Introducing... Melé

A little bit of Sunday listening and a big heads up for you here. A producer I've been following for the last 6 months with great interest. He's been producing for something like the last 5 years, and has been getting support right across the board from Tomb Crew to Toddla T and Jaymo & Andy George to Sinden... who recently signed him to his new label.

One of my favourite tunes I've been rising since the turn of the year is a wee UK Funky remake of the classic No Scrubs by TLC... called Digits. Very vivid memories of my early teens and the mainstream Garage crossover I grew up listening to on a daily basis. He was kind enough to give the tune away for free on his Soundcloud a few months ago, I suggest you check it out, sharpish!

Melé - Digits by Mele

I've recently been getting up to speed on some of his earlier releases, most notably his remix of Ruffcut's Hustler after hearing Nick from Tomb Crew playing it Kissy Sell Out's recent all day party at Vibe Bar.
Something a little different from the man, a lot of energy, but a whole lot of fun. I really recommend that remix, which you can catch on Juno here and preview below.

Shab Ruffcut - Hustler (Melé Remix) by Mele

He was also kindly asked by one of my favourite bands New Young Pony Club, to remix their new single Chaos at the turn of the new year, and he laced his 2-step/Garage/Funky stamp all over it to dazzling effect. He really worked Tahita Bulmer's vocals into his mix very well and created something of dazzling beauty but also colourful and uplifting.



This week saw the release of his new EP titled Bombay out this week on Mixpat... featuring new tunes Bombay, Flexi & And of the Sun with remixes from Heavyfeet, Nadastrom and French Fries.
Epic funky business. Bombay is definitely my favourite tune, featuring a sample also found in Will Bailey's Hustlin n' Scratchin. Flexi takes on a more Garage influenced vibe with some awesome warped bass and top vocal samples, while And of the Sun takes on a more 2-Steppy-Soca trip, the sort of thing you'd expect to hear on an Ace Ventura soundtrack. Maybe. Good vibes and a great breakdown half way through. Your pick of the remixes comes from French Fries... simply put, pure Saturday night party music.

Melé - Bombay EP by Mixpak

You can preview the EP above and grab it from Juno here. It's a great EP, so please support Melé in the best way possible if you're feeling his work.
Melé recently did a guest mix for Sinden's Kiss 100 show, which you can check out and download below courtesy of the Mad Decent blog, a great tracklisting and featuring Melé's up and coming release Mugged... one of my picks of the whole year that one... and my all time favourite M.I.A track XR2.

Sinden Kiss 100 - Melé Guest Mix

Melé // Bombay (Nadastrom Remix)
Roska // Squark
Jeremih // Birthday Sex (Martelo B-More Funky Remix)
Dubbel Dutch // Deep Underground
Doc Daneeka // Bumblebee Riddim
Mia // Xr2
Melé // Mugged
Seiji // Yesman
Deadboy // If U Want Me
Geeneus // Congo
Jammin // Kinda Funky
Redlight Ft Roses Gabor // Stupid
Ku Bo // Sumanita (Daniel Haaksman Remix)
Terror Danjah // Air Bubbles (Brey Remix)

The Count & Sinden - Strange Things (Melé Remix)

He recently did a great remix of The Count & Sinden's jungle epic Strange Things, which you can grab courtesy of The Fader... bigups!
Also, finally a heads up on one more Melé tune, which was recently released as part of the second edition of Hervé's Ghetto Bass series. Grab that from Play.com here Another great tune from the man, featuring a top vocal sample, which sounds somewhat like the lead singer from Crystal Fighters... I'll try and chase him up about that. Anyway, happy listening, and keep a tabs on this man, he's heading for an immense second half to 2010.

Dancer - Melé by Mele

Club Candy

Big big tunes for you once again this afternoon... revell in them!

Jack Splash - I Could Have Loved You (Sinden Remix)
Currently recieving much love on the radio waves and from DJs the world over is the new remix from Sinden, which takes on a new UK Funky/Synth-Pop element to his 'World-Music' sound. I've always been a fan of Sinden's vocal work in his remixes and the percussion really works well in this one... a sure dancefloor banger!

The Big Pink – Dominos (Switch Remix)

I've been a big fan of the original for quite some time now... it's sad but rare that I get excited about a new band with Florence & The Machine and these guys being the stand outs for me this year. Switch obviously can do no wrong in my eyes. The arrangement could be a little better, but on the whole not a bad effort squire.

The Beatles - Good Vibrations (Stanton Warriors Remix)

Initially intended as a DJ tool for their festival performances during the summer, this glitchy bass-bomb was conceived on a laptop on hte road by the duo to use as an opener to their set following the mighty Deadmau5. The idea was to try and keep the crowd for as long as possible... they really don't need to try!

Fake Blood - Mars (Style of Eye's 'Tool For School' Remix)

Now I'm not usually the one for blogging tunes that intend to be released, but this has been legally passed to other blogs, so I'm going to make an exception for another fine remix from the one and only Style of Eye that I shall be seeing for the first time @ Ministry of Sound on Saturday! Big stuff!!!

R.I.V.E.R - Fairycide

I've been searching for this track for quite a while now... and thanks to superb fellow music blog Funkism... I've been treated to it finally! No there are no renditions of a said "motherfucker", but simply quality tech-house incased in a case of pure wow-bass. Turn this up loud!

Bonus Track:
Chemical Brothers – Saturated (WoW It’s The L.A. Boxers Remix)

My favourite remix of the week comes from the L.A. Boxers... who funnily enough hail from Los Angeles... original I know. Don't let that fool you though as this is the best 'rework' I've heard in quite a while. Now, it's not that different from the original, but to alter the original would be a crime of the greatest magnitude... so just sit back and appreciate it's brilliance!

Club Candy

Ok so I've not been a very productive soul of late on this blog... partly due to my internet problems, but also due to my PC/Laptop problems and such... but all sorted now though, internet is finally being fed underground to my house and then wirelessly to my bedroom, and I feel all happy inside! Plus expect at least two posts a day from here on in... bar the odd day where I feel so incapable of turning on a computer that it would be literally impossible! Plus some big news coming your way this week!
Enough of that though for now... to the tunes!


Blondie - Call Me (dangerDAN Remix)
I've been realy impressed of late with this producer... he's been knocking up some really good remixes and this is no exception to that accolade. He's somewhere between the subtlety of Solo, the vocal and percussive prouess of Alex Metric and the funk of Simian Mobile Disco... some original work would be much appreciated next dude!

Muse - Supermassive (Dizkomusic Remix)
Something a little bit different to what I'd usually play out or post on here, but I'm gonna give it a whirl at a house party on Wednesday out of the original and see how it goes off. I'm a big Muse fan so this hitting my inbox was a breath of fresh air... epic donks aplenty!

The Count & Sinden - Mega (Schizofonics Remix)
I came across this track via a Mr. Sellout recommendation on his show after these guys played before him @ the legendary Sankeys in Manchester. If I'm brutally honest, if the original of Mega wasn't such a funky hit then I'd wish this version had been the one Count & Sinden had made themselves... the percussion is sharp and the bassline is brutal but not overpowering.

Emalkay - When I Look At You (Sduk Remix)
Well the original is out today finally on Caspa's Dub Police, after months of it being rinsed to death in the clubs, but here is a fantastic re-work... more of an edit or a VIP than a remix, with some superb added atmospheric synths that add real depth to the mix.

NT89 & Distrakt - Pumpin (Beatau Cue Remix)
Beatau Cue are literally smashing it at the moment... they're two remixes of Pon De Floor and they're remix of Peanuts Club we're huge! This is rather tasty also, but I've found its kind of hard to mix into if you're aiming to build volume during a set... more of an interlude tune... but a banger nonetheless.

Bangers & Mash Week 2

Second in the Bangers & Mash series is a post on up and coming producer L-Vis 1990.

Resident at the legendary Night Slugs night, whose free nights at Eastern Village in Old Street have never failed to blow me away with their lineups; past guests include the T&B crew, Egyptrixx, Crazy Cousinz, Brackles, Lil Silva, Ikonika, Kode 9, Jackmaster and many more.  L-Vis 1990's productions have been getting some serious attention to - United Groove and Flux are both tipped for release very soon, and have already been getting played by some massive DJs - Flux was featured in the Count & Sinden's last DJ mix.

