We turn to a relatively unknown, yet already quite influential figure, in Germany for our next podcast. Sander Baan has only the odd production and remix to his name (on labels like the ever-consistent High Grade) but already is he shaping the house and techno world through other means… namely his labels Phonocult and Feeling High Records which have released classy music from producers including Guido Schneider, Barem and Bruno Pronsato.  As a DJ is how Baan earns his crust, however, spinning deep and connoisseur selections of house and techno that work their way under your skin, soothe your soul but also get you dancing.

This new podcast for AUTOBRENNT is a fine example of that skill: it starts deep and stays… deep. Sultry, wavy lines, lazy kicks and soft, rounded percussion are what get fluidly interlinked for just shy of 90 minutes.  It’s a study in subtleness but one that keeps you locked from start to finish for the ways it mood and tempo undulate so carefully… tune in and cop out to this one!

042 Autobrennt podcast Sander Baan by Sander Baan

Leeds based Gavin Herlihy has always been a man of many associations. His modern, metallic house and tech palette has been ever evolving since a debut release on Sasse’s Moodmusic. The intervening years have seen tougher fare for Cocoon and stringier stuff for Cadenza, whilst with maturity are coming slightly lazier tempos, warmer basslines and generally a more heartfelt house aesthetic that finds the Irish born ex journo cosily at home on Crosstown, Culprit and now Matt Tolfrey’s Leftroom. 

What he hasn’t done, though, is throw his lot in completely with the so-called underground pop revolution: this is not slowed and simplified-to-a-stupor house, it still has balls, still makes you wanna dance.  “Get Loose” is the titular EP opener. On the surface it seems very simple – a few well placed vocal samples and a bold spraying bassline that slowly limber up and surreptitiously get you moving.  It’s the devilish details that flesh out the spaces in between, though, which really bring the thing to life.  For their remix duties No Regular Play smooth off the edges and inject some tripped out funk, whilst “Looking For the Same Thing” is less shy and reserved than the opener.  This one bobbles and jiggles on a subtly funky bassline doing just as the EP title suggests.  It’s a 3D sounding arrangement with trumpets over there, cosmic swirls here and what sound like plucked guitar notes buried deep in the middle of it all.

Last track “C’mon People” is a finely concocted melting pot of smeared synths, weird robotic FX and a rising vocal that swell and stretch out in plenty of open space for nine liquid and unpredictable minutes. There’s no real kick or bassline to speak of but plenty of movement remains in the sounds you do hear – a testament, then, to the production prowess of the man behind it all. 
Kristan J Caryl

Don’t miss Matt Tolfrey , February 17, Salon Continental, for his second Bogota show.  Kicking it off in Peru for Inti Fest Matt is starting a tour of the Americas. You can also can catch him in Puerto Rico and in WMC, so there is no excuse to for you to not get a glimpse of him working the decks.

Listen to his Autobrennt podcast here.

Justin Miller is an important pillar of the New York scene. Although now, Miller is focussed on DJing on a regular basis at a range of  venues around the city. Miller, then, clearly has an ear for a tune, so it’s no wonder his wide ranging DJ sets are akin to soundtracks for the way they unfold, and it should come as no surprise that the American has been passionately collecting records for years.

For the 41st AUTOBRENNT podcast we get a glimpse into that collection. Naturally, there’s a lot of disco leaning stuff in there, but so too are there plenty of rooted, bobbling basslines and sleazy vocals which get threaded together into a seductive 4/4 mix with plenty of soul

Autobrennt Podcast 041 – Justin Miller by Justin H. Miller

Comprised of Roy Dank and Nick Chacona, Beg to Differ is always playing the best music in town for disco lovers. And this Saturday, they’ll be back at their regular place, Submercer. It’s been few months since the last time they were on stage there. So we’re pretty excited to see them rock the boat again. We say join the crew, if you want to have a blessed time this weekend.

Check out Beg to Differ Autobrennt podcast here

You have to admire Claude von Stroke. He emerged as if from nowhere in 2006 with a fresh and funky sound all his own. It stood out amongst dry minimal peers for its bright colours, quirky hooks of whistles, chirps, burps and whatever else, and still does today.  Importantly, though, despite his and Dirtybird’s output being decidedly off-kilter, infectious and unhinged, it’s never strayed into nauseous novelty territory.  What’s more, despite a pre-occupation with big bold bass notes, never has it veered into derivative dubstep or future-post-whatever, either: it has all the lovable bottom ends and uncontrollable energy without the mopey, insular, self-aware conceit of so much bass music today.

Proving the San Fran label’s aesthetic still has plenty more to give is this new Hatched compilation. It aims to showcase the next generation of booty bass, ghetto funk and sleaze-step stars unearthed by von Stroke and does so with enjoyable results. Given it was this label that gave Bristol’s Julio Bashmore a leg up back in 2010, there’s a good chance some of the names here could well be ‘household’ by the end of the year…

Two such contestants are Kill Frenzy, with his deliberately slow and spare ‘Booty Clap’, and Tom Flynn with his skippy, booty shaking and Eurhythmics sampling ‘Jerry’s Liquor Store‘.  Both tracks are lucid and loveable productions that explode in a number of different directions yet keep you locked from start to finish.   So too Worthy’s ‘Shy Look’ with its overloaded claps, snares and juddering kicks.

In amongst the lesser-known names, barmy tech house vets like label co-boss Christian Martin also come up with the goods. His ‘Waiting’ is a turbo charged, skewed bass rider that twists and turns as much as it glides and surfs, where Catz & Dogz (whose Pet Recordings label seemingly grows ever more into a European antecedent of Dirtybird) turn in some eerie, snaking tech in the form of ‘Bring Me That Water’.   Fresh, fun and full of sure-fire party starters, Hatched might not be one for the chin-strokes, but Dirtybird’s continued dynamism is certainly worth applauding.

Various Artists – Hatched – Part 1 [dirtybird] by Exclusive promo

Despite having released only a couple of EPs, it feels like PillowTalk have been around for ages. As soon as they arrived on first Visionquest then Life & Death during last year, the San Fran trio’s Motown tinged, rhythm and blues influenced house sounds fit in perfectly with the so-called underground melodic pop revolution along side acts like Tale of Us and Footprintz.  With a new EP out on Wolf & Lamb now, a release, Strange Love, on Bang the Box out mid-Feb (complete with John Tejada remix), as well as an increased number of live shows planned for the first part of the year, PillowTalk look set to be at the forefront of all that is hot in 2012.

As such, AUTOBRENNT are very happy to present to you the group’s first ever podcast.  Say the band of the mix…

“We are very excited to officially release our first PillowTalk podcast. The continuous mix contains all PillowTalk productions and re-mixes.  Sit back and enjoy an intimate hour with us and a loved one.  The mix takes inspiration from our love of life and those around us. We dedicate this to all lovers trying to find a way in this cold harsh world!!

As they say, it’s a heartfelt mix designed to be listened to when snuggled up next to someone at home. It references 80s pop, jazz, modern house, deconstructed disco and plenty more styles in between, all of which get brushed with the all important PillowTalk touch…

Autobrennt – PillowTalk Podcast by PillowTalk Music

Free Magic is an NYC producer and DJ who regularly plays alongside the deepest house talents who come to play the city.   Joining the dots between house, techno and disco, he has released his low slung groves on Discovery Recordings and it’s those sorts of sounds he favours when spinning at parties of the same name.

In fact, the mix of the week we’re serving up here is a live recording from one such party. It features a number of classics alongside warm and deep contemporary sounds, building slowly through more and more dazzling synths layers and hooky vocals to a bouncing, bass heavy and sometimes tech-edged zenith some two hours later.  It’s quite the ride.

Live @ Discovery 1.14 / Autobrennt Mix of the Week by freemagic

Waifs & Strays’ ‘Body Shiver’ was the rousing, strident, electro-tinged house cut that really set Jamie Jones’ fabric mix alight last year. Amos Nelson and Rich Beanland’s bold bass notes and warm, late night neon tones also came on Hot Creations in 2011, and were imbued with some sharp sampling that really set them apart from the crowd.  As DJs they run a gamut of styles and are soon to head to this shores for the first time. As such, we caught up with the Bristol duo to talk about their oft-referenced hometown, house music, touring and more…

How did you guys first meet and what made you decide to start producing together? What do you like about one another?

R: Amos needed some help with a track he was doing right at the start of his production career and a mutual friend put us in touch, and when we got to the studio we realised we had pretty similar tastes and went from there really. Things I like about Amos? He cooks a great frozen pizza!

So how was last year for you? From the outside it looks like you had a fairly busy and auspicious year?

A: Last year was crazy! To have releases on the labels we did, get an essential new tune on Pete Tongs show, and be in the position we are in now, playing the parties we do, was beyond our wildest expectations!

R: We worked hard to get here, but it definitely took us a bit by surprise – in a good way of course!

Having worked on this for a while, why do you think it took off so much in 2011? Did you feel like you did anything differently or?

A: Production is a learning curve, and it takes time to get to the point where you are happy to send out material. I don’t think we really did anything different in 2011, but the main difference I guess is that some of the bigger players started to take an interest in us, people like Matt Tolfrey, Heidi, Jamie Jones starting playing our records and taking an interest in us.  Once that happens then the wider audience also becomes more interested in hearing your music, and things snowball from there.

Seems you have different musical backgrounds – how do/did you find a common ground? And does that mean you each bring something quite specific to the table?

