Urlaubshits

It’s been a while since I posted a mix (or indeed anything at all), but I do have quite valid reasons for this, which relate to something quite exciting, which I will get to at the end; before I elaborate on that however, I am going to make another announcement. I have decided not to post MP3s of individual tracks anymore. Rather, the only music I post will be as longform mixes, and rather than monthly, only as and when I am able to (doing them monthly was getting to be a bit difficult). This is something I have been planning in the back of my mind for a long time, and the reasons are many and varied. Ethical reasons have always been a great concern for me. In the three years since I started this blog things have gotten far worse financially than anyone could have ever foreseen, and although I have always been as careful as possible to not post ridiculous amounts of music, I simply can’t condone any action which is potentially robbing people of their hard earned money. The second is because I simply do not have the time to commit to posting several times a week, or month even. Switching to mixes gives me more time to do the other things I want to do.

But the main reason I’ve decided to change the focus is because I’ve got my first remix coming out. It’s of Detachments’ “The Flowers That Fell”, and it’s coming out on Thisisnotanexit in June. This is quite significant, and I weighed up the pros and cons of using the Urlaubshits name versus coming up with a new name, but ultimately, Urlaubshits just felt right. I’m not the first person with a blog to use their identity in this way, and I doubt I will be the last. To be honest I want to be spending the little free time that I have making music rather than have to worry about writing about it all the time; I have no desire to create some kind of multifaceted media empire. However, the shift in focus doesn’t mean I won’t discuss other music, it just means what I say might be a bit less well thought out. Hopefully though, what I write might end up being better for it.

Anyway, enough talk, enjoy the mix.

Download:> Urlaubshits Radio – May 2010 (192kbps, 112mb, 1:21:01)

1) Space Dimension Controller – The Love Quadrant // Kinnego Records
Everything about this track is just beautiful: the delay on the chords, the jazzy melody, the breathy vocals, the ridiculous lyrics about space travel. There’s an effortless maturity in the construction of this wonderful song which belies the relatively young age (20) of its creator. He did an interview with Fact a few months ago which is well worth a read, and kind of makes you wish more people took his approach to the composition of dance music.

2) Architeq – Mind Games (The Emperor Machine Remix) // Tirk Recordings
If you haven’t heard Architeq before, then I would urge you to seek out the track “Birds Of Prey”, an amazing piece of acid electro-boogie which gives Flying Lotus a run for his money production-wise. In the original to this track, he reshapes disco in his own image, but this remix by the ever-dependable Emperor Machine adds a driving bassline and a slight cosmic touch.

3) Floating Points – People’s Potential // Eglo Records
Floating Points is another producer at the centre of the divergent meeting point between house and dubstep, though he definitely seems to fall more on the house side of the divide. Last year’s Vacuum Boogie was a wonderfully deep piece of cosmic Detroit inspired house. This follow-up single is a little bit more laid back; I don’t want to say that this track is acid-jazz, as it would constitute a gross factual error, and would be a massive insult to a great piece of music, but the squelching 303 melody in conjunction with the loose acoustic rhythms (which bring Four Tet to mind) and piano almost make it an acceptable description.

4) Pollyester – German Love Letter (Hal Tabac Mix) // Permanent Vacation
The original is a wonderful piece of 80s style pop, replete with heavy chorus on the backing vocals. Unfortunately I can find almost no information on the mysterious Hal Tabac, so all I can say is that his(?) remix is by far the best of the bunch. He adds an ethereal quality to the vocals, building them up, layer by layer, before bringing in an oddly wistful bassline. As a remix, it’s got lots of very strange mood shifts, but somehow these moments compliment the fragility of the vocals in quite an apt way.

5) Moscow – Deep Heat // LoEB
I’ve already said quite a lot about Moscow (aka Matt Waites, aka Nightmoves), so I won’t repeat myself, but this new single on Lo Recordings’ LoEB (experimental beats) imprint is a winner, taking things into the territory of prog-kraut. The single features a remix by The Loving Hand. All in all, a dream combination.

