After the unveiling of their Future Bass compilation - something of an emphatic compilation of exactly that, future bass music (including producers like Distal, Randomer and Untold amongst others) – Soul Jazz Records are outing a similar collection of UK Funky. Not so obsessed with that next shit, Riddim Box is a 2 CD collection of classic dancefloor cuts that epitomise the club sound of funky - much like their previous series Box Of Dub of Steppah’s Delight have done.
Being compiled by Alex Stevenson (whose name you might recall from our interview around the release of the Brownswood Electr*c compilation) and Deep Medi’s Kris Jones it features a lot of cuts you might have missed like the instrumental of Donae’o’s ‘African Warrior’ or Zumen and Aaron Phiri’s ‘Rolexx,’ as well as some classic scene starters like Hardhouse Banton’s ‘Sirens’ and Kode9’s ‘Black Sun.’
Titled after the NB Funky track of the same name, which features on CD1, it’s been put together with love and a dedication to getting the order and styling just right. Put simply it’s a succinctly stylized snapshot of the sound of 2010, some of that raw, snare heavy dance music that has infected almost every dance in the last 12 months.
The good news is we’ve been given 3 copies to give away. To win a copy just email us the answer to the following question by 8th November.
Q: Soul Jazz operates out of which Soho based record store?
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Tracklist:
CD1 01. Altered Natives - Rass Out 02. MJ Cole - Volcano Riddim 03. NB Funky - Riddim Box 04. Tubby T - Ready She Ready (Seiji Remix) 05. Sunship feat. Warrior Queen - Almighty Father (Solid Groove Underground Souljah Mix) 06. Zumen Feat. Leafnuts and Aaron Phiri - Rolexx 07. Hard House Banton - Sirens 08. Ghosts On Tape - Predator Mode (Roska Remix) 09. Donae'o - African Warrior (Instrumental)
CD2 01. Stereotyp Meets Al Haca - Blaze N' Cook (Radio Slave remix) 02. Kode9 - Black Sun 03. Lil Silva - Pulse vs. Flex 04. LV Feat. Rubi Dan and Errol Bellot - Crossfire 05. Omar and Zed Bias - Dancing (Instrumental) 06. D-Malice - Gabryelle (Refix) 07. Grievous Angel - Move Down Low (Dubplate Mix) 08. DVA - Natty 09. Shystie - Pull It (Ill Blu Remix Instrumental) 10. Crazy Cousinz – Attract
Becoming Real’s new EP for Not Even, Spectre, is a match made in heaven: two wonderfully abstract Eski-styled riddims, a guest appearance from one of grime’s finest lyricists, Trim, and a remix by juke/footwork maestro (and current hot property) DJ Rashad. Grime is in good shape right now: Elijah & Skilliam’s championship of new producers; Terror Danjah’s resurgence and upcoming Undeniable album for Hyperdub; the genre’s huge influence in shaping the more forward thinking ends of UK funky; Hessle Audio’s absorption of its early experimentalism, and hybrids like Untold’s ‘Anaconda’ achieving airplay far beyond the usual circles. Becoming Real is another name to add to the list, then. His music takes the minimalist principles behind Wiley’s eski instrumentals and applies a thin sheen of the future, still working within the most stripped-back template possible but also sounding distinctly of 2010.
Spectre’s lead track, ‘Like Me,’ has been doing the rounds for a while now, but still hits like a ton of bricks. Beyond the instrumental itself - which is one of the best abstract grime tracks to have emerged for a while, beats stripped away to nothing and replaced with menacing blasts of sub and arabesque descending chimes – it finds Trim in characteristically scathing form, flinging withering put-downs with a seeming minimum of effort. As ever, his flow strikes a peculiar balance between straight-faced aggression and sarcastic humour, leaving an undercurrent of menace that’s quite difficult to place. Even better is ‘Showdown In Chinatown,’ where he revisits similar themes to those he explored on Dusk & Blackdown’s ‘The Bits’ – shifting loyalties, the nature of friendship and dogged self-reliance – while Becoming Real’s jagged synths detonate all around. The title certainly couldn’t be more appropriate if it tried. DJ Rashad’s take on ‘Like Me’ meanwhile, is a little too one-dimensional for comfort, heading straight for relentless, wearing pace; it’s a mirror placed alongside the originals, which are potent reminders that grime can still manage to be both subtle and hype at once.
From the first times we got our hands on a mysterious Infrasonics release, a white 10” sleeve daubed with orange and grey squares and no information, we were hooked. Label boss Spatial seemed intent on keeping a little of that mystery at our first point of contact, choosing to leave us hanging on for clues to his tracks strictly numerical monikers whilst keeping the releases coming. Now very much open to our prodding he’s on his 4th solo 10” release for the label and he’s also put out three split 12”s, from Ike Release & Hot City, xxxy & Ike Release and Jamie Grind & Gon respectively, something regular readers of this blog won’t have failed to notice.
And whilst you might be aware of the releases, the digital tracks that form the ‘cross media’ aspect of all of Spatial’s solo releases could have been a little overlooked. Whilst choosing to put out physical product in this day and age could be considered risky, given the climate and habitual torrent abuse by so called music fans, Infrasonics stands as a bastion for physical quality and the digital age, embracing the digital format (as most labels do, selling downloads as MP3s, WAVs and FLACs) and new technologies as they do it.
Take the latest physical release for INFRA004: not only is it, in SR’s opinion, the most realised and danceable set of productions from Spatial to date, but it also comes complete with a postcard insert which when held up to a webcam unlocks a third track for the purchaser to download. Whilst we could probably explain the mechanism in some kind of surly, inaccurate laymen’s terms, we thought the topic of digital extras of note and asked Spatial to help us understand a little more.
SR: So, your latest release comes with a card that you have to register via a webcam to unlock the digital accompaniment to the physical release. What made you go to such, intuitive lengths?
Spatial: It's really just trying to be creative with the technology that’s out there and provide something extra of interest. To me, there's as much creativity in hacking as there is in other art form so some of it is indulging that interest. We were also keen to try and give more focus on digital component of the release.
Could you give us an idea about the technology behind it? How does it work?
There's a postcard that comes with the vinyl that has a url and a marker or pattern on it. You hit the url in your browser, and present the postcard to your webcam when prompted. Once it correctly recognises the marker it unlocks a section of the site that provides a stream and download of an exclusive track, plus some extra eye candy.
The idea came out of some proof of concept/R&D work that some friends were doing with Augmented Reality libraries in Flash. Essentially, the libraries are able to recognise shapes and patterns and overlay a video feed with other animations. We kept the mechanism as a straightforward lock/key implementation for this version but there's a lot of scope to extend the idea.
Having always released digital bonus tracks, that are obviously just as labour intensive to produce musically, do you think the cross media platform has been properly broached by labels?
Traditional models of consumption are pretty well defined so we're aiming to challenge that a little. It seems fairly clear to me that the masses are moving toward a service based model where the notion of file ownership will eventually seem quaint. It's a bit different in the marginal areas that we operate in but I think there's room to try be creative with a release. I’d like the two mediums to feed off each other.
Without entering into the vinyl vs. digital debate do you think it’s helped the label, offering up digital extras?
Absolutely. Seeding free tracks in streaming services like last.fm help to get the word out. I also hope it helped to convince people to pay for the other tracks. It seems quite hard to get much notice in the press though as journalists normally review what they find in the "shops" despite what we send out in the PR, so the focus is normally just on the vinyl. The exception to this would be Joe Mugg's Wire review for infra001.
It's also about offering a wider contrast with the material. I always wanted to use 10"s, largely for aesthetic reasons, and there's only so much music you can fit on them. In that sense the release is an E.P. that goes cross medium.
What else is coming up for the infrasonics imprint?
I've got great new material coming to my inbox from all the current artists plus a few interesting bits from outside. It's just a matter now of getting the right configuration for the 12"s and getting it in the system. I'm thinking about doing something with all the 10"s in the series also…
Personally, I've got a podcast up on Bassmusicblog now(ish) and a studio mix coming for DJ mag in early Nov. In the wider eco-system: Jamie Grind has a new night called Modulate in Leeds which looks ace. xxxy is now with Reprise so catch him playing near you soon. Gon, his missus and an obscene amount of vinyl just moved over from Dublin which is cool - watch out for that man.
Lastly, we're gonna throw another warehouse party at the end of Nov - sign up to one of the propaganda streams to keep on top of that. Last one was off the hook: 2 Funktion one stacks in an intimate darkened space, pure vibes. The real deal.
The debut edition of Trap Magazine should be lining the shelves, or floors, of your local fashion and record outlets now (if you live in one of the larger, luckier metropolitan cities, that is).
Put together by a likeminded crew of writers and designers its a fresh bi-monthly look at the wider bass music scene in a super handy, ultra glossy A5 sizing. Including words on Toddla T & Redlight (pictured above) it also features an article by yours truly on Deadboy, as well as well rounded pieces on D Double E, Break and this year's Outlook Festival amongst others.
If you see it, pick it up. The Deadboy piece - with its big boy photography by Steve Braiden -looks wicked:
...plus, it's free.
For those a little less technophobic you can also read it online - via this weeny widget or at the link above it...
David Kennedy's work under the Pearson Sound and Ramadanman monikers has made a huge mark on the music community over this last year. From the very first Soul Jazz housed release of Pearson Sound material, 'Gambetta' b/w 'so Far Ago,' Kennedy displayed a keener interest in diversifying his track templates, ramping up his woodblock percussion with tracks like 'Wad' - released on his own co-run Hessle Audio label - and scoring dancefloor anthems with beats like the recent Swamp81 backed, 'Work Them.' His deviation from the conventional 'dubstep' template has already been greatly discussed, even on these super long, text loaded pages but at the time of posting he's currently toying with the public's very notion of his music.
Pouring ghetto house and juke influences into his music, bringing that constant bass thump and endlessly repeated vocal hooks, his newer material that club goers or Benji B's new BBC Radio 1 show have been privvy to, absolutely slays. There's that bass weight - a pure frequency slab that has always been present in everything he's ever released - but its really his swirling percussion and drum work that's making him stand thigh and tail above the competition. His new bits are punishing, totally bruising the well equipped soundsystems that he's wheeling them out on, so it gives us a great pleasure to be able to offer up an exclusive 320 from the man himself - yep you can download Ramadanman's brooding remix of Spark, and her track 'Revolving' which is forthcoming on 679.
We’ve harped on before about the Donky Pitch crew from Brighton, their party friends and general life outlook - we even dedicated one of our installments of theQuietus column to their homie Boss Kite. And recntly we got wind of their first label offering, a split release between two of their parties residents: Slugabed and Ghost Mutt. With Sluga contributing his emphatic ‘Donky Stomp’ (which gets a remix from Spanish beat merchant Mweslee too), Mr Mutt is owning a whole side of wax with the tracks, ‘Platinum Skull’ and ‘Thoroughbred.’ Given the swagger, raw bass and creepily erratic approaches he deploys across the former (and the slinky vibes he wheels out on the latter) we knew he was someone we wanted to task to handle one of our mixes from the first listen.
‘Bringing something different’ is an incredibly overworked cliché even in our world, where we consciously try and avoid that type of rent-o-chump fodder, but it definitely works to grab attention, and it’s something the DP guys are doing brilliantly. So, to commemorate the inaugural release on the DP imprint we holed up at our keyboard and bashed out some correspondence with Ghost Mutt and he kindly serviced us our 57th mix in return.
SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Ghost Mutt: I'm Ghost Mutt, I'm 21 and live in Brighton but originally come from the west country. I like making music and things.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
At the moment I work on and off for a Brighton based removals company. It's good honest man work and gets me out the house and away from the computer screen... Work's a bit slow lately though.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
Well I was in the standard cover bands as a teenager, playing Slayer tunes and the like. I used to play guitar a fair bit but over time I completely lost interest. I think in terms of electronic music it started for me when a friend lent me his four track cassette recorder; I'd spend ages recording and layering up all these different sounds then record them into my PC and mess about with them in Audacity. It'd be real basic stuff like reversing things and changing the speed and pitch but it really kind of amazed me that I could do all that inside my home computer that was otherwise soley for the purposes of computer games and porn. This was all with very little technical or musical knowledge of electronic music but that all came to me over time by going to college, even though I pretty much failed academically.
What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?
Nothing exciting really... standard bedroom producer fare: just a macbook with Logic 8, audio interface and an MPD24 midi controller. No monitors so I tend to do everything on headphones then reference it on as many speakers as possible. My favourite bit of kit is probably my Korg soft synths... They're all software versions of classic korg analogue synths, likely as close as I'll get to owning one anywhere in the near future...
Where do you take inspiration from when making music?
Things I listen to... and that's about it. Not 'the world around me' or any of that silliness. The world around me is probably the polar opposite of my influences. R&B is creeping in more and more for me, and not just chopping up a diva and using 808 sounds (although both are still all important). The whole genre from around '88 to the mid '90s has the feel to it that I'm striving for at the moment.
And music that girls like too. Don't be surprised if I'm putting out a completely sincere, purely new jack swing album by this time next year.
DKY001 – Minimix
What’s the scene like in Brighton?
Small but healthy. I'm pretty lucky that Dave and Pete Donky decided to get me involved in what's turned out to be a really successful party. The magic of social networking I guess…
Are there any producers you rate the world should know about?
