d_rradio remixed

d_rradio remixed - album review (Distraction Records)
Release Date: 6th October

Earlier this year d_rradio followed their 2007 mini album release, the brilliant Underscore, with the truly sumptuous and delightful self-titled debut album. It remains one of my favourite albums of the year; so imagine my delight when I became aware that Distraction Records were to release d_rradio remixed!

All ten tracks from the original album are given the remix treatment here, and each one broadens the beautiful charm and sublime electronica sounds that set d_rradio apart from many of today’s minimal electronica experimentalism.

The album opens with Cathode’s crackling glitch remix of my favourite track from the debut album, Paper Soul.

The remixes  stretch d_rradio far and wide from the twitchy glitches of Cathode’s Paper Soul remix and Juxta Phona’s reworking of So Long to the more uptempo beat-driven Twisted by Populous, a remix of Rest Of Your Life and minimal dub electronica of Depth Affect’s remix of Bag Of Lovely.

Along with Paper Soul, The Matinee Orchestra remix of Wish For More Wishes is a favourite.  They have managed to take the mangled beauty of the original and enhance it with a more uptempo skipping beat along the way.

Though the tracks have not been remixed by d_rradio, Remixed manages to keep the essence and beauty that is ever present in all d_rradio releases.

The album is a limited edition of only 500 copies, so don’t hesitate to buy this one.

d_rradio will be featuring twice in my end of year - favourite albums of 2008 - list.  But can there not be a law that states d_rradio have to release more records than they do?

KREATE the Techno, Dance & Minimal Environment

KREATE Sounds Library Software Review

For those who are maybe new to the genre or just getting started, Speedy J is the genius behind monster techno tracks such as Tunox, Seven_Trak and more recently the great Drippelzimmer and remixed the likes of Vanguard’s - Feieralarm  and Adam Beyers - Ignition.

Speedy J has always embraced technology and sought out newer and better ways to help uncrack the code of his ideas and translate them to audio.  So it comes as no surprise to find out that he’s the man behind Fixed Noises’ KREATE.

On the box KREATE promises to deliver over 4 GB of sounds and 500 instruments (instruments designed by none less than Speedy J himself) and includes all the elements you’ll need to create your own Techno/Dance/Minimal track.

After installing KREATE I couldn’t wait to dive in and browse the library; and the special version Native Instruments Kontakt player 2 that’s included make this really easy.  All sounds and instruments are arranged into categories: FX, Kits, Konstrukt, Loops, Sequence and Tones.

At first I was cursing like mad, I was so disappointed by the sounds and instruments, each one had this distorted grainy effect to it that was driving me mad, thought what’s the point of having a sound library that has effects applied to it already??  But then I soon calmed down after I realised it was either my sound card or system config as once I loaded it into Acid (I chose Acid for it’s simplicity allowing me to concentrate on the raw sounds and instruments themselves rather than spend hours of fun changing them in something like Reason) I got to hear the beast that this library truly is and was really impressed by the sounds and instruments.

Fixed Noise have been totally modest in the description of what they’re selling to you, What you’re actually buying is a monster lurking in a box ready and waiting for you to command it to terrorise and strike fear into the hearts of people or an angel waiting to spread calm and spiritual thoughts through the power of a chilled track.

And there lies the beauty of this sound library.  The variety of sounds is so expansive that you can bend and mould it into your own particular taste of music with very little effort.  From the deepest dirtiest bass notes to chilled melodic atmospherics, it’s all there waiting for you.

Then comes the price tag.  The RRP on this is $199.99 which at the moment works out to be about £108, in my opinion that makes it a bargain and a worthwhile addition to any collectors sound library.

Win A FREE COPY of KREATE

Enter our FREE COMPETITION for a chance to win a copy of the excellent KREATE sound library software.

To enter the competition all you need to do is correctly tell us which famous techno artist produced the KREATE sound library?

Send your entries to freecompetition@buzzinmedia.co.uk with ‘KREATE Competition’ in the subject line with your answer, full address and contact telephone number.

The Buzzin Electronic Music KREATE Competition ends on 31 October, 2008. The editor will randomly choose one lucky winner.

The editor’s choice is final.

Following the recently released 5 track Kryptonite Pussy EP, the foul-mouthed duo of Shunda K ans Jwl B, aka Yo! Majesty release Club Action, the first single to be taken from their forthcoming debut albumFuturistically Speaking…Never Be Afraid due for release on 29th September.

Club Action is the media-friendly title for Fuck Dat Shit, a rap / hip-hop club favourite that was originally released a couple of years and has been remixed for 2008.

Yo! Majesty are brash, upfront and in your face; rather like a Salt n Pepa remix on crack for the Wii generation.

The girls are from Tampa Bay, Florida and Club Action is most definitely a tune from the streets and for the clubs. The radio edit will have so many bleeps I’m not sure it will be recognisable!

Club Action is available on CD, 12″ vinyl and via digital download.

For more information visit the Yo! Majesty MySpace page.

Pendulum 'Propane Nightmares Remix' FREE DOWNLOAD

Propane Nightmares is taken from Pendulum’s second album, ‘In Silico’.

You can legally download the Propane Nightmares (VIP Mix) mp3 from us for free.

For more information on Perth’s finest band, visit:

www.pendulum.com
www.myspace.com/officialpendulum

Another great release from Fat! Records.  Mystic Man & Eshamjaro get the dubstep remix treatment from two upcoming producers - Reso and Hektagon.

Mystic Man & Eshamanjaro is Mark ‘Merka’ Ford and MC Esha.  Together they released a retrospective, beat driven hip hop debut album, In Heavy Weather. From the album Reso remixes Minds I and Hektagon chips in with two versions of The Rambler, Vocal Remix and Dub Remix.

Reso’s Braindead Remix of Minds I is a richly layered mindscape, something that sets him apart from other more minimal dubstep producers.

Both remixes of The Rambler see Hektagon fusing sketchy freeform jazz horns with a heavy throbbing dubstep sub-bass wobble.  The Dub Remix works really well for me.  A great track; and one that makes it straight into my setlist.

For more information vist the Fat! Records website.

Pendulum are about to embark on their first American tour, including dates in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico.  The aptly named ‘Tour of the Americas’ will kick off in Brazil on September 27 and finish with a CMJ Music Marathon showcase at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on October 26th.

Pendulum have been winning even more fans over with some fantastic live festival performances this year.  Their hard-edged amalgamation of big beats, massive guitars, and powerhouse hooks, merging the best of heavy rock and drum n bass in the process.

Recently, Pendulum made British headlines with their cover of Coldplay’s “Violet Hill” on Radio 1’s Live Lounge. The show itself dubbed it, “the best Live Lounge to date” and the track immediately earned itself a slot on the channel’s A-List alongside “Other Side,” the band’s current UK single.

American audiences received their first sample of Pendulum’s brand new sound when the band made a triumphant U.S. live debut at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this April.

Since their formation in 2002, Pendulum has caused quite the stir in both the hard rock and dance music communities around the world. The band’s 2005 debut, “HOLD YOUR COLOUR,” was an international breakout success, with sales in excess of 225,000 in the UK alone, where it still sits in the Top 40 album chart today.

“Granite,” a featured track on their current album, “IN SILICO,” topped the UK’s Dance chart while also reaching the UK top 30 Singles chart.

PENDULUM
Tour Of The Americas Concert Dates

SEPTEMBER
27 Sao Paolo, BR Skolbeats Festival
OCTOBER
1 Boston, MA Middle East
3 Chicago, IL House of Blues
4 Toronto, ONT Kool Haus
5 Detroit, MI I Rock
7 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom
9 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
11 Salt Lake City, UT Murray Theatre
13 Los Angeles, CA The Mayan
14 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
18 Mexico City, MEX Motorkr Festival
19 Guadalajara, MEX Motorkr Festival
22 Atlanta, GA The Loft
24 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
25 New York, NY Webster Hall
26 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom

For more information, visit
www.pendulum.com
www.myspace.com/officialpendulum

The Altitude EP by Jem Haynes

Jem Haynes - The Altitude EP, released on Fat! Records

Jem Haynes is currently making a name for himself as a top DJ in the UK and in Ibizan clubs such as Space.  But his own releases are something to write about too.

