The demanding, multi-tasking role of being a label boss, alongside a busy DJ schedule, often only leaves Rotterdam’s Paul Hazendonk with short bursts of creative studio time. The latest release on Manual Music sees Paul present his first solo release on his own label since his excellent, long-awaited debut album ‘Adapt’, two years ago. Paul has been the driving force behind Manual Music since its inception in 2005, and has established it as a crucial platform for exciting talent, focused on sonic innovation that is always fresh and original. Having launched his DJ career over 15 years ago, it wasn’t until a couple of years later that Paul released his first productions. Over that time he has steadily built an impressive catalogue of releases on numerous influential labels, including Hope, Einmusika, BluFin, Kittball, Sudbeat, Plattenbank, Lowbit, Diynamic, and numerous others, alongside releases on his own Manual Music imprint. It is highly recommended that you always keep him on your musical radar, and we thought it high time that we asked him to guide us through his favourite ‘Back to Mine’ selections…
Gino Soccio – There’s A Woman
The whole ‘Outline’ album is pure class and so is nearly everything Gino Soccio ever released. I’m a big fan of this guy but didn’t discover him until about 10 years ago when I was crate digging at the Concerto record store in Amsterdam and picked up a copy of ‘Outline’. ‘There’s A Woman’ is the standout track for me. It baffles me how someone could produce such forward-thinking electronic music in 1979? Very, very, early techno music for ya here!
Nomad – Devotion
One of my earliest “house music” childhood memories, sitting on the backseat of my parents’ car with my Sony Walkman headphones on, watching the Dutch scenery go by and, of course, with the magic “bass boost” button enabled 🙂 As soon as the vocal comes in at the beginning it still gives me goose bumps to this day.
Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine
One of my favourite soul singers from the 70’s and it was very hard to choose just one track from this guy… I’ve chosen ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ because (as with the majority of his songs) it’s pure, honest and raw. ‘Grandma’s Hands’ was a close second though. By the way: be sure to view the ‘Still Bill’ documentary about his life, it comes highly recommended!
Donna Summer – Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)
Being the disco fan that I am, one can’t deny the influence Donna Summer has had.
I could name at least 10-15 songs that I could place here in my “Back To Mine” list, but instead I decided to go for something a little less obvious. Pure 80’s sounds on this one, funky as hell and that vocoder is so sick! I can play this on repeat and the release of endorphins would be endless. I actually didn’t discover until recently this one was produced by Quincy Jones right in the same era he produced some of Michael Jackson’s best tunes. Makes sense…
Trentemoller – Miss You
Quite possibly the most beautiful piece of electronica I’ve heard in my life. So warm, fuzzy and full of emotion, it’s just a stunning piece of work. When starting to produce the ‘Canyon’ song for my ‘Adapt’ album, with Sian Evans and Noraj Cue, I took ‘Miss You’ as an example of the mood I wanted to set.
Stevie Wonder – Master Blaster
Stevie Wonder’s ode to Bob Marley. I’m a big Motown fan and Stevie Wonder is one of the artists that stand out for me, so he just had to be in this list. It was a close race between this one or ‘Higher Ground’, which I also love because of its funky ruggedness, but the story I have to tell about this song is better… When working for a record store the owner and I were on our way to see someone who was selling a big collection of records, it was mid-summer, scorching hot outside, car windows open… And then, this song came on the radio. I actually had never heard it before, totally missed it (it was never a big hit in Holland), so I asked the title to the song. We came to the guy’s house, checked out his collection and one of the first records he showed us was the 12” of ‘Master Blaster’, like it was destiny! Needless to say I kept that one for myself 🙂
The Staves – Chicago
You can wake me up for this every hour of the day. Such beautiful harmony singing by The Staves, who also appeared in the ‘Austin To Boston’ documentary movie, alongside other outstanding indie artists. I don’t really know what else to say about this, other than I think it’s stunning, a true piece of art!
Patchy – Delicate
This one holds a special place in my heart because it was taken from the first non-up-tempo electronic album I ever signed to my own Manual Music label. It was one big adventure flying Patchy over from London to Holland to have it recorded in a few days, with my friends Francesco Pico and Qbical working on the production. I’m still very proud of the final result, and if you don’t know the album you should look it up!
Andreya Triana – A Town Called Obsolete
I actually “discovered” Andreya when I was part of the Red Bull Music Academy in Amsterdam – I think it was around 2006/2007? She had one of her very early songs on a RBMA sampler that they were giving away for free, and I instantly fell in love with her voice and soul. I was so happy to find out she got picked up by Ninja Tune and have since then seen her perform in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and London and I’ve got a signed copy of her debut album in my possession. Great voice, great personality!
Rufus Wainwright – Going To A Town
I was so blown away the first time I saw Rufus play this live at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2012 (this is actually that very recording). What a song, what a voice and what emotion! Depending on how you’d interpret the lyrics, I feel it’s quite suited to the current America situation, even though the song is nearly a decade old.
Check Paul Hazendonk’s latest release…
Paul Hazendonk – Spheksophobia / Profound Shift Of Conceptual Awareness (Manual Music) MAN187
Release Dates: Beatport 06.06.16 / All Stores 20.06.16
Further Info:
http://www.paulhazendonk.nl
https://www.facebook.com/paulhazendonkofficial/
http://www.manual-music.com
https://www.facebook.com/manualmusicofficial
