There are times In the carreer of a top international DJ/Producer where things get a little bit out of control. Times when the glitter, the glam and the fame get a little out of hand. Times when the whole "travelling from the hotel to the jet, and from the jet to the 5000 capacity venue via a helicopter made of gold" - thing kinda blurs one's vision of day to day reality. In times like these, it's important for said DJ/Producer to take a step back, return to anonymity and focus on the music that keeps the underground clubs buzzing. The sweaty, dirty, forward-thinking, genre-defying, risk-taking house music that drives the cool kids crazy. That is exactly what the mysterious entity hiding behind GUCCI VUMP is doing with the release of Sha! Shtil!, The Boogieman and Casablanco on Sound Pellegrino.
If we wanted to tell you who Gucci Vump was, let's just say we get into some big fat legal trouble with legions of record company people, managers and agents and it would cause an unprecedented diplomatic incident. He is such an important and heavy money-generating figure in the international DJ scene that every piece of information regarding every single one of his release shakes the whole industry up. It's an amazing and exciting thing but we feel that such a media tsunami would turn Sound Pellegrino into a relentless money-making-attention-grabbing-hype-creating machine and ultimately cause more harm than good to the label. The humble little craftsmen of house music that we are much prefer to keep it on the down low. Therefore Gucci Vump's mysterious identity shall not be revealed.
Evidently there has been a lot of talk and speculation surrounding this release and the identity behind the alias "Gucci Vump". People have not quite nailed it yet and all the names that have been thrown around the internet in the last couple of months have all revealed themselves to be phoney. The mystery remains, and the buzz is growing, as gucci vump appears to be playlisted by more and more VIP DJs from around the globe, leaving people asking "who is this guy and what the hell is a Vump?". Mystery and controversy are one thing but when it comes to the music itself, Gucci Vump delivers.
Sha! Shtil! was inspired by a traditional Klezmer song telling the story of a Rabbi dancing like a madman to get rid of the demon in him. According to the general feedback we received, from tastemakers to regular weekend clubbers, the track is a smash hit capable of pleasing every dancefloor. People are just too happy to hear that lady sing in Yiddish, and the production is so crisp, it makes it the perfect tool for every dj to turn the techno party into RABBI-DOME VOLUME FIVE.
Totally in touch with the current interest in local scenes and the merging of fhe folkloric and the futuristic, gucci vump adds a political dimension to the "conceptual sample" game by using bits and pieces from both Jewish (as we heard with Sha! Shtil!) and Arabic traditional music on the same EP. The Boogieman could be the background for a fantasy Indiana Jones pursuit scene in a bazaar that ends up in an indian pit of snakes. And when he received Casablanco Orgasmic instantly described it as "Raï meets UK Funky". The comparison is a little bit "pulling it by the hair" as we say in French, but the tracks are two immense bangers.
On remix duties we have the man of the moment L-VIS 1990, known for his recent releases on Mad Decent and Dress2Sweat, building anticipation for his forthcoming Sound Pellegrino release Compass/Zahonda by providing a deadly yet classy take on "Sha, Shtil!" including one of the most venimous typhoon-shaped basslines heard in a while. Last but not least, Downtown, one half of star duo Renaissance Man, re-invents The Boogieman as a brilliant dubby tech house odyssey complete with sitar stabs and menacing howling noises, a guaranteed hit on deeper dancefloors.
Already supported and played by the likes of Sinden, Erol Alkan, Annie Mac, Fake Blood, Feadz, Edu K, Style Of Eye and many others.
Meet JOKE.
A 19 y.o. rapper from the sunny and studious city of Montpellier.
Discovered last year by Tekitek, he was, well, 18, and only had a couple of freestyles on his myspace page.
After a fistful of well-noticed appearances on the first three STUNTS releases, here's his first street album, titled "PRET POUR L'ARGENT" ("Ready for Money"). Produced by Orgasmic, and a whole new wave of promising french producers.
15 tracks, plus some freestyles, featuring some well-known names in French indie rap: Cuiziner, Craiz, Charly Greane, Tekitek...
The CD might be hard to find outside France, but you can buy it on iTunes .
Before I remind you the way to the Stunts blog, here's the video for "Marty & The Hit Factory", shot in two hours, and delivered to us two days later:
So, the blog:
A couple of songs from Joke for you to download, all the links you'll need to order the CD, and freebies from the whole STUNTS gang.
It's mostly a francophone place, but it's really time you learn the language, my friends.
-Emile.
