Album Review: FabricLive 46 - Various mixed by LTJ Bukem

Some background info: it has been some time since BlackPlastic last enjoyed any drum 'n' bass. A long time in fact. After the popularity of the Movement scene and a period of stellar tracks and artists around 2002 nothing quite felt right.

There just didn't seem to be anything new. Sure, there will be those that disagree but the truth is: DnB died in 2004.

LTJ Bukem's FabricLive mix doesn't really do anything new. So, in principle at least, there is nothing to see here. But... Golly, it is hard to turn your back on this disc. Flowing in through your speakers like the one that got away FabricLive 46 isn't just good - it's wonderful and undeniable. It's a reminder of what was so interesting about drum 'n' bass in the first time.

FabricLive 46 is summer barbecues, beers in the garden, dancing in the sunshine, killing time in the park and staying up all night to watch the sunrise. Maybe it helps that BlackPlastic is reminded of empty summers as a student when hearing this style of music but there are some wonderful feelings in the first half of this mix.

The sound itself is what you would expect if you are familiar with Bukem's work. His trademark 'intelligent' sound is combined with the some slightly harder, rolling bass lines (on the Madcap mix of Villem's 'Inflated Tear' for example) and there has been a lovely, warm development into a slightly more liquid DnB sound.

Admittedly things tail off a little in the latter third before coming back again for a nice climax in the filtered 'So In Need' by Syncopix. The album isn't perfect by any stretch and it still fails to match the heights of the early Movement mix albums or the superb Soulful Behaviour mix from Defunct. One thing is for sure however - this is the best drum n bass mix Fabric have released in years... Bring on the summer.

FabricLive 46: LTJ Bukem is released to Fabric First members on 1 June and goes on general release on 15 June.  Subscribe to Fabric First at the Fabric London website.

BP x

Album Review: Ciao! - Tiga

There is a lot of talk at present of an electroclash resurgence. A second wave. With new albums from DJ Hell, Kittin & The Hacker and Peaches it is perhaps easy to see why. What is strange though is that many of these acts have distanced themselves from this sound already - Miss Kittin's rather good I Com was a move into a purer techno sound and whilst the follow up Bat Box may have been a misguided move into goth it the techno sound of the former disc she is known for as a DJ. Hell's last album, NY Muscle, was an attempt to distance himself from the obvious trappings of the electroclash genre and Tiga's debut wasn't remotely close to electroclash anyway. The only track Tiga has done that could be labelled as such is his collaboration with Zyntherius on their cover of 'Sunglasses At Night'.

What's more it seems that some semi-amateur hacks (and BlackPlastic puts themselves into the category) seem content with using the 'resurgence of electroclash' as a tool to beat up on Tiga specifically. In their recent review of Peaches I Like Cream Fact magazine said Tiga's comeback was best off ignored.

Which is total, complete, pathetic horseshit. Horseshit because it reeks of lazy sideswiping - an off the cuff comment to pad a two paragraph review. So here's the deal: Tiga's debut, Sexor, was a great record. And Ciao! is better.

To call Ciao! electroclash is to exposure yourself as a knowledge-less pretender to the whole world. This isn't electroclash, it's definitely closer to techno than that. What's more it has ideas and songs and the production is always spotless.

Every track, whether it is the quirky and hard 'Mind Dimension', a revision of Tiga's own 'Move Your Body' but much better, or the anthemic tears-on-the-danefloor closer 'Love Don't Dance Here Anymore', delivers something a little different. The production work of a team consisting of Soulwax, James Murphy, Gozales, Jesper Dahlbäck and Jori Hulkkonen shines through but Tiga still makes this all his own.

How does it compare to Sexor? There's no contest. Ciao! is a noisier, more assertive album. 'What You Need' is grinding and distorted to the sassy quirkiness of 'Shoes'. There are also several house ballads - 'Turn The Night On' and 'Speak, Memory' for example - that manage to actually deliver. Ciao! Is an album with both more variety and consistency than Sexor.

Ciao! may not be redefining genres.  It may not be confounding expectations or giving wannabe hoxtonites something new no-one has heard of. But what it does do is consistently deliver ideas and deliver them well. If you are would rather snigger at the back because Tiga isn't the fashionable wünderkid he was once then so be it - BlackPlastic will be on the dancefloor having more fun.

Available now from Amazon.co.uk on CD , LP  and MP3 .

BP x

News: Free MP3 download to celebrate Animal Collective's next single

Animal Collective are releasing the next single from their rather glorious Merriweather Post Pavillion album on June 29.  The sunny psychedelia of 'Summertime Clothes' is undoubtably a highlight from an already pretty damn awesome album so if, for whatever reason, you are yet to check out the album then make sure you have a listen.  The band recently performed the song live on Letterman, check it out:

The single comes backed with a collection of remixes (one of which is by current retro whizz kid Zomby).  If you can't wait or just fancy a free download then the band's label Domino are giving away one of the mixes for free (well, in exchange for the usual personal data) over at the Domino website.  You'll get the Dam-Funk Remix there - is a warm, dubby affair - BlackPlastic has a temptation to feel that remixes of material this good are kind of pointless but this mix does a pretty good job of putting a nice spin on the original.

BP x

Single Review: Minor Riot - 10 Rapid

Having recently got props from Evil Nine and Streetlife DJs you might know what to expect from 10 Rapid, and you'd probably be right...

'Minor Riot' is a dirty little hand grenade of a track.  With horror movie synth strings and a lovely little bass line that builds and builds to the crescendo it's all quite reminiscent of Justice's 'Phantom', if with a little more subtlety.  It's also clearly been built for the dancefloor, with the kind of pacing that will slot right into the build-up of many a DJ's set.  The beauty of this kind of track is that it is pretty much genre-less, happy to slot right into a breaks set but just as happy within the kind of nasty house set that the likes of Adam Freeland now tends to make.

'Minor Riot' is out now over at Beatport.

Also worth checking out is 10 Rapid's mix of Caged Baby's track 'Forced'.  It's a nice, messy little track and there's a fantastic bassline that breaks through every now and then, sidelining the vocals before they gradually filter back in.  It's a catchy track and shows that 10 Rapid can work with vocals and definitely builds on the original.

Download 'Forced (10 Rapid Remix)' by Caged Baby on MP3 (right click, save as).

Check out more 10 Rapid at their MySpace.

BP x

News: Franz Ferdinand to re-release Blood

Some exciting news from Domino records - Franz Ferdinand are to re-release the dub version of Tonight, entitled Blood, on 1 June.

Originally packaged with the limited edition CD release of Franz Ferdinand's latest album, BlackPlastic's review of Tonight praised the dub version of the album for its experimental approach.  Given the disc was only available in limited quantities the re-release represents a great opportunity to pick up what is easily Franz Ferdinand's best material in years.  They have also added a couple of extra tracks to the original release and it will be available on LP and as a download for the first time.  It's well worth checking out so look out for it.

Franz Ferdinand also release their next single, 'Can't Stop Feeling', on July 6.  Again this represents a great opportunity to pick up something you may have missed before as it comes packaged with their cover version of LCD Soundsystem's 'All My Friends', which was originally included with LCD Soundsystem's release of their single for that track.

The band are also touring in October - check the website for more details.

BP x