Posted by: Jay

Before we get to the post, a brief interlude:

Donavaaaaaaaaan baby!!!  Way to send the USA through!

OK, sorry, had to get that out.  So anyway, Krafty Kuts, already a top five SYTYCB guy, has been taking his game to new heights recently.  I was drifting around Soundcloud the other night looking for some last minute fillers for my next podcast (coming this Friday!) and I ran not one, not two, but THREE dope new Krafty tracks.

We’ve been kicking around the idea of doing a “So You Think You Can Bump 2010″* and if we did Krafty is looking very good to repeat, if not move up in the standings. With his new work he’s moved firmly into the number two slot of my favorite breaks producers. I know the Stanton Warriors are devastated rite now.

*If you’d like to see a SYTYCB 2010 let us know.

Check it (click the little down arrow to download):

I remixes of love old-timey songs, so this is rite up my alley.

Gramophonedzie - Why Don’t You - Krafty Kuts Re-Rub by Kraftykuts

Zodic Cartel AND Krafty Kuts?? Ohhhh hell yes. Speaking of Zodiac Cartel he could be another strong candidate if we did a SYTYCB 2010…

Emanuel Kosh - Make My Music - Zodiac Cartel Remix - Krafty Kuts Re-Rub by Kraftykuts

This to me is the most impressive of the three and really a bit of a departure from Krafty’s previous stuff (see above). Very progressive, very pretty and yet when the beat drops still makes you wanna shake that ass. Excellent work.

La Roux - Bulletproof (TEPR Mix) - Krafty Kuts Re-Rub 130BPM by Kraftykuts

What do you think of Krafty’s new work? Is he on his way to supplanting the Plumps as the “Greatest Living Breaks Producer(s)”??

Posted by: Matt

Lawgiverz, two masked British dudes, melted my drug-addled brain a few years ago by dropping a savagely techy breaks set just before sunrise from the bow of a pirate ship.

Let’s let that sink in for a second.

Anyway I left the playa that year so excited about these two masked mystery men that I told everyone who would listen about how great they were, what a bright future they had, and so on. And then….kind of nothing. They followed the great Breaks Migration to SF and played a few sets around town, but nothing really seemed to click the way it did that one night in the desert. They released a single or two, but nothing very unique or forward-moving, and lately I haven’t heard much at all out of their camp. Maybe they are busy with other things, or maybe they just ran out of creative juices.

However, what made them great was that they played “live” in a way that few duos can manage. They had an energy and vitality to their laptop and deck antics that felt so much more fresh and hands-on than most DJ tag teams and button pushers out there, and you can hear it in all their sets from that time. They may have faded away, but their quick flash was so bright. It’s still inspirational to me, to have seen what’s possible, and also a lesson that many great things just aren’t meant to last.

Their live sets seem to be somewhat hard to come by but I found this recording that is supposedly from a music festival in Spain from 2006. The quality is excellent, so it must have been a soundboard recording. Enjoy!

Lawgiverz - Music to the Core (Live in Spain 4/14/2006)

Posted by: Cor

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another “retro” set. Today’s is another one of my own: Rhythmic Trip from 2003… which I believe marks my first and only use of the cliché ‘music-as-journey’ metaphor. This was also my first venture into “nu skool breaks” territory, though to be honest it really doesn’t venture too far. I’ve never been able to take those aggressive wobbling basslines for 70 minutes straight. Anyhow, it has all the basic trademarks of any of my old sets…

- A few mixes I’m still proud of. (The first two.)
- Some tracks I still love. (The last one in particular.)
- A token pop reference (The Madonna remix.)
- At least one track I wish I hadn’t put in there. (The Madonna remix.)

All in all, a very solid set, and one I’m happy to finally have up here. Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

DJ Cor - Rhythmic Trip (right-click to download)

Tracklist pending (I have to look all these old records up.)

Posted by: Cor

It’s Friday, which means you can count on the Beatery for another set of booty-shakin’ beats to kick start your weekend. For this week’s retro set I have an old live set of mine from almost three years ago. This is the second in the Standford Sessions series*, recorded on the Big Love show on KZSU 90.1, Stanford radio. Despite the roughness of the set (it’s the radio, I was a bit nervous) this is a great one, working it’s way from kitschy electro house to progressive breaks at the very end. I still really dig the mix of Put your Hands Up for Detroit and White Horse at the beginning… wish I hadn’t smeared my way into that one. You two diehard DJ Cor fans out there may note a lot of similarities between this and No Excuses, which I recorded a few months later. Sue me, tracks cost eleven bucks back then and I was working at startup. **

Hey, speaking of Stanford Sessions, you know who also has a sweet backlog of radio mixes? Our own Beatery resident, Mr. Matt Haegen. I bet if you ask real nice he’ll put them up. For now, enjoy this one from way back in 2007, when vinyl was still around, when Trentemoller was the new Timo Maas, and when Mylo ruled electrohouse for a few minutes before disappearing into complete obscurity.***

Cor - Stanford Sessions II (4/23/07)(right-click to download)

* I’m working my way backwards here. For the third installation, click HERE.
** Soundflavor, R.I.P.
*** Seriously, where IS that dude? Anyone seen him?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Matt

I can’t quite remember how I came across Apparat’s music, but damn if it didn’t excite me. He managed to blend glitchy beats, bass, and distorted organic textures so well; it hit just about every button I had. He’s naturally evolved over the years as artists do, but once you are familiar with his sound you know it, particularly the droney washes he loves to drape delicately over everything.

As long as I’ve been aware of him, I’ve never heard of an Apparat DJ set. All his performances are of his own work, either solo or with accompanying musicians. I was fortunate enough to catch him at Conne Island in Leipzig a few years ago with Telefon Tel Aviv, and he spent half the night playing guitar with an organist/vocalist, and the rest rocking harder beats with his laptop and controller.

This live recording here is a little over six years old at this point, and though it doesn’t seem like much, that can equal several lifetimes when it comes to electronic music. It’s certainly a little busy and noisy, but it is pure Apparat. Though he’s refined his compositional practices, his signature elements are all here and can be heard to this day in his tracks (including his collaboration with Modeselektor, Moderat). I love that someone has such an unavoidable fingerprint on their work.

Anyway, it starts out watery and slow but be sure to stick with it! He really goes for the full range here, and it’s a totally worthwhile trip.

Apparat - Live @ Fad, Barcelona (2003)