L-Vis 1990's Hyper Bass approach to dance music pulls together a whole load of different genres: basslines that borrow equally from UKG and fidget, chopped up vocal snippets in that fidget style as well as drum beats that have that tribal energy of UK funky, as well as a syncopated dubstep feel to them.  

I first noticed L-Vis when his Township Funk and Night remixes started getting blogged - I was immediately impressed by the quality of them, especially considering how many remixes there are of these two songs out there... The Night mix remains my favourite mix of Night.

His debut self titled EP didn't fail to impress either - both Apple Bass & Change the Game were absolute belters - and although on first impression they didn't seem to vary much from the other fidget out there, it was only when I played Apple Bass out that I got 'it'.  You can see why L-Vis calls his own mixes Hyper Bass mixes - the appeal to them is how he fuses jungle, drum and bass, dubstep, breaks, reggae, funky, garage, grime and bassline together - creating some serious dancefloor heat as well as getting heads moving.

I've put together a little 6 track minimix of L-Vis 1990's material to date, some already released, some not.  If you like, please support - if your in London then get yourself down to the next Night Slugs on the 14th May.   Entry is only £3, and L-Vis will be joining the rest of the resident crew, along with guests Terror Danjah & Egyptrixx.  You can buy his debut EP off Beatport here, or keep an eye out for United Groove - it should be out on an as yet unannounced label in the next few months.

Bangers & Mash #2 - L-Vis 1990

L-Vis 1990 - United Groove
L-Vis 1990 - Change The Game
Crazy Cousinz - Bongo Jam (L-Vis 1990 & Bok Bok's Refix)
Laidback Luke & Diplo - Hey (L-Vis 1990 & Switch Remix)
Benga & Coki - Night (L-Vis 1990's Hyper Bass Remix)
La Roux - In For The Kill (L-Vis 1990's Hyper Bass Remix)

Camden Crawl

My first ever visit to the Camden Crawl last night - kind of suprising considering its the only festival in the UK that is 10 minutes walk from my house.  Drank far too much beer, and don't remember a lot of it.   Highlights were definitely YYY's playing Maps, discovering a couple of new bands in the Monarch, and a Count and Sinden DJ set to finish things off.

Karen O's voice and energy are still as impressive as they seemed when I first heard Fever To Tell - Date with a Knight tonight was an immediate crowd favourite, and the material from the new album didn't disappoint either, Soft Shock and Zero especially.  Gold Lion and Cheated Hearts showed off that more melodic side to the band, and Maps had me close to tears.  Bit of a shame not to see more tracks from the first album getting an outing (Pin, Rich, Black Tongue, Y Control) but what can you expect from that short a set just after the band has released a new album.

Spending a couple of hours sitting down and filling myself with more and more beer in the Monarch turned out to be one of the best decisions of the night - we managed to catch Peggy Sue and Circle Square.  Although Circle Square is probably one of the worst band names I've heard in a while, the band itself definitely do not disappoint - the singer comes down somewhere halfway in between New Order and Depeche Mode, and the basslines place them somewhere nearer to Aeroplane.  I highly recommend you head over to their myspace, and check out some of their material - Hey You Guys especially, which I remember absolutely loving last night, and I can see this morning that it's been remixed by the Juan Maclean... A killer combination.

The other new band I managed to see at the Monarch was Peggy Sue, and although I'm told that their set was a bit of an unnusual one - mainly B-sides, with none of their more well known material, it was still an absolute corker.  They closed with The Sea The Sea, which I found on their myspace this morning, and it sounds as good on record as it did live.

Lastly I managed to catch the Count and Sinden DJ set at Dingwalls, and I'm so glad I managed to persuade my friends to skip Echo and the Bunnymen for it - although the venue was a bit empty at the start, the moment they started playing it pretty much went off.  C&S played an hour long set, rattling through a mix of their own productions (Afrojack, Rocky Raver, The Fear Count Remix), as well as some more well known tunes (Township Funk, Mars, Sound of Kuduro), and some stuff I had never heard before.  An amazing end to the day, and big props to C&S for managing to absolutely destroy what was at the start a half empty venue full of bemused looking rock fans.  By the end it was absolutely rammo, and no one was looking bemused.