I first happened across these guys two or three years ago. I was in Rough Trade in Shoreditch and they were playing some amazing over the soundsystem. It turned out to be Mania Theme. This chance exchange set in motion the long chain of events that lead to me discovering just how ing brilliant Andrew Weatherall is as a DJ, but we'll save that story for another day.
Sean Johnston, one half of Hardway Bros, is Weatherall's partner in crime for their A Love From Outer Space tag-team parties. In lazy genre pigeonholing you'd have to file their stuff in the drawer marked "indie dance / slow-mo", but this is really the harder end of what Wevvers and Johnston play in their slow-mo sets. To be honest, most of it reminds me of classic '90s action movie soundtrack electronica. Acid lines, cheeky samples, distorted riffs - it's all here, laced with the occasional ray of sun-kissed balearic loveliness. Anyone who gets an illicit thrill out of the likes of Leftfield, Fluke and the Chemical Brothers is probably going to find something to like here. Just well-constructed, unpretentious dance music with a swagger to its step:
Oh and just occasionally they're capable of the kind of Detroit-hued lushness that B12 wish they could still manage:
2techs
I didn't come into this thread expecting anything mindblowing since I don't even follow current dance music. However, this is some good stuff right here. they really incorporated a healthy dose of 90's Big Beat and progressive house.
SYSTEM-J
Nobody else gives a ? More interested in talking about progressive trance for the five thousandth time?
Mr.Mystery
I seem to have missed this thread completely. From your description it should be right up my alley.
rubez
quote:
Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
Nobody else gives a ? More interested in talking about progressive trance for the five thousandth time?
oh you wish you could join in the fun in those threads. you go into them - you read them, but are too pretentious to be seen contributing, so you sit on the step like a cool kid. nobody cares though.
i would take a listen if i thought it wasn't going to be some awkward hipster gash. throwing around terms like "indie dance / slow-mo" in passing... :stongue:
SYSTEM-J
I have more fun mixing progressive trance than chattering about it.
rubez
likewise, but i can't mix tracks when i'm on a trance forum at work. so i chatter.
SYSTEM-J
Problem is I've been on TA for 12 years and there's only so many times you can talk about the same Planisphere or Cass & Slide tracks. I'd rather discuss something either new or a bit different.
rubez
i've been here since they used to innocently host trance tracks for download. would have been under another username.
my passion hasn't burnt out yet i guess yours has. even prog djs at the time haven't discovered all the great tracks, so there is still work to be done as far as i'm concerned.
you could offer up lesser known prog trance tracks for discussion, if you enjoy mixing them you should enjoy sharing them. the topic is only as stale as its contributors. old can still be new. you say this stuff reminds you of a classic 90's sound... if someone didn't know what year it was from, what would the difference be?
SYSTEM-J
quote:
Originally posted by rubez
you say this stuff reminds you of a classic 90's sound... if someone didn't know what year it was from, what would the difference be?
I think it's pretty clear these tracks are modern. What I like about the slo-mo sound (and why you have to use silly terms to describe it) is the eclectism of it. You get remixes and samples of many different styles of music, brought together by a similar tempo and ethos. The Hardway Bros use a lot of 303 and classic sounds but it's not just straight-up pastiche. You can be inspired by the past without just repeating it.
And I still listen to loads of classic progressive, especially when I'm out running. It's like comfort food.
Mr.Mystery
We, we're talking about progressive trance again.
Amazing.
Mr Game+Watch
This track sounds, based on the description, like it would be up my alley... shame I forgot my headphones this morning :(
EDIT - yeah I really like these tunes, I'd say that "The Prince In Outer Space" is my favorite out of the ones you posted. The others have some very strong Fluke vibes.
