2004's Electro-House Classics

It... ate me!

eye of the tiger, mean machine steroid cowbell remix.

Blackstrobe's best work to date IMO, and shares the honour of best Kitsune Midnight release with Man With Guitar. The synths and drum programming in the middle breakdown is still enough to put a big cheesy grin on my face after 10,000 listens.

big chunky bold synthy almost bigbeat-ish goodness

While others were content to mine early 80s Italo for general vibe and analog synth sounds, Rex the Dog went straight for the jugular and imbibed the spirit of mid-80s Italo in all its bombastic major-key glory. His mix of Client's "Radio" best epitomises this reminding me of nothing more than Koto's "Dragon's Legend" with it's melodic overdose and seemingly endless sweetness and drama.

The record that best epitomises electrohouse's 2004 shift from the sleazy faux-elitism and poncery of tracks like "Frank Sinatra" to big-room euphoria and classic rave peace and loveism. It's an unholy marriage of electrohouse rhythm, disco guitar and strings and hippiefied sentiment of one-world under an (electrohouse) groove.

See also Beanfield - "Tides" (Carl craig mix)

I'd add the Tiefschwarz remix of Truby Trio - Universal Love to the list, but it was released in 2003, right?

303! Melody! Catchy insistent vocal sample! 3 distinct sections! Headman mix also pretty good! Can sound either dark or bouncy depending on context! What a tune!

The dub version of this track has a certain urgency about it that decimates any hope the crowd had of sitting still. Probably my favorite opener as it sets the pace for an unreal adventure into somewhere exciting.

Or, is it the bouncy shiny happiness and single-minded grooves of the Get Physical tunes?

And is Rex the Dog the only producer doing both?

13. DJ T-Phantomas-Just one killer sweaty clubby riff, the kind of riff that works a crowd into a big ball of dough, and then that ultra stretched breakdown where absolutely every effect and drumbeat and vocal sample seems lovingly crafted for months, then finally the drums roll and if you've not heard the track before, you then realise just what an absolutely killer riff the main hook is. the right DJ could absolutely DESTROY a floor with this record

when youre siting in that chromed centrifuge and its going faster and faster and you can hear it screech and fall apart around you and the operators voice is fading and your face caves in going through the sound barier, dont you just hate it? no you dont. because the light is so beautiful.

Another good (re)werk from Southern Fried’s party boy. The electro funk dreams of Arthur Baker freshened up for today’s dancefloor and it doesn’t get any warmer or more pop than this. The pulsing analogue keys, the video game bleeps and the snappy breakbeat make for as natural a new/old habitat for the Biz’s vocals as the Benassi head wrecking synths. It causes me to dream of skyriding through Neo-Tokyo and makes me want to pop my body, badly. The best part would be the changeup halfway through, when it becomes more urgent and, subtly, more sinister. Like there’s no escape. No matter what you do.

Two feet-rocking moments of exuberant, unashamedly campy, smart-pop dumbness. Too rude for primetime radio, they are riding high on the shortlist for anthems of the year, complete with silly haircuts and sillier videos. Mylo’s effort has a touch of Jacques LuCont in the strings and electro rhythms but where it shines are in the hints of tunefulness and the awesome hook. Mr Chasez goes for bludgeoning and hilarious lyrical delivery, a melody line that could’ve been nicked off ‘Cars’, handclaps and a guitar riff that remind you that the song’s just there to be enjoyed and the best unexpected extended dance break ever. Seriously, it’s like he achieved time travel mid-song (1982-1993).

The sound of nails being scraped nastily across digital blackboard. And getting louder and louder. Painfully brilliant.

http://purevolume.com/mamoth

i actually just heard this stuff the other day, pretty cool though.

yeh but he would say that

kalabrese - set me free (perlon)

ruede hagelstein - sweaty balls (freund)

p1e - 49 second dance (vinyl on demand)

krazy germans and their krazy vox n' synths!

Sends the original into a bruising trip through space, dipping sideways into the galaxy Discovery. Has a touch of Vitalic cream about it too. Surprisingly, the vocal survives the journey.

Because it was officially released this year and is as defining an electro-house classic as anything else you can name.

Nueue Luthersche Fraktur is the big chunky incessant techno-tinged one with these sudden lurches in pitch. That probably qualifies (and facking marvellous it is too I might add).

Over-the-top in every way (the surging bass line, the exuberantly incoherent lyrics, the harmonies-or-are-they?) so that it feels like futuristic 1993 (Basement Blaxx?). A song (PJ's scaled down his trackiness) that loves technology and now as much as it loves dogma and classicism ("Oh by the way, my baby girl's name is house music," he says, like we need reminding). Part of being a fan of today's soulful house is getting off on vocals/melodies and accepting the music's stagnation. With Paul doing shit like this, that might not be the case for much longer.

mine is 31! I'll have a look for that track.

Yes, Bugz In The Attic in on the act. You can sing along, and it has the funkiest synth groove.

This is from the new Tiefschwarz compilation, a grimier version than the one that was released. Makes everything bounce.

This is getting close to techno because of its tempo, with a woman looking for her girlfriend amidst an all consuming synth riff.

This is the pan pipe record. I'm still pondering the political message. Tune!

Good grief, tell me about it! ;-)

37. Phonique featuring die Elfen - "The Red Dress (Tiefschwarz Remix)"

Roy Ayers does industrial. Erm, only good. Tiefschwarz own this thread.

