WhoMadeWho are a trio from Denmark consisting of an ex-underground Scandinavian rock falsetto singer/songwriter; a beard-sporting guitarist, singer/songwriter from the avantgarde jazz stage; and a drummer and rising star from the country’s electronic music scene. So it’s hardly surprising that with such an eclectic group of creative minds, their combined production talents are difficult to pin down or slot neatly into a genre. And with the relentless bombardment of electronic-music-by-numbers we’re subject to these days, that’s a refreshingly good thing!
 
The band have been keeping pretty good company since forming in 2003, playing alongside Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Soulwax and Hot Chip and their experimental approach to combining electronic with acoustic whilst taking to the stage in skeleton suits prompted NME to ask “Got knows what would happen if they got serious”. Sasha affirmed their musical credentials in the house scene by rounding off his WMC set with the anthemic ‘Below The Cherry Moon’.
 
So, WhoMadeWho are riding the waves with tenacity whilst mixing in the right circles, but what of their latest release? Taken from their 2012 long-player, ‘Brighter’, ‘Running Man/The Sun’ comes with a quality lineup of remixes courtesy of the ever impressive Kompakt. The original sees the high-pitched vocal talents of Tomas Hoffding taking the lead accompanied by plucky guitars and swirling strings for what feels like a Hot Chip inspired outing. Dave DK takes on the first of the remix duties and delivers a more dance floor tailored slab of deep house. This is actually our favorite track of the package because of it’s subtle interpretation of the vocals whilst retaining the originals integrity. Martin Dawson & Catz’n Dogz step up next and take things up a notch with chopped vocals and heavier drums. Frenchman, Pilooski, retains more of the original sentiment in his reworking as the piano and guitars intertwine around a raw kick drum and cleverly edited vocals. Finally, one third of WhoMadeWho, Tomas Barfod, drops what initially feels like a more stripped back remix which gradually evolves into a heavier drum-led offering with a monster distorted bass line.
 
Disco meets rock meets trance as things are rounded off with ‘The Sun’, an unashamedly boisterous anthem of mighty proportions, which shows that whilst the skeletons are firmly back in the closet, WhoMadeWho are clearly still having fun with their vocation.
 
Via Rebels Because.
 
Whomadewho – ‘Running Man/The Sun’ available now at:

Whomadewhos Brighter is a famously tight marvel of an album, brimming with heroic pop moments and poignant grooves for any club potatoe to savor. One of the very best tracks and a personal favorite of many a Kompakt staff member is undoubtably Running Man. It is no wonder then that we could gather a quite impressive collection of remixes, including a sweaty rework by French edit wizard Pilooski and a heavily bouncing mix by Catz ‘n Dogz and Martin Dawson (of King Roc fame). More dancefloor extravaganza comes from notorious Dave DK, whose prolific work ethic might very well mark him as the original running man, and WhoMadeWhos Tomas Barfod: the drummer once more shows his striking skillset when it comes to the analysis of a hookline, making his expertly sequenced arrangement a true monster of a club anthem. Together with the original version of Running Man, we also included the radio edit of The Sun… because thats how good it is. Turn on, tune in, drop out! -Running Man, one of Brighters best songs, gets the remix treatment -An armada of studio heavyweights reworked the original, including Dave DK, Martin Dawson & Catz ‘n Dogz, Pilooski and Whomadewho drummer Tomas Barfod. -Includes a concise radio edit of summer anthem The Sun.
 
Release available now at:
 

Glimpse & Martin Dawson have firmly established themselves as two of the UK’s finest electronic exports. Their intricate productions and impressive attention to detail has not only seen their music garner a wealth of praise and support from the DJ elite, but has also lead to them lending their studio expertise to a number of fellow artists and labels.
 
Since 2010′s “Flying Scotsmen” on Cocoon the pair have gone on to release Originals and remixes for the likes of Get Physical, Leftroom, Crosstown Rebels, 20:20 Vision and Hypercolour. Martin is also currently riding high on the support for his remix collaboration with Catz n Dogz, on Ellum.
 
Together the pair have created a beautiful piece of electronic melancholy, dedicated to the life of the working DJ. “Martin and myself are great friends and have a fantastic chemistry in the studio. ‘Our Friends’ was one of those tracks that happened very naturally at the end of a long 2 day recording session. It was cobbled together, pretty much, in just a few hours and then left on a hard drive to fester. A month later I re-opened the project in a rather intoxicated state and recorded the vocal. Its about our friends and colleague’s in the industry flying around the world, playing gigs, downloading things in hotel rooms and power napping in airports. Basically life on the road.”
 
Pets_19_Glimpse_&_Martin_Dawson_-_Our_Friends by pets_recordings
 

 
Pets19 – Glimpse & Martin Dawson – Our Friends available now at:
 

Martin Dawson is a musician, producer and DJ who has had a lot of fun these last few years. Also releasing under the name Two Armadillos with Giles Smith from Secret Sundaze, London – he has worked with labels such as Bang!Bang!, Dessous, STHLM Audio, Buzzin’ Fly and Four:Twenty with remixes for Moodmusic, R&S and Fear Of Flying. His solo a co-productions have been supported by many dance music artists such as Laurent Garnier, Tiefschwarz, Radioslave, D’Jul, Solomon, Nick Curly and Luciano to name a few.
 
As a DJ he has travelled all over the planet from West and Eastern Europe to South American, Australia and most of Asia, to the deepest Russia and beyond playing to small intimated clubs for a few hundred party people to festivals in front of thousands taking his taste for the underground sounds of deep house and techno all around the world.
 
Martin has put up on his Soundcloud, for you personal enjoyment, a delicious piece of his live set, Smash TV ‘Made For Each Other’ (Martin Dawson Remix), that you can download from the player below.
 
Smash TV ‘Made For Each Other’ Martin Dawson Remix by Martin Dawson

What makes a great pairing? It’s a question as old as time, yet one Giles Smith and Martin Dawson seem intent on answering – at least from a house music perspective. The duo, known collectively as Two Armadillos, may encompass slightly contrasting DJing styles, yet they’ve also cemented a production dynamic and a mutual appreciation for each other’s talents that sets them apart from their peers.
 
Courageous enough to go against the grain yet simultaneously underground, theirs is a relationship that’s draped in sultry, deep house goodness, with their debut LP, Golden Age Thinking, offering up a case in point.
 
I Voice hooked up with both Giles and Martin recently to discuss common ground, “contemporary” house music, their dedication to vinyl, and taking the production plunge….
 
So, when was the idea of working together first mooted?
 
Giles: Around 2006. We knew of each other previously, and Martin was working at Phonica [Records] at the time. We just got talking, and one day Martin asked me if was up for writing some music with him. I was quite unsure at the beginning, I think one: because of my own insecurities about music production and my lack of experience and two: because I wasn’t sure if our styles were compatible, as we had quite different DJing styles.
 
After initially not taking action, I got back to Martin soon after and said I was up for hooking up. I think we went into the studio the next week and wrote our first EP, (‘Tunnel of Light’) that Steve Bug picked up for his Dessous imprint in 2-3 days. That was in early 2007. It was immediately clear that we had quite a special bond and were able to work together and come up with results. I think the main thing is that we get on super well and have a laugh too. So there’s not so much pressure. I enjoy hanging out with Martin.
 
Martin: I remember asking Giles if he wanted to work on some music, because I have always had a lot of respect for him as a DJ. He has a sound that I have always enjoyed, and I thought it would be fun to do some stuff together. We are both very sociable and easy going too, so the studio time is always a lot of fun.
 
We are both strong personalities and have a habit of constantly talking to each other excitedly, but that’s just that we are – we are both very passionate people…
 
…Were you always focused on what it was/is you want to achieve as Two Armadillos?
 
Giles: Yes and no. I think in quite a few of our records such as ‘Patience’, ‘Butterfly Bee’, ‘Hawthorne’s Theme’ or more recently, ‘Warriors Return’, the overall aim is to write fairly classic, timeless house and techno that utilises a lot of live sounding instruments as one hears in a lot of vintage Detroit and Chicago tracks. We were doing this in 2007 mind, back when it wasn’t fashionable (like it is now) to apply that more “old-school” sound.
 
However, sometimes we sit down and sounds slip out when you are tinkering away, and it could be a sound that isn’t in that style but we think damn it: “let’s just go with this feeling or vibe”. We have done some more techno type tracks using different sounds lately, but they still have this smoothness and groove that is – for me – very Two Armadillos.
 
I guess one example of that would be “Ronin”, a track that’s soon to be released on Part 1 of the new LP. It’s actually a smooth deep techno track – and quite different to what we have done before – but definitely shares a common thread with our previous work.
 
Giles SmithGiles you’re more renowned as a DJ, and Martin, you’re perhaps more renowned as a producer. So how is it your styles fit, or is this why they complement one another?
Giles: Well I think Martin is known as DJ too, but yes, I am known better as a DJ. I think we both know what works on the floor [as DJs], and despite the music we play differing somewhat, I would say our tastes have converged and that Martin I think, has rekindled his love of deeper, more raw sounds.
 
I mean listening to the LP, there are 3, maybe 4 cuts, if not more, that I really don’t think will be heard in many clubs and I’m not particularly bothered about it, as this wasn’t the intention. Instead, they were really made with that timeless “hat” on, and I guess they’re more album tracks. They can be played in clubs at more special moments but quite easily fit into home listening too.
 
Mind you, going back to your question, Martin has told me quite a few times that because I am so sure of what I am looking for, it makes me easy to work with, and I think it’s this combination of my tastes and decisiveness in the studio (and Martin’s skill and quickness as an engineer) that make us a good team in the studio.
 
What are the best and worst things about working as a duo?
Giles: Honestly, from my side there aren’t any negatives. We are both strong personalities and have a habit of constantly talking to each other excitedly, but that’s just that we are – we are both very passionate people. We genuinely get on really well and love hanging out. We both have a shared love of the cakes they sell in Berlin bakeries too!
 
Martin: Yes! And when we get excited we do talk over each other quite a lot, but it’s always fun.
 
How important is it that your tastes vaguely match one another? Or is it?
Giles: Of course it’s important that we share similar tastes – I play Martin a lot of new or old records from my bag and he tends to really likes them – but there are definitely also records I play him that he’s not so into. I don’t spend time analysing this too much though: in my mind it works and that’s it.
 
Martin: Giles has a very refined taste in music, whereas mine is perhaps more broad, but there is a lot of ground where we love the same stuff so of course, that helps. This is what makes it a collaboration and not me just engineering for him.
 
Read the whole interview here.