Bottin released one of the standout albums of 2009 with his "Horror Disco" LP on Italo disco label Italians Do It Better. Similar in style to the Black Devil Disco Club, the artist mines a vein of dark, retro-tinged disco. His Meltonin Mix on Soundcloud captures his dark, but also playful and danceable sound.

This week, BASSLINEFM has a new mix out, focusing on past, present and future electro tracks.

If nothing else, you have to admire the Pacemaker for its audacity. Like the iPod and the iPhone, Tonium's portable DJ mix capable MP3 player really is the first of its kind. And continuing the parallel, the DJ equipment company has launched a slick advertising campaign aimed at DJs and electronic music heads that is more than a little reminiscent of Apple, if Steve Jobs had maybe dropped a couple tabs like back in the 70s. The goal is fairly clear - Tonium wants to equate their DJ MP3 player with the high end industrial design of companies like Apple, and therefore overcome any resistance out there in the market for swallowing the rather hefty $400 price tag.

So how does the Pacemaker measure up? Rather well, actually, but more in terms of innovation than in terms of quality. It's absolutely not any kind of substitute for actual turntables, or pro DJ CD players, or even professional DJ mix software like Ableton Live. As with most technologies, it has its share of technical glitches that could prove frustrating to unlucky consumers. What it does do rather well is take DJ mixing into a whole new realm - call it casual mixing. Ever get the urge to hear what two tracks on your iPod would sound like beatmatched together? Well, now you can. The Pacemaker makes the act of creat techno, house and trance tracks intuitive and easy enough that you can literally be mixing as you walk down the street - although you might get some puzzled expressions as you constantly fool with the controls on what looks a little like the MP3 player equivalent of those oversized cellphones from the 80s.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Falty DL produced a second stunning release just months later, the "Bravery" EP. "Bravery" continued the bass-heavy, soulful sound of "Love Is A Liability," but if anything felt more mature and developed, borrowing less from the European sound and more from the producer's native New York, even sampling a snippet of rapper Nas on one of the tracks. While both discs might rank of among the best of the year, "Bravery," out now on Planet Mu, gets my vote for the more compelling listen.

You can get a taste of Falty DL's sound on his FACT Magazine Podcast, available below.

No promo mixes to speak of, but you can hear a number of tracks from Breakage on this DJ mix show on Rinse FM, also featuring Skream and DJ Madd.

With former Parliament bass player Mike Banks, Mills created the now-legendary techno group Underground Resistance, whose early releases were some of the first to hint at taking the techno sound pioneered by artists like Derrick May and Juan Atkins in a harder, more minimal direction. UR were also among the first to adopt a full-fledged narrative and image for techno, based around militaristic resistance to established societal norms and artistic conceptions, while at the same time remaining faceless and rarely revealing their own identity or doing interviews.

Following a move to Berlin which resulted in a long-standing alliance with the Tresor techno label, Jeff Mills settled in Chicago where he would set up the Axis record label along with fellow minimal techno legend Rob Hood. It was on Axis that the radical, pioneering sound Mills is best known for was created - an uncompromising, at times brutally minimal strain of techno that would win him a following worldwide. At the same time, Mills' talent as a DJ carried on into the era of techno, as he became one of the few artists capable of bringing hip hop level turntablism to the realm of underground electronic music. His sets, often working with three turntables, saw him cutting and scratching quickly between records at a rapid pace, using the minimal tracks released on Axis and like-minded labels to create DJ mix sound collages that are both technically and aesthetically gripping. It's an approach perhaps best captured on his classic live set in Tokyo, recorded as a single track with deliberately rough, lo-fi sound and released as the "Live At The Liquid Room" mix. The CD release remains one of the defining techno DJ mixes.

Through a series of releases on Axis and sublabels such as Purpose Maker, Mills helped define the minimal or "hard" techno sound - a more dancefloor oriented approach than ultra-minimal artists like Basic Channel, but a far more thoughtful, realized vision than the legions of European techno artists whose works were piling up as techno gained popularity on that continent. Jeff Mills therefore became known, through the combination of his carefully managed artistic output and legendary DJ mix ability, as something of a legend in the techno community. Further cultivating the image of Axis and its sublabels, Mills defined a very specific visual image with his striking, futuristic cover imagery, recalling early 20th century futurism.

This interest in retro-futurism was furthered by his reimagining of the soundtrack to the classic film "Metropolis" released in 2000. Further more esoteric endeavors saw him collaborating with the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra on the "Blue Potential" album, which featured orchestral reworks of some of his tracks. He also captured his DJ mix talents on the "Exhibitionist" CD and DVD release, featuring a trademark Jeff Mills sequence of tracks.