That's right, a whole album of the stuff! Standout tracks: Rocket Kontrol and Black Curtain but there's really not a single dud here.

Best track that wasn't on the new Speicher CD 2, strangely enough. Köhncke used to be in Whirlpool Productions, you know.

(I knew that about Kohncke yeah, I think it shows on his own album, he's a pretty damn versatile producer though one way or another)

come on - invent a genre!

I can't remember. I just assumed the track first mentioned on the label to be the A side. No?

40. Slam - "Human"

Not many people know this, but there was indeed a decent track on theit latest album, Year Zero...

That's right, a whole album of the stuff!

A Tiga trilogy;
33. Beyer & Lenk feat. Tiga - Heartbreaker
It's all about the rave, 808 build up, the Total Confusion "hoh hoh", big cheesy synth scrawls, and the devil himself whispering "my feet, I'm crawling, must live".
34. Martini Bros - Big & Dirty (Tiga remix)
Yeah yeah, it sounds just like how you'd expect the Martini Brothers remixed by Tiga to sound like, but come on, it sounds just like the Martini Brothers remixed by Tiga! With a Graceland era Paul Simon bit in the middle!
35. Peaches - Shake Yer Dix (Tiga's Where Were You In '92 Remix)
How old is this man? He's the rave Dorian Gray. Somewhere in his attic is a fat goateed middle-aged doppleganger remixing the new U2 single while he continues perfecting the rave sound of his youth. This record is perfect. Build, crowd, horn, whistle, explode.

I always call it heavy dirty synthesizer house, but maybe that's not quite snappy enough...

Who is Ada?

39. from 2003 I admit, but a sort of classic for this style

The Freaks-The Creeps (Steve Bug Remix)

wasn't 'the creeps' last year?

x-post yeah I did say last year, sorry I'm cheating a bit but there's a few records which seem to make more sense in the current context.

36. Sander Kleinenberg -"The Fruit"

No, really. This is only available on his new mix album, but I've got a CD-R of the track. If you book me for your party, I will play it for you. Prog it is not.

42. Ame-Nia (Sonar Kollektiv) again somewhere between deep house and electro, Get Physical style, it's so quiet and subtle but I can imagine dancefloors going absolutely crazy for it.

Then I really do mean the Köhncke! But the other side deserves a mention too, so:

37. DJ Koze - "Brutalga Square"

a little clicky, a little koenig cylinders / mbv esque ish but mixed in would sound perfect in a set of this music. causes mass outbreaks of hands in the air as the sound is just so HUGE. makes me feel like taking e for the first time in years.

x-post, must check that out, high praise!

After giving props to Sander Kleinenberg, here's another Dutchman (and a popular DJ here as well). This is also just a CD-R for the moment. It sounds very much like Black Strobe I have to say, but how can that be a bad thing, really?

Speaking of whom... You have to pitch this to minus 6 to mix it with the Terry Toner track, and it's still massive.

Ooh! Let's not not forget this one! Possibly just as terrific as Tim's number 1 choice. One of my fourite's of the year.

While I'm at it. Just as good as the "Eeeeaaooww" from last year, only now with added Bounty Killer. Released this week, folks!

don't you mean plus 6, or is terry toner really slow?

the killer mix on the nathan fake is the a2.

The Black Strobe is actually rather fast, if I'm not mistaken.

The following may not be classics really, but I still rather enjoyed them. Good enough to buy anyway.

58. Kevin Mark Trail - "Perpspective (Cass & Tom Vox Mix)"

This is the guy who was the singer on the first Streets tour. Don't know Cass & Tom.

59. Mujik - "Nothing"

Bought this without hearing it first (something one should never do) and it was alright.

This actually is fantastic. On the Sender label, like Misc. Lovely digital noise riff and a German robot voice going on about programmier die Nacht.

i'll also second 'programmier'.

Edging towards techno, very fine build-up.

62. Cursor Miner-The Sport of Kings-probably the rockiest dance track of the year besides "Rocker" obviously, which NOBODY has mentioned here, maybe thankfully? Sport of Kings is like sort of cosmic electro rock, it's a bit like Primal Scream might sound if they didn't have crap vocals and weren't dragged down by all their hippyish rubbish. It also reminds me a bit of something like "Chime" by Orbital, in that it seems pick a sonic spot somewhere out there and zoom along towards it.

I've yet to hear any DJ play it actually.

it's about 118bpm. maybe i'm playing it at the wrong speed.

I'm couting something like 138!

63. Black Strobe - "Chemical Sweet Girl (Alter Ego Remix)"
64. Alter Ego - "Rocker (Blackstrobe Remix)"

65. Kill Memory Crash - "Technasty (Rmx)"

The dirtiest, filthiest track in this list!

This just in from Belgium:

The Backlash - "Shave Our Soul"

Quite nice, in a Alter Ego stylee. I'm worried about the fact that I really like stuff (like this) that is obviously not that original. It is just well done in a style I like. It can't last forever but in the meantime: keep 'em coming, I guess.

you are of course totally right. i was getting this mixed up with the 'enjoy the silence' remix.

63) alter ego - rocker (italo dub)

surely everyone has had enough of the original for a lifetime. thankfully there is the italo dub mix for a bit of respite.

Yeah this is why I love the Mei Lwun Uno Records mix so much.

"39. from 2003 I admit, but a sort of classic for this style

The Freaks-The Creeps (Steve Bug Remix)"

Ronan I thought you should know that I've come around to this being much better than the original. It really is all about that slightly out of synch snare hit.

