New EP from Xinobi

Today our favourite Portuguese Xinobi released a new EP on Nurvous Records. This two-track EP showcases Xinobi and his experimental joy within house music. It's quality music with a brave and quirky twist, that gives the sound the signature of Xinobi. Buy the release over at Beatport.

Xinobi + Justin Faust

Hear out Xinobi's take on Justin Faust's "Space Rhumba". Nice summer vibes when a Portuguese is playing with a German. This track is included on the "Discotexas Picnic II" compilation and you can check it out over at Beatport.

Xinobi - Puma & Woods

Our dear friend Xinobi has this new one "Puma" out on Discotexas. Another sweet deep house tune from the Portuguese master. As much as we love him as much must he love me, due to the homage of the name of the track: "Puma". Cheers Xinobi!



On the same release, that you by the way can get over at Beatport, another gem in "Woods" is there for you.

Gomma update: The Deadstock 33s & Moullinex

Great stuff coming out from Gomma recently. Well, recently might be a poor choice of words; it's hardly surprising they're releasing great stuff, we've known that for ages, it's just that they're doing it on a weekly basis these days.

Last week Moullinex released his beautiful "Darkest Night" from his "Flora" album as an EP (out now on Discotexas), featuring remixes from Portuguese brother in arms Xinobi and, to complete the Portuguese-German connection, a collab remix by Kris Menace and PWNDTIAC. Oh, and we're playing together with Senhor Moullinex here in Stockholm on Saturday, March 13. If that'll be half as fun as when we played with Xinobi, we're all in for a real treat.

And today Gomma released this baby: house legend Justin Robertson, aka The Deadstock 33s' very retro "Underneath the Pines" featuring remixes by Ewan Pearson and Disco Bloodbath. It all sound very mid-80's acid house, where Pearson was a huge figure in the Manchester scene which was the hub of acid house in Europe in these days, while I have to admit my favourite is Disco Bloodbath's more Chicago-sounding version that sounds like it could've been released on Trax or DJ International in '87. If you haven't already had an acid house phase, and you're the least interested in house music, you should check both of those scenes out.

Tracasseur's best of 2012 on Spotify

We started a new tradition last year by collecting our Top 100 tracks from the year that had passed. We will of course continue this mission this year too, and the next, and the next... As everybody know, not all songs are on Spotify, for example from smaller producers and special remixes. We have based this list on Tracasseur's two Best of lists but also added another 50–60 tunes that deserves to be on a bigger list. So here you have your smorgasbord from 2012! Spread the word our fine friends, this list is for you!

Tracasseur - Best of 2012 on Spotify

Xinobi remix of Is Tropical for free

Is Tropical's tune "Land of the Nod" has gotten some Xinobi treatment. This remix follows Xinobi's new sound and I still love his new melodic house style. Also loving the free download of the track! Go Xinobi!

Xinobi doesn't like the guitar

Our all time fave Xinobi is back with a new super good single in "(I Hate The Sound of) Guitars". Released on our all time fave label Discotexas. Buy it over at Beatport or order your own limited and numbered edition of 200 copies in white vinyl with a silkscreened image on the B side. Could be something to have in your record collection.

Zimmer - Horizontal Disco (Remixes)

Latest from fave label Discotexas is the remix release of Zimmer. The original release was out and about in last half of 2011. Zimmer is the young producer that makes music that get you in the right mood, always. He's mixing all genres from the latest decades and makes it into his own style.

This remix release is of course his music as the base but it's even more the six well-known acts that flavours Zimmer's music with their own spices. The six remixes spans from nu disco into house. It's really hard to pick a fave but Xinobi's and Mercury's remixes are powerful 90's house tunes. Also Broke One's remix slips into that style with pride. And Moullinex always deliver some great stuff.

If you want the release as a transparent 12" vinyl, you can pre-order it here, but hurry, because it's limited to only 200 copies. And you can also buy it digital over at Beatport.
  Zimmer - Slave To Your Heart (feat. Jeremy Glenn) (Mercury Remix) by Discotexas Zimmer - Slave To Your Heart (feat. Jeremy Glenn) (Xinobi Remix) by Discotexas Zimmer - Slave To Your Heart (feat. Jeremy Glenn) (Broke One Remix) by Discotexas Zimmer - Looking At You (Moullinex Remix) by Discotexas Zimmer - Bay Bridge (Moon Boots Remix) by Discotexas Zimmer - Cruisin' (Lou Teti Remix) by Discotexas

Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver

Yay, first Discotexas post of the year! Today Portugal's best label release their first EP of the year - Helsinki duo Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver's "Diamonda" EP. In my best of 2011 list I wrote about Hannelulauri that the Finns are great at mixing disco with progressive house, and gave a few examples. Actually, another example I was thinking of were these guys. There simply are no other people, except the Big French guys, who can make progressive house so fresh and, well, so not cheesy. See for yourself:

DT018 - Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver - Diamonda by Discotexas

So what are my picks? I have to say the 'B-side', "Opal", edges out the original slightly, and that it's good to see our friends Xinobi and Justin Faust being in excellent form. That doesn't mean that I don't like the Bright Shades remix though.

Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver - Opal (Original Mix) by Discotexas

Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver - Diamonda (Xinobi Remix) by Discotexas

Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver - Diamonda (Justin Faust Remix) by Discotexas

I have no idea why they're giving away this one for free, cause it's great. Just say thanks and download it.

Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver - 22 (FREE DOWNLOAD) by Discotexas

BONUS:

More Finnish progressive disco in the form of Top Billin act Helsinki 78-82 and their cover of Lifelike's classic "So Electric".

Helsinki 78-82 - So Lifelike feat. Villa Nah (Radio Edit) (192 kbps)

Arnie Becker's best of 2011

So, the most important post of the year I guess. Every year it's the same thing; you want to cram together all your current favourites while at the same time try to remember what you listened to a year ago. 2011 was a year where classic French rock electro continued its decline (somebody forgot to tell Justice, who made an all-out rock album), and the mid-80s synth disco pastels faded into the later 80s and early 90s house and the earlier deep disco.

Do I like this development? Well, do I like deep basslines? Yeah! Do I like crude handclaps? You bet! Do I like house piano? Hell yeah! You might notice all of this on my list. And if you hadn't figured out that I'm the one with the house/techno background and Jonny the one with the indie background, I think our lists reveal that. That said, we of course have a lot of favourites on each others lists.

And now for the mandatory complaints about how hard it has been to decide on the list. 2011 was a good year as evidenced by a shortlist for the top 25 of well over 80 tunes, so there are a lot of people who probably deserve an honourable mention. It was also difficult to pin down the very top of the list, with probably all of the top five or ten topping at some point. Anyway, here it is!

#25. Birkii - Shade Of Doubt

Birkii was one of the great discoveries through Kitsuné. Funky and cute as a button at the same time. Birkii's voice reminds me a lot of 60s singer Nico (whose song "These Days" plays while Gwyneth Paltrow exits the bus in "The Royal Tenenbaums"). Lovely verse and lovely bridge.

Birkii - Shade Of Doubt (320 kbps)


#24.Sneaky Sound System - Big (Oliver Remix)

2011 was a great year for Oliver. The Cerrone 'cover' "Memories Of The Future" was a huge track, as was "Footsteps". Their Penguin Prison remix was great too, but in the end I went with their remix of Sneaky Sound System that we put to good use through the year.

Sneaky Sound System - Big (Oliver Remix) (320 kbps)


#23. Alex Winston - Sister Wife (Moonlight Matters Remix)

The Belgian disco wonder continued their quest of world domination. Moonlight Matters' remix of Alex Winston combined a nice original with some funky bass and intense strings.

Alex Winston - Sister Wife (Moonlight Matters Remix) (320 kbps)


#22. Cavaliers of Fun - GOLD

Holographic People had a good début year with a string of great releases from great artists. My favourite was Cavaliers of Fun's album, and on that the make out electro song "GOLD", which also will be one of the few slow dance tracks on this list.

Cavaliers of Fun - GOLD (320 kbps)
(Exclusive present to our dear readers from Cavaliers of Fun!)

#21. Munk - Rue De Rome (Cécile Remix)

At Gomma it was business as usual, the German label being a standard bearer of high-quality disco. One of our favourite acts from them, Munk, had one of our favourite albums and favourite singles released, and the "Rue de Rome" single came with a bunch of great remixes. My favourite was by Cécile.

