Ipman – Depatterning

Ipman’s Depatterning was waiting in the playlist for some time. Finally got round to it and I really liked it. Old school sounds in unusual ways and sequences.

Rave sounds, jungle stuff , nice edits and cool grooves. A couple of party tracks and some experimental stuff. It’s a compact album which maybe could use 2 more tracks.

All in all just my kind of music. Favourite tracks : Gravity Dub and IPA. But all the tracks are quality. Must listen.

Funkstörung – Funkstörung

In the 90’s I discovered Funkstörung , the first track was a remix for Wu tang clan, which I thought was amazing. Turns out they made a whole lot of excellent remixes.
One of my all time favourite tracks being A Guy Called Gerald – Humanity (Funkstörung Remiks).

It was Funkstörung and acts like Squarepusher and Aphex Twin who got me into experimental electronic music. Then Plaid, Boards of Canada and Autechre followed. And many more,
I was happy to hear Funkstörung made another album. On Monkeytown records this time.

I might not be as forward thinking as it once was, and it’s a bit more laidback to my ears. But it’s a very nice album. Lot’s of subtle background sounds but less dense then before. Loads of room between the sounds which is always nice. Favourite tracks are Drown in Time, Killers and All the things. Solid release and hopefully they will not wait another 10 years for another album.

Northern Monkeys by William Routledge

William Routledge has done an excellent job with his book Northern Monkeys. If your into music, fashion and the evolution of youth culture this is your book.

It’s about the different styles in music , fashion and trends that swept across Great Britain from the 60’s right up to the 90’s. And the underlining cement is the Football terrace. But it’s not a hooligan memoir. So everybody who’s expecting a season by season tail of violence better leave this book alone.

It’s way better than that. The story’s will ring a familiar bell with everyone who has lived in those days and discovering new music , cloths or went to their first rave or concert. Remember this was the pre internet era, when you someone had new music from let’s say New York or Belgium even , you couldn’t look the artist or label up and place an order in a web shop. If you were lucky, you got the phone number or location of the record store and you could travel there. If it was in a city nearby that is.

Or if you saw some new brand polo or jacket you had figure out where they got it. And most didn’t tell you when asked.

This discovery, search and excitement of the adventures surrounding all these encounters told by various people are a lot of fun to read. I have had the book for a while now but once I started I couldn’t put it done.

This is truly one of the best books on British youth cultures I have read so far. Hats off to William for making this book happen.

northernmonkeyswr

Richie Hawtin – From my mind to yours

One of my favourite artists has released a new album, from my mind to yours, unfortunately I missed the vinyl edition as it’s sold out already. Too bad , now there’s a hole in my collection. But it’s also on Spotify.

I mostly like his Plastikman and old plus 8 releases , which is exactly what he is up to on this album.
He uses a lot of his old aliases and is back to the old school way of working, drum machines and 303’s. And the odd Synth here and there.

The album starts with No way back which is a very cool acid track which builds up and is pretty intense. Other favorites are Close, Purrkusiv, Systematic , Creepr (love the kick) and Grindr.
All tracks are very good and I hope He will continue this , In the mean time I will have to search for the 7 12 inch records. Or the CD. For now it’s on repeat on Spotify.

Kraftwerk

One of my first LP’s I bought was Kraftwerk’s Radio-Aktivität. Basically because the art intrigued me. The second hand shop didn’t have a record player to check it out. It was very cheap 0,50 cent so I could the risk.

Once home I put it on , I thought it was very strange music. It took a couple of months before I put it on again. Somewhat louder this time and for some reason the music hit me. And stayed with me.

Years later I had the change to see them at the Evoluon in Eindhoven. Which was one of the best concerts I have been to so far. The sound was excellent and the building is something very cool as well. It is shaped like an UFO.

Lucky me. Lately I have been seeing a lot of Kraftwerk around me. There was a documentary on Belgian TV which was very nice. And last week when I was vinyl hunting and couldn’t find anything to my liking I spotted a cheap and mint Trans Europa Express around in the CD part of the shop. Which I didn’t own yet. Made my day.

A lot of music I bought when I was younger hasn’t stood up to the test of time as well, but Kraftwerk and some other excellent choices (which were all pure luck) did. And I think It will forever.

Well, just wanted to write a bit about Kraftwerk. As it once again made my day by listening to Trans Europa Express.

Roots Manuva – Bleeds

British hip hop legend Roots Manuva has a new album, Bleeds. I always liked his music a lot. Found out about his new album after reading Future music.

Today I listened to it on Spotify, which is great for checking out new stuff. But I prefer the psychical product.

The album starts with Hard bastards, excellent start with slow beats and cool feel. Crying is a haunting track which I really liked.

Other favourites are Stepping hard , Me up and One thing. Listen to this, and don’t forget his older work, which is very good as well.

Floating Points -Elaenia

To be honest, I never heard any music by Floating Points before, just a very cool mix I found on Soundcloud. Shortly after I read an interview with Sam Shepherd the man behind Floating Points.

Which has a part about how to make tea which is exactly what I always explain to people. So he is a perfectionist , with an impressive set of music stuff.

So I had to check out his music, which is very remarkable indeed. I find it very relaxing music.

On first listening my favourite track was Silhouettes (I,II,III) , but now my favourites are Thin Air and For Marmish.

All tracks are excellent by the way, and there is much to discover upon listening to the tracks over and over again. So you’ll never be bored. Be sure to have a listen. Hopefully Sam will make a lot more music in the future!

Amp Fiddler – Afro strut

Ampfiddlerafrostrut

Amp Fiddler, an artist I always meant to check out , but somehow never did. Late to the party as always. I found the album Afro strut for a few Euro. Which is always good, inexpensive vinyl.
In a time where vinyl is king again. Where was everyone the last 20 or so years?

Anyway back to the music, I really like this album. It sounds great and has an excellent vibe. Some of my favourite tracks are Dope, Ridin and Heaven. It’s simply a very good listening experience!
Just a shame I haven’t listened to it sooner. So get this one, if you already haven’t got it. Like most , but me 😉