"After giving props to Sander Kleinenberg, here's another Dutchman (and a popular DJ here as well). This is also just a CD-R for the moment. It sounds very much like Black Strobe I have to say, but how can that be a bad thing, really? "

The Sander Kleinenberg mix is interesting - it's sort of electro-prog I guess.

x-post

I do love the Creeps remix.

slutty 4 to the floor glitched out idm-tech-house from bpitch!!!

65. riton "square eyes"

prince meets bowie inna 'lectro squelch workout!!!

66. mu "paris hilton"

packaw! should be #1

So Simian are a rock band, and there is certainly NOTHING electro about this record, but that wobbly bassline fits in beautifully beside anything Tiefschwarz or Tiga has put out this year, and loads of those djs are playing it, so I think it gets a free pass. Whatever, it's fucking classic, anyhow...

while we're on more of a disco-y tip, Lopazz. Toss up between this, Migracion, and the Captain Comatose mix of "I need ya" but I reckon this edges it cos of vocoder-type vocals making it more on-genre for the thread.

ps - don't you love the way the thread starts with a really tight definition of electrohouse and then branches out as you read down?

To some extent I started the thread with the intention of proving how the "tight definition" of electrohouse was making so much of the year's best music. I deliberately left out my top shuffletech picks for that reason but I guess given the way the thread has developed they're now eligible.

I've only heard the Captain Comatose mix of "I Need Ya" once but it sounded great!

Speaking of CC and schaffel - does anyone hear *any* correlation between the CC mix of "I Don't Know" and the original?

But this thread rocks :)

Though it's a tossup with Stop Disco Mafia, as once "C.H.A.X." on the b-side builds up it becomes a burbly acid monster

this is fantastic, a really good 'kick things off' tune

i feel that there's just too much out there now - is EVERY track mentioned here really THAT good? a lot of them have been mentioned on other threads/lists too. maybe there should be a 'list rubbish electro-house tracks' thread so we can discern better?

Driving, insane shouty nonsense with the rump-shaking action. Not by stirmonster.

Released at the very end of last year, one of the Jolly Music boys gets even more electro-Italo on us. A nice big dancing stomp; Metro Area with a big ass.

(Justice vs Simian is like, a year old now, but screw it)

73. Pet Shop Boys - "Flamboyant (DJ Hell Remix)"

This really belongs here, possibly even the West End Girls remix on the B side. Big synths.

Who's heard Vector Lovers (from Soma)?

Nope.

And do Morillo and Audio Bullys deserve a place here?

I wouldn't consider it as [cough] electro-house, to be honest.

damn, this mix takes the cake. minimal & analog noise pop. anyone have an extra 7"???!?

a gift for you... listen. Disconnected Volume 1 can be downloaded at: http://www.uprisingfam.com/disconnectedvolume1.mp3

I was kinda playing with that Bullys suggestion, since I was trying to make my mind up on it. I think I'm running out of good suggestions (and I'm not even sure how suitable most of 'em are).

74 & 75. Mula - 'Do You Remember That Night' Cagedbaby Remix & A Man Called Adam - 'Barefoot In The Head' Justin Robertson and Cagedbaby Remix

Kinda more in the tech house vein, but tech house doesn't normally hurt my ears. I refuse to invoke "electro-tech", however. A rather apt Stompaphunk release. More deep, and just as pleasurable is the collaborative effort on an old Balearic standard. Electrobliss.

76 - Tiga - "Pleasure from the bass" (Joakim edit)

there's a great breakdown about 4 mins in, i think. distressingly this isn't on my laptop, so i can't confirm exactly where.

Driving, insane shouty nonsense with the rump-shaking action. Not by stirmonster.

thank you thank you!t his has done my head in all year with people thinking i was resonsible for that record.

77. kiki - "run with me" (from the album of the same title)

uses party heavy metal drums and is from the same guy responsible for "luv sikk" (which i would also nominate, but i think it's from 2003). the album is def worth checking. it's like a moody weirdo version of transphormer

belongs in the top ten and is probably my second favorite remix this year (after carl craig's "tides" juggernaut). deep, demonic, and funky as hell.

79. luciano & quenum - "orange mistake"

epic electro house that just builds and builds and sounds good mixed with just about anything. this is perhaps not the best cadenza release, but it's my favorite of the ones i know.

80. superpitcher - "happiness" (m mayer mix)

because the breakdown is fucking insane and mayer does electro style bass that is up there with the likes of alter ego, black strobe and tiefschwarz - in other words, pummeling elastic madness. + this track has weak-in-the-knees strings.

nope i don't. worst thing is, i would never call a record 'chop dis up' and close friends have asked if it was me. i get an email a week on average asking to license it so i presume a lot of people do like it. hee! i should take the money and run.

i'm now convinced that rex the dog can do no wrong whatsoever, this shit is GREAT. i'm not terribly qualified to provide any reference points about what this sounds like but i think we can all tell by this point what a rex the dog mix would sound like anyway. (this thread's great, btw)

I maintain that a lot of this stuff (particularly Rex the Dog) is surprisingly similar to Orbital, esp. "Nothing Left". And that's the direction that I'd sorta like to see Rex in particular go in: intricate epic OTT electro-rave.

Orbital rock anyway :) One of my mates dropped their version of the doctor who theme at a party once and everyone went ape. Fair enough a lot of the crowd were computer programmers, but i don't think i'll forget the vibe that night.

later on he spliced KLF's dr who timelords song in with some freq nasty and the teepee outside got ripped down, taking with it a $2k projector.

82. Detroit Grand Pubahs - Big Onion (Joakim 'Slap It On' Remix)
83. Severed Heads - Dead Eyes Opened (Joakim re edit)
84. Joakim - Come Into My Kitchen (M.A.N.D.Y. Remix) and the 2003 original still going strong at the bolloxx office

Joakim is pretty great yeah.

just got this, quite like the Phonique mix actually. nice vocal chop up.

86. Mylo-Drop The Pressure (Erol Alkan's Extended Re-Edit)-bigger, better, the mistake is gone from the first minute, it's longer, the drums are tougher, it's properly sequenced etc etc etc.

what i just wrote reminds me of metro area. do they count as electro house? if so:

87. metro area - "proton candy"

i guess this is electro disco and i favored the flip of this single for the longest time, but "proton candy" is something special. probably one of the more song-oriented tracks in this list. best handclaps of the year? chic would be proud.

x-post attention to detail really is the word for Get Physical stuff, there are so many important little glitchy one off vocal samples or drums. another thing I meant to mention here is just what a brilliant vocalist/lyricist Chelonis is.

88. jesper dahlbäck - robot dance

non-retro squelchy acid disco madness. do you need anything else in life? shows black strobe how it's done. seriously. variation on a theme, caught up in the moment, etcetera.

89. marco passarani - i house u

tense cut-up abstract collage with lots of back looking references + a release to make you wet yourself, how a throwback record should be done.

rave on!

91. canto de la liberta - 3rd face (unreleased version)

electronic tribal chanting insanity

92. dominik eulberg - die rotbauchunken vom tegernsee

kind of microhouse but the bassline and the lunatic breakdown lets it fit in here. it always mystifies me that i don't hear this out more often

the gay disco side of synth house.

94. ricardo villalobos - easy lee (smith & hack mix)

donna summer, donna summer, donna summer!

A lean, mean Amir Khan amidst all the heavyweights.

Full on bleep action.

Some people spent over a hundred euro's collecting these ace Tiefschwarz 12"-es, and now you can get them on one handy CD compilation. No reason to download them all...

"alien girl" + a deranged horn section + the lyrics, "morning, mr. loverboy" + diva vocals + big ass handclaps = delicious

On his Uno Records mix Mei Lwun loops the acapella from Fog's "Been A Long Time" over the top of "He Not In", turning a worthy electro-house track into a galloping diva-house barnstormer.

"epic electro house that just builds and builds and sounds good mixed with just about anything. this is perhaps not the best cadenza release, but it's my favorite of the ones i know."

I also really like Luciano's "Stone Age", though that's a lot more minimal (but in a tense, vaguely scary way. I could easily imagine Smagghe playing it).

96 is a top pick. I wish black strobe would do a mix of disgraceland off the same album. Or even that there was a more mix friendly version. It's a bit of a downer when she goes "and this is the end of the song" and it just stops but the track is so rad that you don't want to mix out early.

not as dancefloor-oriented as most of the stuff being discussed here, but i think it would work well as a slow dance type thing. it's the most captivating mournful electro thing i've heard in quite a while; i've been playing it several times a day for the last couple of weeks. has anyone heard the original?

christ, are there a load of amazing tiga remixes out there that i haven't heard? anyway, i'm only on my 2nd listen to this, but it shows all the signs of being another classic.

i've heard the original version of that devils tune now. it's really, really bad.

Located this over the weekend. Terrific album! Absolutely gorgeous.

there's a great breakdown about 4 mins in, i think.

as steve points out, it's a remix, not an edit. the bit i was thinking of is indeed just over 4 minutes in.

a little clicky, a little koenig cylinders / mbv esque ish but mixed in would sound perfect in a set of this music. causes mass outbreaks of hands in the air as the sound is just so HUGE. makes me feel like taking e for the first time in years.

Of all the things I've heard as a result of this thread, I think this has to be the best. It's joyously, headspinningly fun. I don't think it's the 'Icelandic version' I've got, though. It's 9.23, so I think it's the Holden Remix. Going to have to try to track down the 12" I think.

Also:

6. Black Strobe - Italian Fireflies

I love this sounds like an electrohouse mix of 'Lose My Breath'.

I'm just getting into this stuff (it's like EBM, only not stagnant for the past 12 years!.) Are there any good mixes or comps I should look out for (other than the Ivan Smagghe mixes) that are mostly focused on the harder-edged tracks?

http://creativecommons.org/wired/

also i would add smash tv's 'queen of men' (dave tarrida mix) to this list... this song goes SO SO SO SO well with the a-side mix from the tiefschwarz/spektrum 12". Also the Konrad Black mix of Villeneuve's 'Graceland' is a nice tune with a great build.

also I noticed today some of the get physical products say in small writing on the packaging. "A Physical Product For Physical Moments"

n-joi!

dj booth

download here:  www.uprisingfam.com/disconnectedvolume2.mp3

Speaking of which, I'm just noticing that this guy Holden originally put out the MFA 'The Difference It Makes' on his label Border Crossing, and I remember his name being mentioned in proggy circles following the Balance mix - anyone know more info? Anything else he's done sound like this or is worth listening to?

104. Plump DJs - "Soul Vibrates"

No, really. In a breakbeat stylee.

