Wow is all I have to say. Great song, even greater video.

Can't wait until their album is released soon!

Kieran Hebden, aka. Four Tet makes beautiful music, hardly a contemporary observation I'm aware. His elegantly composed 'Sing' on his recent There Is Love In You album underpins his reputation as one of the most successively experimental producers in underground electronica- a superb amalgamation of quirky electronic sounds and ghostly mastered vocals. But then along came Floating Points who decided to make the whole thing epic and breathtaking. Their remix is undoubtedly the pick of the bunch on the new remixes EP for Sing, Any track almost 14 minutes long needs to have something to captivate even the most patient listeners, and this is utterly captivating. A weightless ambient opening builds for about 6 minutes before the whole thing comes together and becomes the stuff of electronic music fantasy. It's well and truly cemented in my brain right now, but it makes me feel remarkably good. I heard Craig Richards slip it in one of his Saturday night sets at fabric and it did something magical to Room One. I'll let the tune do the rest of the talking....

Four Tet - Sing (Floating Points Remix)

Since the last time we posted anything remotely along the lines of 'synth-poppy stuff' was, well, never, I thought it was about time to exercise said musical genre on this blog.

The next two are classically catchy and up beat in true electro pop style.  A new single from Martin and an old classic I dug out from our favourite Felix. Not this one.


Martin Solveig feat. Dragonette - Hello


Felix Da Housecat - Radio (Shinichi Osawa Remix)


This next one is an amazing use of sampling. Support from Erol so must be good.

Justin Martin & Ardalan - Mr. Spock


No prizes for guessing which Hip Hop track the samples are taken from.

I'll do a post soon on deep dark techno to balance out all this care-free poppy madness.

Fist or Finger Vol 1 - 'Beats In Space' - 4th Oct 2010 by jozif

Take bright techno newcomer Jozif and veteran fabric resident Craig Richards and the result isn't exactly obvious. However, if it's on Richards' new co-owned label Fist or Finger then it's devastatingly brilliant. Jozif's Beats In Space EP is unfortunately limited edition and only on vinyl, all the more unfortunate as the original is actually so good it's frightening, and it's remixed by Craig Richards (a rare production outing) on the B-side. Just have to hope I hear Richards drop it next time I hit EC1...

A much welcomed new release from our beloved French house duo, Cassius, who return with their latest EP, The Rawkers, on Ed Banger. Surprisingly I hadn't heard many particularly good things about it, but you just can't write off Cassius. Zdar & Boombass have assembled a glorious collection of six tunes which demonstrate their superiority when it comes to soulful French Touch, but this time there is undeniable licks of Ed Banger all over it, most noticeably in Brotherhood which has a much more daring electro flavour. I ♥ You So is much more classically Cassius; stylish house beats, emotive vocals and swashes of clean, crisp synths.

Cassius - I ♥ You So


Get hold of some French house masterclass at CoolCats now!

Imagine a planet where the only light source is multi-coloured lasers. Enough of them so that it seems like a dense forest of striking beams, with everyone dancing frenetically to the most cutting-edge electro-techno, commanded by the powerful king Tiga and among his disciples, Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, Zombie Nation and Proxy. That is what attending a Planet Turbo event is like. Tiga's Turbo Recordings label has now swept the globe in devastating style and to celebrate it's undoubted success they have released an EP showcasing some of the biggest tunes dropped during the tour. The pick of the bunch has to be Hey Today's Remix of Tiga's legendary You Gonna Want Me, which I fondly remember also being dropped by Erol at EXIT too. It's slightly Dutch, I'll confess but it's done in a ridiculously ravey way you can't help but love it.

Tiga - You Gonna Want Me (Hey Today! Remix)


You can pick up the full EP on Beatport now

I've been carefully assembling this Sorry I'm Minimal post for quite some time, investing plenty of time looking for purely new minimal stuff on my many daily downloading sessions. It's not that easy though, with most tunes labeled minimal actually are something more like tech house or just slightly barer techno, for which we have separate features for. The strategy I came up with was looking at the Label it's released on, which still has its limitations. Personally, I endeavour to find only the most hypnotic, trippy minimal techno possible, (the true essence of MNML) for which I try to select for this feature, but in the continuously evolving world of electronic music, the boundaries are always blurring.

Getting possibly the most controversial track out of the way first, Italoboyz' 9/96 is one of the most intense tunes doing the circuits of late. I've heard Ricardo spin it twice, so it's minimal enough for me.

Italoboyz - 9/96


Santos (Italy) - Primitive Cannible


Heartthrob - Setting Up


Luke Kosmas - Pornoise


And finally, this is just thought of stuff I wanted. Fragile, heady, trippy stuff that reminds me of Craig Richards' sets and nights not knowing where I am really....

Rocco Caine - Ejekt

Music moves so quickly it seems is impossible to keep up with all of it, especially when you have hundreds of different artists on hundreds of different record labels spanning several genres, each putting out new releases every week.

Anyway, here a some of my more recent favourites from the Tech House genre, which hasn't had a post in a while it seems.

This tune is on repeat at the moment, just love the cheeky little flute break.
Loko - Kixa


Brilliantly ambient redo:
Booka Shade - Teenage Spaceman (Booka in Space Mix)


And some more:

Tom Flynn - La Plassa


Westboy - Seduction (Audiojack Run Away Drums Mix)


Dirty Doering - I Would (Acid Pauli Remix)

Now I know the Now We Rave series are posted at sensible intervals, like at least 5 days or so generally, however on this particular occasion there is so much to post I feel I might as well get it all out the way now. There really is so much music being released it is proving quite difficult to find time to download it all, write about it, upload it whilst preparing ourselves for University.

That aint gonna stop us trying though!

Here a few awesome tunes that have found their way into my library recently, which as you will notice excludes the recent Boys Noize EP, which you can buy here.

Firstly the two most recent:

Gonzales - Never Stop (Erol Alkan Rework)

Finally released on digital! Been kept waiting for a long time on this one. Doesn't disappoint.

Xinobi - Japanese

The man responsible for creating some of the grooviest electro/disco house returns with a new EP, released last friday. This one feels slightly darker than previous releases, more Autumnal if you will. Pick up the EP here.

The next few are really good. That's all I feel like saying.

Bird Peterson - Zutopong (Ocelot Remix)


Hey! Today - Strange (Boris Dlugosch Remix)


Drop the Lime - Sex Sax (Tai Remix)


Tai has just released a new EP with Steve Aoki. It's madness.

I think I've inadvertently created a new regular feature- FABRIC WATCH. I think it's important that we keep an eye out on what's happening at EC1, not that we didn't beforehand....

Anyway, it's the moment we've been waiting for, fabric's birthday weekend line-up has been announced. Although the celebration for fabric's 11th year will unlikely be as monumental as their 10th, a date which yielded the very first ON & ON....& ON, it will certainly give it a run for it's money. The party commences on the Friday, with Fabriclive's dubstep and d 'n' b sessions, but the main attraction for us is as always the Saturday which will not cease for 30 hours, taking the 'night' into the afterhours of Monday morning.

The line-up does not disappoint. Despite the nay-sayers, we are blessed with Ricardo Villalobos commanding most likely all the rooms at various times throughout the event, highly exciting live sets from Âme and dOP, and sets from among others, Damian Lazarus, Ryan Crosson, Floating Points, Levon Vincent and Trus'Me. Lee Burridge will most likely team up with Craig Richards for some legendary TYRANT sessions too.

All in all it's going to be quite an event. Pretty much everyone is going at some point it seems, me and Chris will of course be right on the front-line for the best moments but in the meantime, here's a little taster of one of EDM's classics which I fully expect to hear...

Âme - Rej


Grab your tickets for the rave of the year at fabric's website. Tickets can be purchased for different times over the event, with wristbands provided for re-entry. A full weekend ticket is available for the bargain price of £22, even less if you're a fabricfirst member. See you there!

After three long years of studying and partying, I finally find myself at University. Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that fabric is now walking distance from where I live, but either way I'll now be exposed to even more great music in the great city of London. Chris makes his way to Bristol University in a couple of weeks where he expects a similar exposure...
Now We Rave... returns on this Sunday morning with some explosive Electro. Make sure these feature in your next party, they are already irritating my flatmates.

Don't Turn The Lights Out (Carte Blanche Remix) - Chromeo


Hands Up, Hands Down (Outer Space Bass Edit) - Massimo Massivi


Shutterbug (Jack Beats Remix) - Big Boi

The latest remix from the infamous Italian duo. They've been quite quiet recently, which for them is quite unusual.

Anyhoe I'm glad Sir Bob has taken a break from his side project with Steve Aoki to remix this little gem. Easily my favourite remix of Chemical Brother's latest album, and also one of the better BB releases of the year.

Light, ravey, electro-disco with a similar euphoria to Vitalic's 'Second Lives' and thier own 'Domino'.

Chemical Brothers - Dissolve (Bloody Beetroots Remix)

Simian Mobile Disco released the follow up to their debut EP on their new found label Delicacies a couple of weeks ago, showing that despite the sell-out of their previous album the duo still have quite the capacity to orchestrate purring synths and experimental bleeping into full on techno bombs.

This release feels slightly more akin to Nerve Salad from the previous EP, simply due to the more progressively unique sounds that develop throughout the songs. I say unique, I mean it's exactly what we have come to expect from SMD.


Simian Mobile Disco - Casu Marzu


Pick it up on Beatport now.

Simian Mobile Disco are holding their next Delicatessen Event at Motion Bristol on the 8th October.
Guests include Shadow Dancer and the legendary Fabric resident Craig Richards.

It's been a while since the last purely Ed Banger post, but that's because there hasn't really been much going on in Paris right now. Like most during the busy festival season, Busy P's super-cool entourage seem to be lying low at the moment. Only the release of Uffie's album and Carte Blanche's Black Billionaire's EP has given us anything major to talk about in the last few months. Well hopefully with the close of summer and now the release of Squarepusher's Shobaleader EP, Ed Banger activity will intensify along with everything else. The two track EP features Cryptic Motion, a mischievous little electro number, and Mr. Oizo's even more mischievous remix which chops and distorts with Quentin Dupiex's notorious abstract synthetics.

Squarepusher - Cryptic Motion (Mr. Oizo Remix)


Get Squarepusher's full Shobaleader EP at coolcats

I like Erol's label Phantasy Sound.
I also have really quite liked  Late of the Pier for a long time, who have been signed to said label since their debut album release.
As it happens, I also love Soulwax.

So there are no prizes in guessing why Soulwax's remix of Late of the Pier's newest single released on Phantasy Sound is my top track for this month.

In short, it meets expectations. Classic Soulwax build up with that forever mighty bass drop that we all love so much.

Late of the Pier - Best in Class (Soulwax Remix)

Late of the Pier - Remixes EP
1. Best in Class (Soulwax Remix)
 2. Blueberry (Simon Bookish Remix)

Released yesterday.

Welcome to the new, improved and renamed Minimal Monday, which to be quite honest didn't really work out. It's unfortunate because both me and Chris are unwitting ambassadors of Minimal Techno/Microhouse and Minimal Monday was our first idea for a regular feature on Sweat On The Walls. However, with posts being restricted to Mondays purely for the sake of a catchy name, regular updates became quite difficult, despite our best attempts. So we have now come up with Sorry I'm Minimal which removes the requirement for specific day posting, allowing maximal freedom for minimal music! For those who are curious, the name Sorry I'm Minimal derives from a strikingly brilliant t-shirt slogan we saw on sale from a street vendor during EXIT. The slogan has kind of developed a cult following since for us, so naming a blog regular after it just seemed inevitable. It also works as an apology for the unreliability of the late Minimal Monday...

To begin with then, I thought I would present my own minimal mix I threw together not long ago. There's the occasional amateurish error but I actually am quite pleased with the end result. A deeply indulgent assembly of some of my favourite minimalist tracks. Track listing can be found on our Soundcloud profile. Best served at in an intensely underground atmosphere...

Minimal Mix 1 by SotW Blog

My admiration for Alex Ridha (aka Boys Noize, Kid Alex and several others) is no secret. After the success of his debut album Oi Oi Oi in 2007 he's been on the rise ever since and is now a crucial influence in the house and techno genres.

Fast forward three years and he's hitting the first milestone of his very own precious record label, and what better way to celebrate than with his first solo EP since we were teased with Starter/Jeffer last year.

The A side is an incredible acid techno raver, showing that the acid sound really is making a serious comeback in 2010.

Following up on the B-side is 'Yeah', a slightly older tune that Noize has been playing out for some time, much to the dismay of his numerous fans trying to get a hold of the track id. Finally it's here, and it is sure to put a smile on your face. Summery House at it's very best.

Boys Noize "1010" Preview by Boys Noize

Boys Noize "YEAH" Preview by Boys Noize

There are low quality full version floating around for promotion, but the EP drops officially on 20th September.

Nothing short of an electro nuclear bomb, Valerna are once again out to destroy with more brutal remixing, this time with Clockwork's Airflow. Don't be fooled by the tame intro, in short it's a lethal rework.

Clockwork - Airflow (Valerna Remix)


Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo of the Bloody Beetroots has given Alan 1's Concertmate a lively disco injection, perfect for early dancefloor excitement.

Alan 1 - Concertmate (Bobermann Remix)


A bit late perhaps, but for those who don't already know, Mr. Oizo has a new film out. It's called Rubber, and basically is about a homicidal car tyre. It's complimented by a soundtrack from Quentin Dupiex himself and Gaspard from Justice. Tricycle Express, one of the OST's releases is just classic Justice, which is also hopefully a taste of things to come if a new Justice album is on the horizon.

Mr. Oizo & Gaspard Augé - Tricycle Express


Finally, some ravey acid techno from Dusty Kid.

Dusty Kid - The Cat

On nights like this, fabric falls somewhere out of the semantic scope of 'nightclub'. A nightclub, for most, is a strict, flashy environment, with surly, angry and intrusive security, prohibitive dress codes, a music policy designed to 'keep the girls happy' and a basic opening/closing time schedule. Not at EC1. Forever pushing the boundaries of the underground community, Saturday night fabric is simply a vast, subterranean temple for only religious followers of all things techno. If you are one of those people, you could be forgiven for not really wanting to venture anywhere else on a Saturday. Once inside when the night is beginning to peak, usually about 6am, it becomes clear why this place is a legendary institution. With a dress code that permits all but business suits, there is the most fascinating cross-section of cultural identities inside. The security are so passive that almost anything goes. People openly are lighting up cigarettes and more on the dancefloor with no opposition. The only thing the security is there for it seems is to eradicate trouble, which is in everyone's best interests and for which I've seen none every time I've been . With the music as the main attraction, of course, such is the reputation of the club now that big name guests are weekly. Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, Tiefschwarz and Seth Troxler are just a few of many that regularly appear in the cockpit-like booth of Room One and with their 24hr license, nights frequently conclude no earlier than 9am. I am yet to stay the entire duration of any night, a feat Chris is eager to reach.

But then one day, someone from the fabric team came up with the idea of a night that really doesn't seem to end. Because 8 or 9am is far too early, for their 10th birthday last year they celebrated with a 30 hour rave, commencing at the standard 11pm on Saturday, but not concluding until at least 5am on Monday. The concept was nothing short of a success, and a ground-breaking event for club programming. What it proved was there people that liked this sort of thing, and enough of them to create a residency of which would become known as On & On & On... After their birthday bash, two more On & On & On events have taken place with some quite incredible line-ups. This time fabric took a breather and reduced the duration of the event by half creating fabric On. If you ask me though, it started out as a standard fabric Saturday but after they secured Ricardo Villalobos to headline Room One for the second time this year, they just knew they had to do something special for his notoriously epic sets.

Unless you're there to see a live act or anyone other than the main headliner, the later you get to fabric the better. We headed there about 3am which was still too early to avoid the high-heeled girls and 'out-on-the-town' London lads who cluttered the bars if not the dancefloors. We also discovered to our slight disappointment that we would be waiting about 5 hours until Ricardo would be gracing the decks of Room One. Not to worry though, in the meantime we had a bit of Dinky, a live performance from Canadian project, the Modern Deep Left Quartet live, Terry Francis spinning in Room Two, Swayzak and Baby Ford b2b up in Room Three and of course, the legendary Craig Richards warming up for Ricardo all the way until at least 8:30, according to the set-times pinned round all over the club. That on its own would be some line-up, but knowing that Ricardo Villalobos would eventually rule the night is some prospect.

We caught the tail end of Dinky's set, a classically deep house set that kept Room One happy. Not exactly the scary sounds you would hear later on but perfect at a time when the place is still merely simmering. The Deep Modern Left Quartet followed Dinky on the other side on the room, on stage. Their live set-up looked incredible. Four Canadian producers, including Matthew Jonson, around a hard-wired array of machinery. All members frantically tweaking, twisting and pressing to produce some delightful sonics. But with so much to see, we vacated Room One for a Terry Francis session in the narrow cave of a second room. As usual, his sleek blend of Techno and House fueled a breathtaking surge of movement on all corners of the room. Fabric's Room 2 has always fascinated me. For someone who hadn't been to the club before, it would be easy to mistake it for the legendary Room One. During the club's busiest hours, usually from 3-6am, Room Two is arguably more frenetic and thrilling. Coming from the foyer area as you enter from the stairwell, it's visible but only through a tiny arched entrance tunnel. From there it looks formidable, nothing but chasm of darkness, smoke and lasers and floor-shaking bass. Francis is perfect at this time, using everyone's raw energy with every trick his spinning experience gives him.

Fabric's Room Three could often be likened to a proverbial 'chill room'. It's tiny for a start and is never that densely packed even on particularly busy nights. I expect this is partly because many newcomers to the club either simply don't know there is a third room or if they do, don't know how to get to it. Even I scratched my temple at one point in slight confusion of how to get there despite having been there several times before. There is undoubtedly a much less intense atmosphere compared to the two rooms downstairs. We entered during Swayzak and Baby Ford's B2B set which yielded some deliciously groovy deep tech and minimal sounds.

After we resurfaced to the outside world for an essential break in the smoking garden, we moved back to Room One where Craig Richards was busy spinning in his first of two sets of the night, first on his own before Ricardo, and after with Ricardo. Richards' sets are when the extraordinary brilliance of fabric really becomes clear. When you really do begin to forget there is normal, mundane, civilized and quiet life elsewhere. Always different, his sets are musical nutrients for everyone outside the legendary booth in the club. Nightmarish is one interestingly accurate adjective that emerged from his set this particular time. A teeming, relentless tour of dark, trippy, fragile beats, breaks and acid pitches that on Room One's intimidating soundsytem does send you into a frenzy of near insanity as well as movement. At one point, the entire room was pierced with the unrelenting sample of someone screaming, while waves of thumping techy beats rolled in and out.

We stuck around during Richards' set a little longer than we probably would have before perhaps switching rooms, purely because of the promise of seeing Ricardo Villalobos open a set at fabric. Fashionably late? Maybe he was but at almost 9:30 in the morning having been there since 3, our patience was tried. We gave up waiting for him and instead took a breather outside. Little did we know the night before he was in Ukraine closing a festival, so his lateness could be forgiven. Soon after we returned where at last to our excitement we could see the old master at the helm in Room One through a storm of smoke, lights and camera flashes, and also hear him. Immediately we entered into climate of extreme minimal, classic Villalobos. Reminiscent of the kind of work he produced on his album Thé au Harem d'Arichmède. He then moved onto more tribal techno sounds, still maintaining the microhouse structure but with the typical latin flavours and bizarre vocals that are a staple of Villalobos' sets. A self-confessed audiophile, Villalobos tested the Room One soundsystem to it's maximum, manipulating it with all his wisdom, unearthing frequencies never delivered before.

Probably the most endearing, most enjoyable thing about Ricardo Villalobos at fabric is experiencing arguably the most naturally gifted electronic musician play so freely because he feels at home. It's easy to forget that if it wasn't for fabric, Ricardo may not be the musician he is today. That room one booth couldn't be more comfortable now for a man who has been spinning there before anyone had heard of him. It's this relationship with the club that makes nights he returns so special, so memorable. I just can't wait for next time, where I will strive to stay beyond 11am.