Fun in the Murky

Tobias Schmidt "Untitled" Telepathic Recordings 17

2009-07-04T15:14:19Z

I think we all know this EP because of the track 'Dollar' which was featured on Richie Hawtin's Mixmag CD some 15 years ago. At least that's how I know it. To be perfectly frank I don't think I've ever even heard this record played out. That may be due more to where I live than it being any comment on the Ep's quality.

Tobias Schmidt "Untitled" Telepathic Recordings 17
A1 - Dollar
A2 - Yen
B1 - Obstruct
B2 - Titan
[ Discogs ]

Buy Used @ Discogs' Marketplace

Bleep Radio 167: Mark Hawkins

2009-07-02T13:22:18Z

Correction: This is NOT Mark's new ### alias. It is simply Mark as Mark!

Mark Hawkins is all set to debut his newest live set this weekend in Lithuania at the Tundra festival. For those of you who are in the know ### is the alias Mark has used for a small handful of EPs full of tracks that are leaning towards the minimal aesthetic. His set at the Tundra Festival will be the live debut of this material and in anticipation he has sent over, for use as this week's Bleep, a recording of one of his practice runs.

Tundra Festival info on Mark's site...

Bleep Radio 167: Live Set with no Track-list
Download The July 2nd, 2009 Archive

Murky Stats: June 2009

2009-07-02T12:59:36Z

Somehow or another we broke the 1,000,000 successful request mark this month for the first time. It seems like the page views went crazy this month while the bandwidth stayed about the same. Perfect. Posting sets all the time is an easy way to keep people happy, but if you come back for information or reference of some kind then more is being accomplished.

I guess the only thing left to do is to keep it up.

Files with more than 1000 Downloads:
DMX Krew Podcast 7
Bleep Radio 49: Trevor Wilkes
Bleep Radio 41: Trevor Wilkes
Andrez Bergen Live in Tokyo
Dj Xed Ultimate Mega Mix
Bleep Radio 164: Trevor Wilkes

Referrers of more than 1000:
http://dmxkrew.blogspot.com/
http://music.soso.com
http://www.dilandau.com
http://www.detroitinstitute.org
http://box.zhangmen.baidu.com
http://www.connect.facebook.com
http://www.netvibes.com
http://feeds.feedburner.com

Top 5 Search Terms:
"fun in the murky",
"bleep radio",
"dmx krew wave fun",
"chris sheppard pirate radio sessions",
"dmx krew bongard problems"

Other search terms that let me know which posts were perhaps the most resourceful for people: "mutter fuck", "luke's anger working overtime", "blip radio", "terry mullen download", "ben pest off piste".

The Raw Numbers:
bold = increase over last month
Successful requests: 1,095,859
Average successful requests per day: 36,566
Successful requests for pages: 937,703
Average successful requests for pages per day: 31,289
Distinct files requested: 37,405
Distinct hosts served: 15,274
Data transferred: 590.21 gigabytes
Average data transferred per day: 19.69 gigabytes

During the month of June there were visitors from over 1002 cities across the world. Here's the top 25 city breakdown.

Ad Revenue
(Money earned via the Google Ads and Banner space)
Google Ads: 44 Clicks / $6.51
Banner: $0

Murky Ad Totals for June: $6.51
murky funds are for Murky's server and bandwidth (590 gigabytes this month!)

Trevor Wilkes
bleep@isoprax.com

Juan Atkins: 1999

2009-07-02T07:51:30Z

Was investigating some old 3½-inch floppies the other day (anybody here remember them?), and rediscovered this old article I did on Juan Atkins a decade ago for Melbourne's Zebra magazine and Sydney's 3D World.

These are mild-mannered streetpress publications, there was no decent Internet resource to double-check facts in 1999, and I was young(er), so you've gotta excuse the smidgeon of reverence throughout, minor factual errors - and the rather grandstanding angle taken.

I remember this interview with Juan happened at about 4:00am Australian time, anyway, so I doubt I asked any reasonable questions.

With this disclaimer out of the way, read on if you're still in any way curious.

Inspired as much by Kraftwerk and Blade Runner as they were by the legacies of Motown, soul and jazz, a group of guys from Detroit, USA, took on electronic music in the 1980s and created something totally new. These days we call it techno. At the helm of this musical renaissance was one man called Juan Atkins, and he's still out there redefining sounds in his own fashion.

In a matter of a thousand words, how do you introduce somebody who's been called the originator of techno and the godfather of the electronic groove?

Once upon a time, towards the end of the '70s, the teenage Juan Atkins played bass in a funk band before meeting a guy called Rick Davies (alias 3070) and with his help kick-started seminal band Cybotron in 1981.

Four years later Juan left the group to continue to produce what was now purely electronic music under the production alias of Model 500 - and along the way inspired school chums Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson to do the same. He also started up his own label. Called Metroplex, it was intended to continue the Cybotron legacy, to help new artists, and to push through the new sounds these guys were introducing to an unsuspecting world.

The legacy of Detroit's role in electronic dance music is quite obvious.

Starting out with people like Juan, Derrick May, Blake Baxter, Jeff Mills, 'Mad' Mike Banks and Kevin Saunderson the city's pre-eminence has continued on through Carl Craig, Stacey Pullen, Suburban Knight, Jay Denham and Claude Young.

Given his own role in the baptismal stages of this city's electronic hiatus it would be fruitful to note just where Juan Atkins sees Detroit these days and where it's headed as the next millennium approaches.

"I think Detroit remains a very important city when it comes to electronic dance music," he assesses, "and I think it will always be a kind of reference point. I also think it will be a city where the future is reflected earlier than anywhere else, so Detroit should be noted as the place where preparations were made early for the next millennium."

What is it about the nature of Detroit that set it apart from other cities in America, let alone the rest of the world, in terms of the development of this thing called techno?

"Who knows?" Juan mutters. "It's a hard one to figure out and no-one will ever really know. I guess the reality is that Detroit was founded and based as an industrial city and of course when you're making the transfer to a technological society it would be obvious for the industrial cities to make the transfer first - and I think that would affect not just the business world but everything around it."

It's interesting then to compare and contrast the electronic music that emerged from the Motor City in the '80s with its European counterpart.

Music by the likes of Front 242, Nitzer Ebb and DAF was at times coldly austere and overtly masculine when compared with the warmer, funkier qualities of the American production line. There's also a progressive futurist aspect to most Detroit-made techno from this period.

Derrick May once dubbed their sound 'Kraftwerk meeting George Clinton in an elevator'.

Juan has his own theory about why this occurred. "Maybe techno coming out of Detroit had more of the black experience involved, and of course what we've grown up with is soul music and R&B stuff, and then there's funk itself. So I guess it would be only natural that more of these elements would show up."

Given the Detroit crew's pivotal role in the development of techno, it's downright strange that mainstream America is only now getting into the electronic groove, but via the imported sounds of British producers like the Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers and Underworld. "It's history repeating itself," Juan declares. "I mean look back at the Beatles and the Rolling Stones - you can hear in their music that their main influence was Motown. It's obvious! . . . but it took the Beatles to be the supergroup - nobody from Motown could fit that bill."

An irritating aspect of history?

"Of course it is - it's racism, you know? It's irritating because racism is suppression, so I guess you have to thank god that there are people in the world who don't really care about that. I think it's changing here in America, but too slowly. You have to remember that the industry in this country is based around capitalism, and that involves a certain amount of exploitation, an emphasis on marketing and profit, and bottom line. So when you have that you have people being over-cautious about market tastes and they'll underestimate a lot of things - like the black experience here in America. So we get ignored even when we do something innovative."

Fortunately this hasn't been the case elsewhere, especially in Europe. Juan's records as Model 500 were licensed to Belgium's R&S imprint from 1981, he released music as Output on the UK's Kinetix label, and he cut Jazz Is The Teacher with 3MB, the Tresor label's in-house production team which consisted of Thomas Fehlmann and Moritz Von Oswald (one of the driving forces behind Basic Channel).

He's also continued with his own label Metroplex.

"I started the label in 1985; the first three or four releases were definite classics and I think that's continued. Right now we've got some good quality emotional releases coming through and I think Metroplex is one label definitely always look out for, and as long as we can keep the new releases interesting it can always be a cool thing."

(originally published in 1999)

Dave Tarrida & Tobias Schmidt "The Test EP" Tresor 104

2009-07-01T14:20:37Z

I'm beginning to wish I keep all my Tobias Schmidt records in one place. On the same shelf at the very least. Or perhaps I should have not mentioned I'd post some more of his stuff. Or perhaps he shouldn't release such good records in the first place.

Today's dose of Toby consists of his first split EP with Dave Tarrida (The second being on Dancefloor Killers in 2004). This EP is again, like yesterday, from the 90's and in fact the same year as the 'We Teach Mistakes EP' I mentioned last. It's similar in style to (I feel) to his 'Destroy LP' on Tresor from many years after this EP. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to call me on it.

Dave Tarrida & Tobias Schmidt "The Test EP" Tresor 104
A1 - Naked
A2 - Spaced
B1 - Out
B2 - Teenager
[ Discogs ]

Buy Used @ Discogs' Marketplace

Tobias Schmidt "We Teach Mistakes EP" Sativae 14

2009-06-30T13:55:33Z

This decade plus old EP from Tobias Schmidt still sounds good, no great, today. Of course. Tobias Schmidt has always put out records that hold up over time and this one is no exception. I've only just realized that as much as I like Toby's stuff I've not posted much of it aside from his new releases. I'm going to rectify that as of today. Expect to see a few more of his old releases in the next week or so. I'll start digging so you can can (re?)enjoy.

Tobias Schmidt "We Teach Mistakes EP" Sativae 14
A1 - The Glue Experiment
A2 - Plastic Hip
B1 - Machine Puzzle
B2 - Hard Feelings
[ Discogs ]

Visit Tobias Schmidt on Myspace

Buy Used @ Discog's Marketplace

Onken: Slave To My Soundwave

2009-06-29T12:18:56Z

Here's an old HipHop mix from Onken, the fellow who perked our ears up a week or so ago with his oldschool hardcore mix. This time around it's "...for the ghettoblasters in the park over summer". I can't argue with that prescription.

Intro#
DJ Quik- Quik is the name [fast edit]
YO YO - Aint nobody [better version]
DJ Quik- Tear it off [chewy mix]
YO YO - Make way for the motherlode [mothership edit]
Public Enemy - welcome to the terrordome [instrumental]
YO YO - Stompin to da 90s (dub)
Interlude#1
Kool G Rap - Wanted dead or alive [Bobbitsmashupmix]
C Bobbit- Give it up turn it loose
Grandmaster Flash Interlude#
Dayton - Funky in here
Kool G Rap - Poisen [Dayton`s groove version]
Tuff Crew - Show em hell
Percy P - Lung collapsing lyrics
Kool G Rap - Kool is back
Interlude#2
All The Kings Men - Mag Poonk
Public Enemy - Revolution Generation [thetimeisnowedit]
The Jb`s - Here we come, here we go, here we are
Kid Cholesterol - Superbad
Interlude#3
Stezo - Put your body into it
Showbiz & AG - Party groove

Download

Ben Pest Q&A

2009-06-27T11:04:52Z

So sue me for plagiarism - I nicked this nice little piece of Ben Pest hyperbole off the No-Future chat-boards here. The link (from last year) also has a couple of nice audio links you should check out, but here's what they had to say:

"As a solo artist, Ben recently swaggered his way onto the scene with the excellent Flood Damage (Agresa EP, Victim Recs) and stellar appearances at the likes of Uglyfunk in London.

"He's perhaps better known however as a member of the band Pest, a brilliantly original collective who epitomize the Ninja Tune label on which they have released: 'A multi-talented bunch of varied stock musicians, who come together and produce a cultural crucible of music which happily defies any succinct pigeon-holes'.

"In addition, Ben forms one half of the Black E with the highly respected Cristian Vogel, who together impressed at this year's BLOC festival with their live performance of full-on electronic improvisation."

Anyway, Trevor and I both love the man's musical inroads and have been after a quick chat with the good sir Benjamin Mallott, and Ben was kind enough to give the quickie e-mail Q&A thing a go just prior to organizing a tour of Japan....

Yawn question... How did you get inspired to start making music?

"My school had an Atari with Cubase, and a Roland sampler with about §2 seconds' sample time! I wasn't any good at sport, so I spent a lot of lunchtimes in the music cupboard."

With the band Pest, you've been prolific through Ninja Tune since around 2001. What's happening in the band department?

"We are nearing completion of our third album, and we're doing a mini-tour of Japan in August!"

How is Ben Pest most different from Pest, the band? (aside from the rather obvious fact it's only you)

"Completely different style - Ben Pest is acid house/techno, whereas Pest is live electronic funk.

What's the story behind your activities with Cristian Vogel as Black E?

"We made a 4-track EP in as many days in Cristian's studio in Barcelona, and we've played a few live shows in London and one in Berlin."

Where were you born, and what's that place most famous for?

"Rush Green - not famous for an awful lot, really!"

You've been producing music and interacting within the music industry for quite a time now - how long exactly? And what integral changes have you noticed over that time period?

"I've been releasing music properly since 2001 - its getting harder and harder to sell underground music."