6) The Crystal Ark – The City Never Sleeps // DFA Records
The latest project spawned from the mind of Gavin Russom, The Crystal Ark is supposedly inspired by five weeks of travelling and performing around Brazil, and the music he encountered while doing so. In reality, the South American influences are slightly pushed to the background by the dominating bass which is classic Russom, but it’s still an exceptional track, and despite the sonic similarity to his Black Meteoric Star project, has an underlying rhythmic delicacy to it which feels like a fresh start.

7) Actress – Maze // Honest Jon’s
This forboding track comes from Actress’s second album Splazsh, a combination of Carpenteresque soundscapes, UK Garage and proto-house, all woven into unique post-dubstep forms. In a year which has seen many other strong electronic long players, Splazsh is probably likely to have the most crossover appeal for the dubstep genre since Burial’s Untrue. But that’s probably because it doesn’t stick too rigidly to what most people would consider to be “dubstep”; far from just making you question the nature of dubstep, Actress makes you question the nature of dance music. The importance of this album should not be underestimated.

8) The Hundred In The Hands – Dressed In Dresden (Kyle MF Hall Remix) // Warp Records
Kyle Hall is (yet) another one of the big names straddling the divide between house and dubstep. His recent release on Hyperdub Kaychunk melds the atmosphere of Detroit techno with syncopated, free-flowing rhythms, but this remix of Brooklyn band The Hundred In The Hands is pretty straight up 4/4. His remix strips away the original’s jagged guitars, and transforms the original vocal into a wispy phantom.

9) Motor City Drum Ensemble – Monorail // Faces/MCDE
Motor City Drum Ensemble (in reality the moniker of one man from Stuttgart, Danilo Plessow) is pretty much one of the biggest things in contemporary house music. If his stuff has passed you by, then I strongly urge you to get a copy of Raw Cuts Vol. 1, an album which collects all of his vinyl singles, and a few bonuses, one of which is this track. His name pretty much sums up his sound, and although it’s easy to argue that there’s nothing particularly new going on here, but he does it with such class and skill that it really doesn’t matter.

10) Claro Intelecto – New Life // Modern Love
Another slice of supremely classy house music. This feels almost more of a skeleton of a track than most of his productions; chords rise up out sparse, pounding drums, only to be cut off prematurely, with a build-up that feels more like a seance. This is the kind of tune that warehouses were made for.

11) Spectacle – Prism // Permanent Vacation
Spectacle’s sound harks back to the classic Chicago sound of Fingers Inc; this track has that slightly hollow bass and warm pad which brings to mind “Can You Feel It”, which is no small compliment. Like labelmates Jackpot, they have a sound that is so of-its-time yet not of-its-time that you could easily be fooled into believing it was some lost classic.

12) Night Plane – Str8 2 Ur Heart 2 // Unreleased
I was already a fan of Thisisnotanexit’s Night Plane, but this (hopefully) upcoming track is next level stuff. The incredible vocal sample adds some incredible warmth to what underneath is actually quite cold production, what with its metronomic bassline and sharp snares. But this is actually a track of two parts; the vocal fades away and leads things into a slightly murkier realm, giving way to a shimmering melody which has the improvisational quality of his previous productions, albeit with a much darker quality.

13) Gold Panda – You (Minotaur Shock Remix) // Notown Records
This remix by Minotaur Shock keeps the skittering vocal sample of the original, but ramps up the tempo by about 20bpm, makes the drums roll a little more and adds a bassline that makes the whole thing explode with melody. This EP is so big it’s just been picked up by Ghostly International for a US release, and will have an exclusive remix by Osborne – reason enough to investigate it a second time.

14) Dan Deacon – Surprise Stefani (Luke Abbott Remix) // Amazing Sounds
Allez-Allez’s new label Amazing Sounds has set out to combine great music with great artwork, and only two releases in, they have managed to achieve that, and more than most labels would with ten. The second release, a collection of Dan Deacon tracks (one original and three remixes) features this great remix by Border Community’s Luke Abbott. The whole thing exudes a pastoral warmth that suits the source material quite perfectly.