic of "Energy Machine", a gorgeous downtempo effort entitled "Cosmic Booty" and the sweet "Japanese Soul". "Genesis of a Deep Sound" represents a spectacular display of electronic emotion.

Tracklisting:

CD
- 01. BC 98
- 02. Energy Machine
- 03. Fusion
- 04. Genesis Interlude
- 05. Back To Sweet Home
- 06. Electric Beauty
- 07. Cosmic Booty
- 08. Deep Future – Past Interlude
- 09. Japanese Soul
- 10. That Connection feat NToumos
Vinyl
- A1. Genesis Intro
- A2. Fusion
- A3. Back To Sweet Home (Vinyl Edit)
- A4. Genesis Loop 01
- B1. Japanese Soul
- B2. Electric Beauty
- B3. Genesis Loop 02

Have a listen and pre-order your copy here:

Related Links:

Niko Marks – Toxygen [Logos Recordings] (out on September 1)

Detroit’s very own Niko Marks brings us an album that reminds listeners of just how soulful electronic music can be. Toxygen is a thoughtful musical journey, which features hypnotic technoid numbers alongside boogie gems and jazzied efforts. Highlights include the beautiful opener entitled "Soft Circuit TV", an amazing jazzed out effort called "My Ass May Be Dumb" and the delightful closer named "Afta Midnight".

Tracklisting:

01. Soft Circuit TV
02. Persuasion
03. Emergence
04. Corina Star
05. Model Face
06. Browser
07. Sounds Like Sex
08. My Ass May Be Dumb
09. Afta Midnight

Have a listen and pre-order your copy here:

Related Links:

selection – january 2010

Kazuumi — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:00:41 +0000

DJ 3000 – Galactic Caravan The Remixes [Motech]

DJ 3000 gets the remix treatment from his friends and Motech players on this double disc set. The first package is an exploration of modern electronic grooves, which will reward home and club listeners–standouts include the moody Mr De remix of Seven Tribes Of Hoti, Esteban Adame’s graceful revision of Her Smile and a more subtle version of Shawn Rudiman’s Her Smile. The second package wins with stellar displays from Alexander Robotnick, Mark Flash and DJ Bone. Robotnick makes it big with his synth driven electroid sound, Flash goes a mammoth synth led workout and Bone does his epic ABM thang to Meloudic Landscapes.

Tracklisting:

Disc 1
- 01. Heritage (Deviant remix)
- 02. Seven Tribes Of Hoti (Mr De remix)
- 03. Her Smile (Esteban Adame remix)
- 04. Darjeeling Sun (Gary Martin remix)
- 05. Heritage (Nomadico aka DJ Dex remix)
- 06. Midnight Express (Ben Sims remix)
- 07. Coat Of Arms (Orlando Voorn remix)
- 08. Memory Almost Full (T.Linder remix)
- 09. Emotional Sequence (DJ Compufunk remix)
- 10. Penny For Your Thoughts (Dan Curtin remix)
- 11. Her Smile (Shawn Rudiman remix)
- 12. Memory Almost Full (O.N.O. remix)
Disc 2
- 01. Flamuri I Popullit (J.A.K.A.M Deep remix)
- 02. Darjeeling Sun (Rennie Foster remix)
- 03. Meridian (Mark Broom remix)
- 04. Coat Of Arms (Alexander Robotnick remix)
- 05. Her Smile (Mark Flash remix)
- 06. Flamuri I Popullit (Buscemi remix)
- 07. Darjeeling Sun (Matt Chester remix)
- 08. Meloudic Landscapes (DJ Bone remix)
- 09. Coat Of Arms (Subotika remix)
- 10. Yarewehear (Antennasia remix)
- 11. Memory Almost Full (Shawn Snell remix)

Related Links:

Fabrice Lig & Titonton Duvanté – That Connection [Fine Art Recordings]

Belgian techno prince Fabrice Lig teams up with Titonton Duvante for a subtle but deadly musical journey on London-based Fine Art. The original mix sees Duvanté weave Lig’s tones in between scintillating synths and delightful key work. Beanfield supply a gorgeous jazzied remix, where heavenward reaching strings do all the work.

Tracklisting:

A. That Connection
B. That Connection (Beanfield remix)

Get "That Connection" here:

Buy Ten from Juno Records for £6.80

Related Links:

Matt Chester – Outrider [11th Hour]

Whereas "Die For A Reason" is as subtle as he comes, "Outrider" is the sort of full on dancefloor assault that Matt Chester is expert at producing. Intergalactic synths, a scary bassline and tough beats do the work on the murderous effort.

Tracklisting:

01. Ghostwritten
02. Salination Plant
03. Reverse Evolution
04. Outrider

Get "Outrider" here:

Buy in MP3 format from Juno Download for £3.23

Related Links:

Sidearms – Humantics [Logos Recordings]

After the amazing original album, Humantics is back, remixed by Vince Watson. Armed with a magical bassline, melodious keys and glorious strings, Watson has created a trademark mix.

Tracklisting:

01. Humantics (Vince Watson remix)

Related Links:

Spirit Catcher – Sedona EP [Systematic]

Exponents of a deeper brand of future disco, Spirit Catcher bring their exquisite grooves Systematic. Sedona is a pleasurable tech-discoid winner, with heartfelt chords, slick percussion and sweet keys.

Tracklisting:

A1/01. Sedona
B1/02. Future Fools
B2/03. Forever And A Day

Get "Outrider" here:

Related Links:

selection – december 2009

Kazuumi — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:00:53 +0000

Five records I’ve been hammering for a while now, they never leave my record box.

DJ Bone – The Music Remixes [Subject Detroit]

DJ Bone’s Music, a music speech that produces as many questions as it does answers, gets the once-over from a number of fellow producers and the winning remixes are provided by Samuel L Session, Aaron-Carl and DJ Bone himself. DJ Bone’s remix shows the strength and depth of what he does, while Samuel L Session delivers an ace dancefloor banger and Aaron-Carl supplies a masterful mix with measured percussion, levitating synths and spirit-lifting strings.

Tracklisting:

A1. DJ Bone remix
A2. Trench’s Still Here & Buckwild remix
B1. Samuel L Session remix
B2. DJ 3000 Motech remix
C1. Rennie Foster’s No Lights, No Flights remix
C2. Santiago Salazar’s Seldom Seen remix
D1. Aaron-Carl remix
D2. Stephen Brown Just Soul edit
DJ Nasty’s Blaxploitaqtion remix
Mister X remix

Get "The Music Remixes" here:

Related Links:

Jolka – The Jolka Experience [Sect]

Croatian techno producer Luka Baumann has been serving up experimental beats since 2004 and here he shows his deeper side with this lovely effort on Sect Records. Inception takes its strength from a solid bassline and steady beats and lush chords while Arcus does the business courtesy of dubbed out chords. Covection is a brilliant chord driven workout and Dreamful produces an all over warm feeling, courtesy of sweet synths and a pulsing bassline.

Tracklisting:

A1. Inception
A2. Arcus
B1. Convection
B2. Dreamful

Get "The Jolka Experience" here:

Related Links:

Niko Marks – Voice Box Detroit [Subject Detroit]

Niko Marks drops an EP of swinging, soulful house efforts that hit home. The opener, "I Can’t Stop", is a hearty vocal house gem, while "All About Love" is an explosive winner. "Bring Back The Soul" is all evocative vocals and smart beats and "Technology" hits with groovy synth work and abrupt vocal samples.

Tracklisting:

A1. I Can’t Stop
A2. All About Love
B1. Bring Back The Soul
B2. Technology

Get "Voice Box Detroit" here:

Related Links:

Various – Union Sampler 1 [Union Match Music]

Compuphonic branches out on his own here, launching his Union Match imprint with this EP, which features maximal house, disco and techno grooves. Highlights include Fabrice Lig’s freaked out "My UFO" and booty shaking "Innerblaster", Compuphonic’s beautiful "Sequoïa" and Compuphonic & Spirit Catcher’s delightful "Aftertaste".

Tracklisting:

01. Fabrice Lig – Innerblaster
02. Kolombo & Ante Perry – Crazy
03/B2. Compuphonic – Sequoïa
04. Spirit Catcher & Compuphonic – Cleaver
05/A2. Fabrice Lig – My UFO (Unknown Fucking Oscillator)
06. Compuphonic – Placid Corporation (Spirit Catcher Deadline Mix)
07/A1. Compuphonic & Spirit Catcher – After Taste
08/B1. Ante Perry & Kolombo – Baby
09. Compuphonic – Placid Corporation
10. Ante Perry & Kolombo – Let’s Go

Get "Union Sampler 1" here:

Related Links:

www.unionmatchmusic.be

Various – W.A.R.M.T.H. presents Preservation: Past, Present & Future [Wallshaker Music]

Aaron-Carl’s WARMTH network brings a 14-track outing that marks the Preservation event in Detroit. Cuts of note include the intense "4 Types Of People", a sweet number entitled "Karen’s Groove", an oscillating string and bass driven "Intergalactic Funk" and Terrence Parker’s blissful "Hiding in Your Love". All in all, this is yet another fine display of Detroit techno and house music, which shows why the Motor City remains a well-respected electronic music powerhouse.

Tracklisting:

01. Aaron-Carl – W.A.R.M.T.H. Intro (feat. DJ Mourad & Jevon Justin)
02. Alton Miller – Seasons
03. Los Hermanos – De Las Cenizas
04. DJ Bone – Cultural Variance
05. Myles Serge – A Moment In Time
06. Scan 7 feat. Aaron-Carl- 4 Types Of People
07. Orlando Voorn – Face
08. Detroit People Mover – Dropping Things (Interlude)
09. Santiago Salazar – Your Club Went Hollywood
10. Trench – Karen’s Groove
11. DJ Nasty – Intergalactic Funk
12. Scan 7 – Tenacity
13. Terrence Parker feat. Coco Street – Hiding In Your Love (The Marvelous Light Vocal mix)
14. Gary Martin – Waiting On A Third Chance

Get "W.A.R.M.T.H. presents Preservation: Past, Present & Future" here:

Related Links:

Not to mention……

playlist/selection – september 2009

Kazuumi — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:30:58 +0000

(in no particular order)

5 essential stuff

Tribe – Rebirth [Community Projects/Planet E]

Wooaw woaw wooooaw. (What can I say ?)
Deetron – Zircon/Orange [Music Man]

I am a fan of everything Sam Geiser has done with Music Man, and I think this is the best thing he’s done to date. So simple but insistently brilliant.
Jeff Mills – The Drummer [Purpose Maker]

More Mills(art) loveliness.
Trish Van Eynde – Subject Belgium [Subject Detroit]

Fantastic funkiness, straight forward Subject Detroit music. Trish Van Eynde is on fire.
Silent Servant/Santiago Salazar – La Noche/La Minoria [Historia y Violencia]

Those 2 are as nice as always, I like what Historia y Violencia label is doing at the moment.

5 novelties (* all in promo status.)

Jolka – The Jolka Experience [Sect] / Davor O. – Transitional Objects Remixes [Matrix]

10/10 (The Jolka Experience). No need to say more… "Transitional Objects Remixes" is a simply awesome package of mixes. This is the best thing Matrix has done in a while.
Traxx – Faith [Nation]

Classic, great forward thinking house music. Jack your body !!
(A guy from D) – (A track on A-Side) [(An UK label)]
(I can’t tell you any details yet……) That D guy returns to an UK quality techno label with sweet, sweet techno stuff. This is what Detroit techno soul is all about.
Rennie Foster – Songs For Homeless Housers [Greta Cottage Workshops]

Foster goes house in his own fashion. ‘Butterfingers’ is a really amazing tune, just class production all the way.
Mick Welch – Morphological Construct EP [Elektrosouls]

Reminiscent of B12′s work, great melodic stabby winner on new Crawley-based label to definitely look out for.

5 oldies

69 – 4 Jazz Funk Classics [Planet E]

The first record I ever bought – back when I was 14 years old. I must have listened to this stuff a thousand times back then. ‘Ladies & Gentlemen’ sounded like nothing else I had heard before and I still love it. C² always makes my day.
69 – Lite Music [Planet E]
69 – Sound On Sound [Planet E]
69 – Pungtang [Planet E]
The Detroit Experiment – The Detroit Experiment [Planet E]

playlist/selection – july 2009

Kazuumi — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:00:59 +0000

I haven’t been updating regularly, but I hope you don’t mind my slow pace. Thank you for reading.

