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Stalker Humanoid, another single from Renaissance Man’s widely celebrated Renaissance Man Project LP, just recently received a pretty eerie video treatment, directed by the duo themselves, produced by Martti Kalliala & Ville Haimala. Analytical comments aside, this was one of my hands-down favorite tunes on the album, and begs the question, is there really anything better than grooving to gangster house dressed as a wookie made of forest-moss? The answer is, no.
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To celebrate the success of the Egyptian civil uprising, and the impending revolution, we’ve decided to compile some of our favorite Arabian-infused house (and eventually techno) tunes into a compact and convenient package, and dish ‘em out as a little gift to our spirited following. The mix was thrown together live on our in-house CDJ set-up, so don’t mind the occasionally muddy-mixing, or peculiar phrasing. Bottom line, we just really wanted to showcase some of our favorite tunes that carry the same snake-charming, sand-surfing swag. In fact, we’d been dying to throw together an Arab inspired mix for quite some time now, and the climate of political unrest, and its resulting success, have provided us with an opportune time and place. Please feel free to message us for the tracklist if you’re particularly interested, as we’d be more than happy to send it your way.
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We’re always very interested to see what’s going on at Sound Pellegrino headquarters, keeping close tabs on their forthcoming releases, while staying up to date with Teki’s always intriguing Twitter account. By now, you’ll know that for the entirety of 2009, this label could do no wrong, catapulting names like Renaissance Man, Momma’s Boy, Harvard Bass, Douster and Gucci Vump to the forefront of electronic music, repeatedly shocking the world with a series of incredible EPs, exclusively for digital download.
In more recent times; however, the releases haven’t quite tickled our fancy in quite the same way. Maybe we’re simply not adjusting well to the evolution of forward-thinking house music, or maybe they’re just overthinking the forwardness altogether. In our estimation, it’s more of the latter, but I’m sure Teki and Orgasmic would gladly refute that.
Next on the short-term agenda for the Institubes sub-label, is an EP by German duo Savage Skulls, whom I was surprised to discover do quite a bit of unheralded ghost producing — including work on Robyn‘s album, as well as work on Carli and Marcus Price’s “Matt Bira Kvinnor Weed” EP. Not bad side gigs in addition to their release on Dubsided, and of course their work with Douster and Tony Senghore.
Their latest work, set to join the Sound Pellegrino catalog in the coming weeks, is a step in the right direction for all parties involved. Both Caravan and Watching You have quality production finger prints all over them, and the remixes by Jacques Greene and Payme are both really tasteful additions to the release. Greene goes with his typical funked-out future-music touch, will Payme hops of the 303 bandwagon and fashions a pretty stylish acid loop. Check out the entire release below, and comment away.
SAVAGE SKULLS – Caravan / Watching You EP
Savage Skulls | myspace
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Almost one year ago, we held our very first inTORview segment, which featured the likes of electronic music’s shining prince, Louis Brodinski. The concept was catchy, an explicit play on the word interview, so as to insinuate that the artist was playing a gig in Toronto. Genius, if we do say so ourselves, but we must admit, these close encounters are too few and far between, so a conscious effort will be made by us to conduct more of the like. Today we’re very happy to announce that we caught up with one of the premier duos in the realm of house music, Made To Play’s DJ/producing tandem, Round Table Knights — who are coincidentally our headliner for this Saturday. We touch all topics branching from hip-hop music, to picking sides in Black Swan; you don’t wanna miss this.
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Huge congratulations to you two upon the completion of the forthcoming album on Made To Play. The “Say What” Album Sampler gave us a taste of what to expect, but we’re curious about the tenuous process of creating a house music album. Was there a unique direction you guys chose to take with the album (a theme, maybe), or was it a bunch of pieces that eventually just came together?
The basic idea was to make a real album. Not just some dance tracks that can only be enjoyed in the club. We wanted to do something that works in the club, as well as at home, or in the car. The album should be like one of our mixes, with all the different influences we have, but at the end it should be house music.
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Your relationship with Made To Play has rendered three massive EPs, all of which have been very well-received by the house music community. Talk about your relationship with label-boss Jesse Rose, and how influential he’s been to your work, and evolution as DJs.
