Daft Punk-Alive-1997

You are looking at the cover of one of the best,and most important House/Techno live albums ever.
Doesn’t look like much does it?….
Never judge a book by it’s cover,or Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover for that matter.For on this disc is one of the most fervent and exciting performances that will ever grace your speakers.

Alive 1997,not to be confused with Alive 2007, is an excerpt from a Daft Punk live show from the Daftendirektour ,as performed at Birmingham’s Que Club,November 8th,1997.It has interpretations of various Daft Punk tunes including,Rollin’ and Scratchin’,Da Funk and Daftendirekt.The disc’s only fault is that it is indeed an excerpt.Clocking in at a tad over 45 minutes,it clearly fades out when there was still more of the show to be had,but hey,what a 45 minutes!
Unlike some electronic acts who opt for a more dj approach to playing live,Daft Punk lugged much of their studio out on the road.This meant they had far more control over the show and could more easily tailor the performance to the mood of the night..“Everything was synched up — the drum machines, the bass lines. The sequencer was just sending out the tempos and controlling the beats and bars. On top of this structure we built all these layers of samples and various parts that we could bring in whenever we wanted to”-Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk.

It’s a cracking set,sparkling all the way through with energy and passion,the two members of Daft Punk work together like one person,slicing loops in and out of the mix,adding effects ,whiplashing the eq and panning sounds.It really comes across that they themselves are having a whale of a time.Their grasp of the dynamics of their music is impressive,they tease the crowd with snippets of familiar tracks,then fade them out again,building tension before releasing it by bringing that snippet back in full,This is another live recording much like Banco De Gaia’s Live At Glastonbury where the impressively vocal crowd play an enormous part in bringing the whole thing to life.

This kind of raised the bar when it was released,people listened to it and realised what a properly live techno show could be like.I can’t think of many others that could play at this level,Orbital,The Chemical Brothers and the aforementioned Banco De Gaia and thats maybe about it
Buy
Listen

Capricorn-20Hz

Capricorn is Dutchman,Hans Weekhout ,best remembered for the killer tune 20 Hertz.An almost Phil Spector-ish wall of sound,that seems to have about 500 drummers and a great big fat analogue bass.Released in 1993,it was an instant success and found it’s way into techno dj’s boxes worldwide.
As usually happens now,it got re-released several times over the years,endlessly remixed along the way,some ok,but mostly rubbish.For my money the original is still the best.Although i remember when it was released again in 2005,when it was picked up by a lot of Progressive House dj’s,it was somewhat amusing to explain to my mates who were generic House/Trance fans that this new record they thought was the best thing since sliced bread was actually a 12 year old techno classic from the once mighty R&S Records.

‘Evil’ Eddie Richards

Eddie Richards is one of the unsung stars of UK House music,he’s been belting out his flawless mixes of House/Tribal/Techno records for over 20 years.Richards has had residencies and played in some of the most important clubs in the history of dance music,Clink Street,Heaven and many more.He released one of the first Acid House records,remixed everyone from Orbital to The Shamen, and found time to start the world’s first ever dj agency

I met him very briefly twice, a very nice and articulate guy,very down to earth,with non of the posturing you get from some big name dj’s who have been around a tenth of the time.I remember he was slightly miffed as the decks were supposed to have been set up so the pitch was +/-16,instead of the usual +/-8,(this was so he could play some older, slower stuff,pitched up to match the speed of much newer records)He was cool about it though,and like the true pro he is,he just got on with it and delivered an excellent set.He even came back to the afterparty and played for hours before going back to his hotel for a couple of hours kip before his flight back home.What a star!

Check out his site ,there are several top quality mixes to download.

Some Mixes For Your Edification

First off the Acid Junkies have a free 20 minute minimix,thats rather good,it shows a slight change in direction in sound but is still very much what you have come to expect from them.

Next,something very different,Soulfood365 ,House to Hip Hop; Funk to Techno, Salsa to Breakbeat and much more besides.

Loads of 808 State.

The Wee Dj’s have some livesets,including their
Breezeblock show.

Lastly there are several audio goodies to be had by The Black Dog

The KLF-The White Room

My introduction to the mighty KLF was in 1991,i had listened to early House music off and on since it had appeared a few years earlier,although i only really liked bits and pieces.Like many others i had read with half amusement and half wonder, the tabloid stories about how this evil acid house craze was sweeping the country.It was the time of massive outdoor raves and warehouse parties,which unless you were in the loop,you only heard about afterwards.

I had always been a massive fan of Dub and so most of the dance stuff i had picked up on had a dub feel,i was particularly drawn to Gary Clail And The On-U Sound System.Clail’s sound was a weird sort of industrial,grinding dub,with vocals sometimes shouted through a bullhorn,shot through with samples. The On-U Sound System are a story in themselves and will be the subject of a future post.
Anyway,it so happened that i had a mate,Paul,who was at college in a little town called Newark,near Nottingham.He was much closer to where all these parties were happening and was being exposed to a great deal more dance music than i.It was he who found that the aforementioned Gary Clail was playing in Nottingham with the now legendary DIY Soundsystem and then fledgling ambient merchants The Orb.
So another mate of mine from schooldays,Garry,and i drove hundreds of miles from scotland to Newark on a gloriously sunny day,blasting reggae music all the way there to see this gig.We eventually found Paul’s place,little knowing that we were mere minutes away from hearing a record that would change our lives.
As a teaser to The KLF,Paul played another record which had a profound impact,LFO’s eponymous debut LFO.A superb track with an awesome sub bass part that can make your ornaments dance.
Then it was on with the main event.The KLF album The White Room,was a revelation,not least for the marked difference in tone between side one and side two.Thats right kids,were talking records and not cd’s here.It was like Hendrix made House music,side one is an assault on the senses,littered with samples and with over the top production values.Side two has the same production but is slower and more chilled out.The record as a whole is like a night spent clubbing,the first side being out in the club,the second like winding down at an afterparty.Hearing it for the first time felt exciting,like i had just discovered something radical,new and strangely important.
The record starts with wind noise and about half a minute of an almost bland vocal from another track on the album,’Justified And Ancient’.That stops with a bang and an MC5 sample announces that “now it’s time to kick out the jams motherfuckers” and your off into something that at the time almost defied description.The whole records pulsates with an urgency that even today feels much the same.To quote a review of the time..”The KLF are punk rock, the Renaissance, Andy Warhol and Jesus Christ all rolled into one”.
The copy i bought was played to death and soon became warped and unplayable,a friend was good enough to buy a copy for my birthday a couple of years ago,thank you again Rimone.
The range of the records influences is remarkable,from hip hop to The Illuminatus! Trilogy and just about anything in between,country complete with beautiful slide guitar,samples from The MC5,crowd noise from a live Doors album and U2,vocal contributions/samples from the likes of Bello B,Black Steel,Maxine Harvey and Wanda Dee.
The two men responsible are Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty and the tales of what they did both as self styled art terrorists and for music are legion.Amongst which rank The Manual ,a detailed manifesto almost of how to achieve a number one single,and the time they burnt a million quid.
A post about their entire careers would be pretty extensive,so i leave that to you.But if you want to investigate further i suggest Buying the album is the best place to start,also highly recommended is the very different Chill Out and the Bill Drummond book 45
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
“Are you ready?..Here we go”

Punk House

Nay it’s not some mad mashup of Punk and House music,’tis a book about a three month road trip across the States,staying at communal houses filled with squatters,artists and punks.
Writing a book like this beats working i guess.
Buy it here