Mar 15, 2008

Rhotation (23) Into BPM

Hello, Into The BPM is into the Wall of Sound today, not the Phil Spector way but the label by that name started 15 years ago by Mark Jones and currently , after the merger with PIAS a major independent so what's the story....

Mark Jones started the label when he was working for a record distribution company called Soul Trader, and started to learn the other side of the business. There he began to work with producers, musicians and labels who didn’t have the facility to distribute their own music. Artists like Kruder & Dorfmeister, Basement Jaxx, Howie B, Pussyfoot and lots of others. And one day he came up with the bright idea of putting them all on an album and that's how Wall Of Sound came into being. When Mark Jones released the ‘Give ‘Em Enough Dope Vol.1’ compilation fifteen years ago. From there it was a short step to signing his own artists – such as Stuart Price of Les Rythmes Digitales and Jon Carter – then garnering a reputation as the dance label with rock’n’roll spirit. Tuned into the big beats of those days, within a year or two Wall Of Sound were a sensation replete with club nights, international dates and proper chart hits by The Propellerheads and The Wiseguys. Jones has always said that every time he releases music, he wants to sell a million copies, but is unwilling to compromise to do so. No-one can doubt his ability to spot talent, for example Stuart Price one of the world’s best producers who went on to work with Madonna and The Killers amongst others. Wall Of Sound has also always been about the attitude, about the occasion.

After the dance-centric early years the label found itself in a bit of corner as people “thought they knew what Wall Of Sound were about”, so he wanted to open things up. He started the sub-labels Bad Magic, which promoted hip-hop talent such as Blak Twang and The Creators, and We Love You, his full-blown venture into guitars that, amongst other things, launched the careers of steadfast songsmiths The Bees and I Am Kloot. Diversity is something Wall Of Sound is unafraid of, as long as Jones thinks the music has something vital going for it. “I’m a pop-head,” he admits, “and that translates into any musical genre.” Thus the post-rock of Glaswegian instrumental innovators Mogwai can sit happily next to the million-selling electronica of Royksopp. One thing never changes and that’s Jones’ penchant for the startling and outrageous. He’s turned the signing of every deal into a catalogue of the twisted and bizarre. He’s signed deals everywhere from the centre circle at his beloved QPR to a helicopter above the Houses of Parliament.

The PIAS deal was even signed parachuting from an aircraft. Ah, yes, the PIAS deal… sitting in an Italian restaurant prior to the gig, chatting mainly about clowns and his mobile phone folder full of pictures of desserts, Jones also takes a moment to reflect that “Kenny Gates of PIAS was the first person ever to ring me when I started the label and PIAS were my first licensee in Europe. One day he said, ‘Why don’t we take the sum of our parts and put them together?'. And in 2006 they did, a brilliant idea that made both parties stronger – Jones the maverick A&R pirate with PIAS ensuring his business interests sailed steady. PIAS also have global reach in all major territories - seventeen international offices, from Greece to Japan – giving Wall Of Sound’s already recognizable global brand further worldwide clout. “I’d never had that support structure before,” says a clearly pleased Jones, “Having an international network with a vested interest in what I do makes a huge difference, not to mention in-house accounts and legal departments.

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Dirty Beatniks - One One Seven In The Shade ( 96 ^ 468mb)

A raw, grubby big beat act who filter influences from acid house and old-school rap through breakbeat techno, Dirty Beatniks was formed by friends Neil Higgins and Rory Carille, who met in Dublin during the late-'80s glory days of acid house. After moving to London in 1990, they added bassist/producer Justin Underhill and made their debut remixing for Cujo, Ruby, Akasha, and Marxman. After signing to Wall of Sound, London's favorite beat-specific label, the trio recorded the EP Bridging the Gap, then their debut full-length One One Seven in the Shade for a 1996 release. One One Seven in the Shade is a grubby, clattery, and wholly bestial record. But luckily, it hasn't yet come to terms with its influences. Like better big beat, "Don't Stop" eschews wonky samples in favor of scorching old-skool instrumental hip-hop, giving the likes of the Chemical Brothers much fuel for their live sets, while "Straight & Narrow" is all uncorked breakbeats trying to reconstruct those clammy, clenched all-nighters. After a long break and several personnel changes, Dirty Beatniks returned as (mostly) a duo of Higgins and new member Mau, formerly the vocalist for Earthling ( see Rhotation 5). They released Feedback in 2000. The single "Whores, Freaks, Saints and Angels" followed in early 2001. Afterwards Mau went his way and Neil continued under his own name , these days he's active in Padded Cell. Some singles added to the 'lode'



01 - A Word From Our Sponsors (0:22)
02 - Don’t Stop (6:41)
03 - Beatnik Bounce (6:09)
04 - Straight & Narrow (5:47)
05 - More Danger (6:36)
06 - Music To Make You Stagger (0:53)
07 - Perfect Rhyme (6:12)
08 - So Vou De Mulher (6:32)
09 - Hypnotysin’ (6:04)
10 - Cosmic Rodeo (5:14)
11 - Roger 'N' Andre (6:02)
12 - Enough Already (1:08)
---Xs---
13 - Big Dirty Beats (7:15)
14 - Latinhead (5:17)
15 - Gettin' Stupid (8:29)

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Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll (98 ^ 461mb)

Propellerheads is a British big beat music band made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term "Propellerhead" is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California drop this into conversation, they thought it the perfect name for their band. Gifford began his career as a studio musician, playing keyboards for Van Morrison and saxophone for the Stranglers, among others, before joining dance collective the Grid. After a stint on the staff of Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, where he helped write and produce the well-received Arcane compilation, Gifford decided to start recording his own music, and sought out local drummer White. In 1996, the duo released its first EP, Dive, on Wall of Sound; almost immediately, the title track was licensed by Adidas for use in a television commercial. They gained fame the next year by providing a remix for Bond composer David Arnold's Bond tribute album Shaken & Stirred: They also collaborated with Arnold on the track Backseat Driver, for the Tomorrow Never Dies soundtrack. The single "History Repeating" followed, a collaboration with jazz diva Shirley Bassey, fusing big beat with jazz. Remixes for acts like Luscious Jackson, Soul Coughing, and 808 State followed.

The only Propellerheads album to date is Decksandrumsandrockandroll, released in 1998 , it's about as close to rock & roll as big-beat techno is going to get. Taking their cue from the Chemical Brothers, the Bath-based duo offer a set of pummeling, ultra-loud beats that may dabble in funk, house, hip-hop, soul, and rap, but which all come out sounding as aggressive as rock. Their song "Take California" was the first song ever used in an Apple iPod television ad., "Spybreak!", became widely known after its use in the famous lobby scene in The Matrix. They are also noted with providing "Crash" as the theme tune to BBC Radio 1's Official Chart Show between 1998 and 2002, when Mark Goodier was the host. This song was also used in the 1999 hit comedy film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

After touring for their hit album, Will White fell ill. They released Extended Play EP in 1998, things subsequently went quiet in the Propellerheads camp. Alex moved to New York and produced the Jungle Brothers 1999 Album V.I.P. in which he raps with The Black Eyed Peas among others. Will White provided the drums for the eponymous track. He has also produced a track for Rufus Wainwright ("Shadows") on his 2001 album Poses. White has since released a mix compilation for the Beatz and Bobz series, and he has also appeared as a member of the De-Fex music project. Gifford and White have reportedly been close to finishing "that difficult second album" for a while now, but have scrapped material they did not believe was fresh or new enough to warrant release. Their next album will apparently feature duets from Canadians Rufus Wainwright and k.d. lang among others, but WoS has no projected release date. Meanwhile Will White is now part of the live incarnation of Long Range, the latest project of Phil Hartnoll of Orbital fame.



01 - Take California (7:23)
02 - Echo And Bounce (5:29)
03 - Velvet Pants (5:49)
04 - Better? (2:05)
05 - Oh Yeah? (5:28)
06 - History Repeating (4:05)
07 - Winning Style (6:00)
08 - Bang On! (5:57)
09 - A Number Of Microphones (0:48)
10 - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (9:23)
11 - Bigger? (2:22)
12 - Cominagetcha (7:07)
13 - Spybreak! (7:00)

Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll Bonus (98 ^ 514mb)

201 Dive 7:07
202 Ron's Theory 6:41
203 Lethal Cut 7:30
204 Go Faster 6:12
205 Big Dog 5:46
206 Clang 5:29
207 Bring Us Together 6:34
208 History Repeating (feat Miss Shirley Bassey) (Ankle Length Mix) 5:52
209 History Repeating (feat Miss Shirley Bassey) (Hip Length Mix) 4:17
210 Props Vote Of Gratitude 5:10
211 360° (Oh Yeah) (feat De La Soul) 4:30
212 You Want It Back  (feat The Jungle Brothers) 6:02
213 Crash! 6:58

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VA - Wall Of Sound Essentials (Mixed By The Wiseguys) (00 * 348mb)

This cd came with Muzik Mag. May 2000 The Wiseguys was a British electronica hip hop band was formed in 1994 with two members, Touche (Theo Keating) and Regal ( Paul Eve). Wall of Sound signed the duo and released their first album Executive Suite in 1996 to critical acclaim, featuring downtempo jazz beats and happy optimistic hip-hop numbers. Regal left the band in 1997 to pursue other interests, and Touche worked on the second Wiseguys album, The Antidote. This was released in 1998, and contained their two most famous songs "Ooh La La" ( used in Budweiser commercials)and "Start the Commotion". In 2001, "Start the Commotion" was shown on a Mitsubishi Motors television commercial in the United States, and that song reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The Wiseguys name disbanded in 2002



01 - Zoot Woman - Chasing Cities (E-Klektik's Death Disco Mix) (4:14)
02 - Akasha - Crazy Baby (Groove Armada's Presque Celebre Mix) (4:59)
03 - Ceasefire - Trickshot (2:17)
04 - Wiseguys, The - Better World Part 2 (4:14)
05 - Propellerheads - Comintagetcha (3:31)
06 - Les Rythmes Digitales - Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat) (4:15)
07 - Strike Boys, The - Jet Set (The Micronauts Remix) (4:54)
08 - Wreckage Inc. - Chase (The Strike Boys Mix) (3:05)
09 - Dirty Beatniks - The New Adventures Of Sandy & Bud (4:46)
10 - Mekon - Welcome To Tackletown (Propellerheads Mix) (3:57)
11 - Pascal R - Killing (3:24)
12 - Psycho Cowboys - Come On Baby (4:09)
13 - Themroc - The Boy Can't Take It (5:28)

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

mm, your writing is all resembled from allmusic.com, then...

Anonymous said...

Thank you for stellar posts -much appreciated!

Rho said...

Hello Anon , sure allmusic is one of my sources, so ? There's no verbatim , besides they are not very up to date or complete.

Hello Greg, glad you appreciate what i do.


best of luck,

Rho

Anonymous said...

The post is change!
The Steve Wonder's album was put on the place of the ">VA - Wall Of Sound Essentials (Mixed By The Wiseguys)"
If you can re-post, please!
Thanks from Brazil!
I'll be back!!! rsrsrs

Rho said...

Hi there, yes i made a mistake there, thanks for telling me, meanwhile the right code has been entered.

Rho

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho,

Be great if these could be re-upped

Many thanks!

Anonymous said...

The Propellerheads album is one of those 'alone-on-a-desert-island' albums for me. I've not come across this double disc set before. Huge thanks, Rho!

-Brian