We have been fans of Made To Play since day one. The label has always had quite a big influence on us, so it was a big honour to hear that Jesse Rose liked our stuff so much. We first met Jesse when we opened for him in Switzerland, and that was also where he first heard Calypso. He loved the song, and one week later it was signed to Made To Play. That was a big step in our career.
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There’s no denying that “Calypso” almost perfected the tropical/ethno house sound that was so popular over the past two years. In general, has that specific sound begun to expire, or will there always be ways to keep tribal/tropical/ethno house fresh and enticing?
Its like with every sound. Someone comes up with it, it gets popular and after a while you get sick of it because everybody’s doing the same thing. Its just normal, but there will always be elements that stay and help to improve future music. The interesting thing is gonna be who is taking which elements, playing with it until they come up with something new. The learning process in never over.
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With darker strands of Techno music, more specifically Acid, and Deep House seeing such a renaissance as of late, do you guys see your sets going noticeably deeper, or do you make a point of keeping your sets fun and bouncy?
Our sets are always different. We never prepare. We usually arrive one hour before the set, check out the club and the crowd, then one of us starts with a song ,and from there on it’s back-to-back till the end of the set. But it’s true, we notice it ourselves that our sets getting deeper than maybe one year ago. That has to do with our interest in developing our music and our DJ sets. We wanna do new, fresh stuff. Improvement is the most important thing.
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We’re always curious about what artists think of the contrast between European and North American club culture. You’ve been across the pond a couple times now, where do you see the main differences between the two?
The main thing is maybe that nights start earlier here in North America than in Europe. But then again Europe is very different too from country to country. Some people told us before we came here, that North Americans like it ‘harder’, that we couldn’t play as deep as we play in Europe, but that’s not true. We play the same kind of sets over here as we would play over there. It’s all about your attitude on stage and how you combine your songs.
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We understand your early DJ career was rooted in serious turntablism, being big fans of the ITF and DMC. Hip-Hop remains a massive musical sector in North America. Do you guys keep up to date with the going-ons in rap culture?
Yes, we were big scratch nerds. We still have a lot of old DMC and ITF videos at home…haha. We still follow the hip-hop scene a little bit, but its not like it has a big influence in our music. But it can happen that we play some hip-hop tunes in our set. That’s always fun.
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You guys just recently put together a remix for your countrymen, Mercury, which dropped on one of our favorite labels, GOMMA. We were so impressed by Mercury, we were wondering if you could give us the inside track on any other budding talents from your homeland?
Yes, check out Mercury they are amazing, and there will be more stuff coming soon from them! Also check out Jagged and if you like it a bit more tropical, check out Wildlife! I’m sure you already know Deetron and Dimlite.
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RTK is part of a close-knit rat-pack so to speak, with the likes of Mowgli, Solo, Jesse Rose, Zombie Disco Squad, Renaissance Man, Camel and several others. Tell us about the dynamic when you’re together with those guys. Who’s the funniest, who parties hardest, etc. etc.?
We love those guys, and it’s so amazing to be part of this big family. It’s fun with everyone, but the best thing is when we’re all together, then it gets messy…haha.
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Who are some of the DJ/Producers you guys look up to (past or present)? Who have you seen lately that you’ve been especially impressed by?
Homework are great! And one of our favourite labels at the moment is Suol. We are also big fans of James Blake, and Jamie XX.
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Who is Reverend Beat-Man, from ‘Cut To The Top’?
Reverend Beat-Man is a voodoo Garage Rock Legend from Bern. Check his amazing label, Voodoo Rhythm, and if you have the chance, go check him out live. He’s an amazing performer!!
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We understand you guys are somewhat big movie buffs, in regard to Black Swan — Mila Kunis, or Natalie Portman?
Natalie Portman!!! We love her!!!
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Last question here gentlemen. What’s the best thing in Bern that we don’t know about?
In the summer you can swim in the river called Aare. This really is the best thing you can do! After this, go to Club Bonsoir ;-)
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Thanks very much for doing this guys, and we look forward to catching up with you again at The Social on Saturday. We’re certain that the Faktory will have the “Really Good” sign positioned all over the place! Cheers!
