Belgium's Claude Perdu is a Tree-Dweller Who's Into Techno

Photo credit: Claude Perdu/Twitter

When you hear the infectious rhythms of Eurotrash techno, don’t shy away. Embrace it. And dance like a fool.

That’s the mindset you should have when you embark on a journey through the sounds of Claude Perdu, a Belgian DJ who has stripped away the epic melodies from the format, leaving hard beats that go perfectly with a shot of absinthe and an exuberant fist pump.

We’re not sure what the scene is like in Oudenaarde, Belgium, but there’s hope for it if a guy like Claude is DJing around. Just picture him standing in the DJ booth at a half empty club wearing a really tight T shirt with a glittery shield on it. He’s pointing around the room in time with the music. He points at you. He winks and shoots you with his finger.

Another night in Oudenaarde!

Claude just posted the track below a couple of days ago. Thank the heavens that people are using raw drum sounds seriously again.

Also, not totally sure why he used the koala drinking coffee and wearing glasses image on his Soundcloud page. He’s a tree-dweller, perhaps?

http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F13731868 Attack Yourself! – Apricity (Claude Perdu Remix) by Claude Perdu

Brothers from New Zealand Make Electro as Karlmarx

Photo credit: Melting Pot

Did someone say revolutionary socialism? No. No one said that, what the hell are you talking about? Ohhh, you must be confused because we’re talking about Karlmarx. Not this one. This one.

Karlmarx are a pair of brothers from New Zealand who took time off from their individual musical endeavors to join forces for an electro project named for the father of socialism. The duo has an album called The Karl Marx Project dropping in June, and from the bits and pieces we’ve heard so far, it’s slow motion dance music with the occasional off time blip thrown in just to confuse you a little.

The music might not have any overtly socialist qualities, but look at those outfits! Who knew that socialist-chic would ever make a comeback.

Hear a track from the brothers’ recent single below.

http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F7787411 Karlmarx – Mists by MPMCGN

Germany's Tokyo Dawn Records Gives Funky/Cheesy a Makeover

Some sounds died for a reason. When you hear those raw, way-too-loud 808 drum sounds and a funky synth bass kick off a song, you probably picture either workout video on VHS or a socially inept 40 year old playing a Casio keyboard, or some other terribly awkward scene from a phase in history that should not have been.

Looks like outdated hotel art.

But…There’s always a ‘but’ when it comes to critiquing old genres. No matter how awful a style is, it exists because at some point in history, in some place that has now changed beyond recognition, people liked it. That’s why someone made it. It has value.

And that’s pretty much the story behind 80s R&B/funk. That form of music that only lived on homeless people’s Walkmans for so long is getting an update courtesy of Germany-based Tokyo Dawn Records (yes, that is confusing). The Boogie is an eighteen track compilation featuring young producers from popular genres of the last decade experimenting with reverbed claps and impassioned vocals filled with sustained, over-vibratoed ‘Oooooooooooooooooooooh’s with one hand on the keys and the other diddling the pitch shift. What was once too corny to mix in becomes intensely catchy through the vibe it was trying to convey back when it first started: funk.

The collection is thorough in its coverage. From slow sex jams to up beat electro-dance music, the artists visit every corner of this unrelentingly sugary musical movement, injecting it with the appreciation of well placed cheese that makes a retrospective like The Boogie worth listening to. Just hear AD Bourke’s “Aries” below and it will start to make sense.

And let’s not forget about that cover! Looks like a close-up of one of the Fresh Prince’s shirts.

The Boogie is available for download, and physical copies will be available in January.

http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F8419495 THE BOOGIE _ AD Bourke ” Aries” by NU JAZZ SPIRIT 2