Patrick Wolf @ Bottom Lounge [6.15]

via dots, lines & polygons

Patrick Wolf, with his seemingly endless talents and eccentricities, is now shaping up to have one of the best years in his career. After coming close to quitting his profession, Wolf followed up his critically acclaimed 2007 release, The Magic Position with a successful tour whereupon afterwards he immediately set out recording again.

Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position

Initially calling his project Battle, the fruition of his efforts manifested itself in The Bachelor, which will be the first part in a set of two pieces. Now touring again, this time I’m not going to show up late to the gig and miss the entire thing. What a mistake.

Patrick Wolf – Who Will (Buffetlibre Remix)

Patrick Wolf – Hard Times (Jack Beats Remix)

Here’s why you should be interested in seeing Patrick Wolf live; The guy has mastered more instruments than I can name, which is to say almost an entire orchestra, and he is all about the small details in his live performances. Quality showmanship. All accounts so far of the show have been overwhelmingly positive, check out MOG’s review from a few days ago if you want a good description of what to expect.

For more entertainment, read this Prefix story on what happened to Wolf during the San Francisco stop of the tour that includes spitting on bouncers, cops pointing guns in his face and very dramatic twittering.

Patrick Wolf will be in Chicago at The Bottom Lounge on Monday, June 15th. [Tickets]

(tour dates—>)

Bikinini

via gustavbroms

A few weeks back Diskokaine released the Bikinini EP on Gomma with remixes by Telonius, Christopher Just, Alan 1 and Chicago’s favorite jukin’ party-starter, DJ Funk. Gotta love this guy.

If you’re in the Chicago area, you’ll have a chance to catch DJ Funk alongside The Rapture doing a DJ Set, as well as The Rub, Guns&Bombs, Black Holes, Kid Color, Rob Threezy, Thunderous Olympian and Gatekeeper for another Branded massive at Congress. Stay tuned for a giveaway next week.

Diskokaine – Bikinini (DJ Funk Remix)

Benga @ Smartbar [6.11]

via jeff metal

South London dubstar, Benga, will be dropping through Chicago this week at Smartbar on Thursday, June 11th. I’m left asking if it’s worth the pain that I will feel on Friday and I’m faced with a ‘yes’ .. I would have to say yes – especially since I wasn’t able to catch him at DEMF on account of a missed plane from Leeds. It’s safe to say that I’m pretty amped for this one.

Benga – Killers About

Hailing from Croyden, Benga’s music career kicked off in ’02 with a single on Big Apple Records, and a certain Skream by his side for the release of The Judgement.

Helping define the movement we came to know as ‘dubstep’, Benga released further material on labels like Planet Mu and Tempa, eventually dropping his first solo full-length just last year with Diary Of An Afro Warrior. On the release you’ll find the track “Night” which posted below that Benga produced alongside Coki.

Benga & Coki – Night

Benga – 26 Basslines (L-Vis 1990 Dubble Step Edit)

As far as this year goes he has two Beatport releases, a nasty double single of Buzzin’/One Million that hit the shelves last week as well as the Tectonic Plates 2 double with Skream on the flipside. Both out on Tempa right nowwww..

Roulette

The wait for Cicada’s album is over; Roulette has been released to the public on Critical Mass.

Most of you have heard at least some of the material off of  Roulette already, with two EP releases with Metropolis remixes by Charlie Fanclub, Kenson & The Twelves and Falling Rockets touched up by Just A Band and Moulinex.

There are certainly no shortages of producers wanting to work with Cicada’s material.

Cicada – Metropolis (The Twelves Remix)

Cicada – Falling Rockets (Just A Band Remix)

Hard Island

Nathan Fake‘s follow-up Hard Island EP is something else. Techno with a haunting shoegaze/idm delerium sprawled across much of it, it’s one of the more focused efforts that I’ve seen made so far this year. Considering his catalog I expected nothing less, and I’d encourage you to backtrack through his releases if you aren’t familiar with his work.

Nathan Fake – Castle Rising

Released on James Holden’s label,  Border Community, hopefully we’ll be graced with several big-name techno remixes like certain previous tracks of Fake’s experienced, done by the likes of Holden, Apparat, Four Tet and Deadmau5.

