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CMU Playlists
Playlist: Adam Freeland
By CMU Editorial | Published on Saturday 31 July 2010
Adam Freeland, producer, DJ and record label owner (he heads up the brilliant Marine Parade Records) has long been an innovator in the dance genre, often instigating new musical domains where others quickly follow, only to see Freeland innovating anew and taking us all on the next stage of an exciting musical journey. His DJ sets, mix albums and remixes (his ‘Fever’ and ‘Hello, I Love You’ reworks are masterpieces of the remix discipline) are legendary, but it’s his artist albums that we find most exciting.
Last year Freeland released his first album with his band, also called freeland, ‘COPE(tm)’, his first LP since 2003 solo effort ‘Now & Then’. ‘COPE(tm)’ saw Adam collaborating with the likes of The Pixies’ Joey Santiago, Spinnerette’s Tony Bevilacqua, DEVO’s Jerry Casale and the legend that is Tommy Lee, as well as newcomer Kurt Baumann, the main vocalist on the album.
Earlier this month, Adam was back solo again, returning with a storming new single, ‘How To Fake Your Own Life’, constructed with layered sounds, live drums and massive vocoder vocal riff. With the track still ringing in our ears, we asked Adam to put together a Powers Of Ten playlist for us, and my did he come up with the goods.
ADAM FREELAND’S TEN
Click here to listen to Adam’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his selections.
01 Nine Inch Nails – Beside You In Time
It always seemed odd to me that the electronic music community largely missed out on what NIN were doing, despite the fact that half the time Trent Reznor was beating them at their own game. I’m kind of obsessed by drones and this song is based on one constant drone that builds to fever pitch. I often open DJ sets with it.
02 The Units – High Pressure Days
No one I play this to believes me when I tell them it was released in 1979. It’s pretty much the birth of synthpunk, dubbed as “the first San Francisco band to play with no guitars”. If it wasn’t for the drum production slightly dating it, you’d think it was the Guardian Guide’s latest new band crush.
03 School Of Seven Bells – Sempiternal/Amaranth
They have just released a new album, but this is from their first. The whole psychedelic atmosphere of the song, the content of the lyrics and a two minute drone wig out ending tick all the boxes I need in order to get excited about a song.
04 The Stooges – Down On The Street
This it the first track on the ‘Funhouse’ album. It’s actually been my ringtone for a couple of years, so I hear this more than almost anything else, and it never tires. Pure distilled punk rock to its finest rawness. I never quite ‘got’ Iggy and The Stooges until I heard them live in LA a couple of years ago. They blew me away, and that gig is now in my top three live shows ever.
05 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Take My Time/Rifles
I can’t say this track is any better than the others on this their debut album ‘BRMC’, the whole record is just the perfect shoegaze stoner rock. There’s something about the way they play that also has a very loopy electronic feel, although there are definitely no electronics going on. The blueprint for my recent album ‘COPE’ was ‘BRMC meets the dance floor’.
06 Friendly Fires – Paris (Aeroplane Mix)
The magic combo – a great band with a great song who choose a great remixer who does something better than the original. Aeroplane are getting the hype right now, but this mix from last year is my favourite thing they have done.
07 Subway – Persuasion
Another electronic act that slipped under the radar – check the album ‘Subway II’. Very listenable, beautiful, bouncy, melodic analogue synth anthems.
08 Cinnamon Chasers – Luv Deluxe
A beautiful instrumental pop classic. It’s all the good stuff I like about a good pop song without the crap song underneath!
09 Caribou – Sun
It’s the production quality/technique that is often a big part of the writing for me. This whole album, ‘Swim’, is put together so well and is so original from a sonics point of view that its atmosphere dominates the songwriting. Also, ‘Niobe’ from the last album is a must.
10 Dapayk & Padberg feat Caro – Island (Noze Remix)
When I close a set with this, there’s usually a line of spotters queued up to find out what it is afterwards. Another sure-to-be-an-anthem that slipped under the radar.
