The Mole – As High As The Sky

Spaced out techno with a funky as hell tech driven minimal tone that even veers towards the loopy disco and acid sound from time to time. The Mole is a Canadian artist on Wagon Repair Records, who have released Mathew Johnson and Monologue to name but a few. As High As The Sky is one hell of a good record.

The thing that makes it stand out from other techno releases I have heard in a while is the drums, they are all pretty much live sounding and organic. They have a rolling disco feel to them; they have a crunch. I can hear a bit of Homework era Daft Punk in a few tunes. Some may even say they are some Jacking beats, a Chicago flavour can be heard in some places. This kind of sound has been lost in minimal and tech driven stuff for a while, and its done really well here.

The sound pallet is pretty diverse and it really keeps you hooked. It all sounds a bit like a DJ set and a great party all at once, each track bringing something new to the night and slaying the floor. The stand out tracks are: Still In My Corner, which is a brilliant slow burner with fat electro bass and bongo loops, kind of like really slow minimal techno by the likes of Mathew Dear. Alice, You Need Him with its tweaty high pitched synth loop that pings through your mind and is very infectious. The midsection of Hey Girl (I Fell So Good) & Baby, You’re The One (Edit) remind me of Daft Punk Homework era a lot with their filtered funk disco loops. Like The Way is a treat with its looped vocals and techy deep flow. The pads and ghostly spoken loop give off a sad and mellow atmosphere that reaches its peak as the song slows its pace and mellows to its end. Smiling Not Running has a addictive bass line with some acidic tweaks thrown in for good measure. Knock Twice has another ace baseline but this time a lopped funk number which is accentuated by its twangy funk guitar line. The closer When It Tastes So Good You Deserve It is a wicked spacy tune with a slow digital bass that fades in and out while floaty jazz pings proliferate around you. This culminates in a very mad and strange ending which made me smile…

The whole album is a joy to listen to from beginning to end, it’s not to banging and it isn’t to dark either. As High As The Sky has just a hint of mellowness and a whole heap of warmth. Its like your floating in space but in your favourite cosy blanket. Pure dance floor joy executed with precision and style.

Hear samples and buy it here.

HEALTH//DISCO

It isn’t to often an truly good remix album comes along I think the last one’s I can think of that are worth mentioning are Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm Remixed and Soulwax remixing there own album into it’s very own Night Version. Nine Inch Nails have also been doing this kind of thing for a while too, but I haven’t heard those ones.

Any way on with HEALTH//DISCO quite a few of the mixes have been around on the net for quite a while and the Crystal Castle version of Crimewave was even on their album, there it worked perfectly but on //DISCO it sounds pretty weak compared to the rest. Its blog house heavy on this //DISCO rework the Acid Girls mixes are probably the stand out tracks with their massive bass and hard funk edge. The sounds HEALTH make are just incredible and primal they make for perfect base material to squeeze into more traditionally structured dance music.

Even though I’m a huge dance music fan HEALTH//DISCO can’t touch the original HEALTH album by quite some way. I have heard this version being hailed as better in quite a few, well-respected places. It isn’t to say HEALTH//DISCO is bad at all its not, its just not as genre defiantly beastly and banging. I think HEALTH lose a little of their energy and ideas when they aren’t as free roaming and are restricted into a dance music tried and tested structure.

HEALTH//DISCO is a nice addition to have as the remixes are solid and flow, as an album should do. Their isn’t any skimping and filler just massive beats and repeated cut up style looped freak outs, ready to make you move. These tracks mixed into DJ sets might well have a massive impact and say me more towards loving this //DISCO more than HEALTH but I will have to wait and see.

The highlights for me so far are the two excellent Acid Girls mixes (which you can download bellow). They are acidic and huge sounding with loads of aggression and a truckload of funk. The vocals are made into more of a feature and bring a bit of melody forward into the mix.

The Pictureplane remix is a cool one and I have talked about him and the Denver Rhinoceropolis art scene before on this blog a few times. He adds his own stamp to the proceedings with some cut-up style loops and dreamy synths.

The Thrust Lab mix of Problem Is, is a moody electro version and it is a brilliant departure in sound to the HEALTH original. The drums are often not as in your face in these mixes, which for me is the best bit about HEALTH the beastly drums.

CFCF’s mix of Triceratops is a beauty I have heard quiet a few of his mixes before and for quite some time I thought it was a Crystal Castles mokier of some kind or a colaberation. This was maybe because CFCF mixes kept popping up on blogs next to them all the time. Anyway, he makes this into a retro synth number with computer game cop show melodies and a kind of mellow sadness too.

C.L.A.W.S. add a nice subtle techno bump to Lost Time it doesn’t do much else apart from bump along with some funk and tweaks, but a good dance floor tool non the less.

Pink Skull’s version of Heaven is a bit of banger I am familiar with their stuff as they do a brilliant mix, that veer from deep techno to spaced out prog rock through the odd slice of electro and back again. They are a bit like a better version of Quite Village in my eyes anyway; I might post about them more another time.

Curses! Is part of the Drop The Lime/Trouble & Bass NYC posse that make a hell of a racket that is a mix of Jacking Chicargo house beats, hardcore or breakcore and techno all at once. Fat bass and jacking beats, is what they are all about. This mix isn’t the best but its pretty cool.

You can discover the bonus tracks for your self as a little surprise they feature the likes of Toxic Avenger and another Smell group Captain Ahab.

I think the only problem I have with HEALTH//DISCO is that the remixers of choice I am pretty familiar with and I prefer their other stuff more in some cases. It just isn’t as original sounding as the original HEALTH album. I’m being picky though as //DISCO is a solid slice of dance music. It’s a savvy web 2.0, yuck that’s a horrible phrase, record that utilises the word of mouth of blogs and other sites to hype it around the globe. It’s a blog house beast of an album and you don’t get more blog house than your thank you section looking like a who’s who of influential and brilliant blogs and music sites do you...

HEALTH//LIVE are a eight limbed beast and one of the most powerful, energetic and mesmerising happenings I have ever witnessed. A must see in my opinion.

HEALTH the album makes so much more sense after seeing them live and is a pretty much seamless slice of primal noise and a free roaming masterpiece.

HEALTH//DISCO should make you move, it takes the source material into new territories and with a huge slice of fun. All the ‘HITS’ remixed re-packaged and there for you ready to bounce to. They deserve all the support they can get and I can’t wait to see what else they have up their sleeves. The HEALTH motto YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER x 1000000 is a good one for a dance floor compilation as that’s what dance is all about. Added bonus points there.

RCRDLBL has the following:
HEALTH – Triceratops (Acid Girls 2Steps2Freedom Mix)
HEALTH – Triceratops (Acid Girls’ ‘Before Dancefloorasaurases Ruled The Earth Mix)
HEALTH – The Problem Is (Thrust Lab Mix)

Myspace has the following:
HEALTH – (Picturplane Remix)
HEALTH – (Nosaj Thing Remix)

YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER