Blog: Acid Ted

It's a month since my last Max Cooper post, so I think I'm allowed another. This time a remix for The Slow Revolt. It's more of that Orbital meets David Gray vibe. A rich voice set against clicky but melodic IDM. A one note organ synth, some strings and contemplating the vastness of existence. This follows Max's remix of This Dark Matter Blurb:  The Slow Revolt is a great musician, with a great voice, so it was a pleasure to remix this track of [...]

As you would expect, this EP from D Numbers' Brian Mayhall is an eclectic collection of tracks that defy categorisation. No bad thing. Opener 'Insects' is a sparse affair, a combo of mournful melodica, whispered voices, staccato beats and bass that gradually gather pace but remain largely subdued. In contrast, 'Wind Chill' has a jazzy feel, the scat singing augmented by some nifty keyboard work and housey beats, whilst retaining the exiguous feel of the previous track. A reverberating synth ripples through the lovely 'Aint Sunshine', handclaps, snatched vocals and a gently throbbing [...]

Just over nine minutes of pure, unadulterated, pounding techno on the new release by Ben Atha. Sweet. This is a real heads down, eyes shut, pumping powerhouse of a   track, shot through with echoes of the classic 'Access' from way back when. Opening with a pounding, industrial beat that eschews any ambiguity about where it may be heading, the intensity simply increases by the minute as a ricocheting synth   kicks in, reverberating away nicely, before some razor sharp, high hat cymbals get added to the fray. [...]

Synth pop duo PoP Campaign are back with a new single, out next month. After the unashamedly political stuff like Maggie's Farmers , this cute little instrumental synth pop number with its early 80s synth new wave style is a lovely little minx. Blurb:  PoP Campaign are a duo of music makers: Born in Glasgow. Hibernated in Berlin. Now lording it in Londres. Our POPAGANDA: Bright, right and ready for the fight against the pretentious self-importance that plagues the music industry today. Buy our debut album here: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0 06W…46674&sr=8-1 [...]

Here's a rather fine mixtape for free download by Leeds-based Wolf Cub from the Transmission Collective. There's lots of light house and disco house. Astral Plane reference Frankie Knuckles and Marshall Jefferson in their review of the mix and that feels fair enough. Tracklist Alice Coltrane - Sivaya Olsen - Computer Blue Wolf Cub - Untitled 2 Terekke - Pf Pf Pass Marvin Dash - Workshop 14 Skatebård - Confirmation Bias (Telephones Remix) Motor City Drum Ensemble - Send A Prayer Pt.2 Chez Damier - Teach Me, [...]

This is bass music. But it's good. And it's a free download. Never heard of Neuropol before. He's from Bristol (Brizzle) and this is a combination of Burial-type dubstep and breaks beats. A little bit of chip to throw into the mix and job's a goodun. http://www.facebook.com/neurop ol

Been six months since we had anything from Jack Deezl. Looks like he's been making an album - Disillusion comes out in August. In the meantime, here's the first single. Jack's work is a bugger to classify. My descriptions always end up dribbling away or incoherent. Let's see which path I'm going down today. Jack describes this as " a pretty wild glitch hop track featuring loads of live instruments " Ummm... yeah... errr... no. In many ways, this is an instrumental rock track. It has the quiet/loud thing going, like the Pixies remixed by the [...]

Funky glitch tune for free download.  LabRat is Travis Egner-Williams from Santa Cruz, United States. His tunes all too often have that distorted electro / dubstep sound but this tune is much more palatable. This has a brilliant loose-limbed funky charm, with just a little glitching to keep it interesting. Nice one.  And, he's a new Strange Nights EP out next month:

OK. Finally, a Daft Punk track I can get to grips with. This Housemeister edit of Giorgio By Moroder gives us a proper synth attack and a proper dance floor track. There's nothing radically new or different but it is fun. Free download. Blurb: I MADE A NEW EDIT FROM DAFT PUNK´S "GIORGIO BY MORODER" I NEEDED A VERSION TO PLAY ON THE DANCEFLOOR. SO I ADDED A KICK, SOME HIHATS AND SNARES, A SMALL MELODY AND AN ACIDLINE. PLUS I REARRANGED IT IN MY WAY. HOPE YOU LIKE IT! THANXX FOR COMMENTS, LIKES AND SHARINGS. DOWNLOAD THE MASTERED 320 KBIT MP3 ENJOY! [...]

Japanese DJ, Takuya Kashiwada, is back with the second set of remixes from his Wear The God, Execute It album. After the Red Pt 1, we have Pt. 2 Yellow. More quality techno mixing. Out at the start of next month. Free mix to download. With eight remixes in the package there's almost too much to choose from. But since we started with a Syphon remix last time , let's do so again. This remix, of World End Thoughts Will Come To An End , also takes a while to get going. It starts in [...]

After his debut release with J Edgard, Ian Place is back with a late night house track for free download. Should Have Known doesn't follow the tech house path of some of Ian's tunes but heads for a warmer deep house sound, with late night vibes. It's the rhodes chords that give it that snuggled up under the duvet feeling. Lovely.

Here's an epic track from the Antime label compilation that's defined as synthtec. Midimum is label boss Martin Steer and Junk Beach is  an odd beast. It merges big synth sounds with a tech house dryness and a little psychedelia. There's nothing shy or bashful about the track, it wants to be big and all encompassing. Succeeds. There's also a Last Minute version of the track, which halves the length and includes vocals. Makes more of the beach techno and psychedelic nature of the track but something gets lost in translation. Stick to the original. [...]

Recipe for Shake The Devil (free download) Ingredients: 1 cup Rolling Stones 1/2 cup Jim Morrison 1/2 cup Chemical Brothers 1 stick Motorhead Mix ingredients together in blender. Serve over rocks. https://www.facebook.com/KevLa Kat

I had rather decided not to have any more remixes of the new Daft Punk album, after listening to a few tracks with an increasingly glum feeling. But since Poj Masta encouraged me to stick with it here are two more goes to see if they crack a smile on my otherwise po-faced appearance. Free download. The Golden Pony take on Doin' It Right . They amp up the synths and make it... bigger and shinier. It's fine, and after a few drinks it will have a singalong charm, but sober with coffee it still [...]

Something downtempo for late nights. A track from the Sleepdancing remixes by Ragz Nordset.  Ron Basejam (Jim Baron/Crazy P) take You Started It All it to a sunset dub, infused with just a touch of acid. Whole EP here: Blurb: Ron Basejam (Jim Baron / Crazy P) works the original into something more suited for the late night dancer floor... Mashing up the vox and adding complex percussion this will work the floors for those that know. Available from iTunes -  bit.ly/NUNS003R_iTunes

A track with that sort of sleeve and entitled House Is The Light is trying a bit too hard to be anthemic for the summer. In fact, the main mixes are nowhere near as cheesy as you might expect. But the only one that manages to balance out the wide-eyed   I-was-there vocal with a cooler restrained tune is this Niko F & Mirko Paoloni remix. It goes for a tech house approach, leavened by some lovely old skool organ stabs alongside the vocal. Gives a tune for those who feel the need to say " Where were [...]

I've had a lingering affection for Colin Dale ever since his Outer Limits show on Kiss FM back in the early '902s, which featured a glorious mix of techno and experimental electronica that consistently surprised and delighted. This EP, released on the new Abstrakt Dance label named after that show,  kicks off with the punchy, funky 'Please Stand By,' the robotic refrain of the title underpinned by an addictive riff that had me head-nodding furiously in parallel. An hypnotic, swirling synth break elevates 'The Lord,' with its tech-house interpretation of divine invocation, into [...]

It's been a while since we had anything that's unashamedly synth-based. Here's Detroit's Android Automatic back to remedy that failing. Free download. Neon Waves is such an 80s synth name. And the tune doesn't disappoint. Proper 80s synthy nu disco, but without sounding old. Break out the Miami Vice box set D, I'm coming in with my sleeves rolled up.

Here's something different for a Sunday. A really interesting, epic yet downtempo deep house tune, with sampled vocals from novelist and extreme free market supporter Ayn Rand. To counterbalance that, here's the Corporate Responsibility mix, which takes a more tech house approach It's getting a proper release on Trojan House Records: Blurb: American Greed  is  Trojan House Records'  first release by rising Canadian producer  Dustin Nantais . The track is a melodic exploration of the deeper side of house. Its oscillating trumpet captivates you whilst  chords float majestically  over [...]

London's Peh Per Ghost is back with another spacey ambient track. Free download. We last had a track from Hackney's Peh Per Ghost at the turn of the year . His tunes are morphing from a downtempo digital R&B into IDM and now it's all about the things that aren't there. This tune is sparse and fragile, like seeing briefly your breath on a cold day. There is a mixture of bassy and trebly inhalations and the merest tune. But the overall effect is poignant and more than a little shiveringly mournful. [...]