some of the visual imagery I traditionally associate with the genre of house
As someone whose listening in adolescence jumped directly from Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre to Acen and The Hyper-On Experience, I’ve always been prejudiced against (and ignorant about) house, seeing it as mindless throwback cheese for the nightclubbing hoards. But just as getting into dubstep piqued my interest in dub techno, listening to Deepchord and Basic Channel eventually opened me up a bit to other forms of four-four.
Magnetic by Murmur was my favourite record of last year. It’s got a really stoned sound to it without ever resorting to the washed-out saturated homogeneity of so much dub techno, and it strongly motivated me to seek out music with similar values: crispness and precision alongside weight and warmth. After lots of research (and one or two terrible, terrible minimal techno purchases) I discovered - well fuck me, I like house, specifically (if I’ve got my terminology right) deep house. With all the negative associations I’ve unfairly attached to house music over the years, this feels much - I imagine - like discovering that one’s sexual orientation is not the one you thought it was.
I have, of course, no deep understanding of the music. I spin the records context-free in my dining room, don’t go clubbing and am only dimly aware of its heritage or history. It’s a milestone on my personal quest to locate and purchase a particular sonic: it’s a controllable desire that I can own. I’m still pretty squeamish about the wider genre: vocal samples exhorting me to “move my body” or informing me that I am a “freaky motherfucker” are, to borrow from Bill Hicks, as welcome as turds dropping into my drink. But on the whole I reckon the stuff I’ve taken a shine to can sit on the shelf with my Appleblim, Ramadanman, Pendle Coven and Rhythm & Sound records without causing too much cognitive dissonance.
Here’s another mix I threw together over the Christmas period. I was trying to go for something evocative of winter and “sparklyness”.
More, probably, soon.
Tracklist:
Margaret Dygas: See You Around (Non Standard Productions)
Efdemin: Stately, Yes (Dial)
Lerosa: Triage (Quintessentials)
Sevensol & Bender: Live at Coliseum (KANN)
Lawrence: Miles (Dial)
Cavalier: Deep Rider (Drumpoet)
Move D & Benjamin Brunn: New Horizon (Smallville)
Quince: Omnium (Music Man)
Sten: Daylight (Dial)
Efdemin: La Ratafia (Dial)
Petar Dundov: Sparkling Stars (Music Man)
February 9th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
ask away old son…
February 9th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
ha, cheers, will do.
February 11th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Jon this is absolutely fantastic…but the only thing I can’t fathom is how you can love this music (like I do) yet hate vocals (which I love).
Your dining room is as good a context as any for playing sets like this, as long as you continue recording them and uploading them for me to listen to.
I am buying that Lerosa record asap.
February 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
thanks! i’m really pleased you liked it.
i think my aversion to vocal / “happier” sounding house has deep roots in my childhood fear of the disco…
February 11th, 2009 at 11:29 am
I was raised on Classic FM (shudder) so I hear vocal house as a very welcome bit of fun in comparison.
Have you listened to much of the Prescription label catalogue?
February 11th, 2009 at 11:34 am
would that be http://www.discogs.com/label/Prescription ?
nothing i recognise on there - any recommendations? i’ll certainly have a listen. (but if anyone calls me a “freaky motherfucker” i’ll curl up into a tight ball on the floor and go to my happy safe place…)
February 11th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
haha ok sticking with non-vocal ones…actually, youtube’s blocked at my office, but i’ve commissioned a friend to look up some videos for me…delegation in action.
Chez n Trent - ‘Morning Factory (dub)’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQrqLxh1HEo
Noni - ‘Be My (dub)’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyRXTpkqtXg
(well, it’s got some cut up vocals, but i think they’re awesome)
Chez n Trent - ‘The Choice (dub)’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8HWMiNOVGM&feature=related
(actually released on KMS, original on Prescription)
and finally, on KMS instead of Prescription, but absolutely amazing:
Chez Damier - KMS049 (non-vocal side)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HVxpjU0BTc&feature=related
(from my friend: “ok so it’s got a tiny bit of vocal that sounds like it’s sort of saying something about moving your body… but it only happens a couple of times and it’s not cheesy :P”)
knock yourself out.
(ps that Petar Dundov track…I really should listen to that album again)
Crossley, N. (2005) ‘Sociology and the Body’, Sage Handbook of Sociology , Sage, 442-55
February 11th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
oh and you somehow got a citation i was meant to be looking up into the bargain. bonus.
February 11th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
oh wow - i have that first track on one of my favourite compilation albums of all time - i’ve had it for well over a decade!
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Freezone-2-Variations-On-A-Chill/release/8643
Be My - YouTube link seems to be to non-dub version, but i like this track.
The Choice - lots of pleasing elements in this that resonate with some of my current listening, but i reckon it could lose those vocal “huhs” and “hahs” which make me feel rather queasy
KMS049 - ace, would fit into a set for sure.
thanks loads for this - it’s given me some new angles to investigate. i also really like the Efdemin and Noah Gibson mixes you linked to recently, they’re both absolutely top notch.
February 11th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
That compilation looks brilliant, I’ll see if I can track it down. I’ve been meaning to listen to some 4 Hero for a while.
Pretty much all the Efdemin sets I’ve listened to have opened my ears…he’s ridiculously talented as a producer and as a DJ. Some people just have it all.
Another Prescription favourite is ‘Have I Lost You’ by USG but I have a feeling the vocals would have you reaching for the bucket…
February 11th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
i just picked up Morning Factory during a lunchtime Phonica excursion this afternoon - cheers for the tip. Freezone 2 is really good - dunno if it’s just nostalgia value because i caned it when i was 16 though. i managed to find an unopened copy on Discogs.com to replace my 12 year old bootleg double cassette recently!
agree about Efdemin, his album was an important signpost for me, and “Carry on…pretend we are not in the room” really is one of the best mix CDs i’ve heard ever. i’d love to have been there for that set in Amsterdam!
February 11th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
They’re selling Morning Factory at Phonica?! is it a repress?!
I’ll be stopping off there on the way back from work, then…
February 11th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
looks like an album sampler or something from last year, i found it in their “House A-Z” section under “T”:
http://www.phonicarecords.co.uk/detail.aspx?ID=33898
February 11th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I dropped in on Phonica on the way home and bought two copies, one for me and one for the lovely friend who gave you all those youtube links.
Thank you for the heads-up!!
February 11th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
don’t thank me yet - did you notice that it suddenly cuts out at the end?
February 11th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
oh and big-ups to your friend - do they blog?
February 12th, 2009 at 10:55 am
you’re right - I have no idea if the original was like that though….still, I’m glad to have a copy of that track for £5 rather than £50!
and no she (G) doesn’t, but she comments on mine every now and then. sorry for dominating your post like this….
February 15th, 2009 at 10:57 am
hehe, nice to follow your little conversation on house classics here.
February 17th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
fantastic mix and post - it sums up my feelings on house but much more eloquently than i could ever manage!
Ohh, and i really like your mixing table! Where did you get it from?
February 17th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
cheers Jamie. you can get those desks all over the place - there are millions of them on Ebay. just search for “deck stand”. they come flatpacked so i hope you like puzzles