So I think I’ve pretty much only just recovered from partying last weekend to likes of Fake Blood, A-trak, Redlight, Mele, Herve, Sinden, Katy B and many more at the Count and Sinden album launch and I now feel fit to bless all you readers with some more music. First up is a recent remix package of Kode9′s track You Dont Wash featuring The Spaceape, which was a big hit on Kode 9′s DJ Kicks mix. I honestly couldn’t think of two better producers to remix this track and Kode9 gets it spot on, bringing in the incredibly talented Martyn and Actress to rework the tune, who are both respectably killing it at the moment. Actress released an album on Honest Jon Records a couple of months back, which was received to critical acclaim and Martyn has been working on producing remixes for the likes of Tiga and co. Not bad at all! Back on the topic of the EP, Actress goes all funky on us, working those whistles and marimbas into a nice little club joint, whilst Martyn goes all moody on us, taking influences from the detroit house scene and creating a solid groover with a great bassline. Now this has been out since last Monday, so you guys might have already come across it but I couldn’t not do a write up about it just in case you did miss it, so here you go. If you like what you hear, go and buy the tracks here!
Slowly but surely, I am starting to get over my irrational fear for remix albums. Perhaps it’s that remix album phase that a lot of indie bands went through around 2007 that scarred me (Yes Bloc Party, I am looking at you), or maybe it’s a slight anxiousness somewhere that my favourite albums are about to be tainted by a set of awful remixes. But things are turning around slowly in my mind as the last few remix albums that have crossed my path have been more than enjoyable and are healing those unnecessary wounds from the past.
I have a handful of albums that I can listen to anyplace and anytime, and Exile’sRadio is definitely one of them. It can calm me down and bring me back to safe and familiar feelings, something that certain hip-hop instrumentals can always do in times of need. When I first heard that it was getting a remix collection album in the form of AM/FM, my familiar feeling of anxiousness came back to haunt me and even Radio itself couldn’t calm those feelings down.
Weeks later, here I am, a whole seven listens to the album later and still in its reign. AM/FM has an amazing cohesion to it that wouldn’t usually make sense on a remix album, but works perfectly here. It’s hard to even recommend certain standouts here, but relative highlights are the two Population Control remixes done by Samiyam and Free The Robots. Samiyam has always been stuck in my mind as grossly talented and his last 12” on Hyperdub was nothing short of brilliant. Free The Robots were unfamiliar to my ears and so far it sounds like that was a mistake on my part. More gems are the ethereal P.U.D.G.E. remix of So We Can Move and the soothing vocally enriched version of Stay Tuned entitled Stay Here, with vocals provided by Muhsinah. By the by, there are fifteen remixes that didn’t make the cut but are up for download for free here. All in all, I have been gloriously taken aback by this remix album and I think it’s safe to say that my irrational fear for remix albums has been eradicated by AM/FM. If this one won’t do it, nothing will.
After remixing the likes of Turzi and Marina and the Diamonds, Hampshire-based musician Adam A. Crisp A.K.A. Entrepeneurs has now released his first EP Uv Been Robbed (Joking, But Not)through newfound label Stella Mortos. His productions sound as if late Nujabes got his hands on a distorted synth-pop record and worked his magic on it, funking & crunking up the record. Sometimes Entrepreneurs makes dead appealing mash-ups too. A sidenote and nice fact is that Mr Crisp is probably a familiar face to some of you, for he used to be the front man of “Swearing-is-for-art-students-and-Juliette’s-dead-meanwhile-in-Hollywood” Elle Milano. After a silence of two years he’s finally returned now with this solo-project and sometimes produces for, and plays in the live band of fellow North Hants artist FOE. We have an original track off the EP for you called Revenge Platter which is an absolute diamond of a track. Happy yet threatening, smooth but raw – it comes with catchy as perdition vocals to0. Then there’s two remixes off tracks of his EP as well – a dreamy one by Masks for the track Hunting Roger Rabbit and one for Six Severed Hates that’s a bit more psychedelic, remixed by Brooklyn beauty Laurel Halo. For more Entrepreneurs, feel free to visit his Soundcloud where you can stream the entire EP and listen to aforementioned remixes, saxual eruptions and even more mash-ups. We did a Q&A with the man, too. It’s Entrepeneurs’ Zeit!
Q: Hello Entrepreneurs, who are you and how do you feel? A: Hello readers, I am Entrepreneurs, and I feel fine.
Q: Who are you and what do you do? A: I am a strict vegetarian, but I grow carnivorous plants. I have one called Clive. He was meant to be a Venus Fly Trap, but I think I’ve been had; he looks more like a stinging nettle. I’m also a keen collector of electronics with wood paneling. Can’t get enough. You can mount your plastic piece of shit televisions on your walls all day long, mine’s in the corner in cased in six foot of gloriously stained mdf.
Q: What’s the story behind your name? A: Entrepreneurs has quite a few different implications to me. And it’s changed over time. Originally it was just a dig at musicians who take business studies courses. You can assume nine out of ten things I come up with are tongue-in-cheek.
Q: How did your taste in music evolve overtime? A: Hmm, I have a lot early memories of The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac. Michael Jackson: Dangerous was the first CD I owned. Always been a big Michael Jackson fan, Bad’s my personal favourite. My taste never really changes, it just expands, a little bit like the universe you might say. I still love all the music of my teens; Nirvana, Radiohead, Mogwai, but I try and soak up as much diversity as I can. There‘s usually good and bad in all areas of music with the exception of ska-punk. The last couple of years my hip-hop consumption has gone through the roof. I’m also well into the tango works of Ástor Piazzolla, he’s a badman.
Q: Do you have any strange producing habits or rituals? A: It depends on the track, and what I feel like experimenting with at the time. To an extent I use remixes as guinea pigs for production ideas etc. Otherwise it’d be seriously boring. There’s something I find quite amusing about taking someone’s hard work and completely destroying it. Deleting tracks left, right and centre, and putting some ridiculous chord progression where it shouldn’t be.
Q: Who would you like to see remixing your stuff? A: RZA, King Tubby, Frank Zappa and Phil Spector. I hope being dead isn’t a problem? They could have their pick of anything. Not that I’d like it.
Q: What are your plans for the future? A: Smoke crack, get bitches. ♦
This blog is currently taken care of by a crew of five writers. Immy, Sin (Amsterdam), Sel (London), Riccardo (Brighton) and Luke (Edinburgh) are mainly interested in (electronic) music, heart breakers and the galaxy. Promoters, artists, lovers, potential writers and everyone else drop us an e-mail with your proposal and we will soonly get back to you. To get more info on who we are and what we do head over to this page.
Contact: drop us a quick message at info at truantsblog.com or see here if you have a message to a Truant in particular.
TRUANTS run an ongoing project named THE TRUANCY VOLUMES; this is a little mixtape project where we get in touch with both upcoming and settled artists whom we love to make an exclusive mix for our readers. An overview of the previous Truancy Volumes and some names of upcoming artists can be found here. ♦
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