Ramon Tapia is somethin’ else. His name reminds me of my favorite white (often blackened) fish, and his dry, buoyant, percussion-driven sound reminds me of a paradisiacal alternate universe. You’ll probably see what I mean when you check out his new EP, “Trolley / The Ride,” out now on Skint Records.
Here’s the release announcement from Skint and the streamable EP below:
Ramon Tapia is on the up. With releases on huge labels such as Craft, Great Stuff, Strictly Rhythm and 100% Pure in the last few years, he is turning himself into one of the leading new breed of house producers. We at Skint, are pleased to announce that we have our first release with him which is certain to get the party started as it aims directly at the dance floor.
‘Trolley / The Ride’ are 2 tech infused house tunes layered with percussion and deep driving baselines that would work too well for the peak time hours. Ramon’s productions skills are on fire at the moment that showcase in the support gained from big names over the Miami period.
As a rainstorm nears the city of San Francisco, the best thing to do to enhance your weekend is to throw on Worthy’s new EP, out on his own digital imprint Anabatic Records. The “So Sunkin” EP is rain music at its best.
For tonight, designate “Brill” as the soundtrack for your soirée. “Brill” drives home the import of Worthy’s three favorite words: West Coast Bass. A creepy but playful descending ladder riff and an ambiguous but soothing vox loop guide us smoothly towards the unveiling of a minimalistic – and of course super gangsta – “future house”/tech beat.
Meanwhile, “So Sunkin” is best for tomorrow morning. Existing in a sonic environment akin to that of “Brill,” “So Sunkin” confronts us with an undeniably sweeter side of bass music… a hopeful nostalgia that’ll guarantee you a calm morning wakefulness.
Join Worthy and Anabatic Records on Facebook and catch him live at Mezzanine on May 10th with Claude Vonstroke, Justin Martin, Julio Bashmore, French Fries, Eats Everything, J. Phlip, Catz & Dogz and Leroy Peppers.
So I just discovered this cat Benson who’s doing some great things all the way across the globe. His latest remix is some super prime wonky tech house. Check it!
Insomniac is hosting a shit ton of mid-size concerts in Hollywood through the end of the year, including Cosmic Gate, Axwell, Boys Noize, Porter Robinson, Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso, Borgore, and Nero, but the greatest one of them will be Loco Dice & Victor Calderone at the Music Box on December 17th, due to the excruciating perfection and straight forwardness of their dirty ass minimal and tech-house beats.
This remix by Loco Dice came out in July and it’s definitely one you would want to hear live. Skip to 2:00 where it starts getting funky. Or perhaps if you’re a true fan, you’ll just wait it out….
Also check out the Victor Calderone and Mike Frade remix of “Break It.” It’s got a super hard, jacked-up beat surrounded by some beautiful vocal samples both in the foreground and in the background.
You can visit the official event page and/or ticket link to move forward towards the possibility of joining me at this dope event.
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.
An evil mastermind of grimey tech-house, the Bay Area’s own Dirt-Nap would like to offer up his latest mixtape in exchange for your soul. Dirt-Nap’s “Dapper Slappers” runs on a hyphy motif while seamlessly grinding through the sickest bouncy-gangsta tech grooves. Check it out for yourself!!!
