Armand Van Helden - Touch Your Toes

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
There isn't a kebab-disko in the world this track wouldn't tear apart. 2007 electro-hip-house:


Anyone heard his new album Ghettoblaster? Must be promo'd...

‘Ghettoblaster’ breaks with the electro-rock influences of his previous release ‘Nympho’ [2005], or as Van Helden explains: “I was going for a retro throwback 1985-89 soul uptempo urban type sound. Chicago meets Miami meets New York City kind of thing. Or to put it differently, house meets freestyle meets hip-house meets club meets new wave.”

Woo!
 

swears

preppy-kei
Like the production, very much a circa '89 house kinda feel. Vocals are just a wee bit too cheesy, though.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
Like the production, very much a circa '89 house kinda feel. Vocals are just a wee bit too cheesy, though.

the album is like a crash course in late 80s dance classics - you'll hear bits of Kariya, bits of House Music Anthem etc etc. I loved it, but then i'm old.
 

Guybrush

Dittohead
As a collection of good-time, party-hardy tracks, the album is really good, even though it feels a bit like a nostalgia trip at times. Freestyle is one of the shittiest genres ever, in my opinion, so his trying to regurgitate that gets my thumbs down. The other genre forays are more successful, though. I like ‘NYC Beat’ the best. ‘Touch Your Toes’ is all right—decent club track. As always, extra points to him for treading his own path where others chicken-shit and lean against the zeitgeist. This sounds a lot like his older works, though, so maybe it’s an incessant 80s hang-up thing or something.
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
As always, extra points to him for treading his own path where others chicken-shit and lean against the zeitgeist.
His quote above is almost ridiculously more zeitgeist than thou...

Though I do agree that compared to others Helden does it larger and more daringly - that's what the video to Touch Your Toes is like... 80s hiphop/acid blown up to cartoon like proportions. He even does a "yo" breakdown, haha. Most producers simply don't have the flair or style to pull it off.

The thing that really sells me is the weight of the production. The lead stab is rugged as fuck.

I also like the video because it validates my lurid taste in colour
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
Delighted to unexpectedly find the 2 Emperor Machine mixes on the NYC Beat single. Great slices of dubby space disco...

The MSTRKRFT remix is very hot and sweaty.
 
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