Robot Soap

2008-06-01T09:54:00.003+01:00

Every cloud has a silver lining eh? Well, sometimes. This one did. But when part of your Hi Fi breaks down, it’s always the case.

I’d had the Marantz amplifier for a good three years or more, and not really thrashed it at all, music quality is more important than volume, though with pieces of kit like this, there’s a happy medium around 12 o’ clock on the volume dial itself.

Unfortunately around twelve months ago it started playing up, intermittently deciding it wasn’t going to power up, I’m sure it must have overheated in the summer of ’06 back at my parents but that’s by the by. It finally gave up the ghost last week and is now relegated to the pile of broken amplifiers that lie under my bed. I mean hey, I might meet someone who can repair these things on the cheap. Or at least for a fair price, something I won’t get at the local electrical repair shop staffed by young fellows who say innit a lot.

So after scouring the net for an amplifier that would take the 1v+ signal from my mixer, I came across the NAD C315BEE. Perfect.

Richer Sounds do a pretty cool price match scheme, so off I went to Stockport with a printout of the amp at another online retailer for £30 less. The manager did not want to match it, whether out of a dislike for the company selling it cheaper or maybe I didn’t look the stereotypical sort of clean cut respectable customer who would be spending such a large around of money on Hi Fi equipment, but he did, begrudgingly.

Amp sorted it was time to look around for some speaker stands, as everyone knows bookshelf speakers don’t sound right until they’re off the shelf and on some stands. I picked up some 9-cm high Gale ones for £50. I know they’re not exactly high end but once they’re filled with gravel or lead shot for weight, they’ll sing, or more accurately they’ll be pretty much inert, and help the Hi Fi system to sing.

And after a while cleaning contacts, fitting dum-dums, mounting and toe-ing, it really does. All my old CD’s sound like brand new albums, I can hear bits that id never heard before, notice little things like the sharp intake of breath before each line when Ben Gibbard sings, it brings more depth to the way Francis Mark and Ben Perri’s vocals intertwine.

Yes, today I am going to be listening to a lot of music, and it’s going to sound a whole lot better.

you're a few years overdue, I spent them waiting here for you...

2008-05-22T23:00:00.002+01:00

One of my favourite bands of all time were The Get Up Kids but they split up a few years back and continued with their numerous side projects or other bands, these bands were also good but for me they never captured the same energy and emotion as TGUK. They lacked something that was only ever there before, although they never seemed to be chasing after what they had back, just changing, growing but I suspect all that may change with ex-frontman and songwriter for The Get Up Kids, Matt Pryor and his new album Confidence Man.

The first track to be heard off it, Loralai, has recently been uploaded to his Myspace page as a taster for the album and it has got me very excited. It's not The Get Up Kids but then again I don't want it to be.

Loralai is a short acoustic ballad in which Pryor battles with a love that for some reason has gone astray. It's never wet, nor is it never blaming or laying guilt. More just stating the facts, almost a stream of consciousness which plays out over a simple melody.

I can't get enough of it and have high hopes for the album, its out on 29th July.

You can listen to Loralai at www.myspace.com/mattpryorsongs

The Robot Soap Factory: Two New Tracks

2008-05-12T12:37:00.003+01:00

I feel this is quite a big milestone for me, for about 3 or 4 years now i have been working towards this point, i started out DJ'ing when I was 17 with a different plan to most other bedroom DJs, my plan was that being a big DJ would never be my main goal, it would only be a stepping stone to the next level... production.
I have studied music production at various different levels and analysed music inside and out, however, when it came to making my own i was confronted by quite a large problem... what is my style?
I'd never thought of it before, when i DJ i play whatever the hell i want, house, electro, techno, minimal, 80's, 90's etc. But when it comes to production everyone has their own unique sound. I had no idea where to start.

So i came up with a plan, and quite a good one i think. A concept album... sort of. I would make four tracks of different styles which i enjoyed the most, and from that i could work out where i wanted to go.

My first would be the distorted electro style, a sort of 'Ed Banger/Boys Noize' inspired sound, Justice, SebastiAn etc. But with a bit more of a beat.

My second would be the classic old school house style, fused with the similar Institubes style such as Surkin and Bobmo.

My third would be a minimal style inspired by various artists such as Gui Boratto, Andre Crom, Oliver Huntemann and Booka Shade.

And my fourth, well i'm still not 100% certain, but i'm thinking a style based on Daft Punk's Discovery album mixed with the old Italo Disco style.

So far i have made two of the four tracks, and here they are:

Correct Effect - Smoke and Lasers (Classic House)

Correct Effect - Effective (Distorted Electro)

These tracks are also on my new myspace page: www.myspace.com/correcteffect

My third is in the pipeline as we speak... I'll keep everyone updated.

Thank you for the memories

2008-04-27T15:37:00.002+01:00

After nearly two years, a stupid amount of parties and some of the best nights of my life Robot Soap is now officially over.

Thank you all for being part of something that became bigger than I ever thought it could be when we did our first night at Fuel, Special mentions should go to Sarah P, Andrea C, Sally, Chris E, Tall Sarah, MrB, Mat Payne, Bob Swans, Aaron(Dance FASTER!), Phil Wood, Jemma-Lee, Tom P and Ruth for being with us all along.

The blog will carry on running at http://robotsoap.blogspot.com and Robotic Noise, Cognitive Records and The Cognitive Club-night are still to come so stay tuned and look out for us DJing in the future.

Pictures from the last night will follow shortly

Robot Soap - The things that dreams were made of...

Robotic Radio

2008-04-24T11:43:00.003+01:00

This has all been a bit last minute but I'll be on the radio tonight playing new and old favourites of mine, from across the board.

Tune in!

Robot Soap Memories...

2008-04-20T13:47:00.003+01:00

(Me DJing @ Robot Soap) Photo by Katie Wynne

So there's now officially less than a week until the last ever Robot Soap and I'm feeling nostalgic today, it's probably a combination of it being a Sunday, the Manchester Rain, feeling slightly hungover and having too much time to myself at work thats doing it but I've been thinking a lot about what we've achieved in the last couple of years so I thought I'd compile a list of a few of my favourite Robot Soap related memories, they're not in any particular order of importance...

1) 'The Dirty Social Club' - We hosted the live music room at a night called Filth, a 6 room super-rave witha total capacity of about 3000. The line up for our room was Hiem (Crosstown Rebels) Far From The Dance, The Dirty SOUL club and Ruthless Producer. Unfortunately I messed up the line up in an email with the main promoters so The Dirty Soul Club became The Dirty Social Club on about 20,000 flyers and 100's of posters all around town, thankfully the band saw the funny side of it! (I'm still sorry about it though!)

2)The D-Percussion after party with Back To Front, 700 people packed into our room dancing to Elliot and my DJ-ing and the place going absolutely nuts all night long without the need for guests. It was an amazing night and as I wound down to what I thought was the last tune of the night (I had nothing else cued up!) Elliot shouts 'Who wants one fucking more tune!?' to a room which was at this stage nothing short of a riot. The reply was rapturous 'Yes!'. I quickly picked a record - The Pet Shop Boys 'Flamboyant' (Micheal Mayer Remix) it was a bit of a change in tempo and you could feel the tension in the crowd as everyone was waiting for the beat to drop, the entire room seemed to go very quiet except for the music and then as the beat came in the room when absolutely insane with a mass pogoing mess of a crowd all together in unison. Beautiful.

3)Playing Tribal Sessions, There's an entire blog entry about this previously about how much this meant to me but playing at it as part of Robot Soap was fantastic.

4)I don't know if this should be a bad or a good memory but its funny either way, Porl and I used to have a residency as Robot Soap DJs at an indie night called Mooch - every Thursday night we'd play with Manc heroes like Bez, Mani and Tim Burgess. On one particular night, mid-set, myself and a friend were thrown out of the club for being a bit naughty, leaving Porl to finish up the evening

5)The first ever Robot Soap we held was at a club/bar called Fuel, a tiny little place with a dodgy set up in the DJ booth. Marco Giannini (The Warehouse Project) was on the decks and the room was starting to go off, only every time people started properly going for it the record's needle skipped, we couldn't find a way to make it stop but a great night was had by all regardless, by the end of the night it seemed to be adding to procedings quiet nicely! On the same night I was so nervous about people turning up that during my warm up set I took the wrong needle off the record twice!

6)We did a charity Robot Soap at Preston's 53 Degree's club and booked local heroes Gash DJs (Pete Carvell and Jim Da Mentalist) at the end of the night I was completely exhausted but Pete was adament I was coming back to his after party, to the point where he picked me up and put me over his shoulder and tried to bundle me off - kidnapping style - in a taxi. He didn't win in the end, but it was a valiant effort!

7)I DJ'ed with Mr Oizo for All Day Breakfast and after my set Mr Oizo was up, as I started to leave the DJ booth he shouted 'where do you think you're going? lets party!' and thrust a bottle of Champagne in my hands which we drunk (from the bottle!) together throughout his set.

Errors

2008-04-20T13:01:00.003+01:00

Earlier this week I went to see 65Days Of Static with friends. 65DOS were on top form as per usual but we've covered them before on here so in this entry i'm going to focus on Errors, the main support for 65DOS.

Glasgow's Errors, signed to the Mogwai owned label Rock Action are one of those bands I'd heard little bits of before this gig, I think i'd also seen one of their video's on MTV 2's '120 Minutes' program and although I thought those bits and pieces were good, they had never really grabbed my attentsion long enough for a proper listen. Tonight however, I had 30 minutes to get properly acquainted with the band.

Watching a very nervous looking band enter the stage for the first time I could almost feel a let down coming on, and they got off to a shakey start of fuzzy electronic noises mixed with what can only be described as half-arsed psuedo-post rock noodling's, I was almost ready to retire to the bar three minutes into their set.

However, i'm glad I stuck with it because however shakey the opening track was the rest of the set did not disapoint whatsoever. If I had to compare them to other bands I would say Errors are like a combination of The Field (check out From Here We Go Sublime, on Kompakt Records) with their warm and emotive electronica mixed with equal parts of Mogwai-esque post rock and The Faint's electroclash noise. One thing I do have a gripe about though is that Errors tracks just don't seem long enough; just as I was starting to find my groove with some of the tracks played later in their set they finished. It was a real shame.

You should have a listen to them at http://weareerrors.com

a couple of top 10's and a little rant about a bad record

2008-04-14T23:24:00.003+01:00

Its been a silly amount of time since I've written in here. The reason's being a stupid amount of uni work to do, my job, DJing and going to gigs has left me without anytime to write but enough of the excuses, here's what i've been listening to recently...

Top 10 Long Players

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.

Thrice - The Alchemy Index Volumes 3 & 4 (Air & Earth)

Built To Spill - You In Reverse

Low - Trust

Mastodon - Blood Mountain

William Elliot Whitmore - Songs For The Hopeless

Boris - Pink

Sally Shapiro - Disco Romance

Annuals - Be He Me

Portman - From Here To Your Eyes and Ears

Top 10 Singles

Soulwax - You Can't Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones Cover)

The Juan Maclean - Happy House

Paul Woolford - Knives

The Teenagers - Love No (Tepr Remix)

M83 - Couleurs (Jori Hulkkonen Remix)

Gonzales - Working Together (Boyz Noize Dub)

Crystal Castles/HeartsRevolution - Split 7 Inch

Chaz Jankel - Get Yourself Together (Hercules & Love Affair House Mix)

Rodion - Atala Ride

Mille Caro & Franck Garcia - Dead Souls (Radioslave Long Distance Kiss Remix)

I'm sure you can find links to most of this stuff on hypem if you want to have a preview listen but seriously go out and buy the records and support whatever scene you're into...

Oh and i'm already sick to death of SebastiAn's 'Motor' its absolute tripe! I don't quite know why its been hyped up so much but it really needs to just do one!

What took you so long..?

2008-04-08T20:12:00.002+01:00

Its been a long time coming, but was it worth the wait?

Today The Courteeners released their debut album, St Jude, and to be honest, I’ve not been this excited for the release of an album in a long time. We’ve seen Liam come from an acoustic troubadour playing dingy venues around Manchester to selling out venues like the Academy and the Ritz and it makes you fucking proud. Manchester hasn’t had a band that crosses the boundaries into pop with such balls out attitude, touching sensitivity and the ability to craft the kind of hooks that other bands would kill for in a long time. Memories of 1994 and definitely maybe swim to the surface of this particular wreckhead’s couldy head….

But misty eyed reminiscences aside, is St Jude any good? The answer to that is yes, and a little no. Its not perfect, but nothing ever is, it has its flaws, some of the new recordings aren’t quite what was expected, the beach boys-esque backing vocals in Bide your time for instance. Having yelled along to the chorus for so long, its going to take a bit of getting used to, and to be honest Stephen Street has over produced some tracks, theyre slightly too polished but these are niggles rather than major downfalls and are greatly outweighed by hearing tracks like the rogueish How Long and the tear jerking Please Don’t finally laid down on record.

Music aside, its frays lyrics that capture a lot of people, the nearest comparison being Alex Turner, but older & wiser with a few more broken hearts on his sleeve. From delicate acoustic tracks, to balls out monsters like the live favourite Fallowfield Hillbilly, the words are there.

It’s a proud moment when you know the whole country (and the world going off the Japanese import "Here Come the Young Men") are going to be lapping up tales of Picadilly Records & wrecked up nights down the Late Room (before it fucking closed), the appeal in this album goes way beyond the filthy streets of Manchester, its international and intercontinental….

Its difficult to separate the Manc from the reviewer, but in all honesty, this is a great pop album, whether you’re new to the band or have been following them for a while, its well worth buying. Even more worth buying is the limited double CD, with some unreleased early versions of tracks like Acrylic and Cavorting alongside some acoustic tracks like the stunning acoustic version of Bide Your Time for an extra few quid.

The end...

2008-03-31T14:27:00.001+01:00

The last ever Robot Soap
26.04.08 @ Cord
9pm til Late + Afterparty
FREE ENTRY

Robot Soap has been running for just short of 2 years now, we've had some amazing times and some amazing guests along the way. We've made some of our best friends because of Robot Soap but the time has come to call it a day and April's Robot Soap is that time.

Helping us celebrate and commiserate in equal measures are Mat Payne and Bob Swans, who together are doing an exclusive laptop battle with all kinds of midi-keyboards and samplers etc and We can't wait. In preparation they both did Robot Soap a mix which can be downloaded for FREE at our blog - http://robotsoap.blogspot.com

This won't be the last you hear from us though...

Gareth and Porl are in the process of setting up a label, Cognitive Records, as well as running Robotic Noise - the live music side of Robot Soap. Our first release will be out in the next couple of months, alongside it will be a compilation of new talent from all genres and showcasing what Cognitive Records is all about. So keep your eyes peeled for those little beauties!

Elliot and Rob will be DJing at some of Manchester's best parties too

I'd just like to personally thank anyone who has ever been to Robot Soap and supported what we've done. We've achieved more than we ever hoped to with it.

Also a huge thanks goes out to:
Radioclit
Mary Ann-Hobbes
Casper C (Fluokids)
Hiem (Crosstown Rebels)
Speculum
Digital Filth
Far From The Dance
Pete Carvell (Disco Slut)
Marco Gianinni (The Warehouse Project)
Dirty Soul Club
Bought In Error (Marcus Connell + Smiffy)
Emma (Chibuku)
Greg Lord (Tribal Sessions)
Hooked DJs
Access DJs
We Are Nice People DJs

and anyone else we've missed for coming down to play at Robot Soap

For one last night - We Are Not Playing Games!

Electroma

2008-03-18T15:48:00.002Z

Electroma starts this Thursday at Cord Bar (where we host Robot Soap) expect the unexpected from a collective of Manchester's finest DJs - Mat Payne, Bob Swans and Ourselves will be taking the helm and guiding you through a wonderfully magical mystery tour of beeps, bleeps, squeaks and 'oh holy shit, what the fuck was that!?' styles of music.

It all kicks off at 7pm, an early start because no doubt you'll have got out of the office and being gagging to get started with the bank holiday weekend just as soon as possible. I know we are!

Electroma is free, and as far as we're aware there's going to be no better start to the bank holiday, get involved, get a drink, then get on the dancefloor and dance your tits off all night. We might even have a bit of an after party too, ask us on the night for information.

Bugged Out

2008-03-15T19:09:00.003Z

I was asked to photograph this months Bugged Out! at Sankeys, trying to catch some of the atmosphere in the club on the night. With a line up which included the mighty Erol Alkan and Brodinski, alongside local heroes Slippery People (Naive Melody Residents) I couldn't say no.

Click Thumbnails for full size shots.

If you would like to use these Photographs for any reason please get in touch with me before doing so, all photos are Copyrighted to myself, Gareth Wood.

Guest mix - Mat Payne

2008-03-12T11:25:00.002Z

The second of our April guests to give us an exclusive mix is Mat Payne - He's big in Belguim and Justice 'Heart' him (check out his facebook group for photographic proof!)

Here's a quick interview we did with him...

what 4 records have defined your life so far, and why?

The Smurfs All Star Show
I used to own this on vinyl, it was more than likely the first album I owned, I used to love listening to it all the time, I think I must've driven my parents crazy with it, as they ended up getting me my own means of playing music. So I gues it was pretty defining in the fact that I could now listen to my own stuff in my own time, this probably involved my other big record of the time which included the more popular nursery rhyme hits of the time. The cool thing I remeber about it was that it didnt really matter if you listened to it on 33 or 45 as the voixes were chipmunk like anyway...

Public Enemy - Takes a Nation of Millions... / NWA - Staight Outta' Compton
I'm going to get away with having two albums in one here, just for the fact they were both copied onto the same tape (on either side) by a friend of mine at school. I must've been around 88 / 89 I was about 11 at the time. I seem to remember being into the usual stuff kids were into at that time, stuff that was in the charts and on the radio, but took quite an interest in some of the Rap that was being played, stuff like Salt n' Pepa, Wee Pappa Girl Rappers, Bomb the Bass, S Express Etc... I remember getting told that one of the guys had this album that was like the rap in the charts but it had loads of swearing on it, swearing in music? Michael Jackson wasnt doing that on BAD... I really got into both these albums over the summer holidays, they were all about a lifestyle that was very different to the one I was growing up around in the Manchester Suburbs. These two albums completely changed my outlook on what music was and that it wasnt all about boy meets girl and that music existed outside of the charts / the radio.

Stone Roses - Stone Roses
I was forunate to be in Manchester around the time it was the centre of the musical universe, dont expect any tales of pilled up nights at the Hacienda or drunken tales of Spike Island, I was at most only 13 and probably only caught onto it at the back end anyway. I couldnt get enough this album along with others by the likes of The Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets and James and I wanted the world to know, cue a stupid haircut, bell bottom jeans and some crazy T-Shirts. I'd say this was probably the first time I felt I belonged to any sort of musical movement, hence the influence. Plus the Indie / Dance crossover appeal would come back to haunt me in later life...

Orbital - Orbital
I had long hair, listened to Pantera, wore Metallica T-Shirts and thought all dance music was terrible, then this album was released...

what role do blogs (like this one) play in your life as a dj?
Its reallyhard to escape from the blog culture, esp. in this line of work. I could argue (and probably have done) for hours about the pros and cons of it all. I'm really against blogs that post up really high quality rips of the latest promos esp. when they dont even bother writing anything about the tune. But love getting bedroom remixes from places such as Palmsout and SBC, there are some real hidden gems out there. Blogs have been great for me too, its crazy to think that my Rainbow Man remix was up on a blog one day and then 48 hours later Goose is playing it out peak time at one of the biggest clubs in Barcelona.

The whole blog mixtape thing astonishes me too, its a great way to get myself promo by doing little excluive mixes for blogs, the first one I did for 'Get Weird Turn Pro' got over 20,000 downloads, thats as many people as go to some Premier League football games all with one of my mixtapes on their PC or IPOD. and to think the Radio Soulwax Volume 2, which is one of the most popular commericial mixe CDs of recent years which everybody I know seems to own or have owned at some point sold around 110,000 copies. I've managed to reach a fifth as many as they did without any cost. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising. Forget NME or Smash Hits, blogs are the new taste makers, if someone like Fluokids likes what you've done puts in on their blog, thats pretty much as good as getting on the front cover of a magazine...

what are the best and worst things about the manchester scene?
In terms of promoters and DJs, I like how everybody seems to know everybody else and most people get along with each other and play at each others nights. Thats kinda' good and 9 times out of 10 you'll get into places for free as they know you'll do the same for them. Its a proper community vibe and with the exception of a few nights its a real cottage industry. There's some talented DJs out there too, its just weird that not many people seem to get much coverage or gigs outside of the M postcodes...

We've been getting loads of great DJs playing recently although its a bit discouraging for the smaller nights that places like the Warehouse Project and their clubnight are snapping up all the big names, but I've really enjoyed every night out I've had at WHP so they're doing it all right, I'm probably just bitter I've not played their yet, lol! Credit has to go to nights like yourself, P&P (they've done an amazing job) and Sex with Robots for taking chances and getting people over to play.

There's a few nights that seem to get all the press coverage though, I think this needs to be spread out a bit more, yeah they're doing some great nights, but let the public know about the other nights that are doing good things too!

And also the council need to let people advertise their nights a little easier, just look at the case of Tramp, who brought Manchester the early gigs of people like The Klaoxns, Diplo and Justice, they got a £10,500 fine for blu tacking posters to walls and now had called it a day. Its crazy. Plus I bet the council are paying some Pr company an obscene amount of money to attract visitors using 'Manchester's Musical Heritage' as the reason to visit. These small nights / bands are the musical heritage people should be talking about in twenty years time.

what one record is doing it for you more than anything else right now?
At this moment now? Erm, I just got the Bobmo EP on promo, thats alright, I'll probably be bored of it in an hour or so, ha ha!

Brodinski was my hot tip last year and he's really blown up now. France is still doing it for me, although like many people I'm bored of the whole Justicey distortion sound, and the Herve / Sinden thing is starting to grate and is reminding me more and more of Happy Hardcore every day. Hostage, Detboi and Andy George are doing interesting things in this genre though. Yeah WONK is quite massive at the moment isnt it. Jo Whiley's a big fan though :(

I'm quite into Sally Shapiro at the moment, for me its going to all be about ITALO this summer...
I am very excited about the forthcoming Portishead album too.

If you were a biscuit, what type would you be and why?
Can I be one of those variety packs? Family Circle or something like that?

Mat Payne - Robot Soap Mix part 1
Mat Payne - Robot Soap Mix part 2

Tracklisting:
The Whip - Divebomb (Crystal Castles Remix)
D.I.M. - Is You (Brodinski Mix)
Andy George - Big Dipper (Hijack Mix)
The Shoes - America (Brodinski Mix)
Thunderous Olympian - Live As Hell (Olin Dub)
Alter Ego - Why Not!? (Joakim Remix)
Digitalism - Jupiter Room (Erol Alkan Edit)
Bumblebeez - Dr Love (Crookers Remix)
Altern-8 - Frequency (Hostage Remix)
Dead Prez - Hip Hop (Lars Vegas Here We Go Again Remix)
Chemical Brothers - Do It Again (Elektric Cowboy Remix)
Tronik Youth - Laugh Cry Live Die (Grum Remix)
Busy P - Rainbow Man - (Mat Payne 130BPM Edit)
Sonny J - Enfant (Riton Rerub)
Sinden and The Count Of Monte Cristal - Beeper (Fake Blood Remix)
Sinden And Count Of Monte Cristal - We dont give a damn
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We Are Rockstars
Dusty Kid - The Twister (Nathan Detroit Edit)
Roman Flugel - Gehts Noch? (Steve Angello Vs Whos Who Mix)
OH SNAP!! - Bill Cosby Sweater (Hostage Remix)
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (Loud Pipes Remix)
Shinichi Osawa - Star Guitar (ft. Au Revoir Simone)
Ladytron - Open Your Heart
Federico Franchi - Cream (Franchi Alternative Mix)
Daft Punk - Prime Time of Your Life (Night Facilities Remix)
Underworld - Boy Boy Boy (Switch Remix)
Robbie Williams - Lovelight (Soulwax Ravelight Vocal)
Inner City - Big Fun (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)

Robotic Noise 12.04.08 - Portman, Steer Clear, Dirty Soul Club and Idola

2008-03-09T13:08:00.002Z

This is the Second Robotic Noise Gig @ The Castle and with it comes an excellent line up:

Portman - www.myspace.com/portmanuk
Having just released a new full length with Pep Rock and Walnut Tree Records, Portman are really on fire right now. Think early Get Up Kids meets The Maple State with a blistering live performance

Steer Clear - www.myspace.com/steerclear
Steer Clear from Belfast will be fresh back from appearances at Texas' SXSW Festival for this tour. Melding intricate pop and emotion with some added rock this band are one to really watch out for right now

Dirty Soul Club - www.myspace.com/dirtysoulclub
Manchester indie rockers Dirty Soul Club make a lovely driving racket with added synths

Idola
This is the Manchester debut for Leeds band Idola, think Mogwai meets 65 Days Of Static

12.04.08 @ The Castle, Oldham St, Manchester
8pm Start

THIS IS A FREE GIG BUT DONATIONS TO COVER THE TOURING BANDS PETROL MONEY WOULD BE GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED

Guest Mix - Bob Swans

2008-03-08T11:07:00.002Z

In April two good friends of Robot Soap, Bob Swans and Mat Payne, are coming down to do an exclusive laptop battle set for us, in the run up we asked both Bob and Mat to record us a mix and answer a couple of questions... here's the results for Bob Swans!

what 4 records have defined your life so far, and why?
Well this is a strange one,All the music that defines my life is
Far from the dancefloor ,it all takes me back to my Post rock/Indie
musical background,When i used to jam in the school hall with my buddies.
But , as you asked , these are the 4 records that have defined my life so far.

1-Slint-Spiderland (Album)
Simply because it is the greatest piece of music ever commited to vinyl.
I could talk for hours about it,i Mostly turn it up, plug my guitar in
and play along, I can do the whole album start to finish.

2-Tortoise-TNT (Album)
This is a fine blend of post rock,organic,jazz,synth loveliness
All my mates say they sound like Gong, But i dont believe them.

3- Neil Young-Harvest(Album)
Its Neil young(And thurston moore) That made me wanna play guitar so bad.
I still love playing along to Alabama and Needle and the damage done
Another album i could talk about for hours.

4- Pop will eat itself- Cure for sanity (Album)
I used to be all "Rave is shit" until i heard this record
but i was only about 14 so i let myself off!!
A classic lesson on Film sampling and breakbeats

Please feel free to check these out on my recommendation

what role do blogs (like this one) play in your life as a dj?
They are pretty damn important as no one wants to send me promos :)
Mr Payne benefits from them more than me,But i got some productions
in the vault that will probably get sent to some blogs soon.
I like the personal touch of your blog and the diversity too.
I contribute to one http://radionymphoyo.blogspot.com/

Check it out!

what are the best and worst things about the manchester scene?
Although i have been out a number of times in my
first year in this fine city, i have only been to a few nights.
But from what i have seen so far
Best- it dont matter what your into manchester does it
Worst- it does it at about 12 different venues 7 days a week

what one record is doing it for you more than anything else right now?
Easy one! Bogdan Irkuk-The coastal ep

If you were a biscuit, which would you be and why?
I have had the chance to think and i will always be a bourbon biscuit man!!

Bob Swans Teaser Mix - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD!!!

Riva Starr-Bubble
Top Billin-Shake my ass
Dada Life-The great fashionista swindle
Nic Sarno-Elephant
Heavyfeet-Sick like that
Larry tee-I love you(The Bulgarian remix)
The ghost frequency-Never before(Zombie disco squad remix)
Anglo satellite-big black spider (les petits pilous remix)

Musings on the state of cyberspace

2008-03-08T09:12:00.003Z

Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts... A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding,

Reading what Gaz said in the previous post, reminded me of several books, specifically Snow Crash. Its a pretty tongue in cheek cyberpunk classic, not the usual style of say Gibson, but it has some interesting ideas nonetheless. One being what is pretty much identical to what second Life has become. The Strip. A virtual sphere with real estate on it, shops, the lot, that people buy, trade in, and generally live out virtual lives in parallel to their own in RL (real life).

The same idea was expanded a few years later with Tad Willams' Otherland Quadrilogy. Still one of the most amazing epics I've had the pleasure of reading. The idea's presented in this series of books are like nothing I'd ever read before on the VR/Tech scale. Whole worlds, clubs and lives in VR, coupled with the Otherland Network itself, something that really does make the reader think. Where anything is possible, life never ends and the price people are willing to pay for such privileges. the sheer scale of Otherland is mind boggling, politics, social commentary, future-tech, its well worth looking into.

Which draws us back to where it all began, with William Gibson s concept of Cyberpsace, something were all now familiar with, something we experience every day, a household phrase. What was once future-tech conjecture is now science fact, who knows whats just beyond the horizon, to quote what was once Motoko Kusanagi;

"And where do I go now? The 'Net is vast and limitless"

Other resources worth looking at include;

Silver Screen - Justina Robertson
Serial Experiments: Lain
Ghost in the Shell
Neuromancer - William Gibson

Second Life

2008-03-02T13:05:00.006Z

Friday night was another good Robot Soap, a bit quieter than usual but I'll put that down to a few factors like the weather and not being on our usual night - so regulars couldn't make it down. Eitherway we still had a great little party. I'd like to say thanks to Mark Stacy (Glitch) for coming down and playing a few tunes. Also big thanks go out to those who did make it down in such awful weather conditions!

