We start the year with this, a 2003 remix of a well-respected classic. It ain't so new now but it shows just how far we've come since the evolution of Disco, the dawn of affordable home-recording equipment and those all too memorable warehouse raves. If the last few decades of house are anything to go by, the next one's going to be up there with the best..
Eddie's MySpace / Filterheadz's MySpace / Buy
Friday, 1 January 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
House-heads of the world, grab your glow sticks and raise your hands up in the air! For this day is the first of a new and exciting decade that will see our beloved house music twist and evolve into many forms. Today’s best talent will strive to become veterans of the scene while new DJs and artists will emerge from obscurity hoping to stamp their mark on the world’s most exciting music genre.Follow Best of House as we guide you through the very best of 2010, and beyond!
Friday, 4 December 2009
NEWS: Bowman pres. The Future Underground Show
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
PODCAST: Bow'cast - Episode 007 & 008
Nick Bowman's back with more top quality mixes. This time he treats us to some 'twisted tech' beats with the likes of Umek and Tocadisco. Also check out his radio mix Matt Diamond on Disfunktional Radio by clicking the Playlist link below.
Download Ep007 / Download Ep008 / Playlist / RSS Link
Saturday, 31 October 2009
PODCAST: Future Technology 2.0 Episode 008
All is quiet at Best Of House Towers. Too quiet. Time for some noise!
FT2.0 is back with another monthly platter of musical delights to whet your appetite. Fusing together a blend of tech flavours, chilled synths and chunky beats, Episode 008 is a journey through the spectrum of house to submerge yourself in as the days get shorter and the nights get colder.
Download / Playlist / RSS Link
FT2.0 is back with another monthly platter of musical delights to whet your appetite. Fusing together a blend of tech flavours, chilled synths and chunky beats, Episode 008 is a journey through the spectrum of house to submerge yourself in as the days get shorter and the nights get colder.
Download / Playlist / RSS Link
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
PODCAST: Future Technology 2.0 Episode 007
First of all, apologies. Due to ongoing site maintenance and various other happenings Best Of House is currently on a small hiatus. However, all is not lost. Though the majority of news and tracks will pass by unannounced for a short while, the site will still be host to our residing podcasts; Nick Bowman's Bowcast, Copernicus' Highway To House and Hikari No Sato's Future Technology 2.0 will all still feature, and these will be posted up as and when they are ready for listening. Don't forget to check back regularly for updates!
Speaking of podcasts...
Episode 007 of Future Technology 2.0 brings us back to familar territory, leading in with some minimal house before skewing over to some deeper funky grooves. A perfect mix for lazing on the terrace in the autumn sunshine!
Download / Playlist / RSS Link
Speaking of podcasts...
Episode 007 of Future Technology 2.0 brings us back to familar territory, leading in with some minimal house before skewing over to some deeper funky grooves. A perfect mix for lazing on the terrace in the autumn sunshine!
Download / Playlist / RSS Link
Sunday, 13 September 2009
PODCAST: Future Technology Episode 005 / Episode 006
That's right, it's another double post!
This time it's the return of Future Technology 2.0, with two episodes of aural pleasure. Episode 005 is a journey through the lighter sounds of house, from minimal to progressive, Episode 006 takes you further, out of progressive territory and into some breakbeats. Highlights include Sasha, King Unique and Darren Emerson in Episode 005, and Way Out West, Pryda and an unsigned artist and remixer to round off proceedings in Episode 006. Check out both below!
Download Episode 005 / Download Episode 006 / Playlists / RSS Link
This time it's the return of Future Technology 2.0, with two episodes of aural pleasure. Episode 005 is a journey through the lighter sounds of house, from minimal to progressive, Episode 006 takes you further, out of progressive territory and into some breakbeats. Highlights include Sasha, King Unique and Darren Emerson in Episode 005, and Way Out West, Pryda and an unsigned artist and remixer to round off proceedings in Episode 006. Check out both below!
Download Episode 005 / Download Episode 006 / Playlists / RSS Link
Saturday, 22 August 2009
PODCAST: Highway To House - Episode 012 & 013
In keeping with our double posts here's another one, this time from our resident Finnish DJ, Copernicus. Episodes 12 and 13 continue the journey through deep and soulful house to the usual high standard. Enjoy the ride and subscribe so as not to miss a thing!
Download Ep012 / Download Ep013 / Playlist / Subscribe
Saturday, 8 August 2009
PODCAST: Bow'cast - Episode 005 & 006
In this latest two-part instalment of Nick's popular Bow'cast podcast series he covers all things Tech House, Minimal and Techno with a garnish of Tribal elements for effect. Not only has our resident podcaster been busy putting these treats together for you he's also found the time to pursue his DJing career and will be spinning along side our old friend, Michael Gray (see his Guest Mix here) at top London club Pacha on the 15th. From there Nick's kicking off his tour of Italy with a gig in Parma Elettronica. Watch this space!
Download Ep005 / Download Ep006 / Playlist / RSS Link
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Chicane - Poppiholla
Not so many years ago a well-known Swedish band released a track that was to take main stage in countless films, TV ads and sporting events around the world. That was Sigur Rós' emotionally moving 2005 release, Hoppípolla (meaning 'jumping into puddles'). Fast forward four years and one of the UK's most respected producers sees his remix climb to No.7 in the national charts. Chicane's Poppiholla not only turns the modern classic into a four-to-the-floor dance anthem, but also manages to retain the emotion and excitement of the original creating a stunning progressive house tune that will be remembered for a long time to come.
Chicane's MySpace / Sigur Rós' MySpace / Buy
Chicane's MySpace / Sigur Rós' MySpace / Buy
Sunday, 12 July 2009
PODCAST: Future Technology 2.0 - Episode 004
And so we continue to have trouble with bandwidth, the demand for FT2.0 is seemingly just too high for us to cope. Apologies to those who try to download the podcast only to find the bandwidth quota has been used for the month!
Episode 004 brings us to familiar minimal and house territory, with a couple of vocal tracks thrown in for good measure, before winding up with some experimental tech-house sounds. And keep an ear out for a quick excerpt from Bill Bryson in the intro!
Download / Playlist / RSS Link
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
INTERVIEW: Dave Dresden & Mikael Johnston
Neither name is a stranger to dance music having both been wrapped up in the scene for more than a decade. Dresden of course was member of the stellar Gabriel & Dresden while Johnston was defining the San Francisco house sound with Mephisto Odyssey. Together this pair have a chance to make their mark on the dance scene once again, but just how do they plan on doing that? Best of House caught up with the newly formed duo to ask more..
BoH – It’s a new partnership. Would you like to explain how this came to be?
Dave –We met each other briefly in 2000 before I met Josh Gabriel. Mikael was in a band called Mephisto Odyssey that was signed to Warner Bros. I had Mephisto Odyssey on my radio show which was on Groove Radio for a live performance. We continued to talk online about working together but Mikael got busy touring to support his album and I met Josh and started working on what became Gabriel & Dresden.
Mikael – I think that Dave and I always had a natural chemistry from the first time we met, the timing just wasn't there back in 2000. After I left Warner I spent a lot of time producing and engineering and writing music. I was moving more towards vocal-centric material and away from the underground house and breaks sound of Mephisto, although Mephisto is still something that is ongoing. The interesting part about our story is that I actually knew and worked with Josh Gabriel long before Dave met Josh. I had worked before signing my contract at Warner Bros. for Josh's company Mixman, we had even worked a bit on music together as well.
BoH – How would you define your style?
Dave – Sad, sexy and euphoric.
Mikael – It's definitely a hybrid of what we both love about music, not just dance music. We pull ideas from everywhere all the time when we're working on a remix or new song idea. As for how it turns out, I mean I guess it's definitely music that we hope will create a mood and say something that means something to us while retaining at least the appearance of a universal message.
BoH – What qualities do you both possess that will make this collaboration work?
Dave & Mikael – Besides the fact that we've both had a lot of industry experience we also have complimentary talents. Dave has the uncanny ability to pick parts, design sounds and rhythms that are the heartbeat of our songs. Mikael is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and engineer. That might be over simplifying it a bit but in a nutshell that's how we work. We both often work closely with each other on all aspects of a song as well. For instance Dave will come up with melody ideas or Mikael will work with FX to help shape a sound.
BoH – Can you describe the process of how an idea becomes a full track when working as a duo? Does one person take the lead?
Dave – We have both worked apart and together, it depends on the song. Sometimes one of us will have an idea in our head for a direction and we'll assign tasks, like Dave might work on the drum programming while Mikael works on the bass. We'll then combine parts and begin to build the track.
Mikael – Often times I'll play a line, could be a synth pad or lead and I'll shoot it over to Dave and he'll slice it, dice it and effect it into something brand new then shoot it back to me to add to the arrangement. We never really know when we start where it's going to end up even when we feel we have a clear idea of our direction. The song always takes us on a journey.
BoH – How did you manage to bag yourselves a remix of what is already shaping up to be one of the biggest singles of 2009?
Dave – The A & R department contacted me looking for a Gabriel and Dresden style remix. Upon hearing the parts I felt Mikael (Johnston) would be the perfect person to work with me to help see this remix to fruition. Johnston and I had already been fooling around in the studio since the previous summer. After finishing the Lily Allen remix it was clear that we had the right chemistry in the studio to develop our new duo, so I suggested we call ourselves Dresden and Johnston when it came time to credit the remix.
Mikael – Dave and I have a lot of the same loves and want to go in a similar musical direction it keeps things exciting even when doing more mundane tasks. For instance we both have a love for analog synthesis and vintage analog recording gear. We both love vocals and music that create an emotional response.
BoH – Dave, you mentioned in your MySpace blog with apparent pleasure that you “pulled out the Moog and the Prophet 08” for this Lily Allen remix. Do you have any preference to hardware/software synthesizers when producing tracks?
Dave – Mikael and I both have a love for analog synthesizers. That doesn't mean we don't use software synths, but we will almost always choose the actual analog box over the software equivelent whenever possible. Some of the synths we've been using at our studio are the Prophet 8, Moog Voyager, Roland Super Jupiter, Roland JX-3P, and the Studio Electronics ATC-X. Some of the software synths we use are the Arturia Arp2600, Rob Papen Blue, ES-P, and the Vangaurd.
BoH – Mikael, still working with Orpheos Dejournette as Mephisto Odyssey, how are you going to manage your time between the two partnerships?
Mikael: Actually Orpheos left the band just before Mephisto Odyssey left Warner Bros. in January of 2002. The newer Mephisto Odyssey material that has been released since (mostly between 2006-present) have been produced by myself and Josh Camacho. Josh was our touring DJ back while we were at Warner. He was hired to take Barrie's place in our live PA when Barrie's wife had breast cancer. We were very sad to see Barrie have to leave the project but Josh has been amazing. Orpheos is working on his own solo material which has gone in a very different direction.
BoH – Dave, how is this partnership different from the Gabriel & Dresden legacy? Are you looking to achieve different goals?
Dave – I'm looking to continue where I left off and see where it takes me. I don't think we have any preconceived notions but I feel we're fastly approaching what I'm looking for.
BoH – You’ve both worked predominantly in partnerships. Is there a benefit to this?
Dave – Absolutely, it's great being able to apply your strengths to their strengths, being able to delagate work to one another so things can be acheived more quickly, having someone to bounce ideas off of and tell you when to believe the hype and when not to. ...plus it's just more fun to work with someone else.
BoH – Will you be DJing together as well as producing?
Mikael – Yes, but not immediately, and then only now and again until we release an album or EP that warrants that kind of tour support. In the meantime Dave will continue his fairly vigorous tour schedule on his own. Our first official appearance together will be at a festival here in San Francisco on August 7th (the Best of the Bay festival that's hosted by The East Bay Express).
BoH – What does the future hold for Dresden & Johnston? Are there more releases in the pipeline?
Mikael – So far this year we've done remixes for Lily Allen, Nadia Ali, BT, JD Webb and The Crystal Method. We just finished up The Crystal Method remix today as a matter of fact. We're going to take a short break from remixing to concentrate on finishing original material, including a song Dave started with our friend John Debo and music we wrote and recorded with Nadia Ali in June of this year.
BoH – Which one piece of DJ/studio gear could you not live without?
Dave – A Mac computer running Logic.
Mikael – A Mac computer running Pro Tools HD.
BoH – Which DJs/producers do you think we should be looking out for this year?
Dave & Mikael – Pablo Decoder, Wippenberg, Grayarea, Morgan Page, Serge Devant.
BoH – It’s a new partnership. Would you like to explain how this came to be?
Dave –We met each other briefly in 2000 before I met Josh Gabriel. Mikael was in a band called Mephisto Odyssey that was signed to Warner Bros. I had Mephisto Odyssey on my radio show which was on Groove Radio for a live performance. We continued to talk online about working together but Mikael got busy touring to support his album and I met Josh and started working on what became Gabriel & Dresden.
Mikael – I think that Dave and I always had a natural chemistry from the first time we met, the timing just wasn't there back in 2000. After I left Warner I spent a lot of time producing and engineering and writing music. I was moving more towards vocal-centric material and away from the underground house and breaks sound of Mephisto, although Mephisto is still something that is ongoing. The interesting part about our story is that I actually knew and worked with Josh Gabriel long before Dave met Josh. I had worked before signing my contract at Warner Bros. for Josh's company Mixman, we had even worked a bit on music together as well.
BoH – How would you define your style?
Dave – Sad, sexy and euphoric.
Mikael – It's definitely a hybrid of what we both love about music, not just dance music. We pull ideas from everywhere all the time when we're working on a remix or new song idea. As for how it turns out, I mean I guess it's definitely music that we hope will create a mood and say something that means something to us while retaining at least the appearance of a universal message.
BoH – What qualities do you both possess that will make this collaboration work?
Dave & Mikael – Besides the fact that we've both had a lot of industry experience we also have complimentary talents. Dave has the uncanny ability to pick parts, design sounds and rhythms that are the heartbeat of our songs. Mikael is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and engineer. That might be over simplifying it a bit but in a nutshell that's how we work. We both often work closely with each other on all aspects of a song as well. For instance Dave will come up with melody ideas or Mikael will work with FX to help shape a sound.
BoH – Can you describe the process of how an idea becomes a full track when working as a duo? Does one person take the lead?
Dave – We have both worked apart and together, it depends on the song. Sometimes one of us will have an idea in our head for a direction and we'll assign tasks, like Dave might work on the drum programming while Mikael works on the bass. We'll then combine parts and begin to build the track.
Mikael – Often times I'll play a line, could be a synth pad or lead and I'll shoot it over to Dave and he'll slice it, dice it and effect it into something brand new then shoot it back to me to add to the arrangement. We never really know when we start where it's going to end up even when we feel we have a clear idea of our direction. The song always takes us on a journey.
BoH – How did you manage to bag yourselves a remix of what is already shaping up to be one of the biggest singles of 2009?
Dave – The A & R department contacted me looking for a Gabriel and Dresden style remix. Upon hearing the parts I felt Mikael (Johnston) would be the perfect person to work with me to help see this remix to fruition. Johnston and I had already been fooling around in the studio since the previous summer. After finishing the Lily Allen remix it was clear that we had the right chemistry in the studio to develop our new duo, so I suggested we call ourselves Dresden and Johnston when it came time to credit the remix.
Mikael – Dave and I have a lot of the same loves and want to go in a similar musical direction it keeps things exciting even when doing more mundane tasks. For instance we both have a love for analog synthesis and vintage analog recording gear. We both love vocals and music that create an emotional response.
BoH – Dave, you mentioned in your MySpace blog with apparent pleasure that you “pulled out the Moog and the Prophet 08” for this Lily Allen remix. Do you have any preference to hardware/software synthesizers when producing tracks?
Dave – Mikael and I both have a love for analog synthesizers. That doesn't mean we don't use software synths, but we will almost always choose the actual analog box over the software equivelent whenever possible. Some of the synths we've been using at our studio are the Prophet 8, Moog Voyager, Roland Super Jupiter, Roland JX-3P, and the Studio Electronics ATC-X. Some of the software synths we use are the Arturia Arp2600, Rob Papen Blue, ES-P, and the Vangaurd.
BoH – Mikael, still working with Orpheos Dejournette as Mephisto Odyssey, how are you going to manage your time between the two partnerships?
Mikael: Actually Orpheos left the band just before Mephisto Odyssey left Warner Bros. in January of 2002. The newer Mephisto Odyssey material that has been released since (mostly between 2006-present) have been produced by myself and Josh Camacho. Josh was our touring DJ back while we were at Warner. He was hired to take Barrie's place in our live PA when Barrie's wife had breast cancer. We were very sad to see Barrie have to leave the project but Josh has been amazing. Orpheos is working on his own solo material which has gone in a very different direction.
BoH – Dave, how is this partnership different from the Gabriel & Dresden legacy? Are you looking to achieve different goals?
Dave – I'm looking to continue where I left off and see where it takes me. I don't think we have any preconceived notions but I feel we're fastly approaching what I'm looking for.
BoH – You’ve both worked predominantly in partnerships. Is there a benefit to this?
Dave – Absolutely, it's great being able to apply your strengths to their strengths, being able to delagate work to one another so things can be acheived more quickly, having someone to bounce ideas off of and tell you when to believe the hype and when not to. ...plus it's just more fun to work with someone else.
BoH – Will you be DJing together as well as producing?
Mikael – Yes, but not immediately, and then only now and again until we release an album or EP that warrants that kind of tour support. In the meantime Dave will continue his fairly vigorous tour schedule on his own. Our first official appearance together will be at a festival here in San Francisco on August 7th (the Best of the Bay festival that's hosted by The East Bay Express).
BoH – What does the future hold for Dresden & Johnston? Are there more releases in the pipeline?
Mikael – So far this year we've done remixes for Lily Allen, Nadia Ali, BT, JD Webb and The Crystal Method. We just finished up The Crystal Method remix today as a matter of fact. We're going to take a short break from remixing to concentrate on finishing original material, including a song Dave started with our friend John Debo and music we wrote and recorded with Nadia Ali in June of this year.
BoH – Which one piece of DJ/studio gear could you not live without?
Dave – A Mac computer running Logic.
Mikael – A Mac computer running Pro Tools HD.
BoH – Which DJs/producers do you think we should be looking out for this year?
Dave & Mikael – Pablo Decoder, Wippenberg, Grayarea, Morgan Page, Serge Devant.
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