Ricardo Villalobos – Hireklon – Perlon 2004
The Mountain People – Mountain003 – Mountain People 2007
Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts – Sous L’Arbe – Circus Company 2007
Haruki Matsuo – Side Step Test – Rush Hour 2007
Shinedoe – Enjoy The Moments (Ripperton Rmx) – 100% Pure 2007
Beanfield – Tides (Carl Craig Remix) – Compost 2004
Ripperton – Zugunruhe – Connaisseur Supérieur 2007
Kabale Und Liebe & Daniel Sanchez – Mumbling Yeah – Arearemote 2007
Infinite Roots – Sunday Morning (Matt’s Innersoul Mix) – Kusic 2007

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I haven’t heard so many speculations about a track for a long time now (possibly since „Sinner In Me“), so the efforts of the Berlin gang to promote the hell out of this DJ tool have quite probably succeeded at large. Now that the mystery is solved and the record is out there for mortals to buy and play, we will hear it in clubs big and small until your ears bleed. It’s a bit like a porn flick starting out with mild and careful (or not so mild and careful) hints for what is to come and ending with ruthless thrusting until the actors drop on the floor, sweaty or bloody or whatever you prefer in your private time.

The song is dedicated to Ricardo’s newborn son Velasco Leon, as the label reads. It is essentially a children’s song by Christian Vander called “Baba Yaga La Sorcière” and the part Ricardo samples is just two notes sung by a children’s choir and accompanied by a hauntingly monotonous piano that for some reason reminds me of Nina Simone. And in a bizarre way, it works like nothing else. You can check out the reaction of the masses in YouTube videos here and here.

A: Enfants (Chants)
B: Enfants (Tambours)

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So yesterday I played at Who Wouldn’t Like Johnny Depp?. Apparently, they’re closing it down by the end of this year to make room for a Nepali restaurant. I hope the food is good. Anyway, when I was told that besides myself a high school rock band would appear on the stage to perform, I kind of lost the faith in the event. Still, I had to do my best to entertain. And what do you know…

At one point, this guy in his 30s wearing an ugly necktie popped on stage and placed himself at the booth, staring at the mixer and at the same time trying to catch my sight to make conversation. I tried the usual balance-between-rude-yet-pleasant-keep-headphones-on-look-busy approach, but he seemed quite immune to that. At one point or another I had to remove my headphones to search for the next record, and during these moments he managed to tell me 1) he was going to sponsor the band that was going to perform; 2) he is an artist himself and has designed the plastic bags for Dancemix, a local record store; 3) it would be cool if I surprised him with a little Led Zeppelin OR Lenny Kravitz.

Also, a move that I had not seen before – he kept rolling up bank notes in little tubes and sticking the money into various places on the booth. At first I thought he was passing me a joint and when I found out it was money I was surprised enough to keep it. Anyway, he seemed pleased enough with some Villalobos instead of good ol’ Lenny, since he was especially happy at the booth when I made the mix between two Villa records. He gave me a thumbs-up and went on to harass some blonde glued to a Mojito straw.

Later that night, when I was waiting for the club manager, a security guard at the club approached me, saying he really liked the music and asking what style it actually was. So it seems I had made at least some difference which made the evening worthwhile…

I played Henrik Schwarz’s remix of “Bloodstream” by Stateless 3 times during the night (the crowd was changing a lot anyway). I think the last time I played something 3 times was with Henrik’s remix of Mari Boine. So, let’s wrap this post up with a great piece of emo-house that it is.

A1: Bloodstream (Henrik Schwarz club mix)
A2: Bloodstream (original version)
B1: Bloodstream (Pilooski edit)
B2: Bloodstream (Henrik Schwarz dub)

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