Mills continues to DJ around the world and expand his labels' offerings into the digital realm by recently releasing his catalog on MP3. At the same time, it's fascinating to go back and hear the early Mills sound, which can be heard thanks to this set of original 80s recordings as The Wizard which were recently offered online via a Detroit messageboard:

Jeff Mills AKA the Wizard WJLB Detroit 86 to 89 mixes

France of all places has a history of quality hip hop, from the 90s downtempo, to the twisted analog dreams of Mr. Oizo, to the craziness of TTC, and now Parisian producer Debruit offers his own take on an American art form. If you've been following the man's releases on his Musique Large label, you'll remember banging, club ready (but slightly off kilter) beats, like a slightly reined in Mr. Oizo. His most recent EP, Let's Post Funk, was a slinky futuristic soul that would fit in easily with West Coast retro-funk don Dam Funk's finest work.

Here we have Mr. Debruit delivering a chopped up mix of electronics and hip hop classics for FACT magazine.

Modeselektor return with a hot new single "Art & Cash." It's your typical dub-hip-techno-banger we've come to expect from these guys, but the highlight has got to be this freakishly good (and hilarious) video directed by German motion graphics superstars Pfadfinderei. I think it has something to do with Art Basel...

While we wait for a new album, here's a recent promo DJ mix they did for RA - taking in a typically eclectic mix of techno, dubstep, hip hop, and so on.

Digital DJ mixing continues to move forward as more creative DJ equipment and live performance tools enter the mix. The Novation Launchpad controller, codeveloped by Novation and Ableton, looks like an interesting entry into the growing range of MIDI controllers geared towards digital DJ mixes and live sets. At $200, it’s well below the cost of other MIDI controllers, although obviously it also lacks much of the functionality of more advanced DJ equipment.

Essentially, the Ableton Launchpad is made up of a grid of 64 buttons which can be mapped by DJs to individual clips in Ableton Live. There are also eight “scene-launch” buttons which can be used to trigger different scenes while mixing a live set. The buttons receive input from the DJ mix software (i.e., Ableton Live) as well as sending it so the DJ can see tracks that are loaded, playing, and being recorded. One of the most interesting aspects is that DJs can switch to a “Mixer Mode,” where the rows and columns of the Launchpad can be set to act as sliders or faders allowing the Launchpad to control volume, pan, effects, etc (you can see how this works in the demo video from Ableton below). Also, up to 6 Launchpads can be combined and input into the same machine for even more control over the DJ mix or live performance.

Although it’s intended as a dedicated controller for Ableton’s Live music performance and DJ mix software (the controller will ship with a special new ‘Launchpad edition’ of Ableton’s Live software 8), the Launchpad can control almost any other DJ mix or audio program using Novation’s ‘Automap’ control software. Overall, the Launchpad looks to be an interesting product, and there’s no doubt Ableton will be selling a lot of them. In some ways, it’s almost a simplified, mass market version of JazzMutant’s more full-functioned (and far more expensive) Lemur, which was used by Daft Punk on their last tour. It’s definitely great to see companies experimenting with new tools for mixing, and seeing product designers step up to the challenge after seeing so much innovation in the DJ software space.

Check out a demo here:

Although today she’s known as one of the most prominent promoters of the dubstep sound, Radio One DJ Mary Anne Hobbes has had a long career in music journalism which started back in the 80s, when she was hired as a writer for Sounds magazine at the age of 19. After a stint at seminal British music magazine NME, she eventually went into radio, and at the BBC hosted both a rock and roll show, as well as the Breezeblock show focusing on experimental electronic music. Breezeblock drew in listeners from around the world as the dubstep, grime and wonky scenes gained popularity, thanks in part to MAH’s promotion of the sound. This DJ mix from Barcelona electronic music festival Sonar gives you a glimpse into the level of creativity and raw energy currently emanating from the scene, with instantly classic tunes like Starkey’s “Gutter Music”, Gemmy’s “Rainbow Road”, and “Purple City” by Joker.

Drumcorps – ‘Terrible Things’ (Ad Noiseum)
Reso – ‘Octacon’ (Dubplate)
Kryptic Minds – ‘Six Degrees’ (Swamp 81)
Gemmy – ‘Rainbow Rd. (Planet Mu)
Starkey – ‘Gutter Music’ (Keysound)
Jakes – ‘In Tha Place To Be’ (HENCH)
DVA – ‘Bullet A Go Fly’ (Keysound)
Jason Sparks – ‘Gangstaz’ Reso remix (Dubplate)
Silkie – ‘Purple Love’ (Deep Medi)
Andy Stott – ‘Drippin’ (Modern Love)
Pinch ‘Teleport’ (Planet Mu)
Swarmz – ‘Never Step On Me’ (Demo)
Skream – ‘Meta-Lick!!!’ (Dubplate)
Joker & Ginz – ‘Purple City’ (Kapsize)
Martyn – ‘Elden St.’ (3024)
LD & Benga – ‘Yes Yes’ (Dubplate)
Mala – ‘Eyez’ (Dubplate)
Computer Jay – ‘Maintain’ Ikonika remix (Ramp)
Shortstuff – ‘Stuff’ (Dubplate)
Debruit – ‘Soul Sweat’ Reso mix (Dubplate)
Starkey – ‘Pleasure Points’ (Dubplate)
Statix – ‘Mind Over Matter’ (Dubplate)
Chase & Status – ‘Eastern Jam’ VIP 3 (Dubplate)

Download Mary Anne Hobbes DJ Mix

Check out a video of Mary Anne Hobbes at Sonar here:

Killer dubstep set.

Download Dusk and Backdown DJ Mix Here

Drum n bass pioneers Aquasky have posted a new promo mix.

Download Aquasky DJ Mix Set Here

The Wireblock label has been tearing it up this year, with releases from artists like Rustie and Hudson Mohawke.

Spencer:
01 Redinho “Intro”
02 Redinho “Bare Blips” (Numbers)
03 Hudson Mohawke “Ooops” (Wireblock X LuckyMe)
04 Rustie “Keesha Resmack” (Unreleased)
05 Ghosts on Tape “Straight From Cassette” (Wireblock)
06 Slugabed “Barbara” (Numbers)
07 Hudson Mohawke “Acoustic Lady” (Warp)
08 Harmonic 313 “Computer Bridge”

Nelson:
09 Fatima Yamaha “What’s a Girl to Do” (D1)
10 Donae’o “Riot Music” (Universal)
11 Redshape “Dog Day” (Millions Of Moments)
12 Ying Yang Twins “Shake (feat. Pitbull)” (TVT)
13 Break Machine “Are You Ready” (Judge Chop)
14 Hard House Banton “Sirens” (Spoilt Rotten)
15 Enur feat. Natasja “Calabria 2007 (Acapella)”
16 Untold “Just For You (Roska Remix)” (Hotflush)
17 Pierre’s Pfantasy Club “Mystery Girl (Set Me Free)” (Wireblock/Numbers)
18 Ghosts on Tape “Predator Mode” (Wireblock)
19 Lando Kal “3D Action Jackson” (Numbers)
20 L-Vis 1990 “United Groove (MJ Cole Remix)” (Mad Decent)

Spencer:
21 808 State “Flow Coma (AFX mix)” (Men/Rephlex)
22 Model 500 “No UFOs Loop” (Metroplex)
23 Mr Oizo “Positif” (Ed Banger)
23 Sparky “Portland” (Stuffrecords/Numbers)
24 Modeselektor “Silikon (Siriusmo Remix)” (BPitch Control)
25 Alex Cortex “Phlogiston” (PAL)
26 Close Up Over (a.k.a. The Black Dog) “Olivine” (Warp)
27 Joy Orbison “J. Doe” (Doldrums)
28 Wedge & Shadz “Running Away (Guido Remix)” (If Symptoms Persist)
29 Taz Buckfaster “Strikefirst” (Numbers)
30 Joy Orbison “Hyph Mngo” (Hotflush)
31 Afrika Hitech “Blen” (Warp)
32 Zomby “Digital Fauna” (Brainmath)
33 DJ Assault “Techno Freak” (Assault Rifle)
34 Remote “The Swarm” (Underground Resistance)
35 Moderat “Seamonkey (Untold Remix)” (BPitch Control)
36 Rustie & Joker “Play Doe” (Kapsize)
37 Martyn “Vancouver” (3024)
38 Guido “Orchestral Lab” (Punch Drunk)
39 Hudson Mohawke “FUSE” (Warp)

Listen To The DJ Mix Here

Download DJ Mix Here

Ableton has just launched version 8 for their software, which offers a new Warp engine for beat matching, better performance and additional DJ software instruments such as a vocoder. My only wish is that there were more readily available hardware/ DJ mixer options out there to use with Live. While it works well with a number of controllers - and indeed, any MIDI controller can be used with it - greater standardization would help the industry get on board and move forward with digital mixing.

Aphex Twin isn’t known so well for his DJing, but here’s a clip of him playing at Coachella last year. Wicked!

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Tracklist :
AKU-FEN - Infection and war
CDR - Psychedelic fairy
GROSSO GADGETTO - Cia
LED PIPERZ - Jewel of creation
NOONE - Fatchococake
OHMWERK & OPTI - Hammering
OPTI - Nith s flat
PARAL-LEL - Freak beat
RANDOMATIK BLAST - Martyrs
REKTAL DISTORTION - Faceprout
SVINDRON - Plasticit
THE SPACEBAR - This is a love song
UZUL PROD - Albanian rhapsody

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