20. Soundstream - Let’s Break [Soundstream]
“Typical” Soundstream material, consisting of jacked up, tracky disco house loops, but this one just tickled me particularly well this year. Something about the beat repeat occasionally thrown in for fillage.

19. Duece - Cue Ed [Ostgut Ton]
Shed + Dettmann together on this track, “Cue Ed” being the lightest fare on the release. If you’re a fan of raw, loopy dark minimal and techno, this one’s for you. It’s just one of those tracks that I could put on for 15 minutes and not get tired of it. Fortunately for the crowd, it’s only 4:49 ;)

18. Kreon - Just Jack [Cecille Numbers]
Yeah, I’m going to be that guy (and I may do it a few more times) and drop some late 2008 releases on the best of 2009. Why? Because I bought it late. Deep, groovy, and bumpin’, this track has been on my playlist constantly since I purchased it this summer.

17. Okain, Thomas Muller - I Tele U Bo [Bpitch Control]
Funky tech-house track, with a non-chalant, but oh-so-cool percy hook. This one is just good. It probably got a little played out by the middle of the year, as I began to hear it all over the place, but I still enjoy catching it after all this time.

16. Moodymanc - Word (Dub Mix) [2020 Vision]
Another tail-end of ‘08 release, it’s holding up to the test of a year. Deep house as you’d expect from the Moody, yet a bit “tighter” and more hook-oriented than some of his work. Love the deep chords, and the cheese vox, can’t go wrong here.

15. Mark Broom & Brothers Vibe - Mind / Feeling (youANDme Hirsch Edit) [Platzhirsch Schallplatten]
Looking for the anthem for the year, this was it. As soon as I heard this on release day, I knew it was gonna blow up. Picked up my copy, played it out, put it in a set, and then enjoyed it as every other techno and house DJ beat it into the ground. You can’t really argue with this one though. Straight-up.

14. Dinky ft. Updates - Westoid [Wagon Repair]
I don’t know what the fuck is with this track, but it’s pure awesome. The jazz club feel of the intro. Swinging, groovy, organic percussion. The smooth sax that gives way to the inane lyrics and wonky vocals, “Dolla billz, why? blehbl hrehr fdads [unintelligible]” Fuck it, works for me. It’s even better when you drop it in a tag set, and watch your partner squirm.

13. Speedy J - Klave [Rekids]
Tracky, tooly, loopy, fucking dark minimal techno. The clave and rising perc, slowly creeps up your spine into your brain. Speedy J has been on a roll since 2008, and IMO, this is one of his best (although some would argue he never was off his roll). It fits the Rekids techno-side of the catalogue well.

12. Slam - Hot Knives [Paragraph]
Straight-forward, basic, and a helluva romp on the ears. This simple track showcases what we all love about that overcompressed wash noise sound, given just the right composition and a quality mixdown. It’s a peak stomper for sure, although I’m hesitant to place it this high, due to longevity concerns. It roooooooocked some floors in 2009 though, particularly my last drunken romp in the city of Detroit…and that’s undeniable.

11. Kris Wadsworth - High Roller [Hypercolour]
Prepare yourself for my top 10, because this guy is going to be listed a few more times. I caught this guy’s first couple of EPs of 2009 in January, from Adult Only and Hypercolour and have been in love with his productions since. This Detroit-based producer, who has been at it since he was 14 (he’s currently 25) is about to blow up on a massive scale…and in a way he has already. This guy’s a prolific and consistent producer, perfectly fusing the best ideas and stylings of house and techno to make what I like to call proper tech-house. He can span the gamut, and “High Roller” is a perfect example of his diverse style, touching on a bit of the filtered disco/French style of house, but with a chunky, jacker kick you’d hear in Chicago.

….Tune in tomorrow for the rest of my list. I’ve got some inspiration to go work on some music now…

We need your votes though! Check out the link below, sign-in with your Beatport account (if you have one) and give it a “spin” aka vote. Hoping to at least make a strong showing, as we think the track is a stand-out amongst the sea of bland stem re-works. There are some other really amazing remixes though, so we won’t fault you if you don’t vote for us…but I’ll leave it to you guys to find them for yourselves ;)

Check it out and vote here

Also, for those few of you that may check out the blog, I’ve got a full-length version of the track available for DOWNLOAD here at Cause, Effekt.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

ALSO,

Some friends and I have started up a new site / events blog for Knoxville dubbed Knoxville Electronic Dance Music Collective aka knoxville-edm.com. The goal is to get every single EDM event in Knoxville on the map and listed so we can build a bigger scene, even if its a genre, style, or crowd we may not care for. No bias, no hate, just a venue to get the word out about events, and hopefully start up a forum for discussion. So if you’ve got events to drop, please let us know and we’ll get the info posted, including flyers!

