Tuesday, May 31, 2011

UM85 Tracklisting



The latest deep house tunes from Urban Torque, Stranjjur NYC, Big Mama, Evren Ulusoy on Alma Soul Music, 22 Digit, Endemic Digital, Miguel Migs on Salted Music, Les Loups on  So Sound, Ooze, Low Pressings, RJ Fletcher on 3am, Steve Lischinsky remixed by Marvin Zeyss on Logo Tunisia, DP 6, Dirt Crew, Unt Records, Casareccio, Roni Be on Grouper Records, Freaky Vibes, Deep Spelle on Soul Industries, Desos,  Raw Cutz, Vida! Recordings and Timo Garcia on Neurotraxx Deluxe all in the mix.

Listen and download via Soundcloud or iTunes

UM85 - 31.05.11

1. Frederico Todos - The Moment (Original Mix) - Urban Torque
2. Lula Circus - I Know You're Waiting - Stranjjur NYC
3. Sunner Soul & Unclepasha - Ultraviolet (Original mix) - Big Mama Records
4. Evren Ulusoy - Unloved & Unwanted (Original Mix) - Alma Soul Music
5. Tom Ellis - Messing (Ruthit Remix) - 22 Digit Recordings
6. Stefan K - All The Time (Original Mix) - Endemic Digital
7. Miguel Migs feat' Mutabaruka - Migs Bump (The Tech Vocal) - Salted Music
8. Les Loups - Show U The Luv (Les Loups Rework) - So Sound Recordings
9. Chuck Cogan - Deeper Down (Original Mix) - Ooze Recordings
10. Nickk - As I Recall (Dj Runo Remix) - Low Pressings
11. RJ Fletcher - Ten10Ten (Original Mix) - 3am Recordings
12. Steve Lischinsky - Amazing (Marvin Zeyss Remix) - Logo Tunisia
13. DP 6 - Flames - DP-6 Records
14. Dirt Crew - Glance - Dirt Crew
15. Paul Baker - The Messenger (Original Mix) - Unt Records
16. Jerry K - I Can Be A Killer - Casareccio Records
17. Roni Be - Something Happened (Original Mix) - Grouper Records
18. DJ Da - Enlighted (Original Mix) - Freaky Vibes
19. Deep Spelle - Fire Between Us - Soul Industries
20. Desos - Sunday (Original Mix) - Logo Tunisia
21. Mirror People - Africa (Photonz Remix) - Raw Cutz Records
22. Wi-Fi Soul -  Dear Luisito (Original Mix) - Vida! Recordings 
23. Timo Garcia - Fuse (Michal Ho Remix) - Neurotraxx Deluxe

Links to untitledmusic:
Facebook
Soundcloud

Thursday, May 26, 2011

UM's High 5ives - 26.05.11

Another epic week is almost over and it's been all go once again! Some great new labels joined the untitledmusic family this week, including Soul Industries, Endemic, Stratospherik, Casareccio and Big Mama! The return to iTunes has proved a big hit, max'ing out my bandwidth in a week and the hot debate on "Who are the hottest new deep house talents out there" has created quite a buzz on the Deep House fans page and not to mention a decent post yesterday!

The up-side of all this madness is another week of discovering new music and producers - so much good stuff going on below the mainstream noise and I'm looking forward to bringing some of those lesser know names next week in part two of yesterday's post. So, by way of introduction and a nod to some of the talent I've been enjoying this week in the office, here's the cream of this weeks crop! Keep the world spinning out there! 

UM's High 5ives - 26.05.11 

Evren Ulusoy - Sorry Being Sophisticated (Original Mix) - Cromarti Records

Monodeluxe feat' Jannae Jordan - Time (The Disclosure Project Mix) - Vibe Boutique Records

Deep Spelle - Men Of Goodwill EP - Soul Industries

Marius - Never (Q-Burns Abstract Message Remix) - Big Mama Records

Microphunk & HouseRiders - Close Your Eyes (Original Mix) - Aenaria Recordings


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Who are the hottest new deep house talents?

It's clearly the season of predictions, as summer looms large over the northern hemisphere various mags and sites are compiling their 'Hot' lists and so far they've made interesting reading. So, not to be left out of the fun as autumn turns to winter down this way I posted the question on my Deep House fans page (here);

The list of names (50 plus in all) is surely a who's who of deep house right now and has already given me a few hours of joy, as I check out all the sounds. I never cease to be amazed how so much quality music can go undetected by the likes of our mainstream media - I guess it's about easy access for them more than the true sound of the underground - but hey! If they're not doing it I sure as hell am! So, of the epic list I thought I'd take you through the top five contenders, all of which I'm sure you'll have heard of and then next week the unknown five (or maybe that should just be lesser know?).

Maya Jane Coles

Labels: Real Tone, Dogmatik, 1trax, Mobilee Records, Brown Eyed Boyz, Loco, 2020Vision
Remixed: Tom Middleton, Deepshade, Fritz & Lang, Maceo Plex, Todd Terry
Soundcloud:http://soundcloud.com/mayajanecoles

Huge support and press coverage for the 23 year old Londoner earning her top spot on the survey by quite some margin. Maya's debut EP on Franck Roger's Real Tone Records started the ball rolling with 'What They Say' reaching top spot on Beatport's Deep House Chart, Traxsource and Resident Advisors more charted track on October of 2010.

Her productions draw influence from a diverse range of musical styles and her British/Japanese heritage. Her talents are by no means confided to realms of house and techno. Under the guise of her live dub/electronica outfit, ‘She Is Danger (alongside the multi-instrumentalist/singer Lena Cullen) she has remixed the likes of Massive Attack and Gorillaz and fans of her Dubstep Product under the name Noctural Sunshine include key tastemakers, Joy Orbison and Sucba to name a few.

Latest tracks by Maya Jane Coles

Marvin Zeyss

Labels: Brown Eyed Boyz, Disclosure Project, In Deep Records, Modifi Grooves, Nightchild, Tanztone, TFE Records, Soul Shift
Remixed: Kev Obrien, Steve Lischinsky, Savi G, Jesus Pablo, DJ Primat, Re-Drum
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/marvin-zeyss

Nuremberg resident Marvin Zeyss is no stranger to um followers, his guest mix is still doing the business and his tracks have been a regular on the radio show. Since 2007 he's been making a name for himself, quietly building a considerable discography. Not being one to subscribe the arguably popular sound of “minimal techno”, Marvin describes his own style as a combination of “Uncommonly Deep and Techy” and draws influence from artists like Nils Nuernberg, Azuni and Fakor-X. His debut release on NYC's Nightchild Recordings in 2010 kick started it all and since then he's featured on a solid line of labels including remixes on the much love and respected iRecords.


Latest tracks by Marvin Zeyss

Evren Ulusoy

Labels: Look Ahead, Night Drive, iRecords, Seamless, Baccara, Brown Eyed Boyz, Disclosure Project, Loco, Plastic City
Remixed: Fer Ferrari, HouseRiders, Kevin Yost, Sebastian Davidson, Disclosure Project, Addex
, Berny
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/evrenulusoy

Turkey's Evren Ulusoy began producing in 2001, so not quite in the 'new' category by many standards? Inspired by parties in the late 90's he became an avid music collector ad made his debut on Ready Mix Records from Canada, his debut album included remixes from outstanding names such as Florian Kruse &Nils Nurnberg, Sebastian Davidson, Karol XVII & MB Valence and more. His style often switching between deep house, tech house and even progressive elements but always remains deep, emotional and organic. The DJ/Producer is also a regular on Proton Radio with his 'Kommunity' show every 3rd Wednesday of the month.


Latest tracks by Evren Ulusoy

Giom

Labels: Amenti Music, Aroma, Kolour Recordings, Lost My Dog, Lo:Rise,
Remixed: Fred Everything, Jay-J, LawnChair Generals, Swirl People, Jake Childs, Miles Maeda
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/giom

In a very short space of time Giom has become one of the most highly sought after producers, remixers and DJs in the deep house scene. Discovered by DJ Heather through MySpace in 2006, his initial releases were quickly signed to Amenti Music, Aroma and Kolour Recordings, alongside Heather’s own Blackcherry imprint. As a DJ, Giom is a regular at Fabric, sharing the bill with the likes of DJ Sneak, Mark Farina, Fred Everything and JT Donaldson. His energetic sets have led to a hectic tour schedule which means most weekends he can be found headlining in clubs from Australia to the United States and back around mainland Europe.

 
He can also be found recording as one half of Bobby and Klein. In 2010 Giom joined forces with UK label Lost My Dog for a partnership that will see him release a string of EPs and remixes, full length projects and headline LMD events. Away from house music Giom’s talents as a professional drummer are also highly sought after and have seen him tour and record for Zarif, The Nextmen, Odyssey and Kasabian amongst others.


Latest tracks by Giom

Jesus Pablo

Labels: Kitschy, Deep Edition, What Happens, Headtunes, Deso, 26 Tea Drops, Cubism, Southpark, Crossworld, Celestial, BM Slim, Eleflight
Remixed: Sean Danke
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/jesuspablo

Liverpool based DJ/Producer/Remixer/Fashion Designer Jesus Pablo has risen to prominence since late 2010 with a string of releases on well respected and new labels alike. His DJ stock has risen rapidly in that time too, with gigs across Europe and a US Tour taking shape. Jesus is also actively involved with musical cohort and fellow scouser Di Riveria's new label Something Different - the pair's musical partnership has graced many of the same labels as Jesus's own releases.


Latest tracks by jesuspablo

See No's 6-10 here

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

UM84 Tracklisting



Brand new deep house from Deep Active with Deep Spelle on the remix for NewBorn, Ivan Enot with The Messenger on Acryl Music, Adaption Music, J Kar on Something Different, Konura, Celestial, Disco Circus, Mateo & Matos on Big Mama, Vida! Recordings, Alvaro Hylander on DeepWit, a DJ MRF remix on Transport, Klimaks, Alma Soul Music, Headset, Jesus Pablo with Jay West on the remix on Headtunes, Houseriders on Cromarti, Artizan, Robert Owens on Compost Black Label, more Alvaro on Alma, Da Funk with Pablo Fierro remixing on Acryl and Electric Sheep all in the mix.

Listen or download on Soundcloud
Listen or download on iTunes

Tracklisting
UM84 - 24..05.11

1. Deep Active Sound - Sleeping (Deep Spelle Remix) - NewBorn Records
2. Ivan Enot - Morning (The Messenger's Smokey Morning Mix) - Acryl Music
3. Tom Conrad feat' Dawn Tallman - So Happy (Original Mix) - Adaption Music
4. J Kar - Baby Dreaming (Original Mix) - Something Different
5. Artem Cleanov - Something New - Konura Recordings
6. Monobass - The Moon (Original Mix) - Celestial Recordings
7. Benny Grauer - The Eagle Has Landed - Disco Circus Records
8. Mateo & Matos - Joy 2 My Life (Dennis Collado Mix) - Big Mama Records
9. Andrea Martello - The Long Way Home - Vida! Recordings
10. Alvaro Hylander - Stop (The Messenger Remix) - Deepwit Recordings
11. Fabio Bacchini - Set Me Free (DJ MFR Vocal Mix) - Transport Recordings
12. Flip & Rodsten - She Moves (Original Mix) - Klimaks
13. Cesar Coronado - U Know I Got It (Original Mix) - Alma Soul Music
14. Paolo Di Lorenzo & Masc - The Question (Davide Urbinati Remix) - Vida! Recordings
15. Jangatha - Radix (Native Intelligence Remix) - Headset Recordings
16. Jesus Pablo - That Deep Track (Jay West That Deeper Mix) - Headtunes Recordings
17. HouseRiders - Place Des Arts (Original Mix) - Cromarti Records
18. EZLV - Obvious Dilemma - Artizan Music - http://artizanmusic.co.uk/
19. Robert Owens - Exhale & Breathe (Werner Niedermeier & Gareth Whitehead Remix) - Compost Black Label
20. Alvaro Hylander - Visions of Maydell (Dario LC Deepnes Remix) - Alma Soul Music
21. Da Funk - Gloomy Scene (Pablo Fierro Dub) - Acryl Music
22. Paul Loraine - Feeling Free - Electric Sheep Recordings

Monday, May 23, 2011

One week with... Poussez (Artizan Music)

It's been a long while since I caught up with Jafar and Maxime of Poussez and Artizan Music fame but as one of the original guest mixers for untitledmusic way back in early 2010 it's long overdue! After a relatively quiet spell the lads are back with a bang, they've been busy too, with a whopping 20 plus new tracks ready to go - that'll explain the quiet spell then!

For those of you in need of a little update on who they London based DJ/Producers are then this is for you: Poussez are know for producing a diverse range of electronic music from slow-mo house and nu-disco grooves, through to deep/tech house and techno. Jafar and Maxime have been producing together since 2004 (although their solo careers started in the mid 90s) and also run/own Artizan Music. Other than an output for their own music the label is home to some 28 internationally renowned names too, including Andreas Saag (Rebirth), Nacho Marco (Freerange), Pete DaFeet (Lost My Dog), Demarkus Lewis (King Street) and many more.




Poussez 'Discuits EP' CHAMPION STANDARD RECORDS by poussez


Most recently Poussez have returned with the 'Discuits EP' on Champion Standard while Artizan has also just released a 3-tracker by French-Canadian duo EZLV and have two new signings to the label dropping over the summer; a french producer called Aqwell and Russian producer Estetique.


As with so many of today's DJ/Producing/Label owning people it keeps them busy, so when the lads accepted the offer to do a 'One week with.." feature it was sure to be packed with action.

Monday

Jafar: Alarm goes off 07.15 (and I thought working for yourself meant lie-ins!), get my ass over to our studio at Maxime's house in Grove Park...If I'm feeling really fruity, I run there from Brixton, but not today, not even Seb Coe runs on Mondays. Get to studio at 08.45. We crack into a bit of label admin and emails, until our 11am cut off (if we dont have a cut off admin takes over the whole frigging day!). Studio starts. Work through until lunch at 2ish..couple of nice ham sarnies on crusty bread with the legendary cholula sauce (never leave home without it kids!), then its back to the graft until 7pm.. One track finished and another started today. A good Day

Max: The wife generally leaves the house at 8.30 for the day job and I await the arrival of the jafanator, check my personal emails in the meantime, peep the news and generally groom our various websites and statistics. After all, I'm a scientist. Also currently sourcing content for our music blog uptownboogiedown.com. In between that I try to scarf down breakfast and chase away neighbourhood cats who have turned my garden into their litter box. Anyone have any good ideas because Cat-Off doesn't work!


Tuesday 
Max: My Mrs has a late dinner with work so I ask the J-nut to stay over, means we can work on into the night and he's already here ready to go tomorrow. He decides to run here. In his Lycra tights. This always makes me uncomfortable. Strange glitch with my Digidesign 192 means I have to turn it on 30minutes early. Weird, but I seem to be the only one who has this particular issue, so I take it in my stride and just turn it on first thing after I wake up.

Jafar: Alarm goes off, decide to run to Maxes. 14k in my best running pants. Catford Bridge sucks.

Max:  Studio is fired up, its a full day of work. The room gets pretty hot with all the gear running (running gear?) but we can't open the window for fear of scaring all the neighbours children with our sweet devils music.
 

We virtually finish yesterdays track and start a new project, nice nudisco piece. Working title currently Pisco (although we're not yet, no beer till Friday. Poussez studio rule 26347).

Jafar: We also have a Poussez / Artizan planning meeting. As many will agree, its so imperative to structure the week right, especially when you are wearing so many 'hats' - is today a label admin day? Is it a press & promotions day, is it a remix day, is it a mastering day, is it an events promotion day (well week haha), so the planning requires er, planning. So yeah, planning meeting in full effect (this also involved copious amounts of tea and ginger nuts)  

Max: The biscuits, not... well you know...


Latest tracks by artizanmusic

Wednesday
Max: 08.15 I decide to let Jafar sleep in, actually fuck it, he's already slept in. Procure large saucepan and metal spoon. 08.16. Hes up.

Jafar: German bastard.

Max: Polish ballerina. Coffee time and straight back to it. Today is a mastering day. One of the tracks off our latest EP has been remixed by Detroit hero Kris Wadsworth, his very tasty final mix is back and we have a proper listen. It's great and we start planning for the 12" version. More admin... Great!

Jafar: Yes indeed a quality effort from KW in his trademark deep style.

Max: Finish up mixing another track that needed some corrections and then we return to a project from last week. Always good with fresh ears. Finally we both head into town for a meeting with our manager Bonnie. There's talk of a South American tour in the offing but our Brazilian contacts cant confirm dates until the Colombian guys can confirm the flight share. This often happens. Then the whole stack of cards falls down. C'est la vie. We still have a good laugh.


Thursday 
Jafar: 08.00...fking alarm didn't go off. Late. No running today, well other than to Brixton rail, Marmite sandwich on the trot. According to our planning meeting its an admin day. Get to maxes. Nice mug of coffee and we discuss a few films and books we're liking at the mo (both agree that Limitless was ace. Imagine what you could get done with a bag of those beans!) then its to the bat cave.

Max: The latest podcast is mastered (Oh yeah, we treat those like they're records), Artizan and Poussez websites updated, newsletter written, social networks updated. Databases groomed.  Blah, blah. We also begin expanding our label target list for future Poussez EP's...its a bit like fantasy football league but more Sven Vath and less Sven Erikkson. (Badoom tish, here all night.) We go through a bunch of new A&R. Alot of it is just random trancey weirdness, but we do come across one promising artist from Russia called Estetique. We get back to him. We seem to be getting loads of Promos from Eastern Europe these last couple of years. Weird. Something to do with the electronic equivalent of the gulf stream perhaps.

Jafar: Press and DJ mail outs are done for ARTMD018 by our French-Canadian duo, EZLV. Coincidentally, they email us back a wicked animated video they've had made for the EPs title track. Great timing! We get that up on the site. Newsletter good to go, queue it up for launch Friday lunchtime (when everyone is pissing around in their offices anyway). Take lunch outside in the sun. Next doors cat is licking his balls. He's laughing at us man.

Jafar & Max, Steve Sole Middleton & Milton Jackon @ uptownboogie's 4th birthday bash

Friday 
Max: Gig tonight. Cool but low-key bar set. 61/2hours between us. Gives us nice chance to road test all the new tracks alongside our fave music new and old. Jaf moans about dragging 3 huge bags of vinyl down there. I just rock up with Tractor....sucker!

Jafar: Have a good old dig in maxes garage as he kindly allowed me to store my vinyl there when I moved to Sweden. Get very excited about playing some of the older gems. Early Ron Trent, Chez Damier and Kerri Chandler 12s (atmosphere lost dubs anyone?), some old fresh and Low, Playin 4 the City, a bunch of phonique and spirit catcher, winding road, early 2020 vision and ooh! Jam and Spoon 'Stella', not played that in donkeys....haven't even got to the techo. Shit going to need a bigger box.

Max: Afternoon is spent on a new track, then we have an early dinner and get on down to the gig. Bars already rammed. Sweet.

Jafar: Tracks sounding great. Time for beer.


Links
Poussez website

Artizan Music website
Artizan Music Soundcloud
Beatport

Thursday, May 19, 2011

UM's High 5ives - 19.05.11

After that weeks bumper crop of new tunes and hits to the blog going off the scale, thanks it seems to Stumble upon, I thought it couldn't get any better! Wrong! It's been a little while since I contacted any new labels directly with the hard sell, but I'd been working on a list of 'wants' for a while. It's always exciting to new labels, especially when they're of the calibre of Large, Alma, Reel People and Craic House - which all means I really need to sort out updating the Deep House Directory further down on the right!

Had the first of the summer samplers land this week too - which can only mean the sun is rising on another Ibiza season, just as the last leaves fall from the trees here in the Southern Hemisphere.

Been a good week on the label front too! (It's all go!), with the first of the remixes coming back - very exciting and signing both a top class remixer and an original artist for UMR006 - things certainly are coming together nicely now, can't wait for the first release to land. But, in the meantime here's the tunes I've been giving some serious playtime too in the office this week.

UM's High 5ives - 19.05.11

MdCL feat' Tosin Tao - Everything I Need (Afronaut Remix) - Reel People Music
MdCL feat. Tosin Tao - Everything I Need (Afronaut Remix) by Papa Records


Alvaro Hylander - Cream Soda - DeepWit Recordings
Alvaro Hylander - Cream Soda (DeepWit Recordings, DWRS003) (Preview Clips) by Kahua Music


Aki Bergen - Feel So Good (Original Mix) - Neurotraxx Deluxe
Aki Bergen - Feel So Good (Original Mix) by Aki Bergen


International House Cartel - Monodeluxe - Makes Me Real - Vibe Boutique Records
International House Cartel - Monodeluxe - Makes Me Real by Vibe Boutique Records


Soulight - So Good - Look Ahead Records

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

DJ's That Could Save Your Life: Miguel Migs

It's been a long time since I last posted a 'DJ's that could save your life' feature but it's about time I tip my hat to this fella, who since the late 1990's has featured heavily in my records purchases and gone about his business with style and class and seems to be one of DJ's you know and love but never hear too much about - a quietly spoken guy who lets his music do the talking.

Which was exactly the case for this post coming about. As frequent readers will know one of my heroes, Mark Farina, was guest DJ at the recent Google conference, as was Migs, and while Mark's YouTube video's quickly spread around the social networks Miguel Migs' seems to have gone unnoticed (half as many views online as of today and all those geeks not really paying attention to the DJ! Shame on you all). So here it is...



I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm really jealous of these Google folks, Mark Farina and Miguel Migs on the same night with no doubt a killer sound system too! Damn you all - it's enough to make me want a WMC ticket! And the more I started reading up for this post the more I like the guy, of his choice in music he's quoted as saying

“It’s music you can enjoy and listen to at home, in the club, or anywhere. Not necessarily just to rock the dance floor.”

Gaelle - Rain (Naked Music)



I'm pretty sure almost all of you will know all about Miguel Migs, aka Petalpusher, Deluxe Pusher and Miguel Steward. Co-founder of the legendary Naked Music along with Bruno Yabarra as well as Transport Recordings along with DJ MFR. But, for those that maybe missed out on a golden era of soulful house the two labels featured the finest music from Julius Papp, Mettle Music, Vincent Kwok, Blue Six, Aquanote, Andy Caldwell, Gaelle, Trentemøller and so many more!






Both are labels that I spent a whole lot of money on over the years and was lucky enough to get on their promo list back in the day thanks to Bruno - I'll never forget them sending over a pile of Nude Dimensions 1 CD's  to give away to readers, which I think Tres from LowerCaseSounds was one of the lucky winners of? (Long time ago now).

In 2004 Miguel established Salted Music, a more personal venture that's had releases from Yogi & Husky, Joshua Heath and sticking with his soulful house passion plenty of Lisa Shaw vocals.








His own releases on Large, Yoshitoshi, NRK, Black Vinyl, Aquarius, Chez, OM, Drop Music and more are testament to how busy this globe trotting DJ/Producer was and still is, just check out Discogs.com for the full story - man he's been busy!




I love this bit from his bio, sums it up for me: 

"If artist-producer types were culinary concoctions, such might be the recipe that produced Miguel Migs, who emerged from the 90’s deep house underground scene to become the kind of artist who transcends the stylistic limitations of genre as so very few can. Who’s perfectly comfortable working in the studio all day with some legendary figures from across the musical spectrum, as well bumping and throbbing dimly-lit dance floors across the globe on a weekly basis."


Links

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

UM83 Tracklisting



Deep house promos from South West Seven, Choklate remixed by Aki Bergen on Reel People Music, Jesus Pablo on 26 Tea Drops, Large, Submantra and Soul Minority on DCSTrax, Toomy Disco on So Sound,  Revolutionary Music, Vibe Boutique, Gavin Boyce on Craic House, Neurotraxx Deluxe, Pablo Fierro on Disclosure Project Recordings, Adaption Music with Tom Conrad and a Satoshi Fumi remix, OFF Recordings, Glasgow Underground, Deep Edition, Dieb Audio, Soluble, Kinky Movement on FLC, Ooze Recordings, Low Pressings, Sideways and 3am all in the mix.

Download the show via Soundcloud
Download the show via iTunes

Tracklisting
UM83 - 17.05.11

1. South West Seven - What We Do - South West Seven
2. Choklate - The Tea (Aki Bergen Remix) - Reel People Music
3. Jesus Pablo - Wu Wah (Serge Carroll Remix) - 26 Tea Drops
4. Scope - Magic 2011 - Large Music
5. Submantra - Calinda (Soul Minority Remix) - DCSTrax
6. Toomy Disco - Since I Fell For You (Les Loups' Nympho Island Remix) - So Sound Recordings
7. Goulet - The Spins (Roy Davis Jr Remix) - Revolutionary Music
8. Monodeluxe feat' Jannae Jordan - Time (The Disclosure Project Remix) - Vibe Boutique Records
9. Gavin Boyce - Taste of More - Craic House Recording
10. Aki Bergen feat' Lazarusman - Get Better (Original Mix) - Neurotraxx Deluxe
11. Pablo Fierro - Alone At Home (Original) - Disclosure Project Recordings
12. Tom Conrad feat' Dawn Tallman - So Happy (Satoshi Fumi Vocal Mix) - Adaption Music
13. Anil Aras - Set The Record Straight (Original Mix) - OFF Recordings
14. Romanthony - The Wanderer (Rob Mello's No Ears Remix) - Glasgow Underground
15. Lee Pennington and Guthrie - Ram Daas (Michael McLardy Remix) - Deep Edition Recordings
16. Solee - Oasis (John Dalagelis One Of These Days Remix) - Dieb Audio
17. Distortion - Better Off (Original Mix) - Soluble Recordings
18. Kinky Movement - Next To You (Camouflages Reality Mix) - FLC Records
19. Broken Logik - Soap Box (Logikal Mix) - Ooze Recordings
20. Hernan Cerbello - Shadows (Original Mix) - Low Pressings
21. Keydin - Loose Hands - Sideways Recordings
22. Chemical Warfare - Temprano (Foundation Dub) - 3am Recordings


Saturday, May 14, 2011

UM's High 5ives - 12.05.11

Despite not being sure where this week has gone to already and having a near mountain of promo's to get through I have to say it's been one of the busiest weeks for new music this year.

So much going on everywhere, it's great. I even managed to catch a bit of Miguel Migs and Mark Farina DJ'ing live on YouTube at the Google conference after party - quite incredible to think it's a office party gone mad really and there's two of the biggest house names around spinning the tunes from a load of folks that look like they should be on Big Bang Theory - yes, I'm jealous! But it goes to show how house music is bubbling along just below the mainstream and has remained relevant for so many years - here's hoping we don't get a sudden over exposure of the music we love dearly - just enough to make all the clubs and bars around the world banish dub step and prog house would be fine, thanks!

UM's High 5ives - 12.05.11

Mr. Léman - Street feat' Nathalie Zak (Jorge Takei Remix) - Kolorit Rec
Mr. Léman - Street feat. Nathalie Zak (Jorge Takei Remix) - FREE Download - EP Coming Soon by Sonora | Kolorit Rec.

Jesus Pablo - Wu Wah (Serge Carroll Remix) - 26 Teadrops International

Nick Doe feat' Louise Golbey - He Loves Me - Restless Soul

Romanthony - The Wanderer (Kevin McKay Remix) - Glasgow Underground

Choklate - The Tea (Aki Bergen Remix) - Reel People Music 

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Beatport Beta

No sooner had I mentioned it last week in my Round Up feature than what else should show up in my inbox than an invite to check out the brand new, flashless Beatport site. Now, I'm sure it's just that they're working through all of their users so as to not crash the site, but I'd like to think it was somehow good karma!

So, off i hurried to register for my invitation code (go here is you're keen) and dove straight into a new world of html Beatport, here's what I found...

Home is where the heart is
Or at least that's how the saying goes. Now, I'm not a big fan of change, but Beatport was well overdue an upgrade so it's good the look and feel is so much more magazine looking than the old technological interface.

In today's modern world the Internet is a very clever thing, if I type something in Google the ads will change to catch my attention and so the fact that Deep House hit home early on was a winner. Likewise Robert Owens is a good start, and like all good adventures there's some mystery too with Simko and D-Nox making me at least think of checking them out. The search field and genres are big, too big, I think meaning you need to scroll down to see all of the content on the page. And it gets more frustrating when you select a genre and go on to play a track or two.

Back to the old scroll
There was a time on the web when popular theory had it that the more info there was on a page the better. Google's changed a lot of that as far as I know in recent times, now sites with more pages fair better on search rankings, so I was a bit puzzled as to why the guys at Beatport had gone for the lengthy scroll - in fact, as you can see from my patched together image, to get to the very bottom of the page was three entire pages of info and I'm on a 27" monitor, if you're on a smaller laptop or an iPad you're set for some serious amount of scrolling!

Layout wise I really like it, cleans and simple, very clear where things are from here. Although I did find going backwards wasn't well mapped on the navigation and I often reverted to the back button. In fact there's very little navigation at all - unlike the breadcrumbs (as they call them) on the old site.

From here my usual routine would be to flick through the new releases, check out what labels that don't support um have stuff out and then add them to the play list.
The Player

And away we go, the player opens and plays from the very top of the window,with the bank of tracks in the play list accessed via the drop down menu on the far right.

Now here's a nice little innovation. The new functionality includes key commands for navigating the previewed track and entire play list.

Key Commands

I got the feeling the site was much more geared around you spending a lot of time listening in detail to a lot more of the music, which sounds good to me and obviously makes good business sense to Beatport. If there was one thing I often found about the previous Beatport was that the preview clip you had wasn't enough or didn't reflect the entire track very well. Now with two minute previews and the track loading almost instantly things look to be heading in the right direction without compromising the tunes to pirates.

My Beatport
This section has had an overhaul too. Now accessed from the tab on the left margin it opens to show the artists or labels you follow and a date of their last release. Nice detail but I'm nowhere near disciplined enough to remember when I was last looking for tunes.

Clicking on a selected label or artist takes you to a screen more akin to the one the old site used to give you to add options of who to follow once you'd purchased music on the site.

I'll admit I got a bit confused at this point, but I'm sure with a bit more trial and error on my part it'll come to be much more valuable than the genre homepage. Why? Well from here I can play tunes or add them to the play list from a more defined list of things I'm following and of course buy them.

Drilling into the releases

It's nice to see a bigger sleeve artwork picture, especially as I remember tracks much more by what they look like than their names. This release only had 6 tracks in it and I had to scroll down again to see number six on the list.

Now I've not tried reducing the font size to see if that cures it, but by now I was a bit fed up of the scrolling around. I should point out that everything scrolls under the player panel, so it stays with you all the time - again, I took this as a sign Beatport were designing this to focus me on the music much more than previously.

Another thing worth mentioning I think (but not shown on Drumpoets release) is that under the Release Date, Label, Cat No bit (far left) some release have a kind of press release - which I liked. It gives you a bit of background and info on the release - as long as the labels and distributors use it correctly and don't start telling me what the music I'm listening to sounds like it could be a good feature.

Social connections
Whilst the site's only a Beta they've not hooked up the functionality fully, meaning a Facebook share posted this on my profile page.

From this little glimpse I think it's fair to say the full site will post a sleeve image and a player of some sort under the title - here's hoping they stick with the way it was with the old site and you can play it within Facebook - something that Soundcloud seem to have moved away from or Facebook have blocked of late. From a usability perspective it's better to allow users to stay within their current site to preview and then jump away to purchase, than have to leave your current site straight away - (if you ask me, which they haven't!).

And finally the money shot
So, once you've explored the site, checked out a load of tunes and popped a select few in your cart comes the moment of pain - paying for them. 

Nothing much to report here, all as you'd expect it. I use the Beatport Downloader app or at least I used to, so I'm hoping that's going to still work as it suits my methods of importing tracks and getting them tagged up ready for Traktor.

Taking a leaf out of Amazon even at this last moment the new site is suggesting tracks you might like to buy. The 'Recommended' tracks at this stage were not really my kind of thing, with links to releases from Toolroom, Aus, Sheeva and the like - which maybe is deliberate - try and get me to venture into new avenues. Like I said I don't like change much so stayed clear!

So, what's the verdict?
Like all good sites, I'm sure the new Beatport is a work in progress and the more we use it the more it'll learn about us, making it better and more in tune with our wants. I'm a little disappointed they've not integrated the Beatportal side of things, at this stage anyway. If the drive is to get us listening to more music I could easily have coped with more content to browse while I play. Load up the play list and read the latest news - maybe I should copyright that idea quickly! 

I did find the scrolling a bit frustrating (I may have mentioned it already?), but the design is nice and fresh, much more user friendly despite the My Beatport seeming a bit of a beast at first glance. Likewise the DJ Charts bit was a bit scary, and the new look artists pages are perhaps a bit less impressive than they were.

The move away from Flash brings Beatport into the modern era, and I'm hopeful they'll be able to build from here given that they can now add things easily and without a total rebuild as they would have had to with the old site. 

I do think more content is needed to give you something a little extra. The artists pages are a perfect example - a little bio and links there would wipe Resident Advisor off the planet and enhance the digital presence of producers around the world - maybe they're working on that right now while I check out their feedback forum to see what everyone else is saying.