by Tony Poland on 15.03.2011 at 11:54am
Since the Drop Out Orchestra began in 2008, the project has grown from one man and a sampler to a three man team consisting of a music teacher, a studio engineer and a music tech writer. What has remained constant is the cloak of mystery regarding their true identity with no names or pictures, ensuring the focus remains on their music.
And the Drop Out Orchestra certainly know how to make music of the disco persuasion, eschewing some of modern technology’s shortcuts by using real instruments to craft vintage discoteria which have seen innumerable releases, including two albums on their own Drop Out imprint as well as remixes for Ilija Rudman, Beatfanatic, DJ Agent 86 and :Kinema: The latter remix, an 11 minutes plus epic, is small change for the ambitious Drop Out Orchestra who harbour plans to record a 25 minute disco monster likened to Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn”.
In addition to these official releases Drop Out Orchestra delight in reworking some of pop music’s “most iconic” figures into something inimitably danceable with the likes of Rick Astley, Robyn, Craig David and The Sex Pistols already treated to the Drop Out magic.
The troupe have just launched a new imprint called Drop Out Sounds to showcase their talents at edits and you can also expect to see Drop Out Orchestra remixes for the likes of Needwant, MB Disco and the newly minted Tigers On A Leash imprint set up by Brooklyn disco devil Munga. To get an idea of what to expect at a Drop Out DJ gig where they go so far as to rope in live bass and trombone players we invited them to curate the latest featured chart.
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by Juno Plus on 08.02.2011 at 11:33am
It’s fair to say a restless urge for creativity has punctuated everything Stopmakingme aka Dan Avery has done to date. Having grown up on and been influenced by the risk taking DJ sets of Messrs Weatherall and Alkan and their inate ability to make guitar sounds sit perfectly next to disco, house, techno and electroclash in a club environment, his own DJing style has seen him glide into a residency at Fabric for the Kill Em All night overseen by The Filthy Dukes as well as being called upon to entertain the masses at Bugged Out and Durrr on a regular basis.
Not one to rest on his laurels, this creative urge has in recent times found a new impulse in production with the first baby steps of remixing the likes of Boy8Bit, Kisses and We Have Band demonstrating a keen understanding of what makes a dancefloor sweat. A dovetail into original productions has naturally followed when his first original productions, the Wrapped In Plastic EP, dropped late last year on the Kill Em All label.
A measure of his growing reputation as a producer can be demonstrated by recent remix commissions for Punks Jump Up, OMD and Hercules & Love Affair. Furthermore, Dan will soon be unleashing more original material in the shape of the Rattle EP on Bang Gang 12s which is due out February 28, as well as Battery Life, a collaborative release with the legend that is Justin Robertson on Southern Fried next month. Expect news to filter through of a Stopmakingme full length album soon too. But it is on DJing that Dan cut his teeth, so that’s why we invited him to contribute the latest featured chart.
by Juno Plus on 17.12.2010 at 15:26pm
Last week we revealed that UK duo Al Bleek and Kid Drama – aka Instra:mental – will release their debut album, entitled Resolution 653, next year via their own Nonplus imprint. They first came to the attention of Juno Plus a while back via their genre hopping Autonomic podcast series with dBridge, which allowed them to pursue their passion for the forward thinking end of D&B, dubstep and techno.
This year they combined a Fabric residency with a slew of festival dates, and still managed to release a healthy mix of 12″s on their label from the likes of Jimmy Edgar, ASC, Actress and Kassem Mosse among others. They rounded off a fine 2010 with a gong at this week’s DJ Mag Best Of British awards ceremony in London, taking the prize for Best Compilation for their Autonomic Fabriclive mix.
They’ll no doubt be in celebratory mood at the Eastern Electrics New Year’s Eve party with Damian Lazarus, Seth Troxler, Jamie Jones, Joker & MC Nomad, Roska and more, so we called up the lads to find out what tunes they’ve been feeling lately – expect a few of the beasts listed below to strip some paint from the walls come the 31st…
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by Juno Plus on 29.11.2010 at 12:14pm
Designer, label owner, producer, DJ, possessor of a finely crafted moustache.
