Punch Drunk serves up a massive collaboration from label boss Peverelist and collaborative tour de force Hyetal, whose first release on the imprint came sharing production duties with Blunted Robot Shortstuff at the turn of the year. Following big singles from each part of this production team - Peverelist’s ‘Better Ways Of Living’ came out recently on Punch Drunk and the freshly minted Orca Records released ‘Pheonix’ from Hyetal a month or so back - it’s not the first time the two producers have worked together with Pev’s remix of Hyetal’s debut release ‘Pixel Rainbow Sequence’ twisting the original in a trippy number that still sounds like nothing else around. This time the two hook up for a duo of original productions with Peverelist’s knack for hypnotic techy dubbed-out sounds and Hyetal’s bittersweet melodic sensibilities merging perfectly.
The two tracks ‘The Hum’ and ‘rrrr’ feel like early electro experiments that were forgotten but dug up, rearranged and lovingly finished especially to move dancefloors. There’s a retro feel in there but it’s one that’s brought on by the melancholic melodies and synthesized sounds rather than any kind of revivalism. You can hear Peverelist’s swirling dubbed-out percussive ticks and bumpy rhythms and Hyetal’s knack for shimmering synthesized melody in both of these tracks and as a result the rhythms feel hypnotic and introspective but the bright synth tones and subtle funk keep them from being ultra deep eyes down material. With a slightly unnerving uplifting quality the tracks hit that magic bittersweet middle ground that never fails to deliver in the dance.
Bristolian producer Gemmel Phillips, better known by his shortened nickname Gemmy, blossomed out of the so called ‘purple’ quagmire. Spearheaded by fellow producers Joker and Guido, the trio’s penchant for naggingly catchy leads and squalling computer funk made them an instant hit in the dubstep world, servicing beats that were often drastically different to the deep and pressing bass loaded soundscapes. Feeding more off the energy and insistency of grime music, Gemmy’s debut release on the Punch Drunk label – a Bristol based label famed for bringing the emerging sounds of the South West to the wider world – ‘Bk II The Future’ b/w ‘Bass Transmitter’ wailed and staggered through contrasting synth lines.
Inebriated with the sound, his consequent release for the Planet Mu label ‘Supligen’ rewired the template whilst the flip side, ‘BT Tower,’ showed a different side to his productions, positively bruising speaker stacks with its pummeling array of low end frequencies. Following it up with the ‘Jonny 5’ double pack – again on Planet Mu – it was obvious Gemmy’s sound was maturing, deviating rhythmically from the halfstep template, he riddled the stand out track ‘Dolla Digital,’ with tom tom rolls piled on top of erratic snares.
Hard at work on his debut album, he's just dropped a freebie ahead of his performance at fabric on the 24th, which you can download below.
DJG has been a great compatriot of the Sonic Router operation since day dot. His words of enthusiasm, encouragement and music (including his contribution to our ongoing mix series) have been a great source of inspiration to us. Its people like him that’ve given us that vital boost when life takes over and post frequency wanes, so when he got in touch to tell us about a unique and innovative project he was pushing, it was our pleasure to be able to reciprocate in the encouragement stakes.
Today his website, djgsound.com, went live with 12 unreleased tracks, bundled as two EPs: Voids One and Voids Two available on a pay what you want, Radiohead style scheme. With the generosity and production levels both riding high we caught up with the man himself to explain, in his own words, the thought process behind his recent actions.
Sonic Router: So... what’s the concept behind the ‘Voids’ series? I mean the name itself suggest kind of a vacumn thats sucked you in...
DJG: Ha! I guess the title came about when I was thinking about where these kinds of tracks belong, and ultimately where my music belongs inside the context of dubstep or whatever genre. Since 2008 I’ve kinda walked this line between wanting to make more personal and experimental music but wanting to retain a dance floor edge, I’ve never really been able to pick one side or the other and I think in many ways this sometimes puts me in a bit of a funny place. My music is not entirely this but not entirely that. It just sort of exists in this void I suppose.
What makes you want to give these tunes out for free? I mean I know how much time and effort tunes and music in general can take - so why dish them out for nothing? What’s it all in aid of?
It honestly is not in aid of anything – I really hate cynicism and I’m not looking for anything in return, I just want the music to be heard and presented in a way that I feel good about. Purely; I had this folder full of songs I just thought man, I don’t know what will become of this stuff unless I do something myself. I just think the music marketplace is such a polarized place these days and I was shuddering at the thought of trying to work with a label to push this stuff in the right way. I’ve had some really positive experiences with record labels, and some where I felt like little care had been given to the release and I just wanted to try it myself I guess. I’d always wanted to give music away, there is something really satisfying about it to me – and I feel good with the way I’ll be doing it by allowing people to pay whatever price they want.
When you release music through a record label there are all these entities between the artist and the listener – the label, the distributor, the store, graphic designers, marketers, press, etc etc. In this case I get to be all of that, and it’s all like a personal adventure.
I had a lot of people tell me that I was crazy to give away so much music, that people look down on things that are free. But I don’t know, I think that’s probably because so much sub-par music is given away for free with very little effort or thought put into it. I hope that people can see I’m not trying to do anything like that.
So they’re not just like unfinished bits or ideas you had lying around on some hard drive someplace?
No; not in the slightest. In fact the majority of these songs have been pulled from various labels and projects over the last three years, for one reason or another. Nearly all of them have been supported by some of the biggest DJs in dubstep. All these songs were written over the last three years, with ‘Doodlebug’ being the oldest (2007) and ‘BC3’ the most recent (about two months ago). These are just songs I still love and feel connected to, and strongly believe in.
You mention that they come in two parts. Can you explain the difference? I mean Part Two definitely seems more melodic in a sense...
Voids One is really for the ravers & the DJs: it represents a sound I pushed hard in the club over the last few years: dark, energetic, techno fused moody rave vibes. Voids Two is more personal, a bit lighter maybe, and closer to my heart.
What else have you got coming up in the future? gigs/releases etc.
My 12” for Transistor comes out September 29 (‘Time Is The Fire’ b/w ‘Escape Pod’). I’ve got a track on the Wheel&Deal album called ‘NYC’ and Kutz and I did a collab called ‘Hella Tight’ that’s coming out on his album on Soul Jazz.
I’m playing a gig in San Francisco on September 25 with Mount Kimbie, Mary Anne Hobbs and DNTEL. Then on September 30 with Club Root, Djunya and Jon AD. I’ll be in the UK in November playing gigs in London and Bristol with more TBC.
Voids One & Two are available to download now from djgsound.com.
This edition of the Sonic Router column for respected web portal theQuietus is live now. Focused entirely on the work of Icelandic producer Hypno it comes equipped with the 55th Sonic Router mix.
"That playful aspect in Hypno's music is obvious as soon as you listen out for it. What may sound like micro programmed percussion lines and over studied drum programming is the sound of a producer completely immersing himself in the 'fun' aspect of making rhythm. There's seldom been something so endlessly satisfying as writing a groove that can drive, thump and swing all at the same time; and in places, on tracks like the aforementioned 'Over The Top' and 'Telescopes', it's hard not to grin as the drum hits bumble over themselves repeatedly." - Oli Marlow
1. Kerri Chandler – Mommy, What’s A Record? (Downtown 161) 2. Orlando B. – New York Tale (Yore) 3. West Norwood Cassette Library – Blonde On Blonde (Teal dub) 4. Maddslinky ft. Omar – Special (Karizma mix) (dub) 5. Hypno – War Demons (PTN) 6. Missing Linkx – A Short History Of… (Philpot) 7. A Made Up Sound – Alarm (A Made Up Sound) 8. Hypno – Over The Top (PTN) 9. Girl Unit – Shade On (Night Slugs) 10. Shortstuff – Galaxy (Ramp) 11. Twice As Nyce – Fittest (Twyce As Nyce) 12. Joe – Claptrap (Hessle Audio) 13. Brackles & Shortstuff – Pipey D (Blunted Robots) 14. Hypno – Sunkin (forthcoming Ramp)
If you’ve followed us on here or over on our associated Quietus Column, you’ll be aware of our bias towards the Wigflex imprint but the forthcoming WF004 by former Sonic Router mix giver and rude boy techno master, The Hizatron, definitely carves its own niche. Full of squeals and bubbling leads that fumble around the pummeling 4 four kick drum on the A side, ‘Telescope Dope,’ it’s the forgotten EP we couldn’t live without. ‘Executive Ball Scratcher’ on the flip harnesses the lower frequencies of bass pressure with huge stabs permeating the multicolour drunken melodies, epitomizing the stylistic approach of the HZA man perfectly, before ‘Klondyke’ then descends into saw tooth propelled darkness.
