Sound Of Thunder #063 – Back Again… To Move The Dictionary

Music

Well, it would seem that we are bearing down on Thunder’s 5^th birthday party, with Hunee, looking back through the digital archives here at Thunder Towers, it seems I haven't managed to produce a whole single edition of 'Sound of Thunder' since Hunee played for us in June 2015. Ridiculous levels of tardiness, I am sure you will agree? But Sound of Thunder is BACK AGAIN!

Anyway, it’s been a funny old year, which, most markedly saw Thunder’s home, Dance Tunnel, close down. But they do say as one door closes, another opens and we have plans, maybe even grand plans. More of that another time, as we need to get on with the real business of this column – banging on about lots of records.

Hunee – Hunch Music Remixes (Rush Hour)

Kicking off with the guest at Thunder’s birthday party, Mr Hun Choi – there’s a little story behind him playing at this party too. It's a long one, which has kind of been told before (if you read the Thunder newsletters), but trust me when I say things that are meant to be have a habit of falling into place…

Fast forward to one sweaty evening the following June and Hun is playing stuff such as Esteban (before anyone knew what it was) and [Fatima Yamaha (before everyone and their nan was too) during what was pretty much the perfect night. He got the music, the vibe, the crowd, everything.

The buzz after the party was unbelievable and we were literally on the phone, well email, on the Monday asking if he would come back. Since then Hun has gone stratospheric. His album blew up, Esteban blew up on the back of his sets, he ended up in the RA Top 30 DJs of year and he’s been headlining massive parties all over the world. So it’s all very exciting.

The foundation for all this is Hun’s music, both what he plays and what he makes. He also has exceptional taste in other DJs too, so a remix package featuring one of the best tracks from his album and one of our favourite producers, DJ Fett Burger, boded pretty well.

And it didn’t disappoint either, elongating the existing intro and then taking it off down his trademark deep rave path. You might well ask what is deep rave and to be honest, it’s a bit of a running (half) joke about the slightly more cerebral take on traditional rave sounds that seems to have gained popularity in recent times. Fett Burger is a definitely a key proponent production wise (more on that in a mo) and a DJ who is a Thunder regular, Truly Madly, has carved himself out a deep rave niche as a DJ, check his mix below.

DJ Fett Burger – No-No 4 (Club No-No)

So here’s another recent Fett Burger deep raver, this time on Snorre Magnar Solberg’s Club No-No Records. No idea who he is to be honest but he has a handful of releases and is another ridiculously named Norwegian dude. Well I say ridiculous, but I met Telephones recently and that’s actually his real name! DJ Candle in the Wind too. Possibly…

Anyway, you need to stick with this one for a bit, before the warm synths and nagging keyboards wash over the heavy percussion. Chuck in a few tropical rainforest sounds and we really do have a winner on our hands.

Fat D and Lad Luca – 2 Make A Record (No Label)

This is one of my favourite records of the year, without a doubt. It’s so simple, I’m never going to get bored of old school computer download noises, slightly melancholy pianos and a catchy vocal hook. Oh and guess who it is? Yep, Fett Burger and his mate Luca Lozano.

DJ Wave – Above the Clouds (Lobster Theremin)

On the subject of favourite records of the year, this has to be up there! The identity of DJ Wave is quote mysterious and despite attempts to twist Lobster boss, Jimmy Asquith's arm, all I’ve been able to find out is that it is a well-known recording artist and the identity of said artist would surprise many people. Anyway, I have been playing Mad About You all summer and always gets a reaction, but I am now feeling Do It just as much. We can't forget the title track, which is pretty cool and incredibly different to the other tracks on the release – it’s about half the speed to start with and sounds like some sort of jazz funk Balearic fusion.

Lnrdcroy – Ooze City (Mood Hut)

In the last edition of Sound of Thunder (ask your parents, they probably remember), I was waxing lyrical about Canadian producer Lnrdroy and his ambient masterpiece, Freedom For Antboy II. It would seem he’s almost as lazy as me because he’s just released his first tracks since then on label de jour, Mood Hut.

It’s a really solid EP too. The title track Ooze City come son a little like a Harthouse record circa 1993, and that is a very good thing. But the stand out for me is on the flip, Aquabuis, which retains the atmosphere of his more laid back work but is aimed firmly at the dancefloor. Like all good house music, it’s best to be listened to in the early hours, when it makes perfect sense. The frenetically tribal Kali Yuga rounds the EP off nicely too, although it’s functional rather than inspirational.

Strangely, this whole EP seems to be getting far less attention than the other Mood Hut record released at the same time, the anonymously produced Fever. It is essentially a clunky cut-up of Walter Gibbons mix of Gladys Knight and the Pips It’s A Better Then Good Time and I find its popularity utterly bewildering and cannot for the life of me think of a situation where playing Walter’s original wouldn’t be a better idea.

RE-PRESS(ES) OF THE WEEK

There have been loads and loads of amazing re-presses and re-releases recently, so many that it it’s been pretty tricky to keep up. Here are a few that really stand out though.

Aroy Dee – Kiss (NWAQ)

I first heard this when I was lucky enough to open up for Rahaan at the Faith New Year’s Eve party in 2006, and then recorded his set, which you can hear here.

Rahaan’s style was pretty refreshing at the time, disco to house and back again, but still pretty tracky throughout, and clearly born out of his Chicago roots and youth spent at clubs like Music Box. Once the recoding of his set hit the internet, people poured over it trying to ID tracks, with Aroy Dee’s Kiss being one of the tracks people figured out, and one that captured the mood of that set perfectly.

It draws heavily on the Bobby Orlando produced Divine HI-NRG stomper, Love Reaction, which in-turn draws heavily on New Order's electro pop classic, Blue Monday (probs don’t need to post a link to that, right?), and it’s always been pricey, so I was personally pretty pleased to see it back in the racks (see Re-press Law #01 – re-presses of rare records are GREAT if don’t already own them).

Jhalib – Mysteries of the East (Emotional Rescue)

Originally released on Virgin Records, Jhalib was one of those records that took on a fairly legendary status in the late 80s, as it’s pretty much the archetypal original Balearic record – made years before it became popular, not manufactured for any particular scene, weird, dubby and dancey. Strangely, since those Alfredo plays on the White Isle and Rampling plays in Southwark, with its price ever rising, it hasn’t been repressed. Up until now the only way to secure a cheap copy was via bootleg, the 1982 INDIPop CompilASIAN album or on the 1988 New Beat album, which included the Mecca Remix, also featured on this release. Thankfully, oddball obscurity re-issue specialists, Emotional Rescue, have come to the, err, rescue.

The original project was the brainchild of Steve Coe, who was also behind Monsoon of Ever So Lonely fame, check the dub of that, it got played at The Saint (incongruous train spot of the day) and the original 12” is rumoured to have been packaged with an accompanying joss stick. I'm not sure about that as it was a mainstream Virgin release, but another Steve Coe project, The Ganges Orchestra, which was released on his own label, Indipop, definitely did. Actually, that’s worth checking and repressed by Emotional rescue too… unlike his later work as a HI-NRG producer…

Jago – I’m Going To Go// Zwischenfall – Sandy Eyes (Dark Entries)

Like Emotional Rescue, Dark Entries is a specialist re-issue label, this time based in San Fransciso, and they have just released a couple of records that everyone should own really.

The first, Jago’s I’m Going to Go, started out as a standard Italo tune on Milan’s Full-Time records in 1983. After gaining popularity in New York, in no small part due to Larry Levan’s support, Full Time asked Larry’s best friend and house music pioneer, Frankie Knuckles to remix it. It was Frankie’s first released remix, so is a bit of milestone in the history of house, but the label did manage to misspell his name as ’Frankye’. The remix itself is really just an edit of the instrumental, using the stereo master tapes, so if you’re funny about this stuff and want the original pressings, you could get away with just picking that up. Personally I have a soft spot for the vocal too, but Dark Entries have helpfully included all 3 on this release.

The second release is a little more obscure and little more annoying to (see Re-press Law #02 – re-presses of rare records are SHIT if already own them) but it is a great record. Recorded by Belgium band, Zwischenfall , but released on Italian Fuzz Dance, the home of Alexander Robotnix, on yellow vinyl with an oversized centre label. I first heard Golf Channel Records, Phil South, play it in a Shoreditch dive bar, back before Golf Channel existed and Shoreditch still had dive bars. It took a while to track down but I finally found a copy in Italy for not too much money. Laid back, slow electronic, almost Balearic, it’s quite unique sounding and it probably deserves a wider audience. The proto house-ish Flucht is also included as are two bonus tracks, and like Jago, it’s been lovingly re-mastered.

Kingpin Cartel –Ghetto (Beardman)

Finally, here’s a house re-issue that might be the best of the lot. Kingpin Cartel is UK techno don, Mark Broom, and some dude called Chris Baker (sorry Chris, whoever/wherever you are), who put out a few records in the mid to late noughties, including this on Mark’s Pure Plastic label. Despite featuring on one the Innervisions Secret Weapons comps, it still goes for stupid money, so sighs of relief all round when Mark re-issued it as a 10” on his Beardman label to mark the 10^th anniversary of its release for Record Store Day. Musically, it’s beautifully warm, sucks you in and makes you wonder why all house music can’t feel like that. I wish I had the answer to that question…

From the Vaults

Melchior Productions – The Later The Evening (Perlon)

Picked this up in the world’s best record shop (don’t ask, it’s a secret…) the other month and have played it a lot this summer. It’s pretty boompty rather than the standard minimalist productions one might associate with Thomas Melchior. Apparently the track name is derived from feedback Ricardo Villalobos gave on Melchior’s album, The Meaning. “The later the evening, the more of a fan you become”.

If you like this though, you should also check the Melchior’s Liquid Moves from last year, which is a in a very similar vein and a record I’ve played a fair bit in the last 18 months.