Monsieur Seb's House » Music suggestions

The Light Within

Monsieur Seb — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 01:33:26 +0000

I’ve been noticing a trend in the past year or so: my mix production is cluster-like. When I make one, many follow in short order, apparently…

This is the fourth in two months, and just before that, around the Holidays, I did four in a month!

In any case…

Ambient mixes I love doing because they require a completely different approach… There is no beat matching going on; it’s a totally musical job.

Now, ever since I discovered and bought Mixed in Key — probably one of the best DJing software I’ve ever bought — making ambient mixes is even more interesting. What this software does is analyze your tracks to find out what key they’re in so you can mix harmonically…

I use it for all my mixes, but it really has become invaluable to create ambient sets like this one.

I am an amateur musician and possess a rather good ear, but this software means I can whip up a two-hours mix (in this case) in just a little more than double it’s length, and that doesn’t mean I skimp on the musical research. Nope. I just don’t waste as much time figuring out if the tracks are compatible harmonically…

Anyways…

Here’s the result of my latest endeavour: I sincerely hope you will enjoy it!

As usual, you can stream it
The Light Within or download it by right-clicking the cover art image at the top of this post.

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

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The Light Within

Monsieur Seb’s Cosmix Volume 9: Lysergic Emanations from Outer Space

Monsieur Seb — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:00:34 +0000

Let’s be clear right from the get-go:

This is the best Cosmix iteration since the serie’s inception.

Period.

I could very well stop here and let the music do the talking, but I still feel like making introductions for this monster…

Yes, monster.

Nothing short of that.

Why?

Well, for one, because its 43 tracks make for a three hours and fifty-three minutes listening experience.

And also because, even though many hours of preparation were involved, it was recorded in one straight take with no edits or touch-ups, and nothing but a bowl of cafe latte in this DJ…

Needless to say I am extremely proud of the final result of this session, for the following reasons (among others):

The track selection is (humbly) flawless. It ranges from your basic Boogie to Jazz-Funk influenced Electronica to downright Deep House and Electro and even a few that are impossible to categorize, all the while keeping to the spirit of the Cosmix series.
The mixing is (again, humbly) spot on. As usual, there are many long, drawn-out mixes, the longest one clocking in at 5 minutes (by that I mean that two tracks play at the same time and at the same volume for 5 minutes).
I felt like it was ages since I had recorded the last Cosmix, even though it’s not even been 6 months.
I was afraid the series was dying from lack of interesting material, but these 43 tracks have given me hope for the future.

Still, that being said, I haven’t given away one iota if this mix’ intensity and the music still has the whole stage to speak for itself and make you its slave!

Oh! And if you’re wondering about the lysergic thing, well… Let’s just say there’s plenty of acid sprinkled throughout…

P.S.: Yes. the title of the last track IS a message…

Enjoy!

As usual, you can stream it
Monsieur Seb’s Cosmix volume 9: Lysergic Emanations from Outer Space or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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

TRACKLISTING

Monsieur Seb’s Cosmix volume 9: Lysergic Emanations from Outer Space

Summer Breeze vol. 2

Monsieur Seb — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:22:25 +0000

Yes, summer is finally here, albeit a bit timidly, so it’s time for the second installment of my Summer Breeze series.

In a nutshell: summery, breezy, unpretentious music for sipping a good glass of your favourite drink on a terrasse with your friends.

Nothing more, nothing less.

During these nearly one hundred minutes, you’ll hear new stuff as well as oldies, including two back to back tracks — a classic and a new one — by one of my favouritest House producers, Montreal’s own Miguel Graça.

P.S.: Here’s a drink suggestion to accompany this mix. I’ve tried this recipe and it’a amazing: Rosé Sangria by none other than Martha Stewart!

As usual, you can stream it
Summer Breeze vol. 2 or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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

TRACKLISTING

Summer Breeze vol. 2

House Music for Grown-Ups, volume 2

Monsieur Seb — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:00:57 +0000

A few days ago, I set out to do a new House/Tech mix (and I write House/Tech rather than Techouse on purpose) and, just a few tracks into the planning, it became obvious that this new mix was going to become the second iteration of a new series.

The more I think about the concept, and the more I listened to the original House Music for Grown-Ups mix, the more I realized I was onto something, here.

“Yeah? What?” I can hear you say…

Well, what I’m onto is a new series of mixes devoted to House music, and electronic music in general, that can be used on a dancefloor — if only because of its tempo —, just as well as in a living room, lounge, car, or whatever.

Fear not, the Cosmix series won’t suffer from this coopetition.