After his low key announcement on dubstepforum recently, we tracked down Wigflex boss Spamchop, to discuss WF004 and the end of his Nottingham club night’s summer hiatus.
Sonic Router: It’s been a little bit quiet for Wigflex over the summer. What’s been going down? What have you been up to?
Spam Chop: It has been a little quiet, I guess it's because Nottingham becomes a bit of a ghost town in the summer, what with the student's going home and people going to festival's/holiday… We don't really put any nights on as it would be hard to fill the venue we are at. We have launched a Wigflex night up in Manchester though and had MCDE, Actress, Darkstar, Cooly G and Deep Teknologi pass through the basement of Sound Control so far. I'm looking forward to next couple of guest's we have booked for these sessions a lot!
Your coming back strong with a new EP from Hizatron. Tell us a little bit about that in your own words? What made you want to come back with that?
I just love the tunes really; it’s that trippy filth that Hiza's so good at making. I’ve been playing these out for a while now and they always get a good reaction in clubs, so it just made sense these would be the next release.
Hizatron – Telescope Dope [Wigflex]
Hizatron – Executive Ball Scratcher [Wigflex]
Hizatron – Klondyke [Wigflex]
What else is coming up for the label? That Metaphi LP done up yet? Hahahaha…
Hehe, yeah man it’s ready and it’s rather good if I do say so myself! That’ll be Wigflex 005… After that we have a Lone tune coming out and an album by Taylor.
So the nights are back on in Notts... what/who have you got coming up?
We have some big lineups planned for autumn in Nottingham as well as up in Manchester. I’m currently creating some collectable fliers with cut out Wigflex character nets on the front for these events… We are going to run some sort of competition for our favorite photo of these toys I get back, not sure what the prize will be yet mind.....
October 22nd @ Stealth Nottingham
James Holden, Luke Abbott, Ikonika, Untold, Cooly G, Pariah, Kavsrave, Lone, Spam Chop, Metaphi, Erra, Spare
November 6th @ Sound Control Manchester
Roman Flugel, Spam Chop, Taylor
November 19th @ Stealth Nottingham
Jamie XX, Joy Orbison, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Hudson Mohawke, James Blake, Jackmaster, Lone, Spam Chop, Hizatron
The name Crackazat first came up in conversation with Rekordah. A Bristol native Cracka had a remix on the 7” that Rekordah put out on the Spanish Lo Fi Funk label, refixing ‘Cherry Coke’ into a slow mo house haze of pulsing synthesizers. One that incidentally perfectly soundtracks a wandering mind pumped full of 500mg co-codamol tablets. Also featuring on the Astro:Dynamics album, his name cropped up again on ‘Party In The Clouds,’ where he displayed a unique talent for supplementing his beats with the kind of knowing boogie and production panache you’d expect from a seasoned vet.
Straddling the slower tempos with an skewed and accomplished pomp he's a young talent and a player whose output we’re watching out for with a close very close eye and he just put together our 54th Sonic Router Mix.
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Crackazat: I'm a producer, arranger and musician. I grew up in Bristol. I moved to London in 2007 to study jazz at university. Now I teach, play and compose electronic and acoustic music.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
Outside of producing, I work as a bassist and I compose for my own ensembles. I teach instrumentally and run music workshops.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
I started tap dancing to jazz when I was very young. When I was 14, I started making music on guitar, and recording on my computer. My brother played drums, and we started a band. Shortly after, I started making beats on my PC.
