Love those heavy drums in the background!

Blogged at http://alternative-selections.blogspot.com/2012/02/some-tunes.html

Out now on all music stores! …and soon on limited edition vinyl too!

Buy it now on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id499561706

Supported by Boys Noize, Switch, Sinden, Crookers, Joakim, Laurent Garnier, Bok Bok, Round Table Knights, Zombie Disco Squad, Christian Martin, Style Of Eye, Douster, Bobmo, Djedjotronic, Noob, Krikor, Rory Phillips, dj Need / Birdy Nam Nam, Bambounou, SCNTST, Mixhell, Strip Steve, Addison Groove, Neoteric, Malente, Scottie B, Nick Catchdubs, Myd, Harvard Bass, Beataucue, Jess & Crabbe, Ben Westbeech, Seiji, Laura Leishman, Discobelle, Distal, BS1 …

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Maelstrom could be mistaken for the newest kid on the scene, coming out of nowhere and dropping releases on prestigious labels like Dirtybird and BNR Trax in less than one year, but in reality he’s far from being a kid, as a matter of fact he’s more of a daddy. And I mean this more in a 'having a child' way than in a ‘I’m house music’s daddy and I’m gonna make her my bitch' way, except the latter is exactly what he’s about to do with his new “USSR” EP on Sound Pellegrino. Hailing from the quiet yet culturally effervescent city of Nantes, France, Maelstrom has been around for a while, operating in the shadow, DJing all around the world in various underground circles of no-joke techno and breaks. He also has a career as a more abstract UK bass producer under the name Joaan, crafting beautifully deep and haunting beats for 7even recordings. But the “USSR” EP is no deep and haunting business, this is a straightforward, raw and modern take on Miami bass and early electro with a techno twist made by a guy who’s experienced enough to have lived these scenes in their heyday. This is the music the Russian soldier girl in Elton John’s “Nikita” video likes to shake her booty to. 

“USSR” is the more straightforward tracky beat of the bunch. Menacing and merciless like a musical machine gun execution, it also has a groove that says “hey chill this is just music, we ain’t killin anybody, now what are you waiting for, dance m*therf*cker!”, so at the end of the day, it’s all good. We at Sound Pellegrino are super proud to have obtained two brilliant remixes by two heroes of ours for “USSR”. First, The Hacker, whose impact on our lives as electronic music listeners is immeasurable. Whether it is through his classic albums with the goddess Miss Kittin where he defined the standard for dark electronic pop in the early 2000’s or his no-compromise electro material on the solo tip or in collaboration with this year’s big techno sensation (often seen as his protégé) Gesaffelstein, The Hacker always knows how to win our little techno hearts. He flips “USSR” into a serious deep Grenoble banger dripping with integrity and class. The second “USSR” remix is brilliantly executed by South African house music star Aero Manyelo. We’ve been in touch with Manyelo ever since he found out that we played one of his tracks on the Sound Pellegrino podcast. He immediately sent us a good portion of his huge catalog and we were blown away by his unique blend of house, finding influences in Kwaito riddims but also the trademark South African dark motor pitch shifting techno sounds. There’s no doubt his “USSR” remix, in all its originality and vicious efficiency, will be a dancefloor favorite. 

Candidly titled “House Music”, the second track on the EP balances the darkness of “USSR” with a more light-hearted approach and a happier vibe. It also has a clear function for DJs: to serve as a transition from bass to four-to-the-floor house and vice-versa. Simple, functional, brilliant. DJ Dodger Stadium (Body High), Coni (Clek Clek Boom) and Boston Bun (known for his “Lean House” mixtape series) each deliver excellent remixes, Coni on a very deep, subaquatic, 9-minute long slow burner tip, Dodger Stadium in their trademark pumping gangster chicago underground construction 3.0 internetland hard house vibe and Boston Bun on a  sexy sweaty macho backroom acid dance level. 

Last but definitely not least, “Pool Chicks” is the gem of the EP. Like a steroid Sci-fi version of the purest old-school Miami Bass, channelling a pool party on mars hosted by cyborg 2 Live Crews and Tone Locs, “Pool Chicks” has 'early contender for summer hit' written all over it. When listening to those unidentified noises that punctuate the track, we’re still not sure if the title refers to girls at the pool or actual chicken being thrown in a swimming pool though. 

 —Teki Latex

USSR (The Hacker remix)

Based in Paris, Sound Pellegrino is the label started by TEKI LATEX and ORGASMIC in 2009. The label focuses on club sounds evolving at the fringe of House, Techno, Bass and un-named half time dance-music hybrids all tied together by a strong hip hop background. The spirit of the label is to bridge gaps between scenes geographically, musically and generation-wise. The catalog is provided by a vast community of like-minded artists from all over the globe, forming a rich and diverse worldwide bond.

Curated by renowned DJs and taste makers Orgasmic and Teki Latex (from pioneer electronic hip hop outfit TTC – Teki also happens to be one of the founders of Institubes), Sound Pellegrino has quickly established itself as one of the labels to reckon with, releasing singles by Zombie Disco Squad, Renaissance Man, Todd Edwards & Surkin, L-Vis 1990, Para One, G.Vump, Bok Bok & Tom Trago, Panteros666, Teeth, Maelstrom (amongst others) and generating interest by A-List DJs from all ends of the dance music spectrum such as Modeselektor, Hudson Mohawke, Boys Noize, Annie Mac, Diplo, A-Trak, Sinden, Pete Tong, Claude Vonstroke, Ivan Smagghe, Laurent Garnier, Chloé, Justin Martin, Agoria, Joakim to name a few.

Their vision is carried and complimented by the direction of label manager EMILE SHAHIDI (Institubes' deputy manager) who handles development of the label’s activities and brands as well as executive production on all releases. He is also the co-creator and co-editor in chief of its printed publication L’Annuel.

Orgasmic and Teki Latex, the two public faces of the label, unite to form the SOUND PELLEGRINO THERMAL TEAM and they are ready to take that movement to a club near you. Even though their teaming up behind the turntables dates from 2009, these two have known each other for about 20 years and have released countless collaborations. Going through various musical phases, they have always kept a will to explore forward-thinking dance music that will make the crowd go crazy without sounding stale and outdated.

Mixing ingredients from classic house, avant-garde beats, abrupt techno tools, body-exercising bass and carefully-picked rap & r&b gems, the Thermal Team’s display of 3-deck blending craftsmanship, their transversal selection of tracks from the past the present and the future of club music, and their instinctive crowd-adaptation abilities (devoid of vision-altering compromises) are the guarantee of what clubbers across the globe have been continuously calling “a hell of a good time and a crazy unique experience”. With a hundred mixes for the Sound Pellegrino Podcast under their belt, the A&R and helming of the 35 releases of Sound Pellegrino’s exemplary catalog and 3 EPs as Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, you can tell these guys know what they are doing.

Sound Pellegrino’s CROSSOVER SERIES is a collection of EPs where 2 artists from different countries, backgrounds, generations and/or scenes are brought together by Sound Pellegrino to collaborate on some tracks. So far Bambounou was paired with Joakim, Bok Bok with Tom Trago, and Todd Edwards with Surkin. Each time the result far surpassed our expectations, further establishing the Crossover Series as a strong cement between sounds and scenes, shaking up people’s expectations of what is compatible with what in the electronic music world.

EXPECT NO LESS is our new vinyl-only imprint, helmed by Orgasmic, set to release toolsets for DJs, secret weapons with the futuristic edge his fans know him for.

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