The epitome of a modern electronic album – dancey, deep, quirky, funky, retro, futuristic – without ever losing their shape or sense of style and cool.

From the electro pop of “Cut Diamond”, to the retro-synth core of “Catrina”, to the head nodding funk of “In My Boots” & the twisted disco of “Jalousie” this is a seriously cool album.

Who needs wool or cotton when we have the man made fibres of Pollyester.

Soundcloud

Facebook

This year I’ll be back at the Red Bull Guest House (RBGH) with Traktor Cookery School. We’ve also got a number of other things up our sleeves which need to remain under wraps for a few more weeks yet.

RBGH has moved this year from The Gale to The Sagamore. Whilst checking out pictures of the hotel I was reminded about one of the main reasons why these trips to Miami are so inspiring. Yes, the sun, parties, music & catching up with friends is all great, but it’s hard to beat the stunning examples of art deco you find around South Beach.

So, before all our social media feeds get overloaded with pictures of palm trees I thought a look at some of the coolest art deco examples wouldn’t be a bad way to start getting ready for WMC 2015.

Nothing had ever felt like it was at the right time, the right place, the right people. That was often the way in a pre-internet world, where you pretty much had to take what was available in your neighbourhood.

That was all about to change. The world was about to take its first steps into globalisation. In the UK, we had endured over a decade of Thatcherite rule, the City was awash with yuppies, the working class were being erased, & even club culture was becoming elitist, after a punk & a new wave phase had finally burned out…

The birth of acid house, imported to the UK from Ibiza, via Detroit & Chicago heralded a whole new era of creativity & possibility. The first few years of acid house in the UK were an amazing balearic mix of pianos, pills, orbital raves, & 909’s.

As cool, fresh & inspiring as those early acid house years were, it’s adoption in London arguably gave the scene it’s most influential direction . Very quickly the egalitarian DiY punk ethic at the heart of 80’s acid house, that applied equally to music production, parties, social scenes or even the football terraces spawned the bastard child of acid house & hardcore: jungle.

Experimentation was central to the culture. Whether it was pushing the Roland synths in ways that were never imagined by the engineers, or playing records at the wrong speed. What was different from other youth movements such as Punk, was how democratic this movement was becoming. Arguably, not through design, but through the chance combination of drugs & technology. The perfect combination of inclusivity & possibility spawned jungle fever.

Dazed’s documentary is an inspiring film that tells this tale as lived by some of its key protagonists – Fabio & Groove, Hype, Goldie & many more.

As Trevor Jackson recently commented this could only really have ever happened in London. I loved every minute, weekly trips to Rage on Thursday nights changed my cultural landscape for ever.

In many ways this musical movement was the outrider for the Internet age.

If the internet is about cheaper production, globalisation and fusion. Acid house & jungle were the advance troops of this cultural revolution.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/19839/1/watch-our-full-length-documentary-jungle-fever

I’m loving the trend towards long form video. A good viral clip is cool, but you know proper story telling & film making still works for me.

This short film by Anthony Mandler is pretty epic in it’s ambition. Perfectly matching Lana’s haunting songs & controversial subject matter. Very reminiscent of Madonna in her first push to super stardom. Parodying traditional American icons Elvis, Marilyn, John Wayne as well as Jesus & the church, very much like the Queen of Pop did in the 90’s.

Tapping into the massive sexualisation of modern popular culture with overtly sexual imagery & the obligatory strippers & gangs, this film both glamourises & questions the role of sex in modern urban city life. Whilst asking the question how consumerism has affected our nature. Have we always been a mix of gods & monsters?

Can’t wait for the album & the next film.

Lana Del Rey Twitter
Anthony Mandler Twitter

This is the first official video for Darren Emerson’s new project, The White Lamp.

They were keen to ensure the White Lamp sound was not pigeon-holed in one of the gazillion sub-genres of House or Techno, the outfit wanted the music to do the talking. So, with no mention of Darren’s part in the project, their debut track “It’s You” (remixed by Ron Basejam, Eats Everything & Christophe on Futureboogie Recordings) had over half-a-million Youtube hits, and was included in both Resident Advisor & Mixmag’s Top 50 tracks of the year.

The track was released on the down-low earlier in the year, after a white label pressing of “Make It Good” caused a stir in club land last October.

We were asked to come up with a video that told the tale of a blissful summer, seen through the eyes of a child that had some twists along the way.