105. Losoul - Brain of Glass" (from the Getting Even album)

Very catchy melody, you'll never forget it ever.

106. Lars Sommerfeld - Van Too

Edging towards electro side of things.

107. Scissor Sisters - Mary (Mylo Mix)

Not that anyone would recognize it as Scissor Sisters.

108. Zoo Brazil - "Walk Right Back"

Pushes all the right buttons.

109.David Guetta featuring JD Davis - The World is Mine (Blackstrobe Remix)

Blackstrobe, what else do you need to know? Singer sounds like David Gahan.

110. Rocco Branco - Kapital (from Blattschuss EP)

Five star classic!* Buy on sight! AKA Dominik Eulberg, apparently.

8) Well, at least four!

111. John Tejada-Chorgs
112. Tomas Barfod-My Drums

Has anyone heard the Ewan Pearson mix of Mocky?

Yes, and if you want to as well, tune your RealPlayer to the second hour (uur 2) of my October 9 radio show...

113. Instant Noodles AKA Quizz & Terry - "Decibel Magic"

It's French and it's more Tiefschwarz than Blackstrobe. In fact, you can mix it (as I did) with Ghostrack without any pitch adjustment.

I don't know if it counts per se, but this is pretty fab:

114. Kylie - "I Believe in You (Skylark Remix)"

Is anything else by Skylark any good? I don't really know them.

115. Ignition-Love Is War (Chicken Lips Remix)

perhaps more acid house than electro but close to the best thing the often boring Chicken Lips have ever done if you ask me.

oh. my. god.

i don't know what a panic record is exactly, but things seem to call this one and it sounds perfectly apt. this makes me wish i was actually dj'ing at clubs as opposed to lounges. someone wanna book me in LA?

116. Clashing Egos-I FORGET THE SONG TITLE (Joakim's Afrobot Mix), like a acid version of "Detriot" by Moonstar.

117. Joakim-Are You A Vegetarian-weirdo vocals make this one.

i'm working on a broader 2004 mix now and the 'I Need Your Love' remix goes quite well with 'Rocker'

Definite. I think Ignition have a similair disco vibe to the Lips on a couple of the Echoman LP cuts - 'Do It Proper' (sort of proto-Get Physical) and 'Jerk Chicken' (Afro-dub disco perfection) currently own me - ironic then that when the Lips remix Ignition, they're already well into their acid phase.

anyone wanna take the best 20 tracks mentioned on this thread and make a mix?

You'd be doing out-of-step-me a very big favour.

Dancing In The Head 4

01. Product 01 - Heart Ov Glass
02. Kelis - Trick Me (Tiefschwarz Special Trick Mix)
03. Freeform Five – Eeeeaaooww
04. Justice vs Simian - Never Be Alone (Simian Mobile Disco Mix)
05. Depeche Mode - Photographic (Rex The Dog Dubb Mix)
06. Spektrum - Kinda New (Tiefschwarz Dub)
07. Tiefschwarz - Ghosttrack (Blackstrobe Mix)
08. Panash - Jack 2 Jack (Jasper Dahlbaeck Mix)
09. Alter Ego – Rocker
10. Blackstrobe - The Abwehr Disco
11. T Raumschmiere - Querstromzerspaner (LFO Mix)
12. The Hacker - The Brutalist
13. Tiga - Pleasure From The Bass (Joakim Mix)
14. Christopher Just Presents Acid Joseph - I Love The Acid Too
15. Superpitcher - Happiness (Michael Mayer Mix)

1. Jesper Dahlbäck: Machine Dance
2. Miss Kittin: Requiem For A Hit (Abe Duque Remix)
3. Tiga: Pleasure From The Bass
4. Rex The Dog: Frequency
5. Detroit Grand Pubahs: Big Onion (Slap It On Remix By Joakim)
6. Mylo: Drop The Pressure (Erol Alkan's Extended Re-Edit)
7. Dave Clarke feat. Chicks On Speed: What Was Her Name (Black Strobe Remix)
8. Peaches: Shake Yer Dix (Tiga's Where Were You In '92 Remix)
9. Alter Ego: Rocker (Erol Alkan's Deaf Disco Re-Edit)
10. Beyer & Lenk feat. Tiga: Heartbreaker
11. Depeche Mode: Photographic (Rex The Dog Dub)

Can be found here: http://www.helsinki.fi/~jjmvanha/mix.html

i will do this, but my best 20 tracks out of this list probably wouldn't be the best by consensus from this thread.

if people want to suggest their top 20 or so out of this list, i could make an amalgam of lists mix.

1. John Lord Fonda – Music is not Computer Algebra 1
2. Benny Benassi presents The Biz – No Matter What You Do (Caged Baby mix)
3. Dominik Eulberg – Die Rotbauchunken vom Tegernsee
4. Black Strobe – The Abwehr Disco
5. DJ-T – Phantomas
6. Le Dust Sucker – Mean Boy
7. Panash – Jack 2 Jack (Jasper Dahlback mix)
8. Luciano & Quenum – Orange Mistake
9. Misc – Flow Control (Basteroid mix)
10. Dave Clarke w/ Chicks on Speed – What Was Her Name (Blackstrobe mix)
11. Tiga – Pleasure From The Bass (Joakim mix)
12. Spektrum – Kinda New (Tiefschwarz Vocal mix)
13. Freeform Five – Strangest Things (Freeform Five Reform Dub)
14. Cursor Miner – The Sport of Kings
15. Ada – Maps

Mike Monday - "That Shit Was..." - rumpy electro-house that's kinda like DJ T meets Tiefschwarz, really good, and has a b-side remix that's all squelchy bass, tingling Chic guitar and a snapping syncopated groove.

Even better (but I think it may have already been mentioned) is Holden's "A Break In The Clouds", which is just gorgeous.

Yeah, but it's on the list, so it counts (besides, it's sooo good I somehow had to get it into there :)

it's pretty mystifying that not a single jacques lu cont remix has made it into this thread.

i was thinking about the top 20 mix i said i would do last night and i realized that a bunch of tracks that i'm currently playing around with do indeed qualify as electro-house even though some aren't on this list. if people don't want to make suggestions, i will probably just go with those.

omar, your mix looks completely banging.

Tricky, see no. 56. Janne, that e-mail works, right?

here's a link to tracklisting for a recent mix i did. it's kind of electro-housey: Mixes for downloading, ones not available in shops etc

http://www.modularpeople.com/03/kitsunemix/

cocopuffs – und (trapez ltd)
heart of africa (full version) – martin solveig (mixture stereophonic)
darkside – dirt crew (mood music)
jittery heritage – einmusik (italic)
just gazing (robag wruhme remix) - in flagranti (kill the dj)
monkeyrabbit – todd bodine (tresor)
olive (a) – donnacha costello (minimise)
tubeaction – alter ego (klang)
gem (paper faces remix) – zoot woman (wall of sound)
jack 2 jack (jesper dahlbäck remix) – panash (turbo)
sweat (on the walls) – john tejada (poker flat)
the creeps (steve bug remix) – freaks (gigolo)
micky mouse muthafuckers (tiefschwarz remix) – mocky (four)
heiden – michael mayer (kompakt)
sundin lost in the k-hole – dahlbäck and dahlbäck (turbo)
sudden rush (drive time dub) – erlend øye (source uk)
i don’t know (just us remix) – chelonis r jones (get physical)
mustard (a) – donnacha costello (minimise)
loverboy (guido schneider remix) – steve bug (poker flat)
set me free – kalabrese (perlon)

enjoy!

i love the m.i.a. album. it's all twitchy and analog yet very deep at the same time and the female vox are all shoegazery and wonderfully oblique. she has some awesome singles too, tim. her tunes are very dancefloor minded without initially coming off that way which i like as well.

on to 2005 already, yeah.

and i've only got the first 15 minutes so far :)

sort of on the bunker tip a la polarius "jams in the key of smack" but better produced.

i'm thinking about doing a part two. thanks for your kind words...

My favourite part of Fabric 19 is probably the second half of "Time Out (Acid Dub)" (with those awesome staggering beats) into the Alexkid track.

;)

Also Misc's "The Magic Number" is aceness obv.

Hey Tim have you heard the rest of the Le Dust Sucker record, I would rate "Mr Ingum" as one of the worst tracks on it, and I don't mean that as a criticism.

"Fancy Ball" and "Old Shirt" are amazing.

Also been listening to "Eve" and "Cool My Fire (I'm Burning)" a lot - the only two tracks apart from "Maps" that I've been able to track down off the Ada album. She could so easily become my favourite artist ever. I love how the vocals on "Cool My Fire (I'm Burning)" sound like they're taken from a Dem 2 track.

"cool my fire" is my favorite track off the ada album. the dem 2 reference makes perfect sense. the vocals actually clinch the track's awesomeness for me. i was surprised more people didn't rate it higher because it jumped out immmediately at me on first listen to the album. i like it much more than "maps".

""cool my fire" is my favorite track off the ada album. the dem 2 reference makes perfect sense. the vocals actually clinch the track's awesomeness for me."

Yeah completely. That mangled "told you about my desire" bit is just amazing. There's just so much cool stuff going on in that track!

How classic.

Alex Smoke - Don't See The Point (Soma)

with sublime moody arty gothic vocals
MicroGoth-clicks-n-cuts-electrohouse

Alex Smoke releases an album: Incommunicado - in February on Soma Records

Also another artist to check is Mental Overdrive from Norway - on Smalltown Supersound - deep pulsating electro with techyhouse rhythms. They have track with a vocal in a dead pan euro english accent speaking the words: disco dancer.

did gigolo even come up in this thread?

Yeah that's where i know it from. I love that mix so much - I reckon it sounds really prescient actually. Its mix of electro, synth pop, early house, minimal tech and a smattering of US garage seems incredibly 2004.

i dunno, jacob, are there really that many e-h tracks that do the spoken word thing?

"ITWFM"
Chelonis R Jones - "blackout"
Lopazz - "I need ya"
Zombie Nation - "Souls at zero"
"Micky mouse motherfuckers"
The Backlash - "Magnificent 7"
"Shake yer dix"
The entire Cursor Miner album

i had to give this a shot because the name made me giggle. i would like it much more without the vocals

Freeform Five - Perspex Sex (Ewan Pearson)
DK8 - The Difference
Lopazz - Blood (Tiefschwarz Mix)
John Tejada - Sweat (on the Walls)
M. Mayer - Speaker
Rework - You're So Just Just
Thomas Schaeben & Geiger - Really Real
Playgroup - Make It Happen

Mind you I adore all of these so maybe it's not quite played yet. I'm not sure.

Vahid I do know what you mean, I think the edge that Mei Lwun mix has for me over my other favourite mix of the year (the Get Physical label comp) is how the use of diva house vocals makes it a very emotional experience (esp. The Streaks' "The Feeling (Post Rave Dub)" - musically they're about on par, and the Get Physical mix is probably more consistent, but the swoony vocals on Lun's mix clinch it for me.

But I don't think it's an either/or, the vocals on all the tracks I mentioned above work really well i think, especially "Sweat", "Speaker" and "You're So Just Just".

to be fair my favorite house vocals are the really really cosmic spaced-out ones. when you mentioned "sweat" i was thinking of black odyssey's "sweat". does anybody remember that track?? it's an old stacey pullen track that starts out sounding like standard tech house, then dives deep into this underwater basic channel filter section. some lady whispers "the lights ... the heat ... the strobes ... the sweat" and the track explodes into heavy filtered static that sweeps back and forth in stereo. i was reminded of it when i listened to josh wink's "profound sounds vol 1" recently and couldn't help but think that it'd slot nicely with at least some of the recent electro-house tracks.

another track i could say that about would be "blood angels" by john starlight. that's one of my all time favorite vocals in an electronic track. i guess that one falls pretty squarely in the techno camp, though, much moreso than "sweat" anyway.

it's none other than "problems d'amour" by alexander robotnik...

did anyone check the mix that alexander robotnik put out the disco-tech of alexander robotnik? it sits on the more electro/synth-pop end of this thread and it's oh so lovingly and perfectly put together. i couldn't resist giving it a shout-out on this thread after i recalled the origins of the sample from the foremost poets track.

Also heard a great gothy track with this marvellously ominous bouncing synth riff and portentous lyrics like "she could taste the shape of things to come".

One thing I was thinking while dancing last night is that the key to a lot of this stuff is how slow it often sounds - all those techno sonics running at house tempo, and the groove and melodic patterns which take several bars to resolve. I imagine the effect is a bit similar to EBM back in the day - there's a really viscuous, swamplike feel comparative to other dance music.

great tracks yesterday, really amazing stuff (there's one track with a voice going "it is what it is what it is is what it is"...genius.)

Yeah, Tiefschwarz played that last night as well. It sounded like some new Black Strobe to me. I was also intrigued by a track with some jazzy synth playing, individual synth wooshes for silly hand signalling and a nice little drumroll here and there.

Actually I am going to order it. Need a couple DVDs from there too...

-- B.A.R.M.S. (b4rim4_...), December 2nd, 2004.

BARMS (and everyone else interested) I've got all five mixes back online @ http://www.helsinki.fi/~jjmvanha.mix.html

Like Rex the dog remixing Depeche Mode circa "construction time again". Ok, not that great (it's less euphoric than your usual RTD remix), but still good.

(winmedia file btw)

enjoy (in spite of "mixing" skills)

I'm not sure if this tune is 2005 (but i just heard about it a few weeks ago):
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control (Tommie Sunshine Brooklyn Fire retouch)

GET THIS TRACK NOW! I don't know anyone who doesn't like it, and everytime i've mixed it into a set people have gone ape.

I miss 2004 electro-house.

2. Spektrum - "Kinda New" (Tiefschwarz dub)
Maximalism, dirty rave romanticism style. Tiefschwarz chuck in every fx known to man from swooshes to stabs to rattles to whatever. Listening to it sounds like four records wrapped up into one but without ever spinning off into messy. After it's thrown you this way and that for four minutes or so the dreamy little vocal comes in. The whole package reminds me of nothing so much as Happy Hardcore except replacing the euphoria with a kind of driving melancholy. So really, more like a slicker version of old school hardcore than anything else, and that can't be a bad thing.

― Jacob (Jacob), Thursday, October 21, 2004 12:42 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

FOREVER

WE. ALL. LIVE. AND. DIE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDNMoGFH1S0

SO MANY GOOD TIMES

agreed. just read this thread. i got pretty sick in july 2005 and am not sure i ever recovered the same genuine hunger for all of this after, at least not to the same extent even though i had a few years of clubbing and writing after that.

listening to "phantomas" now...still sounds pretty good. this music feels like it was the best balance of really fun clubs and actually technically interesting tunes.

also, this:

85. Kelis-Trick Me (Tiefschwarz Mix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krwVk0lv-KQ

need to start playing this again...

the bit where the strings drop out is just so fucking CLEVER. nothing changes and yet everything changes. this music had such a sleek controlled intensity to it.

this music feels like it was the best balance of really fun clubs and actually technically interesting tunes.

yeah, esp. that moment pre-"minimal" as a thing, there was a sense of populism and experimentalism (or if not experimentalism per se then certainly a privileging of both expansiveness and idiosyncrasies) coming into alignment for a while. I guess some would decry it as a middlebrow middleground but I miss that sense that tunes like "Kinda New" worked simultaneously singalong-anthem and club-banger and architectural-wonder.

From that point on it felt like mainstream dance music went through a progressive (re)decoupling of these qualities such that now it's all, like, David Guetta on one side and Motor City Drum Ensemble on the other. And both sides can make great music but I prefer when these impulses were all intertwined.

Another thing you can see in this thread is that it was a time of relative (let's call it) "innocence" where it was very easy to engage with what was hot without having to immerse oneself in scenes fully or get all historical about it. Which is maybe why (my sense is) quite a lot of people got into dance music through this stuff.

xpost ha ha Ronan I don't even know what you posted but is it MANDY's "Our World (Our Music)"??

that dj t remix of vince, "superworld"!

i can remember downloading get physical vol 1 on dial up off the one person on slsk who had it and it took fucking ages, then being blown away by how every single track was brilliant.

and yeah the dance threads here were a lot more all encompassing then. ilm was a smaller place. nobody locked threads at night etc.

