With high-profile releases due from both Outkast and Ludacris this fall, the spotlight rests on Atlanta’s potent hip-hop scene. Everyone has had to step up their game in order to compete for the considerable national attention that’s up for grabs. Youngbloodz (J-Bo and Sean Paul) tried to grab some of…
Although he has released albums as Cabbage Boy, Buckfunk 3000, and S.I. Futures, Director’s Cut is the first full-length album British producer Si Begg has presented under his own name. Begg may well be one of the world’s only electronic musicians to credibly flit between techno, garage, breakbeat, and drum…
While a local sighting of Victor Calderone behind the turntables is none too rare, it’s good that there is actually a celebrity DJ out there doing the unexpected: that is, practicing the subtle art of working a nightclub with his mixes. Unlike a lot of jocks, Calderone knows he’s not…
When it comes to his own recordings Stefan Betke, a veteran sound engineer for respected techno musicians like Basic Channel and Maurizio, has an obsession with the tinniest of sounds, including those accidentally created from faulty equipment. His delicate, sparse take on production has often been recognized as an extension…
The Brooklyn-based trio Fannypack — 16-year-old Belinda, 17-year-old Jessibel, and 21-year-old Cat — is already hitting “media darling” status and drawing comparisons to Salt-N-Pepa, J.J. Fad, L’Trimm, and other bass-loving ladies of Eighties funk. Discovered while rhyming on the street and subsequently ushered into the studio by producers Fancy and…
With Profound Sounds v2, the followup to 1999’s Profound Sounds, Philadelphia-based DJ/producer Josh Wink marks a rare achievement in the world of mix CDs. After choosing sixteen selections from various artists like David Alvarado, Swayzak, and Dave Clarke, Wink created a special, exclusive edit of each song on his computer,…
Though Florida made more of a contribution to the popular funk and disco sound of the Seventies than the state’s most famous export, KC & the Sunshine Band, that group’s commercial success tends to overshadow the musical achievements of others. Miami Sound rectifies that wrong by illuminating a point of…
The Cramps debuted in 1978 with the album Lucky 13, and 25 years later their rockabilly-fed and horror movie-suckled swamp circus continues through a thirteenth studio album. Few peers can rival the Cramps for sheer dedication to a singular audio-visual aesthetic with themes and content (aliens, babes, drugs) that may…
Everyone knows Chaka Khan from her “glory days,” an era that, by most standards, began in 1973 with a hit-laden five-year run as the frontwoman for Rufus and slowly faded away after her vital 1984 cover of Prince’s “I Feel For You.” She’s had an unassuming career ever since while…
If you’re skeptical that a superstar DJ such as Hanover, Germany’s Timo Maas can’t produce solid dance music on his own, you may well be right — but at least Maas (unlike some of his peers) has the good sense to freely admit that he doesn’t work alone. While he…
Late night and early morning can sometimes have a strange way of bleeding together so that you’re not really sure where one ends and one begins, a dynamic that causes further confusion to a brain that is supposed to be asleep. This sort of disorientation intermixed with fleeting moments of…
British duo Zero dB (Chris Vogado and Neil Combstock) have earned equal if not more attention for their remixes as for their own songs, and Reconstruction features nine of their most solid interpretations of other musicians’ work. Few of the artists “reconstructed” (Grupo Batuque, Peace Orchestra, Interfearance) will be familiar…
Unlike neighboring Sweden, Finland has not had luck in introducing its music to the American pop market. But the dance floor is the great equalizer for all nations, a place where a good song is appreciated regardless of its origins, and 30-year-old DJ/producer Jori Hulkkonen is Finland’s leading representative of…
As a vocalist, Caroline Herve a.k.a. Miss Kittin is a familiar name among followers of what’s been termed electroclash. In case you’ve managed to escape the media hype overload, electroclash is populated with young bands attempting to pay homage to and put their own spin on early Eighties electronic-based pop…
For British house music duo Freaks (Luke Solomon and Justin Harris), there’s something wrong if you’re on the dance floor and do not have a smile on your face. Not one of those ironic smiles that says, “Aren’t we trendy and retro?” They’re looking for one of those unconscious wide…
