Electro House 2008

Ton Liebt Klang Presents Best Of Electro Swing Elite Compilation album 22 original hits and the original artists. Includes tracks by Phos Toni, Wolfgang Lohr & Alice Francis, Jamie Berry,Sound Nomaden feat. MSP, Jazzotron & Manivi and more.

German-japanese sound wizard Naoki Kenji started his career as a keyboard player in Tokio and Osaka. Deeply influenced by the Japanese culture that surrounded him, his interest for electronic music started to grow. And when it have been the big electronica heros such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Riuchi Sakamoto that inspired him back then, Kenji today may look back on his own long-lasting career as producer, composer, and remixer.
With his first album Tozai from 1999 he already landed a US release, such as few European artists manage. In 2000 Naoki released the album Shogun on Neuton under the pseudonym “JP Juice”, followed in 2001 by the album Electric Bolero on ICM by his project “Planet Lounge” - a style mix of jazz, world percussion and electronics…

Nu Electro proves is that electro is still beating strong thanks to both old school originators like Egyptian Lover and Newcleus, and a new generation such as Invisible Rockers Crew and Dark Vektor. Not to mention the fact that it s now spread far beyond its American strongholds in New York and Detroit, with the latter two producers hailing from Athens and Barcelona respectively. Covering 2 CDs mixed by Freddy Fresh and Diplomat, it also represents electro in its most purist form with almost every track from The B Boys You Know We Rock to Supreme.Ja s Freak constructed from the same core elements of 808s, brittle beats and robotic voices and a complete disregard for any electroclash or electro-house affectations that have subsequently diluted the sound. True, electro no longer sounds as shockingly futuristic as it once did, but nor is it as creaky as an old breakdancer s joints when they try their knee drops again.

Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones - the producers known worldwide. For two they have let out already many albums and tens magnificent singles, reliably having fixed in world history of dancing music. Their hits more than once appeared at tops of charts, and each new album stably got to number 50 of the best to Germany. It started in 1997 with their debut single "Sunrise", the first step towards producing their own tracks. Nowadays, one cannot imagine the electronic elite without Blank & Jones. During their career they have known no musical boundaries and have worked with Artists such as Robert Smith from The Cure, Bernard Sumner from New Order, Sarah McLachlan, the Pet Shop Boys and Keane to name just a few. Their sound has evolved over the years and so has their worldwide success…

Stars And Fishes (2004). The Mediterranean is a wonderful symbol of warmth, and it's the inspiration behind this disc, masterminded by producers Marco Bussian and Jean-Charles Vandermynsbrugge. They provide the music and beats, which shimmer in a lovely heat haze, and bring in vocalists to add some magical singing. Often it works well, as with Ozlem Cetin's "Le Reve Est Mort," or "Conmigo," with Sol Ruiz de Galarreta providing the vocal cords. At times, however, it can veer perilously close to the murky terrain of lounge music, as on "Cosmic Lullaby," where even Clair Dietrich's singing can't rescue something mediocre. However, that's the exception to the rule: the vast majority of this disc positively glows and sticks like a burr in the mind…

While the Norwegian jazz scene has been pursuing its own course for decades, the period of 1996-1997 represented a significant watershed, a milestone where an entirely new kind of music emerged, linked to jazz but distanced considerably—some might say completely, but they'd be mistaken—from its roots in the American tradition. Three seminal and groundbreaking albums were released within a year of each other: trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær's Khmer (ECM, 1997); noise improv group Supersilent's 1- 3 (Rune Grammofon, 1997); and, beating the others by a year, keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft's aptly titled New Conception of Jazz (Jazzland, 1996). All three explored the integration of electronics, disparate cultural references, programming, turntables and—especially in the case of Supersilent, the most avant-garde of the three— noise, to create aural landscapes that were innovative, otherworldly and refreshingly new.

Acclaimed Swedish electronica producer Johan Agebjörn’s highly-anticipated solo ambient debut, Mossebo, evokes human warmth in a wintry landscape, expertly juxtaposing intimacy and isolation. Named after the house in which Johan lived while composing and recording the album, Mossebo is a collection of ambient pieces composed between 2004 and 2007; and one additional track that was created in 1996. Says Agebjörn, "I would describe the tracks as ambient with electro beats, giving the music a rich atmosphere as well as a distinct forward motion in a sci-fi kind of way. If I were to choose three words to describe the music, they would be melancholy, winter, and travel".

The expansion into and incorporation of jazz in the electronic scene is a concept far from new, but its impact is best felt on a disc like Coco. Parov Stelar approaches the double album from an innovative standpoint, dismissing the habit of ignoring less prominent tracks on an album by creating something of enviable proportions. Jazz and swing shine through on Coco, the bold brass and beautiful arrangements blending with minimal house and electro elements, melancholic piano and sax. With six singers from different genres making appearances, Stelar creates a melodious patchwork of sounds across 26 tracks…