Every new Cosmix is an intense labour of love, and this one was even more so.

Why?

Well, since volume 9 (almost 2 years have gone by!), I have been distraught by the fact that the genre represented in this series of mix has kind of whithered…

The Nu Disco label has become a kind of fad, shall we say for lack of a better term, and in doing so, the forebears of the genre have become more quiet, distracted or otherwise absent, while the hangers-on and wanna-bes took center stage…

Now, I’m not criticizing, I’m merely explaining why I found this iteration slightly harder to give birth to.

I must admit I almost struggled to find tracks that would fit in a new Cosmix, and even though I am extremely proud of the final result, it is obvious even to the least attentive listener that this mix is a lot more house and tech than it is disco, although the filiation is never far.

Am I forecasting the end of the series?

No.

That would be akin to forecasting the end of music…

But the future will be a continuum of the past and I doubt there can be more than one additional iteration in this series, if at all…

Love,

S)

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Monsieur Seb Presents Cosmix 10: Atom & Eve

1. Tender Love – Layo & Bushwacka
2. Les Mondes Engloutis (Psychemagik 5am Mix) – Alico Vs. Cagri
3. Switch – Tomson & Benedict
4. Faux De Baux – Real Connoisseur
5. Saturday Morning (Ruben & Ra’s Cosmic Jam) – Ajello
6. The Blue Train (Dicky Trisco Mix) – Drop Out Orchestra
7. Circle – Mad:Am
8. Pieces (Panorama Mix) – Flashmob Feat . Laila Walker
9. Eternity – Roberto Rodriguez
10. In The Morning – Wolf + Lamb
11. Sweet Talk (Urulu Works For Me Dub) – Jessie Ware
12. The Traveller – Manuel Tur
13. Systemwide – Christian Smith
14. Mungolian Jetset Presents Knights Of Jumungus: The Dark Incal – Mungolian Jetset
15. Castle (Fran Von Vie Remix) – Stas Karpenkov
16. Karoo – Larse
17. All I See Is You (Miguel Graca Remix) – Lemi Featuring James Reid With Natasha Flame
18. Mon Duul – Cerebro
19. Earth – Nu
20. Are You Sure Joe (Neil Quigley’s Journey To Metaluna) – Cine City
21. Brothers On The Slide (Jimpster Remix) – Patchworks Ginger Xpress
22. Mark My Words (Monkey Boots/Disco Edits Re-Edit) – Shallow Taxi Club
23. Eg-Ged-Osis (Todd Terje Extended Edit) – Lindstrom
24. The Church of Moroder – Chardonnay
25. Lipps (Inland Knights Kiss It Remix) – Inland Knights/Gil Tamazyan
26. Silver Tears (Space Ranger Remix) – Ajello
27. Love Somebosdy Else (Feat. Joi Cardwell) – Maceo Plex & Jon Dasilva
28. How Do You Do? (Todd Terje Remix) – Hot Chip
29. Gun Shy (Lindstrøm Remix) – Grizzly Bear
30. Journey To The Sun (Milton Jackson Club Mix) – The Sunburst Band
31. Dance Like Nobody’s Watching – Roberto Rodriguez
32. Sunset (Lpz Remix) – Compuphonic
33. Faar-I-Kaal – Lindstrøm
34. Mungolian Jetset Presents Jaga Jazzist Vs Knights Of Jumungus: Toccata – Mungolian Jetset

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.

 

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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)

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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

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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!

 

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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

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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!

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

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A while ago, my friend Mike, who runs the Quebec City-based label CCCLTD, asked me for an exclusive podcast to be featured on his website. He insisted it be no longer than and hour AND that it be a Cosmic Disco mix.

I was glad and proud to oblige, although I must admit making short a Cosmic Disco mix was quite a feat for me, as I believe this musical style, which I’ve been championning for years, is beter suited to very long mixes, as one can notice by looking at the length of the mixes in my Cosmix series.

With the parameters in mind, I offered Mike to make a kind of off-Cosmix, which is why this is entitled 7.5 (there’s also a 3.5 mix in the series, which is a live set recorded at Picnik Elektronic in 2009).

The deal was that Cosmix 8 would be loosely based on Cosmix 7.5 and that it would come out as soon as the exclusivity to CCCLTD was over.

So, with that said, here it is!

As usual, you can stream it

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or download it by right-clicking the image on the right.

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Monsieur Seb’s Cosmix 7.5: The Call of CCCLTD

1. Good Afternoon Professor – Dionigi
2. Naked (Kink Mix) – Sleazy McQueen
3. Hot Pepper Sauce – Stopmakingme
4. Superbacon – Kasper Bjørke & Tomas Barford
5. I Know You’re Mine – Roberto Rodriguez
6. Matilda’s Dream – John Talabot
7. Rock You Will (Dub) – Toby Tobias
8. Whispering Twirl – Tornado Wallace
9. Chocolate Bar – Space Ranger
10. OYB – KeyBoy
11. Eternal Legs – Yello

Yes yes yes, boys and girls, it is finally here!

I was itching and scratching to get a new Cosmix iteration out since my set at Picnik Electronik (which was basically Cosmix vol. 3.5) and the ensuing Cosmix vol. 4, last August.