Munk - Rue De Rome (Cecile Remix) (128 kbps)
(buy the full quality version here)

#20. Electric Youth - Fade Away

Hopefully the inclusion on the "Drive" soundtrack will help Electric Youth reach a wider audience - they're well worth it. "Right Back To You" was a great single, but I actually preferred the B-side "Fade Away". Great Hi-NRG pop with nice hooks and a nice break.

Electric Youth - Fade Away (320 kbps)


#19. Chilly Gonzales - You Can Dance (Robotaki Remix)

Chilly Gonzales' "You Can Dance" was one of the singles of the year with a lot of great remixes (Fare Soldi, Edwin Van Cleef and Gemini Club for example). My favourite was that by young Canadian Robotaki who followed up his massive remix of Kavinsky's "Nightcall" from last year.

Chilly Gonzales - You Can Dance (Robotaki Remix) (320 kbps)


#18. Chad Valley - I Want Your Love

Already we're up to the second, and last, slow dance of my list. Well, slow for my standards anyway, since it has a certain beat to it. At any case Chad Valley has made a beautiful song that I think would work both in a symphony orchestra version or covered by someone like Björk.

Chad Valley - I Want Your Love (320 kbps)


#17. Joakim - Forever Young

Joakim always makes great music with some sort of twist to it. "Forever Young" from his excellent "Nothing Gold" album is like soundtrack of a an artsy 60s French movie played by a marching band. Nothing like his "Drumtrax" but just as good!

Joakim - Forever Young (320 kbps)


#16. Strange Talk - Eskimo Boy

Strange Talk was another great Kitsuné find from last year who make awesome indie dance in the Phoenix-mould. The self-titled debut EP was delayed to this year, but it was worth the wait. I really like all the tracks, and since "Climbing Walls" is disqualified after its Kitsuné release last year, I picked "Eskimo Boy".

Strange Talk - Eskimo Boy (285 vbr)


#15. Mercury - You Lift Me Up

I've been on and on about 90s house during the year. I've usually meant the very early 90s or very late 80s. Mercury's excellent is a little less retro, the cleaner sounds and bouncing rhythm sounds more 1998 than 1990, and makes me want to pull out all my old Nite Grooves and Nervous vinyls.

Mercury - You Lift Me Up (128 kbps)
(Buy the full-quality version here)


#14. New Look - Janet

New Look's "Janet" is a great electropop (or should I say electro-R'n'B?) song. The intro and the beat sounds like something Jellybean Benitez or Arthur Baker/John Robie could have made in 1983. That coupled with great vocals makes another great find of 2011.

New Look - Janet (320 kbps)


#13. Kamp! - Cairo

We've been on and on about Kamp! for a long time, almost since we started the blog. We were fortunate enough to tag along with them through Poland, where we learned they're not just a great studio band, but an awesome live band as well. One of our favourite songs was "Cairo", which was the song they used to start off the show with. That made us happy when it was picked up by Discotexas, who deservedly gave the band a bigger platform than their own Brennessel netlabel. We can't wait to bring them to Stockholm this spring!

Kamp! - Cairo (128 kbps)
(Buy the full-quality version here)


#12. Hannulelauri - Europa

There seem to be few people in the world who can gel together disco and progressive house in such an awesome way as our dear brothers in the east - the Finns. I'm thinking of people like Michael Cassette, Helsinki 78-82 and of course Hannulelauri who made great remixes of Headman, Processory and Jupiter, as well as some great originals. "Europa" was my favourite.

Hannulelauri - Europa (128 kbps)
(Buy the full-quality version here)


#11. Cut Copy - Pharaohs & Pyramids

Cut Copy was finally back with a new album. As a huge fan I was a little disappointed with it, but then again, hoping for another album like "In Ghost Colours" was always some pretty high expectations, and after all I think "Zonoscope" is a good album. And "Pharaohs & Pyramids" was Cut Copy in great old form.

Cut Copy - Pharaohs & Pyramids (320 kbps)


#10. Pacific! - Unspoken (Anoraak Remix)

I like how Anoraak always makes his tunes in a distinct wedge shape; slow beginning, and then it builds and builds, layer after layer. That makes for perfect intro tracks. His Pacific! remix is a case in point; it starts off with a simple guitar chord, a lush synth and the delicate vocals from the original. Halfway through it kicks into disco gear with a nice galloping beat.

Pacific! - Unspoken (Anoraak Remix) (320 kbps)


#9. Noah and the Whale - Life Is Life (Yuksek Remix)

Yuksek totally changed Noah and the Whale's "Life is Life" from a pretty sleepy pop track to a disco feast with it's hammering synth and funky disco boogie bass.

Noah and the Whale - Life Is Life (Yuksek Remix) (320 kbps)


#8. Xinobi - Hawaii

Xinobi was responsible for one of the party tracks of 2011. Also one of the few tracks that actually don't need more cowbell. We played a lot with our friends La Petite Putain over the year, and we used to have a competition on who played "Hawaii" first. The result was always a frantic dancefloor.

Xinobi - Hawaii (128 kbps)
(buy the full quality version here)


#7. Gotye ft Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know (RUFUS Re-edit)

Gotye and Kimbra's duet was one of the most beautiful songs of the year. When Kimbra's voice comes in in the second verse it always gives me goosebumps. But dance music fan as I am, I actually prefer RUFUS' edit over the original.

Gotye ft Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know (RUFUS Re-edit) (320 kbps)


#6. Mark Ronson - Record Collection 2012 (Perseus Remix)

Not only did Leon of Perseus run one of the best labels of 2011 - French Express - somehow he managed to make some excellent remixes and originals too. We could easily have added a couple of Perseus tracks more, but in the end I went for the Mark Ronson remix.

Mark Ronson - Record Collection 2012 (Perseus Remix) (320 kbps)


#5. The Rapture - How Deep Is Your Love? (Populette Remix)

The Rapture's "How deep is your love?" was another epic tune with a million awesome remixes thanks DFA's remix competition. But my favourite was still the Populette remix on the EP. Only problem is that it's so short.

The Rapture - How Deep Is Your Love? (Populette Remix) (192 kbps)


#4. Tensnake - Something About You

Tensnake made one of the tracks that I have danced to the most during the year. It's also an interesting track in that most other tracks have at least two peaks while this is more like one long build-up to the (that's right) house piano drops, and then it ends. But what a piano!

Tensnake - Something About You (128 kbps)
(buy the full quality version here)


#3. Niki and the Dove - Mother Protect (Goldroom Remix)

Goldroom is another renaissance man. We've been huge fans of the Binary crew for a long time: the blog, the label and the music collective. What we didn't know was that the producer who would be our favourite was the one running most of it, and who to our knowledge didn't make music himself. Well, this year Josh really stepped out of the shadows.

Niki and the Dove - Mother Protect (Goldroom Remix) (320 kbps)


#2. Jonas Rathsman - Tobago

One of the most hyped up tracks of the year. Jonas Rathsman's entry on the French Express 2 compilation with its Alexander O'Neill sample bode well, but hearing this on The Magician's Magic tape really made our mouths water. With a sound so calory rich so you can feel the heart clogging up, spiced up with some summery tropical disco and nice use of samples, this was really close to the top spot.

Jonas Rathsman - Tobago by French Express


#1. Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)

Picking a number one was hard this year, but speaking of The Magician, in the end I went with his remix of the blog Queen from a couple of years back: Lykke Li. He turned a good pop song into a proper dancefloor anthem that sums up 2011 perfectly with the disco and retro house currents combined - of course including house piano! It's no coincidence that both me and Jonny chose a The Magician track as number ones on our respective lists - he really had a great year.

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix) (320 kbps)

RAR #1: Arnie Becker's best of 2011 Part I (tracks 1-12)
RAR #2: Arnie Becker's best of 2011 Part II (tracks 13-25)

Justin Faust + PWNDTIAC + DT update

We wrote about Justin Faust's "Girl Talk" EP released on Discotexas back in July. Now the title track has been remixed by up and coming Leipzig producer PWNDTIAC, and Herr Faust is kind enough to give it away for free!

Justin Faust - Girl Talk (PWNDTIAC Remix) FREE DOWNLOAD by Discotexas

PWNDTIAC recently released a very nice EP on Work it Baby called The Horsepower EP. Here's the YouTube teaser:



...And the Soundcloud previews:

The Horsepower EP by PWNDTIAC

We really like their remix of The Rapture's awesome tune "How Deep Is Your Love?"

Rapture - How Deep Is Your Love (PWNDTIAC Remix) by PWNDTIAC

In other Discotexas news, two out of the four label bosses, Xinobi and Moullinex made this scary track for last week's Halloween, which we now, after a week of eating garlic and drinking holy water, dare to post:

Moullinex & Xinobi - X Marks The Spot (Original Version) by Discotexas

Moullinex & Xinobi - X Marks The Spot (Glimmers Disko Version) by Discotexas

Moullinex & Xinobi - X Marks The Spot (Drop Out Orchestra Remix) by Discotexas

Moullinex & Xinobi - Human Fly (The Cramps cover) FREE DOWNLOAD by Discotexas

Otherwise, we like the upcoming Mirror People EP, due 11/11, and with remixes by Moullinex, Munk, Social Disco Club and Severino.

Mirror People - Feel The Need (feat. Rowetta) (12" / Digital out in Nov) PREVIEW SNIPPET by Discotexas

Moullinex in Stockholm

Tonight at Slakthuset the Portuguese gentleman Moullinex will show us how it will happen. A couple of weeks ago we brought his good friend Xinobi to the same place. I don't know what these Portuguese and Slakthuset got in common, but it must be something...

It's our friend's club Studio that booked Moullinex and they got a really nice thing going on over at Slakthuset, last time the brought Bottin, pretty good in other words. Event here.

So as a warmup, some good ol' Moullinex tracks and some new. See ya tonight around the Slakthuset area.

Moullinex - Catalina (192 kbps)

Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer (Moullinex Remix) (320 kbps)

Xinobi - BMX (Moullinex Remix) (320 kbps)

Telonius - Disco-Tec (Moullinex Remix) (320 kbps)

Kamp! - Cairo (Moullinex Remix) by Moullinex

Do Me To The Music #3 w/ Xinobi and Flashworx

We're so happy to have him here, Mr Xinobi himself, one of the leaders in the modern sounds of house and nu disco. Tonight we give him to the people of Stockholm at one of coolest venues in Stockholm right now, Slakthuset. An old butchery now re-made into a smoky and meaty club instead. We promise an epic night of music and dance. Here is the event for the night.

So if you're in Stockholm area there's no excuse in the world not to come and party at Slakthuset. Xinobi will show you how it supposed to be made, the Swiss guys from Flashworx will give the best support and of course will Tracasseur DJs also give you a bunch of dancable and awesome tracks along with beautiful ladies from La Petite Putain.

As Xinobi himself would have said: "Dançar a noite toda!"

Xinobi - Hawaii by XINOBI Coupons - Driving to Your House Party (Xinobi remix) by XINOBI Toro Y Moi - Still Sound (Xinobi Remix) by XINOBI

Finally a new mixtape from Xinobi!

Finally a new mixtape from Xinobi! He's one of the best producers out there, and has been a favourite of mine since his early electro house days. Since then he's moved more towards disco, just as his Portuguese colleague Moullinex, and just as I've been doing myself. The track "Hawaii" off his "The Best of Me" EP on Work it Baby has been one of the best tracks this spring/summer.

Which is why we're very proud to have booked him to Stockholm on September 24. And judging by this mixtape we're in for a real disco fest!

Finally a New Mixtape by XINOBI

Hawaii by XINOBI

Toro y Moi + Xinobi

Did you say you wanted more from Toro y Moi and more from the Discotexas crew? Why, how about this slow and funky remix from Xinobi?

Toro Y Moi - Still Sound (Xinobi Remix)

Coupons - Driving To Your House Party

Today the Australian duo Coupons release their EP "Driving To Your House Party" on Discotexas. As we wrote before, we are huge fans of both Coupons and the label, so it was no surprise that the EP is really great. Remix support comes from Xinobi, Jad and the Ladyboy and Moullinex and SymbolOne under their new collaboration moniker Gesso.

We have been listening to it for a while, and we have also played it out, and we can assure you that it works very well for both occasions. The original is an up-tempo and very danceable power synth track, Jad and the Ladyboy's remix is chilled out disco, while Xinobi's and Moullinex and SymbolOne's Gesso remixes are made for the clubs.

Go to Beatport right now and pick up your copy!

Coupons - Driving To Your House Party (Original)

Coupons - Driving To Your House Party (Jad And The Ladyboy Remix)

Coupons - Driving To Your House Party (Moullinex and SymbolOne 'Gesso' Remix)

Coupons - Driving To Your House Party (Xinobi Remix) by Discotexas

The kind people of Discotexas give away these freebies by Portuguese newcomers Cvlt and Dreams that are not included on the EP:

Coupons - Driving To Your House Party (Cvlt Remix)

Coupons - Driving To Your House Party (Dreams Remix)

Fan Coupons on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Review of The Tapeaters debut album "Visions"

One week ago The Tapeaters released their debut album "Visions" on American label OMG! Recordings. The Tapeaters from Russia are a duo consisting of Vadim Pukhov and Dimitri Kozlow, and they began as Tapeaters last year. They have released an EP and a couple of singles earlier during the year but now it's time for the full-length album.

"Visions" is an album that moves around in the lands of electro-pop. With clear influences from the 80s and early 90s new wave The Tapeaters superbly manage to bring something fresh into the scene of this synthy disco. You, who are familiar with the countrymen of Tesla Boy will be really happy to get to know The Tapeaters, they play in the same league. Vadim got this soft voice that sometimes reminds of Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode's more tranquil tracks but also of something by OMD.

"Satellite" is the strong first single from "Visions" that shows what The Tapeaters are all about. Nice funky bassline along with dreamy synth chords. "Satellite" was released with remixes by great names like Lifelike, Xinobi and Ghosts Of Venice, says it all I think.

The Tapeaters - Satellite

The Tapeaters - Satellite (Lifelike Remix)

The Tapeaters - Satellite (Xinobi Remix)

My favourite track so far is the italo flavoured "Reprise", which got me hooked after my first session. It's short but it's catchy. "Won't You Help Me Doc" is also flavoured by italo and some really nice synths.

The Tapeaters - Reprise [Tracasseur exclusive]

The Tapeaters - Won't You Help Me Doc [Tracasseur exclusive]

And if you are longing for something A-haish, then you got the perfect track especially made for early Sunday's lazy rave; "Sunday Morning (DJs Rave)" is the track for you.

The Tapeaters - Sunday Morning (DJs Rave) [Tracasseur exclusive]

Apart from above mentioned tracks the rest of the album is really good. A solid debut album from The Tapeaters that will keep you playing this record far into 2011. Go and get your own copy of "Visions" exclusively in high quality on Beatport and don't forget to write something nice on The Tapeaters fanpage. Nostrovia!

Exclusive interview: Digitalfoxglove

Today we proudly present an exclusive interview with German electro star Peter Vincenz Wenk, better known as Digitalfoxglove. The interview came about in a rather unorthodox way. We got an email from him with his new remix of Leeds indie-band Heads We Dance and an invitation to ask for more information. Some emailing back and forth led to an improvised chat interview, complete with the soundtrack of his live-streamed mixing.

I’ve edited out some off-topic discussions, like the differences between Swedish and German Christmas foods and favourite rum drinks, but if you’re really interested you could email us and we’ll be happy to indulge you. It still has a chatty feel to it, so bare with us when we're jumping between the topics.

When the interview starts below, Peter had already told me about his plans for an album release in the summer. He had also played me a snippet of his upcoming track “Synthetic Sunshine”, which we’re eagerly anticipating.

First off, how did you come up with your name?
I thought about a name and I wanted something... poisonous. A Foxglove is a deadly flower and then I added "digital" since I make electronic music.

You’re German. Where in Germany are you from?
I'm living in Darmstadt, a small town near Frankfurt. If you would translate it to English it would be "Gut city", so well, it’s the end of the world…

Gut city, eh? Yeah, 'tarm' is gut in Swedish so it sounds about right.

(here we had a linguistical discussion about the similarities between Swedish and German and the influence of German on Swedish from the Middle Ages)

So when did your interest in music develop?
Oh, that started really early when I was around twelve years old. I had just got my first computer and a good friend from school brought Impulse Tracker 2.14 (for DOS) to me. I think it was around 1994 or 1996. I messed around a lot in that little program; sampled a lot of stuff, crazy work for a dumb kid but it was so funny to play around with. When I turned 17 and started my everyday work I stopped making music till I was 23.

I listened to heavy metal and stuff and went through almost every genre. Then I met Aleks from Discodust. We were working at the same company for a while and are now good friends. He brought back my fire for electronic music. I'm 26 now so that was in the 90s..

So how did you make contact with On the Fruit Records?
That also happened thanks to Aleks. He got me in contact with Franck (Freak You) and we both loved each other’s 'trash and unfinished tracks' folder so much that we decided to do a collaboration. Now we are really good friends too. One of my best I think despite the geographical distance (Franck lives in Antibes, France).

Speaking of your music, it’s no surprise that you say you listen to metal. You can sometimes hear that sort of guitar walls in your music that sounds a bit like French trash electro, but with a twist.
I think that’s because I overused distortion on for example “Brassionata”, but I’ve left that style a bit. On the other hand I'm a big fan of Rammstein. I just received a fat banner of their new album. It’s three meters wide and one meter high. I’ll hang that over my screen. It says 'Love is there for everyone'…

That’s nice. So, trashing your old music are you, hehe?
Yeah I'm going to change my style a bit. I’m trying to get a bit more funk mixed up with dreamwave and also some heavy passages.

Yeah, that sort of trashy French electro has evolved a bit hasn’t it?
Yeah it has definitely. Speaking of that, I'm working together with Slaughterbrains too on a new track that shows the direction that I'm moving in.

(Here Pete played a snippet of the upcoming collaboration)

We recorded it via Skype during a live jamming session while having some drinks…

Sounds great! I think that you have a great feeling for melodies and harmonies, especially in the track with Freak You.
Thank you. Well, I’ve never played any instruments, except drums when I was younger. Because our family was not very rich, I never got my own drum set and I had to find another way to make music.

So your musical influences are metal and Rammstein?
Haha, no not really. Sure, I love metal but if I have to decide which music really influences me then that is some work of Miami Horror and all that nice sounding 80s stuff. But I really don’t have fixed genres that I like – I'm always trying to do different stuff, like the little dubstep influenced breakdown in my “Take my Picture” remix.

Do you dj?
Yeah sometimes, but I'm focusing on production. Sure, djing is fun too and I think in 2010 I will play some more gigs. But what I'm often doing is djing online!

(at this point Pete sets up a stream and starts mixing live online, with our chat sprawling out to discussions over track selections, favourite drinks etc)

Do you play in any clubs in the Darmstadt area?
I’ve just had two gigs so far. One was in Salzburg the other one in Dresden.

…Oh, I got more info for you! “Beasts and Flowers” will be re released with remixes by We are Enfant Terribles, Justin Faust, Diamond Cut, FFair, Underhall and Jungle Fiction.

Cool, that’s great news! On On the Fruit?
Yes.

What’s your favourite music right now?
Miami Horror – “Sometimes”, some Justin Faust stuff, the new Monsieur Adi – “We are the Romans” and of course Freak You's remix of it.

Tell me about the collaboration with him. How did it work?
For “Beasts and Flowers” it was like... I did some melodies, especially chords and leads and some bells. Then I was talking to Franck and he said wow, let’s finish this one together! I exported what I had so far and then it was just taken to another level. So let’s say he did the polishing of everything and also was the man behind the nice bassline and the long sweeping chords that starts at about halfway into the track.

What’s your relation to these 8/16bit sounds? I mean I grew up playing videogames with these sounds.
Oh, I love chip tunes! I'm a passionate C-64 fan. I had one since I was 10. I used to play Kikstart (a motocross game) on it, and Giana Sisters of course. I had an Amiga 500 too. I played with Protracker on it. And Firepower 2000 and North and South.

So what do you think will be the direction of "French electro" in the future? You were talking about more dreamwave stuff…
That's not an easy question, but I think Kris Menace, Alan Braxe and other big ones have put that music to a whole new level. I think it will just get more… 'real'. With real instruments; live played bass and that sort of thing.

Thanks for the chat and the great music and good luck!

Heads We Dance - Take My Picture (Digitalfoxglove Surprise Remix)

Moulinex & Xinobi - DISCO Texas Theme (Digitalfoxglove Remix)

Visitor - Los Feeling (Digitalfoxglove + Wonder Remix) (repost)

Digitalfoxglove feat. Freak You - Beasts and Flowers (also on Arnie's Best of 2009 mixtape)

Grum - Woah (Digitalfoxglove Remix)

Digitalfoxglove - Brassionata

And, finally, here's the actual mix Digitalfoxglove did during the interview:

Digitalfoxglove - Liveset for Tracasseur