Blog: Ian Random

'The One' Southern Fried records artist Trabant makes some of the weirdest electro pop this writer has ever heard. When I hear that an artist is from Iceland my mind automatically switches to cutesy Bjork hello - kittified thoughts. In the case of Trabant instead you get a rear naked choke out with a side of mexican wrestler bitchslap. The writeup from their myspace is pure class and perfectly summarizes my thinking. Check it out. [...]

Estaw Breaks It Down Estaw has a hip hop electro flavour that is hard to define. Kinda Ninja Tune'ish at times with a dash of Mo Wax. The 'Break It Down' EP is pure crunk hop gone vocally mad. Not as mad as Akufen or Prefuse 73 but not far off. Here at VR however we get the usual - a dope ass remix by someone we all love. In this case we have two. We have a remix [...]

Ring Around The Roadsy It's been kind of a slow day musically so I figured I would post some more of an earlier EP that I dropped from Underworld . I first gave you the Laidback Luke remix which was a damn sight better than the sometimes annoying vocals from Underworld. I like and dislike the vocals and they are usually way better off being remixed. Unless of course we are talking about a live show. In that setting they kill it always - but for me [...]

Sunday Super Post So many things to post in a week and so little time as usual. The wrap up has a bit of stuff for everyone here today so enjoy. Klaus 'Heavyweight' Hill and Dopamine released this 'Rematch PT 2' on their label Title Fight records This time around we get to see how General Midi and Elite Force get down. 'Ah Baby' was a classic in it own right but when Lot 49 shows up to edit I get [...]

Unload La Mode Back in January I posted La Mode 's remix of "Magnets" by Digitalism. Today I found a pleasant surprise in our inbox from the La Mode crew which has to be heard. Their first single will be coming out soon on 7" with "Lost in Paris" with remixes by EDU K and The Shoes. Now, since there are so many other tough acts [...]

Jokers Of The Scene are 1st Klaas We have a mixtape for you today again from my favs No Love Lost Records . This time out its the Jokers Of The Scene from Ottawa. After having been signed to Fools Gold , J.O.T.S. have been on tour constantly and are accompanied by the proverbial who's who of hipster electro. Some points of note regarding the mix- 'Baggy Bottom Boys' - is the new one from the Ottawa duo - and 'Fly Or Bounce' by Destroy Disco [...]

Ratatat Sneak Peek Today we have a sneak peek of some Ratatat for you all. The NY electro duo made magic and I can't sit on this album any longer - I need to share it. Simply titled 'LP3' will be released July 8th but as usual we are in the loop and I am gonna share some of the standouts with the VR faithful. Enjoy. We have the tracks 'Falcon Jab' 'Mirando' and 'Mumtaz Khan'. Ratatat - Falcon Jab [...]

AYUMI vs MSTRKRFT The one thing that can cure me from the anticipation of waiting on MSTKRFT 's new album is a good remix. After having just put up a nice edit of Ayumi from Para One of Institubes its great to see the dynamic duo from Canada get in on the game. Ayumi Hamasaki - Beautiful Fighters(MSTRKRFT remix) An oldie in blog terms at a 2 months old this Edu K ep featured ex-front-woman for Bondo De Role. Just as [...]

Rice and Beans + Elite Force Rice and Beans is a cool store from Toulouse, France. The other day our French friends sent us a sweet mix that was made to play in their store. I love the gear that they are rockin and I have a feeling that an online purchase may be in order sooner than later. They also mentioned this mix was done the old fashioned way without the usual digital tampering. Just the hands on the decks and choice selections. Rice and Beans Mix [...]

6 Pack First up today is this all Italian affair Supabeatz getting Bloodied up by the Beetroots . They have released tons of tracks recently and have no plans of slowing down it seems. This EP came out in February but man o man it has been kicking my ass to pieces. En Masse drops a bloody beetdown which takes the 'Sexo Perfecto' way beyond the simple remix. En Masse is yet another artist that has no limits and is willing to destroy something [...]