Archive for the Saturday Single Category

Saturday Single: The Toxic Avenger – “Bad Girls Need Love Too”

Posted in Audio, Saturday Single with tags , , , , , , on Saturday, July 4, 2009 by Erik Burg

Hey faithful blogites, I’m back after my week off to bring you some of the best techno/electro/house singles being spun. And I’m enthused to say that I’ll be bring you all there is to know about the new Toxic Avenger single, “Bad Girls Need Love Too”. So put your mask on, put your ear to the speakers, and prepare for a banging new track. Enjoy!

Single: Bad Girls Need Love Too Label: IHeartComix Get: iTunes/Vinyl

00-the_toxic_avenger-bad_girls_need_love_too-vinyl-2008-1real

“Bad Girls Need Love Too”, the first single since the insanely popular “Superheroes” EP back in 2007, doesn’t miss a step in creating skull crushing electro trash. No, not trash as in bad, trash as in dirty gritty nasty techno, the stuff Mixhell, Toxic Avenger, and the like have perfected, and the kind of stuff Justice is famous for. “Bad Girls Need Love Too” might be a bit harder to grove to than some of the more disco friendly stuff I’ve been posting, but Toxic’s new track is by no means not a party track. This song needs to be heard, loud and proud, the way this music has to be listened to.

Toxic has come a long way since 2007’s Superheroes release. Where we last left off, our hero’s shimmering, distortioned riffs called for a new generation of dance staples. The colorful and hopeful single became the theme to Toxic’s rise to power, and helped shape the standards to which we have come to know in the electro community. -Myspace

I can only describe this track, and any of the Toxic Avenger library and remixes as a sort of halloween sub-genre of techno. The music constantly teeters on the brink of eerie and creepy, while constantly testing the power of the amp in your basement. It’s an absolutely banging track, and if you’ve read this far you know exactly the kind of music I’m talking about. The remixes are well worth a spin too, as the Les Petits Pilous and Daze of Thunder edits both mark some impressive yet subtle touches. My favorite of the two is the Daze of Thunder remix, which keeps the lyrics in their pause and adds a MSTRKRFT-like cowbell to the second verse. It’s all completely overwhelming as a genre, but it’s so so good too. Listen for longer than 10 minutes and you’ll contract the world’s worst headache, but oh well, keep on dancing and keep on loving. I’ll be back with lots more soon, so as my good friend says: stay fresh.

MP3: The Toxic Avenger – “Bad Girls Need Love Too” (Daze of Thunder Remix)

1 Comment »

Saturday Single: Clap Rules – “Old Sequencer”

Posted in Audio, Saturday Single, Video with tags , , , , , , , , , , on Saturday, June 20, 2009 by Erik Burg

In this week’s installment of the ever popular Saturday Single column, I’ll be reporting on the sterling new debut release on Tiny Sticks by three part electro duo Clap Rules. You might recognize the Tiny Sticks name if you read my interview with Cage & Aviary earlier this week, as they are set to release a 12″ later this year on the label as well. But newcomers Clap Rules are in the mix this week thanks to the awesome Old Sequencer single.

Clap Rules – Old Sequencer Tiny Sticks Records iTunes/Vinyl

ClapRules-OldSequencer3

Clap Rules feels a lot like other material on Tiny Sticks, too (the face on the cover makes me feel right at home as well). Which is beyond stellar, seeing as some of my favorite electronic acts hail from the label (Mock & Toof especially). The titled A Side is a tight mix of disco influenced bass with a high pitched synth loop, changing ever-so-slightly throughout “Old Sequencer”. There’s live guitar to boot, making the track nearly perfect as a blend of live instrumentation and modern day house fanaticism. It’s funky, it’s groovy, it’s the future. As Juan Maclean said earlier this year: The Future Has Come. “Old Sequencer” is perfectly produced, as each looping section never gets old, and although the pace for the song never really leaves a certain BPM, the song still feels like it builds to a beautiful crescendo. The B Sides, “Never Half Step” and “Braxx” both sound amazing. Again drawing on deep house roots, the two songs make for great additions to the single. “Braxx” is probably the better of the two. The track adds some almost Simian Mobile Disco-like synth pulses to the bass line, making the track feel slightly more upbeat than “Old Sequencer”. It’s hard for me to not over-praise an album, and especially if it’s music like this. Deep house, post disco, electro fucking rock and roll (can you tell by the cursing that I’m excited?). Clap Rules is worth way more than a download, and worth way more than my amateur rambling, so I’ll stop. For a debut it’s incredible, and I can’t wait to hear more.

MP3: Clap Rules – “Old Sequencer”

Clap Rules performing “Never Half Step” live

1 Comment »

Saturday Single: The Prodigy – “Warrior’s Dance”

Posted in Audio, Downloads, Saturday Single with tags , , , , , on Saturday, June 13, 2009 by Erik Burg

Oh boy does it feel good to be featuring The Prodigy on Mind Inversion. The creators of fine techno music since the ’80s and the founders of hardcore prog-techno or whatever you want to call their genre, The Prodigy continue to put out great music. And one of the better tracks off their 2009 Invaders Must Die album is “Warrior’s Dance”, which recently got the remix and single go around. Let’s discuss.