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Scion A/V have made their much anticipated collaboration with Sound Pellegrino official, and it comes in the form of an eight-track sampler, released just hours ago via the Scion A/V SoundCloud page. The promotional release has been rumored since late June, with the majority of the hooplah stemming from a 3-hour downloadable mix by the likes of Teki Latex, Momma’s Boy, and LOL Boys. When scanning the eight tunes below, pay careful attention to the dOP remix of What Is Guru (of course, a track originally made famous by none other than Renaissance Man) — it’s very very neat. The compilation proceeds to feature unreleased work from names like Harvard Bass, Gucci Vump, as well as Bambounou (who we heard from, just yesterday). Eat this up.
Scion A/V Presents: Sound Pellegrino by ScionAV
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For those of you that make our humble website part of your daily browsing routine, you will certainly know by now that the Helsinki duo of Renaissance Man maintain a very lofty status in our books, and are basically one of our perennial production favorites. Downtown and Jaxxon have an unquestioned ability to push the envelope in the production room, as Teki Latex so eloquently put it, “meticulously crafting sparse conceptual beats no one can fuck with”. Absolutely, no objection there. You may remember that these dudes ranked fourth in our
TOP 10 EP’s of 2009, with the Spraycan EP.
So what’s new and exciting with Renaissance Man? Well most importantly, their much anticipated upcoming EP release on Jesse Rose’s Made To Play label is dropping toward the end of this month. The EP is called Babbadabba and features a trio of innovative original house productions, like only these dudes can assemble. It’s safe to say that we’re in-love with all three, so be sure to preview one of the tracks from the EP directly below, entitled Wahhagoogoo, and see what all the fuss is about.
In other news, this Finnish Duo were also featured on Poni Hoax’s We Are The Bankers EP, putting together a pair of remixes (though only slightly varied). I can personally say that the saxophone mix is really something, but the dub mix stands as solid production in it’s own right.
Renaissance Man – Wahhagoogoo
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Poni Hoax – We Are The Bankers (Renaissance Man Dub Mix)
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Renaissance Man | myspace | beatport
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Yes, yes, ladies and gentlemen, we here at electroTO are proud to announce a new segment set to grace our space, and we honestly believe that it will offer insights into the electronic music industry that can seldom be found anywhere else. Most of us are well aware of the talent that comes through our beloved city, but our InTORview segment will provide an exclusive, deeply personal look at the top DJ/Producer talents that descend upon our borough. And our inaugural edition, really couldn’t be much bigger. Here is our sit-down with Louis Brodinski:
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So how has your latest trip to North America been? Work or play?
It’s been pretty good. It was not really a tour. It was like three weeks in LA for work, but after that, my agent found some gigs, and said you have your friend from Philly who wants you to play, your friend Ryne in Toronto who wants you to play, as well as a gig in Montreal. So I said, okay I’ll take it. I’m coming back in March in Miami, with Erol, Boys Noize, DJ Mehdi, Aeroplane. Yeaaa… it’s going to be good.
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In playing your style of techno, how do you find the difference in crowd response from Europe to North America?
The club couture in North America is totally different, but it’s a really good thing for us too. In Europe it’s a real business. Every club, I come, I open as the invite DJ, and every weekend it’s a good party; the crowd is really into it. But here, we need to work, like, we need to come, and come back, and come back, and come back again. You know? Even for me it’s really difficult because I have no album or nothing like that, like Boys Noize for example. For Alex, it’s pretty good because he has his image, his label, his project, his albums, he has two albums right now, and he’s come here, and people go to see him. One, because he’s a good DJ, and two, you can hear tracks from an album. You know what I mean? Like only the geeks and the nerd can know everything that I play [...] But it’s cool (haha).
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People know you for your close friendship and production relationship with Yuksek. Can you speak about your relationship with him, and are you two still as close in the studio?
I think we are the exact same today. When we can work together, we do. But for example, I have a mixtape to do, I have a CD to do, I have a remix to do for Miami. I’m in North America right now, coming back for only two days in France, play, and then go off to Japan after having only one week off. Then after it’s Maimi… like wow. It’s a lot.
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We heard about a collaboration with You, Djedjotronic, Noob and Harvard Bass. Tell us!
