Recently I took a journey from my town of adelaide and travelled to melbourne where I had the pleasure of meeting up with young gun producer ‘Kraymer‘. After his massive release with Will Bailey’s Simma records which had support and tune spinning from the likes of Mightyfools, he now drops another monster couple of records with ‘Vicious Bitch’, the sister label to Vicious.
The EP drops with big remixes from Sick Nifty, Tigre Hoods, Will Bailey and Jay Robinson while spanning genre’s of drum step, moombahton, bass line and acid house. Now as if that wasn’t enough, the release is completed with a nice little techno tune which seems a form of experimentation from Kraymer’s signiture bass line sound.
Currently in the midst of moving cities to Sydney, the future looks bright for this Australian producer, so be sure to keep an eye on him!
1. Ragnar Grippe – Ten Temperaments: 2
2. Ike – Ribbons
3. DJ Hell & Anthony Rother – German Bodymachine
4. 11:11 – Tourist Trap (Renaissance Man remix)
5. Unique 3 – Weight For The Bass (3 Ton Edit)
6. Michna – Redline Flights
7. Tevo Howard – Spend Some Time (Underground mix)
8. Martyn – Masks
9. The Swiss – Double Or Nothing (Renaissance Man Remix)
10. 5 Mic Cluster – Basildon Lover
11. Aquarius Heaven – Universe
12. Renaissance Man – Stalker Humanoid
13. Dexter – Space Booty
14. Instra:mental – User
15. The Other People Place – Let Me Be Me
It seems as though any sound is up for grabs in Renaissance Man’s studio. The Finnish duo sampled spraycans on their 2009 debut through Dubsided; used scat singers and (synthesized) insects on Made to Play; and chopped-up religious chants via Sound Pellegrino. Their forthcoming album, The Renaissance Man Project, runs even further with this approach. Ticking clocks, ping-pong balls, fireworks and sitars are just a few of the overt sonic sources, although many of the tear-out inclinations of Downtown and Jaxxon’s previous releases have been scrubbed from the palette, leaving behind an air of experimentation and genre explorations.
The album might not be suffused with the kind of classic electro flavours present throughout RA.273, but that just serves to illustrate the breadth of Renaissance Man’s purview these days.
What have you been up to recently?
Finishing an album, making another album, enjoying the perks of global warming in Helsinki, preparing our first live show, making a video, writing a book.
How and where was the mix recorded?
Live on a Sunday morning on a rusty container ship hosting a 72-hour fetish party, sailing in the extra-legal international waters of the Baltic Sea. Or on Ableton Live in Ville’s flat in Berlin. One can believe either of the stories but the first-mentioned provides a better mental setting for its full appreciation.
Can you tell us about the idea behind the mix?
It’s a concept-free representation of what we are playing out at the moment; a healthy dose of different styles, old and new.
Where are you at musically at the moment? There seems to a strong
(proper) electro current running through the mix.
True. Lately we have found ourselves digging, playing and rediscovering a lot of electro-ish stuff. Growing up in the Finnish electronic music scene one could not avoid the influence of artists such as Mr. Velcro Fastener, Mono Junk, ImatranVoima, Helsinki Bass Machine (who is, by the way, featuring under a different name on our upcoming album) and their likes. Not to speak of the DJ’ing of K-X-P’s KaukoLampi or the legendary Helsinki Turbo parties. So it’s in our blood but perhaps a bit more explicit than earlier.
What was behind your decision to leave Helsinki?
Well only half of RM (Ville) left Helsinki more permanently. It’s the usual story, being a music producer, moving to Berlin. Helsinki is a small city and Finland a small country relatively far away from the rest of the European “scene.” It still has great events (like Flow Festival) and a few nice clubs, but we find ourselves playing mainly elsewhere.
What are you up to next?
Touring both DJ’ing and with our live show. Ville is also working on a new musical project, Millennium, with City Slang artist Norman Palm and on a mysterious project called Madgermany with writer Ingo Niermann. Martti’s book Solution Finland: The Welfare Game will be out in the fall on Sternberg Press. We are also working on a literary compendium to the album with the London-based design collective Åbäke. And of course, new Renaissance Man material is already in the works.
