The End

A sad post today; I'm closing the doors at chinstroking.com, effective immediately.

The original reason I started this page was for the sole purpose of engaging others with similar musical to myself in discussion. Seeing comments posted, whether good or bad, brightened my spirits, letting me know that strangers out there were reading and listening to what I had to say, which is something everyone likes. Despite visitor numbers fluactuating between 50 and 200 unique visitors a day, the simple lack of comments on the site has been a major disappointment for me considering all the hours I have put into the page.

Perhaps people simply find my material is uninteresting, or perhaps they just don't feel compelled enough to leave comment. That being the case, I still see no good reason to keep things rolling here.

I do wonder if perhaps things were too diverse for people to handle; most individuals are amazingly blinkered when it comes to musical tastes, and perhaps a singular focus on techno, house or trance would have encouraged more people to visit regularly, rather than the broad, fuzzy spectrum I pursued, which also made it harder for me to be knowledgeable about certain labels and trends within each scene.

Secondly, a lame cliche: music is my life. Pure and simple.

This blog has taken away my freedom to explore. I'm just as content to dig up releases from the 1990's as I am to write about brand-new spankers from 2008 and beyond, but it seems that people these days are only content to hear about unreleased or week old stuff. Keeping a handle on all this is incredibly draining, and has reduced my own enjoyment of music immensely. I generally like to listen to a good album for weeks and weeks before moving onto the next thing, and instead I'd been forcing myself to cycle through music as quickly as my memory would allow, just for the sake of passing the news on here, sometimes weeks behind anyway.

Regardless of these two factors, I have enjoyed chinstroking.com immensely at times. I'm extremely proud of some of the articles I've written here, and not so proud of some.

I've enjoyed worshipping or dismantling DJs, dissecting tunes and soliloquizing about pointless developments in technology and musical trends. There is possibility that I will continue to write for other websites on a small time basis - but at this stage it seems unlikely.

I hope some of you enjoyed my writing, because that's the only reason I ever wrote - for your entertainment.

I'll still be available on email (beatblog [at] gmail.com) for contact purposes.

Thanks.

Nick

p.s I'm not quite sure how long I have until my registration on this domain name expires, but I'd expect that when that happens, pages will revert to being hosted at the old address, www.infobeat.blogspot.com.

Rob Zile

I'm sure we're all familiar with the Paul van Dyk remix context beatport is holding currently, so I'll cut right to the chase - flogging a production from a friend of mine, Rob Zile.

Rob is into all kinds of music, from melodic trance to techno to older style progressive, like Sasha & Digweed played in their early days. These influences clearly show in his music, with a focus on driving percussion and meandering melodies, rather than epic builds. His melodies are unique and ear grabbing.

His effort for the beatport contest is interesting; he has cut up the provided samples and created a brooding techno remix, rather than the expected trance. Results below. Feel free to vote for Rob if you like it!

Paul van Dyk & Giuseppe Ottaviani - Far Away (Rob Zile's Even Further Remix)

The track still needs mastering, which has been deemed unimportant in the competition rules. If you would like to see this track mastered and released, vote!

Vote here.

Click here to visit Rob's myspace page, where you can hear some of his other work.

Music Review: PTX - Color Your Ears

PTX is back with his second album, released late last month on Noya Records, featuring remixes of Black & White and Etnica, as well as collaborations with Xerox & Illumination and Onyx.

This album follows the typical Israeli psy sound - full on and pumping. What it lacks it subtlety and depth, it makes up for with sheer brute force, pummeling listeners for a solid 60 minutes, letting up only for the final track, Alufa, a melodic piece quality of electro-house.

A good mix of "light" and "dark" melodies, Color Your Ears is a good release both for fans of a more euphoric sound, as well as those who prefer twisted melodies and scarier themes. In fact, a lot of the tracks start happy and melodic and descend into madness, or vice versa.

Like fellow Israelites Xerox & Illumination, PTX seems to lack direction at certain points, discarding melodies altogether and replacing them with an entirely new element, only to bring back the original sound two minutes later. As a result, the music can become incoherent, which can be irritating, but also keeps things entirely interesting.

PTX is not short of a melody either - whether it's typical trancey arpeggios, screeching guitar (actually used well, believe it or not), or dark, bubbling acid, each track has sound that really envelops and sticks with you. Blade (PTX Remix) is the best example of this, employing the extremely catchy melody originally conceived by New Order for their track Confusion, but translated here into a squelchy acid line instead. However, as mentioned earlier the hook drops in and out just a bit too often, and seems to lose the impact that it could otherwise have had.

Black & White - Blade (PTX Remix)

Less "catchy" tracks on the album are also highly entertaining as well, using more complex melodies and sounds, such as Off The Record, mixing light and dark sounds and employing a memorable bass line and interesting vocal sample to devastating effect. This is perhaps the most impressive track found on the release.

PTX - Off The Record (Original Mix)

At times, besides a lack of coherency in the tracks, the melodies can also tend to be a little convoluted, with 3-4 different sounds competing for attention, and detracting from the tune overall. Complexity is admirable, but not when it detracts from the music. In this case, less would be more. However, at times when less noise is present, this record's excellent mastering shines through. Engineered by the very talented and seemingly omnipresent Ido Ophir, PTX's fat bass lines and clean, driving percussion are displayed brilliantly, improving the listening experience markedly.

The percussion is one of the more enjoyable aspects of the album, with clear, raspy hats injecting plenty of rhythm into every track, and sharp clappers often providing energy at the start of a new phrase.

The bottom line: this is a brilliant release that misses the mark slightly at a few points but really deserves a lot of praise. Each track is well considered, well produced and makes clever usage of effects, some of which are rare or never thought of before. However, it's not a mould shattering piece of work. Pumping bass lines, trippy vocal samples and euphoric melodies - Israel has been doing this for many, many years. If you're looking for something different and ground breaking, look elsewhere. However, if you just want to sit down and rock your socks off, pick up a copy as soon as you can. Here is a good place to start.

Below is a preview of the closing track, perhaps a turn-off to big psy heads, but also offering a nice change to the rest of the album for those who enjoy this kind of music.

PTX & Ophir Leibovich - Alufa (Original Mix)

Crystal Castles

This will assuredly be the first and last post I ever make about Crystal Castles, because I care not for them, oh no, I do not.

Not content with just releasing bad music, these devious, underhanded Canadians have turned their hand to an even more villainous pursuit: plagiarism. That's right. Dirty, rotten, stinking, plagiarism.

You'd think they might try and steal some good music. Instead, they took a more foolhardy route: sampling copyrighted chip music. How fiendishly dastardly! Mario, Luigi and all their cartoon buddies are going to be pretty pissed when they find out that evil Canadians have been stealing their precious theme music.

More details on Crystal Castles' devilish acts of rotten theft below!

Gameboy Genius.

8 Bit Peoples.






(Real update coming in a few days - apologies for the delay)

Music Review: 5 Golden Years In The Wilderness

Released on the 23rd of June is a new 3 CD pack from Buzzin Fly, titled 5 Golden Years In The Wilderness, selected of course by label boss Ben Watt, and surprisingly (and pleasantly) unmixed! (Note: above image has nothing whatsoever to do with this release, I just think it's cool).

The name Ben Watt is synonymous with good music. One of the most ardent, cynical chin strokers I've ever used to go to pieces at the mention of the name, and not without reason.

This release is a fine example of Watt's sensibilities; it's an eclectic mix of upbeat house, scattered with beautiful melodies, delightful vocals and pure passion. Plenty of Watt's own work can be heard, such as A Stronger Man, Pop A Cap In Yo' Ass and Lone Cat.

Disc 1, titled Up, is a collection of the label's greatest accomplishments, deeply veined with pianos, sax, strings, trumpets and all the usual housey accouterments. In short, all the elements that have given Buzzin' Fly the excellent reputation that is has today. The highlight of this is Rodamaal feat. Nicinha - Musica Feliz (Alex S Classic Club Mix), which makes use of some understated percussion, tantalising Latino vocals, disco strings and gentle piano. It positively drips with honey. The rest of the disc follows in similar fashion, with a heavy focus on melody and vocals, backed by very danceable beats. A perfect pre-party disc.

Disc 2 is surprising in that it takes a step back where disc 1 forged ahead, consisting mainly of down tempo and chill out tunes, such as the serene One Week On Cuba by Kayot. The title, Down, is entirely descriptive of the content. Again, a heavy focus on melodies is evident, but this CD works far harder to establish mood and atmosphere than the first, which is all about the party. Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia's Mon Ange is absolutely moving, so utterly drenched in emotion and sadness that it instantly banishes the happy thoughts conveyed on the first disc, instead calling up memories of Shlomi Aber's contemplative 2007 album, State Of No One.

Disc 3, Forward, is clearly where Watt has unleashed his creativity to full extent, with bouncy, shamelessly electronic tunes paving the way for a classy end to the release. The tracks here use more artificial sounds that anywhere else on the release, full of techno bleeps and heavy pad sweeps, a reminder of the direction the label is headed in. Unfortunately, this CD is a let down in comparison to the first two, with a less conservative yet more bland selection of music and feeling very rushed, like it was tacked on at the back rather than carefully considered.

Two good discs out of three isn't a bad strike rate, really, and although disc 3 isn't as good as the rest, it's still an extremely good listen, making this release extremely tasty as a whole.


Disc 1 - Up

01 Darkmountaingroup - Lose Control
02 Ben Watt Feat Estelle - Pop A Cap In Yo' Ass (Radio Edit)
03 Rodamaal Feat Nicinha - Musica Feliz (Alex S Classic Club Mix)
04 Justin Martin - The Sad Piano (Charles Webster Remix)
05 Ben Watt - Lone Cat
06 Justin Martin - Nightowl
07 Rodamaal Feat Claudia Franco - Insomnia (Ame Remix)
08 Manoo and Francois A - Traffic
09 Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia - Dead Souls (Radio Slave Remix)
10 Ben Watt Feat Sananda Maitreya - A Stronger Man

Disc 2 - Down

01 Kayot - One Week On Cuba
02 Unity - I Love You
03 Two Armadillos - Nostalgia
04 Rocco - Thursday Night Friday Morning
05 Lephtee - So Far Back (The Nova Dream Sequence Remix)
06 Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia - Mon Ange
07 Jimpster - Square Up (John Tejada Remix)
08 Automagic - Do You Feel?
09 Barbq - Barbi In Love
10 Manoo and Francois A - A Day in December

Disc 3 - Forward

01 Stimming - Kleine Nachtmusik
02 Barbq - Music From The Great Plains
03 Rodamaal Feat Claudia Franco - Insomnia (Kemistry Remix)
04 Spencer Parker - Chiho
05 Gavin Herlihy - Give Me A Funf
06 Lovebirds - The Beat Goes Boom
07 Here Today - Good News

Little Loop, Big Loop

It's entirely ironic that pop and rock fans sneer at dance music for being repetitive, because really, these two fields are no different. Intro, chorus, break, chorus, break, chorus, outro. Pop songs are based on the same hackneyed words being repeated over and over and over til the listener's head explodes from sheer irritation.

Where pop and rock use large sections repeated often, perhaps thirty seconds or minute long, dance music makes use of hundreds of small loops, generally five to ten seconds long. It's counterintuitive that dance music should have longer song durations, because the elements making up the song are being repeated far, far more often than in other genres.

However, this is the absolute key to good dance music - music you can lose yourself in. Dance is a kind of hypnosis through music, like watching a drinking bird bob up and down or a pendulum swing back and forth.

Listening to (good) house, techno, trance and all the associated genres is an altogether different experience, and in some ways even requires a completely different mindset to understand and enjoy. Like people will approach a nature documentary or a slapstick comedy with a different mindset, pop heads should realise that electronic music isn't about singing along. There's no lyrics that need to be learnt or hooks that need be memorised.

The music isn't there for cheap thrills (though this is good too) - it's pure hypnosis, designed to amaze and awe. A fifteen minute song can fly by without ever seeming to run out of ideas or become monotonous if done properly. Listen to Choice - Acid Eiffel to feel this effect.

Still, it seems strange that such small loops can be far more engaging, entrancing and entertaining (the three Es?!) than songs featuring far less repetition - that's what the magic is all about though.

Music Review: Nifra - Ready

Today's review deals with trance newcomer Nifra, hailing from Slovakia, whose interesting tag line on myspace is "yeah, I produce myself". Released on Markus Schulz' label, Coldharbour Recordings, the pack features the original, and two remixes.

The original is bland; exactly the kind of trance I despise Shulz for playing and releasing. Nicely melodic, but with little energy and groove to back it up. The percussion is extremely weak, leaving the track feeling very "floaty", rather than driving. However, that's not to say that all tracks need to be hard-hitting, but a bit of percussion would be nice to keep things interesting.

The bass line is flat out boring, doesn't really "work" with the track, and thus becomes monotonous quickly, which leaves listeners with a kick drum, clapper and the melody to entertain them. The melody is nice and "trancey" in itself, but also dreadfully generic, leaving very little to continue with.

Using an old adage, "you can polish a turd..." and this has been polished immaculately. Well produced, it has employed great mastering and clean sounds, maybe by Nifra, maybe not, who cares. It's rubbish.

Next up are Randy Boyer and Eric Tadla, who I still admire for their remix of Imogen Heap's Hide & Seek. Thankfully, they've done away with the original bass line and replaced it with something a little more appropriate, adding a bit more energy and blending the line to make it less noticeable, which really grinds in the original. Adding some more interesting pads was also a good option, though the long, long breakdown at the start of the track is annoying. Overall, a passable track, but really very generic, not one that anyone will remember in a year.

Lastly comes Robert Nickson, creator of the brilliant track Spiral back in 2004. Nickson's sensibilities are quickly revealed, as he is the only person on the release to have bothered with any decent kind of percussion, injecting some nice hi-hats. Additionally, he's added a very subtle acid line, similar to that in Spiral, meaning the track is interesting for more than one minute, unlike the first two. An overly large kick-drum is a bit off-putting though, as it drowns out the other elements in the track.

Nickson's effort is quite obviously pick of the release, but still falls down in the end due to an overly drawn out breakdown, and a nice but extremely repetitive hook, which really grates towards the end. Additionally, the usage of effects is lazy. The main build, arguably the "focus" of each track in modern epic trance, features the same hook repeating over and over, a kick drum roll, bass drop, and then the same hook continuing; very uninspiring. This one could have been very promising with a bit more effort and ingenuity, but just fails to hit the mark.