Posts Tagged ‘ beatdown ’

Treats Vol 5 2×12″ – Retreat

Hauke Freer and Quarion celebrate the 15th release for their label in high style with a double album edition of their Treats compilation series. They invite all their friends to play, including some new contributors to the imprint (and some new aliases.) As usual, they tend to operate along the Swiss / German axis of [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Royer – Skokie Intruder 12″ – Material Image

Gramaphone alum Jay Caston kicks off his Material Image imprint with a strong 4-track EP that balances the timeless with clear contemporary house influences. The title track has a brooding, dischordant shuffle reminiscent of recent Trilogy Tapes experiments. Likewise, EP opener “Gracie” has an overdriven-tape texture that coats an otherwise straightforward Guidance-style deep-house roll. The [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Terekke – YYYYYYYYYY 12″ – L.I.E.S.

NYC’s Terekke returns on the acclaimed L.I.E.S. imprint for his eagerly-awaited second 12″. After his early release helped launch the oblique mystique of the young label back in mid-2011, his hand-stamped EP fell into some obscurity until it was repressed this year. Now comes the new release, with a full-art cover that hints at cosmic [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Reson 12″ – Sex Tags Mania

This uncredited record is a (probably small) repressing of the already sought-after rarity from 2011. Sex Tags Mania has built a small, dedicated cult following for its fearless approach, a following helped along by a healthy dose of obscurity, strangeness, and mischief. For this joint, the long version – titled “Excessive Mix” – is a [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

3 Chairs – Demi Gods 12″ – 3 Chairs

3 Chairs is a collaboration between prolific Detroit beatdown house heavyweights Theo Parrish, Kenny Dixon Jr., Rick Wilhite, and Marcellus Pittman, so it’s with some degree of self-awareness that they’ve titled this rare outing (with 6 years having passed since their last EP.) Braggadocio (or sass) aside, this is a record that Detroit heads would [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Beyond Luck – Take You On A Trip 7″ – Beyond Luck

Local collaboration live project Beyond Luck presents a fine vinyl debut with their new self-released 7″. Carefully selected for the format, they’ve grabbed a pair of their housier joints for this record. Pairing each with a vocal accompaniment, these are reminiscent of some Detroit influences in addition to their obvious Chicago roots. The raw drum [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Terekke – Damn 12″ – L.I.E.S.

Hard to believe that this was only the 5th release on what has become a little empire, NYC’s L.I.E.S. label. Originally issued as a rough whitelabel with black stamps, sought-after for the intervening year or two, this reissue includes both the tracks from the original release. Aptly titled, these are a couple of blunted and [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

VernoN – Fluids, Matter and Gravity 12″ – Night Gallery

A new 12″ from Seattle’s Night Gallery records is always cause for excitement around here, this time out they’ve borrowed VernoN from Dixon Avenue Basement Jams for a 3 track EP. The 45RPM A-side is straight raw house drums, a flanged high-end shuffle, and squeaky distorted acid line thrown in here and there  for character. [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Marcellis – untitled 12″ – Workshop

Relative newcomer (or at least new alias) Marcellis was formally introduced on Workshop’s compilation last year, this year he (or she) has graduated to a full EP release and it delivers in true Workshop style. This is lazily-paced house music, well-worn around the edges, with oddball vocals thrown over top to add even more character. [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

American Noise 12″ – L.I.E.S.

L.I.E.S.‘ unassuming catalog has been receiving a fair deal of attention in the press lately. Their releases, meanwhile, have been sticking to the program – centering largely around classic lo-fi house with sonic experimentation thrown in for good measure. This 12″ is a teaser for their 2xCD compilation of the same name. The double-pack rounds up [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

XDB – Ekatem 12″ – Diamonds And Pearls

Diamonds & Pearls, the label presumably run by the German distributor of the same name, has a bit of a knack for interesting and high-profile pairings on split releases. This EP could be a return to form for them, with regards to this trend. Here,  Greece-via-Berlin’s XDB offers a stomping (if wobbly) take on Chicago-ish house music. [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Andres – Second Time Around 12″ – La Vida

Don’t let the name fool you – this isn’t really only Andres‘ second time around, he’s been kicking out slinky funky house music since the mid-90s. But this is his second 12″ on the very warmly received La Vida imprint, the first being his New For U 12″, one of the underground hits of 2012. [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Rhythmatic : Connections @ Smartbar tonight (Wednesday August 8th 2012)

Marcellus Pittman of Three Chairs and Rotating Assembly  fame, recording artist for Sound Signature, Track Mode, FXHE, FIT, Seventh Sign, and Unirhythm is coming to rock Smartbar’s Function One soundsystem tonight; expect a set heavy on funk, spontaneity, and raw Detroit grooves. He’ll be joined by Gramaphone’s Michael Serafini, Phonologue’s Scotty Brandon and Mike More. As [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Moody – Why Do U Feel? – KDJ

The inimitable Kenny Dixon Jr. returns triumphantly with another slice of his personal fusion of funk and trackiness, complete with his own vocal & live feeling I Got Werk, and some melancholy but uptempo sample-chopping joints in Born 2 Die and Why Do U Feel. Moodymann (recording here as Moody) is, of course, a Detroit [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

In The Dark 2xCD + DVD / 2xLP Compilation – Still Music

“The second [disc] contains a 30 min film, directed by Chris Bravo featuring exclusive footage and interviews from Rick “The Godson” Wilhite, Ron Trent, Mike Grant, Mike Huckaby, Franki “DJ 3000” Juncaj, Keith Butts, Pirahnahead & Diviniti, Paul Randolph, Malik Alston, E man, and Norm Talley, among others.” – Rush Hour “Here is the critical [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Andy Stott – Passed Me By / We Stay Together 2xCD – Modern Love

The most prominent shift over Andy Stott‘s most recent few releases for Modern Love is the deceleration of his rhythms.  From his 130bpm roots on his 2005 debut release for the label, he’s now wound down to well below 100 for much of this latest release. What that means is that where early on he was combining [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Journey I. 12″ – L.I.E.S.

This is an uncredited EP on L.I.E.S’ stamp series of 12″s, a sequence which has thus far been denoted by “.5″ catalog numbers and characterized by a more raw, abstract sound than many of the whole-number releases. The A side’s “Journey I.” is a chugging, heavily distorted, slow-disco groove, simultaneously blurry in the center and [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Phonocast 08 – Jerome Derradji

From gigs at Chicago’s Smartbar alongside Moodymann, Hot Chip, Kevin Saunderson, Lindstrom, The Juan Mclean to international touring, from juggling multiple labels (including Past Due, Still Music, Stilove4music) to appearing on a handful of 12″s in the past few years, hard-working Jerome Derradji is one of Chicago’s best kept secrets. With support abroad from Deetron [&hellip[ READ MORE ]

Jerome Derradji in-store at Gramaphone on Saturday evening

Head honcho for Still Music and sub-imprints Past Due and Stilove4music will come in and share some of his sonic insights this Saturday evening at the shop. He’ll also be recording the next episode of our Phonocast series, so if you come by you’ll catch a sneak preview of the whole thing[ READ MORE ]

Phonocast 06 – Jamie 3:26

From his Chicago roots spring ties to 5 Magazine (where he contributed to their DJ mix series) and his edits on Partehardy Records, and he shows off a full range of sound on this installment to the Phonocast series. Stretching from raw electroid and industrial sounds to lush r&b and gospel house, to beatdown and funkadelic styles, [&hellip[ READ MORE ]