Ilija Rudman from Croatia has been setting high standards with his superb electronic disco releases on Red Music lately. His tunes carry great warmth and lots of love. With beautiful basslines, funky guitars, and nice female voices, they seem to be made both for the dancefloor and daytime loving in the back of a car (see picture above).
On his latest track “Two Faced Love”, which was only released last week, Rudman shows tremendous production skills that make me think this guy could be capable of bringing back the funk in disco all by himself. This song has soul and I just can’t stop listening to it.
Who doesn’t enjoy a good Bordeaux, especially when it comes to music? Boxon Records is Julien Minet’s dirty sexy record label out of Bordeaux, France that features prominent music artists (Tom Deluxx, Eclier, Toxic Avenger, Philipe de Boyer, Pro7, etc), and the incredible graphic designer Anem.
If you like teeth grinding, head banging, body shaking electro-trash music then this next one is for you. Coming out in late September, I had a sneak peak at the new Boxon album and it is fanfreakintastic. There are two separate and distinctive mixes of Tom Deluxx’s “Mushion Heroes” on here and they are both pure goodness. Who are the faces behind them?
First is Philipe de Boyar, the Suisse DJ/Producer who does a mixture of House/Electro/Breaks. He’s not a newbie to the scene, having already had tracks popping up in MIXMAG and is set to have releases on Erase Records, Hammarskjoeld Records or his own digital imprint Rockville Music as well as other labels. His version of “Mushion Hereos” is slap-in-your-face hard and reminiscent of the same energy you get with the Toxic Avenger.
The other version is by Pro7, an international party player who has already tricked with the likes of Sebastian, Teenage Bad Girl, TTC, and more. His version is very slightly lighter than the de Boyar one, with a little funky feel. Caution: these two tracks are not at all to be confused with each other, even if they stem from the same original! They are completely different takes and both quite enjoyable. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear them both pounding in clubs in the next 2-3 months.
Also from Boxon as of late, the latest video from Paris production company Born To Film of the Toxic Avenger’s “Bad Girls Need Love, Too”. It captures perfectly the style of Toxic — edgy electro with a rock feel. Tattooed ladies and Lolita like nymphs are in the video rocking out in this beautifully shot video clip with amazing color saturation. C’esttellement sexy et j’adore!
In other news, Boxon veteran Tom Deluxx has a new EP coming out this October, and I’m on the edge of my seat to hear it, especially if it sounds anything like the remix he sent us, “Fake” by GRS Club, who also have an EP arriving this October!
Putain c’est la classe! Anem is doing the artwork for the album. Including the fresh preview up top Boxon sent us!
Rico Tubbs is a name that’s been floating around many of the blogs in 2008. Tracks of his have been popping up here and there and they have been met with great accolades from some of the biggest tastemakers spanning numerous genres and subcultures. Now, a brand new album, Knuckle Sandwich, packed with Grade A bangers, has just been unleashed to further his dance music domination. It seems, though, most people haven’t a clue who Rico Tubbs actually is.
He is by no means a n00b to the scene. He’s been DJing and producing in his native Finland since ‘94 starting in UK Hardcore and Hiphop and leading into Big Beat, Breakbeat and whatever else you can call his music now. In his home country, he is an electronic music legend producing under his real name Riku Pentti and comprising one half of The Skillsters, credited with producing the first Finnish Hiphop album in history. From there, thanks to his avant garde scratching abilities, Rico joined the venerable big beat troupe, The Bombfunk MC’s as their DJ/Producer/whatever else.
Once big beat faded, Riku reinvented himself again, always retaining that funky hardcore/hiphop vibe, and reemerged in the peaking breakbeat scene as Rico Tubbs and the pseudonym Infekto. Releasing records on KissFM DJ Jay Cunning and Atomic Hooligan’s label Menu Music, he immediately became known for making some of the best peaktimers of the heyday of new school funky breaks. Gradually, his unique breaky sound began to infiltrate the blogs and that brings us to the present.
What sets Rico’s sound apart from everyone else is that he clearly embraces every type of music that he’s ever liked and uses it indiscriminately throughout his tunes. It’s not fidget, its not breakbeat, its not hardcore, its not b-more, but it’s an amalgamation of all of those and more used in an unapologetic, bold manner. Rico’s new album exemplifies that fact and was purposefully filled to the brim with club bangers.
