The latest Nu-Disco act on everyone’s lips, Com Truise, have reMixed Folk act Franklin for their new single.
Released on Wool Records as a limited edition 7”, ‘I Know’, this reMix sees Com Truise in full-on 80’s Electro mode. haunting, atmospheric synth sounds over fanatic arpeggios and mid-tempo Disco drums take the mix into truly cosmic territory, with only a hint of the bit-crushed madness of his earlier works.
The latest EP release by French Electro team Cassius is a reMix EP of their already legendary ‘I ❤ U So’.
Out now on Ed Banger the EP has hit the ground running and taken the dance music blogs by storm, particularly Dubstep master Skream getting his tempo on with a D&B reMix of the title track. Also part of the package is this mix of ‘Les Enfants’ by Turbo artist Gesaffelstein who turn in a deep techy Electro track. Seven minutes of epic spacy electronics awaits you”
Not content with being one part of LexiconDon, Fabian Ordorica is also in the business of rocking dancefloors worldwide with his own brand of heavy Nu-Disco tunes.
Big on bass, big on grooves, that’s how you could describe Fabian’s tracks. Huge, pounding rhythm sections and funky Disco riffs guaranteed to keep a crowd dancing are Fabian signatures. His music is, for the most part, feelgood party starters that have earned him a reputation for a kicking live show where his mixes up original productions into a continuous set geared to move your feet.
Over the past couple of years Fabian has dropped a string of blog destroying remixes alongside his original material that have built Fabian up into a name to watch and a mark of top quality Dreamwave.
Mr. Ordorica took some time to give us an insight into his world:
ER: First off, many thanks Fabian for chatting with us.
F: Of course. Anytime.
ER: How did you start getting involved with making music?
F: Well, I started DJing in high school, (house parties, dances etc…). A few years later, I bought FruityLoops and fell in love with production.
ER: Who are your heroes and influences, both musical and otherwise?
F: I draw influences from a lot of places. I started off producing hip hop, and was a big fan of Neptunes, Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Scott Storch, Dark Child and many other producers. I’m a big fan of music with great drum sounds and drum grooves. For me the drums are what really drive my music.
F: We (Josh, Kyle and I) had met before they heard my music. About a year later they heard some tracks that I had been working on for myself and LexiconDon, and they told me that I would fit into a Management company/Label, they were getting started based on local LA producers. So, boom I’m here now.
ER: What came first? Fabian or LexiconDon? Is Fabian to allow you to do things you couldn’t do in the confines of LexiconDon?
F: LexiconDon came first. Alex and I were staying and working out of a place called “Hollywood Sound”. We would mess around with a lot of different stuff, until we formed the sound we have today. That inspired me to start production for myself. Allowing me to find a different style.
ER: Do you have any ‘workhorse’ bits of kit in the studio.
F: My ‘workhorse’ bits are, beating a dead horse. (Haha, you see what I did there), I will beat a drum loop to death with different synths and basses. Then if nothing happens, I move on.
ER: How does Fabian translate to a live situation, do you prefer playing live as Fabian or LexiconDon?
F: I really like performing as a band for LexiconDon. The energy is great between the four of us on stage. I’m preparing to try to match that energy in my live set. that’s my goal. To try to have the same impact, as if I had a full band with me, or to get as close as possible.
ER: When you’re writing a track are they any defining characteristics that suddenly make you think, this is a Fabian track or this is a LexiconDon track?
F: I’ll drive myself nuts before I can decide. I switch up a track so much sometimes, its never the same as what I intended it to be.
ER: What does being part of the Binary family mean to you?
F: It means a lot being part of a collective of talented musicians, producers, and DJ’s. I feel honored to be part of this family. We are going to bring a cool new sound to LA.
ER: What does the near future hold for Fabian and fans?
F: I’m working on some new stuff, as well as finishing up my first EP. Expect a broad spectrum of production. People who ask me what kind of style I have, I always say its not really having one. I just make what feels right to me at the time, and making sure it sounds good. I’m a huge fan of great musicanship, and that is pretty much limitless. You feel me?