In other words, this new series will be devoted to House music devoid of the usual (and ultimately boring) dancefloor gimmickry, House music that you are not ashamed of liking and playing for your mom (if you’re under 40) or for your friends (if you’re over 40).

One might call it headphone House, but I find that limiting.

I must say that from this point of view, I am REALLY proud of this mix, as much for the musical selection as the technical aspect of the mixing.

As a matter of fact, I think it is one of my best outputs, technically, with several mixes lasting well over a minute or three, with one even lasting a full 5 minutes (from 1:01:31 to 1:06:39).

Now, I’m not saying I’m an mix athlete.

No.

I’m just an old-school DJ and as such I was taught that a good mix is a long mix and that the real art of DJing is creating a new atmosphere, almost a new track, from by combining two tracks.

Well, I humbly think I’ve succeeded, here.

As usual, you can stream it
HM4GU2 or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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

TRACKLISTING

House Music for Grown-Ups, volume 2

A Tribute to Paper Recordings, part one

Monsieur Seb — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:00:16 +0000

I’ve been meaning to do such a mix for many, many years now, and here it is, finally.

“It” is a mix of some of my favourite tracks — a very personal and by no means encyclopedic selection — from the mythical mancunian Deep House record label, Paper Recordings, my all-time favouritest record label, even today.

Now, I entitled this post “…part one” because while I was preparing this mix, I realized that although we mostly remember the Paper catalog because of its classic dancefloor burners, there’s just as much great downtempo tracks to be remembered and, because of this fact, I decided to record two mixes, the first of which I offer to you here.

Rest assured: you won’t have to wait years for the downtempo installment!

I truly hope you will enjoy this, because all these tracks have a special meaning to me and, if you didn’t know of Paper Recordings, I hope you will enjoy discovering this truly amazing record label.

P.S.: I would like to dedicate this mix to my dear friends Anne-Caroline, Nicolas and Karim, because of all the people I think of fondly when I hear these songs, these three are the ones I associate the most with my love of Paper Recordings.

As usual, you can stream it
A Tribute to Paper Recordings part one or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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

TRACKLISTING

A Tribute to Paper Recordings, part one

House Music for Grown-Ups

Monsieur Seb — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:00:18 +0000

Good things can be said about working from home: when contracts are less forthcoming, I get more time to mix!

Hence, this fifth mix in little over a month.

Those who are in contact with me on Facebook know that I announced a new Lounge mix a couple of days ago but, lo and behold, here is a new House mix.

I’ve explained before how a new mix comes to be with regards to the way I work and, to make a long story short, this here House mix competed for my attention with that Lounge thing and won.

Not only did it win, but it litterally took over me: whereas I usually spend a few hours preparing a new mix, carefully researching the tracklist and mixes, this one came out almost automatically in just about twice it’s recorded length…

OK, that reads strangely…

What I mean is: this mix is one hours and forty-three minutes long and it took me only three hours and a half to do it, planning and recording included.

In any case, as the titles suggests, it is a mix of good, dare I say “mature”, House music.

No frills and dancefloor gimmicks, just good songcraft.

Kick back and enjoy.

By the way, there a few tracks in there that are freely and legally downloadable, so do click the links in the tracklist below to get yer goodies!

As usual, you can stream it
HM4GU or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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

TRACKLISTING

House Music for Grown-Ups

Moving Stillness

Monsieur Seb — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 19:27:39 +0000

Another mix?! That’s four in just over a month!

Well, yes, but there’s a simple explanation…

I have genre folders in my iTunes library — Ambient, House, Tech, Cosmic Disco, etc. — where I put tracks that I fancy whenever I stumble upon them.

So, every once in a while, I peek into those folders and when there’s enough raw material to consider recording a mix, I toy around with said raw material to see if the muses are with me.

It’s no mystery, then, how this Ambient mix, the previous Cosmix 8 and Merry Techmas and a Happy New House came to be.

As for Cosmix 7.5, that was commissioned, with a due date and a fixed exclusivity period, hence the 30 days between it and Cosmix 8.

Add that to the fact that the more I mix, the more I want to mix…

It’s always been like that and a keen observer will notice that my production often comes in such bursts. Many artists operate with the same impetus.

In any case, the creation of this Ambient mix was guided by harmonic progression but created out of pure expressionist instinct and it’s de facto very personal. This might mean that some people won’t like it, but I humbly doubt that.

I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

As usual, you can stream it
Moving Stillness or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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

TRACKLISTING

Moving Stillness

Monsieur Seb’s Cosmix 8: In Space, Everyone Can See You Boogie

Monsieur Seb — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:00:51 +0000

Here it is, Cosmonauts and Cosmonettes: the new Cosmix is about to hit your ears and endorphin production centers!

Several weeks in the making, this iteration of the series is a proud successor to its predecessors inasmuch as it doesn’t much sound like any of them!

Its 29 tracks range from 115 to 124 beats per minute and from pure disco to so called slo-mo house and deep house with a splash of italo-feeling groove and even an ambiant conclusion that I litterally decided on seconds before the track began. The mix was initially supposed to end with Carl Craig’s remix of Tiga’s track, but for reasons which belong to creators and artists, I just had to throw in Arp’s amazing tribute to krautrock as a coda to this mix.

Despite the high track count, it is a relatively short affair compared to previous iterations in the series. What that means is simple: unmixed, all the tracks on Cosmix 8 total 3,7 jours of music. Mixed (if one excludes the last track that’s not really “mixed” per se), you get 2 hours and 30 minutes. So more that an hour of that tracklist happens while two tracks are playing at the same time… Yeah, I like long haul mixes, a luxury afforded by new technological tools like Mixed in Key and pitch lock.

In any case, enough geek-talk! Get to downloadin’ and enjoy!

Oh! Wait! I’ve prepared a 21 minutes minimix that will be available exclusively to those who make a voluntary contribution of 10$ or more by clicking the PayPal Donate button below. Think of it as Cosmix 8: the extras!

P.S.: In case you haven’t checked it out yet, don’t forget to give a glance at Cosmix 7.5, which was an exclusive podcast for my friend Mike’s label CCCLTD and kind of a sneak peek at Cosmix 8.

As usual, you can stream it
Monsieur Seb’s Cosmix 8: In Space, Everyone Can See You Boogie or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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

TRACKLISTING

Monsieur Seb’s Cosmix 8: In Space, Everyone Can See You Boogie

XMMX or My 10 of 2010

Monsieur Seb — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:30:55 +0000

Yes, it’s that time of year again: time for the end-of-year lists.

I find that quite hard to do nowadays because the way we (or at least I) consume music has changed drastically over the last few years.

I barely buy CDs anymore, and not much more albums. Yes, there is a difference between the two, because of the possibility of buying individual tracks opened by the likes of iTunes, Beatport and all the other online music stores.

The impact on listmaking is that it becomes hard to draft one that encompasses albums.

So, the following list of my favourites of the past year merely reflects the productions I have come across that made an æsthetic impact on my passion for music.

Without further adue, here they are, in no particular order and with as much useful info as I can convey to you, dear readers.

Blue Steel (Still Going Remix) – Bot’Ox

Bot’Ox, is a French duo composed of Tekel’s Julien Briffaz and Benjamin Boguet, who you might know better as Cosmo Vitelli. Quite a pedigree! As for Still Going, a pair of producer from New York City, they’ve been banging out wicked tunes on DFA for a few years now. Combine all that and what you get on a major dancefloor bomb and you can even download it for free here!

Listen to Blue Steel (Still Going Remix) Blue Steel

The Professor – Dionigi

I wasn’t even going to include this on my list until just before I started writing this list. I’ve purchased that album and didn’t really give it a thourough listen until today, while I was researching my library for tracks to include on my next Cosmix. While going through all the tracks of the album, I realized that this album by Dionigi is one hell of an album that falls firmly in the Space Disco category while touching to many broader styles, from House to Breaks to Ambient. Yes, Italians can and still do produce good music, if you dig below the surface crap they are also capable of producing… Special mention for ugliest album art of the year, or at the very least of this list!

Listen to No radio, No TV No radio, No TV

Empire Ants – Gorillaz

Yeah, I could’ve included the whole Plastic Beach album, but this track stands out so much from the rest — and moved me so much — that I chose to include only this one on the list. It also has the added benefit of introducing me to Little Dragon, a band I didn’t know before. I’m madly in love with the second movement of the track, when it gets more electro, and it’s a real shame that it’s so short! Now, a concert is the perfect setting to jam a bit with a song and extend it, but when they stopped over Montreal last October, the Gorillaz (with singer Yukimi Nagano) didn’t do anything of the sort… Shame, I tell you… But guess what! When they played on whatever TV show they played on in this video, they did extend it! See, and hear, for yourself!

Desilusion – Gotan Project

Tango 3.0 is by far my favourite album by the multinational trio. They don’t reinvent themselves, but they certainly take their concept to a new level here, a level that was hinted at on the second album, released in 2006. Why did I choose Desilusion? Well, because I think it’s the most apt ambassador to the rest of the album as a whole.

Listen to Desilusion Desilusion

She’s a Fast Persuader – Jamiroquai

I’ve been a total Jamiroquai fan from the get-go, no shame in admitting that! I’m always excited when they release a new album, and the latest was no exception to the rule. Jay Kay et al. don’t reinvent the wheel here, let alone themselves, but it’s still a great Jamiroquai album, better than the last one, in any case. I wouldn’t, however, go as far as including the whole album on my list, but this little gem of a track is definitely the stand-out track for me. Pure Jamiroquai at their best!

Listen to She’s a Fast Persuader She’s a Fast Persuader

Le Troublant Acid – KZA

Yotsukaido Nature is a Japanese producer who’s known as KZA as sometimes Force of Nature. This amazing little ditty is entirely based on a a loop from an obscure French single from the 70′s, Le troublant témoignage de Paul Martin, that he sped up and complemented with a drum track and TB-303 line. Nothing groundbreaking, production-wise, but it is SO efficient! Once you hear this track, it’ll be stuck in your head for days, trust me.

Listen to Le Troublant Acid Le troublant acid

Le shack à Chuck – Martin Léon

J’écris en anglais sur mon site perso car je m’adresse à un auditoire international, mais je trouvais plutôt étrange d’écrire en anglais au sujet de Martin Léon, un des très rares artistes québécois que je trouve vraiment intéressants. Il a une poésie, une façon de raconter des histoires plutôt que de banalement chanter l’amour, en plus d’un talent de compositeur et de réalisateur hors-pair. Je vous recommande chaudement son plus récent album, Les Atomes, comme tous les autres, d’ailleurs. And for the others, all I can say is if you don’t know Martin Léon, don’t let the language thing bug you and dig into his work: you won’t regret it!

Listen to Le shack à Chuck Le shack à Chuck

OFI – Model 500

Godfather of Techno Juan Atkins doesn’t release stuff that often, so in and of itself, a new release by him, espcially under his Model 500 moniker, is quite a happening. In this case, however, we’re not only dealing with a happening, but also one monster of a track. Agreed, the break is so-so, but’s it’s the only blemish on this track’s face. I’ll let it speak for itself…

Listen to OFI OFI

Long Distance – Onra

Definitely one of my favourite releases of 2010, Onra is a one-man-show from the mastermind of French producer Arnaud Bernard. Onra produces leftfield hip hop, or whatever you want to call it, but he does it with a flair that is unique and irresistible. I chose the title track from his 2010 album simply because my favourite track on it, My Comet, is actually from 2008…

Listen to Long Distance Long Distance

Transatlantic Landing Bay – Space Dimension Controller

I don’t know much about the band, other than the info I found on Zero Inch: “Belfast’s Jack Hamill started releasing ambient downbeat as RL/VL before assuming the name of Space Dimension Controller. Combining elements of electro-funk and deep techno in his tracks, Space Dimension Controller has been one of the shooting stars of 2010, performing at Barcelona’s prestigious Sónar festival and recently signing to seminal imprint R&S Records”. But don’t believe the hype and just trust me when I say that here’s a name you should memorize, because I’m predicting his ascencion is only begining. As a matter of fact, his remix of the aforementionned OFI by Model 500 is coming out in January. Now that’s somehting I can’t wait to hear!

Listen to Transatlantic Landing Bay Transatlantic Landing Bay

Honourable mentions

Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!! (Lulu Rouge Feat. Abdullah S Remix) – Trentemøller || I’m not Dubstep’s best customer, but I like this one a lot, even though I’ll admit it’s got nothing very special about it. Silver

I Know You’re Mine – Roberto Rodriguez || Can’t get enough of Rodriguez’ productions! Mine

State Trooper (Trentemøller Unofficial Mix) – Bruce Springsteen || The only reason this didn’t make my list is that it did not come out in 2010, even though I only heard of it eraly in the year. Top work! Trooper

The Logical Song – Rodion || An electropop cover of the Supertramp classic? Gotta love it! Logical

Merry Techmas and a Happy New House!

Monsieur Seb — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:00:53 +0000

A new mix for your yuletide parties!

I felt like recording a new mix and since I have to wait a little bit to record Cosmix 8, I plunged head first into my TecHouse folder and whipped up this little mix for y’all.

It’s a relativly short offering compared to my usual lengthy marathons, but it should be plenty of fun to dance to or chillax in a comfy couch!

Most of the tracks on here are from 2010, but I just had to throw in an old favourite of mine, Bessie, by Shaboom, which came out in 1997 on Paper Recordings. People who’ve known me for a while know that I really played this track out when it was released.

There are no Christmas songs per se on this mix, but Mike Monday’s Do Be Do, towards the end of the mix, does have a very Christmasey feeling to it and even reminds me of Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time with its use of delayed Juno hits…

I hope you enjoy it and I wish y’all the best for the new year!

As usual, you can stream it
techmas or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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