To celebrate said album, available now on Juno, iTunes or wherever else you might find proper music, here’s a taste of what Rico’s been putting forth; a VIP mix of his squelchy bass banger, Hot Girls Dope Boys, done especially for TM. And just to further solidify his authenticity and prove that he’s been doing this since many of you were just a glimmer in your fathers eye, here’s an oldschool hardcore mix that he provided us, containing some of the real classics. So sit back, have a listen, read this short interview and then buy the album. It’s sooooooo good!
01. Altern-8 : Evaporate (1992,Network)
02. Djs Unite : Djs Unite (1992 ,XL)
03. Shut up and Dance : The green man (1992,shut up and dance)
04. A Home boy, A hippie & Funky dread : Now is the future (1992,Rising high )
05. Two Undercover : Unite (1992,De ja vu)
06. Kaotic Kemistry : Space Cakes ( 1993,Moving Shadow)
07. Q Bass : Hardcore Will Never Die /E type version (1991,Suburban Base)
08. Sonz of a loop da loop era : Far Out (1991,Suburban Base)
09. The Prodigy : Full Throttle (XL,1993)
10. Dance Conspiracy : Dub War Chapter 1(XL,1992)
11. Run tings : Fires Burning (Suburban Base 1992)
12. Krome & Time: This Sound is for the Underground (Suburban Base 1992)
13. Acen : Trip 2 the moon part 2 (Production house 1992)
14. Manix : Alright Wid Me (1993,Reinforced)
15. Manix : Hardcore Junglism (1992,Reinforced)
16.Underground Software : Different ting (1992,Reinforced)
17. Cloud 9 : You got Me Burning (1993,Moving Shadow)
18. Soundclash vs Hackney Hardcore : Hear Gunshots (1993,Strictly Underground)
19. Foul Play : Finest illusion (1993,Moving Shadow)
20. Ltj Bukem& Tayla : Bang the drums (1992,Good looking )
Local Hero: Lets kick it off with an easy one. What are you listening to right now?
Rico Tubbs: Italo disco,”Dance Mania” Chicago house stuff , some 60’s psych rock and Bengas album have been on heavy rotation.
LH: You’ve been producing and releasing records since 1995 in your native Finland. Tell us about some of the early Rico Tubbs projects.
RT: When I got my first releases out it was the time of big beat – sample heavy fun party music. Not much different of what I do now – the hip hop samples and rave elements can be heard through all my production from day one.
LH: Not many producers from the breaks scene have been able to crossover to the electro/blog house scene as successfully as you have. Was this crossover success intended? If so what did you put into the music to garner the crossover appeal?
RT: The crossover was not calculated in any way. My production style is based more on chaos than clear vision and I think Ive done tunes in most genres of electronic music. As a producer/dj you should anyway be intrested in new things and it always amazes me how many purists there are who are stuck into their little box. Now I feel that electronic music is in its most exciting phase in many years.The trend now overlaps the most with what I love in dance music : big and quirky basslines,hip hop or rather hip house and rave.
LH: Seems like you’ve kept quite busy djing so far this year. Whats been the awesomest party you’ve played this year?
RT: I have to say Glade.That was the first festival of that magnitude Ive played. Everything was well organized and the atmosphere was great.
LH: What was the musical aim of your new album? What were you trying to accomplish with it?
RT: My aim was to get a coherent album full of club bangers. I tried to make it so tight that you’d want to get the whole thing – not just pick and choose just 1 or 2 tracks as often is the case among dance albums.
LH: You’ve always maintained an aggressive funky sound but without being cheesy. How and from what influences did you derive the Rico Tubbs style?
RT: When Rico Tubbs was born the sound was influenced by stripped down funk of JB’s and sillyness of Parliament – with some heavy fart bass. Its gone a long way from that during past 5 years but the heavy bass groove is still the core. Now you can hear more of the influence of my hardcore favourites : Altern-8, Manix and early Moving Shadow/Suburban Base. There also some speed garage/bassline there of which I’ve always been a fan of.
LH: Now that the albums done and released, what comes next?
RT: Theres been a lot of remix work of which the latest is for Tittsworth 12 Steps album. Theres also an EP coming on Herve’s label later this year and a track on Finnish b-more club label Top Billin’. There might be a remix album of “Knuckle Sandwich” as well if everything goes by the plan – first out will be Tes La Rok and Muffler remixes of “Gangsters”.
This Sunday marked the first ever Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, hosted by Street Attack, Famous Friends, andImpose Magazine. Covering local Brooklyn artists for some time now, Impose Magazine has come to be an important fixture in the Brooklyn community, and a trustworthy source for pithy coverage of the musical oasis that can be the Brooklyn neighborhood. Street Attack and Famous Friends, the primary hosts for this year’s BEMF, are an innovative and resourceful duo that pull all stops. So when the poster went up for BEMF recently, it should be no surprise that the list of sponsors ranged from Miller Lite to the Izze Beverage Co. Even less of a surprise though was the quality of electronic artists and DJs they culled to headline their very first electronic music festival.
