Under The Influence

This one is pretty close to my heart. It happens to be full of tracks that I love - that's not surprising really... given that I was involved in making it. It's basically the perfect mix for me; country, electro, pop, house, dnb, metal, everything really. A friend and I spent almost a year twiddling with knobs and dials in our respective countries sculpting a mix that we could really enjoy. There's something in there for everyone and something in there to offend most everyone (63 tracks 38 minutes).

I was reminded of it the other day after I meet someone who had been enjoying it of late. It was nice to listen to it again. It's great having a taylor made mix. Head over to the axis of cool to check it out - go on, find that moment in there that you really hate...

Feel in love with one of her songs, When I See Love, on the boat; it was the only one I had with me at the time. As I recall it was a random download from a site much like this one. Illegal, I guess but hell, I would never have purchased her album otherwise, no?

Anyway, I was blown away. RnB is a style of music that gets little attention from me. I get so sick of the thousands of songs/artists singing about love, pretending they've got soul when I can clearly hear that the music has none. This couldn't be more different. And this album wasn't even even meant to be released!

This album was meant to be a demo for music folks that blossomed into a full work. She's just completed her next effort, PleasureVille, which I can't wait to hear (it's not on sale yet but the samples on her myspace profile are sounding great). In the meantime I can make do with the current album. Some of the tracks, like Silent Symphony, are very jazzy while others have a great hip-hop twist to them - check out All My Mistakes.

If your clicking finger is reaching to purchase the new Jill Scott anytime soon, stop and think first - By Day, By Night is actually the album you want to hear. Trust me this girl's going to be huge.

When I first moved to the UK I thought I'd get to see various DJs blow me away with what they could do live. Imagine my disappointment on discovering (on the 2nd day in town) that for most of them it's a façade. DJs that were meant to be the greatest mash-up artists in the world turned out to be little more than slightly experimental electro/breaks DJs.

Now, I'd heard The Nextmen's work on various Grand Central offerings over the years but it was a chance meeting in 2005 that refuelled my interest in what they were doing. I have no idea how many Nextmen gigs I've been to since then. They tend to lean more towards soul/funk/hip-hop/reggae/dnb but really nothing is off limits - tunes to make you dance seems to be the only criteria. This album, or any of their mixtapes for that matter, are great showcases of what they do live.

I love the Nextmen. Hands down the most fun live DJs I've ever seen.

I have to admit that I've raved about Coco Rosie in the past without even really hearing them. Well I've heard them now, and I'm relieved to find that I was within my rights to take the stance I did. I'd become very familiar with Terrible Angels after randomly discovering it on an internet music service (Pandora from memory).

It strikes me how similar this is to a lot of the stuff I've been listening to in Berlin lately - Goldmund goodness like Golden Disko Ship. The fact that this is close to blues dawned on me when listening to Jesus Loves Me. This sounds so much like Sister Rosetta Tharpe that I have to wonder if it's a cover.

Acoustic guitar, twisted female vocals and beats formed from the scraps and rattles of found sounds. Every track, varied as they are, is great. Check out By Your Side, it's adorned with the sort of loop/hook that the hip-hop heads strive for.

Great to finally hear the whole work.

Just a short little EP to whet the appetite. Does a fine job too.

Emasculate The Masculine is a great little bit of pop rock while The Unicorns: 2014 is a cool little futuristic space ditty. The demo version gets pretty menacing towards the end (it's cool). Has a sweet drum line somewhat like the one from that big Hot Chip track (name escapes me right now).

I first discovered Tom Middleton when he did a mini set (like 15 minutes long or something) at the tail end of another mix set on a German dj website (4 or 5 years back). I remember being somewhat amazed. He was doing a rock set and I recall commenting on how great the variation of tunes was.

I then had the pleasure of witnessing him dj at the Big Chill festival a few years back. At the time he was working on Cosmosonica so he treated us to a fine mix consisting of cover after cover. His style live is brilliant, very casual, getting on the mic every now and again to tell a little tail or something. He ended up playing for much longer than he was meant to. Bonus.

This particular set consists of two discs. A chilled set and a party set, each perfect in its own way. Look out for Spanky Wilson's most excellent cover of Sunshine Of Your Love on the party disc (actually there are covers to be enjoyed throughout).

I look up to Tom Middleton - he's my hero.

I found this one when searching for Cut Copy - that much I do know about it. Just happens there's a Cut Copy remix dangling off the end of the cd, hence the discovery. I guess it's progressive house - sounds like silky electro disco pop to me. Too dark to be called pop really. I keep thinking the chorus of the title track is going to break into NIN (The Perfect Drug).

It's very cool. Got a modern 80s edge to it. Kind of like LCD Soundsystem in a way - but far less rocky, and much slicker. The remix of Girl and the Sea is probably the most upbeat track on here. Electro Disco. Love it.

There are 5 tracks on here and they're all winners. I'll definitely be looking to buy more of this.

Art Of Fighting is probably some real depressing music... but it sure does sound beautiful when you're sitting in a sunny train carriage flying through green English fields.

AOF is so soothing it always puts me at ease. I find his voice very emotive. The whole sound is so smooth in the way it flows, like it's made of a fine oil. In general when they want to turn things up a notch they're pick a noisier clanging guitar sound before turning on the distortion.

Sing Song is poppy enough that it could have done well in the Australasian pop charts - actually it sounds a lot like an old Radiohead track now I think about it. Oh! It's all so beautiful. Halfway through each song I think "this is the one to show people, this sums up AOF" and then the next one comes on. Having reached the end of the album I guess it's last one, Heart Translation, that will have to be the final pick.

Are these guys still together? I sure hope so. I want to see them live.

All ukuleles, tubas and ridiculous covers, fun is definitely key with these guys. The whole album is like summer in a can.

I think half the tracks are original (certainly not songs I've heard before), which leaves a whole bunch of covers, yay! They've chosen to rework pop hits like Can't Get you Out of my Head and Crazy In Love in such a way that the songs themselves are very close to the originals. Luckily replacing the big synths with tubas gives them an entirely new flavour.

Everyone aspiring DJ should be forced to listen to The Nextmen. You get a hell of a history lesson free with every mix set. Not only that but you get great beats and some of the best party tunes around. They know how to scratching enhances the energy of the mix, instead of smothering it.

Personal Golf Instructions is broken into a series of lessons based around different aspects of golf; The Grip, The Stance, The Woods, The Irons, Chipping and Putting. The intro to each lesson is infused with cuts from a golf lesson vinyl they've dug up from somewhere.

Don't pass up an opportunity to see these two do their thing live. I've managed to see them 4-5 times now and I haven't been disappointed for a second.