You fly with Aeroplane once, you don't forget it. In just three years, the Italian-Belgian producer has established himself as party-starting DJ, remixer du jour -with his spacious cosmic-disco re-rerubs of Grace Jones ( 'William's Blood'), Friendly Fires ( 'Paris') and Sebastien Tellier ( 'Kilometer') -and, via his own piano-sprinkled melancholic beauties like'Caramellas, leaders of the nu-disco and Balearica scene. So Aeroplane's debut album, 'We Can't Fly', arrives with sky-high hopes. Now that our appetites have been whetted by those brief, tantalising excursions, what delights await us on their maiden long-haul flight?
Plenty, it turns out. Recorded in Toulouse, Paris, London and Los Angeles, 'We Can't Fly' (co-produced by Bertrand Burgalat), is a grown up, dazzlingly accomplished record that showcases not just a passion for stately, soulful disco and early 80s electronica, but a lush and bittersweet set of influences that stretch from Abba and film soundtracks to Floyd, the Stones and the Italian crooners that Vito Deluca's mama played him in his Brussels youth.
Aeroplane is a one-man operation. Flying solo has given Vito the chance to flex his classically trained musical muscles: "Aeroplane has been put in the dance music category but I'm a songwriter, that's what I know how to do. I wanted to go back to proper pop music, not being forced to do nine-minute tracks so the DJ can mix in before and after. " Aeroplane has never been at the mercy of traditional bpms, and being free of"the dancefloor pressure" has given Vito additional license to slow things down and look around. "I'm at my best at 105bpm, " he says. "That's the speed where I make the best music. You can do more, there's more groove, more feeling. "
He's not kidding. Take'We Can't Fly', the languid, show stopping anthem-to-be with which Aeroplane kicked off their landmark 500th Radio 1 Essential Mix at Circus in Liverpool earlier this year. Laying gospel harmonies over Compass Point-era Grace Jones reggae, blissed-out Rimini keyboards and kiddie vocal samples, it's handsome proof that dancability and musicality don't have to be mutully exclusive. It's going to sound rapturous live, when Vito and an expanded on-stage line-up play Aeroplane's first dates later this year.
The term legend is often banded about far too easily, but in this case it is entirely accurate! Justin Robertson is a producer and dj, who brings with him a rich history as one of the creators of the Electronic Music scene, as well as a restless need to push forward and innovate, making him one of the most relevant DJ's around.
Justin Robertson's tastes have always been catholic though in 2012 you would be hard pushed to find a musician working successfully in areas as diverse as dancehall, house and art pop. Justin is a true modernist: he excels as a DJ of international repute; is a creator of bespoke acid house; a remixer for the likes of Justice, Erol Alkan and Boysnoize, 2 Bears, Steve Mason, The Japanese Popstars, The Mystery Jets, Radio 4, Bjork, The Whip, Cherry Ghost and Felix Da Housecat, has co-written an album with studio boffin Gez Dewar under the name Thee Earls,and most recently is enjoying great success and a new generation of admirers with his latest moniker The Deadstock 33s.
The Deadstock 33s provide a perfect marriage of psychedelic disco, proto house ,intriguing songs and fresh production all with a visceral live feel. The Deadstock 33s have certainly added a refreshing new dimension to the dancefloor, with acclaimed remixes for Justice, 2 Bears, Erol Alkan, Boysnoize, Stopmakingme, The Mystery Jets, Shadowdancer, Steve Mason and many more! The Deadstock 33s are getting plays from the worlds top cutting edge Djs and have released several critically acclaimed records for the likes of Bang Gang, Remute, Paper and Fatboy Slim's Southern Fried. With a new album in the bag they are truly in the ascent! The Deadstock 33s also find time to collaborate with hot new talent Stopmakingme, they have released on Southern Fried, Tiger Sushi and Gomma, with plenty more to come!
Justin's lineage through music has taken many twists and turns. He began as a DJ in Manchester and his early 90s clubs - Spice and Most Excellent - were hugely influential and cornerstones of the burgeoning dance movement. The Chemical Brothers, then students in the city, cited him as their mentor. His Rebellious Jukebox club - also in Manchester - pre-empted the Heavenly Social and the mid 90s trend for mish-mashing musical styles. In the 90s Justin generally operated under various nom de stages, the most renowned being Lionrock with whom he scored several Top 40s hits - 'Rudeboy Rock' and'Packet Of Peace' among them - and appeared on Top Of The Pops in a dashing purple suit opting for gramophones over Technics. Songs were plucked from the albums'Instinct For Detection' and'City Delirious' for the films'Go' and'City Of Industry' and Lionrock shared the stage with acts as diverse as Death In Vegas, The Chemical Brothers and the Cocteau Twins.