Arriving in the late afternoon, just as the sun was letting up on a crowd of Sparks ignited Brooklynites, I felt what was a strong community of music supporters, friends artists, and the usual blog-league members making sure Ableton mixtapes sounded just as good live. Luckily for those drunk enough by the time Cobra Krames went on, it didn’t matter, as his blend of Blatimore Club and party mash-ups were perfectly crowd pleasing and genre-bending. Stringing together Top 40 Rap and Pop hits with his flavor of B-more stomp, I was surprised not to hear a Journey mash-up amongst his arsenal.
Following Cobra was The Glass, one of the live acts present that day. With their blend of slightly sweet electro-pop, they sung the kind of late-night drunken ballads you might associate with a group of Daft Punk loyalists, suffering from a night of blissed out synths. Unfortunately for The Glass, they spent too much time at the Sparks tent and not enough time at the Izze tent, and relied too heavily on their friends to hype their boozed-down set. Luckily Finger on the Pulse, DJ and producer of The Glass supplied a quick-set of Armand Van Helden remixes to give us a good taste in our mouths beforehand.
For BEMF attendees that day, Purple Crush was clearly a significant draw, and I too was excited to see fellow Islander (Bainbridge Island, Washington) Isla Cheadle and her beatman Jared Selter get freaky on stage in Neon and Nikes. Definitely a highlight of the evening, Isla brought the party, bar none, and got little girls to shake their money makers in feminine glory. Pairing slightly maligned synth-pop and chugging Madonna-disco, Isla rapped, sang, and hyped with a natural frontman femininity that won over the headier skeptics like myself. With tunes like “Fuck the DJ” and “Marry Me,” Purple Crush’s first album “Blog Party” is a must-grab in a sea of uninspired Justice-fallout.
After Purple Crush and after a French-house heavy set from Treasure Fingers, who by virtue of market forces or purely bass-blown ear drums, has been invited to join the ranks of the Fools Gold family, a tour de force in dance music’s finest. One third of Evol Intent, perhaps the State’s best and last contribution to Drum n’ Bass, Treasure Fingers had the presence of your classic UK DJ/producer: techy, cerebral, and an invisible hand on the feet of the crowd. And Treasure Fingers could have just pressed play and returned to the beer garden because his flawless set of ethereal electro had some long-time fans and a drunk-happy crowd brought to their knees that Summer evening at The Yard.
Best and last for me was Todosantos, the Venezuelan trio of young hearts, making the only progressive music that was played that day. Drawing on their love for the music of their hometown (Cumbia, Soca, Reggaeton), as well as the reverberations from abroad (Speed Garage, Baile Funk, Miami Bass, Bassline), Todosantos represents what M.I.A. could only start, and what people like Pharaoh (Todosantos producer), Mariana (Todosantos video editor), and their lead singer (?) are calling “Tukky Bass.” On the wave of their hit song and EP “Acid Girlzzz,” Todosantos brought on the warm-darkness of the night with a rip roaring set of colorful video editing from Mariana and a fiery collection of bass heaviness from Pharaoh. A part from their sing-along set of quick one-liners and hollers, they actually seemed in love with what they were doing.
With a diverse collection of musicians and extremely-well hosted party in a beautiful space, Impose’s first Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival has no doubt set the tone for an upcoming year of exciting music from the electronic sounds of the world. More than ever we’re seeing the synthesis of all things musical, and Impose, much like other music-forward artists and critics, see this synthesis as the great calling to unite under Summer sun, fueled by warm, thick beats and the nutrients of corporate money, an increasingly smart trick to support the arts. And stay posted with Impose Magazine as they post pictures of buckwild hipsters gettin’ down in the sun.
One of the catchiest songs you’ll hear this summer is “Cross the Dancefloor“, a really fresh track with a bit of funk and elements of filter house. It’s so infectious and feel good, that the dance floor is immediately filled whenever the song is played. The producer behind the track is Treasure Fingers, a former Atlantan that recently moved to Brooklyn.
While some may know Treasure Fingers through hard step/drum & bass act, Evol Intent, most people are completely unaware of his history. And even though there is a huge trend of drum & bass producers turned electro blog house producers, Treasure Fingers is completely different. Offering music that is more fresh and feel good and roller rink ready then pump your fist, stage dive, and wear neon.
