New from the Mirrorcube

Here's a little something that we've been working on in Mirrorcube studio. After a lot of back and forth with making tracks this is our first we've truly collaborated on at the same time. MEMORY MODEL 7 (Beta) [UNRELEASED] by Mirrorcube

Coco Sumner

Many will try to argue but the truth is that it's not where you're from but where you're at. Bearing that in mind it makes no difference that the diminutive, pensive beauty sitting in front of me is the daughter of one of the more famous musicians from the late 70's and 80's, because she is here on her own merits rather than any sort of fame by association. Coco Sumner has been notching up increasing amounts of attention lately, but after chatting to the affable young lady barely out of her teens I begin to wonder if much of the press coverage is for the wrong reasons. For the truth is that the majority of what I have read about her needles at the fact that her father is Sting, he of the long winded sexual rattle and former singer with the Police. While this is undeniably true, these same articles have sought to denounce the budding musician for her parentage. A good deal of similar sounding vitriol may be more accurately levelled at the offspring of other ageing stars, but there are two things that save Coco from the same unfair categorisation.

The Greatest Dub Techno Mix in the World... Ever!

That little pile of sweetness over there counts as some of the most prized records in my collection. Any serious techno head will have their own little love story to tell about how and when they found out about Maurizio, Basic Channel, Chain Reaction and Rhythm & Sound. After posting this pic I took for an old article I wrote profiling the music, I was asked if I'd ever done a mix of all of those records. I hadn't and immediately set about plotting one out.
I made a few rules for myself in doing the mix: it would only be music made or remixed by Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald together. That meant none of their recent solo work or co-produced tracks with others. I also left out the majority of the early Basic Channel records as they weren't really dub techno, although I did sneak in Q1.1. Some others I left out because with the mix running at 2 1/4 hours already I was conscious of how much more space I would need to host it, and my ability to keep putting the records together was waning. Anyway, here it is, 30 tracks of the greatest dub techno in the world... ever! The Greatest Dub Techno mix in the World... Ever! by mirrorcube

Full track list after the jump!

RIP Gregory Isaacs

He was the Cool Ruler, the Lonely Lover, possessed of the sweetest voice to grace reggae and perhaps my favourite reggae artist of all time. A compilation of his mid to late seventies work has been one of my most played albums of the many, many thousands that I own. I have played his music at various restaurants I have managed over the years and have had an enormous amount of people - most of whom I would never consider to be fans of reggae, come and ask me about the artist.
He experienced the ups and downs of fame, though for all his personal trials he produced an incredible body of work that proved to be remarkably solid despite the overwhelming quantity he released.
His music has and will continue to be a soothing tone, a healing vibration, a lovers soundtrack, a poor man's vision of hope. He was the Cool Ruler. RIP!

Why Porn Soundtracks Blow

When it comes to the history of cinema there are scant few among us who cannot recall the era defining soundtracks to such great films as Saturday Night Fever, The Harder They Come, Pulp Fiction or Trainspotting. Because for the serious music lover, life can be archived by its soundtrack. Perhaps the first time you heard My Bloody Valentine or Public Enemy, you knew where you were, what you were doing, how it made you feel. It is there as we go through periods of huge change, as we grow and learn, as we laugh and cry. It's there for many the first time we kiss someone, the first time we have sex. 

Taking the Myth?

Myths have formed around the eclectic indie rockers Klaxons since their startling Mercury Prize-winning debut. Real Groove sets out to debunk the theories with guitarist Simon Taylor-Davis.

As far as the media consuming public are concerned, Klaxons are on their last chance bid to save their careers. The ill-fated second album was turned down by record label Polydor, with drug binges and over indulgent prog rock all part of their lost weekend in the French and Italian countryside with producer James Ford. Sent off to musical rehab, anyone would think the British quartet were punished by being paired up with producer Ross Robinson, the so-called Godfather of Nu Metal who has worked with acts such as Limp Bizkit, Korn and Slipknot.

Beyond Dubstep

Unless you've had you ears tucked away under the settee next to a stack of Noel Coward long players or exclusively tuned in to the confines of Radio 4 for the past ten years, then chances are you've heard of dubstep. Its popularity has been steadily rising for many years with its roots able to be traced back to everything bass-wise that has come before it; be it the dub heavy sound system culture that itself emigrated from Jamaica, the future forward strains of drum & bass that impacted on the entire world, the champagne and cocaine excesses of garage and 2 step, or the gritty urban reality of grime.

Clubland October

James Blake invites you to leaf your mind

First up this month is Red Rack'Em AKA Danny Berman and his debut album The Early Years. He's been hotting up labels like Undertones, Shift, Untracked and Home Taping Is Killing Music with his slo-mo house and boogie for the past couple of years. His full length cobbles together some of those tracks with some brand new ones and is essential for anyone with even a remote interest in milk-fed, rosy cheeked house music. James Blake's CMYK EP on R&S was a genre bending work of art and his new one is no different. He's incredibly young and unfathomably talented, making experimental, electronic masterpieces that are getting him compared to Joni Mitchell! Check out his latest Klavierwerke EP on R&S records and breathe it in.

Clubland September

Johannes Heil is one of those rare bread of producers who can wake up one morning and discover he's accidentally penned another album in his sleep. Since his debut in 1995 the German stalwart has notched up more than fifty releases, including an impressive nine albums and a bucket-load of remixes. His skills are transferable across many different genres; as at home crafting brutal, skull splitting techno as he is at etching out elegant, graceful electronica. 