Yes, we do a track with Noob, Djedjotronic, Harvard Bass and me. Yea but, like now it’s close to the end, with Noob and Djedjo. But we will definitely be doing something for Miami, I think.
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You just named a couple of your close DJ friends. Who’s the craziest? Who parties hardest?
Ohh no Victor (Harvard Bass). Victor is the craziest. He’s so funny. Even Noob and Djedjo too, but they are very clever. They work a lot. Yea but like, all good guys.
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From other interviews we’ve heard that you’ve been getting better at doing your own production. Do you ever see yourself producing on your own, without a collaborator?
No. It’s just like I’m not a big fan of being in the studio and working on my own song. But when I’m with somebody, it’s really funny, and we can do something different. [...] If I’m working on something I really like, I need to be in the studio for like a week, working on like exactly the same track. I need to be with somebody in the studio. After two years of working with somebody, I’m just seeing. I know what I’m seeing. I totally understand it. I need some more time, but I think it’s going to be good.
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It’s clear that you’re a huge fan of hip-hop, as depicted in your blog SmokeMachine. Are you doing anything to pursue that, or is it just a personal hobby?
I think the real problem with hip-hop… when you want to be a hip-hop producer, you need to produce like 25 beats a day. And we produce a track every 4 months, so like, it’s difficult. The rap business is totally different from the electronic business. But yea it’s interesting, like I will do some stuff. Some people are interested in it. I’m doing a rap mixtape, just for myself, just so I can say, at this time, I listened to this music. I don’t care what people think. I just do it for me. [...] In Canada and US, hip-hop is big. Half of the tracks I put on my blog, everybody knows. In Europe, it’s like nobody cares about hip-hop music.
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When it comes to producing techno, who would be the one producer you would want to see yourself working with?
I would say Yuksek is the best for that. Yea, for me, because, he’s an engineer and a friend. And working with a friend is just the best for me. [What about Soulwax?] Yeaa, Soulwax are good, but they’re really busy too, you know?
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You appeared on Teki and Orgasmic’s ‘Sound Pellegrino’ label last year, any chance you appear on some other emerging labels, like Mowgli’s ‘Deadfish’, or the like?
I like Deadfish. I think it’s a really good label. We just decide… For example, Mowgli asked me, “Do You want to work with Camel? I think it’s gonna be a good idea for him.” And, I think it’s gonna be a good idea for him too, and I like what Camel is doing at the moment, he is really on fire. So I said, ahh, why not!? And it’s a project, between another one. It’s just like, cool… But for Teki, he approach me maybe a year and a half ago, and said “Listen man, I maybe want to do a label, have you got something?” And I said, yea I got something, and it was the track ‘Boogieman’, an old one, really. Then I told my friend Guilliam (The Shoes) that I wanted to do something, and we did ‘Sha Shtil’, and ‘Casablanco’ was like two weeks after. And it was with Yuksek too, yea. It was pretty good. It was good for me. People liked it, people reacted pretty well.
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In previous interviews you mentioned that The Shoes and Monsieur Monsieur are big acts to look out for. Anyone else that you have your eye on in 2010?
Hmm. I think a little guy from Belgium, named Highbloo. He send me just all his stuff, and the last two is just… (gesture suggesting craziness). Yea, yea he’s really good. And he’s a nice guy. He send me all his stuff and says “okay what you think, what do you think?”. I just want to see what’s next for him. He’s a French guy from Belgium. You know how they have two parts in Belgium? But yea he’s really good, I really like his stuff. And another guy, a French guy called French Fries [Ohh yes the Arma EP]. Yeaaa, that’s really good. The BeatauCue remix is the best, and even the original too. And the sound, I think it’s really good today. It’s like that minimal kind of dutch house. It works really well… I remember end of January of 2009, I was so excited about music, with the ‘Spraycan EP’, ‘Nadastrom’, and stuff like that. And today, I’m listening to some different stuff. Like this Dutch guy named Oliver Twizt, sent some stuff to Mad Decent. I was in LA, with Diplo, and I was listening to that, and it’s going to be really big.
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As far as your new releases for this year, you have Arnold Classics coming out, and…?