I’d love to see a proper reworking of “The Turtle”- a slammin’ techno track that tops the release easily. A remix similar to the treatment of  “The Sky Was Pink”, done by James Holden for the 2005 release.

Nathan Fake – The Sky Was Pink (James Holden Remix)

Feelin’ Pitto

There’s not much that I know about Pitto aside from that he released a single on Rejected a few weeks ago titled Feelin’ which I am… well, really feelin’. Until I learn Dutch, I think that his bio will remain a mystery to me..

As far as the track goes, it’s very paced and mechanical. A smooth ride. If you like what you hear, check out his other track “Sexvibe” that he released a while back on the same label.

Pitto – Feelin’

Galapagos4 10yr Anniversary [6.06]

For ten years now, Galapagos4 has been one of the most respected and notorious independent, underground labels around, redefining the genre and setting standards for underground hip hop in the city of Chicago. Known for experimental production and top-knotch lyricism, it’s a more cerebral craft to these guys than other contemporary heavyweights in the industry, and this week we can celebrate their decade long footprint in the windy city scene.

what:  Galapagos4 10th Anniversary Party [tickets]
when:  Saturday, June 6th
where:  Reggies
why:  Typical Cats, Offwhyte, Robust, Mestizo, Outerlimitz, Pugslee Atomz, Himself, Rift, Royce, Dirty Digital, DJ White Lightning, Denizen Kane, Qwel, Dallas Jackson, Dr. Jones and Maker

From the ashes of WHPK’s Wednesday Night Rap Show rose Qwazaar, Qwel, Denizen Kane & DJ Natural as the Typical Cats [buy] with their self-titled debut that dominated my headphones for months steadily at the beginning of the millenium. “Thin Red Line” always stood out for me properly as a dedication to their roots and our pulic transportation.

Typical Cats – Thin Red Line

Touching on Typical Cats I’ve got to give Qwel [buy] his due praise. The mad-scientist on the label, Qwel has worked alongside Maker, DJ Meaty Ogre and DJ White Lightning. Below is from a collaboration with Maker.

Qwel & Maker – Chicago ’66

DJ Whitelightning‘s [buy] earlier release White on White Crime has one of my favorite Pugslee Atomz drops titled “5 From Every Dime” that has some of the best lyrics in any song I can think of.

DJ White Lightning – 5 From Every Dime (feat. Pugslee Atomz)

Another album that I listened to on repeat for months back in the day was Providence Plays No Favorites by Himself [buy]. Haven’t heard much since, but that album is great.

Himself – Everybody Dance

In closing with a memory; A few years ago I caught the Galapagos4 roster swinging through Tempe while I was out in Arizona. The Tempe arts community out there had a lot of love to give to the Chicago underground and on that trip I caught Mike Gao & Mestizo [buy],  hailing from LA, having just released an album together.

Mestizo & Mike Gao – Pickup 52s

Flagrant Punditry and More

via Avalon Hollywood

Here’s a fresh new remix of the New Dehli based group, Midival Punditz, thrown together by In flagranti. It’s an interesting blend of distorted disco coupled with rock & roll guitars, indian drums and sparsely laden synth lines. Catchy.

Midival PunditZ – Atomizer (In Flagranti Remix)

Alright alright. While I’m at it I gotta take the chance to post up the Dolby Anol edit of the title track off of their latest full length, Brash & Vulgar, released just a few weeks ago in April.<3 Dolby Anol super-much.

In Flagranti – Brash & Vulgar (Dolby Anol Edit)

And let’s cap this one off with one more Dolby Anol piece, sequeing into a little shoutout to the talented and religiously devout,  Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk, and this tasty little remix of “Love Can’t Turn Around” that I copped off of Dancefloor Mayhem that is from Funk’s latest EP release with a sick little Lifelike remix on it as well.

Farley “Jackmaster” Funk – Love Can’t Turn Around (Dolby Anol Remix)

16bit @ Lava [6.05]

16Bit’s DRT and Kidnappa are setting up shop on Friday at Lava, and I have a strong feeling that we’re in for a world of dubstep hurt. With their release of The Death Car EP last year and a solid feature on Kissy-Sell-Out’s radio gig, these guys have nothing but momentum behind them. They’re now slated to release a second EP here shortly on Southside Dubstars.

So I have for you the “In The Death Car” vocal mix, the Mr. Oizo “Flat Beat” rework and that Kissy-Sell-Out mix for your listening pleasure. If you’re stateside, check to see if they’re swinging through your city before they head back to London to perform at Fabric.

16Bit – In The Death Car (Vocal Mix) via Data Sapiens

Mr Oizo – Flat Beat (16bit Remix)

16bit Kissy-Sell-Out Mix

(tour dates–>)

El Gallo Loco

It’s another dark & dreary day here in Chicago, and I couldn’t find a more suitable track to characterize today with than Loco Dice‘s “El Gallo Negro,” or ‘The Black Rooster from the Flight LB 7475/El Gallo Negro EP released in ’06 on Ovum.

Loco Dice – El Gallo Negro

Loco Dice has releases on Four Twenty, M_Nus, Desolat and Ovum and his latest works are the 7 Dunham Place Remixed releases featuring “Pimp Jackson Is Talkin’ Now!!!” remixed by Mike Huckaby, DJ Sneak and Luciano.

Loco Dice – Pimp Jackson Is Talkin’ Now!!! (rapidshare)

Recorded in New York, the release is a metropolitan odyssey of sorts for Dice, and presents itself as subway listening over your standard club jam. Very headphone friendly.

I recently saw Loco Dice & Luciano headline the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, and i dug up a few vids you might enjoy (1 2 3 4 5). After that weekend I have a whole new perspective on live techno and music altogether..

Loco Dice Factory TV Interview

Zombie Attack

On June 8th you’ll be able to get yourself the latest VV Brown “Shark In The Water” release with remixes by Crazy P, Louis La Roche, & Wendel Kos. To hold us over we have the Zombie Disco Squad remix. Still dying to hear the Crazy P remix though.

As their previous work accomplishes quite well, this remix showcases the ‘Squad’s own blend of floor-popping dance music inspired by baile funk, african rhythms, bmore and hip hop.

VV Brown – Shark In The Water (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)

Producers following a hip hop methodology of production & samples, the music ZDS create makes them a nice fit into Jesse Rose‘s label, Made To Play, on which they just released a new EP titled Banging on Drums around two weeks ago following up their February release of The Cursed EP.

Check out their track “Vie!” when you get a chance- it won’t disappoint, and bounce to this Boog-A-Loo Crew Remix that surfaced recently. I plan on posting more on those guys coming up here shortly.

Zombie Disco Squad – Eurovision (The Boog-A-Loo Crew Remix)

Prins Thomas @ Sonotheque [06.02]

Norweigan space-disco cowboy, Prins Thomas, will be gracing a Chicago audience tomorrow, June 2nd, at Sonotheque alongside DJ Rahaan & Jerome Derradji.

Recently featured on the Kitsune Mason 7 Compilation for his James Yuill remix of “This Sweet Love” he’s also been busy with Lindstrom, releasing their second album titled Lindstrom & Prins Thomas II only two weeks ago on Eskimo. His subtle signature in recording is unmatched throughout the industry and I’m expecting his show will be no different.

James Yuill – This Sweet Love (Prins Thomas Sneaky Edit)

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas – Rothaus (Groove Edit)

A Vitalic Ending

Crazy-B, DJ Pone, DJ Need, and Little Mike of Birdy Nam Nam are fixing to release The Parachute Ending EP very shortly, and we have us the Vitalic remix and a nasty little music video to get us excited for it.

Along with the Birdy Nam Nam remix by Vitalic, there will also be a Kap Bambino take on the release as well. I’m sure it will be worth the short wait.

Birdy Nam Nam – The Parachute Ending (Vitalic Remix)

And that isn’t all- word is Vitalic is gearing up for another full-length release by the end of Summer. Excited? Thought so.

Head over to Slutty Fringe if you wanna check out Birdy Nam Nam’s treatment of Bamino’s latest single “Dead Lazers” from the Dead Lazers EP.