Wednesday 22 February 2012

Event: TRM @ The Lovely Job



A very strong line up comes with the first 2012 edition of The Lovely Job. Stalwarts Tone Puppets are returning for their first gig of what has already been an eventful year for them having released their latest single 'Late Nights' (below), which was chosen to be featured on a compilation by none other than Acid Jazz recordings. In edition to this you can also catch the boys performing a session on BBC Radio Merseyside this Sunday (26/02) from 8PM you can tune in by clicking this link.

Late Nights by Tone Puppets

Two other acts I am very excited about having down are the crowd pleasing electronic live act Killaflaw who played for us in September and tore the Zanzibar to pieces giving us a good old rave up. It has been a big year for them so far to this year with regular plays on BBC 6 Music and a main stage spot at this summer's Glade festival already in the bag. Kicking the night off we have the Liverpool Big Band, a jazz/swing act that consists of over 30 members. I am very much looking forward to sampling their wares and well, quite frankly seeing if they all fit on the stage!



Also joining us on stage at The Zanzibar will be LIPA's Ben Nokes, The 10B's return after a sterling performance in September and we also have the acoustically driven 53's on what is set to begin another year of Lovely Jobs in style.

I of course will be there to tie the evening together, for those wondering what to expect musically from me there will a mixture of well known classic tracks spanning the years and the genres in addition I will as ever be pushing some up front music that I have been feeling lately, for an inkling check out my Best of 2011 features. As Killaflaw are playing the interlude prior to them will allow me to flex my dance music muscles a bit. I hope to see many of you there :)

The Lovely Job
Friday March 2nd 2012
The Zanzibar, Seel Street, Liverpool.
£5 on the door.

Note for reduced entry guestlist Tweet me @therealmikael or simply comment on this blog post with your name and how many people will be in your party.

TRM Recommends: Jan/Feb Suggested Listening

After the lull of January I have decided to come back to blogging with a new feature, a bi-monthly look at what I have been listening to. I will try to keep it current i.e. things released in the period cited in the post title, but that will not always be the case depending on the quality of releases in those months. So enough explaining, time for the recommendations!

The Album



First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Lets start this one with a bit of musical algebra:

Joni Mitchell + Willie Nelson x Warpaint = First Aid Kit


I would describe First Aid Kit as a modern folk band, however after being brought up around country and western thanks to my Grandad's love of it, I can definitely hear elements of that genre in this LP.

In the first track, of the same title as the LP it is almost unbelievable that this is a Swedish group as the vocals sound like they are fully fledged southern Americans. The second track on the album 'Emmylou' is a story of love, one of the more uplifting and less melancholic tracks that feature, Pitchfork cite this as the stand out track of 'The Lion's Roar', however for me it is very much a case of save the best till last. The finale sees the sisters joined by a male voice (Conor Oberst) for 'King of the World' which is quite an uptempo track complete with trumpets and accordion, sees the girls and Oberst finish the song singing in perfect harmony, leaving you sad that the album is only eleven tracks long. A solid 8/10 album if ever there was one.

If you like this check out Warpaint's debut EP Exquisite Corpse.

The Single



M.I.A. - Bad Girls
If there was a category for video of Jan/Feb I would be handing it to M.I.A. too, in this her first single from her fourth album which is expected to drop this summer she (with the help of Danja on production) takes to the popular around 140bpm territory that has delivered the goods for Jay-Z and Kanye West on Niggas in Paris and Chris Brown ft. Busta Rhymes (Look At Me Now) in recent times. It is more of a return to her Diplo produced roots as opposed to the majority of her previous - and rather disappointing - album 'MAYA' dancefloor friendly beats and a catchy hook. A thorough return to form.

The Mix



The Wonderful World of Roses Gabor
Roses Gabor delivered the stand out track on my favourite Dance album of 2011 Pharaohs for SBTRKT's self titled long player and also worked with Redlight on the club smash Luvsick to devastating effect. Both of these tracks feature on this mixtape, which is extremely well mixed by Martelo. After the initial introductions Roses comes in with her heavenly voice over Mac Band's 80s track Roses Are Red, before Dizzee Rascal's Fix Up Look Sharp is thrown into the blender for her to deliver the goods over. The mixtape works to this nature for the full 45 minutes, Roses voice working in perfect harmony with Martelo's blends. Other highlights include Roses' vocals over the euphoric almost trance like riffs of Hudson Mohawke and when Roses is joined by Kaigama for the grimey See Me Inna. After hearing this I am eagerly anticipating hearing more of Roses' work, with the amount of UK music alumni popping up on this mixtape to offer their accreditations; Kano and Dizzee to name just two it certainly gives credence to a few potentially tasty collaborations in the future!

The Remix Amy Winehouse - Rehab (reggae version) by bubureggaesta


Amy Winehouse - Rehab (Federico Regesta Reggae Remix)
A fun remix to end the feature, some people may not be into this but it certainly raised a smile when I heard it and I am sure I will give it a play at The Lovely Job one night this year.

I hope you enjoy my recommendations, let me know what you think over on Twitter @therealmikael and if you would like to hear any of these tracks with a beer in your hand and either side of some good quality live music I will be sure to play some of them at The Lovely Job @ The Zanzibar, Liverpool on March 2nd.

Thursday 19 January 2012

Mix: The Real Mikaél - UK Garage Classics Vol. 2

Happy new year everyone. Hope you all had a good festive period. I spent a lot of my festive period perusing Discogs and stocking up on a variety of UK Garage anthems. I have mixed a follow up to my Selection of Old School Garage Mix which is available to stream and download below.

The Real Mikaél - UK Garage Classics Vol 2 by therealmikael


Tracklist:

Santos - Camels (DJ Zinc remix)
Dru Hill - How Deep is Your Love (Groove Chronicles remix)
Blaque Ivory - I Do (Phururistix remix)
Sia - I Drink to Get Drunk (Dub)
Beatfreaks - Destiny
So Solid Crew - Oh No (DJ Oxide instrumental)
The Streets - Lets Push Things Forward (Zed Bias remix)
All Saints - Booty Call (Club Asylum Skank Vocal)
MJ Cole - Sincere (Dub)

If you enjoyed this mix please check out my previous offering, MJ Cole's year 2000 essential mix and Zed Bias recently recorded an epic 45 minute classic garage mix which can be found over on my friend and fellow UKG fanatic General Jimmy's blog.

Monday 19 December 2011

Top 10 Tracks of 2011

It's been a brilliant year for music as already outlined in the Top 10 Albums of 2011 feature. There were some artists who really impressed this year without making it on to that list, there were also ovbiously some amazing tracks featured on the albums of that list. So this short feature is to pay homage to some of the tracks that have racked up the most plays on my iTunes, iPhone and in my DJ sets during the year. Though it is ranked, not a great deal of significance should be taken from the position all tunes are in here on merit and they are all incredibly high quality.

Note: Tracks that were included in the recent 'Dancefloor Tracks of 2011' feature haven't been considered for this for the sake of avoiding repetition.

10. Metronomy - The Bay



9. SBTRKT ft. Little Dragon - Wildfire (Drake remix)



8. Battles ft. Matias Aguayo - Ice Cream



7. Little Dragon - Ritual Union



6. Chase & Status ft. Delilah - Time



5. Rustie - Ultra Thizz



4. Adele - Rolling in the Deep (Jamie XX Shuffle)



3. Jessie Ware & Sampha - Valentine



2. Jamie Woon - Lady Luck



1. James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream