Beatzcast: Freestyle Essentials 01
Beatzcast: Freestyle Essentials 02
Beatzcast: Freestyle Essentials 03

Pikaya - Cambrium (Cadenza)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Peter Chambers: This is not house so much as the ivy that clings to it.

Will Saul & Lee Jones - Hug the Scary (Aus Music)
Genre: Minimal/Tech, Electro-House

Charts: August 23 2007

Gavin Mueller’s guide to Ghettotech

Future Loop Foundation - The Sea and the Sky (Louisiana Recordings)
Genre: House, Neo-Disco

Osborne - Outta Sight (Spectral Sound)
Genre: Acid, House

Nate DeYoung: If we’re heading into the last days of summer, then by all means let it be soundtracked by shimmering piano-house.

Brendon Moeller - Jazz Space (Third Ear)
Genre: Techno, Dub

False - False (M_nus)
Genre: Minimal/Deep

Andy Stott - Fear of Heights (Modern Love)
Genre: Dub, Minimal/Deep

Peter Chambers: As a child, I used to build my Lego castles as per the instructions, but only the first time. The subsequent re-builds would slowly deviate, riffing around the structures of the original but adding, subtracting and supplementing elements, to the point where my later creations were unrecognisable as mutants of the original.

Tobias Thomas - Please Please Please (Kompakt)
Kaito - Contact to the Spirits (Kompakt)

Nina Phillips: Thomas is too busy crafting to see the dancers looking back at him from the floor. No wonder this was mixed live—in an empty dance club in Cologne.

V/A - Grand Cru 2007 (Connaisseur)
V/A - Rekids One (Rekids)

Nina Phillips: If you build bangers, they will come.

Wiley - Playtime Is Over (Big Dada)

Chris Gaerig: Playtime Is Over proves that Wiley truly does run the grime game. Hell, he’s the only one left.

Arsenal - The Coming (Idjut Boys Mixes) (Play Out!)
Genre: Downtempo, Balearic

Beatzcast #47: Crambe Repetita

Deepchord Presents Echospace - The Coldest Season (Modern Love)
Genre: Dub, Techno

Todd Hutlock: Basic Channel effectively invented the wheel of this genre, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t admire the latest models to roll off the modern assembly line.

G-Man - Quo Vadis (Styrax Leaves)
Genre: Techno, Dub

Peter Chambers: These tracks lumber forward, only allowing the slow revelation of a timbro-melodic theme to happen “in the fullness of time.” It’s a strategy that gave rise to a lot of exceedingly dull records, but Varley knows exactly which tone-pots to touch, and how.

Adam Craft / Grindvik - Catch Me / NAND-Grind (Stockholm LTD)
Genre: Minimal/Tech, Techno

B12 - Practopia / Slope (B12 Records)
Genre: Techno, IDM/Experimental

Todd Hutlock: The infamous cover of the original Artificial Intelligence comp features a robot chilling out in an easy chair with headphones on. This could easily have been what it was listening to.

Various Artists - Death Is Nothing To Fear Vol. 2 (Spectral Sound)
Genre: Minimal/Tech, Techno

Argenis Brito - Micro Mundo (Cadenza)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Nate DeYoung: With Micro Mundo’s highs never too far away from its lows, the Chilean techno drug is no longer as potent as it used to be.

Henrik B feat. Terri B - Soul Heaven (Boss)
Genre: House, Electro-House

Michael F. Gill: Let’s act like this review never happened.

Beatzcast #45: Crambe Repetita

Michael F. Gill’s featured article on Stylus: The Bluffer’s Guide To Freestyle

The Chemical Brothers - Do it Again (Remixes) (Virgin / Astralwerks)
Genre: Minimal/Tech, Electro-House

Beatzcast #46: Crambe Repetita

Album Reviews:

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Reinterpretations - reviewed by Mike Powell

Prins Thomas - Cosmo Galactic Prism - reviewed by Tal Rosenberg

Dixon - Body Language Vol. 4 - reviewed by Nina Phillips

V/A - Kompakt Total 8 - reviewed by Peter Chambers

V/A - Soundboy Punishments - reviewed by Nina Phillips

The Chemical Brothers - We Are The Night - reviewed by Dan Weiss

White Noise - An Electric Storm - reviewed by Mike Powell

Burial - Ghost Hardware (Hyperdub)
Genre: Dubstep

Nick Sylvester: If you can imagine yourself cooking bacon in a forest somewhere at night, and every so often just shouting a bit from “Genie in a Bottle” because you thought you heard a motorcycle engine in the distance, you’re halfway there.

DJ Naughty - World EP (Moodmusic)
Genre: Electro-House, Neo-Disco

Italoboyz - Viktor Casanova (Mothership)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Nate DeYoung: I’ll enjoy the sights of “fucked up girls trying to imitate the opera singer” as much as hearing the minimal percussion which delicately avoids overshadowing or under-lighting the track’s main attraction.

Ilya Santana - Quasar (Disciple of Groove)
Genre: Neo-Disco

Jupiter Black feat. Fred Ventura - Hold Me (Clone)
Genre: Italo

Michael F. Gill: Needless to say, if you found stuff like Ryan Paris, P. Lion, Ken Laszlo, and Eddy Huntington to be pure parmesan, you probably won’t be into this.

