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.