Now entering center stage is Chubby Dubz aka Oliver $ and Gene Siewing.

After a chart topping year in 2011, where Oliver $’s ‘Doin’ Ya Thang’ on Jesse Rose’s ‘Play It Down’ label was the No.1 charted track on Beatport in 2011 (plus it was the No.1 charted track of all time on Resident Advisor), Gene & Oliver approached loungin’ recordings as the home for their brand new Chubby Dubz album project.

Chubby Dubz background and origins combine all manors of influences, as Oliver is native to Germany and Gene to the US. With this chemistry comes a fusion of minds that produces great house music with enough musical soul to have real longevity whilst still keeping the dance floors moving in the best clubs throughout the world. With releases on labels such as Om Records, Appeal Music and Undertones their unique style of house is enjoying great success throughout the world as all the major heads in house music are revelling in deep house currently. The result of this is that the music of Chubby Dubz is being widely championed by everyone from Ricardo Vilalobos, Baby Ford to DJ Rolando and Doc Martin, to name a few.

The Album Sampler #1 is as the name suggests, the first teaser release of 4, from the self-titled Chubby Dubz album due out on loungin’ later this year. All the 12”s will feature full length versions of the album tracks crafted especially for the dancefloor, plus remixes by key players from the loungin’ fold and even some very special guests!

(Dear Soundcloud: This new HTML5 player is dope. Sincerely, Oh My!)

With the resurgence of deep house spreading across the globe, this release will be sure to hit the mark combining productions that one could be fooled into thinking came from the likes of Ron Trent or Chez Damier. To complete the package is an Art Bleek remix of the title track; Direct Experience, delivering a late night groover that will be sure to find favor with the headz.

Resident Advisor Podcast 273 – Renaissance Man by Renaissance Man

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

Excerpt & interview via Resident Advisor.

Electro and beyond by way of Finland.

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.