I think it's just that you were younger then.

Although I do agree that minimal ruined everything.

Which is maybe why (my sense is) quite a lot of people got into dance music through this stuff.

would kind of hesitate to say something like this cuz wasn't it more, y'know, our age? i'm sure there's an equivalent now.

ha xps

dunno, i loved dance music for a good few years after and went clubbing regularly, and also for a few years before. i do think this era was best.

i still go clubbing um semi-regularly, i haven't quite retired yet, and it was definitely regular until at least six months ago - i also think 04-06 were the best, but that really is to do with the fact that i had just moved to london and made lots of new friends who went raving

Yeah I'm not talking about me personally getting into dance music - 1999 was really my big year for going to raves, and I've never again gone clubbing as much as I did in 2000-2002 - but my sense was that a lot of other people did at that time, that it was time of relative "approachability".

Certainly the more aware you are of dance music history then the more likely you are to be jaded or at least circumspect about current developments (e.g. see vahid's posts upthread). But I also think that different constellations of music are more likely to act as entry points than others.

Although I do agree that minimal ruined everything.

I think it's probably overdoing it to blame minimal for the loss of populist electro-house eden, given that post-04 anti-populist tendencies probably have been taken up more enthusiastically by minimal-hataz than by minimal-boosters.

Especially considering the minimal-hataz argument was that alieninsectnoise percussion was cliche....let's listen to deep house/70s loops. Of course now it's 90s edits are cliche....lets listen to 70s edits. Part of the reason I love late Luomo is because he suggests a parallel universe where macro and electro house merged, and continued being popular with no shift to anti-populist/immersive tendencies.

Yeah this is definitely a golden era, gonna make a playlist of all this stuff this weekend. I suppose that shortly after this moment the scene split in two really? With the Get Physical crew and associated labels getting more minimal and the post-Vitalic end racing off down the frankenhouse path. But I get the feeling that the latter would have happened anyway.

Like it's amazing how big the kick drums sound on a lot of these, even a lot of straight ahead house for the next few years felt like it was still filtered through a minimal prism, and that's only really changed again over the last couple of years.

(That's me excluding commercial high street electrohouse from the equation as well)

Even commercial high street electrohouse of this era was quite good as i recall!

I miss this period. Wasn't even going clubbing that much but just as a listener this was my last big scene-driven vinyl-buying binge. More Ewan Pearson, Black Strobe, Rex the Dog and Tiefschwarz remixes than I knew what to do with.

It worked so well with songs, this sound. So many great remixes of people like Depeche Mode.

Didn't Justice ruin electro house?

I always took the Dur-Dur-Durrr mix along with erotic discourse as the time when it became who could play the most extreme breakdown, which lead to an arms race in harder and harder stuff. (like romal flugels Geht's Nocht)

But I think that 2004 electro house was the perfect venn diagram of backroom producers seeing the mainstream turn to their sound, with an aesthetic that went towards an acceptance of being a pop star and not clinging to an idea of the underground as being more 'real'.

gonna make a playlist of all this stuff this weekend

Make sure you share that Spotify link with us.

this thread was a big deal for me at the time, because while I knew I liked this stuff / had just turned 21 so could go to clubs / was throwing parties at my school & trying to pick out more interesting music than the other kids throwing parties, this provided, like, narratives & explanations for what I was hearing (cross w/ microhouse, getphysical blog posts, etc)

my big big mix from this era tho was the get physical 2nd anniversary one. i remember sitting in my car (lol i know) late at night having some kind of revelation listening to those panning chicago house snares rap across my brane.

blah i meant skykicking blog posts lol. confused name with url. anyway THANK U ILX DANCE NERDS

these tracks remind me of great endless Wednesday nights at We Are Electric at Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh - pretending i didn't have work the next day

I always took the Dur-Dur-Durrr mix along with erotic discourse as the time when it became who could play the most extreme breakdown, which lead to an arms race in harder and harder stuff. (like romal flugels Geht's Nocht)

this is fairly wild in its innaccuracy, i'd say chronologically as well as the rest.

i mean

1. that remix sounds nothing like the flugel track.
2. the flugel track predates it by how long...a year? possibly longer, maybe even 2 years?
3. there is no breakdown in geht's nocht as far as i recall.
4. erotic discourse from another time as well.

Thanks to this thread I've ordered the first 2 Areal compilation mixes. I've also spent the morning playing P Sherburne's Schaffel mix. Hopefully I will be able to give my say on the death of this music when I'm sober. It will undoubtably mention Ricardo Villalobos...

"Rocker" not "Geht's Nocht" was the start of the harder/faster arms race but it wasn't really a race at that point.

No, that race didn't start until "Rocker" was playing in almost every Australian hairdressers. And even then I think it kicked off two separate races - harder/faster & cartoon/noisier.

for Ned

Bobbins 2004 'No Permission Asked' Spotify Playlist

Some 18 years on, I still enjoy the Freeform Reform Dub of “Strangest Things” so much. Listening back I was startled to realise that they wait precisely six minutes before allowing the chorus refrain to play out in full. For such an archetypal maximalist anthem it’s secretly a masterclass in restraint and pacing, each exciting new vista simultaneously an oblique circumvention.