It's that time of the month again, no not THAT time of the month,
Although I'm sure that wouldn't stop our main men Teki and Orgasmic from "stunting on hoes", they're not that naaaasty and they ain't no pussies, ya heard? The time of the month we're refering to is more about the resulting joy you experience after having heard the awesome mix that the Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team spent cooking up in ,what I can only imagine is, a sweltering hot Parisian basement. There's so much heat canned into this 50 odd minute mix that when Teki tried to upload it the internet broke...True story. With exclusives from every promising act of the moment, from our Island bound companion L-vis 1990 to the elusive Gucci Vump, this here mix is guaranteed to get you all sweated up. Ladies get buck naked, fellas do you best to keep your clothes on. Please. For god's sake.
Get your mix here
Stunts is one of our brand spanking new sublabels and it specialises in rap, french rap to be precise. Curated by patron saints Genevan Heathen and Orgasmic, the label plays home to Cuizinier, So Fresh Squad, Tekitek, Craiz, Manaré, Joke, Young Pulse and Orgasmic himself. The Stunts Dj's' first mixtape came out at the tail-end of march to much acclaim and we're now preparing the label's second outing with a fresh new mixtape, expect it to be ready by september. Stunts' own mic controller Joke has prepared an EP that might be at your doorstep very soon.
Not that we're particularly good as preserving traditions, but celebrating Institubes birthdays was always a French--if not Parisian--affair. But this year it's so cold in Paris that we're moving it to Miami. Pretty much everyone from the label will be there, plus some special guests.
If by any chance, you're spending some time at this thing they call WMC, especially this Wednesday, come and celebrate with us.
Tickets here.
Meet Victor,
Victor is that Mexican kid from San Diego who pushes you to drink mad bottles of malt liquor when you're all jet lagged, and who's bouncing around like a jumping bean at absurd hours of the night and when the party's over and you just filled your stomach with the most awesome peanut butter chocolate milkshake ever he keeps cracking mad jokes and shouting "FA SHO! FA SHO!". And even once you're back in your hotel room all tired and checking your mail he's still on ichat learning how to say "kikoo" and tricking you every night into watching the same video of that car-stealing 5 year old kid from youtube. Then eventually you find out he makes music under the name HARVARD BASS and that it's the most banging mariachitech house music ever created by men so you ask him to remix The Sixpack Anthem and to put his next record out on Sound Pellegrino, it's as simple as that.
-- Teki
DOWNLOAD: Orgasmic "The Sixpack Anthem" Harvard Bass remix
If you have ever owned an Institubes tee shirt, you know about SIXPACK. If not, allow me a moment to try to conceal my disappointment.
Sixpack (.fr) is a tee shirt label based in the south of France issuing two collections every year with designs by the world greatest illustrators including friends like Akroe, Gaspirator, Ill Studio, KRSN, So Me, personal favourites such as La Boca, Noah Butkus, Steven Harrington, Parra, Huskmitnavn and many others. The upcoming collection includes great surprises and artworks from bona fide legends whose illustrous names (I’m not bluffing, you have no idea how big this is) I can’t disclose right now. They also manufacture our official tee shirts (glow-in-the-dark logo, Surkin tee, Para One tee...) since day one.
Akroe (he did our logo and all the designs of Institubes’ early years, in case you haven’t read this) did a whole collection featuring tees, sweaters and jackets called THE FUTURE, and ORGASMIC did a beat, Teki wrote some lyrics about his clothing obsessions and BOOM! there you go: an anthem.
(this is Orgasmic wearing a sweater from the Future collection and some naked chick as shoulder padding)
You see, when labels such as Sixpack and Institubes are so close, them doing something together can’t be called a collaboration: it’s a child. And a spoiled one at that.
(Orgasmic again, with the naked chick acting this time as a safety belt)
There are three versions on the EP.
The original song, by TEKITEK (aka Teki Latex from TTC).
The Harvard Bass remix (more on that one later this week).
Orgasmic’s Lay Low remix feat. E.Mackey.
The latter is the one we’re sharing with you today.
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Edwin Mackey is a vibe singer, producer and clothing designer hailing from Tallahassee, FL. He describes his own Pop-Hop style as “some Pop music with Southern Rap drum patterns and Miami Bass”. We say long live Pop-Hop.
The Sixpack Anthem EP is available right now on iTunes, with the proper vinyl release coming in a few weeks.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=299635495&s=143442
Oh and happy new year!
-- Emile
DOWNLOAD : "THE SIXPACK ANTHEM" - (Orgasmic’s Lay Low remix feat. E.Mackey)
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