Budapest gets Ektiv
I have to begin this post with a confession: until about a little more than two years ago I almost didn’t listen to electronic music. I mean, I liked the Infadels and some Daft Punk, but I liked indie rock and folk a good deal better. (And of course I liked Justice’s remix of Simian’s “We Are Your Friends” when it first surfaced.) But what won me over for electronic music, especially for dancing, was this one guy who helped his girlfriend play some electro music (MSTRKRFT and similar) to a crowd of kids at a weekly indie rock party in Budapest. (The owner of the venue had rented the place out for a high-school kid’s birthday party which nobody of the indie crowd knew and so I ended being asked for more R’n'B when I played Wolfmother (so sad they split!) and the likes. But that’s another story.) Anyway, I had always had a weakness for pop and electronic elements in rock. But this guy, who goes by the name of TMX truly went beyond my ideas of electronic music. He played rough, he played dirty, and he played sweet.
It turned out that TMX was one third of Kollektiva, a DJ collective who frequently organizes parties in selected venues of Budapest (like Merlin, an old theater all painted in white) to which they invite DJs and acts from all over Europe. Their past bookings are quite impressive. When in Budapest, I try not to miss any of their parties because they’re always a lot of fun. The two other guys on Kollektiva are Popbitch and Fullstereo.
Of course I was delighted when I heard that Popbitch is now also running an artist management agency called Ektiv with a – as of now – all-hungarian roster. Some of their artists/DJs have received quite some attention in the blogosphere before. Alright, alright, enough talk for now. Ladies and gents, dear readers of Trash Menagerie, let me give you…
We Plants Are Happy Plants: Born Peter Bergmann, this young man from Budapest has done fabulous remixes of Radiohead and others. He just recently finished work on a remix of Jean Michel Jarres’s “Oxygen”. His original work should get people’s attention too as he is currently unsigned.
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We Plants Are Happy Plants – Four On The Floor
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We Plants Are Happy Plants – Trance Steel
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Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene (WPAHP Remix)
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Daft Punk – Human (WPAHP Remix)
Headshotboyz: I love their remix of the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody” which apparently got airplay on Kissy Sell Out’s radio show. They now come with a remix of my fellow Swiss Cryptonites’ “Can’t Give You Up”, which they give a bit of a B-More touch.
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Cryptonites – Can’t Give You Up (Headshotboyz Remix)
Tits & Clits: They don’t look half as naughty as their name suggests. They’ve been around for some time – accelerated liquid age time, that is. The duo is offering a remix of Le Batman’s “Killer Defos” as well as some original work. New Geeks On The Blog is currently hosting a remix contest for their “Attack of The Living Dead”.
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Tits & Clits – Attack Of The Living Dead
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Tits & Clits – She Likes Gasoline (Dirty Monkeez Remix)
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Le Batman – Killer Defos (Tits & Clits Remix)
Dirty Monkeez: They are the latest addition to Ektiv’s roster. While I’m not sure I like their work on Justice’s “Stress”, I certainly love what they did to Robyn and the Bloody Beetroots’ version of “Cobrastyle”. The two guys from Veszprém (kinda close to Lake Balaton) have also produced some original tracks “She’s On Drugs” has a wobbly bassline and is almost pure techno.
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Dirty Monkeez – She’s On Drugs
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Justice – Stress (Dirty Monkeez Edit)
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Robyn ft. The Bloody Beetroots – Cobrastyle (Dirty Monkeez Remix)
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Don Rimini – Hools (Dirty Monkeez Remix)
Finally, TMX: As mentioned, he’s one third of Kollektiva. This guy really loves what he does. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody so enthusiastic about electro music and playing to a crowd that goes nuts. Except maybe for his partner Popbitch. His remix of “Sing Hallelujah” just destroys it and “Far Out” gets a nice treatment to. He’s really into piano loops, it seems.
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Dr. Alban – Sing Hallelujah (TMX Remix)
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Sonz of da Loop Era – Far Out (TMX Remix)
Now, after you’ve sucked down all this music, go give the guys some love on myspace, all of them!
We’ll probably hear a lot more of Ektiv’s roster – especially WPAHP – and Kollektiva. If you ever go to Budapest, go to one of their nights and have a good time. TMX and Popbitch will certainly party hard. T and K, way to go!
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