Ryan Raddon came up in Chi-town on a steady diet of Frankie Knuckles, and survived the barren musical desert of Utah to roll into the Bay Area as Kaskade. His debut album, It’s You’t’s Me, made a large landing, but Raddon’s not too busy to play with the OMies for San Francisco Sessions. Subtitled Soundtrack to the Soul, his mix includes 14 heretofore unreleased gems, notably the title track (showcasing soul vox master Anthony Green); “Empty Streets,” which features the spooky warbling of Becky Williams; and the Crump Daddy Club Mix of Harrison Crump’s “I Need Your Love.” Groove Junkies and Audiowhore also chip in, and Joslyn lends mighty vocals to Kaskade’s own “It’s You’t’s Me (More Vox Mix)” and “In This Life.” If you’re searching for a smoothed-out take on the San Francisco sound, this one’s for you.
Dub Pistols Six Million Ways To Live
Dub Pistols is the alias of London-based Barry Ashworth, who absorbed the effects of the Clash, the Specials, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, and Leftfield and yet managed individuality to some success with albums like Point Blank. 9/11 scuttled the follow-up, so he regrouped and began anew with contributions from Terry Hall (the Specials, Fun Boy 3), Horace Andy from Massive Attack, and NYC’s Sight Beyond Light posse. The first effort was, according to Ashworth, fertilizer. Then he hooked up with Cali Agents’ MC Planet Asia and a sound was found. On the optimistic Six Million Ways to Live, punk and funk duke it out with swipes of dub and ska. No new ground is disturbed, but 6M is feisty and fun and plays nicely with others.
Paris Sonic Jihad
More than just a comeback album, Sonic Jihad serves notice that the hip-hop resistance to the right wing coup is officially on. It’s been a long time since P-Dog’s gruff growls and Casio basslines last laced our ears, and they’re more relevant than ever in this time of FCC cop-outs, corrupt corporate agendas and unilateral government terrorism both home and abroad. This is not an album for the weak or the meek, and while politics are never far from Paris’s thoughts, he speaks in a language everybody can understand-even your thugged-out homie Jo Jo, who might be surprised to find he can ride to F”ield Nigga Boogie” as easily as Chingy’s “Right Thurr.”
Lee-Cabrera Special 2003
New York house crooner Sir James could do a lot worse than having London’s Albert Cabrera and Steven Lee update his 1993 paean to treating the ladies right. Lee and Cabrera turn up the echo chamber and boost the bassline to drive James’s “chatty candlelight/wine on ice/whatever ya like” chorus into space. On the flip, Gambafreaks takes a grittier, ’80s-funk approach to their remix, leaving the option up to you, Mr. and Ms. DJ.
Circuit Breaker I Tell the DJ!
Berlin’s Joachem Breaker provides further proof that he’s that city’s undisputed champion breaks producer. Structurally, his “I Tell the DJ!” is a no-nonsense, mega-funky, back-to-basics genre jam with a powerfully simple four-note bassline and dancefloor-pleasing dubwise vocal samples. On the flip, Bristol bad boys 30 Hz crank out an equally thumping electro remix that rounds out this definite burner.
Anders Ilar Hydro
As Marco “T.Raumschmiere” Haas and Sascha “Apparat” Ring shoot to underground stardom, they’re thankfully keeping the coast clear for their charmingly named label to keep pumping out quality understated experimental tech. Anders Ilar’s Coil-ish “Hydro” brings barking percussion up against sheets of icy ambient wash, while the minimal and suboceanic “Moth” buoys some choir-ish sheen and the pounding “Mouthdry” brings the tempo down but the subtle intensity to industrial proportions. Pure power.
Warmdesk Guero Variations Variations
Texas producer William Stelman’s remix follow-up to his Guero Variations album offers the unrevealed and the reinterpreted. The 12 contains a different mix of one of the more thumping tracks from the CD, as well as an unreleased variation of vocoded, musique concrete-ish techno. Stephan Mathieu takes his mix in an experimental direction, while Ulrich Troyer’s mix has a constant dubby, clicky groove with sounds from the kitchen. Selman retains the dubby textures, deep bass and found-sound samples in his minimal techno production, and merges them with smooth chords and rhythmic grooves.
Canson Holiday Plug In
Amar Derradj brings us some beautiful minimal/microhouse with this EP on Switzerland’s premiere Morris Audio label. The A-side starts off with the lovely “Streetbeat,” full of smooth, warm tones, deep basslines and subtle glitches. “Selberg” picks up the pace a bit with a slightly unusual cord structure and solid bounce. On the flipside, “Itoma” has a sassy swing about it, and just screams out for people to shake it. Canson then wraps things up with the dancey yet moody little “Flause,” rounding out a very sexy, fun EP.
Bruno Pronsato Read_Me
Bruno Pronsato puts together some smooth yet glitchy microhouse here, bringing snippets of daily life into his dancefloor-leaning production for all to hear. On the flip, the similarly dance friendly “Silver City” offers deep basslines and chopped-in, dubbed-out vocals. Eight Frozen Modules gets in on the remix and really cuts up the track, sending it into tons of unpredictable, whirling shards.
The Braxtons The Boss (Masters At Work RMX)
First of all, this song is pure love. No matter what you doin’, you gotta get your ass on the dancefloor. And it’s one of those records that as a DJ I play to the end. It’s one of my all time favorites. Time for someone to remake it…maybe me!