Beatzcast #44: Nate Deyoung

Nick Southall is feeling balearic while reviewing West Coast by Studio, and Future Rock by Strategy.

Nina Phillips is feeling trancey while reviewing Guy Gerber’s Late Bloomers and Stephan Bodzin’s Liebe Ist

Charles Merwin is hanging out in NYC, dancing with Tigercity

Todd Burns looks into the Outhud-ness of Delorean’s Transatlantic KK

Jahcoozi - Reworks (Careless)
Genre: House, Leftfield

Tiger Stripes / Solomun - Hooked / Jungle River Cruise (Liebe Detail)
Genre: House, Minimal/Deep

Nate DeYoung: It didn’t take too long until I realized that yes, once again, the sky must still be quite pink.

Social Being - Free Your Mind (Tuning Spork)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Peter Chambers: The guitar part is like a memory, like the raw acoustic riffs struggling against the walls of digital feedback in Fennesz’ Endless Summer.

Turbo Crystal - French Girl (Tiny Sticks)
Genre: Leftfield, Neo-Disco

Luciano - Fourges et Sabres (Perlon)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Peter Chambers: Luciano, unlike Guns n Roses (there’s a first time for every comparison), has achieved that rare thing, a track which almost totally suspends the sensation of time passing, which thrusts you into a soundworld which is propulsive and immersive.

Socks and Sandals - Rishi Saturn (Microcosm)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Beatzcast #43: Crambe Repetita

Kevin J. Elliott reviews Chromeo’s Fancy Footwork

Deetron feat. DJ Bone - Life Soundtrack (Music Man)
Genre: House, Techno

Simon Baker - Plastik / Jitters (Playhouse)
Genre: House, Minimal/Deep

Peter Chambers: Just like some people’s nudity is more naked than others, some repetitions are somehow more repetitive than others, while others are seemingly less repetitive, more transformative.

Lee Douglas - New York Story (Rong)
Genre: Neo-Disco

Nate DeYoung: It’s wide-eyed and effortless as a wind-up toy, but packs 500-lb chimes straight out of Blondie’s “Rapture”.

Len Faki - Rainbow Delta/Mekong Delta Remixes (Ostgut Ton)
Genre: Techno, Minimal/Deep

Various Artists - Sasomo EP (BAR25)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Michael F. Gill: With the world remaining indifferent to my personal peaks and valleys, why not have my music be the same way?

Avus - Furry Hat / Spnkr (Border Community)
Genre: Progressive/Trance

Brother From Another Planet / .Xtrak - 7th City Classics Vol. 1 (7th City)
Genre: Techno, Acid

The Beatz staff pick their favorite dance releases of 2007, so far

Beatzcast #42: Crambe Repetita

Nina Phillips reviews Efdemin self-titled album on Dial Records.

Peter Visti - Dolly (Mindless Boogie)
Genre: Neo-Disco, Balearic

Wild Rumpus - Musical Blaze-Up (Bitches Brew)
Genre: Neo-Disco, Reggae

Nate DeYoung: I can only imagine that the Rumpus duo of legends, DJ Cosmo and Gary Lucas, must have a winged costume or two in their closets.

DJ 3000 / Gerald Mitchell / Ellen Allien - Alia / Geloshai 1862 / Retina (Motech Limited)
Genre: Detroit, Techno

Pharoahe Monch - Body Baby Remixes (Island Records)
Genre: House, R & B

Mallory O’Donnell: This single is a mixed bag to be sure, but one worth investigating, especially for those in search of rap / house crossovers that take chances, rather than skating to the easy route.

cv313 - Dimensional Space (echospace [detroit])
Genre: Techno, Dub

Henrik Schwarz - Walk Music (Moodmusic)
Genre: House, Minimal/Deep

Dennis Ferrer - Son of Raw (Locodice Remixes) (Objektivity)
Genre: Techno, Minimal/Deep

Peter Chambers: Is LocoButtrich the king of mild pitch house?

Weekly Staff Charts

Beatzcast #41: Crambe Repetita

Andrew Gaerig looks at Klaus Dinger’s post-Neu! project La Dusseldorf

Brad Luen reviews the Disco documentary The Godfather of Disco

Prosumer / Murat Tepeli - What Makes You Go For It? (Ostgut Tontrager)
Genre: House, Minimal/Deep

Peter Chambers: The title track is somewhere between the blue, raw, and pink beats of the old Trax tracks, but with a vocal trip describing a one night stand that’s equal parts philosophical and carnal, leading to automatic comparisons with Chelonis R. Jones.

Zander VT - Dig Your Own Rave (Memo)
Genre: Techno, Electro-House

Tolga Fidan - Venice / Tambulistan (Vakant)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Peter Chambers: Once something sufficiently menacing is found (black horns, icy strings, something scaly and slithering), a two-note minor interval or an arabesque/creepy/ancient-sounding melody is mixed in, and there’s your track.

Theo Parrish - Sound Sculptures Volume 1 (Sound Signature)
Genre: Detroit, House

Michael F. Gill: To me, there is still enough of a distinctive “soulful” (for lack of a better word) quality to this music that comes across as tangible, even when motifs are being heavily repeated.

Syncom Data - Beyond the Stars Remixes (Syncom Data Records)
Genre: Techno, Dub

Beatzcast #40: Crambe Repetita

Nick Southall reviews Two Lone Swordsmen’s Wrong Meeting II

Nate DeYoung takes on the Scandanavian Disco of Bjorn Torske

Portable - Don’t Give Up (Remixes) [Sud Electronic]
Genre: Minimal/Deep

Turzi - Seven Inch Allah (Record Makers)
Genre: Indie-Dance, Leftifeld

Nick Sylvester: Three pretty different tracks from this French act, though they all could have ended up on Optimo’s Psyche Out cosmic/dance/kraut mix from two years ago had they existed then.

Andy Stott - The Massacre (Modern Love)
Genre: Dub, Techno

Underground Resistance - Electronic Warfare 2.0 (Underground Resistance)
Genre: Detroit, Techno

Todd Hutlock: I’m a pretty mild-mannered dude, but this shit made me want to punch some oppressive fucker in the face! Uh!

Andomat 3000 and Jan - L Delay (Cadenza)
Genre: Minimal/Deep, House

Peter Chambers: If you’ve a troublesome vocal to mix out of, this rather plain track could save your fretting DJ ass.

Various Artists - 4 Season Sampler, Volume 1 (Jet Set Records)
Genre: Neo-Disco, Downtempo

Studio - Life’s a Beach! (Remixes) (Information)
Genre: Neo-Disco, Balearic

Peter Chambers: Oddly similar, the two mixes here are sun and moon to each other.

Weekly Staff Charts

Beatzcast #39: Crambe Repetita

Nick Southall reviews Rushup Edge by The Tuss, on Rephlex Records.

Ben Good’s take on Adapt by Milanese, new on Planet Mu.

Chymera - Satura / Arabesque (Tishomingo)
Genre: Progressive/Trance, Minimal/Deep

Nina Phillips: How else to revel in the neo-prog essentials? Deep Connaisseur chords and a lithe melody line cutting over top, natch.

Baldelli / Dionogi - Cosmicdiba 2007 (Gomma)
Genre: Neo-Disco, New Wave/Synth

Dopplereffekt / Los Angeles TF / Mike Dunn - Gesamtkunstwerk / Magical Body / So Let It Be House (Clone Classic Cuts)
Genre: Chicago, Electro, Italo

From The Archives #2

Skatebard - Marimba (Supersoul Recordings)
Genre: Neo-Disco, Minimal/Deep

Nick Sylvester: Something like “Feed The Mood” after two decades of looped disintegration, or really any children’s toy on its last five or six seconds of battery life, “Marimba” pines for early Detroit through a fog of tired synths and last-legged drum machine clatter, and yes there are marimbas.

Cassy / A Guy Called Gerald - Somelightuntothenight / Bodecka (Beatstreet Berlin)
Genre: House

Peter Chambers: The whole EP here is old-school, or the classic house sound – just the basics, no faffing around. These tracks don’t have to unfold, they’re already laid out.

INFLUX #004: CHELONIS R. JONES

Stylus editor Todd Burns talked to Jones about his upcoming album Chatterton, the cover art to Dislocated Genius, and what’s it like to be the “Franz Kafka of electro-pop”…

Beatzcast #38: Crambe Repetita

Weekly Staff Charts

DeepChord - Vantage Isle (echospace [detroit])
Genre: Techno, Dub

Todd Hutlock: Vantage Isle is perfection for anyone looking for the logical successors to the Basic Channel throne, or just looking for something mellow for those steamy late summer nights.

Ame - Balandine (Innervisions)
Genre: Techno, Progressive/Trance

Gudrun Gut - In Pieces (Monika Enterprises)
Genre: Downtempo, Minimal/Deep

Peter Chambers: If you’ve ever seen Michael Mayer do his dance behind the decks, the Burger/Voigt remix is, well…this is what the dance “sounds” like.

Audion - Noiser / Fred’s Bells (Spectral Sound)
Genre: Minimal/Tech, Techno

Nate DeYoung: Dear’s previous all-excess all-acid diet lead to the dreadful and desperate cul-de-sac of “how can I add even more?” With “Bells” and his recent string of songs, it sounds like he realized the question should’ve been “How can I make it sound like I’m adding even more?”

DJ Koze - All The Time (Philpot)
Genre: Minimal/Tech

Argy - 1985 (Liebe Detail Spezial)
Genre: Minimal/Deep, House

Motorcitysoul - Kazan (Exit Cube) (Aus Music)
Genre: Electro-House, Minimal/Deep

Peter Chambers: Classy gear for warming up cool-hearted floors.

Beatzcast #37: Crambe Repetita

Mike Powell talks to Gui Boratto

Thomas Inskeep’s bluffer’s guide to ’80s R&B

Mike Orme reviews Justice’s †

Fergal O’Reilly takes on Burn Your Own Church by Black Strobe