Louche X-mas Party with Lee Foss & Shaun Reeves

The WAREHOUSe Video from the Louche X-mas party.

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Circus Company Go Deep

As we move towards the end of the decade, we also move further away from minimal techno's dominance of the electronic music scene. That's not to say that minimal is dead; it retains a strong following with labels like Minus putting out releases that still sound fresh. That said minimal has had it's time and done its job, washing away the voracious materialism of the 90's and wiping the slate clean, allowing new sounds to emerge. Tech house is rapidly growing in popularity and tribal rhythms and african influences are very prominent in contemporary 4/4 music but it is deep house that is proving to be of great interest to many audiophiles and DJ's alike.

Boys Noize Alex Ridha recently suggested in an interview that deep house has replaced minimal as the new craze in electronic music and said that there will always be people eager to "jump on the train". That said, where there are bandwagon jumpers, there are also people producing quality music: At the forefront of the deep house exploration we've got labels like Wolf + Lamb and Cecile pioneering the sound. It's safe to say that Paris based label 'Circus Company' certainly fall into the latter category. Soon to enter their 11th year of existence they present their own "highly personal vision" of the underground with new release 'Snuggle & Slap'.

Featuring the likes of Ryan Crosson and Guillaume & the Coutu Dumont, this 22 track compilation attempts to advance the concept that underpins the deep house genre, pitching new ideas and straying confidently off the beaten path.  Exemplar 4/4 tracks are set next to smooth instrumentals that do away with kick drums entirely. The whole album is laced with sometimes sinister, often jazz influenced melody and intensified with deep-rooted grooves.

Now although there are many exceptional tracks on here it is perhaps their collective value that makes this compilation standout. Personal highlights include Oleg Poliakov's 'Keep blooming' and Ryan Crosson's 'Slow Down' but what I love most is the consistent quality of tracks throughout the album and the way it moves from slower shuffling rhythms to slightly busier 4/4 without sounding disjointed. For me it's a combination of careful track selection and programming that achieve this unique take on the genre of the moment and make this release an appropriate way to celebrate 10 years of experimental sounds from Circus Company.

Download Oleg Poliakovs 'Damn! Circus Company 10 Years Mix' (courtesy of RA).

Sources:
Boyz Noize Interview with Bodytonic
Circus Company Article by Resident Advisor
Article & interview with Nicolas Jaar
Snuggle & Slap Release Notes

A Tribute to the Sun

Luciano holds legendary status in the world of electronic music, he's even started a trend for "techno 'taches" among twenty-something 4/4 aficionados. He's famed for his breathtaking and original DJ sets; last year at Fabrics 9th Birthday he blew me and rest of room 1 away, shaking the club to it's very foundations, keeping the place rammed long into Sunday afternoon. However his latest offering moves in a different direction, favouring a far more introspective sound.

With his latest release, 'Tribute to the Sun', Luciano has adopted a studio album format (something he hasn't done since 'Blind Behaviour' in 2004) with great proficiency. When I first heard about this album I worried that it might be another case of the successful DJ 'expressing themselves' with a new format or style that is unsuited to them. However on hearing the album most of my worries swiftly disappeared.

It must be noted that this album is by no means a collection of mid-set stormers and it is not meant to be. It's an album in the truest sense of the word; "something to be listened to from start to finish". The focus is definitely away from the dance floor with mellow motifs and cerebral sounds but the club is not forgotten. Refined (and according to the release description 'crowd tested') grooves run throughout giving a figurative nod to the dance floor.

I think that with his album Luciano has gone some way to reinforcing his status as one of the worlds leading DJ's illustrating a fair amount of musical depth. Combining the tougher sound of tracks like 'Oenologue', the intricate melodies of 'Hang for Bruno' & 'Celestial' and the exciting rhythmic grooves of 'Africa Sweat' & 'Los Ninos de Fuera' he produces some engaging ideas however we would perhaps be looking for a little more innovation. Aside from the slightly cheesy artwork there aren't many faults here but considering the calibre and status of the artist, the album is not as groundbreaking as it might be.

Sources: www.cadenza.com

:::Podcast::: WAREHOUSe 02 - A Bit Jazzy

The Warehouse team bring you another helping of new music. Our second instalment, 'A Bit Jazzy', does exactly what it says on the tin, showcasing some of the best brass influenced 4/4 music around from artists like Livio & Roby, Saeed Younan, Glimpse and Neuroxyde.

