Sound of Thunder #059 – Truly Madly

This week’s Thunder Picks is brought to us by staunch Thunder supporter and champion from the very beginning Michael Joyce, or as he is better known to most folk, Truly-Madly. Michael DJs regularly around town and hosts his own show on esteemed internet radio station Estimulo Show where he cherry picks some of the finest music that he' s collected over the last twenty plus years for the listeners pleasure taking in many different styles from Jazz, Disco, Ambient, Electro alongside the deepest of House & Techno. His musical knowledge is ridiculous and his taste beyond comparison, so it’s listen up, this shit is HOT! And if you play your cards right, I might write a Thunder Picks too x

45 ACP – CHANGE OF TONE (L.I.E.S.)

L.I.E.S. might be more miss than hit these days but you gotta keep checking because occasionally a beaut turns up. French producer D.K. first caught the ear with 'All Day Every Day' on Get The Curse, then an LP and EP on the excellent Antinote label – summery funkboogiehousehouse tackle, with nods to DamFunk and Moon B. Now under pseudonym 45 ACP he's turned up with a mini-LP that's a bit more raw than some of his previous stuff. Still deep and tracky though, perfect warm-up or after hours business. Out this week and two from the EP below:

NEW LABEL OF THE WEEK: LUSTWERK MUSIC

Galcher Lustwerk's productions seem to polarise opinion but I am firmly in the polar cap. Always well produced and an instantly recognisable style that is way too rare these days. Lustwerk Music is his new label and starts off with a few EPs using tracks taken from his 100% Galcher mix that he crashed on to the scene with a couple of years ago. Out soon and one off each vinyl below:

SKEE MASK (ILIAN TAPE)

My kind of techno: Munich label Ilian Tape has some gems amongst its back catalogue, but recently Skee Mask have really been doing it with productions that sound immense on big systems – music to get lost in. An EP last year called Serum carried the ace 'Torpor 12 (Session), linked below, then last week another EP hit called Junt. Check Larus Canus and Start Up Trak below:

DJ STINGRAY – COGNITION (LOWER PARTS)

Stingray's bits are usually too bangin' for my sensibilities, but I am loving this one at the moment. Got that melancholic tinge to it, but still bouncy and weirdly happy. Quite an odd track I think, almost like Drexciya meets happy hardcore – can I say that? Can't wait to hear it out.

SOME PAST BLASTAGES

Back around the turn of the millennium ship, any deephead worth his salt would buy Chris Gray and Darand Land releases on sight. Both are still steadily putting out depth with the motto of 'if it aint broken…' Check Darand's recent work for Urban Imagery and Downbeat in particular, but it's the older stuff I wanted to focus on briefly here, since (like most things these days) it seems to be attracting the attention of heads that missed it first time round (and in turn astronomical prices). I can never get fed up of these tracks, so simple but so emotional. Maybe that's partly from the memories but you get what I mean from these 3 picks:

OTHER ODDS AND SODS WORTH CHECKING

A second EP on Levels from Estonia's finest house oddities, Ajukaja & Andrevski. Rumour has it they force clanger samples through home-made skin-filters – fuck, does that sound like Clarkson? Sorry. The first EP featured the joyous 'Rare Birds' that got loads of play last year, and the two tracks on the new EP are in a similar vein. Always interesting production, one of the cuts here:

Mick Welch is no stranger to deep-as-fuck excursions into production through his label Elektrosouls label, and amongst other things has a new EP forthcoming on Malcolm Moore's Altered Moods label entitled Octaves of Energy. It's been knocking around the ether for ages now, and I liked it so much I cajoled them into letting me make a dubplate lasy year so I could play it out. The vinyl should finally be out very soon. Late night depth, the track for me is:

J. Albert is definitely a producer to watch – from Florida but relocated to Brooklyn, a dedicated hardware fanatic, and you can hear it in his quirky musings that keep you interested all the way through. His second EP has just been released, sounds like Vancouver influences/crossover here, really nice:

And finally… One of the biggest influences on me musically, was a series of mixtapes from a DJ called Welly (Welly), from Wigan, in the north of the Britain, in 1991. Basically it was all the mellow stuff he couldn't really play in clubs but it was to me way better and deeper than anything being played in the clubs, and I hammered those tapes. I ID'd most of the tracks fairly soon but a few remained a mystery, even Welly himself had no clue. One of the last ones I found out what's what was a track by an Australian named Braden Schlager, from an EP called Schlager On The Moon. I don't know how Welly got hold of it because it was pressed in so few numbers and never got distro outside Oz. It wasn't easy to get hold of but I did eventually, and that led me to another track on an LP by Braden 'King Of Comedy' that was even harder to find (even Braden denied its existence!) but it turned up in a dusty old record shop in Blackburn… New South Wales. I'm not sure it's worth trying to define 'Balearic' – at best it's very personal, but something so random that was part of an extremely limited vinyl pressing for an obscure Melbourne University play in 1991 – that gets my vote. And then you listen to it, and it couldn't be more suited to sitting on a white isle rock on moaning about how it isn't as good as it used to be.

ANYWAY, the reason I am going on about it is because – shock horror – there is to be a repress that's actually worth doing and doesn't pointlessly clog-up the increasingly and woefully insufficient global vinyl pressing capacity we are now so brutally aware of. And it's being done by the original guys for the right reasons. Definitely one to watch out for.

Mix(es) of the week – Mood Hut Special 

Mood Hut and the Vancouver crews in general are no stranger to this column, but as well as all the essential vinyl releases, they also put out mixtapes (actual ones on cassette), but usually in very short supply. Most though, can be found digitised on the Libra Mix website. All are worth checking but Mood Hut 4, 9, and 10 are good starters with loads of unreleased stuff from the likes of Pender Street Steppers, Aquarian Foundation, etc. Apparently, according to a recent documentary, Vancouver is the MDMA capital of the world. Although I'm sure they won't thank me for mentioning that, it could be that some of it is slipping into the water, because for me it's some of the best music being released (and unreleased) right now. You can check the Libra Mix site >>here<< 

Party of the week – Geli at Club Reina, Charterhouse Street (Friday 29 May)

Well erm, it will definitely be a belter but I have no vested interest naturally. I'll be rubbing this Friday at Club Reina in Farringdon for the Geil peeps, alongside Rupes from Make Me, Guilhem Monin from Colours, Martin Gould and others. There are some proper onion-knowing selectors in da house, as the kids say, and it goes on v late. Check it out (>>here<<), also as the kids say. 

Parties of the Summer!

Finally, FINALLY, if you're in Berlin over the summer I, alongside don Estimulo, will be doing a series of after-hours parties, starting Saturdays around 8am at Humboldthain Club. We've got some serious guests lined up for what will be an indoor-outdoor shenanigans. Anything could happen but the music will be GOOD, so look us up if you're around and fancy some not-for-the-fainthearted carryings on. Or early startings, as you like. More details >>here<< 

Many thanks to the Miles of Simpson for allowing me to roam all over his e-e-e-e-ssential column this week. x

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And remember the next Thunder is on Friday 19th June, with the fabulous Hunee. Limited advance tickets are available >>here<<