2010: A Retrospective

Admittedly there are more important things to be doing in December than making lists about what’s happened over the past 12 months. We're not the biggest fans of doing so over here plus someone has actually already done the hard work for everyone, creating the most essential list of occurrences in 2010 right here, but, well... here’s our tuppence worth, should you need to reaffirm your faith in our compliance with journalistic culture...

LPs of 2010:



fabric 55: Shackleton [fabric]

Less a mix, more a complete and perfect summation of Shackleton’s work to date, fabric 55 contains unreleased material, re-workings and edits from one of dance music’s true idealists. A bold and perfect vision captured impeccably.



Guido – Anidea [Punch Drunk]

Synths may have got weirder in 2010, but one person who absolutely owned his craft this year was Guido. Ever since we heard ‘Beautiful Complication’ at Rooted Records in Bristol, we knew Peverelist was onto a winner with the then untitled album project. What followed was a glimpse into the unique world of a deft musician on Anidea.



Actress – Splaszh [Werk Discs]

Darren Cunningham returned with sharpened nuances back in May for his debut on Honest Jons. Continuing to sound like the outside world listening in to club culture from a soapbox stuck outside of Barnet and wielding his EQs and filters in ways that seemed to filter out any kind of smiles or good intentions Splaszh became a dirty piece of history.



Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma [Warp]

Impossible to ignore, Flying Lotus’ second album for Warp Records trod a line between beat based genius and absolute freeform madness as the Californian producer went deep into his own universe. As far as crystalline productions go Cosmogramma was a space opera that ‘marks Ellison out as a true experimenalist’.



Mount Kimbie – Crooks & Lovers [Hotflush]

If there’s one thing that unifies our picks for our albums of 2010 it’s the fact that each one presented a unique vision. Mount Kimbie’s offering was no different, with Crooks & Lovers veering almost awkwardly through some of the most melodically shattered beats of the year. A hit across the board it subverted a lot of dancefloor trends but still made appearances in sets from the best DJs out there.



Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner [Notown]

It feels a little terrifying to admit that sometimes the hype machine is completely on point and Gold Panda is a case in point. After various lowkey EPs on Various Prouction’s imprint, including the excellent ‘Back Home,’ the man known only as Derwin released Lucky Shiner - a sampledelic tapestry of up and down tempo music that mixes really well, at times, with UK funky.

Gold Panda also tops the SR ‘dreamboat of the year’ list pipping Drake, Reggie Yates and Zain from One Direction to the accolade. Congratulations to him.

Honourable mentions: Rudi Zygadlo, Liars, Ikonika, Darkstar, Deftones, Scuba and more.

::

Compilations of 2010:



V/A – Modeselektion Vol. 1 [Monkeytown]

Aligning the clubbing underground’s elite is no mean feat, but to obtain exclusives from each one of them and introduce artists like Robag Wruhme and Housemeister in the same breath is kind of game changing.



V/A – Astro:dynamics [Astro:dynamics]

In the absence of any Beat Dimensions style offerings this year, Rekordah offered up a great set of beats A&Red, packaged and released by himself. His Astro:dynamics compilation remains an accomplished arrangement after repeated listens.



Kode9 – DJ KiCKS [!K7]

Kode9’s brand of UK funky is different. He’s pretty much become the pioneer of bastard house in our eyes and his mix for !K7 caught his style perfectly. Gutter yet danceable, it’s the real sound of his London 6-8 months ago.



V/A – Elevator Music Vol. 1 [fabric]

Yep – one for the bias aware out there - this collection, released in February of this year, gave some of this year’s stand out troupe (Mosca, Hackman, Julio Bashmore, Hot City, Doc Daneeka, xxxy) their first outing to the world in emphatic and beautifully packaged style.



V/A - Tropical Heat Vol 1 & Vol 2 [Myor]

Released in two parts across two 12"s the Tropical Heat series has a homespun feel. Its obvious from speaking with its curator, Coco Bryce, that he's as much in love with the music as we are with the quality of this year's Sonic Router mixes, and he manages to straddle the divide between skweee simplicity and boom bap technology across these 12"s with beats from people like Slow Hand Motem, Slugabed, Niño and Mesak.

Honourable mentions: Brownswood Electric, FABRICLIVE 50: Autonomic, Scuba for Sub:stance, fabric 50: Martyn.

::

12”s/EPs/Tracks:

Ramadanman - Work Them/Fall Short [Swamp 81]
Deadboy – If You Want Me [Numbers]
Jeremiah – Birthday Sex (Hovatron Remix) [FREE DL]
Addison Groove – Footcrab [Swamp 81]
James Blake – CMYK [R&S]
Hizatron – HZA EP [Wigflex]
Elgato – Blue/Tonight [Hessle Audio]
Girl Unit – IRL [Night Slugs]
Braiden – The Alps [Doldrums]
Joe – Claptrap [Hessle Audio]
Blawan – Iddy/Fram [Hessle Audio]
Becoming Real ft. Trim – Spectre EP [Not Even]
T.Williams - Chop & Screw [Deep Teknologi]
Mosca – Square One EP [Night Slugs]
Martin Kemp – Wot U Got/Fix [Blunted Robots]
LV & Okmalumkoolkat – Boomslang [Hyperdub]
Kontext – Sattva [Immerse]
Sentel – Chapel 20 [Concrete Cut]
The Phantom – Nightgame (Zeppy Zep Remix) [Senseless]
Ill Blu – Bullion/Dragon Pop [Hyperdub]
Altered Natives – The Bitch/Crop Duster [3024]
Arp101 – Dead Leaf [Eglo]
Icicle – Anything [Tempa]
Fantastic Mr Fox – Evelyn [Black Acre]
Jackal Youth – Let Me Be [Reduction]
West Norwood Cassette Library – Blonde on Blonde [TEAL]
Hypno – Over The Top EP [PTN]
MJ Cole & Wiley – From The Drop [Prolific]
Randomer – Be Electric [Tru Thoughts]
Martyn – Left Hander [3024]
Ikonika & Optimum – Aqueous Cream [Hum & Buzz]
DVA – Natty/Ganja [Hyperdub]
Hyetal & Shortstuff – Ice Cream [Punch Drunk]
Spatial – INFRA004 [Infrasonics]
Jamie Grind – Baloon [Infrasonics]
Lone – Once In A While [Werk Discs]
Mr Mageeka - Different Lekstrix [Numbers]
Jam City – Ecstasy Refix [Night Slugs]
LHF – EP1: Enter In Silence… [Keysound]
Falty DL – Freqaflex [Planet Mu]
Breach – Fatherless [PTN]

This list is just a glimpse. There are so many more singles/EPs/tracks I’ve thought of since I even published this... I give up.

::

Please note: These lists are not definitive. Tomorrow it would most likely be very different...

DOWNLOAD: XI – Nitelite

XI is one of those cats that had us all hyper from the get go way back in January of this year. Releasing two plates - the debut release from the Orca label and bits on Immerse - in tandom he hit out with a deep kind of toughness. Tracks like ‘Ghost’ were a little reminiscent of the way Headhunter and Modeselektor hit, with all that warming darkness of the bassline mirroring the serious pressure of the drum work the Canadian producer was pouring in.

Since then though, he went quiet, reportedly holed up in his studio working on a lot of music. With a flurry of communication in the past week or two, its evident he’s aiming to go big in January of 2011 too with another single release imminent, again for the Orca stable, at the tail end of the month. ‘Gamma Rain’ and ‘Medicate’ both plot of decidedly more melodic route for XI, melding ideas and snatched sounds with a more stuttering fusion of drum patterns. They’re more colourful, both tracks blessed by a producer who seems to have found his feet somewhere different, combining his love for the slower more breathy climes of his hip hop tempoed work and that punishing snap he’s delivered so well previously.



In anticipation there’s a generous gift floating around cyberspace as of now: a free download of XI’s ‘Nitelite’ – a seductive roller that keeps banging ever rising upwards – which you can as always, grab at the link below...

DOWNLOAD: XI – Nitelite



Links:
www.myspace.com/xidubs

Photo: Kelly Koehler

INTERVIEW: The Phantom [Senseless/Top Billin]

Another producer in the Polish contigent - whose hardcore, dancefloor aimed productions have breathed a little unexpected life into our ears on many occasions over the last few months - The Phantom, and his tunes have been rollocking around the globe in the record boxes of some of the most influential, tastemakers around. Sharing an affinity to the perplexingly infectious synthesized grooves of labels like Night Slugs and Hum + Buzz, The Phantom’s own rhythms centre around the 4x4 pulse, but come unique with a highly melodic slant.

Equipped with the rhythm and drive those shuffling, incessant snares provide his music hits heavy, but it’s the uplifting lean of his lead lines on tracks like ‘Girl’ and ‘Night Game’ that really stand out. With tracks and remixes for people like Jack Dixon and Supra1, popping up with ferocity and a debut EP for the Senseless imprint - out earlier this wee - we caught up with the producer to talk our way into grabbing the 63rd Sonic Router Mix…

SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

The Phantom: Hi, Bartosz Kruczynski here. I'm a currently Warsaw, Poland based producer/DJ.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

Studying the culture of early modern England! I'm writing my master's degree thesis on ritualistic laughter. Apart from that - sleeping a lot, watching obscure films, listening to weird experimental records.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

I started putting together some ideas at the age of 15. All the tunes back then (made with a friend of mine) were sample-based, sort of early Coldcut or Big Apple Productions, despite being a fan of early XL Recordings rave records. At that time, I became influenced by the bootleg scene as well - Richard X/Girls On Top, Soulwax, Mark Vidler, Soundhog. All the early pioneers. Been making bootlegs for a couple of years now (I still produce them occasionally). Got back to writing my own music like a year ago.

What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?

Just a laptop and a pair of ears really...

How would you describe your music? I mean it shares a kinship with UK stables like Night Slugs and Hum & Buzz... Are those guys an influence for you?

Yes, they definitely are! I mean, thanks to Supra1, I was lucky enough to DJ alongside Bok Bok in Cracow, Poland like two years ago! And I was already a Faggatronix fan back then, as well as a a regular reader of Lower End Spasm (RIP). Club experiences are definitely a very important influence to me. The same with Ikonika playing at Unsound last year or, let's say, seeing Dam-Funk live. As for my music. I'm trying to keep it very raw and simple sounding, almost dated. It's also about the melodies, or particular chords rather than beats.



Where do you take inspiration from when making music? I mean it’s easy to hear the influence of more tribal drum patterns but outside of that...

If I had to choose any particular tracks sharing a similar sound these would be perhaps 'Desire' by Robert Hood or 'Strings' by Da Posse or some South African house music. Pop esthetics are important as well - I'd name Madonna's 'The Look Of Love' as an influence behind my own track - 'Night Game'. Apart from that - I'm using quite a lot of jazz chords.

You’ve turned ears with your remixes of people like Supra1 and Jack Dixon. Do you approach remixes differently to your original productions?

Yeah, to some extent. It is rather unconscious, but I always try to experiment a bit more when remixing, later incorporating the ideas (like new presets) into the original tracks.

What’s the scene like in your native Poland? There seems to be some really good producers putting out records at the moment... I mean we asked Sentel the same thing, but is the club side of it blossoming and is that affecting your profile do you think?

The scene is definitely growing strong here. Apart from Supra1, Zeppy Zep, Sentel, Sekta (releasing a new EP on Shifting Peaks soon) there are a couple of yet to be discovered producers like Rhythm Baboon, Venice Calypso or MCQ and Vanatoski. There's obviously also the tech-side - Catz N Dogz or Czubala. Lots of events here as well - almost everyone from the scene played in Poland - NB Funky, HH Banton, Crazy Cousinz, Untold, Kode9, Ikonika, Jackmaster, Bok Bok & Lvis, Girl Unit, Guido etc. All thanks to promoters like Unsound, Supra1, Sorry Ghettoblaster, BBQ or Gangsteppaz. As I said earlier - all the gigs definitely influence my music.

Are there any producers you rate the world should know about? I'm really into what Glamfranklin is doing,

I think signed to Hum & Buzz actually! Also the likes of Salva, Tri-Funk, Akhluts. I'm a big fan of Jam City as well.

How did you link with Senseless for you forthcoming EP? Did you choose the remixers yourself?

Senseless approached me over a year ago proposing the EP, despite me being completely unknown at that time. At first two completely other tunes were meant to be released. Decided to scrap them eventually tho. The remixers were chosen deliberately - already had quite a good contact with both Brenmar and Hackman (and Zeppy Zep obviously), loved their work so we offered them remixes.


The Phantom – The Phantom EP [Senseless Records]

What other projects have you got in the pipeline?

Working on a couple of remixes now, including Voltron (Discobelle Records) and French Fries (together with Zeppy Zep). Releasing an EP on Pets Recordings (Catz N Dogz label) and a single track on a Top Billin compilation. All early next year.

Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…

The mix includes a couple of new releases I'm really enjoying - 'The Alps' or the Brenmar remix (I think they are out already at this point), a demo by JTRP (Deep Teknologi Records), an African house anthem by DJ Bongz and 'Shivers' by Skalpel off their second LP.

Any words of wisdom, for our readers?

Don't eat the yellow snow.

::

DOWNLOAD: The Phantom – Sonic Router Mix #63



Tracklist:

Robert Hood – Clash – M Plant
Bateman – Tephra Riddim (Grevious Angel Remix) – Unreleased
Brenmar – You Make Me Say (Ikonika + Optimum Remix) – Forthcoming Discobelle Records
Braiden – The Alps – Doldrums
DJ Bongz – Underground Ft. Kgomotso – Huge Entertainment
JTRP – Shady – Unreleased
The Phantom – Night Game (Hackman Remix) – Forthcoming Senseless
Storm Queen – Look Right Through (Dub) – Environ
Untold – Come Follow Me – Soul Jazz
DJ Orgasmic – How Clap Low Trap (Joe x Ludacris) – Unreleased
Girl Unit – IRL (Bok Bok Remix) – Night Slugs
Jack Dixon – I Let You (The Phantom Remix) – Silverback
Ikonika – Simulacrum – Hyperdub
Skalpel – Shivers – Ninja Tune

The Phantom EP is out now on Senseless Records.

Link:
www.myspace.com/phantomghostwhowalks

NEWSFLASH: Sonic Router x Bleep.com Podcast #003

The 3rd in the line of Sonic Router podcasts for Bleep.com went live yesterday...

Featuring our look back at the past month of releases it includes work from Pearson Sound, Scuba (and a troupe of remixers including FaltyDL and Joe), Joker, Mosca, Lukid, A Made Up Sound and so much more.

DOWNLOAD: Sonic Router x Bleep.com Podcast #003
SUBSCRIBE: Bleep.com Podcast

Tracklist:

1. Mosca - Tilt Shift [Fat City]
2. Leatherette - Ashtro [Ho Tep]
3. Nosaj Thing - Quest (Low Limit Remix) [Alpha Pup]
4. Shigeto - Escape From The Incubator [Ghostly International]
5. Lukid - Rags [Werk Discs]
6. Games - Shadows In Bloom [Hippos In Tanks]
7. Computer Jay - Phantom [All City]
8. Airhead - Paper Street [Brainmath]
9. Seams - Nachtmusik [Pictures]
10. Terror Danjah - Bruzin VIP [Hyperdub]
11. Joker - Holly Brook Park [Kapsize/Punch Drunk]
12. Pearson Sound - Blue Eyes [Hessle Audio]
13. Hypno - Sunkin [Ramp Recordings]
14. Scuba - On Deck (FaltyDL Remix) [Hotflush]
15. C.R.S.T. - Roulette [Ten Thousand Yen]
16. A Made Up Sound - Rear Window [Delsin]
17. DJ Dom - Computer Love [PTN]
18. Lone - Let The Music Play [Hoya Hoya]
19. Funkystepz - Malibu [Forever Live Young]
20. SCB - Hard Boiled VIP [Hotflush]
21. Scuba - So You Think You're Special (Joe Remix) [Hotflush]

Links:
http://bleep.com

INTERVIEW: Eliphino [somethinksounds]

Tom Wrankmore is a guy who feels blessed by his luck in music. If there is one thing you can say about Wrankmore, and his work under the Eliphino moniker, it’s that he’s worked hard to get to where he is today. After circulating beat tapes and self releasing his 2005 hip hop tempoed album Out of Phase, he’s now on the precipice of big things. With a record out through Brownswood and his first solo EP for somethinksounds in shops now his music has morphed pace but retains the sort of characteristic that made his early work, re-presented by First Word Recordings, so listenable.

I reach him by phone early on a Saturday morning Melbourne time, 8pm on a Friday night his time, at his current abode - a warehouse space in central London. He is amazingly modest considering he has been working in DJing and at music for the last ten years - since he was 15 years old. Having recently made the move from Manchester to London things are quite fresh for him right now.

