[Free download] Kings of the Universe - To Where You Are

As you may have noticed, we post a lot of dance music here on Tracasseur. Usually dance tunes are only made to make people dance and not so much to make people philosophize over the state of the universe. So other than requests for the listener to move their body in some way, which usually are more or less thinly veiled sexual suggestions, focus is more on rhythm than the content of the lyrics.

But there are exceptions to this, both of course with specific songs, especially remixes of non-dance music, but also with certain sub-genres. If one of the feet of house music stands on funk and disco music which lyrics-wise are centered around dancing and sex, the other foot stands on soul and R'n'b which usually have deeper lyrics. And just like soul and R'n'b, especially the early house music had a lot of influences from gospel which is where many of the soul divas came from. So songs about spirituality, empowerment and awareness was nothing unusual in the early days.

House connoisseurs Kings of the Universe are of course very aware of this history, so it makes perfect sense that Loffe makes an old-school house track when dealing with a loss, even if it may seem as a bit of a heavy topic for a house tune. It's a powerful song, and you can tell that it means a lot for its writer. Great stuff as usual from the guys, but this time with an added dimension, and hopefully this song can add some strength to someone else going through something tough.

Tracasseur Guest Tape #6: Kings of the Universe

Here's the last instalment of our "monthly mixtape thing" series called Tracasseur Guest Tapes. I already commented the "monthly" description when we posted the last one a little over a month ago. Of course you don't get rid of such a quippy byline, but I guess we could put the word monthly within quotation marks or something.

We have written about Stockholm duo and friends Kings of the Universe before. We really like their production of retro acid house, and I even put their Mercury remix on my Best of 2013 list. This mix is made by Funky Loffe (Mr. Givenchy tee) on a setup with two CDJ800s and two SL1200s, and basically is a collection of their favourite tracks of 2013. A KOTU Best of 2013 of sorts. Take it away Loffe!



Here's the tracklist:

Jamie O'Reilly - F*ck All Y'all (Funk Butcher Remix)
Henrik Bergqvist - Spin
Murat Tepeli - Forever (Prosumer's Hold Me Touch Me Remix)
James Johnston - What You Do To Me
SE62 - True Force
ItaloJohnson - Untitled B1 [ITJ07]
Serge & Tyrell - Pump-O-Matic
Leon Vynehall - Step Or Stone (Breath Or Bone)
George FitzGerald - Every Inch (Deetron Remix)
Jovonn - Garage Shelter (Tuff City Kids Remix)

Modern Talker + Kings Of The Universe (+ 2 unsigned tracks)

Awesome Stockholm producers and generally nice guys Kings of the Universe, who remixed Mercury a while back have a couple of things brewing. First off they have remixed Lisbon producer Modern Talker on Hamburg label Tiefblau. It's a good release, but KOTU's bouncy garage track is the best along with Lorenzo Kurizu's remix in my opinion.




As if that wouldn't be enough, the guys have two unsigned tracks that I hope will be picked up soon.

Mercury + Kings of the Universe

A track that has been on high rotation is Stockholm-based duo Kings of the Universe's excellent remix of Mercury's "Let's celebrate". The duo with the humble name have been purveyors of great old-school house for a couple of years now, so a post about them have been on the cards for some time. Great lo-fi productions with that almost naïvely positive vibe makes you think of Chicago 1988 instead of Stockholm 2013. Obviously Byron Stingily's familiar crooning adds to that retro feeling in this instance, but you should also check out their older ventures into classic acid house.



The original is deeper, and what it lacks in vitamins you get back in carbs. Swiss house mafiosos Mercury are of course well-known for their releases on Gomma, but they have released on Exploited before this release on classic New York house label Nurvous.



Bonus #1: KOTU's free remix of fellow Swedish producer House of Wallenberg.



Download here.

Bonus #2: Mercury's remix of Two Door Cinema Club's "Sleep Alone" is a great song that is available for free too, if you don't mind the small hassle with Chirpy. Which you don't since it's a small kickback to the boys for giving away free music.