AngelBreaks - Sex in London’s ear

Well now, what a summer it’s been! You may have noticed we’ve been on hiatus, what with holidays, and the website going down, and playing at The Soundwave Festival, Croatia, putting on Kidda and Baobinga at the Westbury, Bodyrox at Pacha, and Zero 7 with our friends from New Bohemia at Gramaphone, Shoreditch. Now that everyone’s back from their travels, AngelBreaks is kicking into gear with some truly excellent offerings in the pipeline.

Tom and I thought we’d kick off the clubbing season with a little taste of what we’ve been listening to over the sunny period, to give you an idea of what to expect should you attend one of our events in the next few months. We’ve both put together a top 10 list. The lists are very, very different, so if one doesn’t tickle your fancy, feel free to listen to the other!

We’re kicking off with my list, and Tom’s will follow later in the week. For now, Expect dancing monkeys, yiddish techno, Gossip re-mixery and much much more…

Riton & Primary 1 - Who’s There?

You may remember my previous post extolling the virtues of Riton’s performance at Creamfields, Portugal last month. ‘Round about the same time I was rubbing up against Portuguese people in a tent is Lisbon watching the man himself, Phantasy were busy releasing this electro-paranoia classic. Featuring a likeable geezer wandering around an old Most Haunted style locale, the video is a fun, if low-rent accompaniment to Riton’s spitting, skittering beats. Featuring one of the simplest and most infectious vocal-hooks I’ve heard all year, I’ve yet to hear it on a proper system, but when I do, mark my words, shapes will be thrown.

Gucci Vump - Shta! Shtil!

There’s been a lot of hoo-ha over the elusive Gucci Vump’s identity over the summer (Is it Tiesto? Is it Brodinski?) All that you need to know is that this is what can only be described as Yiddish Techno of the highest order. Listen from 1:00 to 1:52 to experience the sheer mental WTF’ness of what this song is all about.

And, as a special treat, we’ve got an exclusive mp3 download - LSMitchell’s electro remix of Sha! Shtil! - in wonderful 320kbps! Click here to download!

The Proxy - 8000

When a Club DJ’s rider includes a strobe light that can be seen from space, you know you’re in for something special. The Proxy has built a career on producing big, industrial tracks that make your teeth shake and the walls cave in. When an artist’s logo is a tank, you expect a certain amount of oomph. This modus operandi changed little when the promo started for his new track, Who Are You?, which sounded like a hoover fucking a machine gun. It’s criminal, then, that this quirky little gem almost slipped under the radar. It’s way out of Proxy’s comfort zone, but he’s really done a number on this track, which I saw described on one particular forum as “some next level shit”. I’m inclined to agree.

The Gossip - Love Long Distance (Fake Blood Remix)

Few producers have made the same impact on me in the past year that Fake Blood has. Listening to his polished, expansive remixes of artists such as The Kills and Little Boots, original tracks that have since become club staples such as the epic ‘Mars’, and a quite frankly outstanding EP (Fix Your Accent), it’s hard to choose just one track to list here. I’ve gone for one of his lesser known remixes. This tune is a stand-out for may reasons, but the one I’m going to go for is the trademark way Fake Blood cuts-up the vocals of the track he’s remixing to insert his own name, sung by the vocalist, into every remix. This is the best one of those he’s done. Check it out at 2:59.

Miike Snow - Animal

What do you do if you’re critically acclaimed production duo Bloodshy & Avant, having won numerous awards for producing tracks and albums for Britney Spears, Madonna, Kelis and Ms. Dynamite, amongst others? Why, you form a band and produce an album of blissful, summery pop, every track on which deserves to be on someone’s year end ‘Hot Jams’ tape, of course. This is just one track from an album that blissfully soundtracked a thousand lazy, sunny park visits across Europe. Corker.

Riva Starr - I Was Drunk

It’s a testament to Riva’s ability that he has crafted a track so utterly bonkers with such unwavering skill. Creating something that is both competely silly and yet undeniably cool deserves a round of applause, as does this video, which is probably my favourite on the list. All together now - ‘Yesterday, I was drunk, with some tricks, in a club, I don’t remember who came back with me - And tonight I will drink, with some chicks, in a club, I’m not sure I want to La La La!’

ACCORDION SOLO!

Boys Noize - Jeffer

Was there a more awaited release in Electro-Land this year than Boys Noize’s Power? Damned if I know. Either way, ‘Jeffer’ is the best track that Alex has released year, and that includes his excellent collaboration on Waves and Death Suite with Angelbreaks favourite Erol Alkan. Sorry Erol

Kidda - Feel Too Good

We love Kidda. We love how his original tracks are transcendent summer pop that kicks the Avalanches in the nads then buys them a pint, and we love how his remix packages are always so gleefully eclectic. It’s music made to make you smile - no chinstrokers, head-nodders or port-drinkers allowed. He’s also quite possibly the nicest bloke we’ve ever booked and he’s sharp as a tack. Out of the many, many fantastic remixes of his work, this one by Jack Beats just edges Herve’s Under the Sun remix and Heavy Feet’s brilliant Strong Together remix thanks to it gloriously wonky hook. We salute you, sirs.

no1else - Broken Amplid

In a post-Justice clubbing landscape, imitators are inevitable. It’s just that nobody does it quite so well as no1else, a wee frenchy who has taken the now classic ‘buzzsaw on an electric guitar’ sound and made it his own. This is just one of several great tracks he’s produced - be sure to check out Cocaino Combo as well. If we could figure out how to fit him into a line-up, we’d book him.

Brodinski & Noob - Peanut Club

What better way to end this epic blog post than with a bunch of dancing monkeys? Brodinski has been one of the foremost purveyors of melodic techno around the globe this year, and this track is a brilliant reminder of why. He headlined the Lightbox at Bugged Out!’s 15th Birthday at Fire Nightclub last week, and I’m told it was one of the stand out sets of the evening. I missed him, sadly, but I won’t make that mistake twice.