Diss tracks are back in the house world? You better believe it. Earlier this month contributing editor for Pitchfork Philip Sherburne penned a piece that discussed the motives of electronic labels that solely releases records on vinyl – rhetorically asking if it’s elitist and perhaps promotes exclusivity. One of the interviewees for the piece, DJ Sotofett who is one of the heads behind the Sex Tags Mania family, wasn’t happy with how the article turned out. Following its publication, he’s now released his very first solo digital single with the lengthy title ‘Philip Sherburne, Your Word Should Be Worth More Than The Ignorance Of Pitchfork. Drama, drama, drama. On the plus side, it’s a pretty damn good track. It’s available via Hard Wax.
Early next month we’ll be getting a visit from Greg Beato. Best known for his raw and grimy take on house, techno and electro, the Miami head is a mainstay on labels such as L.I.E.S. and Apron Records, and has also had his work find homes on Unrelated Records and the world’s best-named label, Russian Torrent Versions. He’s just released one of the latest installments on the Juno Plus mix series, and his Dekmantel mix is also killer. Give ‘em both a spin before he comes our way. It’s going down at The Bottom End on Friday August 5.
It’s been 20 years since Rebekah began spinning 12”s behind the decks and she’s showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. A Birmingham native, she grew up as a regular at the legendary Que Club on a steady diet of Dave Clarke, Derrick Carter, Richie Hawtin and Billy Nasty. Since then, she’s released on the likes of Affin, CLR, Coincidence Records, Corresponding Positions, Sleaze Records, Soma Records and VENT, and of course established her own imprint Decoy Records. Word on the street is that her debut album isn’t far off being completed, so expect to be schooled with some new material when she hits the Railway Hotel on Friday September 23.
Tour rumours: I’ve got $50 on a return from the London-based, Belfast-born blogger/production/DJ duo Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson AKA Bicep before the end of the year. Same goes for Randomer.
Best releases this week: oh man, the new full-length from Ukrainian deep house don Vakula has dropped and it is straight fire. I admit that the title Cyclicality Between Procyon and Gomeisa is fucking stupid, but still. It’s out now on Dekmantel. Otherwise I’d suggest giving a spin to KiNK’sValentine’s Groove (on Royal Oak), Ø [Phase]’sVersions II (on token), Equiknoxx’s Bird Sound Power (on DDS) and Acronym’s Guadalquivir (on Northern Electronics). I didn’t dig Ernesto Tomasini & Shackleton’sDevotional Songs (on Honest Jon’s Recordings) as much as I was hoping, unfortunately. Good but not great. Oh, and someone played me a snippet of the new MSTRKRFT album the other day. Holy shit was it awful. Can you remember when they were popular? Dark times.
