It's been a funny old week. First Facebook seem to be tinkering with the spam settings, meaning my usual messages about the UM show couldn't be sent out to everyone. Then Soundcloud introduce some new features, meanwhile Myspace are committing crimes against design with their new profiles - but nothing stands still does it? Later today I'll be kicking off my new show on DiscothequeRadio.com adding a new audience to the untitledmusic family which is great news.
A recent rush of new labels has added a real buzz to the shows too, Neurotraxx, OFF, Dieb Audio and more is a great sign of the support out there for untitledmusic too! So thanks to all of you for checking the shows out and keep posting the link on and spreading the word!
A while back I put down some thoughts on how best to utilise Soundcloud in your promotions (read the article here). Well, time stands still for no man, woman or blogger and with a series of new features rolled out on Soundcloud this week I thought I ought to see what it means to me, you and the rest of the world.
The new Dashboard
It's no secret, the Dashboard and the amount of information flowing through it has caused those folks living on the cloud a great deal of headaches, outages and hard work to streamline. The benefits are that you're now better able to customise what you want (within reason). The downside is it has meant 'Tracks from people you follow' has been removed. To see new tracks from people you follow you'll need to click on the 'Incoming Tracks' option along the header of the Dashboard area.
Personally I used that bit of the site a lot, so to be sure you never lose track of that track you love you'd be best making a favourite of it, and if you've linked your Twitter account that activity will show up there - share and share alike!
New Upload and Sharing
Not much change here other than the aesthetics really, some of the options like adding the label, BPM, release date, video links or purchase links are now hidden on arrival, simply scroll down and select 'Show More Options' to get to them.
The old 'Building Soundwave' screen has been replaced with a two part uploading progress bar. Nice touch, but not sure it really makes any difference?
You can also add a note to tracks now, most useful if you're sharing privately and want to put some info with the track, be that unmastered, in progress or whatever.
Be sure to scroll right down and enable the Downloading, Widgets and Apps enabled bits to get full expose for your tunes.
Perhaps the most interesting addition to the sharing options is the new Secret Widget feature - aimed right at those of you wanting to embed a player in your promo pages. More info on that can be found here (Secret Widget)
By no means a radical update of operations over on the cloud but as more of more music professionals get involved they're working hard to push on enhancing things, recent additions of being able to click on tags and see more tunes of the same genre and a whole lot of work around copyright and the creative commons licensing really does make Soundcloud the unrivaled site for getting your music out there - as long as you do it right!
Fresh new tunes from Silicone Soul on Soma, Guesthouse, Sound Mass, OFF, Jesus Pablo, Neurotraxx, Lost My Dog, Full Flavor, Tapas, Headset, Soluble, Deepermotions, Hardmix, ProgCity Deep, Degoba, Smiley Fingers and more in the mix.
We've all got a story to tell of a crazy night, a throbbing club, the pills (kids don't do drugs), the copious amounts of water and the long hard morning after I'm sure. In between some serious dance anthems; Rofo's Theme, 2 Fabiloa, Altern8, Rum & Black, one with Here Comes The Sun vocals in it and so many more of the classic rave era tunes that sound a bit, well... 'dated' nowadays we'll all have a standout tune that sums up a much less stressful time.
Mine doesn't exactly come from punching the air, twisting and grinding amongst the throng, gurning the night away and still smelling menthol come college the following Monday. No, the tune that stands head and shoulders above all others and captures that time in life, for me at least, is Orbital's chilled out epic Belfast.
Let me briefly explain... yes there was dancing, gurning, and Vics prior to the event that has engraved this tune on my soul, but having walked home at dawn, across cow filled fields like some surreal KLF adventure. Slept in one of those bizarre post club mists and awoken to an all too bright and cheery mum bearing mugs of tea and toast for the lads.
Our over exerted, aching, come down state had us slumped around my bedroom, clutching a cuppa in front of my overly illuminated hi-fi system listening to suitably chilled tunes whispering about the night before. To this day, all three of us in that room swear this tune sped up over the last 2 minutes into a crescendo - it doesn't, we were just out of it!
Ahhh, the things we do, but no matter how you look at it, brother Phil and Paul Hartnoll's Belfast was a tune and a half, building on their galactic success of making tunes with a beautiful core throughout the 90's and making an indelible mark on electronic music that few have surpassed. Their live shows paved the way for the likes of Daft Punk and co - so Paul and Phil - cheers!
Originally released on the B-side of Satan, LC1 (FX149) in 1991 it was later reworked with a vocal - adding an extra dimension to an already cracking tune! Not something that is often done very well, although maybe next I'll post Weekend's Sunday Sessions - another tune with a killer vocal sibling! But for now, I'm off to reminisce about crap stereo systems and when you had to get up every 6 minutes to turn the record over or start it again! Glory days!
