Five Track Friday #2
Another week another set of electronic beats
Hello again and welcome back to my second edition of Five Track Friday.
Got some exciting tracks that I would like to share. But first, I thought I would also talk a bit about what I’ve been reading this past week too and seeing out and about.
Firstly, I’ve been powering through The Secret DJ’s first book “Secret DJ” and it’s been a great insight into the life of a DJ and the trials and tribulations that come with the career. Often, I find electronic music journalism talks about the culture from a more objective standpoint and The Secret DJ’s first hand account of the scene is a totally new perspective on the scene.
Pitchfork has a good article on the recent court case deciding whether or not a dembow riddim rhythm can be copyrighted. So far, copyright has always been on the melody, not the rhythm, but this trial could change that. I was recommended this article by Shawn Reynaldo in his First Floor newsletter and I highly recommend giving his Substack a read too.
DJMag is reducing the frequency of its print issues from monthly to quarterly in a move that echos the “pausing” of the Mixmag print edition many years ago (which has yet to resume). As much as DJMag talk of “tripling the shelf life” and having “an increased number of pages”, I can’t help but feel they’re doing this because print journalism doesn’t play the role in journalism it used to have. I always enjoyed picking up a copy of Mixmag / DJMag at WHSmith’s for a long train ride and I hope that print journalism is here to stay a while yet.
Ableton has announced their latest product: Move. A small and portable beat machine with what looks like a whole arsenal of features attached. And goddamn do I want it. I wonder if it’ll make my simple 909 beats sound any better than the desktop software…
There’s been talk of the Berlin clubbing scene potentially on its way out. With Watergate and Wilde Renate shutting this year, the city’s crown of clubbing capital is without a doubt under threat. Rents are rising fast in the city and many are pointing the blame of the clubs shutting at the infamous landlord Gijora Padovicz. His notoriety has reached the point that some have started tracking his behaviours on the rather interestingly named Padowatch blog. I’m just glad I got to witness Watergate before it shuts.
Finally, Field Day is moving to Brockwell Park! This is following from what I’m hearing is a sale from the All Points East crew to the Brockwell Park festivals crew. They’ve got a new look too which I’m loving. I went in 2023 to the festival and thought it was alright, I wonder how it’s going to change with the move.
Five Tracks
As always, we’re starting strong, and CC:DISCO!’s new track Yes Papi (Miami Daddy Theme) is a big house beat. The Australian producer’s powerful kick drum powers through the beat hypnotically with the bass bouncing alongside it.
Terrence Parker’s Help Is On The Way (TP Unreleased Re-Edit) is a soulful Chicago house hands in the air stomper. It’s hard not to love a gospel house track.
AK SPORTS has dropped an absolute weapon of an EP recently and my personal highlight is Motherfkn Breakbeat which has a wild array of hard and powerful breakbeats throughout. Can imagine this causing a storm in a sweaty warehouse.
Throwing it back to one of my earliest finds, Selee by Super Flu is a psychedelic journey from beginning to end. The percussive elements have me in a trance and I can’t recommend the Line Rider music video enough.
And lastly, we have Maximum Flavour’s Workout Buddy which I discovered on the Attack Mag’s “House Music Under 1000 Plays That Needs To Be Heard” playlist on Spotify. Another house hitter with a tight beat and catchy riff. I love that they’ve created a playlist for tunes with under 1000 plays since Spotify no longer pays out for any fewer plays any more. I see the business sense behind the move but for a company that claims to support the music industry, I can’t see how it’s meant to help up and coming artists.
Bonus Content
Just because 5 tracks is never enough.
Dekmantel have recently uploaded a fat playlist of the sets from the festival in July and I’ve been hooked on the CEM & Mama Snake set which I witnessed at UFO 1 on the Sunday. The track at 46 minutes bewitched me at the time and a lucky SoundCloud comment revealed it to be Rotary-XL by Aloka which went straight into the monthly playlist.
I’ve also been absolutely rinsing Ben Böhmer’s latest album and I can’t wait to see him in November at Ally Pally in London. I never knew electronic music could be so emotional.
Until Next Time
Two for two, let’s hope I remember to do it again next Friday. Hope you all enjoyed another weekly roundup of tracks I’m obsessed with. Lots on this next week as I move out of my current flat but I reckon I can pull five tracks out of somewhere.
Also if you’re reading this, let me know if you like the weekly readings bit at the beginning. I’m thinking of experimentung with the format of this weekly post and I’m keen to hear what people think.
See you next Friday.
+1 on the weekly readings.