All of the above can be used to describe Alex Bok Bok Sushon, co founder of the Night Slugs imprint along with James L-Vis 1990 Connolly which has enjoyed an imperious first year of business since launching with some white label action from the latter in January . In the months that have followed Alex and James have introduced the world to a cast of production talent from both sides of the Atlantic with essential releases from Mosca, Egyptrixx, Kingdom, Girl Unit, Cubic Zirconia, Velour and Jam City.
Equally integral to the Night Slugs success story is the distinctly neon tinged art work that adorns every release courtesy of Bok Bok, whose design work has been matched by production and remix output this year with a handful of pristeen productions for Monkeytown, Enchufada and Blunted Robots complemented by remixes of Modeselektor, Scratch DVA and Chrissy Murderbot amongst others.
Already proclaimed by many to have released the track of the year in Girl Unit’s “Wut”, Night Slugs are set to end 2010 on a high note with the soon to drop All Stars Vol 1 compilation and vinyl sampler featuring that Jacques Greene track, along with the long awaited debut release proper from Jam City, so it seems an almost too perfect time to tap Bok Bok for ten of his best right now.
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by Juno Plus on 09.11.2010 at 10:53am
Sistrum Records boss Patrice Scott piqued the interest of Juno Plus with a steady stream of house 12″s since 2006 on both his own imprint and a sprinkling of others, including Keith Worthy’s Aesthetic Audio and European labels Yore, Curle and Minuendo. His production style has a raw analogue grit that harks back to his formative years spent remixing with two cassette recorders, a drum machine and turntables. His own fledgling label has also served as a platform for a number of producers from across the globe, including Ksoul and Ra.H, Leonid, XDB and Mike Edge.
These days his name can safely be endowed with the prefix ‘globe trotting DJ’, with 2010 gigs taking him to Croatia, Germany, Holland, Japan, Israel, Russia, Spain, Serbia and the UK. His new Analog Dreams 12″ is about to drop, so we dialled up Detroit to see exactly what was in that record bag of his. His selections this month include a healthy mixture of raw house and deep techno, with cuts from Ron Trent, A Guy Called Gerald, Reggie Dokes and Lawrence all making the top 10.
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by Juno Plus on 27.10.2010 at 14:27pm
Drums Of Death recently released Generation Hexed, a musical tour de force showcasing the electrified energy that courses through the Scotsman’s veins. It was the perfect culmination of years of incessant recording, touring and makeup reapplication for the man with close ties to the Greco Roman imprint.
Indeed it’s been something of a rollercoaster ride for the man from Oban, real name Colin Bailey, who had a “one to watch” tag slapped on his forehead by all and sundry when he first emerged onto the scene. Tours with Hot Chip and Peaches and remixes of Franz Ferdinand, Alphabeat and Tricky followed, and a reputation as one of electronic music’s most individual and interesting artists was cemented. As a solo performer, he’s entrancing – both because of his highly recognisable (and pretty damn scary) stage make-up, but also because of his one-man ravecore beats that are energetically sung over, and sometimes completely shouted over.
His Juno Plus featured chart is one of the most diverse collections of music we’ve seen in this series to date, with the producer offering a fascinating insight into his musical tastes. His choices range from the melodic Japanese disco of KZA to the looped up techno throb of Robert Hood, via an old school Tresor banger and cutting edge new material from the Numbers imprint.
(Those who want to check out DoD this weekend – and let’s be honest, there’s no one else better suited to playing a Halloween gig – should check him out at this Friday’s Data Transmission party in London, where he’ll be performing live. )
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by Tony Poland on 19.10.2010 at 15:07pm
Our latest featured chart comes courtesy of two of New York’s finest in Nick Chacona and Roy Wurst.
Chacona is one of the Big Apple’s most venerable exponents of contemporary musical excellence with a CV that includes releases for Bear Funk, Internasjonal, Stilove4Music, 20:20 Vision, Moodmusic and most recently Roy Dank’s Wurst label. “Slice Of Life” is the latest in a long run of quality output from the Wurst stable that has already put out deep heat from Reade Truth, Neurotic Drum Band and Great Weekend.
Long term friends, the duo have only recently taken the decision to work together under the name Beg To Differ, with the first fruits being a well received remix of Detachments, released on Thisisnotanexit last year. Beg To Differ remixes of UK indie types The Hours and Chacona himself have recently followed on Wurst and Moodmusic respectively, with forthcoming treatments of Lonelady and Max Skiba & Snax for Warp and Under the Shade on the way. Expect some original Beg To Differ material too with an emphasis on vocal driven tracks. Expect giant hooks, ecstatic arpeggios, lots of live instrumentation and effects, and a heavy, heavy rhythm section. Both are excellent DJs in their own right and they hit us up with a top ten of vinyl delights both new and old.
by Juno Plus on 29.09.2010 at 09:43am
Jacques Renault is pretty much the go-to man for Juno Plus when it comes to all things disco and house these days. His remix of Midnight Magic’s “Beam Me Up” is up there with the best thing our ears have hear all summer, while his On The Prowl imprint (launched with co-conspirator Marcos Cabral) has served as a neat conduit for showcasing Runaway productions and unearthing gems such as NYC freestyle artist Corinne. Meanwhile the On The Prowl Party Breaks sub label has dropped some seriously cheeky edits, including one particular reworking of Jet Brown that is still on regular rotation in the JP office. Indeed, so much has happened since we caught up with Jacques at the beginning of the year that we just had to call up the Big Apple and see what’s in his record bag at the moment.
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by Juno Plus on 23.09.2010 at 11:52am
Chris Todd is best known as the writer, producer, guitarist, keyboard player and general knob twiddler for legendary live act Crazy P. He also moonlights under the solo production moniker Hot Toddy, and has just released the rather stunning Late Night Boogie LP on Om offshoot Smoke ‘n’ Mirrors. The album touches on elements of disco, boogie, jazz and funk, and contains a couple of collaborations with Crazy P singer Danielle Moore, as well as the hitherto unknown vocal talents of theatre actress Jennifer Rhonwen. His Juno Plus featured chart for September features a mix of slow jams, cheeky edits and downright dancefloor gems.
by Juno Plus on 17.09.2010 at 09:55am
Next in line to walk the Juno Plus featured chart tightrope is Italian producer Munk, aka Mathias Modica. The Gomma co-founder has been floating around the electro, disco and house scenes for nigh on a decade now, with his Munich-based imprint (co-run with Jonas Imbery) paying scant attention to trends, instead focusing on simply putting out nice music. Modica recently announced a new EP was on the way, entitled Mondo Vagabondo, following on from the recent La Musica 12″ which came replete with remixes from Azari & III, Tiago and Audiojack. Read on for some more Munk-y magic from our favourite Disco Clown.
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by Juno Plus on 09.09.2010 at 11:09am
One half of Glaswegian DJing behemoth Optimo, JD Twitch is a man revered for his eclectic track selection and creative mixing. Having retired their legendary weekly Sunday shindig at Glasgow’s Sub Club in April (after 12 and a half years you can’t blame them for wanting a change), the duo went ahead and released one of the best Fabric mixes in recent memory. They’ve also kept up appearances on the DJing front, including a recent slot at the famed Sunday Best party in NYC, during which they dropped their namesake track by Liquid Liquid whilst Sal P (the Liquids’ frontman) happened to be dancing right next to the DJ booth. He was handed the mic and this was the result. Juno Plus touched base with Twitch this week and poked our noses in his record bag, and discovered a heady mix of funk, disco, cumbia, acid, minimal house and vintage 808 mastery. Enjoy…
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by Juno Plus on 01.09.2010 at 12:03pm
About 15 seconds into the Kruse and Nϋrnberg remix of Motorcitysoul’s “Deliver Me”, a kickdrum hits that elicits an unexpected “phwoar” from anyone who hears it on a decent soundsystem. It’s deliciously crisp and heavy, and showcases how the Hamburg production duo walk the line between deep and tech house with aplomb: bouncy enough the keep shoes shuffling but deep enough to keep the heads nodding. Already with a healthy slew of releases on labels like Moodmusic, Time Has Changed and Will Saul’s Simple Records, the pair have made serious strides in just three years as a duo. We caught up with them to find out what was in their record bags this month…
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by Juno Plus on 18.08.2010 at 12:50pm
It’s hard to believe Keith Worthy is still a relative newcomer to the production game – his first release dropped in 2005 and he started his own Aesthetic Audio imprint a year later – simply because his sound is dripping with the soul, polish and deepness of a Motor City veteran. Indeed Worthy is continuing Detroit’s proud tradition of emotive house music, but also pursuing his own unique musical path, and we were delighted to touch base with him to talk about what’s in his record bag this month…
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by Juno Plus on 26.07.2010 at 11:34am
He probably won’t like us calling him this, but Ralph Lawson now qualifies as one of the elder statesmen of the UK electronic music scene. He has held court at legendary Leeds party Back To Basics for 17 years (indeed he spun the first record at the night), so it’s safe to say he knows his disco and house onions better than most. The 20:20Vision imprint, which Ralph launched with Carl Finlow in the mid nineties, is rightly regarded as one of the most important dance imprints of this generation, and he also tours the world as part of the 20:20Soundsystem – essentially the all star 20:20Vision team – who have been responsible for closing proceedings at many a Saturday night at Sonar. Thus we considered ourselves quite lucky to nab him for a moment and find out his top tunes of the month…
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by Juno Plus on 16.07.2010 at 14:52pm
DJ Stingray is Sherard Ingram, one of the Detroit music scene’s mainstays for the past quarter of a century. He is a member of Urban Tribe (along with Kenny Dixon Jr, Carl Craig and Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir), whose legendary 1998 album The Collapse Of Modern Culture is now regarded as a defining moment for Detroit techno. Some twelve years later all four are back in different shapes and forms on Program 1 – 12. Deep house, abstract techno, energetic disco, warm downtempo and even shades of dubstep are explored with a touch of real class. We are delighted to present this featured chart from Stingray, which contains a mix of electro (a mainstay in his DJs sets), techno and dubstep. Or, in the words of Ingram himself: “tools for use in the war against the undead.”
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by Juno Plus on 12.07.2010 at 15:14pm
Brooklyn’s party starter Drop The Lime is the latest producer to step up with a Juno Plus featured chart. Anyone who has seen Luca play one of his raucous DJ sets will be fully aware that this man knows how to work a crowd, so it was with some excitement that we peered into his collection of tunes to see what was turning on the Trouble & Bass chief this month…
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by Juno Plus on 07.07.2010 at 12:35pm
Efdemin (aka Phillip Sollmann) made a stunning return to the production fold this year with his Chicago LP, the follow up his eponymous 2007 debut. Released on the generally excellent Hamburg imprint Dial, it was a fine exploration of jazz, minimalism, deep house, and, erm, Bart Simpson samples. We caught up with the German producer to find out what was in his record bag this month, and were highly impressed with what we found. Actress, Moodymann, Jus-Ed and more feature…
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by Juno Plus on 18.06.2010 at 15:38pm
My Cousin Roy aka Roy Dank has been overseeing the rise of Wurst since 2006. Originally an imprint that stood for some classy re/edits of obscure late 70s/early 80s disco and electronica from the likes of Runaway, Eamon Harkin, and Dank himself, Wurst themselves which got support across the board with everyone from Carl Craig to Erol Alkan dropping some prime Wurst in their sets.
The imprint chamged direction in 2009, resurfacing as The Wurst Music Co. and focusing instead on original material with releases to date from Brennan Green, Reade Truth and The Neurotic Drum Band. This week sees the latest Wurst release drop in the form of the splendid ‘It’s Now’ from Great Weekend, so to celebrate we coaxed a current top ten out of Mr Roy Dank.
by Juno Plus on 14.06.2010 at 14:50pm
With his native country absent from this year’s World Cup, Croatian disco jock Ilija Rudman has wisely used the time that would have otherwise been spent propped up in front of the TV to prepare this superb Juno Plus featured chart. From the porno vibe of Dub Versions “Boogieeasy” to the dark and dubby feel of the Beautiful Swimmers’ “Oh Yea”, there are some hidden gems lodged in Ilija’s scrupulous selection. Enjoy…
by Juno Plus on 13.05.2010 at 15:17pm
Alex Ridha AKA Boys Noize burst onto the scene in 2007 with his storming debut Oi Oi Oi. Lumped in with the electro acts of the same vintage (Digitalism, Justice et al), he has since gone onto to pursue his own path – first by starting his own imprint, and then releasing an excellent (and noticeably evolved) second album in 2009, Power.
Considering that we have just posted a featured chart from Alex’s bestie Erol Alkan (the two of whom form the occassional musical ménage à trois with Canadian ivory tinkler Chilly Gonzales), we simply had to ask his partner in crime too…
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SECURE SHOPPING
