Neko Neko - Trouble in the streets / Playin ya self

MFM009 – Trouble in the streets / Playin ya self is Neko Neko’s latest release on My First Moth records and is available from all good record shops and online today! Limited edition hand stamped, one sided 12″. Buy 12″

“Neko Neko takes time out from recording his debut album (due for release in 2012) to drop two very different reworks for your record box.

On “Trouble in the Streets” he expertly revisits a jazzy house groover (St Germain’s “Rose Rouge”), shifting it up a few gears further into proper dance floor territory with heavy drums, percussion and adding catchy-as-hell vocal chant (lifted from an early 80s Lijadu Sisters African LP?)!

On the flip Neko Neko’s MPC gets possessed by the spirit of circa 1993 boom bap as he remixes Jeru The Damaja’s anti-playa anthem. Honky-tonk pianos, horns and boom bap drums all make for a worthy update of this stone cold classic!”

Reviews

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“I love the Jeru remix on the b-side”
DJ Format

“Ya Playin is ill yooooooo !!! Gonna rinse that one!”
Simbad – Brownswood

“Nice stuff, especially Trouble In the Streets will go down well in the clubs”
Mad Mats – Raw Fusion

Buy 12″

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MFM 009 - Neko Neko - Trouble in the streets / Playin Ya self 12"

Neko Neko’s next single release is with My First Moth records. MFM009 will be released on 12″ vinyl and digital download on the 30th of January at all the normal digital places and independent record shops. Limited to 300 and on one sided 12″ inch with stamped sleeve.

Catch a Preview of the track “Trouble in the streets” being played on BBC introducing Manchester by Ian Pennington from Now then Manchester @ 1.33 onwards.

Neko Neko On BBC introducing

Keep you eyes peeled for a preview of the B side coming soon.

Neko Neko will be playing on Friday the 11th of November at Sacred Trinity Church in Salford as part of the Launch events for This is ours label.  Line up is…..

* FROM THE KITES OF SAN QUENTIN (Live)
* CAPAC (Live)
* NEKO NEKO (Live)
* ANCLOVE (live)

Visuals: E MAN (Hoya:Hoya)
Facebook event page 

To celebrate the launch of This City is Ours Records first release, From The Kites Of San Quentin’s “Mitochondria” E.P, were holding a weekend of events in MCR, with a live show on the Friday at the beautiful Sacred Trinity Church, and a party on the Saturday at Centro, all featuring artists involved in the E.P.

:: FRIDAY 11th NOVEMBER ::
@ Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel St, Salford/MCR
£5 Doors 7.30

Electronic Exchange - Second Shift EP

Manchester/Barcelona based duo, The Electronic Exchange have just released a new EP on the Concreate Moniker label entitled Second Shift EP.

The EP features two remixes by Neko Neko along side one by Pause and two new tracks from the Electronic Exchange.  Personalty I am really happy with how these remixes came out!

The EP is available on Digital Download now via bandcamp for £2.99.

You can catch the Electronic Exchange at band on the wall tonight supporting Bugge Wesseltoft!! They will be playing the UK in the not to distant future and are not to be missed live!

Big up’s to the Equinox Paradox festival, had a great time and recorded the set so look out for a  upload of that sometime soon. Here’s some photo’s of the even by Jon Jones (aka JJ).

Neko Neko - Readers Digest LP

Well it’s here, 17 tracks of beats and samples made entirely from a reader digest boxset and some breaks on an MPC2000xl & 6 track tape machine. For more info on the project go here which has a full breakdown on the quipment used and ideas behind the project.

Available now for download in .wav, Flac and 320kbps MP3′s. There will be a limited CD release of this in the follow weeks and maybe even a special one off tape for the hardcore out there.

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did making it.

Gray

Fellfoot wood the venue

I will be playing a set at the Equinox Paradox festival held at Fellfoot wood, Lake Windermere on Saturday the 24th of September.

The festival is spread over two days and set in the beautiful Fellfoot wood which is situated in the woods surrounding Lake Windermere. This will be a lovely venue to play! You can get there by train or bus too.

The line up has Misty’s Big Adventure, Jo Hamilton, The Higher Craft, Rose Kemp and Omnia Opera.

Weekend and day tickets are available and there is camping spots too. For cheaper tickets without booking fee buy them through this link.

Should be a really special gig in a special venue so looking forward to it.

Buy Tickets

More info

UPDATE

Tickets are now getting close to selling out. For tickets without booking fee call Barry @ Fellfoot box office on 015395 31014

For those of you following Neko Neko on Facebook you might have seen the Ustream of the readers digest beat tape demos the other day. If not I have recorded the video.

The stream was done in the form of a live mixdown/dub from the tape machine with one song done live on the MPC. I did intend to make a beat live afterwards but the connection dropped.

Big shouts go to PYC sessions, Mind On Fire, My First Moth, Concreate Moniker & Bambooman for the reposting & support.

It was a fun thing to do & something I will be doing again in the future. It will most likely be annouced on the Neko Neko Facebook page so get on there for more upto date news. Also Check out the Neko Neko Ustream channel for previous streams.

Well I’ve not updated here for a while but I have been busy in the studio with upcoming releases. Some exciting stuff in the not too distant future. One of the projects is this readers digest beat tape album. Theres a bit of information that comes with this project so here goes.

Background

Some time ago I picked up a readers digest box set titled “international hits” from a charity shop for a £1. It contains 9 records of utter shit middle of the road, lounge and easy listening crap. I guess the idea behind it is that each record is in a style from around the world. It’s god awful.

So some time passed and then I got an idea one day to try and make something listenable from this giant paperweight. The project was born. I set some rules about how I could do this.

The Rules

They are simple and aimed at limiting myself, in theory pushing me to be more creative with what I got.

1. Samples to be used only from the records in the boxset.

2. Drum breaks are allowed to be used from other records, seeing as there are none on the boxset ones.

3. Synths can be used to make basslines and sounds but no melodys or main parts of the song can be instrument based, only samples from the boxset.

4. There are equipment limitations mainly that only analog equipment can be used, apart from mastering in the computer.

The Equipment

Seeing as I could only use analog equipment and was working with samples this is what I used. Most is in the photo above.

MPC 2000XL

Sansui WS-X1 (6-track cassette recorder, 2-track mixdown deck and mixer)

Sansui MD-R7 (tape sync box)

Deltalab effectron II (delay)

Electro Harmonix memmory man (delay)

Yammaha MG 16/4 (mixer)

Roland Alpha Juno 2 (synth)

DIY built synth

Technics 1210′s

Patchbay

Vestex PMC 05 pro sl (mixer with built in sampler which got used)

Cables

Mic

Everything is recorded to the sansui 6 track on cassette and mixed on it too. It has two tape decks one is 6 track one is 2 track. Idea being you mixdown to the 2 track from the 6 track. The MPC is recorded Live in one take with no overdubs. In fact not much overdubing being done at all as can only use 6-tracks. I will post more about certain pieces of gear later on.

Why would I do this?

I don’t know it seemed like a fun thing to do, which it has been. Fun to make it and challenging to get around all the limitations. Literary have to make something from not much. Surprisingly simple to record and work. I suppose i wanted to get away from having a gazillion plugins or synths to play with. Might sound weird to some. Also wanted to get a more hands on or live approach to music making, not just clicking away with the mouse. In that respect it’s been dope to do. I suppose I wanted to see if I could work with these limitations and take music back to being about working with what you got and having fun with it.

The end result

The end result will be an album or long EP of tunes. Not sure about ow it will be released format wise, might do small run of CD’s if not most probably digital.

Future Everything

I will be playing a live set at The mind on fire showcase for Future Everything festival on Saturday the 14th of May. I will be showcasing some new songs so get down to hear some new Neko Neko music. I will be on at 7.30 but theres loads of great artists on later and the ticket gets you into Neighborhood @ soup kitchen afterwards.

Facebook Page

Get down to the Umbro HQ on Dale St for a chance to see acts released or soon to be released on the Mind On Fire imprint, including….

Denis Jones and Indigo – Showcasing tracks from a collaborative record they are currently working on. Come and be the first to hear this exciting project between two of Manchester’s favourite sons.

Paper Tiger – Stripping it back to just decks and live sax for this showcase but if you have seen them at previous MOF events you know you shouldn’t miss.

Hot Vimto – A live DJ, MPD, Launch Pad extravaganza between GKut (Great Minds Vol. 1) and Danny Drive Thru, whose 7″ is the next release later this year.

LA77 – With all manner of gadgets and electronic trickery in tow, LA77′s (Great Minds Vol.1) unique beats are sure to get your attention.

+ ALL Mind On Fire residents holding down the selections between acts.

This event will run between 6pm and Midnight and cost £5. However, this wristband will get you into the Neighbourhood after party at Soup Kitchen which runs until 4am.