.

The My Favorite Robot imprint follow up the awesome Vandermeer single ‘Positive Light’ with another bold release, this time in the form of James Teej’s cover of the Bowie classic ‘Space Oddity’ backed with a stunning set of remixes….
Taking on a cover version of a record such as David Bowie’s seminal ‘Space Oddity’ is not a task for the faint hearted, yet that is exactly what the much lauded James Teej has done with this latest single for the Canadian based My Favorite Robot label. Where many ‘dance music’ covers have failed in the past, with their leaning towards easy commercialism, this version of the much loved classic excels in every way, bringing a new vibe to a legendary composition and showing Teej’s talents as a first rate producer and a damn good vocalist to boot.
Teej has spent the last few years building an enviable reputation with a string of superb singles for the likes of Connect Four, No.19 Music and of course My Favorite Robot Records. He has also remixed for artist such as Trentmoeller and Solee and is signed for an album release on Matt Edwards excellent Rekids imprint.
The ‘Space Oddity’ single launches off with Teej’s original version, a warm, melodic and downright soulful recording that takes the ‘oh so’ familiar lyrics and gently morphs their intonation into a laidback and engaging vocal track. The backing track’s 4/4 rhythm is gently augmented by subtle rolling percussion whilst the rich organ parts give depth and character to this instantly likeable cover.
The remix package comes in four parts, the first of which is a dub from fellow Rekids artist Toby Tobias who turns in an epic ten and a half minute slow house workout build round a stunning bass heavy groove. Snippets of the vocal swirl round the mix before being joined by a simple acidic top line and Detroit inspired sythn stabs, this is perfect piece of late night tackle that is bound to be a big hit for the new year and beyond.
Next up we have label bosses My Favorite Robot who take a stripped back approach, delivering a deep and hypnotic version that lends itself perfectly to the cosmic slanted vocal. This mix draws you in from the opening bar and keeps you the hooked to the final fade.
Montreal based producer Maher Daniel steps up next and gives us an insight into why his music has been picked up by labels such as Get Physical, Bedrock and Souvenir. His remix turns up the dancefloor intensity a notch and provides a heads down house cut that is pure class.
Closing the package Toby Tobias returns with his fourteen and a half minute ‘Plane Love remix’, a monumental piece of dubby house that builds its way towards an intense and masterful climax; a wonderful conclusion in a great package.
The Robots and their merry band of musical minstrels are taking the good ship MFR into new and unchartered seas and the results are damn impressive. Roll on 2010….

Minimaland Feedback: Having a space oddity is good, having so many is near perfection…

Tracklist:
1 - Space Oddity (Original)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

2 - Space Oddity (Maher Daniel remix)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

3 - Space Oddity (My Favorite Robot remix)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

4 – Space Oddity (Toby Tobias dub)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

5 – Space Oddity (Toby Tobias Plane Love remix)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MFR#015
Release Date: February, 2010

September 23rd 1999 was a monumental day for the Canadian electronic community… or at least should have been. This was the day the first Cynosure Recordings release, entitled “The Focal Point”, was launched out into the world. Comprising a combination of deep minimal house and jackin techno the record was steadfastly ignored and overlooked by the international techno community at large, setting a precedent and laying a course that the label has embraced as it’s burden for just over 10 years now.
Though Cynosure has provided a steady stream of fodder for the discerning DJ every few months since, music journalists the world over have by and large refused to mention it. No label profiles, no formal mention of collective works, and sadly no one hit wonders have graced the catalog. Conversely, the elite taste makers which make up the crème de la crème of the underground DJ community have continually charted and dropped track after track the world over . A strange phenomenon certain to boggle the mind of cultural theorists for years to come.
Admittedly the labels A&R choices have always gone against the grain of the populous dance music norm. Though he could be a accused of many things, “band wagon jumper” is certainly not a tag which label head Mike Shannon could wear comfortably or honestly. A devastatingly talented DJ in his own right, he has chosen to be an example both with his sets and the label of the most uncompromising possibilities that dance music has to offer. Never following, always leading, the rarest of a modus operandi. As such it seems all too fitting after a decade of living in the shadows that Shannon, the master of the piss take and techno’s prince of cats, should choose to deliver the label anthem “Under the Radar”.

Minimaland Feedback: Collectors Stuff

Tracklisting
side A – Under the Radar – Mike Shannon’s original mix
side B – Under the Radar – Ricardo Villalobos mix
side C – Under the Radar – Deadbeat mix
side D – Under the Radar – Rozzo mix

Digital Only – Under the Radar – Wasted Chicago youth dub mix (aka Justin Long and Mazi)
Digital Only – Under the Radar – Massi’s NYC deep dub mix (aka Massi DL)
Digital Only – Under the Radar – Massimo Di Lena’s Loon mix

CYN#040
Release Date: 25.01.2010

The waiting is finally over! After all the ups and downs of the past year, we can happily report that Joshua Eustis now firmly intends to continue Telefon Tel Aviv as a solo project. In order to mark his decision with a bang, the wonderful title track ‘Immolate Yourself’ is being released as the second single from the current LP. The song has been entrusted to highly acclaimed and diverse remix artists who have skilfully stripped down the epic album track to more club-friendly formats.

The A side is delivered by label-mate Thomas Muller, whose finely detailed techno soundscapes can now be enjoyed on five BPC 12″ releases. His ‘Immolate Yourself’ remix takes a much more direct approach. He reduces the lush arrangement of the original to a powerful basic framework, leaves out the vocals almost entirely, and creates a surprise when the track
crumbles into sonic chaos towards the end.

Miss Fitz aka Maayan Nidam has had singles released on labels including Raum Musik and Freak n’ Chic, and these have been remixed by renowned artists such as Ricardo Villalobos. Her version of ‘Immolate Yourself’ also makes a clear break from the album track and serves up her very own brand of abstract, dancefloor-friendly house. Once again, all the opulence of the original is thrown overboard; a dry beat is placed at the centre of the arrangement and enriched with sinuous vocals.

Ben Klock needs no further introduction – he is the epitome of the bleak, hard minimal sound. His album ‘One’ is currently available on Ostgut Ton, and as a remixer he has earned the highest acclaim for his version of Depeche Mode’s ‘Peace’. Ben’s ‘Jack Mix’ is fittingly titled and lives up to all the expectations of the name. The track is stripped back to a resounding, hammer-like beat framework – minimised for maximum effect.

BPitch legend Sascha Funke delivers a surprise with another astoundingly reduced remix, at least by his standards. He turns away from the melodic richness of his current album ‘Mango’ in favour of repetitive fragments and an extended arc of tension which will surely make his ‘Immolate Yourself’ remix a massive after-hour hit.

Minimaland Feedback: Great pack of remixes, all of them with very good quality! Our favourite? Sascha Funke mix … he just keeps getting a great deal of inspiration…

Tracklist:
a1 – Immolate Yourself (Thomas Muller Burning Man Remix)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

b1 – Immolate Yourself (Miss Fitz Remix)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

b2 – Immolate Yourself (Ben Klock’s Jack Remix)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Digital – Immolate Yourself (Sascha Funke Digital Bonus)

BPC#207
Release Date: 11.01.2010

Wagon Repair is pleased to welcome Exercise One to their roster, with their newest EP Several Things At Once. This four track EP, with a bonus digital only track, is sure to please. Title track, Several Things at Once, is the result of Marco and Ingo playing around with some new gear purchased to enhance their live act. In fact, this track was explicitly meant to be an addition to their live shows as it was produced using their exact on-stage setup. By laying out a groovy foundation and letting the machines do their thing, this intentionally rough and dirty sound is able to be accessible and seducing at the same time. The A2 track, Breeze, was inspired by windchimes on Marco’s balcony, which were recorded with a mic and mixed with melodies and reverbed kicks coming from the back ground, resulting in an almost early era Aphex Twins ambient feel. Although the second tracks on both sides were originally planned to be really loud and noisy, both tracks came out on the opposite side of the spectrum as inspiration took hold. B1 Colony, is a subtle track that seems to accumulate power by winding itself into the mind and body of the listener. Whenever this one is played in front of a crowd it always has a great impact as its psychedelic and focused elements mix to great effect. As with the digital only bonus track, Twin, a trippy feeling lurks around with a kind of ‘submarine’ atmosphere. Both Twin and Colony have been a part of Exercise One’s live-set for some time now as they are one form of techno that the boys just love to play as it gives them the variety that they have always craved. The closer on the EP, Prowl, is more of an tensioned atmosphere than a track. Prowl is mainly based on sound-shifiting and old samples that are intended to transmit the mood of a predator in search of its prey. The digital only track, Twin, has a chunky, upfront bassline for a foundation, which drags you into the track like a strong under current. Little sets of percussions and delayed chords fly through the track to keep the mind focused while the body is already hooked to the groove. Pretty in your face and trancey, but just so much fun to play!

Minimaland Feedback: Several Things At Once and still all of them pretty well done!

Trackist:
A1 – Several Things At Once

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A2 - Breeze

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

B1 – Colony

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

B2 – Prowl

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Digital only – Twin

WAG#057
Release Date: 11.01.2010

We start the year correcting some errors of the past. “Doesnt Like You Back” is one of the best releases of Wagon Repair 2009 portfolio last year and I couldn’t let this one pass by! Danuel Tate is part of Cobblestone Jazz along with Mathew Jonson and Tyger Dhula and this is only his second work on solo mode, and it’s in fact a very good one! The EP goes through an enormous range of different environments, sometimes deep, others acid, but never forgets to add those environments with lots of danceable jazz! If you compare this release with his first EP “Pushcard” you’ll notice that this one is has more energy and is more dancefloor directed like in “Careful Mind” or “Remember You”, two deep jazzdance minimal tracks that will remind you the first productions of the duo Kreon & Lemos with lot’s of quality and amusement! “415″ and “She Like You?” show a different side on Tate’s productions, but they are both very good tracks, bringing back a little bit of the acid stuff of 90’s techno.
According to Wagon Repair, “Doesnt Like You Back” reflects the moment on the dancefloor when you realize the woman next to you is way out of your league! League? Music has no leagues, everything can happen! Enjoy Tate’s music!

a1 - Careful Mind

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

a2 – 415

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

a3 - La Boite

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

b1 - She Like You?

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

b2 - Remember You

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WAG#055
Release Date: 11.11.2009