HEY DJ! - Winter catch-up

It's been a while since I talked tunes, not much just-released stuff in my world, but have picked up numerous older discs...(as always, just click the pics to explore discs further on Amazon.com)

1/07 FABRIC 32 - Luke Slater (dj/electronic) Having recently caught some Fabric mixes on Music Choice, I did some looking, and turns out Fabric is a UK club that puts out a monthly series of guest mixes, and they offer a club to get the discs, shipped worldwide for a decent price. Additionally you get access to archives of music online and some extras (like vip access to the club, for you know, when I'm in the UK)... This, my first disc, is solid, all straight electro, dark/prog/tech trance etc in the mix, non commercial, good stuff. Looking forward to more!
RECOMMENDED
If you're into dj mix, underground, electronic culture, check out their site, they're the real deal, featuring pure music (no nasty club/dance crap)... HERE

7/06 CUT CHEMIST - The Audience's Listening (turntablist, hip hop, trip hop, electronic) Jurassic Five DJ Cut Chemist goes wild with this blistering, accomplished, fun, and quirky turntablist entry. Mixing the disc up with dj snippets and straight up inspired song production, Cut Chemist drops an instant classic. The closing track, The Audience Is Listening Theme Song, was in heavy rotation in recent Ipod ads.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

4/06 THE PRESETS - Beams (electronic, electro, new wave) Cut from the same cloth as synth gods Depeche Mode, The Presets are the real deal, the fact their not on the radio speaks to the pureness of their tracks. While they're pure pop/dance gold, they're not commercial, and that's why they're so good. If you like current progressive dance acts like Fischerspooner, The Presets are for you!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

4/06 ULTRA ELECTRO (electro, DJ dance, club) Okay, I'm a bit embarrassed to include this one, as the Ultra mix discs are mosly (all) cheesey club/commercial drek, but this one boasts a decent lineup of mainstream (electo-ish) stuff, and I copped it for like $2 plus shipping on Amazon. It's got Gorillaz, Depeche Mode, New Order, Royksopp, Ladytron, Daft Punk, Moby, Shiny Toy Guns, Goldfrapp, and more. One disc is the club tracks, the other is deeper club stuff, all in the mix. It's good, but just okay good, not great.
MILDLY RECOMMENDED

4/06 CARL COX - Second Sign (DJ mix, electronic, dance) Underground progressive tech house/trance DJ Carl Cox has settled into a viable career as original song producer, on I think his third original disc. The disc plays in the mix and touches several genres, from hard and deep instrumentals, to uplifting and blazing vocal anthems like standout track IF I FALL. Great disc.
RECOMMENDED

2/05 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - Self Titled (rock, electronic, electro) Somehow I missed this one when it came out, and been waiting for eons to pick it up... I don't know, it's so good, you almost feel stupid for coming so late to the party. LCD employ an NYC rock sensibility to party tracks, that I guess might most closely resemble The Rapture (except instead of 80's new wave, it's more 70's NYC rock). At times it's reminiscent of the best Talking Heads, or indie/rock staples gone by, but it's always funky, smart, and exploding with groove. One of my new favorite bands. Love it!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

1/05 LEMON JELLY - '64-'95 (big beat, electronic, DJ mix) This is my first exposure to Lemon Jelly, who've it sounds, been around... and this disc is I guess a couple years old now. Their infectious and rocking COME DOWN ON ME sounds like the lovechild of Iron Butterfly and The Chemical Brothers, and the rest of the disc is inspired too. The whole effort is themed as each track being sampled from a different year, spanning 3 decades, and closes with the 1964 track GO, which samples the Shat man (yes William Shatner - Captain James T Kirk) in spoken word matched perfectly to the climaxing production. Fun, inventive, and musically diverse.
RECOMMENDED

10/04 DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine (rock, industrial, electronic) Having heard many remixes from this outfit, I had to see what all the fuss was about. DFA1979 combine an electronic production approach to hard driving guitar sound, that's any combination of punk, industrial, grunge? It's loud, fast, and cool, but most of all uniquely talented.
An you just have to love that cover art!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED