Good people from tigerbeat6 sent me a very fat package including the preview of the new EP from Kid606 - "Dancehall of the Dead" following his superb "Shout at the Döner" album (read my review here) and a few selected items from their recent back catalog.
(to be released on 21 July 2009 by tigerbeat6)
1 Soundsystem of the Dead
2 Monsters-Cardopusher remix
3 Mr. Wobble's Nightmare-Cycheouts Ghost remix
4 Dancehall of the Dead-Blnd!
5 Monsters-Doshy remix
6 Dancehall of the Dead-DJ Absurd remix
7 Baltimorrow's Parties-Duran Duran Duran remix
8 Monsters-Sickboy remix –
9 Mr. Wobble's Nightmare-Mr. Object remix
1 Soundsystem of the Dead
2 Monsters-Cardopusher remix
3 Mr. Wobble's Nightmare-Cycheouts Ghost remix
4 Dancehall of the Dead-Blnd!
5 Monsters-Doshy remix
6 Dancehall of the Dead-DJ Absurd remix
7 Baltimorrow's Parties-Duran Duran Duran remix
8 Monsters-Sickboy remix –
9 Mr. Wobble's Nightmare-Mr. Object remix
Dancehall of the Dead is the scariest and deadliest EP from the recent zombic record of Kid606. Oldschool techno rave or kitschy bassline merge here with dark, heavy dubstep sub-bass, bit of jungle, garage, broken beats, dnb or even breakcore offering a more dancefloor-oriented flavour than the original album and featurs jams from the likes of Cardopusher, Cycheouts Ghost, Doshy, Sickboy, Duran Duran Duran, DJ Absurd, Blnd!, Sickboy and the Mr. Wobble's nightmare remix contest winner, Mr. Object, along with Kid606's refixing of his own track - namely Soundsystem of the Dead - a faster and more punchy version of Dancehall of the Dead.
All remixers definitely approached the reengineering task very seriously, thus producing tight, ass-kicking versions which can and should be played out loud in big venues. However, by no means they are typical bangers, but much more than that. The absolute highlight of this release for me is fantastic remix of Monsters by Cardopusher - Venezuelan master of breakcore and dubstep. The original track, 4/4 rave stomper, under the buttons of Cardopusher has been transformed into a slow-burning dubstep bass monster with heavy beats and sick synths plus occasional jungle amens, and lotsa great voice samples. This track would easily fit into the score of any horror movie. SCARRYYY !!! DJ Absurd treated Dancehall of the Dead with heavy bassline and simple beats with great results - an obvious scorcher of any club dancefloors. Blnd! breakbeat / breakcore remix is very solid, with nice kicks and snares, amens and stuff, very entertaining and catchy. I also really dig Doshy's weird, wonky rave beats and crazy synth work. Duran Duran Duran's track of chopped up beats and pumping techno sound with lots of delays and build-ups seems to be a great DJ tool for the peak of any rave night - a definite crowd-pleaser. Sickboy's is another totally different refix of Monsters track, in whch raw, 'silly' techno clashes head-on with old-school acid beats - a bit strange and first hearing, but give it a try, you'll be surprised!! The only thing that did not work for me was dnb remix by Cycheouts, which seems to be quite formulaic and well, boring. I only wish this EP included a remix or two of Samhein California, the best track from "Shout at the Döner", but I should not complain as this EP still offers a lot, music-wise. Actually, much more than this type of EP's have usually to offer. All in all, I can easily give this release 8 stars out of 10. You should definitely check it on 21 of July.
And for all of you brave readers who managed to scrape through my gibberish I have a special bonus:
Kid606 - Monsters (Cardopusher remix)
Kid606 - Dancehall of the Dead (DJ Absurd remix)
If you dig the new Kid606 stuff, heavily influenced by his relocation to Berlin, you should definitely check Kid606 - kill soundboy kill EP in which Kid606 revamps the title track from his "die soundboy die" ep into a crazy and ferocious stepper full of electronic improvisations and bleeps and punches so typical of him. Apart from that, this EP offers thumping techno and rave tracks and remixes full of proper bass and flirtation with more UK-oriented scene. Bass-heavy "Raving cain" by Bruce Stallion (aka Black Rabbit, DJ Floorclearer), is the highlight of the release for me and this is the track you can download for free:
Kid606 - Raving cain (Bruce Stallion remix)
Bruce Stallion recently released a Big Black Rims EP on tigerbass. Bruce Stallion is actually the new project from Brighton based Dj Floorclearer (Guy Appleton), known for his frantic amen breakcore and for being part of the notorious Wrong Music party crew. He experiments here with heavy bass, crunk, garage and hardcore stuff from UK, melting all this into a weird but interesting treat of ravey voice samples and unsettling melodies, while remixers applied dubstep and bassline aesthetics to produce solid and fatter versions of the title track. In general, quite a nice try Mr. Stallion. Teaser track for you:
Finally, another interesting musician from the tigerbeat stable - Doshy, who has recently released an EP: Bad Beer, Great City Doshy is at the forerunner of the up and coming Berlin Technowobble movement. Electronic producers inspired by the cities vibrant clubscene yet bored with the staticness of it's oversaturated minimal obsession (oh yes I can only support such view!!) . Doshy moved to Berlin from Bavaria and shared a flat with Jamie Vex'd and became heavily inspired by his forward thinking productions and engineering craft. One can hear immediately what direction Doshy would like to take simple techno beats - how he tries to 'wonkify' (what a horrible verb!) them while not necessarily sacrificing their hedonistic values. His music is straight 4/4 dancefloor bangers but with weird twists in the vein of Sinden, Herve or Si Begg. Look out for upcoming Doshy ep's on UK bass label WIDE, Kanji Kinetic's Electrostimulation records, and Doshy's own Robox Neotech. Anyway, don't listen to me, judge by yourselves, listen and download Doshy's banger: