You can stream or download through Soundcloud as usual :

The tracklisting is the following :

1)    Dub echoes : Soul Jazz documentary with Lee Scratch Perry, Adrian Sherwood & Kode9
2)    Synthetic dialog : Zendub
3)    Beat pharmacy : Assassination of the mind feat. Ras B
4)    Deadbeat & Paul St-Hilaire : Rise again
5)    Fingers in the noise feat. Genoveva : Little Kosmos in my head
6)    Yagya : Snowflake 5
7)    Evan Marc & Steve Hillage : Intention craft
8)    Porter Ricks : Port Gentil
9)    Oliver Deutschmann : Gasolinum
10)    Matthias Kaden : Kawaba (DJ Koze’s kosi-san Remix)
11)    Jichael Mackson : The gras is always greener
12)    Jichael Mackson : Venga (Lo que venga)
13)    Model 500 : Starlight (Echospace unreleased mix C1)
14)    Trentemoller : Nightwalker Vinyl version
15)    Deepchord : Vantage isle ( Spacecho dub II extended mix)
16)    Jokke Ilsoe : Feeling good (Trentemoller remix)
17)    Booka Shade : Vertigo (Henrik Schwarz remix)
18)    Quantec : Chaindata
19)    SEN : We now understand
20)    D_e : Rainy summer dub
21)    Pendle Coven : Chord calculus
22)    Rythm & Sound with Cornell Campbell : King in my empire
23)    Pantha du Prince : Saturn strobe
24)    Trentemoller : The very last resort
25)    Lulu Rouge : Ninna nanna
26)    Dubblestandart meets David Lynch & Lee Scratch Perry :
Chrome optimism (Dubblestandart Dub mix)
27)    Business man : Dubby games

Even though it’s great to have all these tools available in to produce music such as AbletonLive, Reason, Cubase and the tools to mix music such as Ableton, Traktor Pro, I will sound like a purist but the end still does not justify the means. The method matters less than the ideas, or your talent as a DJ, a producer and remixer. Quite frequently, I hear these mixes who starts straight up with a beat from the first measure : Deep or tech house (two genres with lots of quality records but are slowly painting themselves in a corner too) it goes all the way, from 75 minutes to 124 BPM and it’s perfectly mixed, but so perfect that it is also boring as hell…Ever had this girlfriend that was blonde with blue eyes but also so tedious that you would get bored ? This is some of my feelings towards dance music altogether and the commercially released mixes…But then, something happened in 2011 : through Soundcloud, I have discovered massive loads of incredibly talented producers that perhaps wouldn’t exist without these softwares or wouldn’t have been able to compose or create mixes because turntables and vinyls were damn expansive back in the days. This in my opinion, the good side of the now more accessible electronic music world : I hear people like Space dimension controller, massively talented, who’s like 22 or 23 years and I wonder if we haven’t entered a new age of electronic music. The dark side ? Never in our lifetime have we been overflowed with music…So many mixes, on Soundcloud, on Mixcloud. So many record producers that it takes a LOT of time and energy to decipher all the good stuff. In between, everyone tends to try and improvise themselves as DJ’s and sometime it just doesn’t cut up.

I will go out and sound like an old-school kinda of guy but despite the fact that the music is now more quickly available and free (although I still like to shop at Juno) but I miss the record stores with loads of vinyls. I miss the gathering of DJ’s and record collector (I consider myself more of this category), the smell of the used Warp record, and the sleeves. The excitement of bringing a new record home such as it was with LFO in 1991. So I went against the grain in 2011 and bought myself a Turntable : since everyone buys a Laptop and Traktor Pro I figured there’s nothing innovative about that. Let’s do the opposite and buy a nice digital turntable and vinyls. Yes, it’s damn expansive. I paid 200 $ for Geoggadi ! But having E2 E4 on Mp3 bears no meaning whilst holding its transparent vinyl has value, rarity and above all, a special aura, that will never be outdated. I won’t say that Laptop DJ’s are worthless and add like Theo Parrish that it is borderline too easy because I think the physical dimension of the records (vinyl especially for record collectors) will co-exist with the laptop DJ’s even if the latter is now more convenient and popular. Guys like Agoria and Joris Voorn are using these tools so accurately, it would be insane not to acknowledge their talent and the way they master those tools, just as it would be foolish not seeing the greatness of turntablist of techno such as Jeff Mills his art and still playing vinyls.

I think there’s advantages to both ways but having started on vinyl and cds I can say that I have learned how to build a momentum in a set, an artform that is starting to get lost. Speaking of lost artforms, where is as the art of creating a thematic album in 2011 ? It is slowly starting to fade away. Where’s todays DJ Shadow’s Entroducing ? Tricky’s Maxinquaye ? Plastikman’s Consumed ? I ain’t sad about the death of the CD but sad about the death of the album as a concept.

In the end, I will finish with this taught :

Convenience and commercialism kill artistic movements. It has happened with hip-hop, now is it our turn ? Those of you under 25, do yourselves a favor and at least learn how to beat match on 1200′s. You owe it to yourselves if you really love this music/culture. Also, please do some research and learn some history. You owe it to the movement as well. If not it will die with my generation because those who have no idea of the history will be unable to advance the culture. 65-75% of what’s available to the average clubber is not it. The global scene is a watered down money/glory based adulteration of something beautiful and pure. This is what we vinyl “purists” are talking about. Stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything.

Thanks for reading.

Jeff.

Top 5 albums :

1)    Legowelt : The teac life : U can fly away from the hood

2)    Com truise : Galactic melt : Glawio

3)    Nicolas Jaar : Space is only noise : Space is only noise

4)    Mick Chillage : Faxology

5)    SEN : Sensory emotive network : Within reach

Top 10 Singles :

1)    Scuba : Adrenalin :

2)    Azealia Banks : 212 :

3)    Space dimension controller : Flight of the escape vessels :

4)    Nicolas Jaar : Space is only noise :

5)    Jichael Mackson : Venga (Lo que venga) :

6)    Fingers in the noise featuring Genoveva – Little Kosmos In My Head :

7)    Radiohead : Everything in its right place (Andi Muller mix) :

8)    Steve Miller Band : Fly like an eagle (VMM remix) :

9)    Scarlet Monk : Ring (Krts remix) :

10)     Ancient astronauts : Lost in Marrakesh Pathaans Mirage Mix :

5 mixes on Soundcloud :

1)    DJ Tamaris tribute to Boards of Canada
2)    Joris Voorn’s 15 years of Rejected behind the decks mix

3)    Piemans Classic Warp records mix

Piemans Classic Warp records Mix by Simon Pieman

4)    Baumann electronics : DJ set live @t GESSAMÍ de St. Esteve de Palautorder

5)    DJ Hudson: Wild Bunch Sound – Massive Attack Samples (1988-98)

Reissue of the year : LFO : Frequencies by Dubplate & Mastering

You can listen to it or download it at my soundcloud page…

Tracklisting :
1) Intro : Krautrock, the rebirth of Germany / BBC
2) Neu! : Hallogallo / Neu! (1972)
3) Neu! : Seeland / Neu! ’75 (1975)
4) Manuel Göttsching, Ash Ra Tempel : Echo waves /Inventions For Electric Guitar (1975)
5) Klaus Schulze : Electric love affair / La vie électronique (1974)
6) ibliss : High life / Supernova (1972)
7) Kraftwerk : Ruckzuck : Kraftwerk (1970)
8 ) Amon Düül II : Wie Der Wind Am Ende Einer Strasse / Wolf city (1972)
9) Can : Aumgn / Tago mago (1971)
10) Michael Bundt : La chasse aux microbes / Just landed cosmic kid (1977)
11) Tangerine Dream : Invisible limits / Stratosfear (1976)
12) Ashra : Deep distance / New age of Earth (1976)
13) Ashra : Ocean of tenderness / New age of Earth (1976)
14) Harmonia : Sehr kosmisch / Musik von Harmonia (1974)
15) EMAK (Elektronische Musik aus Köln) : Filmmusik / EMAK 1 (1982)
16) Excerpt from Interview with Ralf & Florian
17) Kraftwerk : Autobahn / Autobahn (1974)
18) Kraftwerk : Komentenmelodie 1 / Autobahn (1974)
19) Manuel Göttsching : E2 E4 / E2 E4 (1981)
20) Final words on Krautrock…

As usual you can download it at my page…

DOWN WITH THE TEMPO 4

You can also download the mix at this address.

