We have an exclusive mix from Fernando in the run up to his next release ‘Search of Indigo’ on Leng Records. Fernando has provided a Soulful Funky Disco Balearic set which just flows man. I’ll let you click play and let you have a read through a review of the EP. Links to listen and where to buy included… enjoy. Gx
Fernando Pulichino is no stranger to Leng Records. The bass guitar-wielding Argentine made his first appearance on the label five years ago via the cosmic disco/psychedelic rock fusion of Blue Impala, returning two years later with the similarly inclined brilliance of Giant Desert. Pulichino then resurfaced on Leng late last year with a superb, digital-only three-tracker called Natural 77.Now he’s back on wax, buoyed by the success of the acclaimed Shining EP on Is It Balearic? Recordings. This time round he’s in Search of Indigo, shaping hazy, sun-baked soundscapes around his distinctive basslines, echo-laden synthesizers, meandering Fender Rhodes solos, gentle dub vibrations and glistening, early morning jazz guitars. This is music for the heads, hips and feet, soaked in Fernet and left in the afternoon sun to slowly ripen.
Arguably the most arresting of the four cuts is the title track, a head-in-the-clouds vocal number rich in bubbly electronic riffs, laidback electro beats, ricocheting percussion hits, swirling wind effects and rubbery funk-rock bass.
Listen here…
Pulichino’s penchant for intergalactic disco shufflers once again comes to the fore on killer “Sundown Visions”, a saucer-eyed chugger that simultaneously throbs, pulses and sparkles thanks to sparring synthesizer motifs and eyes-closed space rock guitars. We suspect Daniele Baldelli and Andrew Weatherall would approve.
Elsewhere, Pulichino indulges his passion for sofa-surfing jazz-funk on solo-laden EP closer “Frontera”, a relaxed and undulating jam rich in cascading electric guitars, fluid electric piano, delay-laden flourishes and deep space synthesizers. You won’t know whether to lie down, dance enthusiastically or wearily shuffle; either way, play at sunrise or sundown for maximum enjoyment.
The EP also boasts a first vinyl outing for the title track of last year’s digital-only EP, “Natural ‘77”. Seemingly partly inspired by legendary West Coast funkateers Steely Dan, it’s a lazy, low-slung affair full of languid guitar solos, freestyle vocal improvisations, bongo-laden drums and one of his most inspired and elastic basslines to date.
Our latest selection for the series is from none other than Berlin Based Private Agenda, click play, download for another day… But do have a read what these guys have accomplished so far… enjoy this blissed out musical gathering of goodness… Gx
Having cooked up their kaleidoscopic sound palette on a diet of obscure disco divas (Linda Di Franco, anybody?), the avant-garde ambient wig-outs of Mark Isham and the back catalogues of the superstar DJs of the 1990s, Private Agenda’s debut single Déjà Vu [International Feel, 2015] found a natural home on Mark Barrott’s acclaimed, eccentric disco imprint, International Feel, premiering on BBC1xtra and proving a hit in the mainstream electronic music press. That record would also act as both launchpad and artistic manifesto: A-side Déjà Vu reflected the duos bold pop sensibilities, paying homage to the great synth-pop cross-over acts of the 80s, demonstrating a knack for classic song-writing, whilst flip-side Freefalling with it’s tastefully-crafted sound design had a strikingly modern feel and has proved an enduring underground hit.
It’s a strategy that has meant the duo can’t be pinned down. With a discography that showcases an enviable flexibility, stretching from the introspective ambient instrumentals that colour the blissfully arranged, Primary Colours [Needwant , 2017) to the soaring confidence and extroversion of three-minute pop nugget, Full Moon [Nightshift, 2016], demonstrating that the duo are heading up an operation capable of balancing a sophisticated sensibility with an unabashed attraction melody and pop music’s enduring allure.
Second single, Paralysed [International Feel, 2015] propelled the duo further toward the dance music’s mainstream, premiering on B. Traits’ BBC Radio 1, becoming ‘Disco Single of the Month’ in Mixmag (Germany) and DJ Mag (Italy) whilst house music heavy-weight Gerd Janson also got in on the act, remixing the track under the Tuff City Kids moniker with Philip Lauer. A bombastic third single, Full Moon [Nightshift, 2016] followed in the Summer of 2016, which premiered on Benji B’s BBC Radio 1 show, demonstrating the duo’s penchant for straight-up pop. Andy Butler of Hercules and Love Affair fame was among the remixers this time around, with the record championed by Horse Meat Disco and Luke Solomon among others.
