All posts by Monsieur Seb

DJ with 25 years experience, composer/producer, music journalist, translator, writer, cook, dad.

Monsieur Seb’s Golden Oldie for the Weekend

Back in 2000, when my sacrosanct label — Paper Recordings — was still hot but had nonetheless begun it’s slow — and sad — decline, this 12″ came out.

Not one I’m naturally enclined to seek to listen, but anytime it does come on, I’m always very happy to hear it, which guess means I should soon start to naturally seek it out… 😉

So here it is:


StrykerRiki Don’t Lose That Number
Riki Don’t Lose That Number

StrykerConscious
Conscious

The archives are online

Hey y’all.

I’ve archives all the tracks I’ve produced, co-produced or remixed so far, since 2000.

I’ve included a few details on each track, and I’m presenting them in alphabetical order because, for most of them, I’ve lost the actual date of creation in a hard drive crash.

Indeed, a lot of those tracks only exist in audio format because the Reason master file (.rns) was lost.

In alphabetical order also beacuse I don’t want to put any of them forward, even though I should, but like I said, it’s an archive, not a sales pitch.

To wit, the fact that for the vast majority of them, the title is a working title, and and real title is important to me once a track is finished. I’ll let you guess which ones I think are completed tracks.

They are only available to stream, but I’ll gladly send you a copy should you request one.

The archive is HERE

Monsieur Seb’s Gift of Music (Free New Composition 4 U)

fall

When inspiration comes, just go with the flow.

Here’s a very ambient track I recorded almost in one shot this morning and that I’ve titled “Fall”.

Ended up sounding a lot like Stars of the Lid and other ambient drone artists that I really like a lot, so I guess one could consider this new track of mine a form of hommage.

Hope you like it!

As always, your donations are welcome to help me pay for the file hosting! 😉







You can stream it Fall or download it (320 kbps VBR mp3) by right-clicking the image.

Monsieur Seb’s Daily Music Suggestion: Let’s Save the World with Music

PREFAB_SPROUT_238757s

Yeah, the Beatles also had that goal, at some point, but while today everyone’s mind is on the excellent reissue of the Fab 4’s catalog (more on that later), another release came out yesterday, unbeknownst to most.

Heck, even I only heard about it yesterday thanks to the fact I am a fan on their Facebook page!

I’m talking about the “new”-ish album by Prefab Sprout, one of my favoritest bands (they never knew much success on this side of the Big Pond, but look here to know more about them).

“Newish”, because this is more or less a new album in the sense that it’s actually demos of an unreleased album dating back to 1992, songs that were composed and recorded as a follow-up to their masterpiece Jordan: The Comeback, but never released.

As such, then, I’d say that this release is intended for hardcore fans, because the production quality, although excellent sonically, lacks in instrumentation. It obviously sounds as if Paddy recorded the whole thing on his own with a keyboard and sampler, and one can only dream of what it would sound like with a full string orchestra, brass, section and Thomas Dolby’s Midas touch…

But it’s pure delight, nonetheless, to have new Prefab songs to listen to, especially this one which I immediately fell in love with after my first listen of the album.

Prefab Sprout – I Love Music
I Love Music

Here, you’ll find a radio interview of Paddy on BBC2, last Thursday (Sept. 3rd)
Paddy on BBC

Monsieur Seb’s Daily Music Suggestion: Happy Birthday to Moi!

beurthday

For my birthday, I’m the one giving y’all a gift!

Again, here’s a mix born out of an intense bout of inspiration.

From the initial idea to the completion of the recording session, this mix took me about 12 hours, which really isn’t long compared to the usual gestation time I need for a new mix, and it was just in time for my birthday party, last Saturday!

I really like this one, I hope you will too!

Thanks to Karim for the pic.

Cheers!

You can stream or download Birthday Mix and your donations are welcome to help me pay for the file hosting!

TRACKLISTING

Monsieur Seb’s Cosmix, volume IV: Welcome to Planet Khizmyazz

Yes, boys and girls, bipeds, quadrupeds and dodecapeds!

The new installment of the Cosmix series has landed!

It has been gestating since… well, since I released the previous installment!

Get your space helmets on, cadets, because I pulled all the stops on this one: it doesn’t attempt to please anyone or anything but the most weirdly disco neuron hiding in your brain — hence the title, and if you don’t get it right away, just repeat the name of the planet out loud a few times :p

At just under two hours, it’s the shortest mix in the series so far.

Lots of psychedelic fun is included, I strongly suggest… Heck no! I strongly RECOMMEND, that you don’t listen to this while straight.

I sincerely hope you enjoy, and if you don’t, try again: it’ll grow on you!

You can stream or download the mix and and your donations are welcome to help me pay for the file hosting!

Oh! And that gorgeous planet that’s the album art? It’s a soap bubble!

TRACKLISTING

  1. Buzz In (Optimo Remix) – Boris
  2. Double Fisted (Prins Thomas Disko Miks) – Scotty Coats & Wes the Mes
  3. Neeve – Projections & Woolfy
  4. Is Sorrow (Black Machine’s Lucifer Rising Dub) – Black Devil Disco Club
  5. Sparkling Stars – Petar Dundov
  6. Vuelo – Skatebard
  7. The Simple Life – The Juan MacLean
  8. Goin’ Underground (Extended version) – Partners in Crime
  9. Don’t Sleep – Zepp001
  10. They Prefer The Disco – The Bionics
  11. Dancing In Outer Space (The Revenge Rework 2) – Atmosfear
  12. The Deep End (Holy Ghost! Day School Dub Mix) – Curses!
  13. Spaghetti Circus – Still Going
  14. Love Don’t Dance Here Anymore – Tiga
  15. Space People – S. Mallia
  16. Red Heart (Vlad Nayward Edit) – Tele Music
  17. exp3 (aka Two Sequencers Are Better Than One) – John Daly
  18. Mancry (Justus Kohncke’s Epic Diskokraut Club Mix) – Freeland

Monsieur Seb’s Daily Music Suggestion: I See the Way

seetheway

Pure and simple, one of my all time favourite tracks.

One of the rarest of times where you’ll catch me being nostalgic.

Reminds me of a Rave in Quebec City that we had entitled Sweet (I also designed that flyer).

It was held on the 10th floor of an abandonned bank building. The first memorable thing about this Rave was that, as you rode the elevator up to the floor where the party was, you could hear the music grow louder and louder, until the moment you reached the floor and the doors openend, and then…

BOOOM!!

The full force of the music — and the humidity from those hundreds, if not thousands, of bodies, dancing and sweating — hit you, full force…

That night, I was one of the DJs, and one of the promoters, too, and I had popped some pills before entering that venue, and when those elevator doors openend, I was so blown away… Dem pills hit me full force. I did a 360 around an axis that was perpendicular to my body at my waist (it’s hard to explain, but it was amazing to experience!)

sweetIn any case, it was probably one of the nicest Raves I’ve attended, and I’ve been told (as well as remember) that it was one of my best DJ sets of all time.

Now, I remember maybe 5 or 6 of the tracks I played during that set, but one moment I will NEVER forget is that last track of that set, the people going crazy, and the sun rising through the clouds while a very light snow was falling outside (it was Easter Sunday in 1995 and in these latitudes, a light snow on Easter Sunday is almost mandatory).

Just imagine the scene: still high on your drug of choice, this track comes on the PA while you just realize that the room is getting brighter, and not because of the lighting system, but because you’ve made it through the night, dancing your ass off in pure ecstasy (the pun is only half intended)

Rozzo – See the Way
Rozzo – See the Light

Monsieur Seb’s Daily Music Suggestion: As the Phoenix…

LotD_Full

Legendary 80’s band Handful of Snowdrops make a surprise comeback!

It’s true! It’s confirmed! To mark its 20th anniversary, Handful of Snowdrops have launched the expanded and remastered reissue of their legendary first album Land of the Damned, just over 16 years after their eloquent final release, Mort en Direct.

In addition to its superior sound quality, the album has been expanded with the track Gabrielle MMIX, a totally new version of their seminal smash hit, Gabrielle.

This reissue will be available in a deluxe package that will see the CD arrive to your door accompanied by a T-Shirt and 11″x17″ poster.

But furthermore, each CD copy — deluxe or regular — of this very limited reissue will allow collectors to download a compilation of 12 early demos titled Groundwork for Fundamentals Vol. 1, literally a sonic history of the band’s formative years, from 1984 to 1986.

“For years, I thought that Land of the Damned went practically unheard of, especially outside Canada and the U.S.

“And then, along came the Internet: I began getting tons of emails from people around the world — especially Mexico and South America — telling me how much they loved that record.

“Still, it took me many, many years to be able to accept such praise and to finally come to terms with the fact that a 20th anniversary re-edition would not be such a bad idea, after all.”

That’s how Jean-Pierre Mercier, founder and leader of the band, recalls the genesis of this project — which most fans had given up on.

Yet, the band’s MySpace player has garnered over 26 000 plays in just over a year, digits that have no doubt helped convinced Jean-Pierre that this project was well worthwhile!

Land of the Damned (Expanded & Remastered) will only available online from HOS’ website (handfulofsnowdrops.com) and on their MySpace profile (myspace.com/handfulofsnowdrops) but exceptionally and for a very limited time, it will be availble from these two retailers:

Platine
155, chemin Ste-Foy
Québec, QC, Canada
G1R 1T1
Tél.: 418.529.4222

and

Mecanica
Av. Insurgentes Sur # 277 – 2
Col. Roma, Mexico DF
Tel. 91499967
mecanica.com.mx

Click here for the complete press kit (French and English press release and album cover art)

Download Radiohead’s new song

tamtw

Jonny Greenwood wrote on the band’s blog, “We’ve been recording for a while, and this was one of the first [songs] we finished. We’re pretty proud of it. There’s other stuff in various states of completion, but this is one we’ve been practicing, and which we’ll probably play at this summer’s concerts. Hope you like it.”

via FACT magazine: music & art news, upfront videos, free downloads, classic vinyl, competitions, gigs, clubs, festivals & exhibitions – Download: Radiohead’s new song.