Lots of stuff going on, including moving into a new home and the month of stress that’s entailed.

It’s good to be settled now, though. So far, September and October have been far more interesting than I imagined, and there has been a lot of change for the good. I’ve been dabbling in some new tunes, and cooking up some tracky tools to combine in live situations, but it’s still been kinda slow. If you keep an eye on the soundcloud then perhaps you’ve heard it…or perhaps that’s how you got here.

Damn, now that I’m sitting here doing this, I feel like I’ve got loads to talk about, but I’m also burning to cut these mixes up from a show my friends and I played at in the summer. The first was great, the second a bit dead, but fun. Fantastic mixes though, across the board. We all really need to be more insistent on working the promos and “right” people, although so often with this area, it’s a sludgy, steep, uphill battle, with mortar shells coming at you from above, lol.

Nonetheless, there’s a burgeoning techno scene in the southeast…let’s check some parties:

On the 22nd, in Knoxville, TN there is Octobertech, with local vets Mark B, Stephen Thomas, Gregory Alan, and The Funnel.

Do a little Halloween pre-gaming a week ahead of time, bring out the urinal and keg costumes, it’s the Longbranch!

Then give a peek at the Halloween party in Louisville, KY. Nice job guys. Woody McBride and Stewart Walker will be playing there on the 31st atHellhouse V . And where the hell else can you go hear some quality techno on the 31st and just pay $5 (well, if you wear a costume ;)). We’ve got places that are charging $20-$40 for some less-than-thrilling prospects. Mr. Lou, who works with Brad T as Project Massive (the subs!), will be doing the sound for this one, so look forward to something worth listening to. Awesome sound is so underrated.

That’s all for now, I’m tired of typing. Time to work out the ears and mind some more.

MassiveSound's 6x Custom-built LABHorn Dual 12\

MassiveSound’s 6x LABhorn Dual 12″ horn-loaded subs + our friend Lou’s 4x Yorkshire Unity tops

This is only the beginning. Many hours of blood, sweat, and tears into this, and probably even a few chunks of skin and dead nerves for Brad! Definitely one of the most worthwhile and gratifying projects I’ve worked on in a long time.

Check out some more pics and videos at Paramnesia’s flickr

Piltdown Sound live pa at camp FrequenSee / Transformus 2009

SOUND TEST!

For now, I’m going to drop some tracks I’ve been liking, and why you might like them. Some are newish, some oldish, all great.

In no particular order:

Down The Rabbit Hole (2000 and One 90’s Edit) by DJ Madskillz [Rejected]
From a production standpoint, this is a pretty simple track, although far from ‘minimal’ but nonetheless jamming. 2000 and One rinses it over with his familiar style of chugging, retro tech-house with a tinge of anthem-tude. I like the pace, the build, and the thumping kick of this one, it just all comes together without overdoing fancy production techniques, yet still successfully keeping that loop in full effect. It’s on my latest mix.

Just Jack by Kreon [Cecille Numbers]
You got the groove (as the track so eloquently states). I don’t know the source, but it just fucking works. Simple, minimal tribal rhythms, a deep, fat bass, and some nice groove and sample dynamics make this one that daytime house that can make it into just about any mix. The flip is good as well, but this one is the track. Also on the new mix.

Cue Ed by Deuce [Ostgut Ton]
Dark, loopy, industrial, analog cranker by Shed + Dettmann. I could listen for hours just for the insanity of it all. ++ to the whole EP, actually. Techno’s back, baby (as if it ever left, lol!)

Downturn by Penta [AuraQuake]
Dark Psy-trance. Yes, I’m listening to it. It’s a fucking good track. Superb, clean production. And the breakdown with the econo-pundits yapping about on TV in panned-out stereo wackiness just makes it even more fun. I’m not a psy aficionado by any means, and don’t even listen to it that often (and most I hate when I do) so it’s gotta say something, right? Penta’s Give Me Five album is well-done all around though, so give it a listen.

Lipstick by Christian Burkhardt [Raum...Musik]
You want dirty, filthy tracks? Well, this one hijacks the nasty crown from the latest cheesy-porn sampled electro schlock. Burkhardt’s been doing some great minimal/tech-house tracks for awhile now, with my first exposure from his Contemporary Box EP, but this one is truly tops. The sample used may be from its very own cheese porn, but the minimal groove just puts the focus on the subtly-sexy vocal, without relying on stupid moans, “fuck my pussy” samples and huge squarewaves to get its effect across. Drop this in a dark club where and when you can, and watch the panties drop.

First things first, from 2007:

Offensive Material (electro house…yeah, yeah my purist friends can eat it :P )

Also featuring a cue sheet for those of you with CD burning software that can read them.

Will Azada - Offensive Material - January 2007 promo
78:10
128kbps mp3

1. Luke Le Mans - “The Docks”
2. The Martins Brothers - “Stoopit”
3. Oliver Huntemann, Stephan Bodzin - “Fashion Show”
4. Mark Knight, Richard Dinsdale - “Crunch”
5. Sebastien Leger - “Little Bug”
6. Remo, Steve Land - “D Element”
7. Blake Baxter, Marc Romboy - “The Club” (Version 1)
8. John Dahlback - “If You Give Me”
9. Pryda - “Remember”
10. Benz & MD - “Turning The Curve” (Simon & Shaker Remix)
11. Sebastien Leger, Chris Lake - “Aqualight”
12. Swen Weber - “First Stroke” (Scratch Massive Remix)
13. Tiga - “Move My Body” (only4erolmix)
14. Plump DJs - “Mad Cow”
15. Dopamine, Diverted - “Only One”
16. Thomas Schumacher - “Kickschool 79″

Next up:

OneTrickPony, Vol. 1 (techno)

192kbps mp3 - 72 minutes
Tracklist:
1.) Dusty Kid - Psika
2.) D. Diggler - Graviton (Johannes Heil Mix)
3.) Giorgos Gatzigristos - Grape & Grey
4.) Martin Eyerer & Stephan Hinz - Tucan (Nic Fanciulli Remix)
5.) Chaim - It Never Ends
6.) Len Faki - Mekong Delta (Adam Beyer Remix)
7.) Chris Liebing - D
8.) Avus - SPNKR /
8a) Avus - SPNKR (Acid Paddle Tool)
9.) Luke Vibert - Meatabix
10.) Baby Ford & The Ifach Collective - Grand Central
11.) The Vision - Detroit: The Experiment
12.) Simian Mobile Disco - Wooden
13.) Dusty Kid - The Kitten
14.) Gregor Tresher - A Thousand Nights
15.) Gui Boratto - Atol
16.) Marc Romboy & Stephan Bodzin - Atlas
17.) Farben - Beautone

And finally, from 2008:

OneTrickPony, Vol. 2 (glitch/micro house, tech-house, techno)
Cue sheet

160-320kbps VBR mp3
76 minutes
Artist - Track Title

1. Farben - Beautone
2. Akufen - Rewomteprac
3. Joe Ellis - Octave Lower
4. Mara Trax - Let Goose
5. Mossa - You Wanna What?
6. Ambivalent - Indecision
7. Someone Else - Pooty Call (Got It Bad? Losoul Remix)
8. John Tejada, Arian Leviste - Syntax Free
9. Consistent - Sing Along Record
10. Crackhaus - French Cheese and Wine
11. Akufen - Quatrieme Tournee
12. Italo Boys - Zinga
13. Acid Circus - Uncle Jak (Audio Injection Remix)
14. Will Azada - Late Night Crack Habit
15. Ark, Mikael Weill - Sunshine (Will Azada Edit)
16. Marc Houle - Porch
16b. Robert Hood - Side Effect
16c. Spektrum - Freakbox (Richie Hawtin’s Uncontrolled Edit)
17. Hardcell - Funk Continuum
18. Petter - Some Polyphony
19. Peter Grummich - Sunbeams

I hope you find something you like.

Just a heads up to those of you with iPhones and that like to dabble in production or live PA…and I know I’m probably a bit late to the punch on this one, but I just found out about TouchOSC a couple of days ago and was floored by the functionality on this app. $5 gets you a customizable Lemur-like interface that can be converted to give MIDI signals in combination with OSCulator on the Mac. Finally, an X-Y pad controller! woot

Super handy stuff when you’re mobile and don’t want to tote around a bunch of hardware controllers, plus just damn useful in the studio. The only downside is there is currently no free OSC to MIDI converter available on the Mac, so you’ll have to purchase a license of OSCulator for $20…which is also what you need to use for WiiMote action, so it can serve double duty I guess.

Anyway, its one of the coolest apps available for the iPhone if you’re into production and it’s not just another gimmick like so many other music apps. Check it out.

I was listening to Animotion’s “Obsession” on the radio a little over a year ago on my way home from work and thought it would make an awesome techno cover, albeit a bit cheese. Ha. So I stayed up til the morning deciphering notes, creating Operator synth patches to loosely match the instruments in the original, and laying down a live bassline recording…which seems to be the main driver behind this one.

It’s “loosely” based on that track, but I had to keep the campy synths. Anyway, I had it shelved for over a year and decided to break it out last night and today to finish up some loose ends. Enjoy.

The Funnel - “Obsession”