Through music, I can be myself and deliver my messages.
Crackazat – Loop De Loop
What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?
I use a mixture of synths, samples, and live recordings. My favourite bit of kit in the studio, is the simple ability to record and loop ideas. I like the idea of composing with loops, and building on an idea; using layers; it’s like being your own audience. Acting and reacting, almost simultaneously.
Where do you take inspiration from when making music? What influences what you make?
I take inspiration when I'm listening to others. I listen to who they are, and what they are saying. If I'm moved by the experience, if it resonates with me, I take inspiration from it.
You had a beat on the awesome Astro:Dynamics compilation and you remixed Rekordah on his 7” for Lo Fi Funk. Without limiting you to this ‘beats’ context, what can people expect from your music? To me there’s a bit more of a boogie element to it…
Absolutely. House, funk, soul, boogie, samba, jazz…. It’s all in there. I guess this beat/electronic movement has opened up the platform for electronic musicians; especially now that everyone has a computer and a music program. Everyone’s including all their influences, all their character.
As for myself, yes, I am particularly fond of the boogie funk.
What other projects have you got in the pipeline?
My next release will be an EP, which I am releasing with Rekordah on his Astro:Dynamics Label. We are both very excited about it.
Tell us a little bit about the mix you turned in for us…
I certainly enjoyed making the mix. It explores various downtempo musics and mellow funk. As well some new ones of mine, I've included some unreleased material from two great producers, Type Sun and Linkling.
1. Erroll Garner – Stormy Weather 2. Koushik – Morning Comes 3. Skalpel – So Far 4. Lukid – Saddlebags 5. Super Smoky Soul – Compromise (Original Mix) 6. Flako – Hump 7. Sam Irl & Dorian Concept - Untitled One 8. Moo – Spacetravelin' 9. Slope Ft Capitol A – In The Mix 10. Crackazat Ft Evergreen – Flight 11. The Clonious – Emora 12. Louis Bordeaux – Ecstasy 13. Mr Beatnick ft Ahu – I Know All The Bitches (Bullion rmx) 14. Type Sun – Untitled (album draft) 15. Iinkling – Hiliya 16. Crackazat – Hermeto (Tribute Groove)
It’s easy to end up with a spot of tunnel vision when you’re locked to the constant shifting of sounds and styles going on in a scene, so when I say Jam City’s anthemic refix of Endgames’ ‘Ecstasy’ is hotly anticipated, it’s hard to really gauge whether that excitement spreads beyond the borders of the usual Night Slugs/UK bass followers. Still, it ought to – while the track’s been doing the rounds on dubplate for what feels like an age now, it’s just as good as it was when it first started appearing in mixes from Bok Bok, Greena and the rest of the London crew.
The first thing that strikes when needle hits wax is just how stripped-back and lo-fi Jam City’s production sounds. It was initially tempting to write off its canned feel as a product of the low bitrate mixes it appeared in, but placed alongside the highly buffed sheen of everything else coming out at the moment, ‘Ecstasy Refix’ stands out as a maverick and entirely successful experiment. It helps that its percussion is perfectly pitched - 808 hits rattle around the mix, seemingly in a hundred different places at once. Played off against the hypnotic repetition of its maddeningly catchy central motif the overall effect is one of stasis, of having to run flat out just to stay in the same place. If that sounds like strange praise, it’s probably not quite doing justice to the jittery, adrenal feel of the whole thing, or its compulsively twitchy charm.
On the flipside, JC offers another pair of reimaginings: a venomous house refix of DJ Deeon’s ‘Let Me Bang’, replete with an insistent drum hook – clearly an emerging trademark – and an odd but very interesting Wiley-styled ‘Devil Mix’ of DJ Bone’s ‘Shut The Lights Off’. Considering the unrelenting nature of Bone’s own productions, its spaced out eski-stylings come as a surprise, but a welcome one. Once again it relies on a central hook around which to hang incremental change – in this case an abrasive, grinding sub – and burns itself out over four airy minutes, and rounds out a 12" that may well be the best Night Slugs have yet put out there. It's certainly their finest white label so far, and to be honest if you haven't managed to snag a copy by now it might well already be too late. Still, it's well worth the effort to track down.
PTN are seemingly very much ‘on it’ right now; the freshly minted offshoot of Ramp Recordings specializes in the house orientated heaters that have been heating up the wider, for want of a better word, bass music scene. With previous releases from 'Elevator Music' earmarked artists like Hackman, Doc Daneeka and Hypno the label’s 4th release stems from Breach, the house alter ego of producer Ben Westbeech, and the tribal anthem ‘Fatherless.’ Having worked dancefloors over for what seems like months it was only recently confirmed the tune would be seeing wax on PTN and Breach’s mix for Mary Anne Hobb’s Radio 1 show only cemented the appeal of this new wave of Westbeech’s productions.
It’s the raw physical power the simple elements of the hard hitting tribal drum workouts combining with the looping flute phrases that make ‘Fatherless’ such an instantly gratifying tune. It keeps rolling and rolling pretty relentlessly the booming kicks, snare splashes with the tribal percussion you can pretty much sing-along to never letting up, making it a lot more powerful in the mix than on a solo listen. The icing on the cake though, is the quick fire sample declaring the mantra “Fatherless,” playfully pitched it pipes up on the offbeat, providing a knowing call to the dance.
The much in demand Doc Daneeka brings the original’s almost dubstep sounding lilt, given the prominence of the bassline and super simplistic layer arrangement, further into house territory with a four four kick, relentless fizzling snares and pulsing bassline. It doesn’t add that much but it doesn’t detract either, conveying that slightly different vibe Daneeka’s excelling in of late, perfectly. The b-side cut ‘Man Up’ is a subtler production from Westbeech but its just as tribal, looping chants and swirling tabla’s that get twisted out of all proportion and really bring the energy rush before the drop.
The A side is pure dance floor fire; and even though it’s been rinsed for an incredibly long time, it’s still as big, brash and seriously addictive as it was when you first heard it.
Despite the runaway dancefloor success of Martin Kemp’s brilliantly oddball releases on Blunted Robots, there has been comparatively little of the same sort of stuff appearing from other sources. It could well be because Kemp’s take on broken house is a delicate kind of alchemy, and one that’s difficult to replicate outside of optimum laboratory conditions. It’s certainly true that the tricky sense of swing and timing that makes ‘No Charisma’ and ‘What U Got’ so fiendishly addictive – and impossible to avoid dancing to – is a tough balancing act, and one that very few have managed to match. Cooly G’s new 12” for Hyperdub is one contender, though both ‘Phat Si’ and ‘Up In My Head’ are still tied to a far more traditional house template. DVA’s upcoming Hyperdub release again touches on similar territory, but so far this new release from Bowly is the closest anyone’s yet come to matching the unique tension between rigidity and flexibility that marks out Kemp’s tunes.
Bowly’s not entirely there, in the sense that both tracks still pivot around a recognisable house pulse, but they aim for something else entirely. With its slow pace and delicate conga rolls, ‘Bleeps’ is a slightly more contemplative take on the UK funky sounds Geiom’s recently been putting out, hitting similar humid notes as ‘Sugar Coated Lover’ or the best of Hackman’s music. ‘Idee D’un Tropique’ is the more interesting thing here though, and it’s a fantastically supple track, riding off a broken beat that seems to contort into a thousand different shapes over the course of its five-minute runtime. What’s most enjoyable about both these tracks though is how strongly they remain connected to the evolutionary lineage of UK bass music – you can hear grime’s heatshocked synths exploding in the backdrop of ‘Idee’, and the descending chords of ‘Bleeps’ are straight out of the first wave of funky. But alongside the likes of Cooly G, Kemp and Hackman they’re breezily unconcerned with where they end up along the way, and all the better for it.
T.Williams’ first EP on the freshly minted Local Action label is still a personal favourite; with Mr. Williams rolling on a dark, teched out stompy flex that gets pretty addictive considering the insistent nature of his pounding kick drums. After the last two releases on Deep Teknologi from Zander Hardy and J.Bevin, both maintaining the quality levels of his own output, the label boss steps up with a three track EP all of his own that picks up where the Local Action EP left off, evolving into something that could easily slay a bigger room dance.
Opening with ‘Chop & Screw’ we walk right into peak time on some hazy Ibiza dance floor; bumpy disco and funk loops building like a filter house track – a trick you wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear on a dark edged UK funky release. At first it’s a bit awkward, seemingly a little hard to get on board with; but when the beats drop into that punchy, rolling rhythm with the deep flexing bassline and skittish snare hits, it’s hard not to lose yourself in it.
Things get darker with the rest of the EP, ‘Hard Cash’ and ‘In The Deep’ sound like they’ve been carved out of heavy summer heat, shaking themselves free from a dense haze of dubbed-out bass frequencies. The basslines on both of these get thing moving; ‘Hard Cash’ pulses and drones until unleashing deadly down turning rave stabs and ‘In The Deep’ has an impressive pulsing funk to it. Maybe its Williams’ grimy side coming out again but both of these are dark with a restrained swagger that means business.
T.Williams - Chop & Screw [forthcoming Deep Teknologi]
The importance of pirate radio stations in London has been frequently documented, with the impact of these small pockets of fiercely original producers and DJs pushing their own sounds out over the vast expanse of the city; sitting pretty between frequencies on your FM dial. Rinse FM is without doubt the most influential former pirate station to broadcast in London; starting 16 years ago as a primarily jungle station its constantly provided an outlet for British underground music, housing legendary shows that featured appearances from people like Skream, Tinchy Stryder, Dizzee Rascal and Wiley – whose Ustream binge has kept us locked to our screens for most of today even though he’s done very little –giving them and a whole host of other incredible DJs and shows a global audience when the station harness the power of the internet and began broadcasting online.
As should be common knowledge by now, earlier this year Rinse was awarded an FM license, something the station have been pushing for since mid 2007 - something Dan Hancox described more eloquently than I ever could in a piece for the Guardian newspaper - so it comes as something of a double celebration that the station’s 16th Birthday party is happening next Friday at fabric in London, with something of an epic lineup – just peep the flyer below.
Rinse have been giving away an exclusive mp3 every day over at the site with the promise of delivering a full 16 tracks before the event itself on Friday 10th September. So far producers like Roska, Bok Bok, Zinc, ScratchaDVA and more have dropped peaches for nothing, just the price of a couple of cursor clicks. You can go here for a handy run down of the downloads or keep an eye on Rinse’s twitter for up to the second updates.
So... in celebration of the FM broadcast license and their 16th anniversary – which the internet tells me should be celebrated with the giving of silver holloware or the gemstone peridot - we’ve been given the honour of giving away two pairs of tickets to the event, with one lucky winner obtaining the bonus prize of an exclusive ‘I Am 16’ t-shirt (pictured here).
To be in the running simply email us the answer to the following question by the end of play next Wednesday.
Q: Who mixed the latest Rinse compilation, Rinse 12?
Please note: The winner will be notified by email on Thursday. Please make sure you can attend the event before entering.
As besotted as we got with Dynooo’s beats around the time of our Sonic Router mix with him things fell a little quiet in the aftermath, with us having to stay content listening to his gun sound percussion on repeat. With that said the Belgian producer has today linked us with the exclusive download rights to his reworking of Craig David’s ‘Rewind’ which was one of the highlights of our early Hivemind.fm shows.
His Mac Fly imprint is curating a night at Nijdrop on the 10th September in his native Belgium featuring Mike Slott and Dimlite with support coming from a special combo set from Dynooo himself and beat sparring partner Cupp Cave alongside Richard Colvaen (whose beats stood a mile out on Dynooo’s SR mix) and Sagat. For more info on that go here.
Look out for more info on his new projects as soon as we get it...
