MONTHLY MIX - NOVEMBER 2015

Ambiant mix with an electronic touch.

Sound Crate Mix - November 2015 by Benjamin Rose on Mixcloud

MONTHLY TRACKLIST - NOVEMBER 2015

Benjamin:
     Bootsy Collins - I'd Rather Be With You
     Rick Wilhite - Saldubsa 2
     Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
     Tabu Ley Rochereau - Hafi Deo
     Liem - If Only
     Paul Woolford - Erotic Disclosure
     Ricardo Villalobos - MDMA
     Aphex Twin - SteppingFilter 101
     Tessela - Bottom Out (Kowton OTT Mix)
     Perera Elsewhere - Ebora (Paula Temple Remix)
     Sun Ra - There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)
     Alice Coltrane - Galaxy in Satchidananda

Amedeo:
   Afriquoi - Kudaushe
   Midland - Safi
   Manik - Buffalo Trace
   Hexagone - Burning Trash Floor
   Genius Of Time - Houston We Have A Problem
   Metrist - Lofstrom
   Sticky Jones Gang - Tunisian ride
   JohNick - C'Mon Give It Up
   Move D - Theo
   Guydee - Forgot
    

ALBUM REVIEW : PORTISHEAD - DUMMY

   

     Along with Massive Attack and DJ Shadow, Portishead's debut album popularized the trip-hop genre. The mix between organic instrumentation (drum beats that flirt with hip-hop, bass) and electronic sound (loops, scratches and sampling) provides a particular atmosphere in which you can sink in right from the first track, Mysterons.

     But the most distinctive element to this LP is Beth Gibbons' presence. The eerie, almost ghostly sound of her voice holds the record together. Even if the band does not hesitate to make heavier tracks like Numb or Wandering Star, Dummy manages to stay emotional without ever stepping into the cheesy side.

     It is also worth mentioning some of the various samples used in the album : the decidedly famous Glory Box uses Isaac Hayes' Ike's Rap III and Lalo Schifrin's The Danube Incident in Sour Times.

      To this day, Dummy is still considered as one of the best albums from the 90s. It holds surprisingly well from a production standpoint, probably thanks to its careful and minimalist design.

Also worth listening to : Massive Attack's Mezzanine, DJ Shadow's Endtroducing.

SUNDAY RECORD SALE @ DATCHA

So last week I went to a record sale at Datcha in Montréal. Datcha is a sober, small bar/club situated at the limit of the Plateau, that has recieved amongst a fine selecion of local Djs Tiga, My Favorite Robot, Canblaster and even Aeroplane (which is pretty surprising when you see the size of the room). 

With a hazy mind and a small hole in my hair both due to the night out before I started looking around the records that were displayed on the couches that surround the room. There was nearly all the Turbo catalog (a Montréal label run and created by Tiga), a lot of white labels and promo discs, some cuts from a french label that I'm completely unable to remember and of course a section reserved to disco. 

My goal was to spend 20$ tops so I grabbed Roman Flügel's Stricher EP, Ida Eberg's Disco Volante, Leandro Gomez's Me Implica EP (totally unknown to me to this point but the review page seemed quite nice) and finally Searchin' (I Gotta Find A Man) from Hazel Dean. After waiting 15 minutes to access a turntable because the dude in front of me didn't understand that the "5 records each" sign in front of us meant 5 and not 5 + 5 records, I deemed my quite random selection pretty good. At this point I was very mentally tired and sad because I just saw someone grab the only R&S record and decided it was time to head home. 

20$ for five records is honestly a good deal, especially when you're a student who's just starting his vinyl collection. 

I'm not going to blabber on about the five records, here's a quick review of the one I preffered:

                                 
Roman Flügel's Stricher Ep is made of 3 (4 for the digital version) light "bleep techno" tracks, full of clicky drums and white noise. It sounds like Italodisco made by a computer, unpredictable and smart. Even though it lacks low frequencies this record can still lift a dance-floor if mixed carefully. 

A bon entendeur! 

MONTHLY TRACKLIST - OCTOBER 2015

Amedeo
     Moodymann - The Day We Lost The Soul / Tribute! (To The Soul We Lost)
     Aquaphresca - Smooth Track
     Moiré - Gel
     Erik Ellmann - People Say (Saine Remix)
     NT89 & Whitesquare - Royal
     Mori Ra - Acid Indonesia Dari Psychedelia
     Zomby - Acid Surf
     Nas1 - Kokooo
     M.ono - Pegasus '83
     December - Berds

Benjamin

    Portishead - It Could Be Sweet
   The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Castilian Drums
   Arawak - Accadde A Bali
   Andrés - The Essence
   Jill Francis - Make Love to Me
   Zanzibar Chanel - Drunk at the Jazz Dub
   Jennifer Lara - I am in Love
   Kerri Chandler - Get it Off
   J-Zbel - ZHF (Gale mix)
   Nina Kraviz - Black White
x

MONTHLY MIX - OCTOBER 2015

This mix features mostly house tracks and ends on an acid note.
Tracklist coming soon-ish.

Sound Crate Mix - October 2015 by Benjamin Rose on Mixcloud

ENDTRODUCING...

Hello, this is our first blog (or almost) and we're not really sure about how to begin. So we are just going to introduce ourselves by answering a bunch of questions. 

Why Sound Crate?

 

Amedeo : Because Benjamin talked me into it, and putting all the new tracks I find on a secret Facebook page is getting quite old. I guess we are going to put a selection of our finest music here and how we feel about it.

Benjamin : I sometimes feel like it's useless to have a huge library because the best music always drowns among the okay one. This blog is a way to highlight those loved tracks so they are not forgotten.

What is the latest sound you found?

 

 A: I stumbled upon this one on the street, the original vinyl was in a "everything for 50cent" box, I didn't bother buying it but checked it out when I got home. The original is an epic 9-minute long disco tune, this remix is shorter and has a really cool house vibe.

 
B: I'll have to go with Tony Allen - Kilode (Carl Craig remix).

I don't really know how I stumbled upon this one, but I'm hooked. The sweet drumming from Tony Allen combined with African lyrics and with the Carl Craig's incisive synths make a great combination. And when the bass arrives with guitar riff, it's definitely takes the cake.

Was music better before?

 

A: Not necessarily, I think that music peaks before it gets commercial as f****, but some people are always pushing boundaries so we're never far from a good suprise. I can't wait to hear what the next big (underground) trend will sound like.

B: No. People do not realize that there were an awful lot of bad tracks, from the disco era for example, but they just didn't stand the test of time.

What's the weirdest track you know?

 

A: The Psychic TV - Sugarmorphoses album is weird as hell.

B: Maybe Hecq - Steeltongued. Sounds bouncing around. Scary when you walk around listening to it in the night.

Honorable mention to Douglas Leedy - Entropical Paradise I. I still have to listen to it in its totality.

Best live performance? 

 

A: I have to go for Modeselektor on that one, the first time seeing them was like being in the middle of a huge techo storm. Kaaris was really fun too.

B: Modselektor made me discover what live electronic music could be. Radiohead and BADBADNOTGOOD are also very memorable ones. Also Omar S, Move D and the whole Dekmantel festival.

Bonus: What's your secret 90s Dj alias? 

 

A: Dj AmedeHouse.

B: Yes.