“Cross the Dancefloor” and other productions were so ear-catching that Fools Gold scooped up Treasure Fingers for a 12″. Updating and remastering the track to be even better than before and getting superstar producers Laidback Luke, Lifelike, and Curses! to lend remixes to the release. Then they packaged it up and made it beautiful and ready to purchase through beatport, turntable lab, and itunes.
To celebrate the release, I met up with Treasure Fingers and we did an interview and he also provided us with one of the remixes of the 12″ single.
sirhan: so, you are in evol intent, why did you decide to start treasure fingers?
treasure fingers: i had always done some house/funk style production stuff on the side and just never pushed it. i played some of it for jordan (of Snowden) one day and he really pushed me to get it out there. The first treasure fingers remix I did was for Snowden’s “Anti Anti”.
sirhan: how do you feel about the way its going now?
treasure fingers: I love it, it just took off and everything started falling into place.
sirhan: you still tour with evol intent?
treasure fingers: yeah, it’s a little sparse with bookings right now because we are all working on other projects at the moment but we’ll have a couple new releases out later this year though and we just released a full length album in march.
sirhan: so you just released, “cross the dance floor” tell me a little bit about it and how did you get such awesome remixes?
treasure fingers: That track actually started out as just a funky instrumental house type tune, then one night I decided to put some vocals on it, then got the idea to have my girlfriend sing a part to play off mine. I meant to write out full verses and put into a pop song structure, but after I showed the rough draft version to Preston/Kiss Atlanta, he wanted to blog it as is, so I mixed it down and let it go as more of a club track. Fool’s Gold sorted out all of the remixes. Once I signed it to them, they hit me up one day and was like.. ‘hey what do you think about these guys to do remixes?’
I’m a fan of all those guys so I was pretty excited. Chromeo also did an amazing remix. It’s going to be featured on a Fool’s Gold CD.
sirhan: so whats the next thing you’re doing?
treasure fingers: I’ve done a bunch of remixes over the past couple months that should all be getting released soon. I’ve got 2 more that I’m wrapping up over the next week, then I’ve got an australian tour. When I get back from that, I plan on working on some original material again.
sirhan: so this is a typical question but who are some of your influences and who should kids go diggin for?
treasure fingers: lots of the 80s funk/disco era stuff. midnight star, shalamar, zapp & roger, dazz, carl carlton. I was really influenced by the 90s french house stuff as well.
sirhan: any particular records by those producers?
treasure fingers: carl carlton – swing that sexy thing / dance with you, most people just know ’she’s a bad mama jama’ by him, but he’s got so much dope stuff!
sirhan: what about new stuff?
treasure fingers: love a lot of the new lifelike stuff, symbolone, that really synthy euro sound, and miami horror also.
sirhan: so you’ve been to tons of places whats you best place so far?
treasure fingers: i think the best / craziest parties ive played have been in ATL or LA. I love traveling though, every city has it’s own charm. I think sometimes, the small towns that you don’t expect much from turn out to be amazing.
sirhan: so, any good stories from your travels?
treasure fingers: i’ve never had anything super crazy. there’s always something going wrong though. last time I was in LA, my door lock had broke after I had left for the gig and no one could fix it and I had an early flight the next morning. they ended up giving me another room, then breaking the door down at the last minute the next morning so I could get my stuff out… I’m not a heavy drinker so I don’t have any crazy club stories.
sirhan: music obiviously takes a lot of time whats your other passions?
treasure fingers: I used to paint/draw a lot. I’d like to get back to that when I get the time. that’s probably the closest thing to a passion, other stuff I do in free time is just for relaxation/fun. xbox360, movies, friends, whatever.
sirhan: so lets close off here any advice to budding producers or closing words?
treasure fingers: It’s kind of contradicting, but find a really good producer and copy them until you can get your engineering and mixdowns really tight, then switch it up and try to do something completely original and different. Most producers lack in one or the other, so I think the key is having something that sounds really fresh and original, that also sounds great sonically.
Closing words: go buy “Cross the Dancefloor” & bug your local promoter until they book me.
If you’re skint like me, you like stuff that’s free right?
Well, for little more than the cost of denting you or your friend’s credibility, you can win a pair of tickets to see funk-tastic Chromeo LIVE at London’s The End/AKA on Thursday 21st August 2008.
We’ve got 2 pairs of tickets to give away.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO WIN A PAIR: email me with a video or link to a video of someone doing some ‘fancy footwork’ . It could be you or your mum or your second cousin’s second cousin – we don’t care, as long as it makes us laugh!