Yes, Arnold Classics is coming out on Sinden’s new label called ‘Grizzly’. Yea, Sinden ask me from long time ago, “He says ya ya. I’m doing a label. Give me a track or something.” So I give him this one, and I said find some remixers. I think one is from Toronto? Egyptrixx? He’s really good. And he just did a remix for a band called Cubic Zirconia, and it’s an amazing remix. I just said to Sinden, let’s ask him to do it.
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You’re a wristwatch guy, how many watches do you have?
I have 25 watches, but I only wear 25. I have many more than that. [Do you have a favorite?] I don’t have any favorites. It’s exactly like music, I change all the time.
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As far as DJs you look up to, who are the best you’ve seen lately?
Mehdi is amazing. Who I’ve seen recently… Jack Beats is really good. He’s a party DJ. Diplo is amazing, as always. Who else… [Alex, obviously?] Yea, but, pfff, he’s already a king, you don’t have to (haha). Everybody plays different stuff now. I cannot wait to see the Hard party. Between Aeroplane, Erol, Busy P… and, oh man.
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Last question, you play a lot of material from cutting edge artists, would you consider yourself to be a musical trendsetter?
Umm, I think a test-maker. I hope to be one. I hope to be one for everybody, not just for those who read the blog and forum! (haha)
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Thanks for your time Louis!
BONUS: Edu K – Flutesnoot (Brodinski’s B-Live Mix)
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I’m afraid that I might be slowly turning this blog into a Renaissance Man tribute page, but in the spirit of good music, hopefully you’ll all be able to excuse my inherent bias. Today, Scion A/V and FluoKids (a top-notch music space) released a very impressive five track sampler, and the track released to the masses was the Renaissance Man piece that we’re featuring now, entitled Fruit Loop.
In addition to the tasty artwork above, there is so much to love about the work. It has a Steve Angelo Gypsy-esque pan flute going on, with a clean, crisp serving of bass, as only our favorite Finnish duo can do. The track is fun and freewheeling, and kinda just floats through a weird mystical plot — not sure what that means, but definitely check it out regardless.
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There is a certain vibe that is spreading across electroTO-land, much like the plague. It takes the name of several 25-cent monikers, but needs to be felt rather than superficially classified. It embodies a number of essential house elements, but fuses this sound with an idea that is far more exotic — far more tropical. The sound was almost shoved into the mainstream with the Diplo & Switch collabo known as Major Lazer, and has proceeded to evolve into a number of variations.
The Philip Bader remix (and Renaissance Man edit) of Nur Mal Kurz was a track that we kinda stumbled upon, much more than were seeking out, and serves as an important example of this trending form of house music. The tribal bongos, authentic claps, and soothing conga rhythm that settles in is truly foreign, and will do wonders for your musical collection.
Nicone and Sascha Braemer – Nur Mal Kurz (Philip Bader Remix) [RM Edit]
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Philip Bader | myspace
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Today we’re going a little bit low-key here at electroTO and I couldn’t think of a song more fitting to the mood. Anybody who’s heard it knows that The XX (who are the biggest thing since sliced bread right now — and rightfully so) remix of Florence & The Machine’s amorous tune “You’ve Got The Love” is possibly the most beautiful thing ever to have graced the ears of the masses. You also know that we here at electroTO we love Renaissance Man. Sorry if this is a bit late to anybody but today I stumbled across The Renaissance Man edit of the previously mentioned track and I feel like I have to share it. It is a simple, clean edit that adds a bit more percussion to the track and takes away a little of the groove and bubblyness of the XX remix but I feel as if it’s a fair trade off. They keep just enough of the vocals to keep it powerful although it won’t dig as deep into your soul as the XX remix.
I’m actually surprised by how moved I am by this tune that has been popping up everywhere from the University of Western’s hottest radio show to the all powerful BBC Radio 1. This is a necessary addition to anyone’s playlist. For your listening pleasure we’ve gone ahead and attached the XX remix as well as the Renaissance Man edit to give your ears the royal treatment.
Florence and the Machine – You’ve Got The Love (The XX remix)
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Florence and the Machine – You’ve Got The Love (The XX remix) [RM Edit]
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Myspace Love | Florence and the Machine | The XX
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