Justice - Civilization



Guess who's back? Yep, Justice have finally emerged from the shadows and are causing plenty of excitement with their forthcoming single, Civilization. Adidas had the right idea, using a video directed by Roman Gavras, soundtracked by Civilization in their latest advertising campaign. Of course, when word spread that the track featured in the ad was Justice, it was only a matter of time before we were all desperate to find out more. So far we can't answer many of the questions, as we're still asking several ourselves, but apart from confirming the imminent official release of Civilization on Ed Banger Records/Because Records (although you probably already all know this), we can make some fairly educated predictions regarding some of the other rumours. For starters, this probably does mean they have either completed, or are working on, a new album. Considering it's four years since ✝ and they haven't really been working on anything else (Club 75 doesn't count, neither does Gaspard's contribution on the Rubber soundtrack), it's highly unlikely that this completely new, 100% Justice production is a one-off. They will most likely join label mate SebastiAn in releasing a full-length later this year. That brings me to my next prediction of sorts: 'later this year' really is as ambiguous as it suggests. I would advise anyone who hears of any 'release date' to be very wary. Ed Banger releases are about as punctual as British Airways flights when it's snowing, so I certainly won't be penciling any dates in my diary this year, or ever again for that matter after the three-year Uffie saga, and other unmentionables. But on a more positive note, this does mark the beginning of what promises to be a very exciting year for Ed Banger Records, which is nothing other than fantastic news. First SebastiAn's long awaited LP was given the green light, and now the return of Justice. Only a new Mr. Oizo album could possibly top that... Who knows!?

For all those who haven't been spending their time recently living under a rock, the big news of fresh releases coming from the French label Ed Banger will be all too familiar. New Justice, new Sebastian, and rumours of a new Mr Oizo album have set the blogs alight recently. So instead of sharing what you may already have, here is a great remix of Sebastian's Embody by his great friend and fellow french nutter Kavinsky.

Sebastian - Embody (Kavinsky Remix) (320kbps)

I would have to admit my first genuine blunder of 2011 has to be missing Busy P's and DJ Mehdi's London stop-off on their worldwide 'Let The Children Techno' tour. I can't even claim to have a good reason- that night all I ended up doing was drinking a couple of pints on Brick Lane, tending to my royally wasted brother as he sunk v0dka-laced Amstel. I did have plans for something a little more fulfilling, but regardless of that failure it would never have topped an Ed Banger party at XOYO, especially as Cassius were also lined-up alongside P and Mehdi.

I've seen the photos from the night and now I've heard the mix to compliment the tour. Together, I can safely say those two discoveries have condemned me to guilt, regret and even a mild sense of dejection. Ed Banger was in town and I wasn't there. I thought going to Perlon's night at The CAMP Basement on Friday and aimlessly leaving before Zip or Baby Ford were on was bad enough (blame it on the Strongbow this time), but not even trying to see Busy P, DJ Mehdi and Cassius at one of London's most unique and interesting clubs tops the failures so far. Putting that episode aside, it's good to see the Ed Banger crüe struttig their stuff again, after a relatively quiet 2010. The slogan 'Let The Children Techno' is not new, as anyone who is familiar with their CoolCats site will know from one of their original and most classic T-shirt designs, but only now has it become really relavant

While Justice stay frustratingly and mysteriously off-radar and Uffie continues to follow where her album's fanfare takes her, Busy P seems to be shape-shifting into slightly new territory, especially with his own DJing style. Anyone who witnessed him at EXIT last year will have noticed his obvious fondness for dubstep, with Doctor P's Sweet Shop and Flux Pavillion's You've Got To Know opening his set, a surprise for me as I expected nothing but a purely electro session from start to finish. Earlier on in the year, Pedro appeared at Berghain where he warned he would be consciously keeping within the strict realms of techno, so I can't imagine we would have been hearing him drop anything from his own label there. Several of his charts have been noticeably different too, I recall seeing Skream's name somewhere on one of them not so long ago. Does this mark a new era for Ed Banger? One that shifts the label's musical identity from the uber-cool indie/electro/house sound it's associated with to something more underground, less flashy and arguably more serious? Whether I liked the idea or not is another question, but that theory certainly gathered more momentum for me when I heard of the 'Let The Children Techno' project that Busy P and Mehdi had devised. I may have missed their visit to London, but after hearing the mix they have released, I can answer with some degree of relief that their identity hasn't changed, and we can still look forward to all their showy flamboyance, cracking parties, lofty synthlines and not seeing them at fabric on a Saturday. The Ed Banger 'brand' is very much still alive and the gang are not producing, or spinning techno at all.

Why the mix is called 'Let The Children Techno' I don't know, because there really is nothing that resembles classic techno at all. There's no Sven Väth or Carl Craig here, the closest it comes to techno are the entries from Djedjotronic and Zombie Nation, the latter will happily admit his style these days has definitely moved away from the pounding stuff he was turning out 10 years ago, or even two years ago on his excellent Zombielicious album. Interestingly, the mix doesn't feel at all like any of the Ed Rec. volumes despite maintaining the same signature electro sound, but this is most likely down to the diverse range or artists that appear on the mix. While SebastiAn's noise, Mr Oizo's mischief and Breakbot's ease is all there, Riton's One Night Stand is somehow different, as is Brodinski and Tony Senghore's Anagogue which pulses and reverberates, but in a way you wouldn't find from the original Ed Banger messieurs.

Gessafelstein's The Voice is a bit more trippy and pared down, while Skream finds his way on there with his screechy dub cut Boat Party. But despite all these slight divergences, the Ed Banger voice is still shouting at you throughout the mix. It's fun, fresh and dare I say it, cool. Exactly what Medhi and Busy P have been providing us with from the very roots of their origin and why I have so much affection for them. Mehdi's track TragicoMehdi is a glorious, tinkering blend of electro, house and hip-hop, not the kind of thing you expect, or want, to hear in the world's dingiest underground clubs at 8am, but is what we want when hour after hour of mindlessly grooving to minimal is not so appealing either. It's an interesting mix, with an exciting, if entirely predictable cast of artists, but as far as super-cool electro is concerned, Ed Banger are back doing what they do best.

SebastiAn - Enio


Djedjotronic - The Invisible Landscape


Riton - One Night Stand


Let The Children Techno mixed and compiled by Busy P & DJ Mehdi is out now on Ed Banger Records

Oh December, what a month it has been. More music coming my way in every direction, weekends in my diary packed to levels I've never experienced before, and enough end-of-year charts and polls to make any music follower slightly dizzy. But I've done my very best to cope with it all, while of course balancing it all out with some much needed studying and other festive delights.

Of the hundreds of tracks I've acquired over this busy month I can confidently declare some simply fantastic tracks among them. Some of these may not have been necessarily released this month but they have soundtracked it for me personally. The style spectrum is fairly wide, with several less familiar sounds represented, such as SBTRKT's dark and bassy Hide and Seek, as well as a tragically rare Ed Banger inclusion, this time from Feadz and his recently released T.U.F.F EP. As for techno & house, as always there are some magnificent beats in here, worthy of my favourite month of the year.


Delano Smith was one of Room 3's interesting additions at fabric back in November, when Âme took control of things downstairs in Room 1. My brief spell in Room 3 was genuinely very entertaining, coinciding with Smith's set. His ability to mix deep house and techno was obvious for all there that night and to my delight, his productions skills are just as good. Dee's Gruv is an intensely slick deep house affair, simmering with all the underground bass and rhythm you would find in his sets.

Delano Smith - Dee's Gruv


Carl Bee's Crashold is tech house at it's most free and fun. Teeming with so many playful sonics and other percussive flavours, it's guaranteed to get bodies moving wherever it's dropped. It's just a shame I'm yet to hear it out yet.

Carl Bee - Crashold


House music is such a wonderfully open, unrestricted, style of music. This couldn't be better demonstrated in Gregori Klosman's Rendez-vous, a tune that has kept me smiling all throughout this month. Pianos, sunny synths, massive crescendos and a thumping house beat make this a truly stand-out crowd pleaser from this month. It even has a slight Balearic essence to it, which isn't always a bad thing...

Gregori Klosman - Rendez-Vous


Ever since I had the pleasure of experiencing Matthias Tanzmann's incredible debut performance at fabric last month I have been all but obsessed with the German's every movement. Production wise it's been a fairly quiet year for him, but I recently unearthed Slingshot, a dazzling tune of his that is every bit as brilliant as the name suggests. This is Tanzmann doing what he does best, and on this evidence you could be forgiven thinking there are few that do it better than him. Groovy, tribal, percussive tech house, strutting with all that dancefloor worthy wisdom that Tanzmann always invests in his music.

Matthias Tanzmann - Slingshot


Anders Trentemøller has had an enigmatic year. His album, Into The Great Wide Yonder saw him distance himself from the synthetic world of music, something I worried about initially. However, he hasn't completely lost faith in the sonic template. 2010 has seen several productions of his return to the fascinating confines of his cold and sharp brand of minimal techno that we witnessed in his previous album, The Trentemøller Chronicles. Recently I got hold of Sunstroke, a daring, mysterious fusion of minimalism, house and strokes of eerie synths, the Trentemøller I like best.

Trentemøller - Sunstroke

Azari & III have had an excellent year without question. Several of their EP's have been a massive hit with the underground, and having been released on Turbo, it comes as no surprise. Their divine disco house style is so seductive and Reckless For Your Love is arguably their finest production yet. The original is almost unbeatable, but the Manuel Tur remix is a definite challenger.

Azari & III - Reckless With Your Love (Manuel Tur Remix)


There are few words of praise for Dutch Techno prodigy Egbert that I haven't already used. After his hammering techno A-bomb Open comes the far more minimally-inclined Groots Uitpakken. A surging, shadowy turn from his usual brand of massive-room techno. This track illustrates Egbert's ability to veer away from that field and into the tighter underground vortexes of techno.

Egbert - Groots Uitpakken


2010 has been the year of the return of acid. Producers from all ends of the spectrum, in techno, house, electro, even dubstep have all dabbled in a bit of squelch at times and there's a very good reason why: it sounds incredible. The acid bassline in the Alden Tyrell's remix of It's The Music by Murphy Jax fizzes with all that sonic pleasure that the acid synth provides. Craig Richards has used this in his Saturday night sets at fabric to devastating effect.

Murphy Jax feat. Mike Dunn - It's The Music (Alden Tyrell Remix)


Steve Rachmad rarely disappoints with his bassy, tripped-out style of house and once again he flexes his muscles together Ignacio to create the deep, imposing, progressive Virton Upgraded.

Steve Rachmad & Ignacio - Virton Upgraded


Another captivating Tiefschwarz remix, this time of Ruede Hagelstein's Embezzle Me. Tiefschwarz's deep house style is perfectly tuned for these types of remixes, the vocals from Maggy who features on the original elegantly infuse with the layers of sonics and synths melded in by the German duo.

Ruede Hagelstein (feat. Maggy) - Embezzle Me (Tiefschwarz Remix)


The first of two inclusions from Marc Romboy and Stephen Bodzin's recent Drei Monde EP. Gui Boratto's Atlas remix is magnificent at so many levels. It's not prime-time dancefloor material, but that's never been Gui's style. This is the Brazilian at his best; taking the original and making it every bit more satisfying. Whether it's the delicious little synthetic string-hook or the progressive feel to the beat, you'll find something in this remix to like.

Marc Romboy & Stephen Bodzin - Atlas (Gui Boratto Remix)


Joris Voorn's remix of Castillo, the second track taken from Romboy & Bodzin's Drei Monde EP, takes a good few minutes to become seriously good, but that is exactly what it becomes. Of all the tracks posted here, this one I'm undeniably addicted to most. Joris Voorn has shape-shifted the original into a blistering all-out big room house banger. Full of yet more progression (something which seems to be the flavour of the month), crescendos and climaxes, it sends shivers down my spine listening to it. At around 4:20 is the first major drop and it's serious hands-in-the-air stuff. There's nothing remotely minimal, trippy or dark about this, just house music at its party-driven greatest. Hats off to Joris.

Marc Romboy & Stephen Bodzin - Castillo (Joris Voorn Remix)


I was going to do a separate post on Feadz's new EP, T.U.F.F, as I intend to do for all Ed Banger related news, considering it's so rare these days. Unfortunately I didn't get round to it, which is a shame for so many reasons but mostly because it's actually a really good EP. So I thought I would include the best track in the EP in this post, and Boys Noize in on the act you can expect a devilish outing of ear-ringing maximal, although this is more reminiscent of his recent house favourite, Yeah, which is only a good thing of course.

Feadz & Boys Noize - The Ultimate


And finally, SBTRKT's Hide and Seek. Yes, it's bassy but not quite the SBTRKT you might expect after listening to his older work. This is what we saw of at Modeselektion in his set, where he seemed to veer away somewhat from his old space-step style and into a more house-orientated session, while still keeping all that floor-shaking sub-bass.

SBTRKT - Hide & Seek

This is better! I must confess, I was kind of struggling on the last Now We Rave post. It just felt like things were kind of quiet in the maximal electro/techno world of late, and with the constantly active minimal scene keeping me distracted, the result was a fairly weak selection of records. For that I apologise, but I think this post more than makes up for it. There have been some remarkably heavy remixes being released recently- they say the art of the remix is to try make the original even better, and these certainly give it their best shot.

Surkin's Fan Out was one of the coolest tunes released this year in my opinion. It was so cool in fact, that it was my ringtone (before my iPhone got stolen, at Fabriclive appropriately). Just a divine work of raved-up French house with a bomb of a drop and a ridiculously heavy bassline. The Light Year remix keeps the intensity of the bassline, but adds a little acid-techno flavour to the whole thing.

Surkin - Fan Out (Light Year Remix)


It doesn't take too much of a genius to guess what Bart B More has done to a new Zombie Nation tune. The German techno heavyweight's Squeek (likely to be included in his forthcoming album) is given an unashamedly ravey makeover- not just the inevitable squeek synths, but the throbbing bassline and dancefloor-perfect structure will cause some shockwaves no doubt.

Zombie Nation - Squeek (Bart B More Remix)


The first of two major Tiga related inclusions is the Canadian's glorious remix of LCD Soundsystem's I Can Change. Yeah the original was a classic, but despite their reputation as leaders of the 'alternative dance' scene, I have never found their stuff that exciting on the dancefloor. Tiga sorts that out here, keeping those euphoric vocals but with an injection of Tiga-style electro goodness to make the whole thing exceptionally danceable.

LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change (Tiga Remix)


Next, Mathew Jonson's Dub mix of compatriot Tiga's Gentle Giant is something you could hear in fabric on a Saturday, as well as at a Bugged Out! night hosted by the electro kings. In fact I have- Craig Richards (had to give him an honourable mention somewhere) has included it in his weird and wonderful Room One sets before. Its rolling, trundling trance-inducing bassline is abstract and disturbing enough to keep those characters sane enough at 7am. Of course, there's none of Tiga's ballad friendly vocals on this...

Tiga - Gentle Giant (Mathew Jonson Dub)


Remember Digitalism? Of course you do, but it's unlikely you will have listened to them for a while, their superb eponymous debut album is probably collecting dust in the depths of your early iTunes library additions. Well that's the case for me anyway, and after discovering a friend has a similar experience with them it was time to pay tribute to them again! How ironic that their new Blitz EP has just been released then, and it's stonking good. The Villa remix of the title track is one of the most exciting tunes I've heard for a while. Good to see you back Digitalism, might go have to listen to Pogo now...

Digitalism - Blitz (Villa Remix)


And finally, you have no idea how good it always feels to post anything Ed Banger. It feels even better as it all seems to be at a premium recently. So, a SebastiAn remix of Uffie's Difficult is pretty much just what the doctor ordered. SebastiAn's fingerprints were all over the original anyway, but he couldn't leave it at that- prepare for thumping basslines and moreish, typically Ed Banger distortion. Two thumbs up for Seb'.

Uffie - Difficult (SebastiAn Remix)

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!

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

More sexy french electronic madness from Cedric Blaisbois. Could quite honestly double as soft porn.

Carte Blanche, the collaboration of DJ Mehdi and Riton, have recently released their debut EP, Black Billionaires. The duo have been sweeping the world on tour of late, spreading the classic house style they are eager to reignite. I managed to catch them on their visit to the UK when they stopped at fabric and they were predictably excellent. Their set was melange of hands-in-the-air house, such as Dan Black's Symphonies, the twitchy techno of Simian Mobile Disco's Hustler and the brilliant, dark electronica of The Knife's Like A Pen.

Their production style is a sleek fusion of house, techno and disco and Black Billionaires superbly demonstrates the pair's creative originality. Gare Du Nord, the EP's pièce de résistance, has a lively, catchy house beat and sharp synth stabs and will inevitably be in many a DJ set this summer.

Carte Blanche - Gare Du Nord


Carte Blanche Black Billionaires EP is out now on Beatport

After about three years of waiting, and several previously 'confirmed' (i.e bullshit) release dates, my sweetheart Uffie is finally and definitely releasing her highly anticipated debut album Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans.

My love for Uffie derives from more than just the unspoken obvious. Firstly, she's Ed Banger's first and only female artist, and as a religious follower of the Parisian record label for years now, I can only have affection for anyone signed to there. Secondly, despite her potty-mouthed lyrics, her music is undeniably stylish. Part electro, part hip-hop, whatever it is, it's cool and striking. Her collaborations with Mr. Oizo and Justice in particular are testament to her stylistic tendencies. She is also an incredible live performer, with a very seductive stage presence. Trust me, I've seen her...

I think what excites me most about Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans is not so much Uffie, but that behind her provocative vocals are beats crafted by SebastiAn, Mr. Oizo and Mirwais, which quite frankly, has me foaming at the mouth. It's released on Monday, but for those who haven't already heard MCs Can Kiss, here it is. I can detect a little Wazzoh in there...

Uffie - MCs Can Kiss


Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans is released on Monday 31st May 2010 on Ed Banger Records