Hell, if you’re really hard up for an unsuspecting victim, you could even rip it off Youtube – but you’ve gotta be a bit clever.
Hang with me and the UK TM crew (plus the ubiquitous PR types) and check out other acts specially picked by the dapper dudes, plus drink free beer all night long, courtesy of San Miguel!! It’s part of their yearly summer music series, Hidden Depths. Dave 1 and P-Thugg return to London after a sold-out gig at Camden’s Koko and wowing music know-hows as support on Bloc Party’s British Tour.
Email your vid to: writers@trashmenagerie.com, with FANCY FOOTWORK in the subject.
DEADLINE: Sunday 17th August 2008, midnight GMT.
I will email the two winners directly on Monday 18th August. In the meantime, to get you in the mood, download and check out these two Chromeo remixes of “Needy Girl” and “Tenderoni” from Lifelike and MSTRKRFT.
PS – Double your chances for tickets by going to the San Miguelsite. And if you miss out this time, they’re playing around Europe for the rest of the summer at the following festivals.
Ever since Trash’s KMD introduced us to the exceptional sounds of Birmingham’s Deluka, they’ve been on a hot streak and we’ve been HOOKED! Chances are you may have heard their tune ‘Sleep Is Impossible’ played in your living room over your last round of Grand Theft Auto IV. Beyond car chases, their album ‘Broken Sleeping Patterns’, released mid March on Japanese imprint, Fabtone, features a fine remix of “Flashbacks” by Hooker and De Freitas.
Where were you in 92? It was the year Michael Hooker of Hooker and De Freitas began his music obsession. “Music excites me and has since the first mix tape I was handed in 1992. The rave scene was in full swing and I was far too young to party, but the vibes from this tape was the start of my obsession.” And with that obsession, long time friends Michael Hooker and Elcias De Freitas, also producing under the name JE2, got to work combining their different styles to remix music by Deluka, Trash Money, Atelier Nouveau, Client, and numerous tracks by the gleeful Birmingham band Trash Fashion.
“I love the music scene at the moment,” says Michael, “I do not think that so many different groups of people have crossed into different genres ever.” Working with a plethora of styles is exactly what JE2 and Hooker and De Freitas like to do – mixing electro, breakbeat, house, classic party anthems, and more. Currently the Birmingham-based duo are working on their debut solo material and have completed the follow up to their recent track ‘Start The Beat’, with remixes by Jonze, Uncle Buck, The Hats and C.O.C. The newest track features guest vocals from Jet Storm of Trash Fashion. They’ll be out for digital download, September, on Italian label The Family Records. Meantime, Hooker and De Freitas plan to complete a few bootleg projects for free download and get to work on some old disco and funk tracks. Keep an ear out!
With a mutual love for old school bikes – the tricked out sort like BMX, Haro, Hutch and Skyway, it was only natural that Leroy Washington and Sevenfive chose Tuff Wheelz as the moniker they would use to create their music. “Skyway made these incredible colored plastic wheels called Tuff Wheels. That’s the reason of our name,” adds Sevenfive.
2007 marked the year Leroy and Sevenfive joined forces for the French label Discolor as the official label Dj’s and decided to team up as Tuff Wheelz. But by no means are the duo new to the music industry. With a long run as a top French D&B Dj, Leroy has been in the grind for over 10 years and Sevenfive producing electronic music since 1997.
Leroy is the curator of the monthly ‘Let Me Bang’ parties in Bordeaux along with Kazey and has played with Dj Funk, Para One, Surkin, Bobmo, Strip Steve and Dj Gero. Sevenfive is the co-founder of audio/visual collective, Neurosystem and has been edited by such labels as Soulseek, GC recordings and Digital Kranky. He has gigged with Modeselektor, Jean Nipon, Danton Eeprom, Ovuca and Yuksek.
Offering up a good dose of 90’s, acid, deep and filtered house, baltimore, electro and techno, Tuff Wheelz deliver a fine mix of flavor. They’ve edited Davina’s house classic “Don’t You Want It” and have done remixes for Purple Crush, “Fuck The DJ“, The Shoes “Knock Out” and Strip Steve “Ready Steady“. Check out their latest track “The Ride“, featured below!
Tuff Wheelz are currently working on a track for Damaged Good$ out of Texas and have some new original productions in the works. They’ll continue to provide bouncy music in the country of wine and cheese at their ‘Keep On Pumpin’ monthly in Bordeaux and they’ll be playing with the EATDISCO crew who will be celebrating their 1st birthday 11th July at The End in Newcastle Upon Tyne!!!!!!!