First I planned a playlist : having to choose between 50 tracks was hard, I had to choose between 3-4-5 versions of the same track quite often : live, remixed, longer, shorter version…How many versions of Blue room…Geez, at some point I stopped the mix even though I had done 75 % of it live, in one take as I was highly prepared. But then…shit happens ! The file was too long ! : ( So I had to unfortunately delete The Orb’s remix of Radio Babylon and Star 6,7.8.9…Finally after edits of edits, 3h13 came out…Starting with a quote from the Sleeper movie of which The Orb takes his name, then delving into pure lush ambient, dubby and downtempo electronica and ending up with housy ambient à la Paterson…It’s not linear as a beat matched set, instead it’s deconstructed the same way Orb’s track are…With funny quotes, snippets and samples from their live sets ! Starting things off with a quote from the movie Sleeper by Woody Allen in which the machine called Orb gives sexual pleasure to anyone in contact with it…I suspect Paterson used it as a metaphor as to claim the orb’s music is quite simply orgasmic

Here is it, as usual you can stream it or download it…at my Soundcloud page.

Have fun !

1) mOoLy – Plastix For Félix 18.09.2008 (Planeta Modular Mix)

4 hours of Plastikman wouldn’t it be too long ! Well it depends. The I :pods all have a pause button (you won’t need the stop button for this one beleive me) so you can have a piss mate. This mix is simply breathtaking. It’s the most cohesive and accurate thematic mix I’ve ever heard. Any Richie Hawtin is included here be it from Sheet one, to Artifakts, Consumed, The F.U.S.E. project or just some of the tracks recently released on Arkives. Apparently Mooly is located in Paris – France. You can find more infos about them here.

Full tracklisting here.

2) THC – Trentemoller – Tribute mix

An interesting DJ set that pays hommage to Trentemoller, my only complain is that it misses some its most enduring classics and it could’ve been longer as I am never tired to listen to its old EP’s especially those on Poker Flat, around 2005 to 2007 and his dazzling remixes of Royksopp : What else is there and Moby’s go. Look to Pete Tong’s Essential mix in a two parts released called The Polar mix is you want something more thorough. Nonetheless a solid endeavor with a mindblowing finish à la Window licker vs Trentemoller.

Tracklisting here.

3) Strickly Aphex by VLR

Fans of Aphex Twin beware ! This huge, massive and mamooth collection of tracks by the legendary Richard D. James. A living legend often dubbed the Mozart of techno, it spawns tracks from 1989 to 2010. A 3 hours mix…that could’ve last 5 ! Starting funny with the hip-hop quote of Window licker then it delves into ambient territory with tracks from SAW and SAW 2, but it is absolutely complete and accurate. The bloody essential remix of Seefeel : Time to find me is included here. As well as tracks from Polygon window, Caustic window, and his monikers GAK and AFX. Lots of remixes also such as The Gentle People – Journey. VLR is from Norway an is obviously a massive fan of Aphex twin, Big shouts to this incredible journey. Bloody essential and massive.

Tracklisting here.

4) Warp Bleep Era Tribute Mix

Here’s one for the old school fans of bleep techno that were there in the 1990’s. It has all those classics from Sweet exorcist, to Nightmares on wax, LFO, The forgemasters, Tuff little unit, and much more. Sheffield Bleep has put together some of the finest mixes you will hear, whether it be a Warp AI re-interpretation or his SCR tribute mix. This particular mix was an RA mix of the day. Anyone local to Sheffield would remember SCR, the radio station that launched a number of Sheffields finest electronic spinners. On this mix, Mr Bleep selected a number of his favourite tunes from the era 20 years ago. Clearly a must for acid house and early UK techno. When he plays Sheffield Bleep pulls on all these influences and more, expect to move your feet and mind in equal measure. Sheffield bleep is located in Sheffield, what else would you have expected ? lol.

Warp Bleep Era Tribute Mix by Sheffield Bleep

5) The Music of Massive Attack (1988 – 98)

Awesome rare grooves mix of the samples used by Massive attack by DJ Hudson from the UK. Not only a gentleman but an incredible record collector with an uncanny ear for the funky sounds, as you can see on his blog. Quote from Hudson :This is a collection of records sampled or covered by Massive Attack from their first three LPs and the singles of that time. Shout out to Tony Hosey who used to bring all the Massive Attack records round to my house way back when. And shouts to Hudson for the funkiest I’ve ever in a long time. From Tom Scott, to Billy Cobham, Isaac Hayes, James Brown, William de Vaughn, Lowrell, Blackbyrds and The Emotions, everything is there.An essential musical history. Because if you don’t know the past how can you understand the present ?  

Tracklisting here.

Link to download it

6) Kraftwerked

Tim Zawanda is from Chicago USA, more known for their hatred of disco and their love for the Chicago Cubs than electro-pop from Germany. A DJ and a record collector, his mix of all the Kratwerk’s classics is not the most accurate technically but nevertheless quite fun to listen to. Recorded and mixed live, 1 take, no loops, no effects it was created for personal listening and to share amongst others, not meant to be an exhaustive compilation, just a selection of his personal favorites. As Tim mentions on his Soundcloud page. A great tribute DJ Mix ! Probably the best mix of Kraftwerk’s music I have heard … Kraftwerk role in influencing modern music is just huge from the Detroit’s techno scene or contemporary modern pop music to the hip hop. But that is just and understatement. Listen to the mix for further proof.

Tracklisting here.

7) A Boards of Canada tribute mix by DJ Tamaris

A DJ tribute mix of the ever impressive Scottish band Boards of Canada. Now if you follow electronic music and music at all you probably already know BOC, they just simply make magical music, awe inspiring melodies, beautiful soundscapes and lush ambient atmospheres. So I won’t go out and comment their music because it’s been done day in and day out. I’ll just comment the mix that Tamaris made because it’s a beautiful piece of electronic music, and it’s a very pleasant mix to listen to. First, it starts off with nice lullabies such as In a beautiful place out in a country, and then the mix just keeps getting better, with a seamless array of IDM songs from the BOC catalogue. Pretty much every BOC classics is featured in there either from Music has the right to children, the Hi-scores EP or Geoggadi, their sophomore album. It seems Tamaris has used Ableton Live in order to create the mix and I think his ear for music, is very uncanny and accurate. I don’t think mixing IDM is an easy task, as the BPM’s are often in an altogether different zone and the songs not always in the same musical key. The way Tamaris has arranged that mix makes it very pleasant to the ears, as he keeps the loop flowing just enough to maintain interest from the listener. So..it’s just the perfect companion to an airplane trip or a sunday afternoon. IDM DJ and producer from France, Tamaris is currently showcasing a mix of seminal Detroit techno outfit Underground resistance on his Soundcloud page. Check his MySpace for more. You can download the mix here.

8 ) Baumann electronics : DJ set live @t GESSAMÍ de St. Esteve de Palautordera

From ambient to dub, deep techno, minimal and synth effects this mix has it all. I am very picky when it comes to mixing and listening to ambient and space music because too often, the people who try to mix ambient indulges into and anxiolitic mood that is borderline sleepy. There is a difference between ambient, à la Brian Eno and Tetsu Inoue and musak. But sometimes, when a DJ’s is mixing less than dynamic, you can loose focus and delve into musak. That is far from the case with this mix from Jep Cuesta who hails from Catalan. Starting with an interview from HAL-9000 from 2001 space odyssey, it sets the mood for some dark ambient to start things off. Then, heaven starts growing inside your heart : a Lulu rouge remix of Trentemoller’s Miss you. Some krautrock / space vibes with Tangerine dream and Roedelius, plus the dubby techno of Dub taylor and CV313, Pablo Bolivar, Fluxxion (who used to be on Chain reaction) Quantec and then Trentemoller again. Rarely will I sit through a mix and wonder : how did he mix these two ? But such was the case with this mix from Baumann electronics. And the guy is such a great person ! Thumbs up Jep !

Links to listen and download.

9) Detroit by nightmp3 02 by Heinzmannfranck

This one I found by random by browsing to some friends of friends on Soundcloud. It’s a mix of Detroit techno or Detroit inspired tracks such as Slam : White shadows. Brilliant mix, with nice vibes and the perfect soundtrack to a Friday 2 am. Heinzmannfranck comes from Saint-Raphaël France…A far cry from Detroit but just a click away from an interesting journey from the mind of the true creators of Techno music.

