Harry Benson Leeds the way

I’ve got a thing about northerner’s. I used to be one myself so I will always have a soft spot for them and their funny accents!

…Which brings me on to this lad - Harry Benson. He’s based in Leeds and is part of Kill the Rhythm collective. Rightly so, he’s making serious waves. I first came across him when he sent me his awesome percussion driven track ‘Kudzu’, which is about to get released on Get Flavor records. It’s safe to say that the hype around his beats is well and truly justified; the skippy, tropical, percussive vibes make him one of my favorite new producers.

He’s been kind enough to hook me up with some goodies, which I shall now send your way.

First up is one of his originals - another percussion driven banger that skips and bubbles along nicely with bongo’s and whistles in all the right places.

Harry Benson – Sticks

Next is his heavy remake of Rive Starr’s ‘I Was Drunk’. Another sure-fire winner. Oh and there’s a small matter of a sick mix too – you’ll see what I’m on about soon enough.

 Riva Starr – I Was Drunk (Harry Benson Remake)

Harry Benson - October Get Flavor Mix  

thatboyKana

Phenomenally Infectious

Phenomenal is a bit like tremendous, only better. We here at WANARB like using the term ‘tremendous’ when talking about pretty much anything we love, but the term ‘phenomenal’ will now be taking its place when describing something absolutely outstanding, unparalleled, untold, something better than tremendous – that’s a promise.

The reason for this is ‘The Phenomenal Handclap Band‘ who are, for all intents and purposes, phenomenal. What’s even more phenomenal is the fact their track “15 to 20” has been remixed by a whole host of badass remixers, leaving you with a plethora of different mixes of their phenomenal track.

Enough with the phenomeni’s and tremendi’s a minute. I should start from the beginning. Let me take you back, I was in a car, an old Toyota Corolla to be exact, driving back into London on a surprisingly warm April evening, April 23rd to be precise. So there I was, driving along the A40 around Great Portland Street when the DJ put on a track I instantly loved; from the opening guitar twang to the sultry “5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, all that money still riding the bus” vocals. So I did what all white boys in beaten down cars with shitty factory standard stereos do – rolled the windows down, turned it up, leaned back…and cruised.

That was it, I hadn’t heard who the hell the band was, I couldn’t shazam whilst driving (it’s irresponsible) and whilst the song was infectious, I never got around to finding out who the hell it was. Fast forward seven months and even though HazMat had blogged about TPHCB back in September, I hadn’t realised until this afternoon that the band I’d loved back in April and the one he’d blogged in September were one and the same! Phenomenal!

So, enough of the talky, here’s the original and a few remixes for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

The Phenomenal Handclap Band – 15 to 20
The Phenomenal Handclap Band – 15 to 20 (The Glimmers Remix)
The Phenomenal Handclap Band – 15 to 20 (80Kidz Remix)
The Phenomenal Handclap Band – 15 to 20 (Den Haan Remix)

AK47

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Silly Sundays: Spider-Man Theme

I’m a massive Spider-Man fan, always have been; always will be. So when HazMat asked me to do ‘Silly Sundays’ this week, it was a bit of a no brainer as to what I should post.

As a child I was rarely seen without my Spider-Man costume, to the extent that one of my mum’s friends had only ever seen me wearing it. “Why does he always wear that mask? Does he have some kind of burns on his face?” she asked my Mother one time. “No,” she replied, slightly embarrassed. “I just can’t get him to wear anything else.”

Needless to say, after that comment my Mum decided to cut a hole in my mask so that my face was visible.

Anyway… It gives me great pleasure to present to you the Spider-Man theme tune from the original 1967 cartoon. As a bonus I’ve also included Aerosmith’s cover included on the soundtrack of the 2002 film adaptation.

Theme from Spider-Man - Paul Francis Webster / Robert Harris

Theme from Spider-Man – Aerosmith

- Knockturnal

DJ Hell ft Bryan Ferry

Check out this teaser for DJ Hell ft Bryan Ferry. People have been really excited about it, and to be honest I wasn’t too fussed until I heard the whole thing which is 9 minutes long and a real slow-burner, an atmospheric collaboration dreams are made of. The remixes from Carl Craig, DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy and Simian Mobile Disco will certainly be a treat!

The press garb says of the full 9-minute version: ‘“U Can Dance,” a serpentine Moroder-esque disco burner‘ – I wouldn’t go that far, Moroder’s pretty untouchable in my eyes, I bet the remixes will be better than the original!

Kara Simsek

I DO ♥ TECHNO

I Love Techno 09! How I wish I had been there. Myself and a group of friends went last year and it was some of the most hassle free out of country clubbing I have ever embarked on (anyone who has tried to reach the Benicassim festival can testify to this). We jumped on the Eurostar and after a couple of hours were nestled in the picturesque city of Brugge, before stomping off to Ghent for one of the best nights of my life.

So I was spitting feathers when this mangled girl saunters up to me last weekend, asking for a lighter, wearing an I Love Techno 09 fleece (who the fuck honestly wears a fleece anymore, especially to a rave? In fact who buys fleeces anymore? Actually why the fuck are ‘I Love Techno’ even selling fleeces?). Anyway…  we got into a conversation and she harped on about how amazing the whole thing had been, that Dave Clarke smashed it and SMD live were awesome (standard). By this point I wanted to spit in her drink, she wouldn’t have noticed either but I’m not that spiteful! Besides I couldn’t even muster moisture let alone spit.

So in celebration of mangled-random girl’s amazing night at I Love Techno here is as many of the main mixes I could find. If anyone finds a copy of Dave Clarke, Fake Blood, Laurent Garnier or the Crookers, please send me the link, although I doubt they exist.

- 4th Level Zombie

Joe ‘The God’ Goddard

Oh my! Well if you haven’t already managed to bestow your music adorning little ears on this mix yet, then today is your lucky day.

In preparation for the release of his debut solo album ‘Harvest Festival’ Mr Goddard (of Hot chip fame) has worked his minimal magic and put together this mix for everyone’s favourite online dance and electronic music magazine Resident Advisor. From acid house and bubbling synthesizers to minimal garage and some good old techno. This mix is an aphrodisiac for the ears from beginning to end, and to finish it off with ‘Feel the Need In Me’ (a funky little disco number by The Detroit Emeralds, that i haven’t heard for YEARS)… well it certainly has put a hop in my step! I dare you not to dance!

Now have some!

‘Harvest Festival’ will be released on Goddards label Greco-Roman on November the 9th.

Enjoy

Joe Goddard - RA Podcast

- Maxwinnipeg

Kap Bambino – Old Blue Last

It’s been a while since I blogged, what with my computer contracting digital AIDS. I was forced to grovel at work for a new hard drive, and then was rewarded with a mountain of work by my boss, so finding time to blog has been limited. But now I’m back and I thought it would be appropriate to bang on shamelessly about the gig I went to tuesday night.

Having been very excited about the prospect of seeing Kap Bambino at Offset festival, I was massively gutted to miss them because of my aimless wandering from place to place (mostly the campsite which looked like something out of District 9). When I eventually got back to the ECC tent I found knockturnal, AK47 and a few other friends completely hyped up at what they had just seen. Cue anger.

Anyway…  Knockturnal emails me on Monday and tells me, “All plans I had for Tuesday are out the window as we’re going to the Old Blue Last to Watch Kap Bambino”. Result! You couldn’t ask for a better venue either, the Old Blue Last is a proper dirty, grimey, East End pub. When the place starts rocking you can feel the whole first floor bouncing, which was exactly what was happening when Caroline Martial took the stage and powered around it, up the walls and into the crowd, leaving everyone screaming for more! All the while Orion Bouvier quietly smash’s through another electronic, grunge-metal mix in the background. A sensational performance!

Kap Bambino – Red Sing

Kap Bambino – Dead Lazers

Kap Bambino - Zero Life

4th Level Zombie

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WE ARE NOT TELLING LIES

The brand new single from Fenech-Soler is OUT NOW! Exclusive WANARB interview coming soon!

Fresh from playing ‘Freeze’ snowboarding festival at Battersea Powerstation the boys are hitting big with this killer track. The video was directed by Luke Bellis who has also shot promos for DeadMau5, Dan Le Sac and err Lily Allen.

Fenech-Soler are definately one of the more dance-floor oriented bands out there, mixing grinding bass and soaring synth rushes reminiscent of SubSub and Friendly Fires. Like them, the band have been left to their own devices for the most part to put these tracks together and their own production skills should be commended.

They blew me away when I saw them live supporting FrankMusik at Notting Hill Arts club a couple of years ago, now they have recruited a live drummer and it’s great to see them moving forward. Expect to hear alot more from these guys in the future >>>

Fenech-Soler – Lies (Phantoms Revenge Remix)

Bertrum1

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Remember, remember… COOOOKIE!

Firstly, R.I.P. Phones who was killed off by Mr Epworth 1 year ago today. Here is one of our favourite remixes of his from back in the day. Well… a couple of years ago.

Nine Inch Nails – Capital G (Phones mix)

Yes yes, celebrated anarchy, Guy Fawkes, *whatevs*. It’s sesame street’s 40th birthday??? Much more exciting! One song to celebrate a social institution for kids, and one song for sesame street.

NOFX - Murder The Governement

Smart E’s – Sesame’s Treet

big love!

big shadowstep!

What the hell happened to…

So with December and the new year fast approaching (yes, it’s now November, how the fuck did that happen?) We at WANARB, like many of you, have been looking back at the last ten years and coming to the realisation that a lot can, and has happened to the musical landscape in ten years. So with that, comes a post on an artist that many of you may have forgotten about, seeing as he’s only ever released one album, and that was way back in 2005.

First though, it’s our great pleasure to announce that we’re planning big things for the end of the decade – watch this space kids…

Anyways – the artist in question isn’t My Vitriol, who seem to toy with comebacks and have stated that their follow up to 2000’s ‘Finelines’ is the indie equivalent of Chinese Democracy. No, I’m talking about a man from Essex who wrote and recorded his debut album in his bedroom, someone who hasn’t said anything about a second album, someone who’s just disappeared – someone called Tom Vek. He’s the man who has had “continues to work on the follow up to 2005 debut “We Have Sound“” posted on the front page of his website and his MySpace for over two years.