All things considered it's been a quieter week at untitledmusic HQ, well they can't all be monumental! As you'll have seen on the blog earlier in the week, I'm starting off a new weekly show on Brazil's DiscothequeRadio which is very exciting and a big boost for me. It's been a fine week for new tunes too, plenty to choose from, so let's get to it...
Promo's from Random Soul, Lisa Shaw on Salted, Hardmix, Treasured Grooves, Superecordings, Traxacid, Neurotraxx, Deepclass, DP-6, Projeckt Inertia on Low Pressings, Session Deluxe, Pin Up, Giom, Robert Owens on Compost, Celestial, Affin and Urban Torque in the mix.
This year just goes from strength to strength for untitledmusic. Hot on the heels of being a regular on LowerCaseSounds and securing the eNation.fm twice weekly slot it's with great excitement I can now announce that Brazil's finest radio station DiscothequeRadio will be broadcasting a show from me once a week (see website for times very soon).
Bringing together respected artists, DJs / producers, Discotheque offers the finest tunes 24 hours a day from around the globe. DiscothequeRadio is committed to high quality audio with a dedicated server for unlimited listeners. They've gained more than 40,000 listeners in over 70 countries and boast DJ's including, Q-Burns Abstract Message, Hard Mix, Feodor AllRight & Elena Mechta (AMDJs), Jota Wagner, Marcelo Medeiros with Lars Behrenroth, yours truly and Keith Thompson joining the party from this week onwards.
Available online, on iPhones and all that techy stuff I hope you'll tune in and join the fun.
I'm often amazed how so much of the deep house scene is still made up of the names I cut my teeth on way back when untitledmusic started. My view is that it's a testament to how good and important those first pioneers where, the likes of 20:20 Vision, Paperecordings, Glasgow Underground, Forensic Records, Classic, Music For Freaks and more have shaped the scene ever since, paving the way for the new breed of artists and producers. So, it was with great pleasure that I recently sat down to check out the latest Hot Toddy long player, a smooth, laid back CD of typically excellent grooves and got a chance to ask the man himself a few questions.
Hot Toddy aka Chris Todd is one half of the Crazy P formerly known as Crazy Penis. A man that's been steadily building his reputation as a solo artist since his debut release way back in 1999. Those first releases were on Nottingham based label Neon Heights and were part of a series call Bright Lights, a lot has happened since then...
What's the best rumor you've heard about yourself? "Probably that we (Crazy P) turned down a million pound record deal from Hedkandi as announced, on the mic, by Stuart Patterson from Faith, just before we did a gig in Edinburgh. It was a great introduction, just completely inaccurate!"
A not entirely misspent youth that involved his father's folk/blues guitar playing and electronic keyboard, a 4 track home set up, the school music room's drum machine, Nottingham Trent Uni's mixing desk and Akai 1000 Sampler, an early viewing of Back to the Future, and Nottingham's vibrant early house scene have made Toddy the man he is today. And let's be honest Nottingham has for as long as I can remember been a hotbed of house music.
Following the Neon Heights releases came Crazy Penis's first long player on Paper Recordings 'Super Magic' in 2002. For me this was the first encounter with Todd, and that CD still sits on the shelf and gets the odd play - so must be good!
So much of the early deep house scene (Paperecordings for example) still has a relevance today - what's the secret of that longevity? "Quality music, in a word (or two!). The early Paper stuff was a massive inspiration to me when I was just getting into house/Disco production. Paper, along with other labels like Nu Phonic and DIY, and acts like Black Science Orchestra and Faze Action were really setting the foundation to this “Nu Disco” scene we have today. There is a real musicality to this stuff, made by talented musicians who can really play, and use their gear with such originality."
As Crazy P began to tour the world with their acclaimed live show - of which Chris is of course one of the arrangers and guitarist, Hot Toddy had to take a something of a backseat, but releases still emerged on Nottingham's excellent Winding Road label.
As Hot Toddy/Crazy Penis you were one of the pioneers of UK deep house, what's the biggest lesson you've learnt along the way? "I think, from my own experience, its don’t take the business/ legal side of things for granted, and allow complacency to set in. We’ve been guilty of this in the past and it’s got us into a bit of trouble. It’s easily done when all you want to do is make music, but you need to keep an eye on every aspect of your game." After Crazy P's triumphant last album Stop Space Return, and the subsequent touring that came with it, was finished, the studio beckoned once again, and Toddy emerged earlier in 2010 with his second album 'Late Night Boogie' on San Francisco label Om Records sister label Smoke and Mirrors. A gorgeous stew of all his styles, it featured Crazy P's Danielle Moore and Jennifer Rhonwen on vocals, and sweetly dove tailed the sounds of balearica, soul, boogie, disco, and the kind of slow burning house that Toddy and Crazy P have made their own. Eskimo Records loved the superb 'I Need Love' (featuring a rare lead vocal from Crazy P production partner Ron Basejam) that they swiftly licensed and got Morgan Geist in on the remix.
You've history of working with stand-out labels, what attracted you to OM's new off-shoot Smoke and Mirrors for this album?
"Well Om have a great reputation and are one of the leading and longest running underground dance labels in the world. We’ve done a bit of remix work with them in the past as Crazy P, which worked out well, so there was a bit of a relationship there. To be honest, the fact that they believed in the project enough to want to release it was a huge attraction! Didn’t realize it was coming out on Smoke n Mirrors till later, but I think it’s a better fit, stylistically."
How would you describe this new album?
"It's quite chilled, more than I planned, but its just the way it turned out. It covers a lot of ground, and quite a large time span. Some of the tracks I started around 2005, so it covers about 4 years. There was never a vision for it really, it was just a case of fitting in little bits, here and there, around the Crazy P schedule. Despite this hotch potch approach, I think the end result has some nice subtle musical themes running through it. I really like the some of the psychedelic touches to it, as in “Floatation Tank” and “Phantom Jam” in particular, of course there’s plenty of my funk and disco influences coming through also."
Throughout your career you've had a team approach using guest vocalists and remixers, how does that effect your creativity, writing approach, production and of course, the end result?
"When you write with singers/ musicians, you need to find the middle ground, there has to be a bit of give and take, and the end result is something unique, that is greater than the sum of the parts..if that make sense! Me and Jim have to do this with each other all the time, but that’s what makes the Crazy P sound, neither of us could come up with it in isolation."
What's your favorite track on it?
"That tends to change on a weekly basis! At the moment it’s “All Night”. It’s probably the most dance floor orientated tune on there and think it’s a pretty good representation of my style at the moment."
As we approach the end of 2010, Hot Toddy is now in demand as a remixer, with his takes of Joey Negro, Mousse T, Lovebirds, and his gorgeous version of Crazy P's 'Never Gonna Reach Me' getting props and plays from the likes of The Revenge, Tom Middleton, Pete Tong, King Britt, Tim Sweeney, Tensnake, and Jamie Jones, and Wolf and Lamb.
With the release in November of the next single from the album ‘Freekend’, what's your plans from there to promote the album?
"It’s tricky because Crazy P is my main project and takes priority, otherwise I’d be doing a lot more. Most weekends are taken up by Crazy P gigs, so apart from the usual round of interviews there’s not much on the cards at the moment."
You’ve been making quality tunes for long enough to have seen a lot of change in the industry - what do you see as the biggest challenges ahead?
"The biggest challenge is how to adapt quick enough in this digital computer age. Its mind-blowing to think how much things have changed in the last 10 years, the music industry has been turned upside down. The old infrastructure, which was in some part built around a physical product, is now almost obsolete. Artists and labels have had to adapt quickly to this new environment and find new niches to occupy and survive in.
The challenges for the smaller artist/label are fundamentally the same, how to make enough money in order to keep doing what you love. The relationship between gigs and “record” has flipped. Once you would tour to promote your record, now you release a record to promote gigs, the live experience is one thing that can’t be digitized, yet! So an important consideration for an up and coming artist is developing a good live/DJ show. Its how Crazy P’s survived for as long as it has."
And here's hoping the Hot Toddy, Crazy P, Chris Todd brand of survival continues for years to come, leading the way for many more to be inspired or to discover an outlet for making music that entertains beyond the DJ booth conquering that all important live market - something that's sure to become more and more important as the industry changes, the digital age progresses and piracy and other factors further effect how and where we hear the music we love.
I know I'm repeating myself here, but it's been another superb week for UM - not only am I going to be announcing a new, high profile, weekly radio show in the next week or two that I'm really excited about, but Neurotraxx Deluxe (Aki Bergen's label) have joined the UM family meaning I'll be bringing even more top class tunes over the coming months. We've had another guest mix and profile with 3am Recordings and have a exclusive interview with Hot Toddy for you tomorrow. It's all go!
And as if that wasn't enough, once again there's a feast of quality new tunes to pick from, this could easily have turned into a epic list of about fifteen tracks! But here's the five tunes that are getting some serious attention from me. Enjoy!
This year has brought a lot of new names to the untitledmusic family and it's often a learning curve for me getting to know the label, the names behind it and introducing them to all of you (if you're not already ahead of me!). So, with the blog building a good following I thought, "Why not move the guest mix series on a bit?" - sounds like a good plan and Baker Street kicked us off a little while back in style.
So, when Al Bradley and I got chatting we soon arrived at the point where a Guest Mix and profile was the obvious next step. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce… 3am Recordings.
Run and owned by Al Bradley for the last 7 years it might not be a name you're familiar with, and there's a good reason for that! After taking a short break following the collapse of the vinyl market for dance music and the subsequent closure of all too many of the bigger distributors 3am Recordings is back on track (excuse the pun) with new digital distribution through State51 and a release schedule which is already sorted through to March 2011.
"the financial loss was pretty massive, but the nagging urge to get things moving again never went away and once my alter-ego Chemical Warfare, had pushed out a couple of EPs and gained support, the impetus was all in place to roll the label out again."
Tracklisting: 1. Chris J – Electrostix (TAM035)
2. Machine Talk – Sun and Rain (TAM041)
3. Rob Small pres. Uncle Rico – A Different Groove (TAM039)
4. LHK – The Story (TAM040) 5. Chemical Warfare – Tumblin’ Down (TAM038)
6. Chemical Warfare – Revolutionary Vibes -Tech Dub- (TAM032)
7. Phil Towers – When The Time Is Right -Skip Donohue Remix- (TAM034)
8. Cosmic Groove Transmission – Strange Dances -Machine Talk Remix- (TAM036)
9. Carlo Gambino - Scene-sters (TAM037)
10. Carlo Gambino – Got High -Chemical Warfare HighTech Remix- (TAM037)
After a few months reconnecting with people and getting the ball rolling again, 3am is on the up. Staying true to the ethos of trying to combine new and upcoming producers alongside more established names, the label has future releases coming from names across the deep and tech house community; Rob Small, Mark Drake, Denney, LHK, Machine Talk, Roland Nights and the Wind Horse Records guys Hamza and Vipul to name a few.
3am has a solid history of 34 EP's ranging from mid tempo through to tech-house, artists including Ciudad Feliz (aka 2020 Soundsystem), Alex Moran, Danny Stott, Sound Navigators, Flash Atkins, Dealers Choice, Ross Couch, Pete Dafeet, Rithma, Paul Woolford and a whole lot more. Al himself has been a DJ since the mid-90's have played all over the UK in that time, including Mint Club (Leeds), Chibuku (Liverpool), The End (London), Deep Down & Dirty (London), (Brighton), StompaphunkUltragroove (Edinburgh) & loads more, plus for 18 months he was resident for Bugged Out over at Sankeys in Manchester, alongside Phil Towers (Cosmic Groove Transmission), playing mainly in the 2nd room spinning everything from deeper house through to slow-mo techno.
Recent 3am releases have come from the likes of Phil Towers, Chris J and Cosmic Groove Transmission, the label’s next EP comes courtesy of Leeds based Carlo Gambino, whose “Midnight Fakers EP” has garnered support from the likes of Giom, Jafar, Pete Dafeet, Tom Blacksoul, Adam Shelton and Claire Ripley - all pointing to good support and credibility pushing the label out there.
The labels influences take a nod to the deep house labels that put the UK at the forefront of the scene in the mid to late 90's; Paperecordings, Toko, Shaboom, 2020 Vision and Glasgow Underground amongst them.
“Those tracks from artists like Salt City Orchestra, Blakkat & Wolf ‘n’ Flow still sound as good now as they did back then, that's always been the aim with the releases on 3am. Of course trends come and influence how things can sound, but the bottom line is that quality house has always remained in place. After recovering from the problems a few years back, it just felt totally right to kick-start things again.
3am will have its first album release in early 2011, from the excellent Cosmic Groove Transmission.
“I’m really keen to look at the possibility of more albums; the CGT album is sounding superb and will open up a new venue for 3am to develop artists in this way, with the potential for live sets and a more full approach to the label’s catalogue.”
The recent resurgence in 'real' house and a definite swing back to quality grooves, it seems the perfect time for 3am to slip back into the sets of DJ's around the world.
“I can’t wait for some of the new tracks I’ve signed to come out, I’ve got the excitement back and there’s definitely that buzz again”
Forthcoming releases:
TAM037 – Carlo Gambino ‘Midnight Fakers EP’ (ft. LHK & Chemical Warfare remixes) TAM038 – Chemical Warfare ‘Tumblin EP’ (ft. Rob Small remix) TAM039 – Rob Small pres. Uncle Rico ‘A Different Groove’ (ft. Rob Pearson, Denney & Gianluca Peruzzi remixes) TAM040 – LHK ‘The Story’ (ft. Audiotonic, Carlo Gambino, Roland Nights & Carlo Gambino remixes) TAM041 – Machine Talk ‘Era / Sun & Rain’ TAM042 – Denney ‘Plane To Nowhere’ (ft. Hamza, Vipul remixes, more tbc) TAM043 – Mark Drake ‘Another World / Disco Volante’ (remixes tbc)
Fresh new tunes from Pin Up, Low Pressings, Affin, Tapas, Giom, DeepClass, Lost My Dog, Aquamarine, Deep Edition, Deepfunk, Acryl, Dustpan, Greenhouse, Drop Music, Open Bar, Celestial and more in the mix.