ER: Is Fabian more of a cereal or pile of pancakes for breakfast kinda’ act? Would that change the night after a show?
F: Haha. I don’t think I’ve heard that before. If I think I know what you mean, I would say a Las Vegas buffet (like at the Rio, not that 5 dollar shit). I wanna give people a little bit of everything. It keeps things interesting. And no it wouldn’t change after a show, a buffet has everything, why would you change that?
It’s Binary Week here on Electronic Rumors and to celebrate, the latest Pop-Fu instalment is dedicated to the artists who call Binary Entertainment their home. Expect the best in ElectroPop, Nu-Disco and Dreamwave. As ever it’s a snug 45 minutes, one side of a C-90!
01 Keenhouse – The Rendez-vous
02 NightWaves – Even Money (Fabian reMix)
03 Dragonette – Easy (Fabian reMix)
04 LexiconDon – Student Body (Bit Funk reMix)
05 Fare Soldi – Survivor (Keenhouse reMix)
06 Empire Of The Sun – We Are The People (NightWaves reMix)
07 Short Circuit (Feat. LexiconDon) – Nothing’s On The TV
08 College – I Think About It (Keenhouse reMix)
09 Fabian – 2am
10 NightWaves – Fascination (Keenhouse reMix)
11 NightWaves – Sweet Carrie (LexiconDon reMix)
12 Keenhouse – Ari-es (Grum reMix)
13 Futurecop! (Feat. Keenhouse) – Dreams (Ride The Universe reMix)
14 LexiconDon – Heart Attack (Diamond Cut reMix)
15 Short Circuit – Let Go (Flashworx reMix)
16 Alfa – Turismo
17 The Kids Are Radioactive (Feat. LexiconDon) – Higher
I Am Noxious finally got label backing and is gearing up to drop his first single.
‘Flashback Tears’ will be released on Easy Tiger Records and in preparation Mr. T has premiered the video.
The song is a confident and impressive début. A reworking of an old IAN tune it’s suitably upbeat and catchy to hook new listeners in yet still maintaining the I Am Noxious quirkiness we all love.
The video, too, is a really well edited three minutes of quirk.
Here at electronic rumors we’re really pleased that things are starting to happen for I Am Noxious and are expecting great things in the coming year.
‘Flashback Tears’ is released 21st Febuary in Denmark and digitally, until then check I Am Noxious out at Facebook
As I mentioned in my post about Futurecop! & Keenhouse’s new single, ‘Dreams’, I think Keenhouse were the first Binary act I encountered.
His ‘Civic Transport’ EP in 2008 was many people’s introduction to what would evolve into Dreamwave, and showed off expertly the incredible talent that is Ken Rangkuty. It’s eight tracks of funky, melodic, beautifully written dance music that seems to perfectly encapsulate the Binary credo. It’s music squarely aimed at the dancefloor, yet still actual songs, and being over three years old it was pretty ahead of it’s time (well, as ahead of it’s time as a retro influences style can be) with it’s styles of keyboard playing still being emulated by Nu-Disco producers today.
Equal part retro and in-the-moment, Keenhouse’s music works just as well on a pair of headphones as it does rocking a crowd as it flows from cerebral SynthPop to body moving Disco. One of the most versatile DiscoPop producers around right now, it’s no surprise that Ken’s productions have been featured in movies and video games and has major label distribution.
I wonder if you search electronic rumors for ‘Deep In The Forest’, how many time I’ve mentioned how much I love that track in the last three years?
Ken was good enough to take some time to law down the Keenhouse law for us:
ER: First off, many thanks Ken for chatting with us.
K: Thanks!
ER: So, how and when did you start making music? Has it always been electronic?
K: Yeah, it as always been more or less electronically generated music, although I really enjoy playing all kinds of music. I started with piano when I was around ten or eleven and then got into production and midi when I was about fourteen. From there on I just liked to explore a lot of different styles. I guess it was more or less about the content of something than a label people would give to it. I do like playing improvised music and jazz but in the long-term I guess it’s the kind of music that’s in between styles. You can improvise electronically to a certain extend but then there are things only machines can do so there many possibilities how to use it musically.