R: We do have different musical backgrounds, but also very similar tastes. It’s pretty rare we totally disagree on a tune or a sound etc. We both definitely have our strengths but I don’t think this means that one brings something specific to the table that the other one doesn’t.

A: I agree and I think this really comes across when we DJ separately, the sets are always very similar.

What are the key things to have influenced you as music makers over the years since childhood would you say? Can you pin-point it? Are they the same influences now?

A: For me it was listening to Pete Tong’s show when I was 15/16…Brit Pop and the whole indie thing was massive at the time, bands like Blur and Oasis, but I never really got it. Then I heard dance music and more specifically house music on Pete’s show and was like ‘Wow, this is amazing!’. But at the time I was too young (and looked it!) to get into clubs, so that was one of the main sources for me.

R: I have always been into music but it really started for me when I moved to Bristol to go to uni and started getting involved in the jungle scene that had recently peaked there. I got a couple of residencies at the now closed club Level and at Dojos and never looked back. Production became a total addiction really from the day I got my first copy of Reason from a mate and it’s amazing to start getting recognition for doing something that you love so much!

A: Bristol is a great city, with such a strong musical heritage. The city itself is really creative, but its not a really big city and the scene is quite small so everyone knows each other, and supports each other. Being part of it has been massively helpful and inspirational for us, and we wouldn’t change it for anything – it’s a great place to live!

R: We are mates with a lot of the city’s producers – Eats Everything, Julio Bashmore, Christophe, Lukas to name a few. and so we all collaborate and share ideas with each other. Its important to have that community in your home town.

And have you evolved in the last year?  Musically or otherwise? Or have you learnt any important lessons or?

R: We have learned that its about quality not quantity, and we are being a lot more selective about the projects we take on and the tracks we put out. One really good track is worth a hundred shit ones.

A: and learned to survive on a lot less sleep on the weekends! And I am really good at packing a suitcase now…

A: The obvious one is to make music we like and that other people like it too.  I don’t really have too many goals other than that. For me dance music is about fun and making people dance. If you can do that then you are going to be happy with what you are doing

After a tune takes off like Body Shiver – do you feel pressure to do that again, or do you worry about trying to do something totally different? Do you think about things like that?

R: There is of course a pressure, but as Amos said above, as long as you are happy with the music you are making then that’s the main thing. If you get too concerned about trying to write a follow up and worrying if people like it, then you can go mad with overthinking tunes, and creativity can quickly dry up… Forcing creativity will only ever end up badly.

A: We are really excited, its our first time as Waifs & Strays in the US. We are doing a whistle stop tour of Miami, NYC and Chicago in 3 days so its going to be pretty hectic, but a lot of fun! We have some new unreleased tracks so will be bringing them along and looking forward to seeing how the people in the US respond to what we do.

R: The diary is pretty busy right now so we have loads of gigs coming up in some pretty cool places, which we are looking forward to. Releasewise, we have just done a load of remixes for various people which have either just come out or are coming in the next couple of months. We are just putting the finishing touches to EPs for Leftroom and Futureboogie and a couple of secret projects!

A: That would be telling…

R: Outside of music??!?!?

Of course, the charity work Jay Haze does is highly commendable, but that’s not to say the outspoken US ex-pat’s music should be spared criticism. With this release on Supernature, though, it should be: not out of reverence for Haze’s humanitarianism, but simply because, once again, the man’s managed to churn out four more ‘floor ready tracks that stay with you longer than most. Apparently, “all of the original music files [which make up this From The Vaults EP] were lost but rediscovered” but there are no clues as to how old they were when misplaced, either in the PR nor the sounds themselves – a tick already, then, for the EP’s inherent timelessness.

“I Can Love You” is the crunchy, shattered, pixelated opener. No lines are smooth, with everything from the drums to the trilling vocals sounding scrunched up, lo-fi and as if being played through broken speakers.  It’s a raw sound, but one which pulls you in rather than pushes you away as melancholic notes linger in the spaces left behind.  “Chamber of Love” is much more reserved, with tiny, rippling little melodies buried deep in the mix next to a sonorous bottom end and hollowed out percussion sounds which come in from afar. It’s warm and sensuous but efficient and purposeful, where digital-only cut “Snoop Hang Lo” is more adventurous as it wheels through a number of different moods and moments. Silvery and techy but drunk and loose, sci-fi and futuristic but organic at the same time… it’s beguilingly off-kilter.

Unsurprisingly given the fact it features Tyree Cooper, closer “Third Eyez Open” is the deepest, bumpiest most Chicago indebted offering of the EP.  Its spacey, spiralling pads, undulating beats and bass and muffled space voyager commander (or something) vocals have your mind drift off to some imagined future paradise as your feet tap to the tempting tempo… refreshing stuff all round.

Jay Haze – From The Vaults EP (on Vinyl & Digital) [Supernature] by audiofly

Kristan J Caryl