All our podcasts are available for download with the relevant release art and track names embedded so you won't have to trawl Beatport searching for that elusive track you like.

To listen now start the player in the right hand menu.

Enjoy,
WAREHOUSe MUSIC

The Rise of Troxler

ABOVE; SETH TROXLER

As the gap between funky and eerie tech-house productions continues to widen there is one name that comes hurtling out of this chasm in the genre, Seth Troxler, a champion of tech-house's 'dark side' ('Sith' Troxler if we're keeping the ball rolling on cheap Star Wars puns). This year Troxler can do no wrong as he continues to churn out top releases which are cropping up on sticky dancefloors everywhere.

The ever increasing popularity of Troxler is partly due to just about every one of his releases being followed by a string of remixes from some of electronic musics most prolific artists. Troxler's June release Trust (which was produced in collaboration with Tiefschwarz) boasts remixes from Audion, Jamie Jones and Tim Green to name but a few.

Much of Troxler's success though lies in his distinct vocal melodies. The second sitting of a Troxler track after its been included in a set puts you straight back in the moment, reminds you of how you'd much rather be back in Room 2 with Kaden and a Hurt (martinez remix) than writing a blog at work. His vocal sound varies from the dark and sexual to the downright strange (listen to Aphrika, in my opinion Wolf + Lamb's best release of the year thus far, where the lyrics are taken from Maya Angelou's poem "Phenomenal Woman")

Add to this foundation some low-slung house grooves and catching album artwork, such as the picture above taken from Troxler's recent Panic, Stop...Release! and you've got nothing but praise from us here at Warehouse Music.

RUN DMC....the musical?

....Broadway; RUN's in the house....

No, your eyes do not deceive you. The life of legendary group RUN DMC is more than likely to be made into a full length musical.

Paula Wagner, the Tom Cruise affiliated producer behind 'War of the Worlds' and 'Mission Impossible', is set to transform the life story of some of the most influential rap artists to grace this planet into a broadway blockbuster. In a phone interview with the New York Times Paula said that "Who they are and what they did was a culturally defining moment. It embraced everybody."

"Culturally defining" rap artists...Broadway musical...can anybody else smell a sell out? But, a book by it's cover and all that; let's see what you got Wagner.

For source and full details visit; http://www.rundmc.com/

A cut above...Louche with Ray Okpara & Nekes @ Mint Club.

It is a rare occasion, rare enough to become truly memorable, when everything just comes together. In what can seem like an increasingly commercially driven, 'text sending cube' scene it's refreshing to attend a night where a passion for music and a focus upon crowd satisfaction gleams through from the smoke clouded booth.

When the team here at Warehouse Music descended upon the Mint Club we were naive as to what the boys at Louche (Brinsley Kazak and Josh Tweek) had in store. What was to follow was a master class in air-tight mixing, with a track selection centered around jazzy and soulful 4/4 that had feet reporting to the dance floor and smiles glued onto faces until the early hours. Drinks were cheap, mixing was flawless, punters were happy. Nekes' performance was top draw and Ray Okpara was on blistering form, with a set packed with expertly timed 8 bar breaks that went careering into drops littered with african-rhythm, both showcasing some of the best that contemporary house has to offer.

Just as it is rare to attend a night that comes together so seamlessly, it is rare to have one that finishes to the sounds of Prince. Following Ray Okpara Louche resident Josh Tweek stepped up to end proceedings, with a set that encapsulated the atmosphere of this night. We caught up with Josh to learn more....

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Hi Josh, thanks for taking the time out to talk to us. How and where are you now?

I'm good, at home, sitting in my studio/office

The actual word Louche seems a good place to start things off; it is suggestive of the night having a decadent appeal. With this in mind could you describe to us the philosophy behind Louche? Is the title a fitting reflection of the underpinning idea that is behind the night?

Well yes and no really. Louche means shady, or of moral disrepute, so obviously there are connotations to the night, what with the underground music and everything that goes with it. We never set out to make a 'shady' night though, really our main policy is to book djs the city has never seen before, and kind of catch 'up and comers' at the right time. We were the first to book Seth Troxler in the UK two years ago, and look at him now.

Louche is now in its third year. Could you tell us about where it is at the moment as a night, physically and conceptually?

We're flying at the minute, but are doing nothing different to when we started. Myself and Brinsley just work really hard, and have done for the last 2 years. Louche has just snowballed as time has gone by really.

From what we experienced Louche seems to draw a great crowd. Do you now have a dedicated following?

Absolutely, our crowd is young, fresh and they love the music. The Leeds student population is massive, and we manage to tap into the students that want something a bit different to a standard student night. These lot, combined with Leeds locals make for a great crowd. So many girls too, which is nice!

Could you describe your vision of where Louche is headed in the future and fill us in on any up and coming developments?

Plans are afoot to expand to London next year, which is huge. We're moving to Saturday nights at Mint from January too, which i think is testament to how far we've come in 2 years. To be a saturday night in the best club in town, and maybe even the north, is massive for us.

What's the strangest thing you've ever seen at a Louche night?

Brinsley's Dad.

Could you tell us about your own productions and where they are headed?

I've got quite a few releases set to drop within the next few months. One on Magicbag Music, a new Newcastle based label, which is looking really really promising so far. Another on Akbal music, which is Mexican would you believe. 2020 vision are starting a sub label, and a few of mine will be on that at some point. I'm still writing like crazy, and think I'm still improving, so things are going great.

Your music seems to have gone from being more minimal to a deeper, housier sound. Has louche influenced this transition in your productions?

Yes it definitely has. When you meet the guys that we book, and get to know them, and hear their sets its really inspiring. I'd like to stress that I'm not bandwagon jumping though. At college where i learnt my trade all the other guys there were writing breaks, drum and bass and genres that sound more electronic. It was useful at the time to learn off them, and i translated what i was taught into minimal because the sounds are quite similar. Once i mastered this i started expressing myself a bit through house music, which is what i always played back in the day.

Are your productions in tune with the philosophy of louche in the same way that your sets are?

Well yeah kind of. When writing a song i try and think, where could this fit into a set, and work from there. How would the crowd like this? Wouldn't it be good to have a tune that slowed the dance floor down a bit, etc etc.
                                                                                BELOW, JOSH TWEEK
If you could keep one famous person as pet who would it be and why?

Cheryl Cole. She's amazing, and it would piss off Ashley.

Boobs or ass?

Tricky... ass probably.

Night in with the misses or night out with the lads?

My misses won't read this, so night out with the lads!

Do you have a Top 5 Louche anthems?

I usually try and play new stuff at Louche, but two regular Louche bombs are Gualia by Johnny D, Erotic City by Prince
               

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It seems that both Josh Tweek and the rest of the Louche team are set for stardom. No doubt in years to come i'll be found stumbling round smoking areas rambling on to fresh faced young clubbers that "when i was a lad the louche boys were cracking it up in leeds not filling out DC10 and Berghain...and a vodka red bull cost less than the entry fee (just)."

Secretly though a little part of me reserves a wish that Louche remains just as it is now, at least for a little while.

In the same way that there exists a nostalgia about 'how the scene used to be' there is an abhorrent fear that mounting success may bring with it a detachment from the original concept, the inset profit grabbing commercialism. Realistically though, this fear is unjustified. Although part of this night's appeal is it's unique personal atmosphere, it's success is multi tiered. The artist selection is spot on, it has a dedicated team of residents and the night as it currently stands couldn't be a better launch pad to greater success, giving Louche more freedom to develop and evolve.

Truth be told, the root of my worries about Louche's expansion is my barefaced selfishness. Like many music fans I like the thought of having a few stubby little fingers and toes in something a bit different, something innovative, something special. After all, that's what Louche is...Here's to hoping that's how it remains.

More info visit; http://www.loucheleeds.com by clicking the post title.

Louche with Ray Okpara & Nekes @ Mint Club, Leeds

Warehouse Music presents a short film from Louche, complete with classic montage. Louche gave us a taste of Oslo Records' Ray Okpara & Nekes, as well as cracking sets from residents Josh Tweek & Brinsley Kazak.

Keep your eyes open for an article which will, if everything goes to plan, follow shortly.

Subscribe to the Louche podcast on iTunes for more music from Ray Okpara, Nekes, Josh Tweek and more.

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The Intrinsic Link

Five Great Hip Hop Tracks

Hip Hop has played an important part in the history of dance music and directly contributed to the craft of DJing as we know it today. Grandmaster Flash and Grand-Wizard Theodore, two of the genres founding fathers, are largely accepted as the first DJ's to develop scratching and turntablism, often using two copies of the same record to extend the breaks in a track.

