maroko

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Name: Martin Vuković Member Since: Dec 02, 2006 Rank: 336 Average Vote Received: Needs Minor Changes (3.38, 8 votes) Rated 629 releases, average: 4.21 Location: Zagreb, Croatia Profile: One of Zagreb's vintage flyers, for the 1995 Diva Futura club night. Naturally I was too young to attend, but how can you not love such a simple yet striking and honest flyer? I am a Zagreb born and bred electronic music afficionado, and have been activelly following the ongoing development of the scene ever since the Members Of Mayday seemed like the greatest invention after sliced bread. At Zagreb's legendary Mungos Club some years ago: My first encounters with parties date back to 1998, when Astralis, an event organizing team, threw first goa/psy trance orientated parties in a club called The Best. The DJs who spun there were DJ Go Cut and Damir Ludvig (AKA DJ Ludvig). Both of them are still present on the scene, although miles away from the entire niche of psychedelic trance music. Another DJ who was a big influence at the time was Zagreb's Vox (6), who played goa trance as well, occasionally even with the duo mentioned above. My earliest musical purchases were influenced by his DJ sets as often they reflected the stuff he would be playing. Here is an old flyer of an underground party in Zagreb, with Vox being part of the line-up. I wasn't there that night, but nevertheless, it's a cool document to Zagreb's underground movement: If I may put it that way, the apex of my party going career was reached around the turn of the century, when the notorious Future Shock parties, organized by a well respected, famous and long running group of party promoters, packed a crowd of 10,000 people in one of Zagreb's largest venues, called Velesajam. Some of the biggest names from all over the world were reunited under one roof. It was during those Future Shock parties, in 2000 and 2001, that I have experienced some of the most intense and unforgettable moments of my party life. Zagreb's last strobe of light: Subsequently, Petar Dundov, one of Croatia's major electronic music exports, began to throw his own Perfection parties, and during a five year period, he successfully brought every techno household name of the era to Zagreb. I remember it being a fun time where I had the chance to hear a lot of my musical idols play live. Here are (attempted) glimpses of the party atmosphere back then: Zagreb @ it:: Other then that, Zagreb has some of its own DJ legends, such as Mr. DJ Dario, Ivan Komlinovic, DJ Mary, and Kristian Nardic (AKA DJ Kiki), all active to this day, though some to a lesser extent than others. I just felt like it was my duty to jot their names down as these are guilty parties to blame for forcing me into spending uncountable amounts of money on new releases. Today, I am preferably to be caught at parties focused on the harder aspect of the techno spectrum (not schranz, mind you!). There are times when I enjoy some modern minimal, although it began to bore me. Party to party, it all sounds the same. As for psy trance, I tend to visit one larger international festival during summer, and a party now and then comes in handy. In Paris, end of May 2008: Shots of the Rex Club in Paris, taken on Saturday, May 31st 2008. Jeff Mills had an all-nighter...: As for my musical preferences, I try not to by picky and geeky about genres, but I maintain a steady focus on harder techno (very big fan of the Downwards style), old school Detroit and goa trance, plus I like anything painted over with wicked 303s. Today I mainly collect releases which I missed the first time around, years ago. For example, if I ID a track from an old set which rocked my boat many a times, I'll venture on a treasure hunt and see if I can track down the tune in its full, unmixed form. I kind of toned it down with old school goa trance though, as that stuff has steadily but gradually ceased to fascinate me as much as it did. This is my humble room set-up. But I love it!: You can always check out my burek account, where I keep items I am willing to trade away or sell. Go on, feel free to check it out, although I do look kinda scary... First and foremost, my musical heroes are: X-101/X-102/X-103/Underground Resistance Petar Dundov/Brothers's Yard Etnica/Pleiadians Jochem Paap with his many aliases, he is my musical public energy #1! Depeche Mode 1984-1990 Joey Beltram the R & S Records period Cosmosis Regis My priceless vinyl with Speedy J logo etchings: I let my dawg take care of business: Friendly and trustworthy traders: Dizzy_Soulfire canyon-Kalle technosomy psyhoe Jooloos bowman pedrofromportugal yan Josephschembri ElBocheno sTevihnO PsyGoatDelic If you double cross me, I'll get my hatchet. And then...

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Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (16 ratings)

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• OLD SKOOL LOVERS '80 - '93

Ron Trent - Altered States (Original Plates) - 20-Nov-09 05:43 AM
This is going to be simple and easy: Ron Trents "Altered States" is by far the best, and my own personal favorite house release I have ever had the opportunity to listen to. Nothing in particular I could point to and say "this is what got me hooked", because all three tracks shine and radiate with soul, quality, originality and ideas.
The music is hypnotic, groovy and extremely accessible, even upon the first listen, and the melody work and the use of harmony is some of the most breath taking I have ever come across in electronic music. The title track has one of the most memorable lead melodies ever recorded, I swear you will not forget it once you hear it. It is applied to great effect, and repeated throughout, creating a real voyage, as the track lasts for thirteen minutes. The music just floats, takes you wherever you want to be, and touches your heart as well as inviting you to move your feet and nod your head along, be it all over the dance floor or the comfort of your living room. House music from way back when not every great house tune had to have vocals about dancing all night long and/or showing some love, and you didnt need to have break downs and climaxes with cheap filter sweeps in order for people to wave their 15 euro cocktails in the air. It actually puts many trance producers careers on the line and Ron Trent shows how it gets done. To think this release was originally published in 1990 is beyond comprehension. What is even worse is that almost two full decades later, nobody on this planet has even come close to reaching the sheer brilliance displayed here. Trust me, this is an obbligatory stop if you have even heard of the term house music.
This is a thirty minute music lesson you really want to take. I play this record whenever I can for whoever I can, whenever I have the opportunity. I am not even a dedicated follower of house music, but this just overlaps any genre borders and rules, restrictions, whatever. Essential piece of electronic music history. Not hearing this is like claiming you love gangster movies but never taking the time to check out "The Godfather".

D.O.M. - Acid War - Remixes - 19-Nov-09 08:45 PM
OK now, the original might come in handy every now and then, or serve for the odd occassion, but this whole release is all about the remixes, actually. For a change, yeah, the remixers really did elevate the original to whole new heights.
First off, Wah Wahs remix is a blasting, who-can-count-that-fast-to-count-the-BPM-rate acid trancecore monster, with a hardcore touch moving at incredible velocity, with jarring and steel hammer hard acid riffs. Completely wild and off the hook. Definitely something to play during the peak of the night. No pauses, no breaks and no climaxes - just torrents of wild acid dropped for around five minutes after a brief intro and the initial build up.
Then comes Chris Liberator with one of his career calling cards. To my knowledge this is the first remix hes ever done, and what a treat it is. Rolling, 4/4 percussion, with a funky as hell bassline as the sounds and acid leads slowly but steadily gain in loudness and intensity as they progress. By the time that final break comes, prior to the last stand-off, this track is already a wicked mental hospital, then for the last two minutes or so Chris goes completely mad, twists and tweaks with these insane acid melodies and plays a dozen tricks on your mind. Fun, danceable, funky and banging, and inclined to smack an ear to ear smile across your face - isnt that what techno is all about? Absolutely essential for all lovers of Londons underground acid techno scene.

Chris Liberator - 19-Nov-09 08:55 AM
October 30th 2009 in Zagrebs Boogaloo club was the first time I listened to Chris Knowles (aka Chris Liberator) live. Plain and simple, he annihilated the dance floor. It is not often we get members of Londons legendary and pivotal Stay Up Forever collective down here, so every opportunity I get to attend a gig theyre at - you can count me in.
Back to Chris. Production wise he is a well known and respected underground legend, a pioneer in Londons squat scene, with countless acid techno classics tucked under his belt, as well as (more recently) harder, no nonsense techno bangers, like the stuff you can hear on Henry Cullens Hydraulix imprint. Numerous remixes, collaborations and involvements in many projects marked his constant presence on the scene, but above all, his dedication and determination to always deliver the raw, fresh and plain different music is breath taking. Never venturing into mainstream waters, at least not intentionally, his productions are sharp and very (hate me for saying it) danceable. Favorites remain to this day Cats Eye, released on the "Typhoon EP" released on Prolekult (KULT 24) in 1998, and the toss-your-hands-up-in-the-air take on D.O.M.s Acid War!
After the aforementioned party was over, I had the chance to run into him at the bar, and we had a nice fifteen minute chat about the history of acid music, the classics, the ups and downs of todays scene and so forth... A very down to earth, friendly and communicative guy. I gotta thank him for all the info about the music and so forth. Above all, a big amount of respect for carving his name into our ears, and for delivering such a powerful and furious set, at these times when it seems the slower and bleaker music you play, the more chances you have entering that top 100 DJ list.
Great guy, dont miss the chance to catch him live.

Miss Kittin And The Hacker* - Champagne! E.P. - 19-Nov-09 07:03 AM
Put this old favorite on today and I have to confess the A side tracks still amaze me. After the brief intro, Frank Sinatra, The Grey Area and 1982 are three top notch electroclash classics with ballsy attitude and funny vocals. Miss Kittin has never sounded this entertaining again, while the catchy and popish melody on 1982 earned it heavy radio and club rotation. Frank Sinatra, quite probably the duos most known tune ever, has badd ass production and Miss Kittin crushing your ego with arrogant and inimitable vocals.
The B side I dont fancy that much since, after all, I am not that big of an electro head. Gratin Dauphinois is a straight up instrumental electro number, and despite a tremendous and pumelling bass line, on a whole I dont recall playing it too much. In comparison to the pure fun displayed throughout the A side, this is too sudden of a change in mood and sound. The Gigolo Outro is not that different from the Gigolo Intro, while the last bonus track, Dirty Talk, is back on track, though way too short. A very playful and easily accessible melody with Miss Kittins vocals absolutely dominating here. Unfortunately, it all comes to an end way too soon.
Overall, this is a good one, though I would recommend getting their debut album "First" before this any day of the week. It contains two of the best tracks from this EP (Frank Sinatra and 1982), as well as two fistfulls of similar tunes. The influence of this should not be underrated though, as I seriously doubt these two would have ever gotten the recognition they did if it werent for Gigolo who gave them a chance. Good start to what would soon become an internationally recognized and well respected musical partnership.

Miss Kittin & The Hacker - PPPO - 18-Nov-09 02:01 AM
Wow, just where did this come from? For reasons I will not elaborate upon here, Miss Kittins & The Hackers latest joined output, "Two", did not impress me at all as whole, but my god does PPPO shine! The obvious electro influences are toned down, so is Kittins vocal presence. In return, they offer more striaght up dance floor material, where her impressive voice bursts out with the terms "people pleasure objects power" with huge crescendos of sound building and building as her crazy voice fades out. There is this hypnotic hook throughout with a god sent bass line. There is no way in hell this wont devastate clubs.
Speaking of which, Sandwell District hero Function drops a deep techno killer, with subtle and rolling percussion, with enough punch in the bass department to make subwoofers twitch in agony, as Miss Kittins haunting voice is layed over pulsating hooks. Unlike the original version, Functions remake is more linear, meaning there are no eruptions of acoustical madness and rabid hisses, but just deep and hypnotic sequences with fantastic arrangement.
If somehow Miss Kittins vocals just dont do it for you, on the B2 side you have the instrumental version of the original.
In brief: my hypothesis is that if this one does not become a club hit shortly, all music has gone to hell. Mesmerizing, effective and above all, damn good! I actuall enjoyed listening to all three versions of PPPO more than the album this single was taken from.

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