Chaos Restored 2

Justin Martin: Chaos Restored 2 (Buzzin' Fly)
Well, other then the glaring bio error where Buzzin' Fly tries to trump OM Records and gets the facts laughably wrong on just how many mix disks San Francisco's Justin Martin has actually released (BTW, that's THREE mixes, not two), this is probably one of this year's best mixes.

On Martin's first mix, he captured and codified the whole Dirtybird farting bass noise that everyone in Northern California has since completely run into the crowd.

Martin's first installment of Chaos Restored for Buzzin' Fly found Martin somewhere in the middle of his latest phase, which is much deeper and fully represented on this installment.

Here he finally shows the maturity he's always flirted with on novelty tracks like "Stoopid" and "Ghetto Train," especially on his new remixes of Radiohead's "Nude" and the seminal Marshall Jefferson classic "Mushrooms," which straddle the increasingly blurred lines between pop, deep techno, and more "urban" (white kids w/dreads, you can read this to mean dubstep if you so desire) sounds.

There were few dynamite tracks this year, but on Chaos Restored 2, Martin manages to drop some of the best of them (e.g. Stimming's "Kleine Nacht Musik"), and like any good DJ, champions some future classics (his own "My Angelic Demons" and the Per Eckbo Orchestra's "Kodo Verano" from the red-hot Oslo imprint), which, with the bar set so low these days, qualifies this one for album of the year.

Fabric 43

Metro Area: Fabric 43 (Fabric)

I like Metro Area, and sure, a lot of other people like them too, but I do believe that a good chunk of that has had to do with the commercial success of DFA, to which the Brooklyn duo of Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani owe more than just a passing kinship.

What excites me personally about Metro Area is what this Fabric chapter is all about, digging in the crates for the obscure genius shit that was dismissed as too forward thinking in its own time and playing them out with pride in 2008 and making it work.

These old records were hard to mix — trust me, I know — blending Ministry's "Work For Love" dub with ANYTHING else, and all you got was clackty clack. But it still to this day has the sickest bass line from a record made in Chicago that wasn't even technically an acid-house track.

I respect that kind of courage as these guys take the best elements of real '80s electrofunk and give a history lesson on the origins of today's electro house, minimal, and techno sounds, much like the tracks of the decade past were built on a foundation of '70s disco and funk.

Oh yeah, did I mention that these guys are loaded up with plug-ins and utilities galore and that they actually play and mix these old tracks in ways that the old masters like Larry Levan and Tony Humphries were never able, setting the old electro-funk style in a whole new context?

It's easy to dismiss this one as trend humping retro-fetishism, but if you give this one a close listen, you'll discover some re-conceptualization going on, and though Andy Warhol ain't nothing new, there's still a ton of folks who consider that guy revolutionary. That kind of art is what is going on Fabric 43, so give the boys some love.

Jason Short: "Falling In Proton" Radio Show, 11/24/08
Jason Short gave me this mix when I asked for something new from him that was also representative of the wide spectrum that his Auralism imprint is covering.

"Falling In" really dissects the core workings of the label's growing mystique, from spacey IDM to clankin' mnml. I haven't felt this entranced by sounds since the heyday of MDMA and Spacemen 3, and that's been a while, folks.

Tracks from in-house producers like Roman Stange and Eutactic are true to form, while Billy Dalessando's remix of "Ef" by Limacon, as well as the Robert Babicz track "Purple Dance," and the sublime "Therim" by Rift, take this mix to another dimension.

And though there are many nice sounds, there is still something lacking in the musicality department. When that is found, however, it will assuredly usher in the next era of the label.

Screw You EP

Kate Lawler: Leaders Of The New School 011 (LONS/Toolroom)

I have to admit that the rolling psy-trance bass line attached to an otherwise tough peak-hour techno track found on Kate Lawler's debut single "Screw You" was one of the more solid cuts this year.

That's surprising if you consider the up-and-down nature of the Leaders Of The New School imprint thus far — a point that I keep hammering home in every singles round-up I wrote this year.

This mix for the label has some nice moments as Lawler definitely knows how to program a compelling mix, even when far too many of the peak-hour cuts sound big-room cheesy and tired. But when she hits the right groove, like on the opener by Mecanique, "We're All Freaks," Chris Special's "Go Deep," and especially the aforementioned "Screw You," she is as good as it gets.

Electric 04

Agent 86: Balance pres Electric 04 (EQ)
DJ Agent 86 is a talented young buck from Down Unda, but I'm not sure how much attention this cat will get in America because the latest from this locals-only offshoot of the legendary Balance series is an urban (FYI, dread heads, this does not mean dubstep) turntablist affair.

But in lieu of the more American hip-hop or mash-up DJ/dance genres, Agent 86 plays an interesting and tasty mix of electro house, UK funky, and straight-up disco house done in that quick-mix style ala Jazzy Jeff.

At best, this is interesting but a little out of step with American listening tastes.

- Sean-Michael Yoder

I'm Not A Gun: Mirror (Palette)(US)
This is the fourth album from techno producer John Tejada and classical guitarist Takeshi Nishimoto. I hadn't heard the previous three albums on German imprint City Centre Offices so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Mirror is the first album on the LA-based Palette label run by Tejada but definitely shares similarities with the typical releases on the duo's previous label with its use of live instrumentation, fragile shoegazer melodies, and techno- influenced percussion.

What I'm Not A Gun truly sounds like is a techno-fueled Tortoise with the duo's penchant to jam out but it's done in very martial, controlled increments.

The tension and release cycles that occur subsequently and throughout the album are typical of a techno mix, what aren't typical include Nishimoto's lush guitar tones and the elements of live percussion that lend to a much looser and organic feel.

An interesting album from an interesting project.

John Digweed: Bedrock 10-Past Present Future (Bedrock)(UK)
I just can't seem to escape the Diggers or his Bedrock imprint, which in terms of dance music has had an enormous amount of success.

Whether Bedrock's output is worthy of such reward is highly debatable but I do still believe the label's biggest hits contributed to the industry's precipitous decline at the beginning of the decade.

Instantly recognizable cuts like "Heaven Scent", "Persuasion", and "Pushin' Too Hard" remain virtual ear poison to me and surely to many other trance haters too. The important thing to point out here is that earlier this decade the music began to change and regroup itself and surprisingly this label is following the trend whereas so many have not (BTW-can I get a big raspberry for Paul Van Dyk?!).

The emphasis on Bedrock 10 is decidedly "future" with a grip of brand new remixes of Bedrock's seminal works. Some hit the mark and others don't (please no more Bruce Aisher-EVER!) while newer signings like Misstress Barbara, Tom Mangan, and especially Guy J journalists at mainstream pubs to blankly gush over or a reference point allowing no-nothing insiders at the dance rags to spew saccharine treacle about are a strong attempt to kill the progressive virus at Bedrock HQ once and for all.

My complaint here is that this is a one disk sampler pared down from three into something easily digestible for lack wit mainstream journalists and insidre toadies. To me this business has always been about the music and to deny taste makers access to your music basically says your music isn't good enough for critical review.

So Mr. Digweed consider yourself served, no more good reviews until you meet me halfway on the quality of the promos you are sending out.

Marcin Czubala: Chronicles Of Never (Mobilee)(Germany)
Polish producer Marcin Czubala has been making techno records for quite some time, but Chronicles of Never is his first album for German techno pillar Mobilee.

The artist album is rich in imaginative sounds and even a nice tribal house stomp on tracks like "Los Companeros". But like so many other albums in this nebulous tech house genre, Chronicles just drags like a drab mofo and I am asleep long before I ever hit the dance floor.
Kaskade:The OM Remixes (OM)(US)
I was surprised at how much I liked this cash-in collection from OM and how far Kaskade has drifted from his core sound since signing with Ultra.

Despite how you may feel about the guy, in my case his music is way too pretty and fluffy for serious consideration, there is no denying that his sense of melody and production chops are perhaps some of the keenest in the dance music world.

On The OM Remixes he transforms the dreadful into a thing of beauty (Colette), reworks Mark Farina's "Cali Spaces" into a fight song for the West Coast scene and cuts loose on many of these tracks with reckless ingenuity creating formal intros like old school disco cuts.

I honestly wish he'd introduce more of those creative elements into his own productions and remixes. Kaskade always feels so restrained and this collection is no exception.

Bradelectro: Pinstripe Late Nite (Tarantic)(US)
Pinstripe Late Nite starts out with such promise blaring pseudo-dancehall affectations on the opener "Missin Ur Lovin" and includes some half decent electro house cuts that are at least less irritating than many others of the same ilk.

Where this album goes wrong is padding an EP of mediocre tracks with four lackluster remixes. Hell the track "Rubberbands", which isn't all that, makes three friggen appearances on this album which only has 12 tracks total.

To quote Gang Starr-"That ain't keeping it real, that's keeping it wrong". Big thumbs down here.

-Sean-Michael Yoder

Sean-Michael Yoder is a Chico, California-based music writer and tastemaker. Check out more at vinyljunkierecords.blogspot.com