Jethro Cave

JETHRO CAVE

It has long been noted that it is not what you know but whom. For a growing set of adolescents coming of age in the spotlight this could be no more true, for their fame hinges on one crucial fact; their parents are famous. For most, anything they do will pale in comparison to the achievements of those who gave them life, whilst a very few will inexplicably manage to outshine their folks. Many are shameless in their quest for fame, trying anything they set their name and money to for their fifteen minutes, whilst others shun the lifestyle completely, seeking only anonymity and the opportunity of leading a normal life.

Clubland August

The conceptualization of science fiction through techno is nothing new, especially not for Robert Hood. As far back as his first albums, Internal Empire and Minimal Nation, Hood has posited the existence of other worlds, alternate realities, supposed futures. His latest long player Omega continues this recurring theme, postulating a post-apocalyptic world of decay and decrepitude in which one man works to find a cure for a plague that has rendered any human survivors zombies.

Clubland July

Being a part of Workshop 10 gave Ron Deacon’s career trajectory a big leg up, bringing him to the attention of everyone who follows the highly sought after low-key house label. So upon seeing his first solo EP on Farside Records it was almost a matter of buying the disc unheard, such is the esteem that Lowtec’s label carries with it. Although I did cast a rudimentary ear towards the record before purchase it proved unnecessary; the Secret Garden EP, Deacon’s debut solo outing, offers rich, atmospheric house music laced with a subtle, honeyed vocal that hits deep on first listening.

Clubland June

Every year there are a run of artists who completely shake the foundations of music, mercilessly messing with your preconceptions of sound and style, extending a beckoning finger for you to join, follow or simply witness as they blast off into orbit. This year already there have been such albums released and surely with a further six months of 2010 there will be more who inspire, confuse, cause utter disbelief and admiration in equal doses. For my money I'm not sure if there will be any that will surpass the sheer brilliance and unrestrained ambition of Actress's Splazsh and Mount Kimbie's Crooks & Lovers.

An audience with the Modfather

From the angular, angry edge of The Jam to the sophisticated, Solero grooves of the Style Council, through to his remarkable solo career, Paul Weller proves why his is the voice that spans generations on new album Wake Up The Nation.

In the canon of rock there are few stars who have remained both active and vital for as long as Paul Weller. His career, stretched out over four decades counts numerous top ranking chart positions, whilst his music and indeed even his style has gone on to influence generations of younger bands. Far from resting on his laurels as many of his more successful contemporaries have done, his albums have remained at the forefront of the British consciousness, picking up a BRIT award just last year for Best Male Solo Artist. Following up on 22 Dreams, the album that helped Weller to the win, he returns with a raw, heavy shot to the jugular, Wake Up The Nation. Real Groove caught up with The Modfather in a swank London private member's club to talk about making it up as you go along, creating an enduring legacy and the importance of pop music.

Clubland May

2010 looks like it will be a big year for DFA with the hotly anticipated final album from LCD Soundsystem due out imminently, though the excitement of that release has been somewhat sullied by being leaked on the internet ahead of the release date, a fate that unfortunately also befell their last album, Sound of Silver.

Clubland April

Within a few short years Anton Zap has made himself an indispensable part of deep house and has displayed a growing talent for mining late night emotion from his productions. The Russian producer has consistently been hitting the mark of late as his recent emission for the Millions of Moments label shows, as does this joint for Jus-Ed's Underground Quality imprint.

One Life Stand

Pledges to fidelity and channelling the energy of Saturn's return; are Hot Chip all grown up or are they essentially the composite sum of R. Kelly in a Devo hat?

Dealing with musicians runs a close third to the old showbiz adage of never working with children or animals, which makes sense as they for the most part inhabitant the psychological space somewhere in between the two. Only one question into an interview with four members of Hot Chip in an antiquated old boozer in East London and Alexis Taylor is cutting my line of inquiry to the quick.

Clubland March

I read a review recently that took issue with a release not treading new ground, of sticking to familiar pathways within its genre. Like rock music with all of the best chords already used up, there will always be a certain amount of familiarity within electronic music. The 808 and 909 drum sounds are an instantly recognizable feature within the medium, while there are a plethora of production tricks and sounds that are aped, rehashed and re-molded by the bulk of producers. Red Rack'em may not be breaking new soil with his latest twelve for the coveted Untracked label, but through employing some of the classic deep house sounds and themes on the release he alsoch touches on that vital quality of creating a classic vibe.

Rupert Grint

Rupert Grint looks slightly uncomfortable. The young British star may be the veteran of no less than six Harry Potter movies with numbers seven and eight on their way, but right now he looks less than convincing as a stylist helps him into his tight leather vest which will feature on the very pages you are now leafing through. Maybe it's his inner wizard, perhaps just that there doesn't seem to be much rock 'n' roll in the flame headed actor, but between shots, the fashionable attire appears out of place on the young man known to millions as Ron Weasley.

Clubland Jan/Feb

The mnml explosion wasn't particularly kind to hard techno. As the cleaner, reduced ethos of the music proved more popular the harder geared sound fell out of favour for a while, prompting certain labels to go into hibernation or dissolve completely. The pendulum has certainly swung back the other way of late and one of the stalwart labels of hard techno, Blueprint re-emerged this year after a good five years of dormancy. Paul Mac, a vanguard of techno for nearly fifteen years didn't suffer the same fate as some of the record labels, but for the past couple of years his releases have almost exclusively been limited to digital format. His latest excursion under the new moniker of Valmay on Blueprint strikes another win for the label this year and finds Paul Mac in top form.