Hausaufgabe

It’s nearly June and my mind is already fixated on the upcoming weeks of serious vacationing. Alas, before I take off some equally serious house music business must be taken care of. With this mix in your boombox or related portable audio equipment of choice, you too ought to be all set for the summertime.

Sound-wise the session ranges from the low-key and dubby to the flamboyantly retro, closing up with a hint of early Hausaufgabe flavour for the long term listeners out there (if any). The remix count turned out to be remarkably high, but with names like Actual Proof (aka. Opolopo), Nick Nikolov and Finland’s own Mr. Rasi, you know the versions have been selected with care. In the “coming clean” department, it appears I’ve accidentally bitten a track off a recent Roskooppi from Teemu P. Can you spot it?

Enjoy, and catch you in a next one! A tiny break may occur while I’m AWOL somewhere in Europe, but fear not, I shall return.

01. Copy Paste Soul – Blink [Exploited]

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Flirting with disco and techno while staying faithful to house music, that is the way of the 34th Hausaufgabe. While days are getting longer and warmer here in Oulu, the landscape still remains somewhat post-apocalyptic as all that green stuff is yet to surface. The music may just reflect that a bit, as around our parts this is no time for balearic summer anthems.

This month I’m especially pleased to see Frankie J and John Mork being “friends again” and bringing back their old label to boot. This duo was among the producers who made house music fun again in the mid-to-late naughties, getting me back into it as well. Hence you can partially thank (or blame!) them for the existence of this podcast. If those guys fail to rock your boat, check out KDMS working their drums over Iron Curtis or Conan “Liquid People” Liquid laying down a plain silly bassline. Mike Dehnert gets to wrap things up, reminding us why he’s the real deal among legions of cookie-cutter Berghain wannabes.

01. Frankie J – When It Get Hot (Mörk’s Murder Rate Remix) [Spatula City]

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By the looks of it, producers of excellent house music have finished hibernating for the winter and crawled out of their holes in droves. With just two weeks since the previous Hausaufgabe, my cart’s been filling up so fast this episode practically mixed itself. Sunshine and hot tracks? Can’t complain.

Don’t be fooled by the deceitfully smooth opening remix by the great Sarp Yilmaz, as we’ll soon be setting the course towards straight up no-nonsense housin’. The sounds are served up by old favourites like Joshua Heath and Phil Weeks, well known cats the likes of MCDE and DJ W!ld, and several first timers to keep things fresh. Piano, sax, old school jacking, a bit of acid and the obligatory hip hop sample, got it all covered.

01. Rishi K – Transient Day (Sarp Yilmaz Remix) [Adaptation]

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The previous episode of Hausaufgabe was geared towards getting you all hot and bothered. To cool you down a bit and prevent any dangerous overheating, we now have a selection of slightly more chilled out sounds at hand. What’s better, I’m taking a break from following my pedantic 12 track formula and throwing in a little extra. Quantity and quality, together at last.

Highlights include Oulu’s own Smok keeping the House capital of Finland on the map, Cle’s piano house hit, a Move D oldie, plus a nasty remix from my old favourite Busy of RTHM. We begin somewhere near Downtempoville, but where does this ride end up? Lend the mix and ear and hear for yourself.

01. Keely Says – Get Hearted [Stranjjur]

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Spring springing yet? No? Better keep things warm with hot tunes then. Today we’ll be staying in the shallow end of the pool, as I’m taking Hausaufgabe back to its roots. Dry, raw, nice and simple, the way it was meant to be. Instead of meticulously crafting a versatile tracklist, I opted for just having some fun behind the decks. Perhaps it shows, and perhaps in a good way. Or not.

Several Hausaufgabe mainstays made it into this one. That includes DJ W!ld, Chanson E, Kid Enigma and Chris Carrier, whose delightfully excessive Robsoul cut had been been sitting in my collection unused for too long. Meanwhile, Kyodai shamelessly clone the recipe of their smash hit from last year, but get away with it by labeling it “part 2”. Smart! As a very special surprise classic, I bring you the original version of a 1995 post-handbag anthem from Alcatraz. It’s even kind-of-sort-of relevant right now, as the “2012 remixes” of the track just got re-released as the “2013 remixes”. Confused? That makes two of us.

01. Panthera Krause – Summer Breeze (Good Guy Mikesh Be Summer Mix) [Riotvan]

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Missed me? It’s only been three weeks since Hausaufgabe was last heard on these dirty airwaves, but as they say it’s never too soon for high quality house music. And here’s 71 minutes of just that. Made of fresh and pure ingredients, no horsing around.

So how exactly do we get from Secret Circuit’s synth odyssey to Strip Steve in 12 tracks? All it takes, apparently, is a whole lot of remixes. In addition to sure-fire re-imaginings from Jori “Alppilan gona” Hulkkonen and the consistently excellent Kink, Iron Curtis gets the treatment twice, both by himself and by Falko Brocksieper of Amiga demo scene fame. Add to this an Indian excursion courtesy of M.in and an appearance by the late great Martin Dawson, and it’s surely a voyage worth taking.

This just may be the best one yet, so enjoy.

01. Secret Circuit – Afterlife [Beats in Space]

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Valentine’s day, love in the air, all that stuff. Instead of fattening the wallets of greedy greeting card companies, how about delighting that significant other of yours with lovely, lovely house music*? Thanks to this second serving of a double-dip Hausaufgabe for February, you can!

The sugary sweet selection contains a thick layer of chords, with a sprinkle of techno and even a hint of early 90s breakbeat. The quality of artists such as John Tejada and Roberto Rodriguez is given, but Mercury’s bound-to-be-a-hit pulls off a seemingly impossible feat: heavy use of both Beatport noise and blog house basslines, but I’m still playing it? Perhaps in the spirit of Valentine I’ve gone soft. At least temporarily.

Finishing with a shameless plug: in Berlin this week? You can catch myself, Teemu P and a bunch of our friends playing in Raumklang on Saturday the 16th. If I survive, see you in episode #30..

* Actual levels of loveliness may vary.

01. Sek – West Coast Ride [Lost My Dog]

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Where’s the drop? Not in here, that’s for sure. The 28th assignment of Hausaufgabe continues where number 27 left off, pushing through spaced-out soundscapes before steering towards the vast plains of traditional house music.. whatever that means.

Tonight’s programme is full of fun and excitement. Chanson E and the Konura label continue putting Russia on the house map, Andrew Chorniy combines sax with – you guessed it – birds, and thanks to Armbar we actually have some space jazz on the tracklist this time. Fin(n)ishing things off with an golden oldie, there’s Cozy Creatures’ Lonely Nights remixed by Jori Hulkkonen (Kemistä), from way back in 2000. Except that it’s now been re-released under different artist and track names. Go figure.

Catch you in the next one, stay dirty!

01. Black Alley – Coco (Headz Funk Mix) [Konura]

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Hausaufgabe returns once again.. in 2013! Too future? Not for the dR followers, I’m sure. And what exactly will the next 12 months bring us musically? Will B-grade producers finally come up with a new filler gimmick to replace the Beatport white noise sweeps? Is the NYC/”Jersey” retro sound going to perish now that it’s been spotted limping towards the place where past trends go to die, Ibiza compilations? Exciting times lie ahead.

What I’m sure of is that for those willing to put in the effort of wading through the myriad of releases instead of relying on big names’ charts, there’ll still be plenty of unexpected gems to discover. I’ll continue doing my best to bring up the very best of house music to you, in lovingly crafted 12-track packages.

This time I’m taking you on a trip through various melodic locations, but beware: some acid rain has been forecasted towards the end of our journey. For once I find it impossible to pick any highlights from these equally outstanding sounds, so just enjoy the ride..

01. 2 Billion Beats – Mega City One [Paper]

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2012 will be history in a bit, but there’s time for one last Hausaufgabe to end this one with a bang. We’re all currently being bombarded with a gazillion of “best of the year” lists, charts and mixes, but I’m concentrating on something else: the best of right now.

In the tracklist one can spot several trusted names who once again fail to disappoint. Rachel Row & Kink collaborate in perfect form, JR from Dallas brings on the best remix of the moment, and Chris Carrier continues his seemingly endless streak of marvellous releases. We also got a selection of new faces – to this podcast series at least – to keep things fresh. Top quality house music all round.

Until ’13!

01. Nicone – Why [OFF]

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