Latest releases Primary Colours [Needwant, 2017] and Dusk & Dawn [NuNorthern Soul, 2017] have seen the duo delve deeper into conceptual projects. On Primary Colours, four tracks voice four different colours, with raw pigment elements acting as inspiration for tempo and character. The result: some of their most intimate work to date and a project that can sit comfortably beside the downtempo explorations of contemporaries, Gaussian Curve and Imaginary Softwoods. Their latest release Dusk & Dawn proves the sum of their work thus far: lush, downtempo electronica with a real ear for a hook.
As a live act, the duo have proven equally adaptable, starting out by spinning wax behind the dingy decks at a number of leading clubs in Berlin, such as Chalet and Sameheads before taking their two-piece live act out on the road. In March 2017, they toured with disco upstarts Parcels [Kitsune] on a European tour and stripped their live set back for a Sofar Sounds session in London, before returning to the city in August 2017 their first headline show at The Waiting Room with one of the city’s most exciting promoters, SC&P.
With forthcoming releases on the eccentric vinyl-only Tusk Wax imprint, Berlin’s burgeoning italo-not-italo, boogie business Royal Athlete as well as the second in their ambient series, Primary Colours, the future of Private Agenda’s output looks set to be diverse, bold and colourful.
Marco peeDoo Gallerani @hell-yeah
Balearic Gabba influences
I had them ready in a corner since a while, I was just waiting for some crazy dude asking me a Balearic Gabba influences mixtape and about time here come those guys at eclectics.
You probably / obviously, expect to hear some Balearic classics like Stop Bajon, Loredana Berté’s In Alto Mare, Italo Disco, Sueno Latino or Penguin Cafe Orchestra (I bought Air À Danser only this week)… sorry, but all that came much later, this mix is basically all weirder and tripper than that. I hope you enjoy. Ah… it’s badly put together, as always. x.
1st Track
Fried Funk Food – B-Boys on Acid (Blunted)
B-Boys on Acid is one of my real classics, I still play it regularly. I loved this even before listening the music just because of its title, it made sense to me as it came out during italian hip-hop golden era, a proper pre-big beat tune by norman cook and Ashley Slater, masters of all hooks in dance music.
Ian Pooley & Alec Empire – Pulse Code (Live in Berlin 19.3.1994)
two of my early 20s heroes in one crazy masterpiece recorded live in Berlin, Ian Pooley first album on Force Inc “The Times” is one of my fave albums ever (“De La trip” what a little checky electronic tune…) while Alec Empire is a proper hardcore legend… his electronic records, his label Digital Hardcore Recordings and his band Atari Teenage Riot… yes, rioutus music for angry teenagers…
Playing records after Atari Teenage Riot live at Link in Bologna in late 90s is one of my best memories. This is heavy, dreamy, ambientish, loopy breakbeat melting the best of both producers.
Reload – Ehn
my fave Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton tune, it is taken from “A Collection Of Short Stories” album, I bought it from KZ Sounds (RIP) record store in Milan (Killer Faber and the mighty Francesco Zappalà record shop) after I heard it on italian TV dance program MatchMusic , I still remember talking to Zappalà on the phone ordering this and the Sabres of Paradise album and I didn’t try ecstasy yet.
It sounded and still sounds like the future to me, breakbeat, IDM and a beautiful melody, geniuses.
Neon Heights – A Jazz-Free Episode
“There’s a place where happy people play” on Sunday Best is probably my fave Neon Heights tune of mine, but this EP is pure class… I remember turning into this stuff when Big beat was becoming too formulaic. don’t know what happen to those guys. they were so freaky good. if some of you guys somehow read this, please get in touch!
Primal Scream feat Denise Johnson – Don’t Fight It, Feel it (Weatherall Scat Mix)
RAMA LAMA LAMA FA FA FA I wanna get high till the day I die… shall I add more?
1992, one nice spring day I jumped high-school and took a bus to Ferrara record shop “Sound System” (RIP), I paid it 1000 lire only, from the bargain bin, at that time everybody was looking for “Underground” as italians were calling US house…
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Bjorn Torske – Dubet
who knows me a bit, knows that Bjorn Torske is my favorite producer / DJ / character.
I couldn’t avoid to add something from him here, this is a heavy very-long dub tune rolling at an house tempo appeared on Smalltown Supersound… if you didn’t light it up yet, now it’s the time 🙂
on a self promotional tip, there’s an upcoming wonderful remix by Bjorn on Hell Yeah Recordings: Luminodisco’s classic Oh Mary revisited by the Torskfather, coming in spring 2018… note it down!
The last two are an amazing trippy acid downtempo 12” I bought at Ambient Soho (RIP) in Berwick Street London, sorry I’m drunk and I don’t remember the name while I’m writing this … the other is the mighty Old Wave 1 by Passarani 2099 on Nature Records, an amazing, nostalgic distorted masterpiece by italian electronic music maestro Marco Passarani.
cheers to eclectics crew for sharing this. ciao. Marco x
As the nights draw in and the temperature drops, eclectics return with a brace of winter warmers, courtesy of James Rod, both of which are packing enough heat to keep us cosy until the clocks go forward.
Boarder Pass is cosmic disco with a casual nod to Norway in the loose-limbed stomp as the bass and drums rise and fall into place with calm confidence.
The synth sound is so warm it’s like they’ve been rendered in pastels by a man in a sweater by an open fire. There’s no soporific after effect though, the high arpeggios and throbbing bass see to that. This tune is headed for the dance floor, it’s just sorting out the underfloor heating first.
‘Back to Casiopea’ shares similar feel, but with the urgency turned up. Shards of guitar ricochet off the glacier walls provided by the synths, which give us a structure that’s familiar yet unknown – like finding an outtake of Patrick Cowley producing Tangerine Dream or digging out an hitherto unseen John Carpenter project and realising that it has a previously unheard soundtrack to kill for.
In fact, Cowley and Carpenter are key touchstones. There’s a live feel to these tracks that accentuates the human element. This may be machine music on first reading, but it oozes soul, bleeds spirit, and that comes from a composer who understands perfectly how to place himself at the centre of it all.-Jah Shabby.
So in the run up to the release of ‘Solar Lodge 23’ by The Vendetta Suite which is out on the 15th of December on Marco Gallerani’s Hell Yeah Recordings. We spoke with Gary Irwin the man that is Vendetta Suite. Gary took the time to answer a few questions and to supply us with a mix that shares the influences that went into the making of ‘Solar Lodge.’
So here’s the selected tunes, samples, sounds that inspired and influenced Solar Lodge 23 and it’s truly beautiful.. This is the Demystify Me Mix by The Vendetta Suite… Click play to the mix and a have read through our chat with him.
Q1, Welcome to a Q&As with eclectics. Who is The Vendetta Suite and how did you form?
A1. The Vendetta Suite is just me, Gary Irwin. I was formed in my mother’s womb…… I’ve been recording music since the early 1990s under different guises such as CPU (Waveforms In Wonderland EP) and Synthetic Science. Three techno-ish 12 inches were released on David Holmes’ Exploding Plastic Inevitable label. I also worked as David’s studio engineer in Belfast at the time. The first release as The Vendetta Suite was on 13 Amp Records in 2002, Mercurial (lo-fi Suicide meets My Bloody Valentine rocker) and the B-side Hula Bop (Hawaiian/Joe Meek style thing). In 2012 Love’s Disguise/Saturn was released on London Balearic label Above Machine with remixes from Ray Mang and Shrinkwrap.
Q2, It’s been a while since you released anything as ‘TVS’ what have you been doing in the meantime?
A2. ‘Working for the government…..’
Q3, What’s your go to piece of kit in the studio that get the creative juices flowing and why?
A3. I think there’s an obvious dub influence to some of my music, so I’d have to say Space Echo Tape Delay, Spring Reverb and Phased effects…. All staples for dub production but they can also be useful in a krautrock, radiophonic or psychedelic disco context…oh and that bag of weed in my drawer….
The Vendetta Suite – Solar Lodge 23 EP (preview)
Q4, Favourite dance album of the last 10 years and why? (Can be a comp if you wish)
A4. Well now y’see I’m not a massive fan of albums, I prefer random individual tracks. I’m very much in agreement with the KLF’s Bill Drummond in this short video….
……but since I’m allowed a compilation album, I’d have to pick the International Feel label compilation from a few years ago. There is such a consistent quality to the label it’s good to have some of its best releases together on a handy compilation.
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Q5, Favourite Sunday morning coffee album of the last 10 years and why? (can also be a comp if you wish)
A5. I can’t drink coffee, it upsets my irritable bowel syndrome……..see above for my views on albums. My Sundays are generally spent catching up on mixes on Mixcloud/Soundcloud or wherever….. Dr Rob always comes up with the goods, or Test Pressing and I always keep an eye out for sets by Private Agenda, you’ll always hear some Balearic gems on there that you’ve never heard before….and of course NTS Radio shows by Weatherall and Holmes are essential.
Q6, And finally, if you could have written one song what would it have been and why?
A6. Miro – Safari Of Love (1977) I’ve included it on the attached mix. It’s just such a far out track, starts out all electronic and squelchy and bubbly but then comes the strings and phased guitars…..beautiful, weird but still groovy.
Max Manetti is a new artist to Uber. This 4 track ep showcasing his unique loose percussion and bass driven take on the Balearic beat capturing the dancefloor and the sunshine in equal measures.
Jungle prayer is a breaky percussion groove with cheeky sample, deeply mesmerizing. Dub Macumba is a slightly more drowsy take the theme of bass and drums with a funky guitar rhythm. Changuinola is a dubby narcotic dream of a tune subtle melodies and a perfect vocal sample evocing nights under stars at Hostal Salinas. Finally Garrison arrives…Another killer downtempo bomb. A seriously confident debut. Proper.
So in the second part of our promo of the Dusk & Dawn EP due for imminent release on 4th December via NuNorthern Soul Records, we fired over a few questions to the Private Agenda guys to get a feel of where they get their influences, how they produce their music and how they got involved with Phil and the NuNorthern Soul label.
Q1, Hello Guys and welcome to a Q&As with eclectics. Who are Private Agenda and how did you meet?
Individually, we are Martin and Sean. Together, we’re Private Agenda. We’re believers in that Balearic spirit of writing music, where you can comfortably traverse genres dependent on mood and place, so you might file our records in the disco, house, pop or ambient sections of your record collection. It also means we’ve got a real thing for pop music: the good, bad and the ugly.
We started making music together when we were both about 15. We found an escape from the British, macho, all-boys school atmosphere we found ourselves in by writing music together. We started out with synth pop, and we haven’t really moved on since then.
Q2, Your music always seems to feel very summery and has lots of wonderful textures running through it, certainly a quality we look for over at eclectics HQ. Where are you guys based, is it warm and sunny there?
Quite the opposite. Those light, warm textures in much of our music isn’t grounded by place. The feel is more a figment of our imaginations. The weather in mid-November both in Berlin and Oxford (the places we’re currently based) can – as I’m sure you’re aware – be pretty grim: darkness by late afternoon and that lingering, dull greyness that defines the Winter months in Northern Europe. In this sense, our music is about imagination, an attempt at something transformative, for ourselves as much as anybody else perhaps.
Q3, Do you guys have a particular formula to making tracks or is it much more organic than that?
We follow a strict formula:
Step One: Aimless wander, record hums and whistles into voice recorder on phone as you stride.
Step Two: Turn whistles and hums into structured pop song, sat at piano or strumming away on guitar
Step Three: Open Ableton on laptop and begin to record and layer elements around the song structure developed at piano
Step Four: Write lyrics and record vocals
Step Five: Agonise over style of mix, spend hours looking at the EQ visualiser then send to label for rejection
Step Six: Back to Step One
Martins explains how Dusk & Dawn came to fruition
Q4, What’s your go to piece of kit in the studio that gets the creative juices flowing and why?
The Roland SH101: an incredible monophonic bass synthesizer. You can hear it on everything we’ve ever made together and it’s an integral part of our live set-up. Such a versatile piece of kit and it’s pretty light, so great as far as touring goes as well.
Q5, You guys have worked with some wonderful labels in International Feel, Nightshift Records and Needwant records. What’s it been like working with Phil on the NuNorthern Soul imprint?
We’re lucky to have worked with some super labels. Phil’s the real deal though in thinking about releases as a full package: letting an artist develop the release the way they wish in terms of sound and style, but adding real value where he knows best in terms of thinking about the best (realistic) remixers, thinking through the format, package, artwork, release party etc. in real detail and in genuine collaboration with the artist. Ultimately, he’s great because he gets the small things right: replies to emails quickly, delivers when he says he’s going to do things and most importantly, he’s transparent and honest about what he can do with NuNorthern Soul. As an artist that’s all you can ask for, so it’s been a real pleasure doing this record with Phil.
Q6, Do you ever play your compositions live, if so what would you say would be the best setting for you guys to do that?
Getting a room dancing as a DJ duo is fun – we treat it as a celebration of music that inspires us. But nothing beats the intensity of a 40-minute live performance at a live music venue. There’s a real art and a magic to getting that type of performance right. It’s theatrical, it’s risky and it’s the ultimate destination for Private Agenda’s music.
Our next live performance will be at the launch party for Dusk & Dawn on Thursday 30th November at Number 90 Bar in Hackney Wick, London. Phil and Robin Lee (Faze Action) will be behind the decks as well.
Q7, Is it important for you guys to make dance music or are you happy to make music that fits in with other genre, is genre even important anymore?
Musical curiosity is more important than being defined by a certain genre. The thing we love about being associated with the Balearic scene is that people genuinely subscribe to that ‘anything goes’ mentality as long as the music is in-fitting with the occasion. We think that’s healthier and more fun ultimately.
Q8, Can we expect a full studio album from you guys soon, is it already in the pipeline?
There’s a real art to packaging music well to suit each format and they’re all special in their own right, but for us LPs have something extra special about them. Our longer-term goals always orient toward full-length records. It’s the musical challenge we’re inspired most by, so you can expect an LP from us one day for sure.
Q9, Favourite dance album of the last 10 years and why? (Can be a comp if you wish)
Jon Hopkins – Immunity. Beautiful and beguiling, innovative and intriguing. Ultimately, inimitable.
Q10, Favourite Sunday morning coffee album of the last 10 years and why? (can also be a comp if you wish)
Real Estate – Atlas. We’re massive suckers for wistful C86-esque indie pop, so this record ticks all the boxes. Perfect to wake up nice and slowly too.
Q11, And finally lads, if you could have written one song what would it have been and why?
Connan Mockasin – Forever Dolphin Love: weird and wonderful, lush and gritty. Erol Alkan’s edit is one of our favourite remixes as well. A modern indie epic.
Thanks guys, a real pleasure.
Review of Dusk & Dawn by Sean O’Conner.
A really strong EP here from Private Agenda. The track “Dusk”, in its original incarnation (A1 here,) is a slightly melancholy and autumnal yet also uplifting piece of music. Fans of that wistful sound typified by 70s groups such as Contraction and Cortex will find their buttons pushed here! But this cut holds clubbier appeal, too: that sound, that feel, is lifted by an understated four-to-the-floor, a tasteful handclap and synth lines that bubble along briskly. Appropriately enough, this cut has a lovely dusky sundown feel for a transition into the night and the party ahead, with a trio of remixes giving lots of options. More of that later.
The next cut (A2 “Dawn”) presents some killer ambient business with the “Dawn” end of things. Pianos and lush synths call to mind Glass or Reich, morphing halfway through to the most lyrical part of this great EP.
Our first remix on “Dawn” is from Faze Action. Suffused with real club sensibilities, this kicks off right away with melodic percussion, an atmospherically hazy build, and a skeletal bass line which propels us further ahead. We’re soon locked in to a groove and carried along by a laid back house rhythm and slithering, shiny acoustic guitars. Later, when all drops away to foreground the refrains of those woozy and wistful vocals, we’re swept away most gorgeously. This cut has been a fave for eclectics djs, going down a treat at Micky’s most recent spot at the Shoreditch Merchants Tavern (Spiritland sound system), for example.
A second remix, from Mr Ron Basejam, is astonishingly good: we’re welcomed in with delicious and dreamy synths and a warm sub bass. A subtle break beat surfaces shortly and guides us to an outrageously funky beatdown with a sensuous sax riff on repeat. Proper!
By Sean O’Conner.
To round off the EP, ESP Institute and Not An Animal regular Ian Blevins weighs in with a typically sumptuous and evocative take on the duo’s sunrise tribute. Making full use of Private Agenda’s soothing chords, pianos and vintage synth riffs, he conjures up a hazy and hypnotic rework rich in head-nodding, toe-tapping drum machine beats, mazy electronics and effects-laden vocal snippets. Like the rest of the EP, it’s truly a thing of intense beauty..
MOONBOOTS – AFICIONADO I really love a couple of tracks on here. The OG of Dawn is just beautiful but it’s even surpassed by the Faze remix. Truly timeless piece of music. The other three tracks are super strong too. Great EP
KENNETH BAGER MUSIC FOR DREAMS – SOLID PACKAGE A quality release – all tracks are good but I prefer Faze Action.