Hope you enjoy the track & the video.

Buy track here
iTunes – buy here

The White Lamp – Facebook

The White Lamp – Soundcloud

Sonar Kollektiv

Jus A lil Dope

Cutting Records were fairly prolific in the early 90’s. Not all of it great, but when they got it right, they were on the money.

Of course, they had the huge coup of having the incredible talents, of Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez & “Little” Louie Vega signed to the label as Masters at Work. At the time they were releasing on Cutting as well as some 12″s on Nervous.

This record felt like a real moment. Bringing together the breaks that were being used in hardcore, ragga & reggae influences, all wrapped up in their jazz & latin New York vibes. What a record!

One benefit of the Summer holidays is the opportunity to catch up on reading books that had been sat on your bedside table gathering dust.

After having read & thoroughly enjoyed Keith Richards’ autobiography last year, I had been looking forward to delving into the life of Pete Townshend.

Musically & chronologically Keith & Pete trod similar paths. That’s pretty much where the similarity ends though. Indeed, the more you explore the music side, you become aware of the massive differences. Even though they are both guitarists who creatively led their respective bands, both with a founding love of R&B, & at the vanguard of British domination of the pop world. Their approach to music is very different. Keith is very much the model rock n roller, whereas through the pages of his autobiography, it becomes clear how much more art school was a core influence for Townshend.

From the early pop art that influenced both artwork (A Quick One, The Who Sell Out) & songwriting (Substitute), right through to the rock opera approach (Tommy, Quadrophenia), the art school graduate is clear to see.

What is also clear is how alone Townshend felt. Never seemingly happy, even at the height of their success. Whilst, also feeling isolated in the creative pressure to deliver for The Who.

Townshend is at pains to point out, how during the early years of The Who, he was a well behaved husband, who ignored the variety of goodies available to a 60’s pop star. Indeed, when later on, he slips into what is obvious he regards as the bad habits of sex, drugs, & rock n roll, he is an uncomfortable participant in his own story.

The book gives a very strong sense of his songwriting process. A fascinating insight into the creation of classics like My Generation, Tommy, Quadrophenia & even how Live at Leeds came to fruition.

Who I Am is at times painful & lonely, as you feel the authors despair. Nonetheless, a captivating account of one of his generations finest songwriters, & a true insiders look at one of the original supergroups.

Buy here

Sleaze Dubbing (MP3)

More from the Lost Art vinyl vaults.

I’ve never really got the fascination with endless genres & sub-genres.

Listening to this classic from seminal 90’s label Paper, shows how futile & meaningless labelling can sometimes be. This track was a “deep-house” tune, the first time around. Or was that the second time? Early deep house tunes on labels like Peacefrog, Slip n Slide, Distance & Om Records tended to be a little jazzy, & musical, as well as deep.

It was when the British got hold of the sound that it went deeper, more minimal & less jazzy. Paper were at the forefront of the sound with many classic releases. Including, this monster from the much missed Kenny Hawkes.

Long live house music!

Burnin'(Unabomers_Basement_Mix)

Finally getting round to digitising my vinyl record collection. Feels like an almost unachievable goal – real time listening & recording of thousands of tunes. Oh well, doesn’t sound so bad after all. Will have to give up work!

I’ll endeavour to share some of my favourites along the way.

Always been a massive fan of the Unabombers, their heavy disco & soul approach to house music never failed to rock a dancefloor.

The original mix of Burnin’ on this 12″ release from the Jersey Street Allstars is a classic Electric Chair release. While the flip is a deep & raw mix from the Unabombers.

Enjoy.

Bonobo – First Fires from Derek Hansen on Vimeo.

The single “First Fires” from Bonobo’s new album “The North Borders” is a beautiful, haunting & melancholic piece of music.

You can always rely on Bonobo crafting music to move you, whether that’s on a dance floor, or emotionally like this latest offering.

His 2010 album ‘Black Sands’ was the high watermark of his career to date; a masterful record, marrying Green’s inimitable melodic genius to cutting edge electronics, bass and drums.

B side “Heaven For the Sinner”, is Bonobo’s much vaunted collaboration with the legendary Erykah Badu, makes this single a true microcosm of The North Borders itself.

The single & album are out now.

http://bonobomusic.com/

Buy single here

Buy the album here

Bonobo Twitter