It is no coincidence that Native Instruments recent advertising campaign for Traktor Scratch featured footage of Grandmaster Flash and Richie Hawtin chatting about DJing and generally spending some quality time together; Flash was as much of a pioneer, in his experimentation with turntable technique, as Hawtin is today with his exploration of digital DJing. Although a slightly odd match up, what better people to have promote the groundbreaking program that is Traktor than two of the most innovative DJs ever to exist?

There are a fair few House & Techno orientated DJ's who have come from a Hip-hop background; Tom Novy, A-Trak and Loco Dice who had a career as a rapper, going by the name 'Dice' to name a few. Even die hard Hip-Hop producer and rapper P Diddy who was heavily involved in the scene during the middle 90's with Snoop Dog and Notorious B.I.G is now largely a dance music convert featuring on DJ Hells rather controversial latest techno stormer 'The DJ' and making tracks with Felix Da Housecat. To honour this intrinsic link between dance music and Hip-hop here are five great tracks to take you way, way back.

Number One:
(1982) Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - 'The Message' - Pure flavour from the Grandmaster himself, spitting about the urban jungle.

Number Two:
(1987) Eric B. & Rakim - 'I know you got soul' - Tough, sharp lyrics and a funky ghetto baseline.

Number Three:
(1988) Slick Rick - 'Children's Story' - Lyrical story telling at it's best with a distinctive sound from the man with the eye patch.

Number Four:
(1991) Cypress Hill - 'How I could just kill a man' - Aggressive but still funky.

Number Five:
(1993) Ice Cube - 'It was a good day' - Think cruising in around the hood at sunset, when "everything is alright".

10 years of invisibility

As the pioneering super-club that is Fabric prepares to embark upon a 30+ hours extravaganza of house and techno next month, in celebration of being at the epicentre of dance music culture in the UK for the past 10 years, I thought I would take the time to draw attention to a phenomenon that has received far less praise for it's 10 years of excellence: Cynosure Recordings.

Although Cynosure Recording's artist list is as super-star-studded as the line up for Fabric's birthday bash the record labels own understated celebration does draw one parallel to the club, it too will feature the minimal techno giant Ricardo Villalobos. Cynosure are set to release a limited edition 10" from  Mike Shannon, suitably called Under the Radar, which will feature remixes from Deadbeat, Rozzo, Massi DL, Justin Long and Villalobos to celebrate 10 years of commercial invisibility.

It is difficult for me not to fall for this record label because regardless of it's lack of an arsenal of dance-floor hits (with the labels best selling release being Monoblock's Untone), Cynosure spit out brilliantly crafted dub-techno and house, despite their awareness of their bleak existence.

The labels recent re-release of Brett Johson's decade old house classic Temptation and Lies, with remixes by Deadbeat and Chic Minature, is a miniture triumph whilst other releases, such as Matt Thibideau's dub-techno Asphalt EP, are unsung masterpieces.

Keep on trucking Cynosure.

Byallo builds a stormer

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Tracklist

01. Ring in the Dead
02. Borderline
03. Rarebird
04. Simpler Times
05. Picture Heaven
06. The Hello Track
07. Bebring
08. War Zero
09. Recliner
10. Casual Sax feat. John Juster

Considering the recent surge of interest in tech-house, as the electronic music community turns tentatively away from its former stripped-down and minimal path, it seemed only fitting that this blog's opening post should belong to one of the most attention grabbing releases of this kind to date; Alland Byallo’s Brick by Brick.

From his base on the West Coast where he works as [KONTROL] resident Byallo has delivered a deep, lucid and k-user friendly release that can hold its own on the dance floor.

Before hearing this release I had little interest in the deeper side of house, opting instead for the eerier and more skeletal sounds of the likes of Troxler and Jamie Jones, with their eclectic samples and echoing looped vocals. However, Byallo’s release far exceeded the “floaty synths” and “soft kick” stigma that I had attached to the genre with the album producing both groove and kick by the bucket load.

Although this album isn’t a collection of hit tracks there are certain stand out songs which raise this album above the rabble. “Rare Bird” steams in with a glitchy synth and warm bass that should please any tech-house fan while personal highlights come in the form of the harder kick of “War Zero”, the hook of “Casual Sax” and “The hello song”, the most successful track of the album.