What gear/software are you making most use of in the studio at the moment?

"My Korg ESX1 and Yamaha DX200, and Cubase, mostly."

What food/drinks keep you fueled throughout production time?

"Coffee, coffee, coffee."

Which current crop of artists and labels are grabbing your attention, and why so?

"I really like Rafferty's stuff right now."

You've released stuff through Ninja Tune, Bonus Round, Sleep Debt and Victim. What's your relationship like with these labels?

"Well, both Victim and Bonus Round are active and run by good friends of mine; unfortunately, I don't think Cristian [Vogel] is doing much with Sleep Debt anymore, and although Pest has a good relationship with Ninja, I don't think we really fit in with what they do these days."

Biggest influences on your own music?

"Top of my head - Sly Stone, Pantera, Miles Davis, Aphex Twin, Frank Zappa."

What new Ben Pest releases can we look out for?

"Just released Off Piste on Victim."

A fair amount of people are cutting back on vinyl production these days because they say it just doesn't make back the money invested. How do you feel about this?

"Well, yeah, it's really, really hard to release vinyl without loosing money nowadays - I have utmost respect for anyone hanging in there."

Is vinyl dead? Or just becoming more of a select option?

"It's not dead! People were saying that 15 years ago, and its still around - just not that much of it, sadly."

Do DJs really need to continue to use vinyl?

"I always DJ with vinyl, and have to say i feel a bit cheated if i see a DJ using purely Serrato or Albeton, or whatever."

What do you think of veteran British producers like Neil Landstrumm, Tobias Schmidt, Dave Tarrida, Cristian Vogel, Subhead, Tubejerk and Si Begg? Do any of these people stand out for you, and which labels do you currently dig cutting tunes in the UK?

"Well, they all stand out, really. Don't Records is a wicked label, and so is Coin Operated."

You're coming to Japan in August, right? Any dates/cities set in concrete yet? Just you, or your band Pest?

"How do you know about that? ...we only just booked the flights! Its the whole band - but I'd like to get some solo shows too."

Luke's Anger is hitting Japan in July. What's the attraction of this country for musicians like your own fine selves?

"I can't wait to find out - I think we'll go down really well!"

How do you like your mushrooms cooked?

"Sunny side up."

Care to add anything else? (about your own new releases/remixes/ideas/ideals/grievances/philosophies/quips/earth-shattering announcements/etc)?

"Only dead fish follow the stream!"

Audiotech "Triple XXX/I'm Your Audiotech" Express US 27

2009-06-26T19:52:17Z

Represses from the vault are definitely appreciated sometimes. Here are two old Juan Atkins tracks from back in the mid 80's to jam out to once again!

Audiotech "Triple XXX/I'm Your Audiotech" Express US 27
A1 - Audio Tech "I'm Your Audio Tech"
B1 - Triple XXX "The Bedroom Scene"
[ Discogs ]

Buy @ Deejay (DE), Juno (UK)

Bleep Radio 166: Nick G.

2009-06-25T14:00:36Z

Today we have a mix here from Nick Gryskiewicz who hails from Minneapolis right now. 'Nick G' as I think he prefers to go by when music is involved has been enjoying being a student of Techno for about a decade in the Wisconsin and Twin City area. But, as we all know...all the silly bio details mean next to nothing. Either the music is enjoyable or it's not.

I enjoyed this. I hope you do to.

Nick G's web-site / mix archive

0. 3d!t - Bleep Radio Intro
1. Nigel Richards - Connect 4
2. Scan 7 - Urban Energy
3. Erase - The Plague
4. Wilhelm K - Ex-Uses
5. Tony Rohr - Warbale 145
6. Mike Dearborn - The Voice Of God
7. Adam X - Audio Imagry Pt. 2
8. DJ Misjah - The Strong Rhythm
9. Aphrohead - Legion (Wataru Kishida Remix)
10. Tim Xavier - Chain Message
11. Dreek Sol - Transcend
12. Lithium & 360° - The Saga Continues (Bones Club Remix)
13. Infuse - Holy Land Of Swot
14. Dietrich Schoenemann - Motive Two A1
15. DJ Misjah - Drum Squasher
16. Electric Indigo - Going For A Walk (TokTok Remix)
17. Angel Alanis - The Feeling
18. Jeff Mills - Cyclone
19. Adam X - Wave Of The Future
20. John Thomas - The Blend
21. Marco Carola - Tracks For Monostress Blue B2
22. Mark Broom - Side Step
23. Nigel Richards - Boom
24. Paul Birken - Muzzleplication
25. Woody McBride - Flights Departing (Nee & Shreve Remix)

Download The June 25th, 2009 Archive

Syntax Error Dj Mix: Bees, Flies, Mosquitos DJ Mix

2009-06-24T19:08:58Z

Syntax Error has put together a mix consisting of almost entirely Mosquito tracks with but a few exceptions. All the tracks you'd expect to be there are there plus a few I don't even recognize despite having the records. I don't have a tracklist for this mix as it wasn't supplied, but if you have any questions regarding certain times in the mix speak up in the comments and I'm sure it can be id'd for you.

