TONGUE & CHEEK RECOMMENDS: Tracks of the Week
Tongue N’ Cheek is a Gold Coast based Vinyl-Analog hybrid turntablist duo. Oscar Portelli & Gianluca Sibson formed the ensemble in 2024 to intertwine their two adjacent Dj’ing styles. Inevitable to this juxtaposition each has learnt to cross, switch, hop and jump between musical mixing formats creating a very elegant and beautiful musical performance. We wish for you to see it one day…
Where did it start? & what are they listening too? Well, if you’ve ever wondered those two exact things you’re about to find out!
“… growing up we have always been around a pair of decks having fun, so naturally we really wanted to share our love for dance music and start producing! We try and embody everything positive that comes from dance / electronic music, taking a light-hearted approach into our production and personas…”
We had the pleasure of talking with the dynamic duo to submit their ‘TEN TRACKS OF THE WEEK’ for week #8 of the pretty standard //TOOL’s DOWN musical segment.
The following was handpicked and a full track list lives eternally at the bottom:
TRACK #1:
Chris Stussy, Moby – Go
“Revisited his boiler set, everything about this song is just so good. Don’t need to say much, iconic Stuss'”
TRACK #2:
Klubbheads – The Magnet (Hard Bag Klubb mix)
“One from our vinyl collection, Klubbheads have such an iconic sound, honestly everyone one of their tracks are quality. Proper hard house 90’s, definitely one of their more underground tunes.”
TRACK #3:
Mar Vista – P U M P
“Saw Mar when he played on the Gold Coast, one of the best sets we have seen! Awesome selector, this is one of his best.”
TRACK #4:
MONSI – Time To Funk
“Percussion driven Hard-groove track, so groovy! has a really fun and bounce to it. Whole EP is so good!”
TRACK #5:
Kink, Rare dub–Endorphins
“If you're a fan of their ‘Time to Change’ release (1000% track of the year btw), then this one is for you. These two create such an awesome sound, such a fun one.”
TRACK #6:
Sam Alfred, Kyle Starkey –
I Want You To Know
“This one is going to be played all summer! Love their sound and their style, compliment each other so well. Massive track!”
TRACK #7:
Jeff Mills – The Bells
“Went down a rabbit hole of watching his live sets in the 90’s, hate how long it is taken for us to find this guy! Absolute legend to the techno scene, strongly recommend watching one of his sets on YouTube and definitely to listen to this song. “
TRACK #8:
Romano Alfieri – Lescot Summer
“This is another one in our vinyl collection, such an energetic house’y track from an awesome EP.”
TRACK #9:
Abdul Raeva – Crystal Palace
“prog with a lil bit of acid mixed in there! Abdul has been a favourite of ours for quite some time now, has a very deep discography.”
TRACK #10:
Aidan Rudd – Aliens
“Really fast groove to it, reminds us of proper raw techno and that really heavy sound.”
…and to that pretty standard can be quoted saying “WOW, HOW GOOD?” in regard to the above track selection.
We did also get the chance to squeeze in a couple more questions! A wise man once said something and life & lemons and shit, so here goes:
Q) pretty standard // Mate please tell us about one or two of these tracks. Why do they stand out to you?
A) tongue n’ cheek // “The track that stands out to us is “I want you to know “. Sam Alfred and Kyle Starkey are two artists we really look up to in the scene and their production, these two are big leaders in the modern hard house scene. They have both mastered the different techniques to create such bouncy tunes that take you on a somewhat euphoric adventure. We really love these artists individually, and how they both take a different approach to their production, but them together is a whole different ball game. They smashed it with this one!”
Q) pretty standard // What’s a track or album that you’ve been obsessed with for years — something that has stayed with you over time?
A) tongue n’ cheek // “Growing up listening to rap music very heavily, that 2012-2018 era of rap music us will stick around with us forever. We Love trying to sample our favourite rap songs from that era and working it into our music and just playing around with it in general. For the both of us, I think A$AP Rocky’s two albums LONG.LIVE.A$AP and AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP are something we frequently revisit. For songs that have more influenced us to become producers / dj’s would be Green Velvet’s ‘Voicemail’ and ‘Flash - Eats everything remix’.”
Q) pretty standard // If you could collaborate/work with any artist (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
A) tongue n’ cheek // “Such a hard question, but I think a dream collaboration for us would be Klubbheads (presplit up) or Andy Farley. Those two have created some of the most iconic hard house tracks and have just such a timeless production, a good portion of their tracks released around 20 – 30 years ago are still relevant. “
Q) pretty standard // Lastly, do you have any new projects coming out soon? Where can people find you?
A) tongue n’ cheek // “We have just finished up on our last single for the year, a rework of an absolute house anthem that we are so excited to share with you all! Released earlier last week, can stream it on Soundcloud! We are also currently working on something big for 2025, and we cannot wait to share with you all more of our work <3”
LINKS:
instagram // @tongue.n.cheek
soundcloud // @Tongue n’cheek
And, as always the full playlist is available for your awaited approval, perusal and amusement. As for the opposite of those three complex words your permitted to do those too…
We wish you happy listening,
Till we meet again,
Couper Baskus // official ‘Ne'er-do-well’ and global head of ‘Such-and-such’ @ pretty standard
