The 2nd issue of Trap Magazine should be in shops and on streets (not literally, though if it is, pick it up and read it) now. Harbouring an interview, penned by yours truly, with SBTRKT, a chart from Hessle Audio and selector general, Ben UFO, and assorted reviews it also features accomplished interviews with Jammer and Mumdance, Spectrasoul and Logan Sama and more.
You can read it online below, but grab a physical copy if you can. The paper quality is gorgeous.
The Sonic Router penned cover feature on Joy Orbison is in the new edition of *ATMOSPHERE Magazine, which should be in shops/on newstands now/shortly...
“I am sitting on quite a lot of material,” he admits, “but I’m not really sure where I wanna go with it. I’ve got something coming up but I can’t really talk about it ‘cause I’m yet to confirm it… that’s just the way with me; everything I do has to be hush hush [laughs].”
This week marks another milestone for us: our 50th installment in the Sonic Router mix series. A tidy number and a goal we’ve achieved that, when we started, we never really knew we had. Without looking back at the past 18 months with glossy eyes, patting ourselves on the back, high five-ing all of our separate achievements since we first unleashed Rekordah’s 20 minute plus beat tape, we’re focusing all our attention on the future. And whilst we're more than aware this is a poignant moment for our humble blogspot, we’re still more than content to always be looking for the next thing... that next producer whose tunes make us hustle to educate our friends, familiars and the wider internet at large.
One such dude we felt compelled to push, is Blawan. The Hessle Audio backed producer – his debut 12” on the label ‘Fram’ b/w ‘Iddy’ was released recently – has a strong and rugged approach to his drum lines; a similarity he shares with label mate Joe and to a lesser extent - given this player’s more dancefloor centric wanderings of late, Ramadanman. Making tonal wanderings simply from his selected percussion he booms out bass stabs on ‘Iddy’ rollocking through the beat’s progression with whispered layers of phrase and machine hum atmospherics plucked straight from the bows of dystopian warships and the winding lead synth on ‘Fram’ could have been taken straight out of Kode 9’s ‘Black Sun’ era. It’s simply the way he cracks out his drum loops that grabbed our attention, subtle snaps of snare drum piquing through the top end perfectly.
We caught up with the South Yorkshireman between train journeys, giving him the opportunity to further introduce himself and his music ahead of his forthcoming date at fabric for the Hessle Audio takeover...
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Blawan: For starters I am not Ben UFO despite the kind rumors. My name is Jamie, I am a DJ/Producer originally from the cultural melting pot that is Barnsley and I recently had my debut release on Hessle Audio.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
On the daily, I drink a lot of tea, don't finish tunes, delete ones that I have finished and get easily distracted...
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
Like a lot of people, school really got me into music. I went to a pretty rough school that thanks to Labour's deprived schools policy had mint facilities, so I started playing drums at the age of 10. I first got into making electronic music on a dodgy version of Fruity Loops when I was 15 but didn't really get serious about making tunes until I was about 18. Prior to the Hessle Audio release I had a pretty random musical background. I used to drum in a couple of bands playing like post-punk stuff as well as making dance tunes, and just muddled it along until now.
What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?
My set-up is pretty simple, I run Ableton Live, midi controllers and some decent monitors… oh and some nice flat response headphones and that's really it. My favorite bit of kit has to be my Ozone 4 plugin; it’s a sweet all rounder.
Where do you take inspiration from when making music? And how did you get into this current flux of dubstep?
Erm, that's a hard question, I've always found it hard to pin point what inspires me to make a tune and to be honest I still don't really know. I think trying to keep my mind occupied when making a tune helps, as I find makings tunes when am bored rarely has a decent outcome or it ends up turning out as some weird jacking house thing.
I got into dubstep around late 2004/5. Before this, mates from Sheffield used to send me their badly recorded vinyl rips of Big Apple releases and old garage tunes and things just carried on down the usual routes from there really. I've also always had a passion for house music and think that's had a big impact on me musically. The tune that really pushed me to think I wasn't just making some weird garage type music was Pangaea's ‘You & I’ (HES006). The vibe caught me perfectly, it's still easily my favorite tune to date.
How would you describe your sound? You’ve got this proper tough percussion going on that drives everything… is the rhythm a main focus for you when making tunes?
Honestly, if I could just make drum loops for a living I would. Percussion is definitely something I focus a lot of my attention on when producing. Other elements of my tunes are always considered but are subtle enough to make sure they don't take away purpose from the rhythm and percussive melodies. The outcome of that in a tune is something minimal, but I fought my last battles with complex synth arrangements a long time ago and bare rhythms win hands down for me each and every.
