CITYCLOUDS

My friend Roberdo asked me to make a top 10 2011 selection for his blog roberdo.de published last sunday and i must say, not an easy task as there was so much good stuff, but great fun to go through some of the tracks that made my year. I really like the selection that came out so i decided to repost it here. Here you go, the year in one paragraph: I listened to a lot of slow house & deep house, indie, downtempo and dubstepish electronica.. in 2011 i felt the tempo going down, with James Blake and Nicolas Jaar coming out strong with their LP’s. The debut of New York’s Sepalcure is great, Motor City Drum Ensemble published a great DJ Kicks on K7 and slow house in general had great output with Berlin-based Trickski and 6th Borough Project releasing full length LPs.
I’ll leave you with my top ten + 1 playlist (in no particular order) which is perfectly suitable for the cosy winter evenings at home, some head nodding and foot wiggling guaranteed..

Looking forward to 2012, a great christmas break to everyone!

Yoko duo – First in Line (Fauxpas)

James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream (Atlas Recordings)

The Limp Twins (aka Quantic) – Sunday driver (Tru Thoughts Rec. – original from 2003, re-released this year on “The Best of Quantic”.)

Ifan Dafydd – No Good (n/a)

›› Read the whole Article…

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Last night i discovered the Uphigh Collective. A group of musicians from Belgium making tunes that as they say are: “Razor-sharp pieces of future soul, boppin’ from the deceptively light and skippy to whirlpool synthlines and hydraulic sub pressure. All trademarked by a signature lick of R&B gloss and sunken subs with ultra-sparse rhythm architecture”. I was quite impressed by their song “Blend”, which is performed live in a Brussels based radiostation and sung by DELV!S (check below). Amazing voice and definitely worth sharing again, although this stuff is already a year old. Strange enough, some tracks don’t have many views/plays on youtube or soundcloud. And let’s not forget to mention the label that is releasing some of their stuff: On-Point Records, rooted on vinyl culture and putting out lots of other great tunes. I really like the vibe.. big up Uphigh Collective!

Uphigh Collective – Blend – Live on Studio Brussel from On-Point TV on Vimeo.

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The debut album of the acclaimed duo Machinedrum (Travis Stewart) and Braille (Praveen Sharma) is finally out. I saw Sepalcure in Berlin’s Berghain and for me that was one of the best dances of the year. The live show rocks, so does their music. You can still listen to the full length album if you follow this link (for some reason not always working) or check out the hotflush album preview link below.

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“Golden Tree” by Martin Brooks from Ninian Doff on Vimeo.

This is fun: “A professional display of 50 No Handed Bike Moves* performed to “Golden Tree” by Martin Brooks”.

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The party “BEAT PUMPE” is part of Viva con Agua´s “Wassertage 2011″, an event series across germany, aiming to raising funds and awareness for drinking water projects. The party is also the “after-dinner-party” of RUDIROCKT, a cooking event where different teams cook for 3 courses in groups of 3 in their homes, meeting new people every time. Subscribe to RUDIROCKT here.
Our friends from OneBeat are supporting the Event with 4 of 9 artists (Moarice, Maroq, Jan Hertz & Ma Tias), promotion and organization. I am thrilled to see Alle Farben.. whos sets are usually excellent and varying between uplifting techno to swing and slow house. Listen to his latest chilled Autumn (Orange) set below:

Alle Farben – 34 (Autumn Orange) by Alle Farben

All events and information about the “Wassertage”: blog.vivaconagua.org.
Check in and timetable for the event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153918658035473
Entry is 8€ (50% goes directly to Viva con Agua´s drinking water projects).

Pony&Kleid Club
Am Krögel 1
Berlin

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Will Holland aka Quantic might be one of my all time favourite producers. His first albums released on Tru Thoughts in 2001 and 2002 are still in my playlist, as well has his new releases with the “Combo Barbaro” Band since he moved to Colombia. Tru Thoughts published an amazing “Best Of Quantic Mix by J.Rocc”, great mixing and selection… and important to mention, Quantic has just released a best of Album earlier this year.. Big up!

Best Of Quantic Mix by J.Rocc by Tru Thoughts

image via

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Berlin-based artist Nik Nowak built this mind-boggling Soundtank which he simply calls “Panzer”. It is based on a japanese miniature tracked dumper, equipped with around 4 KW and ready to host live-acts on the rearside.
Check more of Nik’s work based on auditory installations on his website www.niknowak.de.

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