It took a while to put it together and find its groove — I do put a lot of thought and research into that series — but what a groove it found for itself!

This, my dear friends, is definitely the grooviest of the Cosmix series, so far!

You are about to download and listen a massive 2 hours and 38 minutes of tasty bits, the danciest, most straightforward of the lot, but then again, maybe not…

All together, the first three tracks alone take up 35 minutes of the total runtime and about a very groovy hour later, there’s a nice psychedelic break so you can light up a fat spliff before you start dancing again and get worked up for that one-two-three, jab-body blow-uppercut finale that’ll leave you dehydrated and, hopefully, ecstatic. I DO strongly reccomend that you listen to this mix in one sitting to fully appreciate it, otherwise the overall groove I was talking about before kinda gets lost…

Personnally, I’ll be bold and daring and say it IS flat out, no competition, my favourite mix in the Cosmix series so far.

Two little tracklist notes:

• The very first track was kindly offered by the artist even though it is still unreleased, and I have promised Dominique to help him get this track signed, so if you have any interest in releasing it or know someone who might, please contact me at dj@monsieurseb.com.

• As you’ve noticed, I take as little credit as possible when recording a mix, after all, I do them to introduce you to artists you might not know. Now, you’ll also notice that one track in the playlist has no links. The ting is, with that one, I have no idea how it got in my iTunes library. I subscribe to dozens of music blogs and such, and when I tried finding a relevant link for this track, I came up basically empty handed. If you have something to suggest, please do!

As usual, you can stream it

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or download it by right-clicking the image above.As always, your donations are welcome to help me pay for the file hosting!

TRACKLISTING

1. It’s All Over Now Except for One Last Bit – Dominique Leone (Unreleased)
2. Gimme (Kango’s Autostrada Dei Laghi Mix) – Headman & Dieter Meier
3. Venus – Roberto Rodriguez
4. Untitled Love (Instrumental Mix) – Still Going
5. The Way You Move (Greg Wilson Version) – Social Disco Club & Maia
6. PARTY★NIGHT – ID:69
7. Bumpin’ – Phreek Plus One
8. This Feeling – Lovebirds
9. Baby Can’t Stop – Lindstrom & Christabelle
10. Jetstream (Lindstrom Remix) – Doves
11. You’ll Disappear (Ilya Santana Remix) – The Phenomenal Handclap Band
12. Space Summer (Plastique De Reve Sweet Remix) – Ludan Dross
13. Hot on the Heels of Love – Throbbing Gristle
14. 45:33 (Theo Parrish’s Space Cadet Remix) – LCD Soundsystem
15. Looking For What – Lindstrom & Christabelle
16. A Brag Mount – In Flagranti
17. Cold Coke feat. Sauveur Mallia – Pierre-Alain Dahan, Slim Pezin, Marc Chantereau, Georges Rodi, Jean Pierre Sabar
18. Heart Break Dancing – Downtown Party Network
19. Far Beneath London – Padded Cell
20. The Pretender (Holy Ghost Remix) – Datarock
21. Black Flag (Emperor Machine Remix) – Duchess Says
22. Horns Of Innocence (Xavier Naudascher Remix) – Rebotini

New mix?

Apparently, yeah!

It came out of nowhere…

I mean, usually, I set out and plan to make a new mix, but with this one, I wasn’t planning it — at least not in this style — for yet another little while.

However, some time last week, I just HAD to start tinkering with my decks and, well, it just flowed right out of me.

Guess the right combination of tracks and mindset was there!

So, here it is… Honestly, it’s not a mix for amateurs: the choice of tracks, the mixing style, the very different moods, all require that you, dear listener, be ready to deal with it.

Just before recording it, I set my Facebook status to “New mix coming your way in the next few hours! Just in time for the weekend, too! Lots of weird goodness!”

Weird goodness might as well be the title of this mix!

BUT…

As I was chatting about this mix, just after it was done, with my friend Mélanie D., she made me realize that this was actually some kind of message to my recently dearly departed friend Marie Lebel, and, in retrospect, I have to admit she was totally right, even though I didn’t realize it at the conception or recording stage.

So here’s to you, one last time, beautiful Marie…

As usual, you can stream it

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or “right-click/save as” on the image to download it.

Here’s the hyperlinked tracklisting:

1. Two Dots (Pezzner Remix). Lusine
2. Just The Kind Of Girl. Jimpster
3. King Of Sunset (Pezzner Dub Mix). De Funk
4. Saxtrack (Reboot Twisted Fist Remix). Sebo K/Metro
5. The DJ feat. P. Diddy. DJ Hell
6. I Am Plankton (Pezzner Mix 20). Mike Monday
7. The Soul (part II). Craig Smith/The Revenge
8. Madrugada. Satoshi Tomiie/Mes
9. In & Out. Will Saul, Tam Cooper
10. The Loneliness. Stimming
11. Living My Life. Roberto Rodriguez
12. Star Kissed. Eric Kupper/K Scope
13. Love Stimulation (Radio Slave Full Length Vox Remix). Humate
14. Simple Things (Serge Santiago Remix). Shit Robot
15. Light Years. John Daly
16. Kobra Dance (Joris Voorn Interpretation). Wigald Boning