The Altitude EP comprises of 4 new tracks - Agogo, Prophet, The Birds and The Tiger That Came For Tea.  Each with an indivdual sound spanning house & techno. Agogo and Prophet work best for me.

Agogo starts with a filtered beat, a gentle floor-filler to get those pants swinging. A delicious, smooth and funky bass line comes out of the mix; and you can close your eyes and imagine a sun-kissed Ibiza night ready to kick into life. The Birds offers a similar gentle techno house ride.

Prophet is similar in genre - house intwined with soft techno, but is altogether a more powerful beast. Driven by a stomping ‘four-to-the-floor‘ bass drum and a more menacing dark and moody bass line.

All four tracks on The Altitude EP are currently available to listen to on Jem Haynes MySpace page, along with his wonderful unofficial remix of Alison Limerick’s Where Love Lives.

For more information on Fat! Records visit www.TheFatClub.com.

Will Get Fooled Again is taken from Max Tundra’s forthcoming third album Parallax Error Beheads You, which will follow on 13th October.

When asked about working with Max Tundra, Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy, ex-Arcade Fire and Last Shadow Puppets arranger) said:

“Max and I met in Barcelona in 2005 at Primavera Sound.  His slot was  at 4am. He put on a mask, wrapped himself up in tape, and played  forty minutes of music made mostly using Amiga sample tracker software  from the late 1980s.  There was virtuosic melodica playing, Pointer Sisters-style singing, and an eight-minute version of “So Long,  Farewell” from The Sound Of Music. I was wasted and ended up passing  out on a beach in my underwear. When the sun rose, I woke up with dried merengue and sand glued to my hair, and in a daze, I realized that I had just witnessed nothing less than the best music performance of my life.”

To listen to the wonderous world of Max Tundra visit www.myspace.com/maxtundra

UNKLE to release Remix Stories (Volume One)

On 8th September, UNKLE will release ‘Remix Stories (Volume One)’ - released as a 12″ and digitally, exclusively via Beatport for the first four weeks after the release.

The 12″ features four previously unreleased remixes of tracks taken from the last two albums (’War Stories’ and the recently released ‘End Titles… Stories for Film’).

The deliberate decision to make this release available on 12″ was made in a bid to go back to UNKLE’s roots (of dance music, pre-digital age) and to make ‘Remix Stories’ a collectible item for long standing fans.

Remixes come courtesy of legendary dance duo Layo and Bushwacka!, renowned house DJs and remixers Innervisions, and one of today’s most prolific producers Radio Slave.

The track listing is as follows:

Trouble in Paradise - Variation on a Theme (UNKLE Remix)
Hold My Hand (Innervisions Orchestra Remix)
Twilight (Layo and Bushwacka! Remix)
Chemistry (Radio Slave Remix)

For more information visit

www.unkle.com
www.myspace.com/unkle

Rather Sound Than Safe

Rather Sound Than Safe aka RSTS are making some big electronic waves.  RSTS is Sif and Rasmus Neo and hail from Denmark.  They met in Copenhagen in 1996 and are creating electronic based music from deep electro pop to housey trance.

Rather Sound Than Safe have just released their debut single, Fairytale.  It is a darky, brooding electronic track reminiscent of an industrial metallic version of Massive Attack, complete with Sif’s cool, soft sensual vocal.

Fairytale is taken from their forthcoming album, Rebirth, to be released in October.  The album has been appropriatelt titled Rebirth as it sees RSTS reworking earlier tracks.  The result promises to be more polished and better produced than their previous versions.

The three tracks on their MySpace page certainly gives a clear indication that their music takes on different shapes and sounds.  As well as Fairytale there is the funky house / minmal trance of Funkateer and then the dub mix of Rise and Fall which conjours up a late night/early morning warehouse party in full swing.

Great though Sif’s voice is, its obvious RSTS have more to offer than electronic pop songs.  I’m looking forward to hearing the album and seeing how their different sounds work together, or whether Rebirth will simply concentrate on one style.

For more information visit Rather Sound Than Safe’s MySpace page.