10) Headphone commute : Oceanica

You’ve probably heard of HC great webzine that you can visit here. From their website : Sun… Ocean… Calmness… Being in a meditative state of mind, attempting to clear out all thoughts and rid myself of negative energy, I put together a mix to compliment my breathing. As the water sways in waves, so does my breath, and so does everything else. Rotations… Cycles… Beginnings… This ambient mix with a touch of dub is meant to relax your mind and take the stress away. Use it as a simple tool to bring peace into your restless soul…

Links to listen and download.

1) Can you tell us how you and Mark Bell, while studying at Leeds met ?

We first met back in 1984 at a breakdance contest in Leeds…at the time though we were not friends as we were in rival breakdance crewsand we lived in different parts of the city…It was not until later in 1989 at a photography course in leeds that we met up again and became friends.

2) I started following the scene in around 1992-93 but was too young for the bleep house scene and the acid house frenzy. How was the scene, the music, the DJ’s, the record stores, and the industry back then in 1990 in the UK ?

The scene back then was fantastic as everything was fresh and new. By that I mean everything was new : groups, artists, record labels, even new parties. And new clubs as well. Above all :  new technology, keyboards, computers and drum machines.

3)  Musically speaking would you say you and Mark were mostly influenced by Detroit techno or electro from the 80’s ? Or, Phuture, Adonis & Kraftwerk, as mention in the intro of Frequencies  ?

At the early age of 8 I began to listen to heavy metal music. Then, by the age of 12 I was into electro and early funk. Finally, in 1986 I got in early house music followed by acid house. So it’s fair to say we were influenced by a lot of things.

4) Frequencies has sold over 100 000 copies and your first record went on to the top 10 in the UK Charts. You were then signed on Tommy Boy..! A British techno band signed to a hip-hop record label who liscenced Afrika Bambaataa’s seminal Planet rock. Wasn’t that weird ?

Yes, getting signed by Tommy boy was fantastic..It was a like a dream  come true also to remix Planet rock..I mean this was our all time hero record from the breakdance days.

5) How important was an independant record label like Warp records in the developpement of your career and those a like ?

Warp were very important at the start as they supported us and many others in the right direction but it was not until 1994 that they lost their direction for a while.

6)  I have this theory : you haven’t fully heard Frequencies idiosyncratic propreties (and especially those low frequencies) until you own it on vinyl. Agree or disagree ?

Yes frequencies was made to be played out on vinyl, you’re right !

7) Since LFO has split what have you been up to ?

Doing my own stuff as G-man.

8)  Why did you move to Germany in 1999 ?

I was in germany  most of my time as I was playing a lot of live gigs over here in the last few years and I met a girl and moved over to Wiesbaden to live with her.

9)  Last year, your music as G-man was used for the X-Box 360 game table tennis, and the TV ad for it. I guess it’s understatement to say that you must feel good about this ? Not to mention the LFO music for the VW Golf 30 years in the making…

Yes, it’s always good to have your music out on different formats  : the xbox 360 game was like a dream come true for me as I’ve always been a big fan of computer games since the age of 7. (The music in the VW Golf add is in fact Simon from Sydney from the Frequencies album here remixed by Aphex Twin)

10)  For those not quite aware of your EP’s or albums as G-man what would you recommend them ?

Check out ..Gez Varley “Bayjou paradis” on Force-inc records (My personnal favorite the EP : Quo vardis used in the XBox game)

L.F.O. : LF.O. (Leeds Warehouse mix) / Warp records 1991

My review of L.F.O. : Frequencies. Formed 1988 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom with members: Mark Bell, Gez Varley (1988-96) LFO (Low Frequency Oscillation), named after the Low Frequency Oscillator component of synthesizers, were pioneers of the Sheffield “bleep techno” sound in the UK at the start of the 1990′s and are best known for the early self-titled techno anthem “LFO”. Frequencies, their debut album released in 1991, 20 years ago, is one of the most tremendous electronic albums ever made.As of today, it still sounds fresh, unique, and unbelievable : just hear “L.F.O.” for churning speaker-erupting bass wedded to sharp beats and mind-blowing chirps. “We Are Back” similarly explodes with distortion (or is it just so loud that mere home speakers cannot handle it?) and rapidly expanding synths. For that matter, “Love is the Message”, “Mentok 1″, and just about every other track on the album are classics too. Quite honestly, THIS is where 90′s-era electronic music starts, and if history and influence are any guide, just may be where the music ends too. N.B. : This quintessential album gets repressed on vinyl on november the 11th. The news here. The guys who remastered it here.