Commitment matters. The ebb and flow of today's music scenes are fast-paced and brittle. What comes to have meaning, and who comes to have meaning are those who cut their own way and are left standing as the waves pass. Those waves have been particularly strong when it comes to the popular acceptance of disco and its relative associations. In the US this has been driven by figures connected to, and promoted by, the DFA label. In Europe one character who has continually pushed the no-wave disco sound - under his Headman & Manhead cloaks - has been Robi Insinna. His quiet reward has been seeing the kids jump on the wagon.
Insinna's focus has been split between his label Relish and his own productions and remixes. The remixes have been regular, from bands looking for a dancefloor attitude such as Franz Ferdinand, Roxy Music and the Gossip, to collaborations with Soulwax and The Rapture ( 'On' 2006). Since his first solo record dropped on Gomma in 2003 he has released three more, the latest of which'1923' featured the contributing talents of Yello's Dieter Meyer and the Beta Band's vocalist Steve Mason.
Relish Recordings has also recently expanded and features new artists pushing at various envelopes: from the dazed dancefloor experimentalism of Chmmr and JR Seaton, to the tight 21st C. discopop of Mickey and The C90's. 2011 will feature another fabled Relish Miscompilation showcasing these artists along with some exciting collaborations scheduled both musically and in the art direction for the label. All this and another feature length from Robi himself to look forward to!
It's fair to say a restless urge for creativity has punctuated everything Daniel Avery has done to date. Having grown up on and been influenced by the risk taking DJ sets of Weatherall, Erol, Ivan Smagghe, Ewan Pearson and Optimo, his own DJing style sees house and techno thrown alongside cosmic drones, post-punk angles and mutant new wave whilst no momentum - or any floor - is lost. It was this drive that prompted Fabric to quickly pick him up as a resident (where he still remains), calls to entertain the masses at Bugged Out and Durrr on a regular basis and for the aforementioned Alkan to state'He's not following a trend, has good taste, is not competing against other DJs, understands how to read a room, doesn't panic Stopmakingme is turning into one of London's best DJs, mark my words. '
Fantastic Mr Fox
Fantastic Mr Fox has been producing since the age of 14, gradually taking elements from a variety of genres and adding them to his sound.
Following releases for Hemlock Recordings and Black Acre, Fantastic Mr Fox supported The XX on tour where he performed DJ sets inbetween the Mercury prize winners, Warpaint and Zola Jesus.
The Guardian described his sounds as'insanely busy, densely layered, intricate digital symphonies, with painstakingly assembled micro-bits of 90s R&B vocals, handclaps, beats, basslines, bursts of 8-bit mania and washes of synth'.
OmUnit
An electronic music producer and DJ from London.
One of many, but with a very distinctive sound, Om Unit has already captured the minds of beat fanatics with his work to date. Style-wise you could say'post-genre' or just'electronic beats'. Genres are like borders, rapidly becoming obselete when we see the world today as having an ever-increasing merging of styles and influences. Put simply, it's electronic music.
Jim Coles previously worked under the name 2tall, as a competitive DJ (DMC/ITF etc.), a live performer in the UK and Europe, working with turntable and samplers, and producer of several albums, including 2007's'Beautiful Mindz', a project put together with Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow. Other albums include'Shifting Tides' (2004) and'The Softer Diagram' (2008). Beyond that, his work with Dented Records led to productions and collaborations with UK rap acts, such as Foreign Beggars, Jehst, Kashmere and Kyza, as well as production and turntablist work on the'United Colours of Beggatron' album.
Hyetal
Hyetal AKA David Corney leads the way in new wave underground dance music, turning heads with a series of revered dancefloor productions on Punch Drunk, Planet Mu and Orca. No stranger to Subculture, Hyetal played Dot to Dot festival in May, receiving an unprecedented reception which saw the relative newcomer outranking some of the industries leading veterans.
D/R/U/G/S
Hailing from Manchester and London, electronic outfit D/R/U/G/S appear to be part of a slow yet highly welcomed reemergence of ambient house music, creating serotonin-inducing textures that are as contemplative as they are danceable.
D/R/U/G/S, for all their brackets and backslashes make an awesome racket. The duo deal in club music, but with an organic, spacey bent. Their tracks manage to be both languid and dynamic: songs that reach high but stretch out slowly