Whats crackinatin? Slurped up a nice selection of ear porn for you this weekend. Will start off with a free bootleg from my boy Sean Taylor. He jacked the bass proper, but kept many of the original parts to maintain some of that funky Calabria groove. Git it git it!
Sean Taylor – Calabria Bootleg [Download available]
Marco Lys – Go (Nom De Strip & LA Riots remix) [Preview snippet]
Nils Ohrmann -Hoopin (Oliver $ Remix)
Kid Robot – Freaky Work (Original Mix) [Preview snippet]
AC Slater & Xaphoon Jones – Believe Me (Botnek Remix)
Rednek – Game Over (Calvertron Remix) [Preview snippet]
Surecut Kids, Cheasleauen – Drunk In This (TJR Vox Remix) [Preview snippet]
Huge release dropped on Crux recently. Blatta & Inesha take their sound to a new Techno, which is supplemented by their mastery of the electro boom. Side A’s “My Lady Don’t Mind” is future Techno / Disco on acid with the usual dose of B&I humor! Side B’s “Daddy’s Home” is a super combo from the sicilian electro dons, including their olive-loving brother, Doc Trashz.
On remix duty is a special bunch of amazing talent. Veteran Crux artist, Modek displays his unique badass electro from belgium, while Tomorrow’s superstars, 2 Guys in Venice, drop an experimental percussive house version straight from the floating city. And from one of the last mediterranean countries not engulfed in flames, we have Gooseflesh’s bomb of electro house with an exotic Turkish touch.
As a little bonus track B&I step it down a notch with an electro hip hop rave number. Bringing back his roots as a world famous scratch DJ, Inesha called upon his brother of the turntables..the mighty Tayone to collaborate on this little gem.
Accompanying this bang-tastic release is a free exclusive mixtape by B&I. Heavy heavy heavy.
“My Lady Don’t Mind EP” mixtape tracklisting:
1. My Lady Don’t Mind – B&I
2. Opposit of Love – Autokratz – Le Petit Pilous Remix <--BOOM.
3. Basso Grasso - B&I
4. Daddy's Home - B&I feat Doc Trashz
5. This Is Not A Love Song - Mercurius FM Hard Remix
6. Time To Change Part 2 - Keith & Supabeatz Remix
7. My Lady Don't Mind - B&I - Modek Remix
8. Walk & Talk - B&I ft. Tayone
I’m always looking for that straight-up funky-ass no-bullshit jackin’ wonk groove… And it’s not always easy to find just what I’m looking for, but recently I was graced with a forwarded email from Klangekstase Records and was way too happy with the outcome. The email regarded Campbell’s new EP “Check It,” which came out early last month. All three of the original tracks on the EP (“Check It,” “Make It Bump,” and “Slush Puppy”) fulfill exactly what I’m talking about. When I listen to or even just think about these tracks, my mind becomes too boggled with excitement and fixation to even speak. And yet here I am trying to do so. The words that I can come up with to give you a picture of Campbell’s bouncy, bangin’ productions are: delicately juicy percussion textures; a REALLY fresh-sounding bass synth; long exhilarating breakdowns; very well-chosen samples such as those in “Slush Puppy” that are from the Beastie Boys’ “Body Movin’.”
The remixers on the Check It EP all deliver fun, crafty work as well. I’d like to point you towards Whack Flava’s “Check It” remix in particular.
What’s hotter than hot???
You guessed it… Breakdown.
The Breakdown boys are coming at you with a new mixtape to mark the spring equinox.
“With 2011 well under way, Breakdown’s latest mix is here. This thing is packed with a scorching hot track list and will burn the hairs right out of your ears. Lets hope the fire marshal doesn’t get wind of this thing too quick, cause you know he wouldn’t be happy about this fire!!”
I gave it a listen myself and there is definitely some gnarliness going on in there. Starts out with some feel-good disco-electro, explores some darker, hell-raising wobbles by 6 minutes, and by 16:00 it’s just pure sex, and there’s no going back.