I got How to Dress Wells album recently and I'm really enjoying his lo-fi sound. The new dodpop skweee compilation is mental too.
What other projects have you got in the pipeline?
I've been doing a bit of stuff with Boss Kite that will hopefully see the light of day at some point... DKY001 is out end of this month, a few days after I'm playing their next party with Slugabed, Mweslee, Alex Nut and BFlecha. but I'll leave it to them to do the plugging.
Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…
The Girl Unit remix of C.R.S.T. had to go in because it's insane, plus it's my placeholder until ‘Wut’ comes out. Actually once ‘Wut’ is out I'm considering just doing entire hour long sets with nothing but that tune in. Keith Sweat, standard. I'm going to try and fit a different Keith Sweat tune into every mix from now on actually... I don't know I could literally go on about every track that isn't mine in the mix, they're all awesome. If they weren’t they wouldn't be in there!
Keith Sweat - Tell Me It's Me You Want Rihanna - Rude Boy (Hovatron Remix) Lazer Sword - Where You Been 7.5 Eprom - Rubber Sheets Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya Fulgeance - Vengeance Nino - Get On the Floor Slugabed - Take Off (Kuedo Remix) KRSUR - Crystal Ginuwine - Pony Joe - Claptrap Noaipre - Pretty Psycho Ghost Mutt - Thoroughbred Dam Mantle - Theatre Ghost Mutt - Grace Jones Doc Daneeka - Copz Juan - Techno Music Shortstuff - Galaxy Velour - Booty Slammer CRST - The Bells (Girl Unit Remix) Slugabed - Donky Stomp (Mweslee Remix)
Catch Ghost Mutt @ the DKY001 Release Party in Brighton on Saturday at JAM in Brighton. Find DKY001 in shops from 1st November.
Ramp are really flexing their muscles of late. Unsatisfied with only being one ‘buy on sight’ label they’ve had to spread out into three with both BRAiNMATH and PTN leeching off Tom Kerridge’s veins, and making waves of their own with the former being enigmatically understated and the other pushing hyper colour UK funky hybrids. With both now starting to find their feet its become easy to forget the mothership that is: Ramp Recordings.
Working in a reverse process to Numbers, who morphed three labels into one, Ramp has bled across three platforms. It seems there really is no concrete formula when you’re running a label... all of which brings us to Maximillion Dunbar, an artist who represents how Ramp felt before it fractured, and Cool Water vibes off that hip hop energy the label really birthed itself with, when releasing records by people like Count Bass D, Flying Lotus & Declaime and Computer Jay.
Dunbar really hits his stride when he reaches for the boogie, that no-man’s-land between house and hip hop. Tracks like the acid house drum workout ‘Rhythm Track For Rashied Ali’ or ‘Girls Dream’ and ‘Pretty Please’ meet in that middle ground between the two, a place where labels like Ramp and Eglo have really flourished. Its a place where retro drum machines, catchy samples and analogue synths bump heads in some sort of slow-mo funk and waggle dance an area where early house and heavy handed boom bap collide, but you know, about 30 years later...
You can stand Maxmillion next to the likes of Funkineven and Arp 101 on one side, and - this is where the flip is really felt - Aphex Twin in ambient mode on the other. ‘Lemon and Lime’ feels like a laid back variant on classic Aphex track ‘Film,’ it’s airy melodies playing off that camera click, machine funk drum patterns in a track that oozes a lethargic beauty. The catchiest flute loop since... well PTN unleashed ‘Fatherless’ is found on ‘Original Soundtrack Flutes’, a track that gets a lo-fi bump going while it plays about in a eastern panpipe-fashion and then ‘Breathe What You Say’ goes all new-wave vocoder, beatless synth fun. Both ‘Sno Mega’ and ‘Way Down’ really feel like they where built in a boogie neverland where Wiley and disco-funk met with those crystalline synths stabbing like icicles as the slinky electro grooves slow enough to get the head nodding.
Newcastle’s not exactly renowned for being a hotspot for wonky. It’s the first sentence that popped out when I started drafting this article, but in saying something as closed minded as that statement, you might get thinking about where the movement’s epicentre actually stemmed from. Was it really LA? Amsterdam? London? Glasgow? You can muse about it all day, but the fact is no one will ever actually care where you’re from if you can make speakers do that sexy overdrive thing where the tweeters pummel the air into your open palm at an alarming rate.
And this is something that Schemes And Plans, the debut release (which is being given away for nothing) from Professor Ojo, does in troves. In a recent interview with the Basement Hum blog, Ojo discussed the album project and his processes - something we've paraphrased here for your information.