ER: Who are your heroes or influences, both musical and otherwise? I always get the feeling I hear a little bit of Jean-Michel Jarre in your music.
K: Haha. Thanks. Yes, I like his music but it’s not really an influence. I like the earlier krautrock and fusion stuff more like Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and that school. Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul as keyboard players . Quincy Jones, John Barry, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jobim and his work with Klaus Ogerman, Jazzanova and 4Hero , Laurent Garnier are all-time favorites.
ER: And when did you get involved with the Binary posse?
K: That must have been right in the beginning when most of Binary came together in 2008. It was great that there were those other producers out there not just over in France but literally next door who all had that passion for electronic music. I mean there was always a pretty strong house and club scene around but it was more about looking at electronically influenced music as a format next to, you know, whatever else people would both dance and listen to and start to merge it again with song structures or take it other directions. That’s kind of an exciting time, when things are wide open. Then you either go top of the pops or push the limits of a style but really what’s more important, even though it might be a bit idealistically, is that you give something musically, which I think is what it’s about, you leave something behind.
ER: ‘Deep In The Forest’ is one of my favourite tracks on ‘Valerie And Friends’ (it even made our top 20 of 2009!), what’s the story behind it?
K: It’s kind of a long story that evolved over years. But in short it’s about Peter Pan being alive. Memories are dreams that we kind of collect over time to build little pieces of your world from it. It’s a little bit like a daydream. There are some of those good memories that can just repeatedly pop up at any given moment and I just wondered what is it with this feeling, I can’t really tell what it is. But it’s not as much about the content of a story than the color of it, So to me it’s that certain emotional color of feeling young that I wanted to put into something more tangible.
ER: What’s in Keenhouse’s studio? Any ‘go to’ synths?
K: Yeah, actually I don’t really like to get tons of new equipment all the time unless I really know what’s underneath the hood of a piece I already got. I still really like my V-Synth for certain kinds of programming. Some of the Arturia stuff sounds really good and I like it for a lot of automated things. I mean the thing with the outboard synths is that if you do a lot of automation, I always thought setting up your outboard gear isn’t that intuitive in comparison as far as sending midi messages in different formats. One synth accepts one format, totally different wit the next one. I use some of the Dave Smith stuff and one of my favorites is the MKS-80 Super Jupiter and a Korky Little Fatman. It really can just do one thing it can do it so many different ways. As far as processing, I really love the sound of the mainly for compression on a lot of things and the SSL channelstrips.
ER: And what makes up your live rig?, How does playing live work for you?
K: It’s a mixture between stems, midi and other audio. I prepare a row of stems for the tracks and spread them out over several channels Some of them are triggered while other tracks send midi to my synths. I either play parts of the synths, sing or control the midi. It takes a lot of preparation since there are a lot of individual tracks playing simultaneously but in the end gives more flexibility if things need to be shuffled around. I try to leave myself enough room for improvisation but at the same time it’s good to know that if I play a line a certain way there won’t be a drummer to react to that so I somehow have to consider that too.
ER: If money was no object, what synth would love to own?
K: Either a Yamaha CS 80 and a ARP 2500 system. If some money is left I would probably get a separate room for those and lock the door behind me, haha.
ER: How do you think being part of Binary help musicians?
K: Well, Binary is kind of an all around thing. There are a bunch of artists who all come from a bit of a different background musically. Some are DJs, some are producers, instrumentalists, singers, so it’s a quite eclectic mix. Musically there is a more or less a cohesive sound to it but everyone is really doing their own thing. It’s a certain sound that brought some of the Binary artists together in the first place and and at the same time it’s that sound that some the Binary artists started building upon which helped to give the whole thing more of an identity. I guess that especially with anything dance music related, the whole party scene and also music that tries to cross over, it’s really helpful if there ‘s an outlet for the producers and musicians to try things out , try to stretch the boundaries. Most of the Binary artists get to play to essentially two different crowds, it’s not just 24 hour party people all the time but there are also those who want to hear songs. A little bit of everything.
ER: Does they Binary crew get up to rock ‘n’ roll shenanigans when they get together?
K: If you mean rock ‘n’ roll as in ‘That hotel room looked different when we got here yesterday’. Yes, there is a possibility when certain people get together.
ER: What does the near future hold for Keenhouse?
K: I’m mostly working on new material to go on the next album. Writing, recording different instrumentation besides the synths and programming. At the moment I’m actually revisiting some old tracks that are going to be put out under a different moniker this year and there are some new remixes to be released over the summer/fall. Then there is some production work for a pretty cool new act from Germany and some work for singers.
ER: Is Keenhouse more of a cereal or pile of pancakes for breakfast kinda’ act?
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark have premiered the video for their next single, the title track from their ‘history Of Modern’ album.
The video is the wining entry in a competition run by OMD on genero.tv, It was produced by Lapantafilm from Sweden.
OMD said "The sheer volume of work that has gone into this is incredible. So many different film animation styles. A very creative mixture of stop frame animation, modelling, drawing, film capture. A serious collection of OMD references… some of which are incredibly subtle, some not. The ideas are a varied and effective as the many different techniques. There were several really strong entries but this is the clear winner."
The single will be released soon on limited edition 10”, CD and digital.
Next week sees the release of awesome Aussie ElectroPop duo Bag Raiders’s self titles début album over here in the UK.
If you’ve already imported it you’ll know it’s a stunning body of work. Funky, powerful and consistently catchy, it’s 11 tracks of some of the best produced ElectroPop you’ll hear all year. It even made our top 20 albums of 2010!
Following the album will be the single release of ‘Sunlight’, including this reMix from Stopmakingme, who strips the track down to a solid groove to highlight the vocoding. Great stuff!
Wow, when two acts you love collaborate it’s always exciting, but sometimes they just go above and beyond your expectations.
I’ve been hammering Futurecop!’s first album ‘It’s Forever Kids’ since I imported it late last year (unfortunately it’s still not available outside of Japan yet), it’s truly one of the slickest and confident ElectroPop débuts I’ve heard in years. The production is crisp as hell and the uplifting 80’s inspired melodies and catchy riffs are pure infectious genius. Keenhouse, I think, was the first Binary act I encountered. Introduced to him through the Valerie collective, ‘Deep In The Forest’ was one of my favourite tracks on the ‘Valerie And Friends’ compilation and the whole of his ‘Civic Transit’ EP is a masterclass in melodic electronic Disco.
So, what happens when these to get together?
♫ Futurecop! (Feat. Keenhouse)- Dreams
That does!
Already, in my head, ‘Dreams’ is the soundtrack to summer 2011. The synth work is unmistakably Futurecop!, especially the intro, but with a more self assured sound. Couple that with Keenhouse’s verses full of longing and choruses full of hope and your have not only an anthem, a classic in the making, but also a track that seems to sum up completely what Dreamwave, what Binary, is all about. Musically a massive dancefloor tune that is also melodic and a proper song, a damn well written one at that and atmospherically aspirational with a hint of realism. Nostalgic for better times but with a down-to-earth approach.
Did I mention it’s funky as hell?
The reMix package is pretty mind-blowing too, featuring the cream of current producers! You can always rely on ODahl to drop some kicking Nu-Disco and here is no different as he wraps the song in soaring riffs and side-chaining while electronic rumors faves, the Ride The Universe crew take ‘Dreams’ to smooth new directions with a total feelgood Dreamwave track. Newcomer Show Your Shoe gets his first official reMix on this single, and really impresses with his début, a late night DiscoPop tune with a big nod to late 80’s R&B.
♫ Futurecop! (Feat. Keenhouse) – Dreams (Show Your Shoe reMix)
‘Dreams’ is out today on Binary, go get it here, here, here or here, and stay tuned to electronic rumors for our profile and interview with Keenhouse, as part of our Binary week, tomorrow!
We will also be featuring an interview with Futurecop! next month as they prepare for the release of their ‘Starworshiper’ EP.
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