George & Caplin get remix'd...

Plastic Sound Supply are a record & art label from Denver, CO, USA, specializing in genre defying experimental electronic music and art.

They're celebrating the release of George & Caplin's 'He Really Got Through to Advertising' remix album with a free MP3, and how could I resist?

This Cacheflow remix from the album is right up my street. The term 'melting pot' may have been coined for just such an occasion, as Cacheflow segues seamlessly from glitchy futurism to dubstep-lite and all the way through to folksy, ambient beats.

Grab it for yourself here (Right-click)

Preview & buy MP3s from the album here

Noise Zealand style...

I spent this summer in New Zealand, and between all the skiing and partying managed to dig up a few gems from the local scene.

Optimus Gryme aka Charlie B is the biggest name in the NZ dubstep game right now. I saw him play live at the BASE 10 year party in Wanaka, and was surprised the roof was still on the building by the end of his set.

He released his debut LP back in June, and his Annihilation of the Ego EP is considered one of the best records of the year. If you like your beats heavy, smooth and experimental then this is the guy to check out.

Optimus Gryme - Immortal

Optimus Gryme - A Billy (ft. Billy Fluid)

Buy Optimus Gryme @ Beatport
Grymepace
Check out nzdubstep.com for more info, tour dates and free mixes

Got any Clarky Cat?

As if an obscure Brass Eye reference wasn't enough to make your day, the news that Chris Clark has just dropped his new long player 'Totems Flare' certainly will.

In celebration of this news (and it must be good news as it's forced me to blog after 2 months of silence) i'm throwing up an mp3 from his previous album 'Turning Dragon' to remind you, if necessary', just how good he is.

I haven't yet listened to 'Totems Flare' but if the marked evolution of his work so far is anything to go by, this new album should be an interestingly fresh take on the classic Clark sound.

Clark - New Year Storm

Buy some Clark from Boomkat, you know you want to.

Clarkspace

If there's a party can i come?...

Sportsday Megaphone seem to be turning into quite the reliable source for remixes these days, following up the alarmingly good (see what i did there) re-shuffle of The Rumble Strips' 'Alarm Clock', which incidentally i'm keeping in mind for the obligatory end of year best of lists, with a re-fix (how many other ways can you say rmx) of the Envelopes' 'PARTY', turning it into a weirdly hypnotic and funky track that I just played 4 times in a row. That sentence was long.

Thanks to Resonator for making me aware.

Envelopes - PARTY (Sportsday Megaphone Remix)

Sportspace
Buy some shit

Rrreaching in my cupboard for a painkiller...

Heavy heavy heavy.

Some heads knock pendulum for being overproduced and commercial, but tell me an entire club wouldn't lose their minds if this came over the speakers.

Freestylers ft. Pendulum and Sirreal - Painkiller

The Pendulum Radio1 Essential Mix is well worth seeking out if you like your DnB rrraucous.

The Monday Chiller #21 - Nightmares on Wax...

Strings and lilting beats pour Les Nuits.

Nightmares on Wax – Les Nuits (Z-Share. Man I hate Z-Share, it sucks nuts but yousendit isn't working tonight)

Nightsite
Buy ‘Carboot Soul’ ici

Mysterons will lively you up...

'More fun than a weekend in Penzance' NME

'I cried salty Grandma tears when this mix ended' Vice magazine

'Mysterons are to music what Captain Scarlet was to the Watergate scandal' Word magazine

The above quotes are entirely fictitious but hell, that's what they'd all be saying if they'd heard of Mysterons. Probably.

Also known as Tim Southorn and Oliver Quinlan, Mysterons have been experimenting with sound and modifying equipment since their days in the 6th-form. They list influences such as Dangermouse, Royksopp, Aphex Twin, The Specials, The Pharcyde and Stevie Wonder, and with such eclectic taste how could their own tunes be anything but?

Firstly check out this mixtape, recently featured in DJ magazine and available to download for free from the Mysterons site:

Mysterons mixtape (27 mins)

Just one look at the tracklisting and you knows it's gonna be hot:

Intro/ Commodores- Captain Quickdraw
Bugz in the attic- Consequences
Break machine- Break Dance Party
Gary Numan- M.E. / Ray Charles- I got a woman
Benny Golson- The new Killer Joe rap
Quantic Soul Orchestra- Hold it down
mysterons- Don't phunk with my CPU
Spektrum- Kinda New / The Dave
Collin's Band- Ride your Pony
Luke Vibert- YoSePH
The Method- Fat Hair
Jean Jaques Perry- E.V.A. (Fatboy Slim mix)
Royksopp- So Easy
2 Live Crew- Can a nigga get a table dance? / Kraftwerk- It's more fun to compute
Uffie- Ready to Uff
Ram Jam- Black Betty
K.C. & the Sunshine Band- Sound your funky horn

Ripped casually from the myspace and listened to animatedly:

Mysterons - Moving Coils (Highly Recommended)

Mysterons - That's The Way (Highly Recommended)

Mysterons - Black As Mourning (Why kid ourselves, you know it's Highly Recommended)

As yet they remain unsigned, go be their friend on Mice Space and tell them you want to buy their records.

Mysterons myspace
Official website

If you like this, give a holler by clicking on the comment button below. Do it now, before you click off elsewhere on your ceaseless mission to find new music to slake your thirst. We're all on the same trip.

The Monday Chiller #18 - RJD2...

RJD2 - Get Off My Spaceship Bitch

Taken from the 2004 '1976' EP on Def Jux.

Put on, put down, come on, come down, bring down...

Beatsmithery. I like that word regardless of whether it’s officially a word or not. What we have here is some fine beatsmithery from Swedish artist/DJ/producer Staffan Ulmert aka Mojib, who is set to release his debut album proper ‘Whimsical Lifestyle’ on Canada’s Non-Existent Recordings on October 16th.

With beats reminiscent of Shadow’s best stuff, Mojib’s influences can clearly be heard in his work, but he manages to avoid falling into the category of ‘If I wanted to hear something sounding like Unkle then I would just listen to Unkle’ and also brings new shit to the table. Sampling film soundtracks such as Donnie Darko (My Love), Sigur Ros (Break Of Dawn), and remixing Kings Of Convenience and The Go! Team, his music never gets dull. The album looks like it could be a great soundtrack to the coming autumn.

Mojib – My Love

Mojib – Swamp Monster

Mojib – Break Of Dawn

Mojib – Learn the Put Down

The Go! Team – Grip Like a Vice (Mojib remix)

There is plenty to make and do on Mojib’s website: www.mojib.net. Along with snippets of the new album you can download his web-only LP ‘The Class of ‘00’, loads of remixes including a cracking Ian Brown rework, an Unkle megamix mashup and a great Avalanches mix.

All in all Mojib is a welcome addition to the experimental/beats/downtempo genre and sits happily alongside peers Unkle, DJ Shadow, RJD2, Four Tet et al. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes to outshine those dudes in years to come, seems like they’ve fallen off a bit lately. The outsider? No ta.

Pre-order Whimsical lifestyle here.

M.I.A.? Eh? Eh?

Seems I’m the only blogger in the West who hasn’t done a M.I.A. post, so check this remix she did of Cornershop’s Topknot. The first and last time Cornershop will ever feature on Eclectic Hermit. I hope.

Cornershop – Topknot (M.I.A. remix)

Get Kala here.

The Monday Chiller #15 - Fug...

Fug - Fairweather Friend

Downtempo orchestral beats with loping bass and piano loops to ease you through a post-festival/post-weekend/post-holiday Monday. Try if you like: Zero 7, Feist, Morcheeba, etc.

Since when has weather been fair though? It's been miserable in Yorkshire for the past three days when i've had nothing to do and now the weekend is over we've got bluebird skies. Gutted.

Incidentally this is the only record I ever bought from the now defunct Fopp shop. R.I.P. Fopp, Musiczone, Tony Wilson.

Tussk Tussk...

There's no need for all this secrecy and subterfuge from Rephlex surrounding The Tuss, everyone knows it's RDJ anyway and it's not like they need to work hard to create interest for new material by Mr James. I suppose if the tunes weren't up to scratch they could have continued the ruse to save face, but the EP Confederation Trough and following LP Rushup Edge (still short at 6 tracks) are simply as good as anything the Twin has ever done. In any guise.

This snippet of a review by Plan B magazine describes the music much better than I could right now:

'Rushup Edge continues the rededication to fast-paced, brain-bruising fun-fun-FUN! shown by the more recent Analords series of releases. There’s plenty of room for simplicity and repetition in music, but these six tracks reinvent themselves every few seconds, constantly refusing to get bored with one rhythm or melody. Every sound is fresh, as though each juicy synth wiggle and crisp beat were harvested from the circuit board in peak condition, Man from del Monte style. Each successive track piles on the layers, until ‘Death Fuck’ sweeps an avalanche through the speakers, leaving ‘Goodbye Rute’ in a realm of glacial relative calm.'

Check it.

From Confederation Trough:

The Tuss - Alspacka (Z-Share)

I especially dig the sample of the sound that's made when you clack your tongue off the roof of your mouth. Inspired.

From Rushup Edge:

The Tuss - Rushup I Bank 12 (Z-Share)
The Tuss - Death Fuck Mental Beats (Z-Share)

Or buy both from Boomkat if you're not down with the whole 'Amazon = world domination' thing.

Get deeper into the enigma and find other songs here, here and here. (The last two look the same but are different).

I'm using Z-Share for this cos fileden has just about filled it's bandwith boots for the month and will be resetting in 6 days.

It's Friday, yes it's Friday...

If music were an STD, here's what I picked up this week:

Iron and Wine - Boy With A Coin

New single from Mr Beam, I heard it on 6music as I was waking up this morning. If you only download one song from todays post, make it this one. (Though they're all immense)

Crystal Castles vs. HEALTH - Crimewave

From the Castles/HEALTH split 7", this is all over the tinternet but too good not to post.

Grizzly Bear - Knife (Girl Talk Remix)

Ow! The Knife vs. Wamp Wamp? It's a sure hit in Girl Talk's hands.

Hexstatic - Tokyo Traffic

Heavy

Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name Of (Mr Oizo Remix)

You know how the French are doing these days. This scuzz-fest goes beyond a remix and emerges an entirely different beast.

The Knife - One Hit (Crimp Yr Hair DJs Rmx)

My favourite artist being remixed by two of the slickest DJs abart? Good times.

To My Boy - Model

I hope To My Boy get more recogniton because this song can be filed under 'Great British Single'.

The Whip - Divebomb (Crystal Castles Remix)

Another CC track that sees the group seemingly unable to do wrong.

Enjoy the beats and the weekend.

Come on, who can, who can, can hear the bass drum?...

I heard this on Radio 1 last night and extended my drive home so i could listen to the whole thing, dancing like a loon in my car all the way. Any tune that makes you go mental everytime you hear it even though it's over a decade old is worth a post.

Prodigy - No Good (Start the Dance)

Thanks to Manalogue who I cribbed this from, check out his blog for Techno goodness.

The Monday Chiller 8# - Scrotum Ear Lobe

Oh man, what began as a simple Monday Chiller post about one Datasette song has snowballed into a mountain of information and music that i can't possibly tackle in this post alone. Therefore i'll find a replacement track for today and try to get to grips with this can of worms tomorrow.

All i'll say at this point is that Datassette is my new favourite artist, simply because of this description of his track Eggs of Length:

'A short blast of egg-based nonsense'

Well, there are other reasons I like him too but that is one of the best. Anyone not tantalised by this eggy promise should look elsewhere for musical nourishment.

Here's the song then, Scrotum Ear Lobe by Lucky and Easy, from the album I Would Do Anything For A Dairylea. I have no idea where I got it but it's been on my computer for years and I just remember loving the name, the fact that the tune is good is a bonus. There's nothing like some nice downtempo electronica reminiscent of AFX to ease you into the week.

Lucky and Easy - Scrotum Ear Lobe

I've inspired myself to start creating a post of songs with great names like the two mentioned above, but i'll probably forget by the time i've finished this. Got any suggestions?

Oh yeah and this is my 50th post! Thanks to everyone who visits the site, has linked to me, commented and whatnot. Big up especially to Aidan of Certified Banger who inspired me to start. Here's to the century.

Interim Bloggage AKA The Lazy Post...

A selection of songs to get you pumped for the weekend ahead. Best make the most of what sunshine there is. Indoor barbecue anyone? The following songs are mostly beats-based and designed to get you jerking about. Warning! Do not listen to this playlist in enclosed public spaces. Thanks to the blogs i nicked Crystal Castles and The Rumble Strips from.

Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Mister Mental

A Tribe Called Quest - Scenario

Adam Freeland - Burn The Clocks (taken from FabricLive 16)

Dizze Rascal - Sirens (Chase & Status Remix)

Crystal Castles - Untrust Us

The Rumble Strips - Alarm Clock (Sportsday Megaphone's Stereo Adventure Remix)

I'm off to Le Leeds tomorrow for birthday shenanigans/liver abuse, there may be a French hip-hop post on Sunday but don't hold yer breath.

To the Australian readers: How's the weather down there? I've got a friend who's travelling down the east coast in typical student fashion, give a holler if you see him. Goes by the name of Paul. So far Melbourne is winning in the 'Who is the furthest visitor to my blog in terms of miles' competition that i've been silently running in my head since setting Sitemeter up. Any NZ challengers? Closest so far is Bradford, big up!

The Monday Chiller 7# - Caustic Window...

One of Aphex Twin's many monikers, the Caustic Window LP Compilation is for the most part a journey through some very dark and twisted electronica. Thumping bass and techno beats provide no respite, apart from track 4 Italic Eyeball which lays out snappy drums and a rippling, rolling bassline under a breathless vocal and pied-piper style synth melody.

Caustic Window - Italic Eyeball

For a taste of the darkside try the unrelenting squelch-fest that is album-opener Joyrex J4. Listener discretion is advised: may cause eyeballs to melt on repeated listening.

Caustic Window - Joyrex J4

Phew i'm off to listen to some whale song. And... relax. Actually, have you heard that shit? Sounds like dinosaurs having sex. Maybe some Sigur Ros then. D'oh! Sounds like whales having sex.

Find out more about the Window/Twin at Discogs or buy the LP at Boomkat

Dancing monkeys...

So the debate rages. Is it dance? Indie? Post-rave industrialised pop with a bleeding heart and a shank in its pocket? Don't ask me. Alls I know is it's good music. Well no, it is dance. All you Chemical Brothers fans (no thanks) will be dissapointed with the album's lack of crossover appeal but anyone who likes a good old mashup party will be dribbling with excitement about the veritable buffet of tunes on offer.

With all the attention Simian Mobile Disco have been getting from the bloggers I was a bit worried that there wouldn't be much fresh stuff on the album. Not to worry though, the ex-simian team of James and James throw up plenty (good) new tracks alongside the likes of future classic Hustler and the SMD alternative to Justice's D.A.N.C.E., It's The Beat.

Plenty of thumping bass sets the tone on opener Sleep Deprivation, maybe an odd choice for the first track but it definitely sets the Simian stall out early - this is heavy stuff, better get some good speakers. Other standout tracks include I Believe, a premium hands-in-the-air banger that is gonna be a favourite on the festival circuit this summer. Continuing the hippy vibe from this weeks Monday Chiller, Love is a twanging bass mission that spells (s.p.e.l.l.s.) out that really, love is all you need. Aww. Maybe SMD haven't quite left their indie roots behind completely. A special mention goes out the speaks, squelches and squawks that infest this record. Thankfully i'm a big fan of synth madness, otherwise it could get annoying.

All in all I really like this album and I think the boyos have done a good job in treading the thin line of classification that sees other groups relegated into pigeonholes like new-rave. (Damn, so nearly got through without mentioning it).

The tracks here do a good job of getting across what the album is like, and hopefully haven't already been posted to death.

SMD - Tits & Acid
SMD - Hotdog
SMD - Love
SMD - I Got This Down

Attack Decay Sustain Release was released yesterday, so why haven't you got it already?

The Monday Chiller #4...

Lismore - Come Undone

I would recommend listening to this song while travelling, preferably in the rain. The insistent beat and ethereal vocals lend themselves so well to thunderstorms or journeys across frozen landscapes, as seen above. If you have no plans to go outside today then simply stare at the picture and let the track do all the work for you.