“I just like the idea of quite unnatural sounds put together in a bit of an organic way,” he reveals when asked about his non linear sequencing. "I probably sequence in the simplest way possible - everything's just played in live from either the MPD pads or my keyboard. I never quantize anything. I think a lot of the looseness is a result of trying to get shit done as quickly as possible.”
“The tracks on the album vary between 2 or 3 years old and brand new,” he continues. “I think when I'm producing I've got a certain vibe in mind and it's quite specific, so even though they weren't necessarily made in the same time period I probably approached them with the same mindset if that makes sense? I do tend to work on a few beats at a time so they may end up sharing certain qualities, depending on my mood etc.”
Put simply Schemes And Plans is a great introduction to a unique beat talent – one thats been bandied about between SR contributors for a while now – and this 11 track collection is totally worth the ZIP space in your temporary files folder.
Jamie Grind got in touch last week bearing fruits. Regular readers will know the producer from his work on the Infrasonics imprint and should already have his Sonic Router mix lodged in their iTunes playlist, but he’s on the dawn of running a brand new night called Modulate; up in Leeds. Focusing more on the fusion points between genres, styles and producers he tells us the night will focus squarely (but not exclusively) on the strains of club music we’re constantly harping on about; and in exchange for a lil Q&A he’s put together a mix to demonstrate and outline the vibe all you Northern party goers can expect from his dance.
SR: What’s motivated you to start your own night in Leeds? Is it simply a lack of nights doing that kind of music...?
JG: Well there are a few nights in Leeds now with similar sounds, but I think we'll be bringing a whole new vibe with this one... There'll definitely be a good share of deep house, classic garage tunes, modern bass-music (or whatever we're calling it these days) and maybe even a bit of bassline if the mood is right!
What’s the idea behind your booking policy...? Is it all about the freshest shit – or more providing those who you rate a voice in Leeds?
Both. Ideally we want to bring up-and-coming artists to Leeds who haven't played here yet. The idea is to book the best new talent in the UK with the most interesting sound to us. This is definitely not just a stock house/garage night; we're hoping to be much more than that and only bring in artists with unique qualities to them, without being tied to one genre of music.
Who have you got coming up?
Our first night is next week - we have Pariah heading the bill, with support from Hackman and Skips. November we have xxxy, Midland & Gatto Viola. We've also recently confirmed George Fitzgerald and Submerse so far for the New Year too, so we've got some pretty stacked line-ups we're both pretty happy about.
And what’s going on with you in terms of releases?
I have my 'Footwork' EP coming very soon on Fortified Audio - it'll have 4 tunes and the artwork is brutal... cop the 12" soooon...
Jhelissa Friendly Pressure - (Sunship 'Into The Sunshine' Mix) [Dorado] DJ MA1 - Waterfalls [Karnival Music] Volta Cab - Give It Juice (XXXY's Rubicon Remix) [Forthcoming Wicked Bass Records] The Count& Sinden feat. Mystery Jets - After Dark (C.R.S.T Remix) [Domino] Hackman - More Than Ever (Jamie Grind Remix) [Unreleased] Kloke - Aquarius [Entrada] Seiji - Weedkiller [Seijimusic] Manik - Aftermath Class (Rick Wade S Detroit Chiller Remix) [Four:Twenty] Roska - Long Range [Numbers] Pariah - Railroad [R&S] Velour - She Wore Velour [Night Slugs] Perempay & Dee feat. Shola Ama - DJ Play (TRC Mix) [Full Balance] Hot City - Lonely Boy [Forthcoming Moshi Moshi] Deadboy - Fireworks [Forthcoming Well Rounded]
Casting our ears back to the first dalliances with Polish outfits like BBQ (their blog, parties, promo mixes and giveaways) and labels like Concrete Cut we're completely in agreement with the recent XLR8R penned notion that, Poland is on fire in terms of fresh and interesting bass music of late. With artists like Zeppy Zep, The Phantom and now Sentel littering our inbox, conversations and radio show tracklists we're totally assured that Poland is doing it about now.
The duo of Sentel, aka Sylwia Kopys and Bartek Baran, hail from Krakow - a town you might have heard referenced in a tale of debauchery or a last ditch effort to lose a mind before committing to someone in matrimony. Keeping their four four kick drums prominent, together they make music that sits as easily between the flummoxing styles of producers like Brackles, Untold and the extended Night Slugs family. Enriched by the erratic, almost scattergun synth lines that incline up into themselves on 'Chapel 20' their style is encapsulated beautifully on their debut release, 'Chapel 20' b/w 'Widow' on the Concrete Cut imprint. Their sound is thick, almost toxic in its luminesence, with the stabbing leads pulling and nagging at your ear drums. In a similar way to the recent work of Egyptrixx: if a producer like Ikonika's world is plagued by hyperbolic shades of neon, Sentel's is swamped by woozy, pixel patterned shades; colliding in flashes.
Grabbing our 56th Sonic Router mix as we did it, we caught up with the duo, asking them to learn us a few things we could tell the wider world in return...
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Sentel: We are Sylvia and Bart. We live in Krakow where we try to get by making beats, playing out, and spending too much time in clubs.
Outside of music who are you guys? What do you do on the daily?
Bartek is attempting to figure out his life after an unsuccessful stint at uni, and Sylvia has just started hers at an old, respected university. In his free time Bartek works in computer graphics and Sylvia spins disco every night in a Ukrainian club.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
From the beginning, when we first started playing house parties in our hometown (Kielce) we were sure that we wanted to, at some point, start making our own music. At the time we didn't really have any idea of how it would turn out in terms of style.
Bartek: I remember the first tune I finished. It was in 2008 and it was a remix of Blur's 'Boys & Girls'. It was so bad it was barely listenable...
How does the partnership work between you when making tunes?
Everything happens fairly naturally. One of us starts a project and then we work together with each others' ideas. Sometimes one of us stays up later at night and when we wake up the next day we work on the project together. You could say that we split the work 50/50 (Bart makes the beats, Sylvia buys the beer).
Whats your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?
To be honest we only use a laptop with Ableton live. We do have a Akai mpk49 midi keyboard and an apc40 controller, but we use those pretty rarely. Until now we haven't even been able to get a hold of studio monitors or even a single fully functional pair of headphones. That might be partially responsible for the sound on our debut... haha.
Where do you take inspiration from when making music? I mean it’s easy to hear the influence of people like Scratcha DVA and Ikonika in your tunes but what do you think influences the music you make? I mean your myspace quotes black metal as an influence...
Of course you can't directly hear the influence of black metal in our music but I think that there is a certain aura and a kind of straightforwardness to our melodies that we can attribute to the sounds of Burzum, Xasthur or Bathory. You certainly shouldn't take that too seriously. In the same way we could say that the board game Magia i Miecz (Talisman in English) from our childhood is an inspiration, or the kids cartoon He-man.
What is truly inspirational for us is stuff from Werk Discs, Night Slugs, old deep house, acid house, Detroit techno, and rave tracks that you can find all over the internet.
Sentel – Chapel 20 [Concrete Cut]
What’s the scene like in your native Poland? There seems to be some really good producers putting out records at the moment... is the club side of it blossoming?
The scene isn't particularly big, but there are a few really great producers in it. We have to mention Zeppy Zep and The Phantom (check out the last track in our mix), Tomek Urbanowicz from Supra1, Vanatoski from Gangsteppaz, Tom Encore, Liquid Molly, the Concrete Cut crew, Sekta, DJ Spox, and the whole PL Funky crew. The scene is quite good now and we have a feeling that more and more good new producers appear in time. Keep your eyes on Poland, it might surprise you yet.
How did you link with the Concrete Cut crew for you first 12”? What can people expect from it if they’ve heard it? I mean RA commented on the frenetic energy of the thing... do you feel that’s a good description?
We had a few tracks up on the internet that Concrete Cut liked and they asked us if we'd like release something on their label. Simple story really. As for the single, we wanted it to be weird and aggressive, and totally different from the standard approach to UK funky. I think we achieved our goal.
The artwork for it is incredibly strong, kind of bleak but a throwback to the primitive platform games of the past... was that a conscious thing for you? To give it such an arcade feel...
Of course, it was intentional. Bartek was the proud owner of a Commodore 64, and he also played NES. Games like Contra, ShadowGate, Last Ninja left their mark in their own way and Bartek used that as a guide when he designed the artwork. Apparently you can hear the echoes of this kind of visual style in our music. Maybe it's a little cheesy, but it's certainly sincere.
What other projects have you got in the pipeline?
We plan to release our first vinyl this year, with Concrete Cut of course. We haven't DJed a lot recently and we'd like to change that. We're open for bookings! haha
Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…
We wanted the mix to be a little different. We didn't keep a steady tempo and the energy is spread out in an usual way. We wanted to tell some sort of story rather than it just being a standard selection of tunes. That's why we used a song from an old Polish children's film, Akademia Pana Kleska (Mr. Kleks' Academy), after some serious modifications of course. In general the majority of the tracks we used we edited in some way specifically for the mix. There's also a new track of ours there with a working title of 'Bones' and a second untitled track which will likely never be released, but we decided to use it here as a sort of exclusive.
Any words of wisdom, for our readers?
We're the last people who should be giving out any sort of wisdom. Hahaha
01. Velour - Booty Slammer 02. Mele - Bombay 03. Marcus Price & Carli - Var E Näääken (Girl UNIT Remix) 04. Claude VonStroke - Who's Afraid of Detroit (Edited by Sentel) 05. Revenge of Philip Golarz - Theme From Ms.Kleks Academy (Edited by Sentel) 06. Aiku - Just Can't Sleep (Egyptrixx Remix) 07. Sentel - Untitled 08. Hanuman Feat Kanji Kinetic - Bola (Kanji Kinetic Remix) 09. Kanji Kinetic - Thrill Seeka (Kingdom Remix) 10. Sentel - Bones 11. Pirate Soundsystem - Dub N U (Bare Noize Remix) 12. Nightmare Feat Skepta & Lil Nasty - Badness (Edited By Sentel) 13. DVA - New World Order 14. Redinho - Boy Racer 15. Modeselektor - Art and Cash (Phono Remix) 16. Zinc - Nexx 17. Jam City - Let Me Bang Refix (Edited by Sentel) 18. Makongo - Angolan Kung Fu (Double Dutch Remix) 19. Zander Hardy - Signalling 20. Sentel - Widow 21. Style Of Eye & Slagsmålsklubben - Homeless (Canblaster Remix) (Edited By Sentel) 22. Micky Slim & Nom De Strip - Do It (Original Mix) 23. Bobmo - Bring It (Hot City Remix) (Edited by Sentel) 24. The Phantom - Nightgame (Zeppy Zep Remix)
We're stoked to announce that we're part of a new initiative over at respected music retailer Bleep.com. Bestowing on us the great honour of giving us the first installment, the #001 - if you will, of their brand new podcast series, isn't something we took lightly. Asking us to provide a monthly podcast and giving us expansive access to the past month's releases has resulted in this, an 60 minute long snapshot of their September.
Think of it as an hour long mix of music thats been released over the past month on Bleep.com, just to point out a few things, uncover a few bits you might've missed and maybe, as a chance for us to play you things we dont get a chance to play you on our radio show.
One of the regular producers whose unreleased productions feature on our Hivemind.fm show, Austrian producer Simon/off, just dropped a free track for the Elevate Festival website. He’s the latest in a line of festival performers to do so with the site already hosting tracks from DJ Spinn and Pursuit Grooves whilst it promises more from people like Girl Unit and Altered Natives.
Gumpf:
“This year's Elevate Festival is marked by numerous innovations! Following on from the previous festival compilation, the new MP3 podcast will be available as a free download at the festival-homepage. Offering weekly new audio-excerpts from the music programme 2010, the podcast will feature artists including DJ Spinn, Elektro Guzzi, Pursuit Grooves, Over At The Stars, Simon/off, Girl Unit, Walls, Re-lay, Altered Natives, Piece Of Shh..., Chrissy Murderbot, The Tweakers, Dead Fader, WoO, Fontarrian and many more. Finally, a collection of all tracks will be made available as the Elevate Festival 2010 compilation.”
For more info on the 2010 edition of the Elevate Festival - which features headline slots from players like Mount Kimbie, Joy Orbison, Claro Inteleco, Sandwell District, Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never, Actress, Hudson Mohawke and Merzbow amongst those already mentioned and many more - head over to the website: http://2010.elevate.at/
Jus Wan has always been a producer we’ve watched. In the same way as DJG he’s been pushing the boundaries and blurring the perception of dubstep music Stateside, releasing music on labels like [nakedlunch], Pushing Red and Appleblim’s Apple Pips imprint. With all his music released to date there’s been a telling level of quality. His frequencies pound and swell in the right manner, his drums trickle like gloopy cough medicine - coming thick and fast with sickly sweet remnants – and his melodies have always backed off enough to allow his rhythm section to dance in the limelight.
After a relatively quiet 2010 he today sent word of a ‘pay-what-you-want’ album project called Miles Away. Something that both excited and saddened us as it came with word that he’s “basically given up writing music, so this is probably my last hurrah so to speak.” Intrigued, we exchanged emails trying to pry without being too intrusive; quizzing him on the 12 track project...
Sonic Router: So what’s the idea behind Miles Away?
Jus Wan: One of the feelings that has inspired me to make music is being miles away from home in some remote place. It's kind of a bittersweet feeling with a mixture of excitement and melancholy. I've tried to evoke that sort of vibe with my tunes.
It was never written as an album right? Do you think it flows as one even tho it wasn’t expressly made that way?
I've had the idea of an album in mind for a while, but I've never really been able to think with that big of a scope when writing tunes. However, I think there is a thread linking them together. Most of these tunes were scheduled for release on various labels but never came out for a number of reasons. I've put them together in as cohesive a manner as I could.
I recently asked DJG the same question when he offered up his ‘Voids’ series but, 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?
For me, it's just wanting to get the music out there. I've recently come to see the light in terms of digital distribution and I like being able to determine how my music is presented. And there's an element of me trying to cut myself lose from music by just putting everything out there and releasing my attachment to it.
You mentioned that it’s kind of like your last hurrah with music. Why so?
It's a long story man, but suffice it to say that I feel like I've said what I had to say creatively. It's been an obsessive thing that sort of took over my life very quickly. I may come back to it someday, but it feels like this is the end of the road for Jus Wan. Thanks for reading!
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You can download the Miles Away project for whatever price you like via the widget below.
Since their earliest releases, which saw them travel through dubbed-out, post-Mystikz headspaces, London-based Hyperdubbers LV have stubbornly resisted pigeonholing at every turn. Revisiting the likes of 'Globetrotting' and 'Dream Cargo' now, the clues were always there as to their shifting identity - the former a rootsy stomp as comfortable played from midsummer speakers as headphones on a cold winter evening, the latter a more muscular take on Burial's melancholy images of London. After 'Turn Away', which brightened the opening segment of Hyperdub's 5 compilation with a shot of synthesised colour, the 38 EP earlier this year was a drastic departure. A concept album in miniature, it mapped the psychosocial spaces of a London bus journey, moving in and out of different personae like quicksilver. Sonically it saw the group experiment with form and tempo a little more, but unless you'd been paying attention to their interview and excellent Okzharp mix for Blackdown earlier this year their latest for Hyperdub would, I'd imagine, come as a real surprise.
In the wake of a trip to South Africa (his country of birth), LV's Gerv started to piece together a spring-loaded, London-soaked variant on the kwaito/house flavours he encountered there. The result is a formidable dancefloor double header: both 'Boomslang' - the most maddeningly catchy track this side of Mujava's 'Township Funk' - and 'Zharp' brim with a restless excess of nervous energy. There's so much pent-up tension in the skeletal beat of 'Zharp' that it sounds spring-loaded, liable to burst at any time - it's the kind of tune that could take someone's eye out. Fittingly for the African/reptilian implications of the title (and the glorious artwork), it's a snakelike riddim, slithering and shuddering to a sudden pinpoint stop. The A-side is likely to decimate dancefloors for the foreseeable future, and perhaps the only worry it's possible to hold onto for too long is that it'll burn itself out through overplay, in the manner of 'CMYK' or 'Footcrab'. Durban MC Okmalumkoolkat's semi-nonsense chatter drifts between tightly syncopated stabs of bass and snare, and its central bleep melody lasts for a tantalisingly short period of time before disappearing again. Both tracks are short, sharp shocks, far removed from LV's previous material, and point towards enjoyable new developments, even if this 12" proves more a one-off than a wholescale change in direction.
Since Christmas last year one of Silkie’s unreleased productions has been running around my head. The video below captures when I first heard it; the Anti Social crimbo-spesh on Rinse FM where a track that was simply so full of vibes that it’s been playing on my mind ever since. It turns out that track was ‘80s Baby;’ a track you can hear on City Limits Vol 1.2 - the bridge gap between last years fantastic City Limits Vol.1 album and the follow up, unsurprisingly called Vol.2 - the first in a series of limited 12”s whose cuts you won’t find on the next album or the last.
‘80s Baby’ has a rolling street soul feel to it like a London variant on Detroit techno, all midnight tempoed machine funk that refuses to leave quietly. Sweeping pads, bumpy rhythms and funk stabs made from plastic sax and lounge piano fuse with 80s tinged funk synth keys that sound like they’ve been beamed in from a forgotten Cameo record. It all comes together with a hypnotic loved up vibe that’s just irresistible. The flip ‘Bass Junkie’ sounds like the tougher brother of ‘80s Baby’ it hits hard instead of rolling; its rattling breaks shimming over bass pulses and funked up synth lines that sound like aliens shooting the London breeze. Keeping that blissed out funk Silkie’s blessed with producing, ‘Bass Junkie’ manages to live up to its moniker, twisting itself into slab like gnarly shapes that are pretty relentless.