The Prodigy – “Warrior’s Dance”  Buy it: iTunes / Vinyl

warriors dance

“Warrior’s Dance” does a lot of what made The Prodigy famous, it’s in line with the amazing “Smack My Bitch Up” or some of their earlier material in that it just blasts pure techno music. That’s the only way to put it, it’s a hard hitting track that builds, stops, builds and then projects a sound that’s as amazing and engulfing as any in the electro world. The track begins with siren-like interludes that draw the listener in, while thousand pound synths creep up and build to include the vocals. The female voice ignites the track. And as her second verse comes in the song completely takes flight. I think the titles of the song completely fits the vibe of the track. The song is dirty, gritty, and Prodigy-esque. Mindful of a warrior, yet has that danceable chaotic hook that many of The Prodigy’s tracks are best known for. It’s quite simply a fun experience for anybody who hasn’t heard The Prodigy before, the fast paced and in your face tempo make for a fun and sporadic single. The remixes included are just as stellar. Two standouts on the B side are the “Kick Like A Mule Remix” and the “Benga Remix”. The later is a more rhythmic and dubbed up version of the track, while the former is a stellar club remix that does exactly what it says, as the bass line in the remix is amplified, and with a nice stereo or headset the kick absolutely whales. “Warrior’s Dance” was already one of the better electro tracks of the year, and now with the single it’s proving once again why The Prodigy still have what it takes to make some of the best techno music in the entire world.

MP3: The Prodigy – “Warrior’s Dance”

1 Comment »

Saturday Single: Equinox – “Vivid Dreams”

Posted in Audio, Saturday Single with tags , , , , , , , , on Saturday, June 6, 2009 by Erik Burg

Saturday Single’s first installment was a hit, so I’m back again to give you all the buzz on wax this week. This time around I’ll be listening to the new 12″ from the UK’s extremely talented Equinox. With a catalogue dating all the way back to 1993, and a sound that’s never devoted to one genre, Equinox is the perfect example of what it means to be a DJ, carefully and skillfully blending various genres.

vivd dreamsRelease: May 12th  Label: Planet Mu  Buy: iTunes / Vinyl 12″

Vivid Dreams; however, might not be the best place to start if you’ve never heard Equinox before. Both tracks on the single rely heavily on the Drum and Bass patterns better known for their appearances in Pi, The Matrix, or just about any bad ’80s prog-techno catalogue than for their stand alone musical enjoyment. To call this kind of music “intense” would be completely cliche, but probably more right than wrong. The title track “Vivid Dreams” is an erie and more mysterious track than what Drum and Bass are usually known for, but it makes for a nice transition from the usually omniscient  songs (Think Silent Hill opening cutscene remixed). As much as I might ridicule it, and with as many bad pop-culture references as I can make, Vivid Dreams is actually really good. What it boils down to is whether or not you like this style of music or not. If you do, perfect, if you don’t, well you’re probably going to make fun of me for listening to this. Oh well I suppose, as Equinox is one of the most consistent and talented underground DJs in the UK.

MP3: Equinox – “Vivid Dreams”

Leave a comment »

Saturday Single: Walter Jones – “I’ll Keep On Loving You”

Posted in Audio, Music News, Music Reviews, Saturday Single with tags , , , , , , , , on Saturday, May 30, 2009 by Erik Burg

So for the past couple of months the team here at Mind Inversion have been brainstorming over different weekly columns that each of us will run. Ryan’s got his awesome ‘Sunday Metal Minute’ and Tim’s got his fantastic ‘Wildstyle Wednesday’. I’ve been hard-pressed to come up with anything decent for mine, so I had put it off for a while. But it dawned upon me tonight while I was listening to the new DFA single from Walter Jones that a weekly write up about the world of House and Electro music would be a great thing. I’ll dig into my back catalogue when I get a chance, but each week I’ll try and offer up some of the best new singles, remixes, and b-side releases. So here we go, week one… Thanks for reading this far, enjoy!

Walter Jones – “I’ll Keep On Love You”  

DFA Records  Supersoul Recordings BUY: iTunes/Vinyl

walter jones single

The newest edition to the DFA family, Walter Jones is a man of simplicity. In a world that’s been dominated by glitchy, chopped up electro music, house music has seen a strong revival within certain crowds. Artists and DJs like Walter Jones would be the reason for this strong movement, combining echoing feminine vocals reminiscent of recent Au Reviore Simone and Hercules & Love Affair releases along with poignant and perfect loops. The amazing bass kick in “I’ll Keep on Loving You” times out perfectly, not too fast, but not near deathly slow. Jones is able to reach a happy medium on all fronts of his music. It’s great for House enthusiasts who are particular about every little nuance  on a track, but it’s able to satisfy the more relaxed listener who enjoys some vocal overlay instead of straight repetition. It’s a blend of genres that I have a fondness for, so it’s a great place to start ‘Saturday Single’. Those who know me well know that I’m a total DFA fanboy, but that aside, “I’ll Keep On Loving You” is a single slightly different from many of their larger full length releases, proving once again why Murphy, Goldsworthy, Sweeney and co. have some of the best ears for electro music of any styling. B-side “Living With Out Your Love” shouldn’t be forgotten about however. Again featuring the vocals that haunt even the biggest Silent Hill fans, this track feels exactly like what it is, a B-side. It’s unpolished, unfinished, and sadly forgotten. It’s house’s version of indie lo-fi, giving an old vinyl-like sound to a new mp3. 

Walter Jones – “Deuteronomy Brown (I-F Edit)”

There you have it, the first in what will hopefully be many successful ‘Saturday Single’ columns. If you like what you read, please come back. If you don’t like electro music of any sorts, too bad I suppose, I’d say you’re missing out. At any rate though, thanks for sticking around!

1 Comment »