Top Ten Tracks July

July has been a wondeful month. 2 whole weeks off work of course contributed to that, plus the sun came out again and I was fortunate to listen to lots of great music along the way culminating in a epic 3 day experience that was Freerotation.

1. Dave Aju and the Invisible Art Trio-Be Like The Sun (buy)



Jackmate dropped this absolute stormer on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Freerotation and quickly everyone was all thinking the same thing... What the hell was that tune??? It was this which became an anthem for the whole weekend.

2. Session Victim-Good Intentions (buy)



Another Freerotation anthem, dropped at the end of an epic Sunday afternoon set by Move D (get here). Out on vinyl only label Retreat (part owned by one of Session Victim), this is must have summer release.

3. DJ Qu-Step Back Up (buy)




House music of the deepest and darkest order. Qu plays for meandyou at Soup Kitchen on 14th August.

4. Jus-Ed-I'm Coming (Levon Vincent Remix) (buy)



Just wait for the rolling piano riff to kick off on this masterful Levon Vincent remix. Epic!

5 .Vakula-Hoopa Loopa (buy)



Out on the excellent 3rd Strike Records, this is just a snippet of all the excellent releases Vakula has been churning out of late. He DJ's in Salford next month for Bohemian Grove's 1st Birthday at Islington Mill!


6. John Roberts-Glass Eights (buy)



Slept on this release for months after getting my hands on it. Why I cannot say.

7. Omni feat. Conee Draper-Out of My Hands (buy)



Hidden disco gem of the highest order. You'll need deep deep pockets to pick this up online.
 
8. Psychologist-Comes in Waves (buy)


  Psychologist - Comes In Waves by NOT EVEN

Found this lovely heartbreaking track via simplygoodmusic@blogspot.com recently and it hasn't left my ears since. I read someone comparing this to James Blake; but this has so much more to it.

9. Superchunk-Winter Games (buy)



Last year's 'Majesty Shredding' was a welcome return from Superchunk after a 9 year abscene of new material. I love how more or less everyone of their songs belongs on a Kevin Smith film from the 1990s. Makes me yearn for baggy unflattering clothes, an awlful mop-like barnet, Championship Manager and a toast diet for some reason. Yeah.


 10. Bon Iver-Wash. (buy)



Several things made me want to hate the new Bon Iver record. I was totally besotted with his previous work and initally looked forward to his new release. However with the printing of the lyrics (downright gibberish when read on a page), the underwhelming 'Calgary' as the lead single and the last track Beth\Rest sounding like an outtake from a 1980s John Hughes film, the odds counted against me. But I took the plunge and theres some excellent songs on here. No more so than 'Wash.'

Summer in the City

When the summer hits and the students start leaving the city, their abscene can often leave many cities with an empty void where their custom once was. The disposable income that students can provide to a city's nightlife, most notably the clubbing aspect of it, has been realised and taken advantage of for many years. Just look at the Warehouse Project who today announced their line-up for their final run at Store Street from September to January. This is not to mention all the student nights that paper every available space down the Oxford road corridor during the Academic period of the year.

Therefore the summer has in the past been devoid of choice and quality as many promotors focus on the student ££ and the guaranteed custom of the winter and spring months. Sankeys has continually churned out big summer parties, but a big exciting night out down Jersey Street for many, has become a faded memory, not really one to replicate any time soon.

Since my permanent return to Manchester, it certainly is refreshing to see nights both new and established continuing their parties over the summer months, trusting the local and regional crowd to attend their events rather than relying on the student purse. Content have been responsible for some the most well received club nights over the last 2 years or so with parties from the likes of Andrew Wetherall and Chez Damier not to mention Detroit legends such as Juan Atkins, Octave One and Kenny Larkin. For the next night on 29th July they host the 'Innovator' and another Detroit legend Derrick May smack bang in the middle of the summer for a intimate party at Joshua Brooks.

Bi-monthly night Bohemian Grove also bring more Detroit goodness with 1/3 of the Three Chairs; Marcellus Pittmann (the others being Theo Parrish and Kenny Dixon Jr.) the very next day to Islington Mill in Salford.  Other events and nights are also appearing. BacktoFront play host to Dutch legend Gerd on the very same night at Kraak Gallery; DJ Qu appears at Soup Kitchen on the 13th August for meandyou; whilst Mitternacht celebrates its 2nd Birthday on the 20th August also at Kraak.

By the time the August bank holiday comes around, we are truly spolit. New night Doodle plays host to Jozif and Chris Woodward on the Saturday whilst Content strikes again with a huge day/night event the day before which hosts a Northern celebration of London institution Secret Sundaze with Giles Smith and James Priestley and Sistrum label owner Patrice Scott. 

In this time of austerity, it is fanciful that everyone can afford or justify trips to the Petrance coast or Ibiza or even further beyond to enjoy some quality electronic music. If you're in that company, you are certainly well served in Manchester. The weather might not join up the dots, but's it positive that we can enjoy the summer at home before the Warehouse Project wrecking ball returns.

Stereociti-Kawaski

Japanese musician and DJ Ken Sumitani, better known as Stereociti only came under my radar recently (as just picked  his 'Early Light' EP from 2009 last week!), and the minute I'm delving into his excellent, if somewhat limited back catalogue his debut album drops!

Once again released on Mojuba, the Berlin-based soulful deep house label, the full length is an excellent showcase for Stereociti's talents of deep, moody and organic house music.

Stereociti-Kawaksi (buy)

Osunlade-Envision (Ame Remix)

"If you release vinyl, you should release it properly"
 
 The fact that Innervisions, Dixon's excellent German house and techno label said this week that they will turn to self-distribution and only release their records to several independent outlets, came as a shame, but as no real great surprise. Upon reading Dixon's explanation of why they came to this decision, it could be referred to as another victory for the massive online stores (think Juno) against the independents. However, you could think of it in another way, your money is going in the right pockets, even if you have to pay more, giving the artists and label owners more control to distribute to the record stores who will do their records justice and for the music fans to learn to understand the ugly side of producing/distributing vinyl on an independent label.

Their first release since this news is probably their most seminal release in a few years, Ame's stunning rework of Osunlade's 'Envision'.

Surprise, surprise it's only available from the Innervisions shop 'Muting the Noise' together with a MP3 download code. Get it here.

Move D-Workshop 13

In the run up to Freerotation where he is a resident (now only 2 weeks away!), I thought it only right to share with you the latest Move D release and his latest output on German house and techno label, Workshop. After his excellent EP on Uzuri which included surely one of the house tracks of the year in 'Your Personal Healer' and his fantastic remix of Leif's So Long (both which were highlighted on here), we can only appreciate this man's hard work in giving us another selection of his tracks with that now signature Move D sound.

All three tracks have something for everyone; A1 swings from side to side with tidy vocal samples to create an upbeat disco edge; B1 is more reminiscent of other Workshop releases with a deep atmospheric synths and  a tight tech kick; and finally B2 is some beautiful beatdown sounds which one could easily contrast to Irish wunderkid Space Dimension Controller. Cool videos's too!






 
Purchase this excellent summer release here.

Whilst this is the 13th release on Workshop, you can check an earlier Move D release on the label here.