how we rock

Every couple of months, something in my head clicks and I get really into Kompakt-style minimal and hard acid techno again. Not that I ever really got out of it, but sometimes, its hardness and lack of 'soul' goovin' aren't my cup of tea. This time around, I've been pumping a lot of older Reinhard Voigt tracks and Jurgen Paape slices...

Taken from Kompakt's Speicher 13, "Protekt" wouldn't be out of place on a mix from one of the Underground Resistance crew, what with its acidy melodic lines, hard dry kicks, and punctuating stabs. And with a nicely-synced bass throb, mixing this with some Dopplereffekt is also highly recommended...hearing "Cellular Phone" slowly creep in during this piece is some ace shit.

Reinhard Voigt- Protekt

Jurgen Paape's "Take This" is from 2007, but sounds like it could be from minimal's early days, its simply harsh melodic line and two-note bassline providing a steely backbone to intrusions from bells, echoey brass. Truly excellent panning work begs that this piece be blasted on a loud, multi-channel system. Taken from Kompakt's Speicher 45.

Jurgen Paape- Take This

Okay, tomorrow, some hispanic punk and some queercore. Get yr fuckin' rocks off.

RIOT

My good friend and former roomie Kalan Sherrard was arrested and charged with numerous crimes while demonstrating against the horrific forces of capitalism this week in Pittsburgh. The picture above is real, and very much an indicator of Kalan's love of life, theater, and art, as well as his antipathy towards authority and those that wield power over us. In celebration and solidarity, I present Underground Resistance's "Riot." If you would like to help with K's legal fees, you can go here to make a donation.

Underground Resistance- Riot

Tomorrow is moving day, so I'll provide something apropos.

killa cruisin

The Aquanauts are among the more mysterious members of the Underground Resistance family, and though the 'nauts members are known (Milton Baldwin, Lamont Norwood) and work under more well-known names (Baldwin is DJ Skurge, for example), their tracks don't get half as much love as they really should.

"Cruiseship Killa," originally released on 7" and later expanded and re-released on The Titanic EP, is a sick piece of electro-funk, with crisp percussion, a disgustingly catchy bass hook, bright synths, and acidy bits coming in and out like worms through a corpse. High intrigue, this track, and definitely an attention-grabber. Version below is the 7" version-- sorry, it's the one I've got on hand!

The Aquanauts- Cruiseship Killa

Tomorrow, a report on the Wighnomy set, and maybe some new shit from the Safari label.

true jaguar

Today, a 2000 remix of The Aztec Mystic's "Jaguar" from another Detroit-associated group, Octave One. "Jaguar" is perhaps one of the best-known and most beloved techno tracks of all time, and in terms of its structure and pure energy, it is irreproachable. Octave One take the original and, unlike Derrick May (whose remix is good but not a great departure), truly twist it into a long-running, hypnotizing deep house track that sounds as fresh now as it did eight years ago. The string loops of the original are looped further, the secondary percussion is much more prominent, and the bass-line is brought up in the mix so that one can recognize its pure jazziness. A classic, highly recommended!

The Aztec Mystic- Jaguar (Octave One Mix)

Tomorrow, surprises never cease.

in the cloud forest

Unfortunately, my Croatian friends haven't gotten back to me with a track, but that will happen soon! Spent the afternoon fussing around with some records, and have the start of a great mix, so look forward to that soon, too.

Spring always pushes me toward the brighter Detroit sounds, and this year is no different-- I've been totally digging Vince Watson, Los Hermanos and the UR boys even more than usual. So today, I'm posting a track by Los Hermanos, a group consisting of several key newer members of the UR crew, including Nomadico, whose 2007 EP on UR really turned a lot of heads.

"Quetzal" is based on a lushly squelchy melodic line, a monstrous bass-line, well-sequenced secondary percussion, and glorious soft strings high in the mix. This very well might be one of my favorite techno tracks of all time-- it is truly one of the best productions from Detroit since 2000. Highly recommended!

Los Hermanos- Quetzal

Tomorrow, that Croat techno sound, hopefully?

ambushed

My set opening for Boys Noize went down quite well, and I am sufficiently recovered to begin posting again. I would share the whole set with you, but because I've posted some of these tracks here before (and some of them are ubiquitous at this point), I'm going to give you a list.

1. Kerri Chandler- Dat Da Da
2. The Unknown- Dancin Music
3. Francois K.- Road of Life (Quiet Village Sound Factory Dub)
4. Cajmere- Percolator (Keep Movin' Mix)
5. Dennis Ferrer- Son of Raw
6. Kerri Chandler- So Let the Wind Come (Tomo Edit)
7. Martin Buttrich- Full Clip
8. Raw as Fuck- Theme from Raw
9. Underground Resistance- Ambush
10. One Smith-Hall- Theme
11. Dominik Eulberg- Der Buchdrucker

I tried to keep it as slamming as I like it while attempting to appeal to the crowd, most of whom are more into new filter house stuff. Got a lot of great feedback, and another gig or two, as well-- might be doing a set before Kelley Polar in the spring!

For the next couple of posts, I'll be giving you some of the more notable tracks from the set that night. Today, "Ambush" by Underground Resistance, one of their less-heard but totally amazing tracks. With polyrhythmic African-style beats, lush backing synths, some good acid squelch, and a fucking great synthesized horn solo, "Ambush" is quite a gem. The crowd on Wednesday was pretty down with it, too-- got lots of whoops and hollers. Originally taken from UR-040, whose label reads:

"You've been waiting for your adventure vacation all year and now you're finally here headed up river and you're gonna have fun regardless of the poverty, corruption, political unrest, fragile ECO systems and reports of rebel forces in the area. After all it's your god given right to have fun all over the world wherever you please right? Suddenly your friendly native guides become uneasy. Their acutely tuned jungle senses tell them something is very wrong. All life seems to stop in its tracks, the silence is deafening, your heartbeat sounds in your ears, the boat is close to the bank. The beads and trinkets the travel agency told you to give the natives for save passage won't work this time. You smile and try to take pictures of these ghosts in the forest to ease the tension but they remain in the underground silently reluctant of your 15 minute fame and pacifying technology. Finally they appear their war painted faces staring. Didn't the missionairies teach them this is wrong? You feel their power of their god thru their eyes, it's the jungle itself. One of the hostiles wears an old shirt, that reads 'UR unexploitable'. Your immanent destiny calls and as with all pollutants UR consumed by nature as she punishes her children who cannot dance to her drums."

Damn right. Here it is:

Underground Resistance- Ambush

Tomorrow, some fast techno-tinged breaks from Raw as Fuck.