Download

Housemeister "Who Is That Noize LP" All You Can Beat 11

2009-06-23T20:11:05Z

Because of that Housemeister EP I mentioned a few weeks back I've had my eyes opened to this fella. It looks like this LP was actually released last year, but has been repressed. So for those of you who like me have only just started enjoying Housemeister's stuff....score!

Housemeister "Who Is That Noize LP" All You Can Beat 11
A1 - InOrderToDance
A2 - Ohrfeige!
B1 - Who Is That Noize
B2 - We Like The Arpeggiator On
B3 - What You Want
C1 - Das Leben Ist Herrlich !
C2 - You Need A Cap
C3 - Red-Eyed Robots
D1 - The Flute
D2 - Bonustrack
[ Discogs ]

Buy @ Deejay (DE), Juno (UK)

Crystal Distortion "Music Device EP" Expresillon 51

2009-06-22T22:38:09Z

The A side on the newest Crystal Distortion is very strong, however I'm not too swayed by side B's 'Cheese...' ironically enough. No matter, the rest makes it worthwhile.

Crystal Distortion "Music Device EP" Expresillon 51
A1 - Git On Up
A2 - Music Device
B1 - Cheese 2009
[ Discogs ]

Available: Now
Format: Vinyl

Buy / Listen @ Deejay (DE)

Onken Dj Mix

2009-06-21T19:33:14Z

If you're interested in a spiffin good time then you should check out Onken's newest mix. A very healthy mix of new and old. Perfect for a Sunday, if played loudly.

1.Michael Forshaw - klamz of westworld
2.DJ Tranz - Ride Out
3.Kronos - Android
4.Nebula 2 - X-Plore H-Core Remix
5.Smooth But Hazzadous - Made U Dance
6.Prodigy - Charly [Trip into drum & bass version
7.Boomtown - Energize
8.Onken - Posession of Ganja (bonus beatz)
9.Sudden Def - Let It Hit Dem
10.Ajax Project - Crazy 4 Your Love
11.Dj Hype - The Trooper (Original Mix)
12.Dj Hype - I Cant Understand It
13.Dj Hype - Shot In The Dark
14.Cool Hand Flex - Go Insane
15.Dj Excel - Just When You Thought It Was Safe
16.Kid606 - Yr Inside The Smallest Rave On Earth
17.2 Bad Mice - Drumscare
18. DJ Phantasy's Mate - Untitled
19.Wardance - Untitled
20.Light Of The Underground EP - Untitled
21.Flex - R.A.W.
22.C.M.C. - Technodrome
23.Bad Girl - Bad Girl (Radio Mix)
24.Progression - Keep My Soul
25.Progression - Lost In The Jungle
26.Noise Factory - All Crew
27.DJ JBL - 1000 Hertz (Mix 2)
28.Onken - Get Bizzy (Miami Hoedown)
29.Cool Hand Flex - Hay-Yeh

Download

Trode "Good Gracious EP" Wide

2009-06-20T18:24:38Z

I found the strongest track on this Digital release from Trode (Smashback + Teutonic Kaboom) to be 'Wizard of Oz'. Before I knew it, I'd listened to it a half dozen times on repeat and had to force myself to check out the rest of the tracks as well. It's a proper little adventure with heart, smart, courage and a home whether it knows it or not. The rest of the fanfare should be aimed at the Pain Struck Stanley Dumb and Egyptrixx remixes. Nice at bats for sure.

Trode "Good Gracious EP" Wide
01 - Ganja Maz
02 - Wizard Of Oz
03 - Sito
04 - Shrewsbury Steppa
05 - Shrewsbury Steppa (Pain Struck Stanley Dumb Remix)
06 - Keep Going
07 - Keep Going (Egyptrixx Remix)
08 - Keep Going (Kanji Kinetic Remix)
[ Discogs ]

Available: ...soon
Format: Digital Release