(in no particular order)
5 novelties
- Lee Holman – Back In The Day (CY’s Old School Mix) [GodWrk/White Label] / Rennie Foster – GTC (Claude Young remix) [White Label]
  Claude Young returns with more beautiful and classy remixes. He’s getting better and better and we need more producers like him.
- Erica LaFay – Rain (Special Vinyl Only Edition) [Wallshaker Music]
  
  Definitely a classic release of Detroit music – Motown techno-house-soul fusion.
- Polar Pair ft. Atlantis – This Is What Happens (Mark Flash remix) [Botanika]
  
  Fucking wicked. Mark Flash does a tight but funky as hell makeover. This is a full on dancefloor with a spoken vocal from Atlantis.
- Matt Chester – Die For A Reason EP [11th Hour]
  
  More deep goodness from Matt Chester, big big Detroit business.
- Various – The Lost Tribe Of Techno [Subject Detroit]
  
  Excellent collection of authentic Motor City machine music. Highly recommended.
5 oldies
- Slam – Positive Education (Original Re-master) [Soma]
  Soma re-release Slam’s classic Positive Education with remixes by Fergie and Octogen, but I still loooove the original.
- Technasia – Future Mix [Technasia]
- Solid Gold Playaz – Alone My Life Underground [Kanzleramt]
- Dopplereffekt – Gesamtkunstwerk [Victoriaville]
- Round One to Round Five – 1993-99 Main Street Records [Main Street Records]

Last but not least, I switched to Facebook from MySpace.

playlist/selection – april 2009

Kazuumi — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:00:31 +0000

(in no particular order)
Jeff Mills – The Good Robot [Axis]

Classic artist, classic label, classic record.
Laurent Garnier – Gnanmankoudji [PIAS]

Fantastic. I have been playing ‘Original Broken-Afro Mix’ for a while now and just adore the track !
Ican – El Quinto EP [Ican Productions]

An absolutely awesome record, very original and super cool.
Vince Watson – My Desire [Planet E]

Beautiful work as always from Vince Watson.
Rolando – The Afterlife EP [Saved Records]

For me definitely the finest Rolando work since the Aztec Mystic releases – ‘The Afterlife’, a very classy Detroit shit.
DJ Bone – Encounter 2 [Bastardo Electrico]
DJ Bone returns with slammin’ Encounter stuff. Thanks to Jamie Behan for making this happen.
Santiago Salazar – Arcade [Macro Recordings]

Another S² gem – once again deepness and darkness. Stefan Goldmann does a fine job too, a gorgeous piece of music.
Stefan Goldmann – Art Of Sorrow [Victoriaville]

Biiiiiiig, fucking massive. Goldmann did it again.
Dactilar – Phonograph EP [Organica Music Labworks]

Sounds very Detroit/Sheffield inspired. Very good indeed.
Mark Broom & Mihalis Safras – Jelle [Soma]

Good as always from these two great producers – Mark and Mihalis are always consistent.

selection january 2009

Kazuumi — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 07:00:33 +0000

Fabrice Lig – Cosmic Bootey [MVSICA]

MVSICA, Fine Art’ sister label, kicks off with yet another single from Fabrice Lig. Fabrice takes off into a new direction – ‘Cosmic Booty’ is an excellent Fabrice Lig’ interpretation of funky hip-hop with a twist of Detroit-influenced soul. Fucking good and hot shit. He is a man that really knows how to keep things funky.

Tracklisting:

01. Cosmic Bootey
02. Cosmic Bootey (Steve Kotey’s Disko)

Related Links:

Samoil Radinski – Sources [Logos Recordings]

Very good follow up to the previous single Raindow. For Sources EP he’s beefed up the production on the beautiful deep melodic ‘Izvor’ things – also included on this EP is the all new and deeply growing ‘Sonce’ and chill out ‘Ex’. Another very good release on Logos Recordings.

Tracklisting:

01. Izvor 7
02. Izvor 8
03. Izvor 3
04. Sonce
05. Ex

Related Links:

timeless classic november 2008

Kazuumi — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:00:39 +0000

Francesco Tristano – Auricle / Bio / On [Infiné]

A real classic techno record in recent history. (Need I say more ?)

Tracklisting:

01. Auricle / Bio / On 1
02. Auricle / Bio / On 2

Get "Auricle / Bio / On" here:

Related Links:

selection november 2008

Kazuumi — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:00:23 +0000

Subotic – Timeless EP [NightVision]

Superb – a real return to form for NightVision. ‘Timeless’ is a full-on dancefloor destroyer that just keeps building and building. A kind of soul / deepness between 80′s and ’08. ‘Samurai’ has a very nice deep, dark and moody vibe going on. There’s a great Orlando Voorn remix of ‘Samurai’ on the flip – Quality !

Tracklisting:

A1. Timeless
A2. Samurai
B. Samurai (Orlando Voorn remix)

Get "Timeless EP" here:

Related Links: