2009 saw big things for Will Rankin; a signing to the Cheap Thrills imprint, and a powerful first release, ‘No Money For Guns’. We knew the man wasn’t monkeying around. ‘The Airloom’ and its haunting video, got inside our heads, as well as his relentless Glade Festival mix and fine remixes for the likes of The Count & Sinden, Kevin Rudolf and Skunk Anansie. Beyond music, Mr Rankin’s harsh and humorous persona had us spitting out our food and drink on more than one occasion via his tweets and blog. Undoubtedly, good entertainment at either destination.

The next step in the High Rankin story takes the form of an EP entitled: ‘Occupation: Pimp and Gambler’, out now exclusively on Beatport and due for general release via Cheap Thrills, 15th February. Eagerly anticipated, it’s everything you’d expect from High Rankin. He’s resurrecting his label, ‘Suicide Dub’ in the next few months and “looking to sign some hot shit.” Get on that here. His latest mixes will melt your brain, especially February’s ‘Fury Rank’. Nothing quite gets as brash as this. Strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride.

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High Rankin – Top Shelf Obscene Featuring Py

High Rankin presents Danger Rank (January 2010 Mix) via Soundcloud
Love the last track, Count and Sinden – Strange things (High Rankin gentleman junglist remix), amazing remix!!!!

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High Rankin presents Fury Rank (Feb 2010 mix)

01. Foreign Beggars – Get a bit more (Skizm remix)
02. Blazin, Lethal Junkie & Big Red Cap – Lock this down (Cliffhanga remix)
03. Ivory – Hand Grenade
04. Ivory – Hand Grenade (Excision and Datsik remix)
05. Pixel Fist – Yautja
06. Hulk – Hot Pepper
07. Temper D – Stress head
08. Cliffhanga – Cannibal girls
09. Skunk Anansie – Charity (High Rankin remix)
10. Dog Fashion Disco – The Hitchhiker (interlude)
11. King Cannibal – Aragami Style
12. Borgore – The bitter orchestra girl
13. J Majik and Wickaman – Persia
14. Noisia – Machine gun (Spor remix)
15. Audio – Pandorum
16. Donny – Symptomless coma (Current Value remix)
17. El Creepo – Lazy tiger

Related posts

• High Rankin Live at Glade Festival 2009
• DETBOI – THE IRISH BASS MONKEY
• Last but not least: “Jungle Steppers” – from Herve’s Ghetto Bass mix CD

Pic by El Fotopakismo (used under a CC license)

Despite my current obsession with dance and pop music from Australia, I never find the time to post all the good stuff that comes through from the big island down under. I just can’t keep up.

Still, I don’t want you guys to miss out on these tunes (if you haven’t leeched them from other blogs yet), so I’m doing a round-up of the last couple of weeks:

Our first one here comes courtesy of Beaufort who are about to release a movie called “Tiger”, which – apparently – is about two models in Tokyo.

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Beaufort – Kraken

Speaking of Tokyo: according to Polygon Palace they built a time machine in the capital of Japan. Crazy. Here are two equally awesome remixes of “Tokyo Getaway” by producer of the moment Cassian (also from Australia) and my fellow Swissies Cryptonites.

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Polygon Palace – Tokyo Getaway (Cassian Remix)

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Polygon Palace – Tokyo Getaway (Cryptonites Remix)

Please also listen to the original song, which is a bit more mellow but should keep the kids of Australia jumping in hot summer nights.

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Polygon Palace – Tokyo Getaway

Moving on to the next moment, this track by Get Stellar is an indie pop gem.

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Get Stellar – The Moment (Extended Edit)

But the remixes by GLOVES and Def Starr are truly beautiful with a wonderful (signature) bassline (the former) and great synths (the latter).

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Get Stellar – The Moment (GLOVES Remix)

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Get Stellar – The Moment (Def Starr Remix)

I’ll end this round-up with the uberhit right now (at least on my soundsystem):

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Dragonette – Pick Up The Phone (Michael Van She Remix)

Dragonette – of course – are not from Australia. But Michael of Van She (aka Arithmatix)  is, so this remix totally fits in this post.

Go show all of these artists your love on Myspace!

Criminally overdue, I offer you a near-perfect Friday night pre-funk mix from the brilliant selektah DJ King Pop out of New York City. This is the first in a series of non-dj curated mixes from DJ King Pop, this one from art collective Confetti System. As described on their website, Confetti System is:

“Nicholas Andersen and Julie Ho, a duo working as artists, stylists, and designers. Their friendship, love of communal celebration, and craft making has brought them together to create a new system.The system is a collection of objects born from simple materials. Tissue paper, cardboard, and silk are transformed into interactive objects that create a point of focus where memories can be made and a spontaneous collaboration between themselves and the viewer is sparked. CONFETTI SYSTEM occupies the space that exists between the ephemeral and the permanent and aims to evoke a sense of nostalgia and lighthearted fun.”

Adeptly working through Hip-Hop’s bounce and Dubstep’s growl at the outset, King Pop finishes with a seamless transition to today most compelling iterations of House music in the underground scene. Clocking in at just under 25 minutes, the pace and scope of this mix is artfully swift and digestible. Look to a particularly transportive transition from Louisiana Ca$h to Basement Jaxx’s unequivocal “Scars”. Do enjoy.

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DJ King Pop – Curated: 1 – Confetti System

01. King Pop/Slim Thug/Jay-Z – Swagga Intro
02. Swagga – Excision, Datsik
03. Apocalypse Theme (12th Planet & Flinch Remix) – Dave Nada
04. Eastern Jam – Chase & Status
05. Don’t Stop Looking (High Rankin Remix) – Alex Roots
06. Walk Wit A Dip – Louisiana Ca$h
07. Scars ft. Kelis, Meleka, & Chipmunk – Baement Jaxx
08. Higher – Breakage
09. Shock! (Nero Remix) – Stereo:Type
10. Dope – T-Pain & Shawnna
11. Fever (Mowgli & Bagheera Remix) – Cascada
12. Keep It Goin Louder feat. Nina Sky (Diplo Remix) – Major Lazer
13. Sha, Shtil! – Gucci Vump
14. Afro Nuts (Douster Remix) – Yolanda Be Cool
15. Da Style Deh (Douster Remix) – Busy Signal
16. Right Hand Hi (Kingdom Remix) – Kid Sister
17. Paypur – Udachi & Jubilee
18. Paypur ft. Daytona (Nick Catchdubs Remix) – Udachi & Jubilee
19. Popular Demand (Popeyes) feat. Camron – Clipse

Related posts

• Slick Catchdubs
• Drop The Curses, Limes are Forever!
• Beatport Music Awards 2008 – The First Ever!

Sometimes there’s just too much good new music out there for me to really care. And then one track comes around that catches my attention. Here is my track of the day:  SymbolOne, inventors of the infamous Love Juice, have given “Much Better” by Irish duo Deadbots that extra portion synth that I like so much.

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Deadbots – Much Better (SymbolOne Remix)

Listen to the original tune too:

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Deadbots – Much Better

The “Much Better” EP is going to be out digitally on Satan’s Circus Records in late February/early March and available at Beatport and other outlets.

Expect  more remixes by Hystereo and others.

And while you wait for the release, give Deadbots and SymbolOne some virtual hugs!

Related posts

• The Glamour Release “Fly by Night”
• Krudmart-Steve Kream’s Autumn Love Mixtape
• Hey! Hey! Its Hey Champ!

The Plugs

This Wednesday sees a nice little launch party for Brighton’s indie and electro pop blog phenomenon The Recommender, which was started over a year ago and has become a real hit here on our seaside city.  I never plug Brighton nights enough, which is a shame as it’s really been getting a piece of the action with live music and dance music still both going strong.

So, it’s mid-week, but I think I’m going to go down check it out as there are some interesting looking bands on, like The Plugs, which is indie pop from  Does It Offend You, Yeah?’s front man, and the charmingly named The Woo!Worths.

The Woo!Worths

Party darlings can get snapped in the Photoboosh, by fashion photographer, Eleni Mettyear (check out her flickr pics) and look forward to receiving their free goodie bag, promising amongst its treats the Recommender’s monthly mixtape.

If you’re not yet a fan of the site, the Battery Powered DJs will be playing music featured on the blog.

The Recomender Launch Party, Wednesday 3 Feb 2010, Doors 8pm @ Jam, Middle Street, Brighton. £3 advanced tickets from Resident, Rounder Records and Ape.

Related posts

• Young Lust and LA
• This Is Not Sam Hell
• The Fairer Sex?

With all the hype building for this years Breakspoll 2010 awards ceremony, things are starting to heat up!

Last year Apply the Breaks won Best Breakthrough DJ at Breakspoll and they have now have dropped a fresh mix on our laps. This mix features some heavy beats as well as a sneaky taster of an up and coming release; Bassline Skanker by group member Rob Focuz and Secure Unit.

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Apply the Breaks – Breakspoll 2010 Promo Mix

01. Si Begg – The Bleeps (Shades Of Rhythm Remix)  / Mutate Records
02. DJ Defkline & Red Polo – Gimmie (A Piece Of That Booty) / Booty Breaks
03. DJ Icey – This Is For The DJs / CDR
04. Drumattic Twins – Crazy Love (Peo De Pitte Remix) / Finger Lickin’
05. Amanda Blank – Might Like You Better (Dekoy Remix) / CDR
06. Elite Force & Meat Katie – Dark & Deep / U&A Recordings
07. Rusko – Mr Muscle / Sub Soldiers
08. Lazy Rich – FunkJet (Jay Robinson & Supabeatz Mix) / Music Response Records
09. Beat Assassins – Put Em Up / Mofo Recordings
10. Flat Beat / Dub & Run
11. Secure Unit & Rob Focuz – Bassline Skanker / CDR
12. Posthuman – Lander (Secure Unit & Rob Focuz Remix) / CDR

Voting for this year’s Breakspoll awards ends on the 12th Feb 2010, so if you want to vote for your favourite, then check out Breakspoll.com. If you’re going to go, I’d recommend buying tickets as soon as possible, because this is gonna sell out!

Breakspoll 2010 Tickets
£20 Joint ticket to both events in advance
Breakspoll £13.50 in advance
Stanton Sessions Presents Breakspoll After Party tickets in advance £15

Tickets are available from Ticketmaster

Related posts

• Belated Breakspoll 2009 Review!
• And The Winners Are….
• It’s Breakspoll, Baby!