If you've been following this blog you will already know that we broadcast this months Robot Soap live on Second Life, and having done only a little bit of research I think (correct me if i'm wrong) we were the first club-night in Manchester to broadcast on Second Life live and direct.

This got me thinking about the nesscessity of 'real' clubs and if they too will slow down - like the sale of CD's and Vinyl due to the rise of MP3's and peer to peer sharing. It struck me as an odd thing that people were sat inside, probably alone, in a virtual world when they could be out in a real club with real people to meet and socialise with. Will this become the norm? Will people be constantly be switched into their own computers and social networking sites rather than socialising in the real world. I don't know, nor can I speculate on such things because these things are evolving so quickly.

musing's aside here's some of the tracks played on the night:

Tiefschwarz - Ghost Track (Shonky Remix)

Duke Dumont - Lean and Bounce

Hercules And Love Affair - This Is My Love

Underworld - Boy, Boy, Boy (Switch Remix)

Crystal Castles - Alice Practice

Coming up soon we have two exclusive guest mixes from Mat Payne and Bob Swans, who are both playing at Robot Soap in April. I've heard the Mat Payne mix and it's a belter, you should look forward to it!

Sing me to sleep

2008-02-26T13:19:00.004Z

Its only 12.39pm and i’m already having a pretty terrible day. My girlfriend and I have just broken up and as usual the only thing I can find solace in is music. This is why I love music so much, it can say everything my heart would like to – the things I can’t find the words to say or the emotions to express myself. It’s a release, and it’s quite often my only release.

Despite what you’re thinking this isn’t a negative entry, it’s positive because I’ve always got, and always will have music and it’s in times like this I appreciate it even more than normal.

In the immortal words of The Smiths:

Sing me to sleep

I’m tired and I want to go to bed

Sing me to sleep

And then leave me alone

Don’t try to wake me in the morning

cause I will be gone

Don’t feel bad for me

I want you to know

Deep in the cell of my heart

I will feel so glad to go

There is a better world

Well, there must be

Incidentally, as far as i’m concerned Asleep is the only good Smiths song but it is very, very good.

The Smiths - Asleep

Power Ballad Saturday 01

2008-02-23T15:13:00.002Z

Here at Robot Soap HQ we have a little bit of a sense of humor and for the last few Saturday's I've been waking Elliot up on a saturday morning with selection of power ballads, the cheesier the better!

I refrained from waking Elliot up this Saturday because I was starting to fear for my life a little after the last time, so here we are with the first, in possibly a series of blog entries simply titled 'Power Ballad Saturdays'.

This weeks choice pick is Roxette's 'It Must Have Been Love (But It's Over Now)' as featured in the 'classic' film Pretty Woman. I remember my mum saying 'this is the song that makes the film' I think she was right.

Roxette - It Must Have Been Love

Roxette FACT:

The Song 'It Must Have Been Love' was originally called It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted) but was edited for the Pretty Woman Soundtrack. 9 Million copies of this track have been sold worldwide.

Seconds From Nothing - Finally a new mix!

2008-02-18T22:36:00.002Z

Seconds From Nothing February Mix - You Break Me, You Break Me Down

I've just recorded this mix without any thought apart from 'I'm going to record a mix tonight'. Its a selection of new and old records that I just kept digging from the box at the side of my decks. Its a bit rough around the edges at times but I'm happy with it for a quick mix. Enjoy...

1) Turntablerocker - I Heard You Were Dead

2) Poni Hoax - Antibodies (Chateau Flight Remix)

3) Gucci Soundsystem - aCarpenter

4) Simon Baker - Full Range

5) Apparat - Arcadia (Boys Noize Version)

6) Burnski - Get Dum

7) Layo & Buskwacka - Life2Live (Green Velvet Remix)

8) Jori Hulkkonen - Enter The Fear

9) Claude Von Stroke - Deep Throat

10) Tiefschwarz - Ghost Track

Bonus:

11) Franz Ferdinand - All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem Cover)

Click Here To Download

Get back to bed...

2008-02-18T02:25:00.002Z

It's very late on a rather cold Sunday/Monday night/early Morning. I'm back on the otherside of the Pennines and for some reason i miss my adopted city, and the people that are there. I'm fully aware that i have a dentist appointment tomorrow too, and yet i cant wait to go and sit in a waiting room, waiting for my mouth to be poked and maybe x-rayed, if i'm lucky that is.

Currently infront of me is a tv, with the adverts for late night phone lines, so far i've heard the jingles for hot babes, lonely wives and virgin teens. Its a bit of a desperate time when you need to give them a ring, thats what i think anyways. So in order to get these theme tunes out of my head i cracked open my itunes to have a listen to some tunes. Here's a few of what i dug up,

Pulp - Dishes (zshare)

Skream - Midnight Request Line (zshare)

New Order - Thieves Like Us (instrumental) (zshare)

Mice parade - Galileo (zshare)

2 more for today

2008-02-17T23:56:00.001Z

Lindstrom – Late Night Tales

This really is a lovely compilation and mix CD from Lindstrom. It’s been in and out of my CD player for a fair while now and while at first I was a bit disappointed with it, it has definitely grown on me to the point I see it a bit like an old friend of mine, slowing bringing me round on a hungover morning with a decent cuppa and a bacon sandwich.

Highlights include Carly Simon, Todd Terje & Prins Thomas but the stand out track for me is Lindstrom & Solale’s ‘Let it Happen’ (Vangelis Cover), a track that throb’s throughout chugging along with twisted deep house melodies. It makes me think of the dark and sweaty basement parties I used to attend a few years ago. Let It Happen seems to spiral away from you only to bring back the beat at that crucial moment.

Carly Simon - Why (12 Inch Mix)

Anja Garbarek - I Won't Hurt you

Band of Horses – Everything All the Time

I was talking to this about this to a friend the other day who asked me how I’d describe Band of Horses’ music my reply was ‘The Choruses of The Shins mixed with a little bit of spazzy weirdness of Modest Mouse’ and I’ll stand by that description.

I first listened to Band Of Horses while playing SKATE on the PS3, their track Funeral features on the games soundtrack and I really enjoyed it, forcing me to go hunt out more music by the band. This is a great album and its been accompanying me on train rides to see my girl.

Band Of Horses - Funeral

Band Of Horses - St Augustine

a special mention should also go out to, the now defunct, Something Corporate. Their nine and a half minute epic story of love, loss and dreams known as Konstantine has been getting more than a few plays recently.

I really don't like Something Corporate but this is a great song, and it very nearly ended up in the entry below for more than a couple of reasons.

Something Corporate - Konstantine

25 into 15

2008-02-17T16:51:00.005Z

I was reading earlier this week that its 25 years since Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Came out, a track that pre-dates my entire life by a whole year but the artist whose track it is played an influential part on my life back in the day because Jacko’s ‘Bad’ was the first tape I was ever given as a kid at age nine.

This is all one big tenuous link so that I can post the tracks that have defined my life in the last 15 years, I’d like to point out not all these tracks came out in the years I’m posting them in – They were just tracks that defined that year.

I've tried to find links for all of these, unfortunately i've been unsuccesful for a couple.

Age 9/1993 – Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror
This was my favourite Track from Bad, and like i’d previously mentioned I loved this album, it was the first proper cassette I owned, up til that point I’d just stolen my mum and dads tapes.

Man In The Mirror - Michael Jackson

Age 10/1994 – Oasis – Cigarettes and Alcohol
I think listening to my cousins mixtapes warped my mind a little bit – he was putting acid house on there before I even had a clue what acid house was but this track always stuck out to me because of its attitude and rawness. Its a shame this was the only good album Oasis made.

Oasis – Cigarettes and Alcohol

Age 11/1995 – Blur – Charmless Man
I got my first ever CD player at the Christmas of 1994 but up til Blur’s The Great Escape album was released I spent most of my time still buying cassette singles. This is the best track from that album and it makes me very happy every time I hear it now. Its even managed to sneak into more than a couple of my sets at Robot Soap, always to a fantastic reception.

Blur – Charmless Man

Age 12/1996 – Meatloaf – I’d Do Anything For Love But I Won’t Do That
Yeah, this is cheesy but I don’t care. I love it for the memories attached to it. It also has one of my most embarrassing memories attached to it but that deserves a separate blog post all of its own... watch this space!

Meatloaf – I’d Do Anything For Love But I Won’t Do That

Age 13/1997 – NOFX – Liza And Louise
When you’re thirteen a song about two lesbians with the line ‘i’ll never forget the first time you kissed me, now i’m ready for you to fist me’ is the funniest thing in the entire world. I first heard this on one of my favourite compilations ever – Punk-o-Rama 3. I heard a lot of the bands that went on to be firm favourites of mine for the time ever on that compilation.

Age 14/1998 – The Offspring – The Kids Aren’t Alright
Its all about the guitar riff of this song, well that and the ‘woa-oh’s – proper pop punk perfection.

Age 15/1999 – Busta Rhymes – Extinction Level Event (Song Of Salvation)
This track, the title track of Busta’s Rhymes 1999 album made me jump around like a loon for a long time. It reminds of spending hours every night and every weekend skating the away with this playing along on our dodgy little ghetto-blaster covered in stickers.

Age 16/2000 – Underworld – Dark And Long
I saw trainspotting for the first time and aside from Blondie’s Atomic this track was the only one that really stuck with me, mainly because of THAT scene but also because it’s still one of the best techno records ever committed to vinyl.

Age 17/2001 – Jimmy Eat World – For Me This Is Heaven
Clarity, Jimmy Eat Worlds third album, is my favourite album of all time and this is my favourite track off that album. As far as i’m concerned its seven minutes of faultlessly good rock music.

Jimmy Eat World – For Me This Is Heaven

Age 18/2002 – Dugong – People Like You Are Hard To Find
Dugong, as I mentioned when we first started this blog defined an era for me. The Eastmoor Rules is the best album to ever come out of Wakefield. This is the music The Cribs only wish they could make. Proper solid pop rock, in the vein of early Get Up Kids. Bombed Out, the label this was released on is now unfortunately defunct but at the time it was releasing the best music from the UK which sadly went un-listened to by the mass population.

Age 19/2003 – Give Up The Ghost/American Nightmare – There’s A Black Hole In The Shadow Of The Pru
As Dugong defined a calmer time in my life, Give Up The Ghost defined the more erratic side of me. Proper hardcore punk, with proper 2 minute long songs and great lyrics to boot. Again, its a shame this band have already split up. I loved them.

Age 20/2004 – The Horrorist – One Night In NYC
Without this track there would be no Robot Soap. This track kickstarted my love of Techno, along with Sankeys and Tribal Sessions. Twisted and very, very dark this track is something special.

Age 21/2005 – Sigur Ros – Ny Batteri
I’d been listening to Sigur Ros’ ( ) album for ages by the time I came across this. The bassline drags you through one of the most emotional pieces of nearly instrumental music I’ve ever heard. At the time I couldn’t get enough of it and a a spark of love for the track has been reignited by Heima, The Sigur Ros film.

Sigur Ros – Ny Batteri

Age 22/2006 – Nathaniel Green – Down To You Then Supergirl
Nathaniel Green were a side project by a member of Dugong and Pylon. They made acoustic pop music which delights me every time I hear them. It’s as northern as music comes without ever being too much.

Nathaniel Green - Handwriting (The track I talk about here is unavailable but give this a listen)

Age 23/2007 – LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
If you haven’t heard this already, why not? Its probably one of the best pop songs ever written and I mean ‘ever.

LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

Age 23-24/2008 – Best track/album this year so far – Tunng – Bullets
I cannot get enough of the bouncy intertwined melodies and the hookiest of choruses that make up this track. It makes me smile and bounce around a little bit every time I hear it. lovely stuff.

Tunng - Bullets

There’s hundreds more of tracks I could have placed in these positions but the best thing about writing this blog entry has been rediscovering a bunch of bands/artists I don’t listen to anymore, that are not even mentioned on this list. Bands/artists like; My Vitriol, Fig 4.0, Joe Ninety, Planes Mistaken For Stars, ALL, MXPX, Split Lip, The Gloria Record, Pylon, Cable, Send More Paramedics, November Coming Fire, Grade... The list goes on and on!

Love Will Tear Us Apart

2008-02-14T23:48:00.002Z

With ten minutes of valentines day left i've decided to post a link to the only cover of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart worth listening to. Make of that what you will but this is a truly outstanding reworking of one of Joy Division's otherwise untouchable classic tracks.

Susanna And The Magical Orchestra - Love Will Tear Us Apart

jolly music

2008-02-14T01:20:00.003Z

Since i first heard this track, or rather watched the video, it's bought a really nice smile to my face. Elle S'appelle (apart from a name that doesn't start with "The" which has become the law with most new British bands these days) will be on the the Bosspop tour in 2008. Keep an eye out for them.

Elle S'appelle - Little Flames (zshare)

bien...

2008-02-13T13:23:00.002Z

Air have always been a great passion of mine to listen to since high school. I heard some classic tracks of the french duo over the weekend and it got the old memory cogs moving again. Summertime back in the hometown, driving along roads, pulling up to ice cream vans and devouring mr whippy's.

here is some Charlotte Gainsbourg, wh Air produces, and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp fame writes. Her album "555" is pretty fantastic , i'd invest in a copy if i didn't have one.

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Songs That We Sing (zshare)

Its late... but strange...

2008-02-13T01:42:00.000Z

"when you hear the first few moments, you worry, but give it a couple of minutes and it makes sense..."

Scout Niblett

2008-02-12T02:04:00.000Z

There's nothing much to say really, just listen and enjoy.

Scout Niblett - Kiss (zshare)

wipeout and me

2008-02-12T01:33:00.000Z

For those who know me, they know i enjoy playing videogames, the Wipeout series being one of them. Apart from looking amazing for the time, both with style and actual gameplay, the soundtracks were THE soundtrack for dance at the time. I've been playing alot of Wip3out this evening, here are some bits and bobs from the soundtrack.

Sasha - Xpander (zshare)

Chemical Brothers - Under The Influence (zshare)

Underworld - Kittens (zshare)

i'm Hercules

2008-02-12T01:05:00.000Z

More of a Guilty Pleasure for myself, Hercules And Love Affair, stationed on DFA and EMI Records, are certainly worth keeping and eye on. Its a rather extravagant track to say the least, but it makes a nice change to hear something a little bit, erm, what's the word... glamourous

For those who prefer a little less disco in their lives, try the club version

Hercules And Love Affair - Blind

Hercules And Love Affair - Blind (Hercules Club Version)

Polaroid do not make polaroid anymore

2008-02-12T00:21:00.000Z

Depressingly, yes it is true, Polaroid have announced that they will stop production of instant film (though they've stopped making the cameras for a good long while). It's a shame but was going to happen, so dust down your camera and start to stockpile!

What can cheer me up after this independent photo disaster? Some indie beats, Del The Funky Homosapien is a long time favourite of mine, heres some new and old bits and bobs for everyone. keep an eye out for his new album "The 11th Hour" due in March time.

Del The Funky Homosapien - Bubble Pop (zshare)

Del The Funky Homosapien - Working It (zshare)

Del The Funky Homosapien - Why You Wanna Get Funky (zshare)

Arcadia

2008-02-11T12:44:00.001Z

Sometimes you just hear something and it stops you right there in your tracks and the hairs on your arms stand on end while your fingers tingle and your eyes roll back in pleasure.

Boys Noize 12 minute epic remix of Apparat's 'Arcadia' has just done that to me. I would love to link to it but everywhere I've found a link, its been taken down. Probably out of respect to both Boys Noize and Apparat, who between them have created one absolute monster of a tune which will be destroying dancefloors forever more. It has everything - Acid, Piano's, House vibes, Techno beats and little bit of the dirt of electro.

Hunt this down and you will not be disappointed.

This Joy

2008-02-09T01:23:00.001Z

None of the other Robot Soap lads will like this, I don't think but right now i'm loving Stephanie Dosen's music.

I first came across her early last summer when a friend put on Andrew Bird at Club Academy, Manchester and she supported. I don't really know why her music appeals to me to be quite honest. Her music reminds me of a less produced Sarah McLachlan, you know, that folky acoustic balladesque noise that kind of sits in the background of my mind, that at the time I don't even really appreciate. It's only later that I find myself humming the melodies. Sarah McLachlan is a very, very lazy comparison but its late, and i'm tired from a pretty awful day but her noise (if you can call it that) is soothing on the soul.

She's probably destined for big things, considering the last time I saw her mentioned was on one of the MTV channels that I forget the name of but if you've got Sky Digital its the one after MTV2. So i'm sure this post will be redundant soon enough and the entire world will be sick of her sweet, never sacarine, melodies but right now i'm listening to her for what the music is.

She's never going to change the world but there's a time and a place for most things and right now at 01.33am on a Saturday morning, laid in bed wondering why i'm still awake and typing away on my laptop, the time and place is right.

So if after all that you still want to check her out just copy and paste her name into youtube or myspace and i'm sure you'll find a whole bunch of videos and music for you to make your own mind up.

What Happened? Volume Deux

2008-02-06T02:36:00.001Z

"Is this another Goat The Head moment? Seriously, what happened?"

Liars - We Fenced Other Gardens With Bones Of Our Own

Plastic Operator

2008-02-06T01:33:00.000Z

Having heard a little here and there on hypem and on tv, Plastic Operator have given me a little of pleasure this evening, havea listen and get involved

Plastic Operator - Home 0207 (zshare)

Plastic Operator - Home 0207 (Eile Remix) (zshare)

Sidenote, the previous posts Primal Scream track, i like it personally, except t does feature, Rather pointlessly, Kate Moss. She does need a word with herself, i dont really get her, but i would listen to some Tunng, you be off your tits on happyness.

Primal Scream - Some Velvet Morning (zshare)

Bullets to make you Scream

2008-02-06T01:24:00.001Z

I Don't care if this song has been blogged to death by the rest of the interweb. I heard it in a record shop in Huddersfield on Saturday and its been making me very happy since.

The chorus is sheer bliss...

As a sidenote (as Elliot would say) i'm currently watching Primal Scream's video for Some Velvet Morning, a track featuring Kate Moss. Its absolutely terrible, like a second rate Goldfrapp meets Gary Glitter trying to do something sexy with electro. Don't go listen to it, its four minutes of your life you'll never get back.

And what's worse than that is it completely ruined my happy about Tunng's 'Bullets' and I've forgotten just what it was I was going to say about their music.

Don't listen to Primal Scream, listen to Tunng - you'll thank me for it in the end, I promise.

Tunng - Bullets

kinky reeboks

2008-02-05T01:54:00.000Z

Though the track has been out for a while now, i've just had the pleasure of hearing it again, Sebastien Tellier's "Sexual Sportswear" is as good as erotic dumbells and even tops X rated shot putting.

Sebastien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear (zshare)

Sebastien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear (Sebastian Remix) (zshare)

Oh and here's a video for you too.

The Whitest Boy Alive

2008-01-31T20:03:00.000Z

It seems stupid but this week i've found lots of music that was sat under my nose, songs and groups that a should have known about months ago, if your like me though you enjoy catching up with it all.

One of these bands is "The Whitest Boy Alive", which i first heard on the wonderful Tall Sarahs mix from last saturday (this week has seemed to steamed past). Fronted by Ereland Oye of Kings of Convenience fame, the band meld slow speed of minimal with a dash of pop, while Ereland's voice compliments each beat. Basically its jolly good stuff.

Here are a few tracks for you to have a listen to.

The Whitest Boy Alive - Burning (zshare)

The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (zshare)

Buy the album "Dreams" from amazon.co.uk

Hearts Revolution

2008-01-31T12:17:00.001Z

HeartsRevolution was a group that i spoke about when i first started posting in this blog, now a few months on HR have new tracks floating in the blogosphere. After a successful limited split release with Crystal Castles last year, the twosome seem but making a warm fuzzy based storm in the scene. Again, for me personally this is another group to watch over the next year.

HeartsRevolution - Prism Effect (zshare)

HeartsRevolution - Domino Effect (zshare)

HeartsRevolution - Choose Your Own Adventure (zshare)

Strip Steve

2008-01-30T13:41:00.000Z

Strip Steve, who released the excellent "skatin" track last year, is back with his newly released "Skip School EP". He's certainly somone to look out for this year in my opinion, i'm sure we'll be hearing alt more from him.

Strip Steve - Paceys (zshare)

Strip Steve - You And I (zshare)

Adam Kersher - Irene (Strip Steve Remix) (zshare)

Buy The Skip School EP from JUNO

As a sidenote

2008-01-29T14:49:00.000Z

Since i forgot to mention also, i left the flat for lunch in town, and began to walk into the centre of the city. as much as it might seem strange to say, the sky seems a little different in colour, and its is a little warmer than usual.

Why's that so strange? Simply, with the heat, the noise of the traffic and the colour of the sky, it clicked in my head about when i was in Seville and i was in the bustle of the city in the morning. It's rather odd a number of seemingly random things can make you remember stuff you've forgotten.

i also found that i really like cheddar alot with my lunch, bootylicious. Here's some music i had on the old ipod when i was on the way through town.

Eagles Of Death Metal - Midnight Creeper (zshare)

Four Tet - Hands (zshare)

Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey (zshare)

In the shadows

2008-01-29T14:28:00.001Z

When doing my job hunting this afternoon i had itunes pulling out random songs as per usual. noting was really different except that a classic DJ Shadow track for me came on, that reminded me of my first year of uni. Sat in the evening with a pint and a sausage sandwich in my hand. The jukebox was constantly playing this, partially my fault, but still.

DJ Shadow - You Cant Go Home Again

Which of course led me on to start digging out some more Dj Shadow tracks, i had honestly forgotten how great the guy is.

DJ Shadow - You Cant Go Home Again (zshare)

DJ Shadow - Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt (zshare)

Dj Shadow - Giving Up The Ghost (zshare)

Getting our geek on in February

2008-01-29T11:17:00.000Z

Robot Soap steps up to broadcast live to second life while djing in the real world, because we like your avatars too. February is set to include a fundraiser for Manchester Mets Interactive Arts 07/08 end of year show, were still free, but we think you should give a pints worth of change to these bloody students, macs aren't free you know.

Of course i joke, but if you can spare a little bit of change to donate both the interactive arts and robot soap would love you long time!

More details to follow, but keep your diaries free for the end of Feb, check out the flyer for dates. Team Robot Soap is still reeling from the weekend, but were in the mood to blast it out again in February!

Tall sarah, live from Robot Soap

2008-01-28T15:06:00.000Z

The wonderful Tall Sarah gave us permission to record her set at Robot Soap this weekend. Containing tracks from The Whip to The Whitest Boy Alive, Tall Sarah takes us once again through an education of music only she can supply.

The whole atmosphere of Robot Soap was once again electric, as it's already been stated we'd all like to give a big thankyou to everyone who came down. Special thanks to our guest DJs Tall Sarah and Slatex, you were "boomshank".

Download

(Tracklisting to appear shortly)

It wouldn't have been the same without you

2008-01-27T13:08:00.000Z

Robot Soap would just like to say thank you to everyone who came out last night.

We were at capacity on more than one occasion and the basement in cord was going nuts all night.

Huge thanks also goes to Tall Sarah for opening the night and Slatex for closing the night - both played outstanding sets - Tall Sarah's will be available on our here very soon - http://robotsoap.blogspot.com

We're back at Cord on FRIDAY 29th Feb

Thank you all once more!

One From The Hard Box

2008-01-26T10:37:00.000Z

Its about time I mentioned this track on here. Its not Electro, or Breaks or anything quite so easily labelled, tho being the pidgeonholler that i am I'd tag it as Lo-Fi-Electronic-Post-Hardcore.

Someone sent it me a few years back, and I've never been able to track down anything else this bloke has made before or since, and all traces of it have been erased from the Internet or so it seems. The track itself is titled Stitched Up Mouths and I've not heard anything like it, ever, & it brings to mind the same spine tingling buzz as when heard the Postal Service for the first time. This one track stands out as a perfect gem in the vast swathes of mediocre music the Internet can throw up. Whether a whole album like this would work is debatable, but as a single, two and a half minute track, this is quite simply, perfect.

Candidate - Stitched Up Mouths

The Last Days

2008-01-25T12:35:00.000Z

Though it might not mean much to some people, having a last day at work is a little bit of a downer. In some cases you hate a job, the people and your glad to see the back of it. In my case i don't like the job, but the people are jsut good people, friendly and welcoming, Which makes it quite hard to leave.

My job was never going to be something that i would stick with in the long term, and when i started i found it repetitive and dul, but thankfully the amount of jokes cracked and banter had made it what its worth.

When i woke up this morning i put on hypem radio, these were the first three tracks i heard, i thought they fitted the day quite nicely. Thanks guys, you made these past few months pretty bloody good.

Hot Chip - Boy From School (Erol Alkan Extended Re-Work) (zshare)
Booka Shade - In White Rooms (zshare)
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (Franz Ferdinand Cover) (zshare)

C'est Sebastian, Oui?

2008-01-24T12:42:00.000Z

Sebastian, that well known Ed Banger-ite, was on my mind today when i was on the way to work. there are a pile of cd's on the side by the door in our flat, each with dozens of songs for when were djing, however one caught my eye, the one with a Sebastian remix of the Rakes.

I love this remix, and i thought its worth digging out again and sharing with y'all, as well as some other tidbits, there's nothing new i'll add, but they are good tracks.

The Rakes - We Danced Together (Sebastian Remix) (zshare)
Mylo - Paris Four Hundred (sebastian Remix) (zshare)
Kavinsky - Testarossa Autodrive (Sebastian Remix) (zshare)

Claude Von Stroke video

2008-01-24T12:12:00.000Z

Though this news is a couple days old (because i forgot to post about it), i thought i'd pass it on. Discobelle have once again got an exclusive, this time its the new video for Claude Von Strokes "Who's Afraid Of Detroit" track. The track is excellent and the video does look great,

hoorah for black and white!

Continue to Discobelle

Rez HD released on the 30th

2008-01-24T10:00:00.000Z

for those who don't know, Rez will be released on Xbox arcade at the end of the month. The original on the dreamcast was one of my favourite music games ever created, here's some blurb (thanks wikipedia):

"Rez is a rail shooter in which the player takes control of an onscreen avatar travelling along a predetermined path through the computer network."

"The game is notable for replacing the typical sound effects found in most rail shooter games with trance music, with sounds and melodies created by the player as they target and destroy foes in the game, leading to a form of synesthsia"

After having a bit of a dig around i found the fully uploaded soundtrack for the game (although i don't know who uploaded it in the first place but to whoeveer did it, many many thnks), Follow the link for good times.

download page

...And I knew that you meant it...

2008-01-23T13:43:00.000Z

Chris Carrabba AKA Dashboard confessional is a fine specimen of the wholesome American life a lot of people from the UK aspire to have. He creates a winning combination with his all-American looks and talent for knocking out 3 minute emotive acoustic pop-emo tracks which hang off powerful hooks and chorus that could make grown men cry alongside teenage girls and i'm pretty sure you've already heard of him in some form or another, for exmaple, his song 'Vindicated' appears on the Spiderman 2 sound track.

I had been fortunate to get a ticket for his sold out show last night in Manchester through the makenoisemanchester forum (Cheers Kitty Kat!). Unbeknown to me the venue had been upgraded from the tiny Club Academy to the much larger Academy 2, which at first I thought was going to be a dissapointment because the sound in their can be absolutely terrible at times, there's also an intimacy thats lost by doubling the size of the venue like that.

This was about the sixth or seventh time I've seen Dashboard but always in bigger venues and only once (the first time I saw him years ago) have I heard him play a solo set. I've always prefered his solo stuff, the stuff with the band behind is ok but it loses the raw intensity of just a man and his guitar that I love so much.

All that said I rocked up to the venue and got a pint in just before Dashboard Confessional was to take to the stage. After finding a really good spot to watch the gig from I started to take stock of the audience. Even before the lights went down the atmosphere was already electric, the crowd looked more than ready for the appearance of Chris on stage.

As the lights went down and Chris walked on stage the entire room went ballistic. Mainly girls shouting things like 'I want your babies!' but I've come to expect that at his gigs now and so I wasn't shocked however i'm always shocked at the unity Chris seems to bring with him when he plays - from the very first word he sang to the last, nearly 2 hours later the crowd sung along. Loud and proud. Its one of the reasons I enjoy seeing him live so much. Its awe-inspiring at times, and Carrabba knows exactly how to play it, at times leaving huge gaps to allow the voices of 500 people singing in unity hold the songs together. Its really beautiful and feels great to be involved in.

Chris played an amazing set which consisted of all his hits, a couple of new ones but mainly older stuff which pleased me a lot and the hour and fourty five minutes he was onstage seemed to pass in moments. Highlights included Hands Down, Screaming Infidelities, The Best Deceptions and Vindicated.

The rest of this tour is sold out but Dashboard Confessional are back in April:

April 2 - KCLSU London

April 3 - Piccadilly St James London

April 4 - Cardiff University

April 5 - The Leadmill Sheffield

April 8 - Carling Academy Liverpool

April 11 - Carling Academy Oxford

http://www.dashboardconfessional.com/

leaning and bouncing

2008-01-22T18:56:00.000Z

I've been listening to the Duke Dumont mix that we posted about last week, mainly to keep me awake and stop me from succumbing to my hang over. As a little treat, i've uploaded three tracks from the centre of the mix. Download and enjoy!

Modeselektor - Black Block (zshare)

Marc Houle - Techno Vocals (zshare)

Duke Dumont - Lean And Bounce (zshare)

its late...

2008-01-22T02:22:00.000Z

I'll be honest, it's late, and i've enjoyed a delightful evening. after having a nice glass of cherryade, i pop on the tv, and i get slapped around by this

The Bug Feat. Warrior Queen - Poison Dart (zshare)

i dont know much about it, but i know i like it.

what happened?

2008-01-20T16:53:00.000Z

"Where did that come from?"

Goat the Head - Darwinian Minions

Errors

2008-01-20T16:37:00.000Z

Errors, a 4 piece from Glasgow, caught my attention on saturday when me, Gareth and Omar were drinking all the booze left over from friday (which is still crammed in our fridge), the 8 bit bleeps with guitar work amazing together. There's not much that i can say about them, you just have to have a a listen.

Errors Myspace

Errors - Salut! France (zshare)

Errors - Mr Milk (zshare)

Lovely weekends

2008-01-20T15:49:00.000Z

This weekend has been a nice return to standards after a rather hard week. At the moment im currently leaving my job and currently training someone for my new position, as well as tidying up loose ends and getting job interviews lined up.

Friday was the beginning of the end and a little soul destroying for numerous factors, i left work feeling washed and struggling to face this final week, putting in my headphones i began to listen to some music, namely a bit of Radiohead to escape into.

I call my good friend Omar, he's ten minutes away from piccadilly, i walk down to the station. We grab a beer and we begin to shoot the shit about whats right and whats wrong. Cue Maura, my sister from another mother, we get back to the flat, we drink heavily, and remember it's not so bad with red wine at your side, oh and a coat when it's pissing down when your n the balcnoy having a ciggie.

From what i can remember of that night, here's some music we played:

Giorgio Vs Talla 2xlc - E-MC2 (zshare)

Busta Rhymes - Turn It Up (zshare)

Human League - The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (zshare)

LCD Soundsystem - Get innocuous (zshare)

Joy Division - Shadowplay (zshare)

Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (Jesse Rose Remix) (zshare)

Quasimoto - Bartender Says (zshare)

Uffie - In Charge (zshare)

Duke Dumont Live Set

2008-01-18T12:59:00.001Z

Just a very very quick post

Robot Soap loves Duke Dumont, Discobelle have an exclusive live mix

follow the link for good times!

Bored?

2008-01-17T19:28:00.002Z

This has to be one of the best applications of Flash i've ever seen. Elliot and I have been having loads of fun using this bad boy!

Roland 909's are responsible for for some of the greatest music ever commited to wax from 1984.

Click here to play on one

A Robot Soap Threesome!

2008-01-15T16:57:00.000Z

Well not literally, but your minds can wander if you'd like!

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know Robot Soap have got three dates coming up over the next 2 weeks...

Firstly, this Sunday our very own PAULO T will be representing Robot Soap at OUT OF THE GLOOM, which is the very best place to spend your sunday, and its free! It kicks off at 4pm @ Dry Bar.

Next up we have a weekend of Robotic Madness!!!

FRI 25th - Robot Soap @ MoHo Live

We're hosting the back room of The Aftershow all night long, this is about the 4th or 5th time we've played The Aftershow, and its always a proper good night. In the main room there's a few live bands on including the fantastic TWISTED WHEEL, £5 on the door. 8pm til 3am

SAT 26th - Robot Soap @ Cord - FREE ENTRY

Back in our last Saturday of the month slot, where we'll be staying from now on. We're gonna tear the arse off the basement again, as per usual its FREE, and I think some of Robot Soap's DJ friends are gonna pop down and spin a few tunes too (if you'd like to play give me a shout and I'll see what I can sort out!)

WOW!

That was a lot of info!

See you on the dancefloor!

www.myspace.com/robotsoap

Oh and also...

2008-01-15T12:24:00.000Z

As i was reading last night i noticed the Radioclit have released a new Podcast, the Gaytoblaster Megamix, here's some blurb:

"another gem from the radioclit vintage archives, this gaytoblaster mix was done around 2005 and intended to feel like a soundtrack to a new york block party in 1979 in the bronx, hosted by a grandmaster flash style dj from the future. electrofunk powerrrrrr"

Who are Radioclit? For starters we have played with them, and they played one of the most energetic and mixed up sets i've heard in a long long time. They have remixed various tracks rangeing form Bonde De Role to Mika (don't hold Mika against them, it's not that bad). As well as releasing a cracking EP last year.

The archive of their Podcasts does not stretch back that far, but enough for everyone to enjoy! Heres some links pour vous.

Radioclit Myspace

Radioclit Podcasts

San Dimas High School Football (Still) Rules

2008-01-15T12:05:00.000Z

So it’s the year 2000 and the apocalypse predicted by everyone and anyone in the media didn’t happen and we’re all left with a warm fuzzy feeling, because ‘at least we’re not dead’ – as a friend so eloquently put.

I was just sixteen and I was just developing a love for punk, pop punk and emo music through the girl I was seeing at the time. We used to listen to this album endlessly on her bed when we should have been in lessons at college. We wouldn’t speak because this album would be all the words we’d ever need, and then some. It was the perfect mix of pop melodies and words that make so much sense to hormonal teens in love.

Looking back; Everyday seemed to be a mix of great music, sunshine and hanging around with friends that summer. This was the soundtrack to that summer.

The Ataris – Blue Skies, Broken Hearts and The Next Twelve Exits (Kung Fu Records)

To me this is summer 2000AD encapsulated into 35 minutes of pop punk perfection, though to be honest I can’t say I’ve listened to it for a few years now. That was until this morning when I came across three videos on YouTube of Kris Roe playing the album acoustically from start to finish. It took me back instantly to those times and memories once forgotten.

Anyway here’s the videos:

Part One

Part Two

Part three

Miami Horror remixes

2008-01-15T12:03:00.000Z

Miami Horror, as spoken about in a previous post back when we all first started the blog, love the synths. here's a round up of some of his shizzle over the past couple of months.

Grafton Primary - I Can Cook (Miami Horror Remix)
Soft Tigers - Mr Ice Cream (Miami Horror Remix)
The Dirty Secrets - 5 Feet Of Snow (Miami Horror Remix)

(these links are temps until i get home from work, and can actually upload them all to Zshare)

Hot Chip - Essential Mix

2008-01-14T12:23:00.000Z

A an addition to today, mainly because i forgot to post about it last night. The Hot Chip essential mix has been available to download for a couple of weeks. Its by no means to everyones taste (described by fellow soaper Gareth as "fucking shite"), i dont mind it however and you never know it might be right up your alley.

Tracklisting

Hot Chip - One Pure Thought - EMI
Noze - You Have to Dance
Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (Hot Chip remix) - EMI
Jill Scott - Golden (Wookie dub mix)
Grovesnor - Drive Your Car - Greco Roman
Chic - I Want Your Love (Todd Terje edit)
Justus Kohncke - Parage - Kompakt
Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction - Geffen
Romanthony - Bring U Up - Glasgow Underground
Timbaland - Drop - AV8
Olga Dancekowski - Matt John - BAR25
Matthew Dear - Don and Sherri (Hot Chip version) - Ghostly International
Lanark - Mandinko
Alex Under - ? - Trapez
Smith N Hack - Falling Stars
Undisputed Truth - Law Of The Land - EMI
Paul Kalkbrenner - Ick Muss Aus Dit Millieu Heraus - B-Pitch Control
Minilogue - Space - My Best Friend
Lucio Aquilina - Feelin Plastik - Trapez
Giorgio Preiozo and Libre - Pongo (extended) - Nets Work International
Minimow - Where Is My Pill? - Hell Yeah
The Surgery - More Weed (Sticky) - Social Circles
Red Robin and Jakob Hilden - Snapdragon - Trapez Limited
Tiefschwarz - Original (Carl Craig remix) - Souvenier
Jeff Samuel - I Think They Are Trying To Say Something - Trapez
Burial - Archangel - Hyperdub

Download

Outrun

2008-01-14T12:05:00.000Z

It's been a while since i've found myself listening to a remix of an already good song. The Outrunners are a duo made of Pierre De La Touche and Stephen Falken, its full of synth and 80's neon lighting, with a hint of miami vice-esque white blazers with the arms pulled up to the elbows. The original tracks are excellent the remixes do compliment nicely, have a listen, they are jolly good.

The Outrunners - These Girls Are Dressed To Kill (Mintel Rose Remix) (zhsare)

As a delicious scoopful of dessert for this post, The Outrunners have released their Cool Feeling EP for free, with the highly recommend Anoraak remix included.

Download the EP

"so how much did you pay then?"

2008-01-13T21:53:00.000Z

Radiohead, they love giving stuff away for very little. After flipping channels i came across MTV Two playing "Scotch Mist", Radiohead's film made for new years eve. The band plays each song from "In Rainbows" mixed with visuals and artwork. it had slipped my mind that i had seen it floating around on the internet, so for your enjoyment here is a low quality streaming version of the film via youtube and the bands channel.

Justice - The Rejected FabricLive Mix

2008-01-13T21:13:00.000Z

Care of Urb Magazine, here is the rejected Fabriclive mix by Justice. Here's the blurb and a tracklisting:

"Here it is, the mix Fabric didn't want you to hear. The best dance pop selections you've never heard, until now. Once the duo found out that the club/label couldn't (wouldn't?) release the mix, the group sent it out to a few select friends as a belated Xmas gift. URB was one of those lucky friends and with their blessing we offer it to you."

Tracklist

01 Sparks – Tryouts For The Human Race – Virgin

02 Rondo Veneziano – La Serenissima - Universal
03 Goblin – Tenebrae - Cinevox
04 Daft Punk – Ouverture - Virgin
05 Surkin – Next Of Kin – Institubes
06 Symbolone – Love Juice - SymbolOne
07 Korgis – Everybodys Gotta Learn Sometimes – Angel Air
08 Midnight Juggernauts – Ending Of An Era – Mindight Juggernauts
09 The Paradise Ft Romauld – In Love With You – Vulture
10 Justice – TTHHEE PPAARRTTYY (Acapella) – Ed Banger
11 Chic – Everybody Dance – Atlantic
12 Frankie Valli – Who Loves You – Warners
13 Das Pop – Underground – Das Pop
14 Julien Clerc – Quand Je Joue – EMI
15 Daniel Balavoine – Vivre Ou Survivre – Barclay
16 Richard Sanderson – Reality - Barclay
17 Zoot Woman – Grey Day – Wall Of Sound
18 Fucking Champs – Thor Is Like Immortal – Drag City
19 The Rave – Mother – The Rave
20 Fancy – You Never Know - Fancy
21 Frank Stallone – Far From Over - Universal
22 Sheila – Misery – Warners
23 Todd Rundgren – International Feel - Warners

download (zshare)

something to keep an eye on

2008-01-10T12:47:00.000Z

Just a quick one for you all (or y'all depending where your from).

The band, "Born Ruffians" have been lovingly absorbed and made themselves comfortable as a fantastic addition in my ipod. Their self titled EP is out now and there Album "Red Yellow and Blue" will be landing around the beginning of March (off the top of my head). It's lovely stuff, have a listen and find out!

Born Ruffians - Hummingbird (Pitchfork Media)

Surkin, oui?

2008-01-09T12:31:00.000Z

Happy new year everyone, i hope you've had a good one.

Surkin, one of my all time favourite music creators and djs, has released a new track on his myspace, called "White Knight Two". When i first heard it i liked it, but now i've had a few more listens i just cant get enough of it. The french dynamo will be releasing a new EP titled "Next Of Kin", keep an eye out as it'll be bombing the decks in the upcoming months .

Surkin - White Knight Two (Zshare)

Also as a little treat here is his Institubes mini mix, enjoy!

Surkin - INS mini mix (direct from Institubes)

Music of the Fractals

2008-01-07T20:53:00.001Z

Somewhere, beneath the shiny fake veneer of the music biz, there is an equation, and it goes something like this;

If a band had a fan base equal to or above the age of 18, circa the year 2000ad, then they can, have or will achieve super band status.

This is because pre 2000, for the main part, all we had was a clattery outdated Q magazine, Meta Hammer, an increasingly childish Kerrang! and the NME as our musical periodicals. We had limited exposure to what was going on in the musical world, we had, in essence, a very biased, tailored view, coloured by what was en vogue that current week/month.

Post 2000 everything changed, the Internet came into its own, and in one fell swoop, allowed anyone access to anything whenever they wanted. This one singular event fractured the music industry and changed it forever. Im not talking about the labels and their takings, I'm talking about how people listen to music, there will never again be a Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Oasis.. the Internet has broken everything down into infinite fractal niches, if you want to listen to ambient-speedcore-tech-house then I'm pretty sure its out there somewhere.

Because of this fractalisation, its going to be pretty hard for a band or artist to really last longer than a few albums, to gather the following bands used to do in the 90's, the record buying public, or the ones who matter (r&b licks vol 987 doe not count here) are spread much more thinly over a much wider spectrum of sounds.

Even toady's "big" bands, the globe spanning artists like Razorlight & Snow Patrol are on their way out just a few albums into their career, and its going to get worse, its not uncommon for bands to release one album then disappear into obscurity as peoples attention spans wane, this too is a result of the Internet.

The times they have a-changed and god only knows whats next, but being a muso, to quote another Manc gobshite circa 1995, I'm one excited young man ..

New Year New Start

2008-01-06T11:54:00.000Z

We’ve been a bit quiet on this blog recently, I blame the Christmas/NYE comedown – We’ve also all been a bit ill recently with the usual winter flu type viruses. Lovely.

Anyway we’re into a New Year now. 2008. It’s time for a new start and for resolutions to be broken as fast as they’re made but first I just want to comment on a couple of things from Christmas and NYE.

Firstly my favourite present this year was the Sigur Ros DVD, Heima. To be quite honest the only reason I didn’t buy this on the day of release is because I knew someone would buy it for me for Christmas and then I’d end up with a spare copy and when exactly what I’d predicted happened I couldn’t wait to get the shrink wrap off and get the shiny little disc into the player. I turned the volume up and the lights down, waiting to get involved in something special. Heima really is special too, i’m not usually one for music DVD’s to be honest, most are nothing but a let down after promising so much but in the typical Sigur Ros style understatement is the key. The first disc is a documentary which recounts Sigur Ros’s return to Iceland after touring their 3rd album Takk all over the world. The band has decided to play a series of free gigs all over their homeland in strange and wonderful venues. Music recorded live at these venues is interspersed with brief interviews from band members and beautiful backdrops of Iceland which are as haunting and captivating as the music that seems to wrap around these visual motifs creating a sum which is greater than all the separate parts put together. I literally cannot recommend this enough.

Heima Trailer/minisite

Changing subject completely now I want to mention my NYE, which was spent in Barcelona among friends. It really was a great night which allowed me to visit Razzmatazz for the second time this year. The night’s main guest was Kompakt Records’ Rex The Dog but proceeding him when we arrived was MouseUp! Who was playing some lovely dark and twisted techno, his warm up set was what a lesser DJ would play if they were headlining and i’ll be honest there were only a few tracks in his set that I actually recognised, not that that is a bad thing. In fact it was quite refreshing. By the time Rex The Dog hit the decks things were getting very hazy in the whirlwind of strobes, dancing and clatter of techno but a more than memorable night was being had by all in The Loft at Razzmatazz. Opening with his own Prototype, Rex did not let up, melding electro with techno in his own wonky kind of way. All hell broke loose throughout this set on the dancefloor and it was great!

Rex The Dog - Circulate

Rex The Dog - Italian Blond

Rex The Dog - We Live In Daddy’s Car (808 Mix)

Creative Boredom

2007-12-26T17:57:00.000Z

Merry christmas from Robot Towers in the heart of the north of England. Its that time of year where everyone likes to tie up loose ends, drink far too much red wine and vomit from eating a tin full of celebrations and bombay mix.

Yes, Christmas has past us as we all build up our liver for for the following new years bash, which can either go one way or the other depending on the company you keep. This post was going to be a round up from my year of music, unfortunately i haven't had time to actually get that mother of an essay completed. I began to think about what i could write, and surely enough i remembered something. Something that i was wanting to post but forgot all about. i dug through my documents on my mac to find poorly saved article neatly placed in the "temp" section.

For years we've all watched videos on mtv, its one of thse things thats standard of our generation, and i've seen plenty to know that there are some out there that flick a switch in my head to make my creative cogs start to turn, in this post i will be running down some of my favourite videos from Michel Gondry.

Mini Biography (from wikipedia)

"Michel Gondry was born in Versailles, France. His career as a filmmaker began with creating music videos for the Frenchrock band Oui Oui, in which he also served as a drummer. The style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the attention of music artist Björk, who asked him to direct the video for her song "Human Behaviour". The collaboration proved long-lasting, with Gondry directing a total of six music videos for Björk. Other artists who have collaborated with Gondry on more than one occasion include Daft Punk, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, The Vines, Steriogram, Radiohead, and Beck. Gondry has also created numerous television commercials. He pioneered the "bullet time" technique later adapted in The Matrix, notably in his "Like a Rolling Stone" video for the Rolling Stones and a 1998 commercial for Smirnoff vodka, as well as directing a trio of inventive holiday-themed advertisements for GAP."

Gondry (as previously stated) has created, designed and directed music videos for over twenty years, most notably for Bjork, The White Stripes, Radiohead and Daft Punk to name a few, as well as directed feature films such as Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and The Science Of Sleep.

His style uses unique sets, colour and an almost childlike take on visualisation which constantly keeps him in the stand out collection of directors today in the music business. for more information on his work take a trip on the links at the end of the videos, but for now, please enjoy.

Bjork - Declare Independence (2007)

Beck - Cellphone's Dead (2006)

Kanye West - Heard 'Em Say (2005)

The White Stripes - Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground (2002)

The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl (2002)

Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar (2001)

Radiohead - Knives Out (2001)

Chemical Brothers - let Forever Be (1999)

Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You (1998)

Beck - Deadweight (1997)

Daft Punk - Around The World (1997)

Massive Attack - Protection (1995)

Storm The DJ Booth

2007-12-21T07:55:00.000Z

On an icy late December night in 2007, a crack team of electro fugitives stormed a major club in Manchester City centre, it was like an episode from the A-Team, Robot Soap hit Sankeys Soap. Again.

The Aftershow is one of Manchester's best Indie nights, Live bands, good DJ's, great atmosphere, and after a trek through literally sub zero conditions in a tracksuit top, not only did we get in on the guestlist, we all played, and absolutely caned it. Bigtime.

The bar area was dead when we got there, and baltically cold, within the space of about 6 or 7 tracks, we had it bouncing right untill the end of our set, hammering through some minimal tech house, some awsome electro remixes of bands like The Whip and Klaxons, into some nasty Jackin' House. We bossed it and raised the temperature as an added bonus.

I'd like to see some other nights do that in Sankeys, in a non-electro based clubnight with just their residents and a bag of cd's without spending 6 grand on Ed Bangers latest name......

And as an added bonus we should be hosting a room, somewhere not a million miles away from Manchester City centre in February.....

That was our Sankeys farewell, We are Robot Soap, and we will make you dance.

Caper C live mix to download

2007-12-19T14:40:00.000Z

Casper C (Fluokids) is one of the hottest upcoming DJs at the moment as far as we're concerned here at Robot Soap, his live sets absolutely destroy the dancefloor wherever he plays and when he played at Robot Soap a couple of months ago it was no different.

Casper has already played with some of todays best DJs, including: Modeselektor / Ivan Smagghe / Erol Alkan / Justice / Boys Noize / Digitalism / Herve / Cansei De Ser Sexy / SebastiAn / DJ Orgasmic / Surkin / Simian Mobile Disco / James Murphy / Para One / In Flagranti / Ajax / Mylo / John Dahlback / Sinden / Williams / Yuksek / Uffie & Feadz / DJ Gorky (Bonde Do Role) / Lo Fi Fnk / Jo Jo De Freq / South Central / Kissy Sell Out / Kavinsky / Crispin Dior / Ben Trucker /Midfield General / Filthy Dukes / Round Table Knights / Gildas & Masaya (Kitsune DJs) /Skull Juice / Duke Dumont / Brodinski / Matt Walsh / Nightmoves / Zombie Disco Squad / Pirate Soundsystem / NikNikNik / Stopmakingme

He also holds down residencies at: Skull Juice / Duke Dumont / Brodinski / Matt Walsh / Nightmoves / Zombie Disco Squad / Pirate Soundsystem / NikNikNik / Stopmakingme

Already making him a formidable force in cutting edge electronic music and although I was stood on the door for most of Casper's set I was dancing around like an idiot, just like the rest of the club.

Casper C is definitely one to watch out, and if you get chance to see him play out we'd recommend it 100%

The live set below is from from Panik, Paris before Yousek, Brodinski, Alter Ego and Radioslave

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Tracklist:

Holy Ghost - Hold On

Sir Drew - Shmale (Black Strobe Remix)
Prinzhorn Dance School - You Are The Space Invader (Optimo Remix)
Todd Terje - Eurodans
Mountain People - Mountain People 004
M.S.T - In Acid (Chicken Lips Malfunction Mix)
Tomski and Fredboy - Cereal
Okain - Arathi Basin
Marshall Jefferson - Mushrooms (Justin Martin Remix)
Christian Burkhardt - Dragee
Hot Chip - Over And Over (Solid Groove Remix)
Etienne Jaumet - Repeat After Me (Ame Remix)
Kris Menace - Steamroller
Kelley Polar - Rosenband (Magic Tim's Instrumental Mix)
Rainer Weichold - Bamboo
Tomsi and Fredboy - Tarelet 2
Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler (Emperor Machine Remix)
Hugg & Pepp - Pung
Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (Jesse Rose Remix)
Claude Von Stroke - Beware Of The Bird (3 Channels Mix)

Politics and Polls

2007-12-18T12:24:00.000Z

This week Robot Soap has been on the receiving end of a whole bunch of nasty clubland politics, So much so I've even questioned if I still want to be running this night.

When Elliot and I started this night, quickly getting Porl and Rob involved it was about fun, making new friends and just playing music we liked, hoping others might too. Robot Soap is still all about this and so far I feel like we've all achieved a lot in a relatively short space of time, through Robot Soap I've made some amazing friends, met some fantastic people and our decks have been graced by some of the finest DJs across the country (Radioclit and Casper C spring to mind instantly!) all of which have made up some of my favourite memories.

So its a shame that we've been stabbed in the back by people I once thought of as friends, people we helped out a lot when they were starting out. I'm not going to name name's because I think slagging people off via the internet is not only childish but would put us on the same level as the people I, and Robot Soap are talking about.

Trust No One.

To end things on a lighter note I thought I'd stick Mine and Porl's Top 5 lists up here

Paulo Tourettes Top 5's of 2007
Albums
Gallows - Orchestra Of Wolves
1990's - Cookies
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
Justice - Cross

tracks
Kings of Leon - fans
D Ramirez & Mark Knight - columbian soul
Daft Punk - Prime_Time_of_Your_Life_(Night_Facilities_Remix)
Hostage - gluttony
MSTRKRFT - the looks (felix cartal remix)
Dusty Kid - the cat

gigs
Kings of Leon - GMEX, Manchester
Gallows - Leeds Festival
Klaxons - NME Rave Tour
2manydjs - The Warehouse Project
The Whip - Salford Festival

djs/producers
d ramirez & mark knight
felix cartal
hostage
the whip
mickey slim

Seconds From Nothing's Top 5's of 2007
Albums
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Interpol - Our Love To Admire
The Weakerthans - Reunion Show
LCD Soundsystem - The Sound Of Silver
Thrice - The Alchemy Index vol 1 & 2

Tracks
Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe (Switch Remix)
Franz Ferdinand - All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem Cover)
Bonde De Role - Divine Gosa (Radioclit Remix)
ZZT - Lower State Of Consciousness (Justice Remix)
The Whip - Sister Siam (Justin Robertson Remix)

Gigs
Crystal Castles - Vice Magazine Tour, Faversham, Leeds
Omerta, Krap Nek, UYA - The Castle, Manchester
Sonar 2007, Barcelona, Highlights include Justice, Simian Mobile Disco, James Holden and Dixon
The Weakerthans - Manchester Academy
Vitalic - The Warehouse Project (May)

DJs/Producers
Ivan Smagghe
Vitallic
Justice
Radioclit
James Holden

C'mon Cincinnatti

2007-12-16T12:52:00.000Z

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For the dark prowling monster stalking the hinterland between paranoia and the piss stained alley behind your house that is the Lo Fi Allstars, there is also a flip side, a ray of semi-sunshine glinting off the half crushed can of Tennants Super out there. That ray of sunshine is Delakota. Another criminally underrated, oft overlook, always forgotten gem of the late 90's alternative indie scene.

Their one and only album, "One Love" takes in the perfect pop sensibilities of early Stone Roses, the beats and breaks of the aforementioned Lo Fi's and the balls out funk of George Clinton & Bootsy Collins. Crescendo's of brass, half remembered samples & basslines that make you want to move, all run through with an unashamed love of old Soul & Motown records. Opener C'mon Cincinnati lollops along like Bez in a mirrorball suit, 555's sugary summer vocal sticks to your brain without ever being saccharine and The Rock is the perfect tune for those clear summer nights watching the stars which is unsurprisingly the subject matter of the song itself.

One Love really is a special album, by a very special band, its good music, music for people who love music, by people who love music. You owe it to yourself to give this album at least a cursory once over, dip your toe in and test the water. The waters warm, and the musics gonna light up your soul.

blisters on my brain

2007-12-14T11:55:00.001Z

It was the year nineteen ***** and I was a lot younger than I am now. On the TV screen was the Wrekked Train, in the standard issue bomber jacket and wasp glasses, sneering his way through Vision Incision as the beats tripped and slipped around his distorted stream of consciousness lyrics. Like some cracked up stacked up urban poet from the future painting pictures of the big smoke, whether that be London, Manchester or New York, or indeed, Brighton.

This was my first exposure to the gritty twisted world of the Lo Fidelity Allstars, once bitten, never to recover. The seedy slimy inner city dioramas lyrically splattered against the back of my eyes by Dave Randall, vocodered, sliced, cut up and layered over almost but not quite trip hop, the dark under belly of the Brighton big beat scene. While the rest of the world were bopping about to Norman Cook and his skanerfella ranks and tripping gangstas, those of us in the know were locked up in dark rooms learning quite literally, how to operate with a blown mind.

The sample laden beats breaks and filth of the Lo Fi’s is a noise like no other, a rich audio mixture, always pioneering, never prosaic, never run of the mill, these shady characters knew what they were doing, and they did it with style. High octane rants about lunar dust, hardcore punk paste & disco machine guns while the effects swirl and twist around the Wrekked Trains vocal, slower songs like the tragically beautiful “I used to fall in love” and the book end to the album, the stunning will I get out of jail – I never knew it would end in such tragedy.

Its no wonder books like Slow Chocolate Autopsy and Perdido Street Station mean so much to me as an adult, having been infected with a deep love for the inner city lifestyle as a youngster, the good the bad and the plainly twisted, the filth the fury & the bright lights, tramps, needles, superstars, the back alley that skirts even the most exclusive stores & restaurants. This is the Lo Fidelity Allstars, they are the sound of your city, and they will teach you how to operate with a blown mind.

Robot Soap Guest Mix #1 - MrB

2007-12-13T18:43:00.000Z

It is an absolute pleasure to be finally getting this online. The first in an ongoing series of guest mixes comes from a very good friend of ours; MrB.

MrB is a regular guest at Disco Electronica @ Sankeys playing in the bar he mixes up Funk, Soul, Disco, Old Skool Electro and everything in-between, He's also guested at many other Manchester club nights including; Northern Disco and Out Of The Gloom, as well as running his own session Wiggle Waggle.

MrB has taken us up on our no music policy-music policy and produced a fantastic mix, so without further adieu...

Click here to download mix!(zShare)

E-Flyer design by Chris E (Thanks mate!)

If you would like to do us a guest mix email us - gazask8er@hotmail.com

Blueneck

2007-12-13T18:17:00.000Z

Right now i'm full of flu under a blanket typing my first blog entry for a while (sympathy please!!) and I'm thinking to myself its getting to that time of year where everyone in blog-land is looking back at the year just gone and forward to the upcoming year with the same nostalgia/hope balance.

Robot Soap will be doing the same, but not right now.

This entry is about a lovely new band I've been listening to all today called Blueneck, and when I say new I mean I've only heard them today. They've been around since 2000 apparently, its a shame I've not heard of them before because they are the kind of band that cold, dark and windy winters were made for. Their beautiful soundscapes are reminiscent of all the big hitters from the last few years; Sigur Ros, Mogwai and 65 Days Of Static are the obvious comparisons but what I think really propels this band is the haunting vocals that kind of hang around the tracks like spirits that were once lost, now re-found in the melodies and discord create by Blueneck.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are a lot of bands reeling this kind f shit out right now, some better than others but then on top of those are bands like Blueneck.

Oig (taken from 'The Scars Of The Midwest' Album)

There's more free downloads at Blueneck's website

Oh yeah, they've just recorded a Christmas EP too, which is free to download from there as well!

Robot Soap Review

2007-12-11T13:41:00.000Z

Biased or not Robot Soap on Saturday was probably one of the most fun ones we've done. All in the name of Elliot Smith AKA Expo84's Birthday.

We changed the formula a little bit and didn't really have set, set times and it really worked, Paulo T, Correct Effect and I warmed things up slowly with a bit of minimal, tech house type stuff playing one on off. It worked really well, Paulo T and rob on a CDJ and me in the middle with some proper turntable action!

Things started getting heavy around 9pm and the basement was quickly becoming quite rammed with bodies starting to move. I left Rob and Paulo to it for a bit while I prepared to play my first ever laptop set, using Traktor 3.

I settled in nicely after a couple of minutes of nerves and really enjoyed it. The room of people bouncing around said that I was doing alright too.

By the time I'd finished playing the room was going crazy, everyone dancing and making a racket. I quickly joined them! from then on it all gets a bit hazy from too much alcohol and dancing. The atmosphere was electric though, everyone was at exactly the same place at the right time.

Sometime's its astounding to think about, but I love the fact that all we did was turn all the lights off and pump up the jams in an old beer cellar and then we had this wicked little rave going on.

Elliot's set was pretty special, taking to the decks for the last hour he did Robot Soap by playing a riotous party set with old and new sampled and cut up all over the place. It really was 'lovely stuff' (Not my words, the words of shakin' stevens!)

Elliot finished to a whole load of cheers which was followed on by a racket of a chorus singing 'Happy Birthday'

I'll post the videos from facebook once I work out how to get them off there and onto here!

My Top Five Tunes of the night:

Riot In Belgium - La Musique (Sinden Remix)

Simian Mobile Disco - Love (Duke Dumont Ode To Todd Mix)

DatA - Morphosis (GlitchBitch Remix)

Foals - Hummer (Surkin Remix)

Bizarre Inc. - Playin With Knives (L-VIS 1990 B.More Mix) - Sorry I can't find a link for that remix!

morning texts: part une

2007-12-07T12:04:00.000Z

This morning when getting ready for work, i recieved a text from my good Kirsty, its nothing unusual getting a message from her but this was different, it reads:

"Smith my friend, can you recommend me a good album that i wouldn't normally listen too?"

What a question, where do i start? Kirsty has fantastic bands such as Kings of Leon, Hot Chip, Editors and Robson and Gerome (not really), but something different? lets dive in and pull out a selection.

Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur

Some of you will have read my post of a video of the group playing live, the song is taken form this album. its a strong album, as strong as any other album from Cinematic Orchestra, but the haunting melody of its first track makes it a firm favourite for me, and even though it cringes me to say it, its great on a "chilled out" evening when you need to "wind down".

Vitalic - V live

Step 1: Insert into CD player

Step 2: Push Play
Step 3: Collapse from the beats
Step 4: Return to Step 1

Suprisingly unloved by critics, take it from me, its the shizzle yo.

LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver

Though i imagine that Kirsty Already has this album, its worth a mention simply because its so good. Without a doubt one of the very few albums of this year that was even worth a bother, it has some great songs and some clear classics, as well as this it contains con of my favourite songs in a long while, "Someone Great", which is worth buying the album for in the first place.

side note: try and pick up the single release of Someone Great also, as it has a fantastic soulwax remix of Get Innocuous

unfortunatly thats the first part over for the time beign, as i need to get back to work, check out this evening for the second part yo.

P.S. ROBOT SOAP is tomorrow, at Cord in Manchester, and going to be loud, real loud. Were celebrating with a birthday bash, so come on, get involved, oh and its free entry too, were far too nice you guys!

Robot Soap 8th Dec 'Expo84's Birthday Bash!'

2007-12-05T16:17:00.000Z

It's Elliot AKA Expo'84's Birthday this Saturday, So we're throwing him a party, the way that only Robot Soap can.You might think this would be a warm down for us after hosting a room at Tribal Sessions last Friday but I can assure you, things are really going to be heating up for this party, and we're starting early for it.

Get Involved, We're Not Playing Games!

Robot Soap Dec 8th
'Expo'84's Birthday Bash'
8pm til 1am + Secret Afterparty
Cord, Just Off Tib St, NQ
Manchester

FREE ENTRY!!!

www.myspace.com/robotsoap

Radiohead: Unravel (Pocket Mix)

2007-12-05T15:35:00.000Z

I picked this up moments ago from Pitchforkmedia and just give it two listens but this is seriously good. Ambient and beautifully dark, this cover of Bjork remixed by Pocket - Who the hell is Pocket, and why do I not know about him/her because this is essential listening.

Download it here

I also picked up tickets for Radiohead today, I cannot wait!

tiredness is a killler

2007-12-05T12:37:00.000Z

it has been a long time since i've written in the old blog, i've missed having a little rant about what stuff is good, what stuff is bad, and jsut generally being a music snob.

At the moment im in the office in recovery mode, last night we went to see these guys:

Justice pounded me into the ground with thier live set, and i say that with no bias at all (no really, they were that good). Gareth will be filling you all in at somepoint as well as popping up a couple of pictures he snapped when we were there.

The Sankeys night was one of intense pleasure, we have now managed a lovely bi monthly residency at tribal sessions(starting next year), when i get back home i'll upload whatever pictures i can find of the gig, but for the moment lets have a rundown of what we played (links care of Hype-diddly-M and imeem):

Radioclit- Divine Gosa (Switch Remix)

LA Priest - Engine (Erol Alkan's Transonic Re-Edit) (highly recommended)

Surkin - Radio Fireworks (highly highly recommend)

The Whip - Sister Siam (James Rutledge Remix) (this should be the remix Gareth played on his storming set, though i could be wrong as i cant listen to it at work, disaster!)

Justice - Waters of Nazereth (Justice remix) (serious business)

Thats all i have time for at the moment, keep your eyes peeled for something special in the works.

Full Circle

2007-11-30T12:07:00.000Z

Today is the day when a lot of the most important things in the last 3 or 4 years in my life come full circle, thus starting me on a whole new level of goals i’ve want to achieve.
It all started in my first year in uni, it was one of those nights that has become legendary – at least in my head.

I’d been out drinking straight from work with my manager and was feeling a bit worse for wear already when an old school friend I’d not seen for months called out of the blue. It was arranged that we’d meet up for a couple of drinks before they headed off to some club that i’d never heard of, to dance all night.

When they arrived we all got talking and I was quickly convinced into coming to this unknown club on the outskirts of the city, even though I had work at 7.30am in the morning – after a few drinks I have no will power!

Upon arriving I saw a queue around the corner to what just looked like a warehouse with bass rumblings emitting from it. I was interested to see what was going on but also wondering what I’d just got myself into. When we neared the front of the queue we were asked for our tickets and I explained I didn’t have one because I’d not planned to be here tonight. I was a bit gutted when I was told that the club was full and I wouldn’t be getting in there tonight but as far as I was concerned this wasn’t such a bad thing – I wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.
As I said my goodbyes to the girls, who had tickets, the girl working the door came over to me and explained that all my friends had tickets she’d let me in. A true stroke of luck like that is needed in a story like this, and there it was.

As I entered the dark mill building finding my way through the masses with only a strobe light and a bassline to guide me I became entranced with music, we found a spot to dance in the heaving club and I took a quick moment to see the devastation one man was supplying the dancefloor with, armed only with a bagful of vinyl records and two turntables. This little warehouse was going nuts and I’d never seen anything like it.
The sound, the lights, the people all coming together like was amazing, it was hot and sweaty in the club but there was a warmth in my heart, like this had been something I’d been looking for all my life and had now finally found.

What felt like minutes was actually hours and by the time I left – at 6am when the club closed, I was sweaty and tired but elated. I felt like I’d had a huge cathartic release which had built up over 19 years of not hearing music like that.

In short it was probably one of the best nights of my life and I have spent a hefty part of the last 3 or 4 years reliving that night in different guises and in different clubs, with different people and in different places. The only constants were my love of music and the excitement of hearing new music on a weekly basis played by the best DJs and producers in the world. That first night irreparably changed my life and there was no looking back from then on.

After doing a bit of research about the music when I got home from work in the evening (after no sleep!) I found I’d been watching, and listening to Ben Sims and Francois K, a true legend in techno and a privilege to have spent my first night in techno with him.

The club was Sankeys, and the night was Tribal Sessions. It is the place that inspired me to buy decks in the first place, it’s the clubnight I always wanted to play at and without it you probably wouldn’t even be reading this blog.

Tonight I, along with the rest of Robot Soap will be playing at Tribal Sessions for the first time. I’m as excited as I am nervous, and I’m sure the other lads feel the same.

If you can, join us for a dance and some good times.

This Friday...

2007-11-27T17:36:00.001Z

Cinematic Orchestra, anyone?

2007-11-21T01:13:00.001Z

lovely stuff...

Just to add on from what Elliot said about The Warehouse Project...

2007-11-20T13:00:00.000Z

Don't get me wrong I had a great night; The Whip were on form as usual, SMD are just perfect party fodder, Digitilism though not my thing were quite enjoyable and Vitalic was again fantastic, A highlight being is own take on Audion's 'Mouth to Mouth' but, and yes this is pretty important.

The event was advertised as '20 Years of Acid House' but aside from a very smaller number of tracks, that I could probably count on one hand there was absolutely no acid from any of the DJs, except from the last 10 minutes of Ivan Smagghe and although he was good it felt like he was only just getting into the groove with these last 10 minutes of his set.

All in all it was a good night, but i'd have liked to hear more Acid House.

Stand Out Tracks:

Digitilism - Fire In Cairo

Vitalic - Bells

Phuture - Acid Trax

The Rapture - People Don't Dance (Simian Mobile Disco)

The Warehouse Project

2007-11-20T12:17:00.000Z

How was the previous weekends warehouse project?

It was prime cuts of the finest fucking BEEF!

I'd manged to grab a ticket to last weekends project, the line up was sizzling, a collection of the best DJ's you cxan find spinning vinyl, twisting knobs and nudging CD's:

When me and my good friend Omar arrived at the venue, we had unfortunately missed DJ Mehdi and A trak, The Ting Tings and Andro. It was a shame but we had already been out having a couple of drinks to get ourselves ready for to some serious beats.

we moved past the sniffer dog and through the curtain, to be presented by an underground cavern ot booms and bleeps, we had fallen into the last fifteen minutes of The Whip, who were, excellent. I' wish i had been there earlier for them, as they had the crowd hammering away.

Simian Mobile Disco were an essesntial for me, i need to see them. It was one of the main reasons why i wanted to go. They did not disappoint in any way at all.

Slammed right up at the front, me and Gareth jumped in time to the sways of the crowd and the beats of the tracks, everything in the back catalogue of SMD was played, hearing Sleep Depravation and hustler, with what I think was a remix of LCD Soundsystems "Get Innoccous", i think its was the Soulwax rremix of the track but don't hold me to that.

People were grabbing onto the back of me to jump higher, i was doing to the same to the person infront, all you could see was a sea of hands pounding to each bite of the electro fodder. It was immense.

Digitalism were next, but i'm not a huge fan, so this was time for a cigarette break and ear re conditioning. we sat outside underneath a parasol talking bollocks about music with strangers and arguing about Goldeneye. It was freezing but the buzz and the atmosphere kept away the cold.

i caught the last fifteen minutes of Digitalism. Although i'm not a really big fan, they played their remix of The Cures classic track, Fire In Cairo. As soon as i heard it, i jumped into the crowd, screaming "fucking tune", as the person next to me shouted in agreement; " fucking come on". i bounced with this total stranger, the pair of us dancing like a pair of tarts in a working mens disco hall.

Ivan Smagghe was next, and as Gareth will hate me for saying it, it wa the most boring part of the night. I don't enjoy minimal, it really bores me, and it becomes hard work to stay awake when im listening to it. Omar stated he listens to it when he goes to sleep, i think that statement sums up how i felt about it. Although the last ten minutes of his set was kicked up a notch with some classic acid house that got the crowd prepped for...

Vitalic

It couldn't have come at a better time, Vitalic hit the stage liek a depth charge bursting through a submarine hull. i was in the middle of the crowd, all you could feel was the sweat of the person behindyou, while you slammed your hands in the air and bounced, literally bounced to the bass of the tracks.

Vitalic did not drop in quality throughout the whole of the set. He played classics such as La Rock, My Friend Dario and plenty of others. Hearing the roar of the crowd as La rock came through the speakers for the first time was intense. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand, he could have told us to jump and we would all scream how high.

i'll be making an appearance at the New Years Day line up of the project, for those who don't know who's playing, have a gander below:

2MANYDJS
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO
SEBASTIAN [ ED BANGER ]
BOYS NOIZE
RITON

As well as more to be added, so they say. As well as this im going to see Justice play in The Academy, playing with CSS and Metronomy at the start of December, i cant wait.

Sidenote: Robot Soap tickets are now available for our Sankeys debut, at the Tribal Sessions night with The Futureheads, get your tickets here. Also, December 8th is our monthly night at Cord, it's free so come down and get involved.

Second sidenote: I'll add a few tracks played last night when i return home from work, enjoy the rest of the day.

Office Thursday - 07

2007-11-15T12:06:00.000Z

Hello everyone, hope you are all well.

I'm pleased to say that it was so cold this morning that even my primark winter coat couldn't hack it. It's pretty much turning into winter and yet it's still very sunny outside, currenty highlights of the week so far has been listening to people whine about the weather, the trams, and how the weather is affecting the trams.

This weeks Office Thursday combines some great albums that have been getting me past a case of SAD syndrome, lets do this (now with added video goodness)...

Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release

Similar to the justice album, in a sense that jsut about everyone has a copy of this, SMD's album has some serious kick in the groin beats that can, will, and usually does "blast off" on the dancefloor. key tracks such as "Hustler", "I Believe and "It's The Beat" stand out like electronic sore thumbs. You can argue that its old news and its been played to death, but you don't hear anyone complaining when they hear the tracks at 1 in the morning

Watch the video for "Hustler"

Watch the video for "I Believe"

Watch the Video for "It's The Beat"

New Order - Substance

New Order doesn't require me to say how good they are, or how they were so ahead of their time, or why they are the 80's or how it still sounds great today. Key tracks such as "Thieves Like Us", "Temptation", "Blue Monday" and many more can get you goign through the day like no other band could.

Watch the video for "Blue Monday"

Watch the video for "Confusion"

Watch the video for "True Faith"

Watch the video for "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Dangerdoom - The Mouse And The Mask

A mighty Collaboration between Mf Doom and producer Dangermouse, using samples from the Adult Swim shows such as Space Ghost and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Mouse And The mask adds creativity and total pleasure to any persons playlist. Singles such as Sofa King and tracks such as Space Ho's work with thier samples without any fear of overuse or making the songs seem corny. Hunt is down as soon as possible.

Right thats your lot, i'm off to buy an overpriced two day old sandwich and wash it down with some Klix coffee.

P.S.

NOVEMBER 30th

Robotsoap joins The Futureheads at Tribal Sessions at Sankeys in Manchester, we have tickets on sale NOW! FROM US! nag us on our myspace for more info.

DECEMBER 8TH

Robotsoap is at Cord for our December party, come down and get involved, more details to follow.

November Alternative Mix - Seconds From Nothing

2007-11-14T21:21:00.001Z

Tracklist:

The Cure – Homesick

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson – Black Dog and The Scottish play

Idiot Pilot – Losing Colour

Dntel – In Which Our Hero Finds a Faithful Sidekick

Brian Reitzell & Roger J. Manning Jr. – Shibuya

Apparat – Silizium

Mogwai – Punk Rock

Black Label Society – Takilyn

Radiohead – How To Disappear Completely

Blur – No Distance To Run

The Magnetic Fields - Take Ecstasy With Me

Click Here to Download

This is the first mix I've done for the blog, its a bit different to our usual stuff but I think this is the result of a bad day at work and digging through older stuff for no apparent reason. I hope you enjoy it!

Charity Shop Record Shopping

2007-11-12T15:41:00.000Z

This weekend after Robot Soap I decided to take myself off and out of the city. I’ve had a really good weekend of wandering aimlessly around a small country town. I’ve always found one of the best things about these little places is the abundance of charity shops and the weird and wonderful records for sale in them.

Countryside village or town record shops are much better for this kind of shopping than in the cities because some other die-hard or DJ type will have undoubtedly beat you to all the best records in the city but out here you’re at least in with a fighting chance.

This is by far my favourite way of buying records, not only are they dirt-cheap but you can find some real gems in there. I love the thrill of looking through crate after crate of utter shite to find one record worth it all. The ratio of hits to misses in this area of record collecting favours the latter by a huge percentage (probably in the 90% range).

This is not for the fainthearted, and you should never take friends because they just get bored too quickly. This is a solitary exercise in music buying, in fact I much prefer buying records alone full stop if I think about it.

And another thing I love is that over the weekend I pulled out such atrocities to music as ‘Byker Groove’ –The girls from the CBBC program Byker Grove singing some horrible pop-house record. ‘Green Velvet’ was another, and no it wasn’t the seminal techno producer of ‘La la Land’ fame – It was a bunch of farmers with brass instruments making a racket in the only inbred country folk way they knew how. Pretty special you’ve got to admit.

So with a total cost of £2 here are my top picks from this weekend:

Yello – The Race

Carly Simon – Why (I actually bought this for the B-side, an instrumental version of Why)

Madonna – Into The Groove (I can see a cheeky re-edit with Duke Dumont on the cards for this one)

Georgio Moroder and Phil Oakey – Together In Electric Dreams

Robot Soap - Friday nights photos

2007-11-11T20:56:00.000Z

Thankyou to everyone who came down, here are some pictures from the night,

photography credits to Katie Wynne

A couple of little things...

2007-11-08T15:39:00.000Z

So tomorrow the time is finally upon us, Robot Soap is back. Really, we're back! I'm slowly coming to terms with this fact. I'm excited, I'm nervous and I probably won't sleep tonight because I'll be worrying about stupid things like balloons and sweets for the people coming, if indeed they come, and that has to be the biggest worry of mine.

Although i'm taking comfort in the fact that a good friend, and great DJ, Matt Payne has cancelled his night 'Klastic Plaxon' (which you should definately check out) just to come to Robot Soap. Our facebook group is doing pretty well too but there's always that element of chance with putting on a night that I love and hate in equal measures.

All that said I think Robot Soap will be great tomorrow, even if its just the four of us dancing to music we love, thats all we need.

Robot Soap

9pm - 4am

Cord Bar Bassment, Just off Tib St

Northern Quarter, Manchester

www.myspace.com/robotsoap

65 Days Of Static

I'm going to leave the bulk of this to Elliot because it was his first time seeing them last night but I just have to say they were, as always, absolutely astounding. If you've not heard them yet, get on it already. They're a wonderous mix of Aphex Twin, Mogwai, Sigur Ros and anything off Warp Records... And i'm sure they're sick of all those comparisons by now, and lets be honest - they are a bit lazy but at least you have an idea what they sound like. Oh, and they're touring with The Cure in the US!

www.myspace.com/65propaganda

Official Site

Over the coming weeks I'm doing photography for:

Biffy Clyro

Scouting for Girls

The Weakerthans

I Am Kloot

CSS

Justice

HelloGoodbye

Minus the Bear

So expect that to be popping up on here too.

Over and out.

Office Thursday - 06

2007-11-08T12:25:00.000Z

This week has been very slow in the office, very slow and dull. i usually keep myself entertained by looking out the window at the shoppers in the retail park, slowly pushing their new tv to the car, and then proceeding to try andfit it in the boot, good times.

This weeks Office Thursday is a bit of a mixed bag, i've bought an Ipod shuffle this week, which to be honest has a been a bit of a god send. The downside is that the betteries are dead today, becuase i forgot to charge them after the 65 Days gig (which i will discuss at the end of the post, time permitting). So lets "do this", "get involved" and indeed "crack on" with this weeks choice selection of musical beef.

Mc Pitman - It Takes a Nation Of Tossers
Buy at Amazon

Mc Pitman, where do i start.

The alter ego of of Style-Cee, Pitman is from Coalville, and he is a miner. a miner that raps about tea and biscuits, buses and dented tins of beans form the pound shop. Not only are the lyrics amazing, but the sampling and use of beats is jsut incredible, you can't fault Pitman (who is now sadly not with us, as he has been killed off, which is a shame) and his album, it takes A Nation Of Tossers, is worth grabbing whenever you see it.

I had the vinyl version kicking around somewhere, i think it had a different track than the CD release but either way, just get it by any means at all.

Dj-Kicks - Hot Chip
Buy at Amazon

I should probably point out, as mix tapes go its not too bad. It has its ups and downs and there are some very sketchy choices for music. However, what i've been listening to the most on the CD is the amazing track that is My Piano. An exclusive track for the Dj Kicks compilation, its got a great danceable beat, with a delightful little piano loop and all wrapped up in a boppy little bow. It's worth having a listen to in the morning, as you cant really be unhappy listening to the song, at least thats what i think anyway.

Unfortunatly thats a ll i have for this week, as my lunch break is coming to an end, keep an eye out tongiht for some pictures of last nights gig, as well as a write up of what it was like, though i can sum it up very simply as "the shizzle".

Radiohead with XL Recordings

2007-11-06T12:53:00.000Z

just a quick one from The Guardian music website...

"After apparently changing the face of the record industry last month with the "pay what you like" release of their album In Rainbows, Radiohead have followed up with a more traditional move, announcing that they are to distribute physical copies of the work through record label XL.

The band had been without a record deal since releasing Hail to the Thief through EMI's Parlophone in 2003. While the band have only agreed to release In Rainbows with XL, the deal has prompted speculation that a longer arrangement may yet be in the offing. Thom Yorke previously released his solo album, The Eraser, through the independent label, which is home to such artists as the White Stripes and Devendra Banhart.

Radiohead to release In Rainbows through XLIndependent label will put physical album in record shops where 'pay what's on the sticker' pricing scheme prevails Paul MacInnesThursday November 1, 2007Guardian Unlimited Radiohead's new album didn't come with cover art when it was released online, so Seattle newspaper The Stranger created this. Photograph: Sam Machkovech/The Stranger

After apparently changing the face of the record industry last month with the "pay what you like" release of their album In Rainbows, Radiohead have followed up with a more traditional move, announcing that they are to distribute physical copies of the work through record label XL.

Announcing the news, XL Recordings founder Richard Russell said: "Radiohead are a constant inspiration to us all, because they unfailingly put creativity first. XL is more than honoured to be working with Radiohead."

Ben Beardsworth, Managing Director of XL Recordings, chipped in: "In Rainbows is truly a classic album and it deserves to reach a massive audience, well beyond that of download and boxset sales. We will be working closely with them to help deliver that."

Quite how "massive" any increase in sales will be when the album is released in stores is an open question, especially as the band have yet to reveal how many copies of In Rainbows have been bought since it was released online on October 10. Gigwise has estimated that as many as 1.2m copies of the album were downloaded from the official site, a figure the band's manager has called "exaggerated"; Forbes, meanwhile, has reported a further 500,000 downloads of the album from illegal file-sharing networks.

"It's certainly true that fans of Radiohead will want a physical copy of In Rainbows," says Gennaro Castaldo of music chain HMV. "But what is currently unclear is how much that pick-up will be. One of the clever things Radiohead did was to get a lot of PR for an innovative move while at the same time doing something very traditional: selling a £40 box set version of their album, albeit online. This might mitigate the potential for sales when a CD hits the stores."
The deal agreed to with XL applies only to the UK and Ireland. The band have yet to strike a similar agreement for a North American release.

Radiohead have yet to comment on the deal themselves, but their managers Bryce Edge and Chris Hufford have previously told Radio 4 they expect the physical release for In Rainbows some time in January."

and also...

2007-11-05T12:28:00.000Z

Before i forget, last night i was listening to some Shinichi Osawa. He turns music into heavy, glitchy and dirty electro goodness.

go over to hypem and have a listen or watch the video for his cover of "Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar".

Pure horrorshow

2007-11-05T12:01:00.000Z

After a rather hectic weekend of drinking, Djing and eating japanese food i cant say that i was looking forward to getting up in the morning. i was still enjoying the feeling of Friday nights Electro-fest and seeing my good friends on the Saturday. The idea of having to sort out the "D" files at work didn't seem to be on my top priority list.

I have a Program on my mac called Aurora, a great little tool that acts as an alarm clock and intergrates with Itunes. I have my Itunes set in the morning for Hype Radio, Hype Machines online blog radio station, its a great listen if you want a full spectrum of music.

As the music comes on, i'm hit with the sound of synths and beats that i had not heard before, i got up to look at what was playing. It was Miami Horror.

Miami Horror is Ben Plat from Melbourne, another fantastic Oz synth magician, more depressingly though, he is 20 years old, i'm olde than him and he's got more ecellent tracks than you can shake a stick at.

check out his myspace for more information, and heres a link to hype with some of his tracks on. i recommend beauties such as his remix of "Grafton Primary - I Can Cook".

Castles In The Sky

2007-11-02T11:36:00.000Z

Last night I went to see Crystal Castles at The Faversham in Leeds, the third stop on Vice Magazines 'Unitaur'. Playing alongside The Teenagers (who were terrible) and The New Puritans (Who I didn't watch) in easily the most cliquey venue in Leeds, Crystal Castles were outstanding and just after proclaiming electro to be dead (see my last blog entry) they blew shit up. bigtime. After pushing my way to the front, via haircuts, ketamine ruined first years and nu-vintage clothing I was treated to one of the best live sets in a long while. The entire set up made me feel like I was 16 again, I can't remember the last time I wanted to push myself onto the barrier like that and lose myself in the music so completely. fantastic. pure.

Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles Mix(Right Click, Save Target As...)

Office Thursday - 05

2007-11-01T12:14:00.000Z

Hello everyone, it's time for another edition of Office Thursday. I know what your thinking and yes, im shocked too that its actually on time this week, but thankfully i've set some time aside to write a quick column on what i've been listening to this week at work.

Grandaddy - Now It's On
Buy the Album: Amazon
Watch the video: Youtube

It has been a long time since i've listened to the Sumday album, and for me, it's really a case of hit and miss in some aspects, but i've always ejnoyed this track, and i'm not sure why. Perhaps its due to the way the music is put together? Maybe it's the guitars? Maybe its the strange breathing/wheezing duck-esque kind of noise at the start. Whatever the reason it still manages to keep a hold on me when i listen.

(sidenote, listen to the chorus jsut as you start to go over a bridge on the tram while looking out of the window, its alot of fun)

Mystery Jets - The Boy Who Ran Away (Riton Re-Rub)
Buy the album: Amazon

Watch the video: Youtube

I actually heard this on the fabriclive: 28 album, mixed by Evil Nine. it's been sticking in my head now for the past few weeks, im not sure but i think im associating it with cans of coke at lunchtime (strange i know). Even now im thinking about it while eating my chilli chicken on my break.

It's a great remix, and im not sure why its good, i think its jsut the layering of it that i really like, it doesn't seem lazy like most remixes i've heard as of late. As Gareth and i have both written, music seems to be dragging it's feet at the moment. The only real highlights of this year have been few and far between and it's a shame but its been more of a year for singles rather than albums.

Radiohead - The Entire Back Catalogue, Pretty Much

Buy the albums: Amazon

Watch the Videos: Youtube

Since the release of thier new album, most conversations with me about Radiohead are as follows:

"it's alright, xxx is better though"
"no its not, xxx has that song, y'know"

"what about xxx?"

"true it's a good album, but still though it cant beat xxx..."

The return of Radiohead has been a godsend in a way, as it's given me and excuse to play alot of of thier other albums, and bring back the great memories that are associated with them. OK Computer was given to me on a recorded tape by my uncle, and it had The Bends on the otherside. I used to walk to school listening to it on my state of the art walkman with bass boost, i miss those days.

Move on a few years and were passing on mixtapes with music from Kid A, b sides that and live sets, withe on cd or emailed mp3's, we need to bring back C90's, they were more fun to record on and pass around.

That's all from me, this weekend i, and all the Robot Soap boys will be djing at a House party at Preston and then again on Saturday at a Birthday/Late halloween do, i'm aiming to dress as a legoman but time is running short for me to make my costume, fingers crossed for me.

Also, 9th of Novembar at Cord in manchester, Robot Soap returns, set it in your diary.

The Double Bill

2007-10-31T23:59:00.000Z

(Hello everyone, just a quick post, which is going to be edited tomorrow with the full playlist.)

This is (finally) the double bill hour long Sunday Mixtape that has been on the cards all week. Tonight i finally got round to having some time to acutally make it.

For all those who don't know what the Sunday Mixtape is about, its simply a collection of songs i've been listening to from the week past. Stuff from when im on the way to work, walking around, going to Primark and looking out for undesirables.

lave a listen, there's UB40 to Pulp, Simian Mobile Disco to Nico, and even some Tes to Jackson And His Computer Band

download here