Your first couple of releases are out now on Hessle and Folkwood respectively. How did you link the releases?
My debut with Hessle was a pretty surreal affair, I had a few tunes that had been sitting around and one day, I just said ‘Fuck it. I’ll send these to Untold.’ I did that then within about 2 hours I got a phone call off David (Ramadanman) saying Jack sent him the tunes and the guys liked them and want to put something out. A simple but crazy outcome and I can't tell you how lucky I feel to be in the Hessle camp. Oh and I still haven't bought Jack a drink yet to thank him.
The folkwood thing really was something that happened a while ago, a group of friends at Uni got hold of some cash to press up some music. They asked me to submit a track so I did. The tune is kinda old now, but it’s nice to get bits out there when you can. Big up Ste Shine on that one! Oh and you guys for the kind words about it…
What other projects have you got in the pipeline? What’s happening with you in the rest of 2010? Gigs, releases, personal growth etc?
2010 has been an amazing year already; I am just focusing on putting out tunes I am happy with, when I can so theres no rush. Hopefully DJing as many gigs as I can because that's what really gets me making more music. There are a couple of things in the pipeline that should be surfacing soon, so watch this space.
Any words of wisdom for our readers?
Yes, it needs to be strong with one sugar and milk. Secondly, catch me at Fabric on the 20th August, for the Hessle Audio takeover.
1. Titus 12 - Step Up (Mosca Remix) [Unreleased] 2. Afefe Iku - Bodydrummin' (S63 Refix) [Silver Label] 3. Ludacris vs Joe - How Low Claptrap (DJ Orgasmic Bootleg) [Unreleased] 4. Wookie - Weird Science [Manchu] 5. Randomer - Be Electric [Unreleased] 6. Mistamen - Lengthy Riddim [Bass Tourist] 7. DJ Faz - Believe [Locked On] 8. Menta - Sounds Of Da Future [Sounds Of Da Future] 9. Unknown - Unknown [Unreleased] 10. Untold - Angry Hat [Unreleased] 11. Commix - How You Gonna Feel (Pangaea Remix) [Unreleased] 12. Unknown – Unknown [Unreleased] 13. Ramadamman - Fall Short [Swamp81] 14. Blawan - Potchla Vee [Unreleased] 15. Oris Jay - Trippin (2010 Dub) [Gusto] 16. Untold - Come Follow We [Unreleased]
Catch Blawan at the Hessle Audio Room 3 takeover at fabric on 20th August alongside 2562, Ramadanman, Ben UFO and Pangaea - Addison Groove performs live in Room One on the same night alongside the first ever live set from Hessle affiliate Cosmin TRG. You can also catch Blawan taking to the airwaves of the newly FM licensed Rinse FM on 12th August on the Hessle Audio show from 12-2am.
Big shout to Ben, furthering his mining of discogs and continuing his run of website dominance in sterling fashion with a mix for US site XLR8R and garnering deserved comments like: "one of the best DJ's in the world right now" from the braun behind Electronic Explorations Rob Booth.
Look out for Blawan's 12", 'Fram' b/w 'Iddy,' for Ben UFO's co-run Hessle Audio imprint dropping shortly in shops now.
Co-founder of Wireblock and subsequently the Numbers label, Spencer, helms the latest FACT Mix featuring stone cold Glaswegian classics and plenty of forthcoming material on their new conglomerate label.
The Jonzun Crew – Space Is The Place (21 Records) Mr Fingers – Distant Planet (Jack Trax) DJ Gregory – Don’t Panic (Gregory and Karizma Dub) (Defected) Cybotron – Cosmic Cars (LP version) (Fantasy) Sully – In Some Pattern (Keysound) Kraftwerk – House Phone (Warner) Autechre – Eutow (Warp) Deadboy – If U Want Me (Numbers) MJ Cole Crazy Love (Todd Edwards Underground Remix) (Talkin’ Loud) Roska – Time Stamp (Rinse) Karizma – Beat Dis (R2) Sticky – Jumeirah Riddim (Mixpak) Altered Natives – Raaatid Einstein (Fresh Minute Music) Ultradyne – E Coli (Warp) Jan Driver – Rat Alert (Music Man Records) Roska and Untold – Long Range (Forthcoming Numbers) Deadboy – Easy (Maybe Forthcoming Numbers / Lost On HD) Yonurican – Boriken Soul (Yonurican Club Mix) Mosca – Nike (Club Edit) (Night Slugs) Anthony Shakir – Spectre (Seventh City) Addison Groove – Dumbsh*t (Swamp 81) SRC – Brakedance (Forthcoming Numbers) Rudekid – London Town (Forthcoming No Hats No Hoods) Terror Danjah – Limbo (Planet Mu) Taz Buckfaster – Future Funk (Forthcoming Numbers) Macabre Unit – Lift Off (Terrorhythm) Addison Groove – Footcrab (Swamp 81) Hakan Lidbo – Walk Away (Todd’s Tell Someone Dub) (Loaded) Untold – No One Likes a Smart-Arse (Hemlock) Kavsrave – PClart (Forthcoming Numbers)
::
Opit Records boss lady, Subeena, weaves together a mix exclusively comprised of her own productions, which she's never really done before, for the FADER. Reportedly a mix of old and new ish...
New mix from Ben UFO for the Austrian Rave, Disko 404. Mixcloud only business at this time... but new bits from T++, Joe, Starkey (remixing Terror Danjah) and Rossi B & Luca are all there...
The Bruk DJs, Elgato and Bilal, just linked up a mix ahead of their appearance at fabric for the 4th Hessle Audio takeover which features Ikonika, Ramadanman, Pangaea and Ben UFO - names you'll be no doubt familiar with if you've glanced our way over the past year.
Catch Bruk on Sub.fm - they've taken over the old Ruffage slot on Thursdays between 8-10pm.
The West District Allstars feat. Natasha Watts - Reach Up (Enzyme Black Stripped Dub) Kid Majesty - Desfile De Los Santos Tadow Productions - Rising Sun Stephanie Mills - Free (Domu Stripped Down Remix) Sony - Sugar Rush DVA - Nasty Nasty Nasty (Roska Remix) Xara - You Got Me Crazy Cousinz - Sonar Tonya Renee - About You (Karizma Boucha Remix) DJ 2face - I Love You Plastic Cash - Store Card Ultramarine - Hooter (Carl Craig / Ver. 1.1) Karizma - Necessary Madness Argy - The Storm Thommy Davis - Mars Needs Women
It seems like a mix from Hessle Audio co-owner Ben UFO is fast becoming something of an event. Hailed by many, including Blackdown in his most recent Pitchfork column, as a 'Super DJ' his patchwork of tunes and seamless melding of tracks and styles is undoubtedly up there with the best of the DJs in the scene.
It also seems Scotland's LuckyMe family are also aware of his pon deck prowess, nabbing him to contribute the latest edition of their mix series.
Ramadoozle just dropped a new mix in aid of the next Ruffage at Wire in Leeds next Friday which features selectors Ben UFO and Untold alongside a headline slot from Hatcha doing a 2004 set.
01. Timeblind - Space Cadet [Agriculture] 02. Rhythm & Sound - Why [Burial Mix] 03. Alix Alvarez - Boom Bip [Sole Channel] 04. DVA - Ganja [Forthcoming Hyperdub] 05. Untold & Roska - Long Range [Forthcoming Build] 06. A Made Up Sound - Sun Touch [Forthcoming A Made Up Sound] 07. Jam city - What I think about you [Unreleased] 08. Ikonika - dckhdbtch [Unreleased] 09. Ramadanman vs. Missy - Mir's a bitch [Unreleased] 10. Mos Wanted Mega - Diffrent Lekstrix [Unreleased] 11. Joy Orbison - So Derobe [Forthcoming Aus] 12. 2562 - Who are you fooling? [Tectonic] 13. Pangaea - 5-htp [Hessle Audio] 14. Ghost - Two Thousand [Ghost] 15. LV feat. Rubi Dan - Crossfire [Unreleased] 16. Bok Bok - Citizens Dub [Forthcoming Blunted Robots] 17. Ramadanman - Glut [Forthcoming Hemlock] 18. Pangaea - Neurons [Hessle Audio] 19. Icicle - Xylophobia [Unreleased] 20. Ramadanman - Bleeper [Unreleased] 21. Lil' Wayne - A millie (Harmonimix) [White] 22. Mala - Blue Notez [DMZ] 23. Ramadanman - Don't Change For Me [Unreleased]
I was gonna tap this recording on to last week's piece on this very subject but I figured it deserved its own post; it's a bitter sweet honour for me to be able to present you with the audio from the final Ruffage Session on Sub.fm.
4 hours with Ben UFO, Ramadanman and Pangaea at the helm.
There’s something so vital about internet radio; something about it feels a lot more hidden from the mainstream. You can’t flick across it accidentally on your FM dial as you drive, you have to be there locked into your station, frantically asking for wheel ups in the chat room by bashing your fists on the keyboard, adding a bunch of exclamation marks and then pressing enter. For me there is yet to be a more instant and personally rewarding medium.
After 3 years of helming the cult radio show, The Ruffage Sessions on the longest running original pirate internet station, Sub.fm, the core trio behind the Hessle Audio label, Ben UFO, Ramadanman and Pangaea, are calling it a day. Tomorrow night’s 4 hour special - from 8pm right through to midnight - presented by and featuring the platter merging of all 3 of them (“for the first time in ages” according to Ben UFO) will be the send off; that special present given to the loyal listeners and message board frequenters.
So, to mark the passing of a big part of the trio’s lives they’ve selected 10 of their favourite sessions - some archived on Sub FM’s cavernous recesses and others re-upped especially for this occasion – to give you a great idea of the guests they’ve had along the way along with a vital insight of the multitude of styles you can expect to hear tomorrow night.
This is one of the first shows we ever did... it feels like a long time ago. We were all based in Leeds at this point, so we were doing a lot more shows together.
This was at the point when there was more hype around techno oriented dubstep than there'd ever been. At the same time there was a lot of music coming out of the house and techno scenes that sounded really exciting, and was unfamiliar to us. This show’s a good document of that.
Ben: One of the hypest and most enjoyable show’s I’ve done. A lot of fun was had piecing together house music from all over the place and trying to keep everything from falling apart.
The first half of our second birthday celebrations, broadcast from Lille. Ramadanman picked out some of his favourite tunes that got played regularly on the show through the two years it’d been running.
Ben: Some of the happiest memories of radio I have come from this show. It was a real privilege mixing with everyone all crammed into a tiny room with piles of records all over the place. We kept it going for nearly 4 hours. There are tunes in this show I've not heard since.
One of the first Ruffage Sessions focusing on a transition from lower tempo house through garage ending up at 140bpm.
Catch the last ever Ruffage Session on Sub.fm tomorrow night from 8pm. Oh and look out for Pangaea's double pack EP dropping on Hessle Audio imminently, 'Why?' is the one...
Laptop battery on 8%... Just time to squeeze in a few glorious mixes from yesterday...
Too many dubs in this first one, Ben UFO's furthering his rep for pre-empting everything with this selection in promotion of the Why Not? rave at Ministry on Boxing Day.
The end of a busy year for the Colony crew; Saturday 19th Dec sees them hit a new venue with a better soundsystem bringing Andrea & Millie down from Manchester to play alongside Ben UFO, Sigha and more.
Scottish uber crew, and thrower of Off Sonar '09's stand out party, Numbers, are launching their new and improved collective (the joined forces of the Stuff, Wireblock and Dress 2 Sweat labels) at Plastic People next Thursday.
Performing on the night will be:
Dorian Concept - live (Kindred Spirits / Affine) Redinho - live (Numbers) Deadboy - DJ (Numbers) Jackmaster b2b Ben UFO - DJ (Numbers / Hessle Audio)
Templeton Peck - Down [Remix] Nu Klass A - The Rhythm [Steve Gurley Mix] M-Dubs - Killin' Me Martyn - Megadrive Generation Moreso - Take My Hand [Dem 2'S Over There Dub] Skream – Untitled Unknown – Unknown Ikonika - Space Ugly Kode 9 And Benny Ill - Tales From The Bass Side A Made Up Sound – Closer Untold - You Didn't Win The Holiday Pressure - Money Honey [Remix] Tubby - Tigerstyle Suad - Epileptic [Martyn No Strobe Remix] Mala -Changes Darkstar - Aidy's Girl Is A Computer
The second installment of Hessle Audio's Room 3 takeover at fabric has been announced with Punch Drunk Records boss, Peverelist, officially named as the guest headliner. He'll be joining Ramadanman, Ben UFO, Pangaea and Untold pon the night.
It's also our pleasure to announce that the Hessle camp have confirmed its now a residency and that they'll be taking the event quarterly as of 2010.
Thanks to the kind fusion of Why Not? and Dirty Canvas (who are running their own room) we've been given a pair of tickets to give away to next weekend's carnival special at The Scala in Kings Cross.
To scoop the pair just email us the answer to the below question...
The name of Brackles and Shortstuff's label is...?
A) Slumped Botox B) Munted Warlocks 3) Blunted Robots
The winner will be announced next Wednesday.
Please make sure you can attend the event before entering.
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