"Both cities are quite vibrant but obviously there is a lot more stuff going on in London I think..."

I guess it makes sense for an artist to be close to things?

"When events that I love to go to are so close, and every weekend, I can just see whoever I need to see. But there is so much going on, you literally have to pick and choose what you can afford!" he laughs.

Starting his bedroom production experiments at 17 years old after buying an MPC, he followed with roughly two years of DJing at a big club night in his home town. "I grew up in Leeds and there was a night called Drum Major. I got to be the resident DJ before I was even supposed to be in the club, when I was under 18." He confesses, sounding slightly incredulous about his luck. "I managed to DJ with Madlib, Q Bert and all those sort of hip hop guys who were smashing it around that time in the early 2000s."

"So I was really kind of blessed in the early days and I got to DJ a lot. Then I got addicted to production when I got my first sampler."

How did it feel to be invited to DJ as a resident at Drum Major?

"It was dope man. I think it was basically because I started off with, and I was quite enamoured with, the scratch stuff - the DMC battles and the ITF and all of that. So I practised on that level quite a lot and got to know quite a few people around the city who were into that. There were a couple of guys called Matman and Mike L who have both been in the DMC finals and they took me under their wing. I guess they might have seen some potential and then I got to be the resident of that night as a result of DJing with those guys."

That type of mentoring is commonly a huge part of the hip hop scene but it extends through artistic channels worldwide. As much as there is competition, the leading lights always seem to shine through. "I thought, for a while, that the availability of software might have changed the amount of people who make music. But I don't think that will dilute the quality of music coming out because it's only going to be the good stuff that gets the attention in the end."


Eliphino - Let Me Love You Forever [Brownswood]

"Someone who has been really forthright in terms of helping me out is Martyn. I have never met him because that's the nature of things nowadays, being online. I really look up to him because his productions are super tight and he is really willing to give time to break down one of your tunes. He's very honest about what he does and doesn't like."

"Also there's a guy called Illum Sphere up in Manchester. When I was living up there it was top that he and Johnny Dub were running Hoya Hoya - it was always somewhere good to go. I don't think I would site him as a mentor," he laughs.

A drinking buddy maybe?

"Yeah!"

Wrankmore has also gained support from a stalwart of music, Gilles Petterson. "We actually hooked up through the antiquated method of Myspace! Alexander Stevenson, who works at Gilles' label Brownswood, was in charge of compiling Brownswood Electr*c for Gilles on the label. He got in touch with me and it ended up being one of the two tunes that got pressed [onto vinyl]. That was around the same time as I moved to London so it was the best welcome that I could possibly have!"

The new Eliphino EP on somethinksounds, Undivided Whole, is a wonderful collection of beats, rolling melodies and morphing synths. The A-side of the EP bursts forth with ‘You'll Know’ - a kind of post-Burial garage gem that rolls out the stepper vibes - and continues with ‘L.F. (I Know)’ which forms a perfect twin track. The B side opens with ‘Condensation,’ is a far more muted house/funky affair, with ‘I Just Can't’ finishing off proceedings with a minimal, shuffling beat that is soaked in a single, mutating, droning synth. All-in-all it's a fascinating snapshot of a very talented producer.

"It has only been recently that I would consider myself to have been making songs," he reflects. "A lot of that has been through using Pro Tools and cleaning it all up."

"I have known the guys at somethinksounds for quite a while actually. We've come up in music together, somewhat. They've had the idea to start the label for a while and they finally put their heads together and got it to fruition. They're planning to have me as the first release on the label."

And for Wrankmore there is an added bonus: "It is being pressed on vinyl which has always been a main aim for me. So it's been relatively successful for me so far but we'll see how it goes. It's been kind of a strange road, I guess. I have always been into music, and I have been trying to make music and play it since I was about fourteen or fifteen. Around that age I was just listening to hip hop, old school Jungle, and a bit of garage as well. So it has always been a big melting pot of genres if you know what I mean."

"Dilla was a big influence, as was Madlib, but recently I have increased the speed of my tracks quite a lot. That's just a result of there being a lot of energy around certain genres and I have been more inspired to make music in that field."

Agreeing that it's a nice place to be right now with a great supportive community around the world he continues: "Yeah definitely. No one is raising eyebrows right now if people skip genres for each different release. You don't have to be dead set on one thing because it's all amalgamating now and everything is feeding off each other. It's good for creativity because there are no rules about what you're allowed to do."

"I'm definitely looking forward to [putting out] more releases. I have promised the lads that I will do another EP on somethinksounds. I have just finished a remix for a guy called Duffstep which is going to be on a label called Join The Dots - FaltyDL and Young Montana are on the same 12" so that's great to be on there with them… There is some cool stuff in the pipeline for next year; some labels are asking me for music... I'm considering changing direction in terms of the sound. I'm not really sure what it's going to be yet but I need to freshen up a bit. I will just keep making as much music as I can."

It's about being true to the music you want to create, right?

"Yeah totally. I usually get a melody in my head or mess about on the synth. Then I will work on a tune until it sounds alright - I will usually do the percussion on my MPC because it's easier for me. But I won't finish it as a song. I leave it for a month and forget about it and then I will load it up. I will either realise that it's awful or I will be surprised and finish it off."

"There are days when you will make something and half an hour later it will be done,” he continues. “I'm lucky enough to not have to work full time right now. I am living in a warehouse with no rent, doing freelance web design and DJing. So I get to sit around and mess about with music ideas all day anyway. I have enough time to get as creative as I can."

Words: Simon Hampson

::

Eliphino’s Undivided Whole EP is out now on somethinksounds.

Photo: Benjamin Eagle

DOWNLOAD: 2562 - URB x fabric Mix

We're hyper aware of the amount of mixes that flood your eyes every time you look at the internet (I mean sheeeeeeeeeeit, we do it too) and in an attempt to distance ourselves from the tide a little, we quashed a lot of our own gumpf. But sometimes, there's an artist that does something special that's truly worth shouting about.

Dutch producer 2562 made a massive impact on us with his debut album for Pinch's Tectonic imprint, 'Aerial' and his follow up 'Unbalance' topped our 2009 retrospective chart with its characteristic colourful trajectories. Since then Dave Huismans has released countless gems under his A Made Up Sound guise, constantly bringing his hard edged, dancefloor punch in new and beasting ways.

Ahead of an appearance at fabric this very evening, he put together a mix for American site URB.com (what's good Mitch?) and it's simply total class. Anyone who's seen him play out can testify to his mechanistic poly-rhythm matching, and its here in full effect alongside a whole bunch of unreleased heat from SR family like FaltyDL, Blawan, Pinch and West Norwood Cassette Library.

DOWNLOAD: 2562 - URB x fabric Mix

Tracklist:

01 Reject Monkee – Sun Fever [unreleased]
02 Pinch – Get Out Of Here [unreleased]
03 Kowton – Never Liked Dancing [unreleased]
04 FaltyDL – Mean Streets Pt. 2 [unreleased]
05 Recloose – Us vs Us [Rush Hour]
06 Motorcitysoul – Ushuaia (Deetron Remix) [Simple]
07 T-Polar – The Ghost of Echerville [forthcoming NonPlus]
08 Seiji – Agua Riddim [Seijigoodies]
09 Blawan – Bohla [unreleased]
10 Knowing Looks – Abandoned Skip [forthcoming WNCL]
11 Boddika – Breezi’n [unreleased]
12 Pangaea – Won’t Hurt [forthcoming Hessle Audio]
13 Bio Method – Found In Translation [unreleased]
14 Skudge – Convolution (2562 Remix) [forthcoming Skudge]
15 Instra:mental – Tired Light [forthcoming Darkestral]
16 Morphosis – Androids Among Us (Just For One Day Remix) [M>O>S]
17 A Made Up Sound – Demons (Reprise) [A Made Up Sound]

Link:
www.myspace.com/2562dub

INTERVIEW: Mista Men [Greenmoney]

Standing as the only outfit to ever submit two seperate versions of a Sonic Router mix, the Doncaster affiliated trio Mista Men, have been lighting up radio playlists with their own take on UK club music of late. From hearing tracks on Rinse FM selector Braiden’s show at some point in the last few months, we all of a sudden found the slower realms of our radio show planning dominated by music with this particular crews heavy 4x4 pulse. With what seemed like a constant barrage of music, all centering around the same ballpark tempo with a similar clubwise lean, we learned of the releases on Car Crash Set and Bass Tourist and realised that it wasn’t just us becoming more and more reliant on these kind of textures to link between 2step led garage jams and more straight up house rhythms.

Given that tracks like ‘Watermelon’ and ‘Lengthy Riddim’ were early highlights and the fact that the trio’s simplistic moniker evoked memories of herbicidal cartoon watching in an attic room in Hanwell, West London, we followed our nose and got chatting. Ahead of the Greenmoney backed 12” – available on Juno from the 6th December and in shops the week after – we caught up with one of the group, Mella Dee, who is so beautifully on it, that he scrapped the first version of their Sonic Router mix at the 11th hour. Lovingly re-assembling a second take with a truck load of care, attention and style, he included some of the crew and their friend’s freshest material as he did it.

SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

Mista Men: Well basically Mista Men is a trio of DJs and producers from Doncaster, South Yorkshire. We like to make music for the clubs; just whatever we’re feeling at the time. We've been doing the whole Mista Men thing for a year or so, but have all known each other since being younger. Woozee knows Kid Kosy from their school days, and I met through us all skateboarding together.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

I work putting up shutters and doors and as, an apprentice sparky, henegral graft! Kid Cosy goes to college doing graphic design in Leeds and works at a pub on a part time flex. Woozee works at a restaurant as a barman in Doncaster.

What’s your production set up like? How does it work with the 3 of you producing? Do you all just make your own shit and then merge it under the Mista Men name... ?

We utilise drop box; start things on our own then pass then on for the next man to have a bang at normally. Because of the fact that Cosy lives in Leeds, it makes it harder for us all to link at once, but myself and Woozee tend to try and get together as often as possible

How would you describe your sound?

I guess it's hard, we like to make all sorts of different stuff. Personally I think it’s all just UK Bass. It’s easier to say that than trying to describe what we make really. I guess a lot of what we do falls under the garage category of things; even our take on house tends be heavily garage influenced.


Mista Men – What You Do To Me/Hold On/C.R.S.T. Remix Preview (forthcoming Greenmoney)

What is an inspiration for you?
With there being 3 of us, you get a large amount of different influences, as I said before though, I think garage plays a large part in things. I'm very influenced by hip hop and RnB as well but there's also techno, jungle, drum & bass and house influences to our sound. It’s just a big mix of what we all like basically.

Where do you see your sound developing?

We’ll just keep doing what we do, making music we like, not being tied down to one tempo or sound. We just love music and want to make good music in general. Getting some hardware is one step we really want to take; I feel there’s a lot of potential in using it to push our sound further.

What’s the scene like in Doncaster? Any recommended jams? As it goes not really, it's a bit waste here. You could go to the Warehouse and get serious to some bouncy hard house if that’s your thing like…

Are there any producers you rate that the world should know about? Any peeps not getting the props you think they deserve?

Well 2 lads I run tropical in Leeds with are doing some big beats right now Jera & Jangle. Also there’s a new guy coming from Leeds called Tessera, whose got some serious bits. Didz from Cardiff has a nice sound… Hodge from Bristol… there's sooo much good music being made right now, this whole sound has so much freedom.

Your Greenmoney release is imminent... What else have you got forthcoming?

Well aside from the Greenmoney release of ‘What U Do To Me,’ therse ‘Ashanting Cub’ and ‘Rvrse’ set to drop on NSA dubs. There’s a couple of remixes, and hopefully we’ll be lining some other bits up soon!

Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…

The Tessera bit near the end is doing it for me right now, Jera’s ‘Another One’ is such a big track, we’re just working on our remix of that. The Jay Weed track is seriously big to. My personal fave has to be the new Martin Kemp one though, it’s too big! It was hard doing the mix; I had so many bits I wanted to get in there, I could of done about three mixes…. Haha.

::

DOWNLOAD: Mista Men – Sonic Router Mix #62



Tracklist:

1. Hackman - Made Up My Mind (Hodge Undecided Mix) (Dub)
2. GuGu - Rocka Bye Baby (Forthcoming DVA)
3. J:Kenzo - Ruckus (Mr Tickle V.I.P Remix) (Dub)
4. Jay Weed - Prism (Forthcoming 502)
5. The Bug ft Warrior Queen - Poison Dart (Scratcha Remix) (Ninja Tune)
6. Martelo & Canblaster - Cannibal (Club Mix) (Dub)
7. Jangle - Egyptian Turkey Cat (Dub)
8. Mista Men - Pantha (Dub)
9. Mista Men - Redemption (Dub)
10. Martin Kemp - Know We Can (Dub)
11. James Fox - New Jack Swing (Dub)
12. Mista Men - What You Do To Me (Forthcoming Greenmoney)
13. Mr Tickle - Higher Stakes (Dub)
14. Jera - Another One (Dub)
15. Mista Men - Sure Footed (Dub)
16. Tessela - You Give Me Something
17. Gucci Mane Ft Pharell & Nicki Minaj - Haterade (Mista Men ReRub) (Dub)
18. Mista Men Ft Robert Green - Drawn (Dub)

Link:
http://soundcloud.com/mistamen

INTERVIEW: Downliners Sekt [disBoot]

Followers of the writing that appears on this page and the stupefied textures that appear in our radio show should be aware of our penchant for weird abstractions. Long since a fan of Murcof and Philip Jeck, players that harness the full power of white (and pink) noise and - at the risk of sounding like a complete thundercunt - of the fulfilling kind of solace listening to the unfurling of a drone can provide, we like going to art galleries, and or big white painted spaces to listen to a heavy set Japanese dude detune a banjo for an hour and three quarters. Alt-rock band Fog remain one of the most important bands in this blog's editor’s musical history, and in a sense, they hit the nail we’re trying so hard to paint upon, on the head. Fusing conventional pop song melodies with awkward glitches, propelling drum lines and full on horn wig out sections, they’re weird enough to engage our elevated opinions and have pretty enough songs to make us listen to them way more than once.

Downliners Sekt are another one of the acts that appease all sides of our tastes. Ethereal enough to be ceremoniously stamped with a Burial influence, it’s the crackle of static that is the outfit’s biggest star on their June released Hello Lonely, Hold The Nation EP - put out as the first part in a trilogy of EP’s on Barcelona’s disBoot label - and it’s with their acre deep crunch that we’ve so openly bonded. Largely anonymous, never conversing using names, the rotating group began producing music under the Downliners Sekt moniker back in 2004...

“It's the classic story of a bunch of all time friends sharing the same cultural interest,” we’re told by the vocal representative of the group over the course of several emails, “but unlike most bands, we started working together when we got separated and were all living in different cities.”

“Thanks to the internet we broke the gap between us and started collaborating. Back at that time we were more or less involved with different major signed bands that were taking most of our time and energy. Downliners Sekt started to take shape back then, coalescing from individual projects, waiting in the shadows and growing slowly but immaculately from deadlines, budgets schemes, and formats. Because music it's always been a priority to us, we've been arranging our time to keep making it happen. We never know what's coming next, but after a lot of crucial changes and 6 releases, it's good to see we have a history backing us up.”



Stretching across two albums, 2005’s Statement of Purpose and 2008’s The Satire Wave the Sekt have built a catalogue that swims in diversity. From the early dubstep bass weight of Statement of Purpose’s opener ‘Benz’ to the blitzing textures on Hello lonely…’s closing track ‘Negative Green’ and the guitar infusions on their entire Satire Wave album, the group have skewed themselves across almost every genre, style and process. It’s only now, with the gift of hindsight, looking back through their discography and at the time they were constructed, that it becomes so evident how far ahead of their peers the group was, and are now.

“We were teenagers in the 90's so that's where most of our musical influences come from. We could be viewed as an indie/noise/garage band entirely submerged on a rave/DJ/party/drugs culture. With our second album The Saltire Wave, when we were working on it, we took a break from the machines, plugged in our guitars and the album was perceived by some listeners as post rock, which to us sounds a little bit reductive.

"when something we are producing begins to sound too clubby or too fancy we feel like taking an AK47 and shooting that whole dancefloor we've just imagined."

“We're never really sure of what sonic direction we are taking but we get more fun out of a huge noisy bass than a cheap 80's synth preset. We work on a very spontaneous way of producing tracks which is avoiding clichés, pre-made loops and stuff like that. To us it's about creating and destroying. It's like when something we are producing begins to sound too clubby or too fancy we feel like taking an AK47 and shooting that whole dancefloor we've just imagined.”

Positioning Downliners Sekt’s music in a club is another, wholly welcomed contradiction. Sharing little aspects of the beat scene – in that sometimes there is a beat and that the kick drum of that said beat thumps powerfully – their most recent work impacts upon speakers with a stuttered grace. Organic vocals float behind the powerpunch percussion on tracks like ‘Selfish G,’ and, in a traditional lazy point of music journalism reference, echoes the work of Mount Kimbie, whose constructions fuse similar uncomfortable frequencies, beat patterns, vocal snatches and reams of bassweight.

“We've been changing setups and methods of working since day one, but right now its basically laptops and drum pad controllers. Since we started working with computers we've always tried to avoid the machine taking control of our sound and the sequencer taking control of the rhythm patterns. At the end, the computer became just another sophisticated multitrack recorder to us. We've been recently trying some external analog gear, like vintage mixers and preamps but nothing really flashy. The final touch comes from the mastering studio when we work closely with the engineer and try to achieve the kind of sound we have in mind. He brings the gear and techniques while we suggest him to take some directions he wouldn't usually take.”


Downliners Sekt – Negative Green (video by Enrique Muda)

On the cusp of their 2nd EP in the trilogy, We Make Hits, Not The Public, it seems the troup are honing in on the glitches, fully making a feature out of those little crackle powered moments; always letting the snares rip through the mix with the stabbing high end snap of white noise.

“This trilogy is more like an album fragmented into three parts,” we’re informed. “It was a matter of urgency. After the release of 'The Satire Wave' came a long period of experimentation and when we got together again to start working on new material we realized that, because the way we work, it would've probably taken another year or so to complete an album. The guys at disBoot label were thinking on 7" singles or 12" so we started working in that line. It happens that this, more frequent sequence of releases is giving us more constant exposure than releasing a full length in that same period of time.”

On We Make Hits... the poignant roughness of tracks like ‘From Under Spinning Lights’ seeps out in fits, with the jagged edge of the chorus juxtaposing the layered vocals – that are actually just layered, and multi-tracked rather than chopped into fragments and rearranged into make shift sentences in that way so many producers seem to be fond of doing. ‘Incertia Gloria’ hits heavy with electrified kick drums piercing though the current, whilst ‘White Dawn’ paces things slower, making the most out of the sparse percussion and high pitched vocals and ‘Selfish G’ flutters impatiently, almost amplifying the aching anxiety of the whole release with its roughly sampled pads. Making music from such a broad palette can be daunting at times, having too much of a wealth to draw from can sometimes produce a work thats not streamlined enough to work as a whole, but Downliners Sekt make their genius sound casual. The perfect mix of the rugged and raw and the resplendent.

“It's not tough at all to categorize our music,” the anonymous producer ponders. “We have a whole list of styles that fit. When we have to tag our mp3 files we usually fuck around with made up genres: 'electronoise for breakbeat initiates,' 'slower but faster,' 'dawntempo,' 'r&k,' 'heavy mental,' 'noize in the woods,' '(under)grounded,' 'after hours post rock,' 'save as,' 'en descente de Portbou,' 'down the line,' 'by the way'... Really, people shouldn't spend too much time trying to categorize music; its better just listen to it."

Words: Oli Marlow

::

All the releases mentioned are available to download from the Downliners Sekt webstie. We Make Hits, Not The Public is out now.

You can download Downliners Sekt recent mix for the highly regarded Electronic Explorations podcast series, in show number 127 here: http://electronicexplorations.org/the-show/127-downliners-sekt/

Link:
www.downliners-sekt.com

STREAM: Sonic Router x Hivemind.fm 28.11.2010

Sonic Router x Hivemind.fm
Hosted by Oli Marlow.
Bi-weekly/every 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month // 10pm -12am

Only about an hour worth of material from this show is in this archive.
A catalogue of errors, stream collapses, internet glitches and shoddy presentership made it so.

NB: Don't watch the Pearson Sound reload. I'm more than aware it is two different tracks.

STREAM: Sonic Router x Hivemind.fm - 28.11.2010



Tracklist:

1. Forest Swords - Glory Gongs [No Pain In Pop]
// WNCL - Mrs Fingers (Ekoplekz Replekz) [Sonic Router Exclusive]
2. Deftones - Sextape [Warners]
3. Microburst - Conformachord [forthcoming Saigon]
4. WNCL - Blonde on Blonde [TEAL]
5. T. Williams - Peoples Choice [forthcoming PTN]
6. Slackk - Theme From (Dub) [forthcoming Numbers]
7. Damu - Skinny Dipper (Jack Dixon Remix) [unreleased]
8. Arp101 - Flush [forthcoming Eglo]
9. A Made Up Sound - Rear Window [Delsin]
10. Julio Bashmore - Everybody Needs A Theme Tune [forthcoming PMR]
11. Manaboo - Delinquent [forthcoming Immerse]
12. Funkystepz - Malibu (FLY)
13. Chirm - Lovin U (Kidkut Fidget Remix) [unreleased]
14. Mistamen - Pantha [unreleased]
15. Ratcatcher - Rain [unreleased]
16. Pearson Sound - Blue Eyes [Hessle Audio]
17. Pearson Sound - Blanked [Hessle Audio]
18. Distal and HxdB - Typewriter Tune [unreleased]
19. Distal - Boss Of The South [unreleased]
20. Neat - Lime & Sugar [Airflex Labs]
21. RSD - Pretty Bright Light [Punch Drunk]
22. Pinch - Qawwali [Tectonic]

Direct Download (Right Click/Save As)

Link:
http://hivemind.fm

R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen.

INTERVIEW: Gerry Read [Dark Arx]

Described to me over a positive torrent of Old Speckled Hen at an open house several months ago, Gerry Read’s debut EP for the Dark Arx imprint sounded interesting. Given the label’s first two releases’ monochrome explorations around the verges of dub techno, the bold flashes of colour and euphoria illustrated to me through enthusiastic hand movements and extended patter definitely had me curious. Thankfully Read's Patterns EP didn’t disappoint.

Built around a budding tick loaded drum progression, which subtly builds through waves of texture and a repetitive vocal snatch, ‘Patterns’ erupts into life, centring itself around the power and impact of the sawing synthesizer. Then dropping into the track’s most melodic section, it teases and squirms through near silence before bringing just as much vitriol on the second drop. For me it was a wakeup call, a definite kind of jaw drop – reload - repeat five times kind of realisation that still happens regularly. So it’s incredibly rewarding that the flip, ‘Dreamer,’ is just as listenable. Slower, more introverted and layered to perfection, it’s the bass pulse and distorted stabs that really strike a chord on any soundsystem, with the flowery piano touches adding contrast to the harshness of the low end.

So, to keep doing Sonic Router’s thing for label relations whilst keeping my own half cut promises and simultaneously pushing new and exciting music, we proudly present the 61st Sonic Router mix from Gerry Read...

SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

Gerry Read: Hello, I’m a young DJ/producer by the name of Gerry Read. My debut EP with Dark Arx drops 22nd November 2010.

Outside of music who are you What do you do on the daily?

I’ve just got back to England from living abroad, I was doing a diploma in audio engineering there. Supposed to be finishing that off here but the college I was at was useless, I'm learning a lot more just working and experimenting on my own.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

I first started making music when I moved to Australia at the age of 15. It’s actually really hard to make friends and start a completely new life the other side of the world. I'd started school there and wasn’t doing much outside of school, despite being right next to a beach, but believe me that gets boring after a week or two.

It was really isolated where I was so there wasn’t much to do. I used to go out on my BMX by myself just listening to old school jungle mixes. I didn’t know anything about making electronic music but I was really interested to learn, and despite the immense originality of jungle, it sounded quite simple to make.

We were living out of our suitcases for about 8 weeks because all of our stuff was getting shipped. My parents bought a cheap laptop in a sale, to check there bank and what not on. Whenever no-one was on it, I'd just look up how to make tunes and I realised you could just make music, by yourself with a computer in your bedroom. So I started making jungle.

I'd always wanted to play in a band but you need about 3 more people at least to do that; 3 people with similar ideas and abilities, it’s quite hard to find that. So I ended up getting into electronic music and just took it from there.

What’s your production set up like?

Very simple. I will eventually get some really nice equipment; I know you can benefit a lot from it but I’m happy with what I use now at the moment.



How would you describe your sound?

A mixture of stuff I listen to and stuff I don’t. People have told me it’s quite house/techno sounding, but I don’t really listen to that. With a few of my tunes my inspiration is remembering when I had this sound in mind. A sound I spent ages looking for by googling loads of genres, but could never find; just a really urban raw, techno sort of rolling bass sound. So I ended up trying to make it myself, the influence is just coming from my own ideas.

What is an inspiration for you?

The whole vibe of a dancefloor; everyone moving, feeling and agreeing to that one tune. I’ve played out a few times when I lived abroad, rarely played any of my own material though. Now I can’t wait to eventually start playing again, turning what goes on in my bedroom into a moment. I’ve got a lot of tunes I’m confident with now which I'd definitely like to test the floor with.

Where do you see your sound developing?

Into something a lot more experimental, better production wise and a sound that I can call my own... still dancefloor friendly.

Are there any producers you rate that the world should know about? Any peeps not getting the props you think they deserve?

A producer called Lethem. Look him up, not sure if he’s that known but when I first heard his tunes, they gave me a very similar feeling Burial gave me, but a lot more subtle; down tempo, rolling dub. He hasn’t got anything officially released either I don’t think, he puts all his stuff up for free download!

Your Dark Arx release is imminent. What else have you got forthcoming?

I’ve got a Lorca remix forthcoming on a new London based label/clubnight 'Live Ones', and my tune ‘Seraphim’ on a Saigon compilation. Both should be out early 2011 on 12"/digital.

I've actually jumped into lining up a fair few things, some of my more experimental stuff. I’ve had a lot of labels messaging me, but I want to pace my sound but hopefully theres something with a few certain established labels I’ve been speaking to, still in the works though...

Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…

I'd say it’s a representation of how my sound is slowly progressing, in chronological order, with some of my favourite current producers in between. I’ve got a lot more tunes I haven’t included though. 'Climb', my first tune in the mix is about 2 years old. I dug out the only WAV of it to show Tim (Dark Arx), it had a shocking mixdown but he saw potential in it. Now it’s been mastered and sounds like a completely different tune.

Any words of wisdom, for our readers?

Anyone who’s making tunes, just experiment and see what happens..

::

DOWNLOAD: Gerry Read – Sonic Router Mix #61



Tracklist:

Commix - Be True (Burial Remix)
Gerry Read – Climb
KLIC – Forwards
Martyn - Suburbia
Ramadanman – Humber
Lorca - Moments (Gerry Read Nostalgic Mix)
xxxy - Reflections
S^ - Pyramixdupup
Brackles - Get A Job
Appleblim & Peverelist - Over Here (Beat Pharmacy remix)
Gerry Read – Patterns
Joy Orbison - So Derobe
Gerry Read - Backward Step
Gerry Read – Planetarium
Dark Sky - Leave Them
Pedestrian - Hei Poa (Bubblers Edit)

Links:
http://darkarx.blogspot.com/

DOWNLOAD: WNCL - Mrs Fingers (Ekoplekz Replekz)

Long since a bringer of joy and great music to our inbox, West Norwood Cassette Library’s Bob Bhamra’s enthusiasm for the game is infectious. After hearing DJ C in Untold’s FACT mix he made it his own personal mission to track him down and snag a few of his unreleased cuts for his label, and it’s this commitment to going that little bit further to chase something he believes in, which has so genuinely struck a chord with us. As a producer Bharma’s anthemic ‘Blonde on Blonde’ is set to be the first release on the brand new TEAL imprint - hitting like Martyn does with his new trademark booming, relentless kick its coming correct with a deconstructed Pearson Sound remix on the flip – and his ‘What It Is’ track from the first WNCL release still stands out in any mix it’s wheeled out in.

In the wake of his label’s 3rd vinyl release, ‘Mrs Fingers’ - Bhamra’s self styled tribute to Larry Heard, placed over a stripped down dubstep template - he’s not only roped in Echochord’s dub techno don Quantec for a remix on the vinyl version but he’s also sought out Punch Drunk’s most recent artist, Ekoplekz, to submit a version.

“Ekoplekz surprised me this week by sending me a remix (or replekz, if you will) of ‘Mrs Fingers,’ completely out of the blue,” Bhamra recalled to me recently. “I was mostly surprised because his performances (live and recorded) are strictly analogue and improvised so I wasn't sure any remixes were ever on the cards... anyway, I checked the remix and it’s pretty bonkers.”

An experimental musician residing in Bristol, Ekoplekz just released the 20th 12” on Peverlist’s Punch Drunk label, a move that astounded many. Moving acres away from the usual oddball dancefloor pressure the label is so good at housing the two tracks, ‘Distended Dub’ and ‘Stalag Zero’ are pure sound experiments, reportedly made on nothing but analogue equipment. ‘Distended Dub’ takes a suitably heavy bass pulse and splatters it with sheet noise and swells for 8 minutes whilst ‘Stalag Zero’ veers through atmospherics and tortured Indian string instruments in a decidedly ‘BBC Radiophonic Workshop’ kind of way, igniting the ghosts of Delia Derbyshire and John Baker as it careers through its textures.

So to put it simply, we’re stoked and indebted to be able to bring you the premiere of the Ekoplekz ‘Replekz’ version of ‘Mrs Fingers.’ Taking the tonal qualities of the original version’s main riff, Ekoplekz thuds the whole thing out, deploying barrages of distorted kick drums, diamond edged stabs of noise and a severe talent for unleashing the requisite amount of reverb at any given time. It’s a sound experiment that really works; a dark and subtle almost beat-less (in the conventional sense) progression that stamps the Ekoplekz production process all over it while just hinting and the melody of the original.

DOWNLOAD: West Norwood Cassette Library – Mrs Fingers (Ekoplekz Replekz)



Both WNCL003, ‘Mrs Fingers’ b/w Quantec Remix and DRUNK020, Ekoplekz’s ‘Distended Dub’ b/w ‘Stalag Zero’ are out now. TEAL001, WNCL’s ‘Blonde on Blonde’ b/w Pearson Sound Remix is out 20th December.

Audio of nearly all of these is available at our Hivemind.fm show archive: mixcloud.com/sonicrouter

Links:
http://westnorwoodcassettelibrary.blogspot.com
http://ekoplekznews.wordpress.com

VIDEO: Earnest Endeavours presents Nosaj Thing

Exclusive clip by Spine TV of Earnest Endeavours 1st London party which featured Nosaj Thing doing his visual show and Free The Robots.

Link:
www.earnestendeavours.com

DOWNLOAD: Pixelord - Magic Firn

Russian producer Pixelord is someone who has long been in our periphery. Floating around that Slugabed/Coco Bryce populated void between, skweee, straight up hip hop and its uptempo dubstep cousin, he’s to date released an EP on the Error Broadcast digital imprint entitled Lucid Freaks alongside a follow up remix package which featured fellow Russian up and comers DZA and Demokracy, amongst others, attacking his source material. Backing it up with the Love Is EP for the Car Crash Set label – a Seattle based label whose grasp on our inbox seemingly grows stronger by the day with top of the line releases from people like King Thing, Distal, MusSck, C.R.S.T. and Mistamen – he’s on the verge a couple more releases.

“I plan to do new EPs in 2011," he told us when we caught up with him. "One EP on 12" vinyl, including an Om Unit remix and there’s another EP with Car Crash Set to come in 2011 too with remixes from SRC, Monky, Doshy, VVV, Pariah, Submerse and more. These are the plans and I’m working really hard to make it all real.”

Structurally his beats manage to really perfect that vital snap, with the snares sitting perfectly on top his winding bass work and primitive pixel edged melodies. It’s a real call and response thing with his music; as soon as it rolls out, it moves you. With determination and the necessary beat talent to back it up – see ‘Cartoon Friend’ or ‘Bossworm’ on the Lucid Freaks EP, he seems more than aware of his niche.

“Pixelord is a solo project by me, Alexy Devyanin. I’m doing music and art, exploring modern electronic music, synths, beats and bass. The Russian new electronic so called ‘beat scene’ is a kind of mutation of past electronic music and new trends, so right now the scene is really small.”

With players like the Sonic Router featured Demokracy, Pixelord himself and the Black Acre destined DZA all firing, it sounds and feels like the core native players have got the necessary legs to develop into something truly special. Having followed his whereabouts via twitter, he got in touch recently to tout his wares and offer Sonic Router readers an exclusive taste of his music.

“I have an amount of unreleased tracks that I like to give away from time to time, when I feel it’s the right time for it. So this track, ‘Magic Firn’ is not really fresh, but it’s a good part of my past work from this year.”

DOWNLOAD: Pixelord – Magic Firn



You can also download the Lucid Freaks EP and its remix package at 192kbps over at Error Broadcast's Bandcamp.



Links:
soundcloud.com/pixelord
twitter.com/pixelord

INTERVIEW: Kaiser & Rory Power, Live From The Hive

Having been invited and involved in Hivemind FM since May of this year it’s easy for me to string together a few sentences on why the combined vision of its creators, Kaiser and Rory Power, is so very relevant to what we do here at Sonic Router. Giving people a platform to represent themselves sonically has become a vital thing to offer in this overtly digital age and, admittedly for us, it’s become way more of a focus for us since we joined the family of shows on the station.

Since then though, the station’s roster has expanded and its dominance on our social network feeds has become irreversible. With new shows from labels like Donky Pitch, Well Rounded, Robox Neotech and so many more the station is now less of a secret and with this interview should be set to become less of a mystery. Sonic Router sat down with the duo behind the hive to discuss the project after the launch of their spanking new web interface and in celebration they put together a mix spanning over 90 minutes and just as many micro genres…

SR: So, I’m super familiar with the concept of the Hive but for all those who might not be, what’s the thinking behind the station/site? Obviously the name suggests people with the same vision feeding off each other for a greater good...

Kaiser: I think that Hivemind has always represented something that transcends any kind of genre divisions or departmentalization in music - it's that feeling you get when you go to other parts of the country, or even other parts of the world and you meet people who seem to be on the same page, despite having different influences and backgrounds. I guess the internet is kind of responsible for this - the record-store-centric musical phenomenons of yesteryear have disappeared to some extent, and we now seem to be in a massive melting pot of sound, where you're not just influenced by the other producers & DJs in your postcode, but people from all over the planet. I like to think that the Hive represents this new approach to thinking about music, and that we're documenting this wild variety in some small way. Ultimately, we see Hivemind as more than just a radio station, but a culture or a collective way of thinking, at least in the future anyway.

What made you want to start it?

K: Haha, like most good ideas, alcohol was certainly a factor. We were sitting around Rory's kitchen table at like four in the morning after a night out, listening to some past mixes (Rory used to have a Murderbot-esque habit of making a mix for every single musical theme that seemed to exist) and we thought to ourselves "we should really put these somewhere online for people to listen to". It then evolved from that into the idea of an internet radio station, with other DJ's who we knew played amazing music getting involved. We were obviously aware of people who were already dominant in the field of web-radio, but felt that none of the big names really represented the story we wanted to tell. All of the other stations seemed to just let anyone have a show, and whilst I’m all for promoting grassroots DJs and giving them their opportunity, we didn't feel like there was anywhere where the 'heads' or the guys who had spent years documenting and understanding music (both its history and its production) were gathered.

Everyone who's on the station today has been invited personally by us, because we're aware of how good they are at what they do. We're really happy to have everyone who's on board at the moment, because they all represent everything we intended the Hive to be.

Can you give us more of an idea what shows are on the station?

Rory Power: Being Bristol based is great for us cause it’s definitely the most forward thinking musical hub outside of London. When we started we searched out the best Bristol selectors and crews which makes up the core of our content, people like notorious rave smashers Shit the Bed, Agro and Bashout regularly represent their sounds and on the deeper end of thing’s UFO, Pollen, Work, I Feel Space & Falling Up cover our love of all things house, disco & funky.

Since then we’ve built on this backbone with talent from further afield including Lowriders (NL), Kanji Kinetic & Z-Kat (UK/CZ), Donky Pitch & Slugabed (UK), Slit Jockey (US), Steakhouse & Pollinate records (UK,) Well Rounded (UK), Robox Neotech (DE), and of course yourselves… Plus there’s’ a few more Bristol crew’s in the shape of Tape Echo, Always Everything and Koan Sound. There are loads more besides these and plenty more to be added in the near future so keep ‘em peeled for schedule developments.

That ties in nicely with the next question… what kind of developments are in store for the project?

K: The first thing that we've got going on is the site re-launch. We're aware that up until now, the site's always appeared to be a bit of an empty shell. Due to our limited resources, we've always been reliant on the assistance of others in helping us shape our vision into something that people enjoy interacting with (we're useless at web design!). Fortunately, we found our savior in the form of Kane aka Neka, who's part of the Tape Echo project. Thanks to him, the site has a lot more scope for content, with a new blog feature, featured artist interviews with podcasts, recordings from live events and a much better timetabling system. We've got lots more exciting plans for the site in the future though, as this is essentially only version 1.5 of the Hive. With some of the things we have planned for the future, we hope to see the Hive grow and become a tool for the underground music community to interact with a massive variety of content.

We've also recently started doing nights in Bristol with some of our favourite promoters. The whole premise around the events is 'Hivemind Presents' - whereby we team up with our favourite promoters, and help put on more than just a party, but a snapshot of what's going on in music at a particular point in time. We recently hosted the Chicago Juke Tour in conjunction with our friends from Brock Out. DJ Spinn, Chrissy Murderbot and Girl Unit all absolutely killed it! We also did some mad carnival lazer bass thing with Pacheko, Deville & Hanuman which was probably one of my favourite nights I’ve ever been to in Bristol. We're hoping to expand the whole 'Hivemind Presents' thing to other cities around the UK and all over the world, hooking up with our favourite promoters and helping to show off a wide range of talent from all over.

As people, what have you got coming up worth plugging?

K: Personally, I’ve just put out my debut EP on Slit Jockey records called 'The Art of War' on a kind of synthy-future bass vibe. I got snapped up by Starkey pretty early on in my producing career, and the material on it is all from kind of around that time where I was experimenting a lot and trying to find my own thing. I'm really happy to have it finally out and I've had some nice comments from people about how it flows nicely from start to finish. Otherwise, I've got some nice offers from people and a few different EP's and side projects I’m working on, including a collab with me & Kanji Kinetic. By the looks of things, 2011 should hopefully be pretty exciting.

Can you give us a little bit of an introduction to the mix…

R: The Hivemind principle of shared thought is a presence throughout this mix. Me and Will approach things from totally different angles but we’ve managed to bring together all our influences to represent what we see as the collective vision for Hivemind: a willingness to dig through classics whilst staying ruthlessly on point. There’s a bit of everything we love in there; classic RnB, hip hop from the LA school of beats, synth-laden electronica, NY x UK house & garage, Berlin dub techno, Drexciyan electro, Chi-town juke and its Detroit based booty bass cousin. London is heavily repped with some grime and funky – all with a cheeky nod to the dancefloor and mixed together at a fairly breakneck speed. 62 tracks in 99 minutes ain’t bad!

::

DOWNLOAD: Kaiser & Rory Power – Hivemind FM x Sonic Router Mix



Tracklist:

1. letherette - eye to eye
2. take - neon beams
3. maxmillion dunbar - pretty please
4. oriol - flux
5. tropics - give it up
6. om unit - the corridor
7. american men - tenzin zopa (machinedrum remix)
8. dj rashad - gettin some head
9. kelis & andre 3000 - millionaire
10. pariah - c-beams
11. arpanet - grossvater paradoxon
12. jimmy edgar - one twenty detail
13. space dimension controller - journey to the centre of the unknown sphere
14. 808 state - flow coma (afx remix)
15. kidkut - ilove04
16. karizma - darqness
17. roof light - palm
18. falty dl - odyssey
19. cosmin trg - tower block
20. dva feat fatima - just vybe (soulepower mix)
21. oriol - lw
22. omar s - plesetsk cosmodrome
23. funkineven - heart pound
24. roska & untold - long range
25. aardvarck - cult copy 3 (dub)
26. bok bok & cubic zirconia - reclash (give it to me)
27. green velvet - answering machine
28. lone - once in a while
29. steve poindexter - work that motherfucker (paul johnson remix)
30. ramadanman - mir
31. subeena - wishful talk (ghosts on tape remix)
32. boddika - boddika's house
33. morgan geist - airpour
34. girl unit - wut
35. ti - yeah ya know (instrumental)
36. mosca - square one (bok bok remix)
37. scratcha dva - 32da4
38. terror danjah - power grid
39. royal-t - hot ones (remix)
40. plasticman - cha
41. lv - boomslang
42. seiji - straylight
43. crst - may not be real
44. wax - 10001 a
45. basic channel - phylyps trak ii
46. george morel - let's groove
47. hardrive - deep inside
48. jus ed - marco's love
49. africa hitech - how does it make you feel
50. kingthing - bump
51. boddika - syn chron
52. jameson - urban hero
53. dj funk - booty perk-u-later
54. drexciya - digital tsunami
55. mr de - time space scrilla
56. remote - the swarm
57. redinho - pitter patter
58. dj spinn & dj rashad - daydreamin (juktronik)
59. 2am/fm - landing dock two
60. rustie - dragonfly
61. model 500 - ofi

Link:
http://hivemind.fm

COMPETITION: Win Signed Test Presses of Mount Kimbie's Next EP

This year you’ll have been hard pressed to ignore the impact of Mount Kimbie. With 2 EPs and a solid, woozing full length album, called Crooks & Lovers on Scuba’s Hotflush imprint, the duo of Kai Campos and Dominic Maker have - since their album’s release - elevated their live show, touring to devastating effect. Awash with carefully tempered drum patterns, live instruments and warming live vocals, they craft a set that wholly reflects the care and personality they pour into their music.

With the release of their Blind Night Errand EP due on the 29th November we’ve been bestowed the honour of offering our readership 2 signed test presses. The EP features the eponymous track - which was something of an uptempo standout from their LP; ‘Before I Move Off,’ the cluttering, kind of lurching one that gets layered with computerized bleeps , their trademark snatched vocals and hand claps that sound like sharpened finger snaps, along with the ‘Dayglo’ edit of their earlier track ‘William,’ which re-imagines the original into a dancefloor weapon and a live recording, captured at their show at Berghain in Berlin, of their breakout hit, ‘Maybes.’

To be in with a shot a scooping the prize email us the answer to the below question before Weds 24th Nov.

Q: Mount Kimbie remixed which LV & Untold collaboration?



Link:
www.myspace.com/mountkimbie

DOWNLOAD: Scientist Meets LoDubs @ Version

What comes as an incredibly timely aside to Tectonic’s Scientist Launches Dubstep Into Outer Space project, also ties in gloriously with our movements this coming week. For as well as working with Tectonic boss Pinch, re-versioning tracks from today’s elite producers like Shackleton, Loefah, Guido, Mala and more, it seems Scientist has been hard at work, re-wiring sounds live, creating his own dub versions of the productions he displays.

He’s doing it across the UK throughout November, starting this Thursday at fabric in London, he’ll be touring the country appearing in Glasgow and Brighton. Travelling with Pinch, Mala, Loefah and The Upsetters, who formed the nucleus of The Wailers - famed for their work with Bob Marley, he’ll be remixing the band live, stamping his own technologically savvy swagger across the music they create.

A pearly co-incidence then that Jon from the LoDubs label got in touch, touting a recording of a show he did in his native Portland at his Version club night with Scientist. What follows, in addition to the recording itself, is his explanation of the project:

“We’ve left the recording quite raw on purpose to both preserve the live nature of the recording and to make it just a taste. Many of these tunes will be released as part of our upcoming 12" collaborations with Scientist.”

“As for the story on out involvement with Hopeton [Brown aka Scientist], I received a Myspace message from him out of the blue, in which he expressed his appreciation of the LoDubs sound, in particular the work of 6blocc, and how he would like to collaborate with us in order to bring out our sounds ‘hidden third dimension.’ Of course, we jumped on that, and decided that the best way to go would be for us to do a live show to get it all moving. What followed three weeks later is this recording.”

“The trickiest part, in the interim, was figuring out just HOW to make it happen. Hopeton had a pretty specific set of needs for the equipment, and in addition it became clear that in order for him to be able to manipulate the material correctly, we would need to create multi track feeds of many of the tracks from the back catalogue in order to feed them live to him. We enlisted the assistance of Alter Echo, who is a remarkable dub musician in his own right, and has collaborated in a similar capacity with Mad Professor, DJ Spooky, Dr Israel, and many others. The final link in the chain was Jagga, who is the house vocalist for our two monthlies, VARIOUS and VERSION. The live dubbing of the Scientist over these elements are really the thing that ties it all together.”

DOWNLOAD: Scientist Meets LoDubs @ Version



Tracklist:

1. Hoodz (6blocc & UOME) Bad Mind
2. Meesha - Block Rhythm (Version 1)
3. Egoless - Rainbow Dub
4. El Rakkas - I & I
5. Meesha - Block Rhythm (Version 2)

::

Catch Scientist at fabric this Thursday:



::

Oh and there are two mp3's from the project that just went live over at Tectonic's website, though they are collated here for you also...


Links:
http://tectonicrecordings.com

STREAM: Sonic Router x Hivemind.fm 14.11.2010

Sonic Router on Hivemind.fm
Hosted by Oli Marlow.
Bi-weekly/every 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month // 10pm -12am

STREAM: Sonic Router x Hivemind.fm 14.11.2010

Tracklist:

1. Harmonious Bec - In The Bright Oval [Monotreme]
2. Shobaleader One - Abstract Lover [Warp]
3. The Phantom - Night Game (Zeppy Zep Remix) [forthcoming Senseless)
4. Simon/off - Resistance & Resilience [unreleased]
5. Becoming Real ft. Trim - Like Me [Not Even]
6. Icicle - Anything [Tempa]
7. Mumdance ft. Trim & Jammer - Tarahtid [forthcoming No Hats No Hoods]
8. Blackout - Blackout [Blackout]
9. Fantastic Mr Fox - Over [Black Acre]
10. mlr - Governor [unreleased]
11. Desto - Broken Memory [Ramp]
12. Mite - Keelo [unreleased]
13. Moldy - No Means To Smoke It [forthcoming Embassy]
14. Martyn - Hear Me (Vocal Version) [unreleased]
15. Nocturnal Sunshine - Broke [forthcoming LMD Skunkworks]
16. Jack Dixon - Low Tide [unreleased]
17. ptr1 - Comatose [Concrete Cut]
18. Mistamen - What You Do To Me (C.R.S.T. Remix) [forthcoming Greenmoney]
19. Scuba - On Deck (FaltyDL Remix) [forthcoming Hotflush]
20. Cubic Zirconia - Josephine (Egyptrixx Remix) [forthcoming Lucky Me]
21. The Phantom - Girl [forthcoming Senseless]
22. GuGu - Rock A Bye Baby [forthcoming DVA]
23. SBTRKT - The Unspoken [forthcoming Monkeytown]
24. Hizatron - Executive Ball Scratcher [Wigflex]
25. Taylor - CMB [forthcoming Super]
26. Knowing Looks - Abandoned Skip [forthcoming WNCL]
27. Martyn - Left Hander [forthcoming 3024]
28. Dreadsquad w/ Lady Chann - Money Ah Dem God (The Phantom Remix) [???]
29. Unknown - Unknown [Unknown]
30. Martyn x Mike Slott - All Nights [forthcoming All City]
31. Piece of Shh - Diablo Riddim (Zomby Remix) [forthcoming Svetlana]
32. ptr1 - Above The Structures [Concrete Cut]
33. Eliphino - L F [forthcoming somethinksounds]
34. Cosmin TRG - Space Station Love Affair [forthcoming Monkeytown]
35. Airhead - Paper Street (Nick Hoppner Remix) [forthcoming Brainmath???]
36. Ikonika - Idiot (Funkineven Remix) [Hyperdub]
37. West Norwood Cassette Library - Blonde on Blonde (Pearson Sound Remix) [forthcoming TEAL]
38. Scuba - So You Think You're Special (Joe Remix) [forthcoming Hotflush]
39. MJ Cole & Wiley - From The Drop [forthcoming Prolific]
40. Ratcatcher - Chlorophyll [unreleased]
41. Hypno - Sunkin [forthcoming Ramp]
42. Braiden - The Alps [forthcoming Doldrums]

Direct Download (Right Click/Save As)

Link:
http://hivemind.fm/

DOWNLOAD: MRC Riddims - You Crazy

One half of the incredible, industrial noise hop duo dälek, producer Oktopus - whose work stretches from conceptual white noise infused backdrops to jagged and raw boom bap drum patterns - has joined forces with Merc (from Ifwhen and All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavours) to make music as MRC Riddims. Based in NYC and Berlin respectively, they create a sound thats reportedly influenced by everything from "Jamaica to dub-step to the dirty south to Flying Lotus" and they recently laced us with an inconspicuous link to their soundcloud and bandcamp account where they've upped an example of their hard edged sound concoctions that you can then download under a pay what you want price schematic.

Given the overtly experimental nature of previous projects and our passion for them, it suffices to say we are particularly impressed...

DOWNLOAD: MRC Riddims ft. Miss TK - You Crazy (via Bandcamp)



Link:
www.myspace.com/mrcriddims