RECOMMENDED: xxxy – You Always Start It/Ordinary Things [Ten Thousand Yen]

Fifth in the series of colourful 10” from Doc Daneeka’s Ten Thousand Yen label comes xxxy, whose white platter lands hot on the heels of Didz & Chico, C.R.S.T. and Julio Bashmore. The two tracks from the Manchester based producer have been floating around for some time, in fact the A-side, ‘You Always Start It,’ closes his instalment in our mix series, published way back in December ‘09. He’s also had releases for the likes of Infrasonics, Formant, Fortified Audio and was one of the producers highlighted on fabric’s Elevator Music compilation. Dude’s definitely got a way with bleeped-out, rushing garage infused house variants, and that’s what gets showcased here.

It’s the building pads over the ‘dubstep’ drum patterns that get ‘You Always Start It’ moving. Choppy vocals and relentlessly energetic synth squiggles come to a head with the pads in a crescendo that should make your hairs stand on end. Things get slowed down to a house pace for ‘Ordinary Things’ but the vibe is similar, rushing synth bursts, bleepy arpeggios that sound like Mario having a psychedelic meltdown after to many mushrooms and chopped up vocal ticks that bounce back and forth while a 4x4 kick roots it to the floor. It’s all pretty functional, there’s a thickness to the production that marks xxxy out, especially when you consider the shelf life of both these cuts at this time plus, it sure as hell works as a joyous dance floor pick me up.

Words: James Balf
Out: Today



Links:
http://tenthousandyen.bandcamp.com/
http://soundcloud.com/xxxy

RECOMMENDED: Breach – Fatherless/(Doc Daneeka’s Mrr Snrz Rmx)/Man Up [PTN]

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.

Words: James Balf
Out: Now

Links:
www.myspace.com/breachmusicuk
www.ramprecordings.com

DOWNLOAD: Scratcha DVA - disko404 Podcast

There's no one quite like Scratcha. His melodies on tracks like the Hyperdub released 'Natty' and 'Ganja' stand out like sunburnt lips in the sea of soundalike thump heavy funky and when you combine his flagrantly outlandish melodies on tracks like 'Jelly Roll' with his pedigree as a DJ and radio show host you get this...

Another awesome, exclusive loaded mix.

DOWNLOAD: ScratchADVA - Disko404 Podcast

Tracklist:

1. COOLY G - UP IN MY HEAD
2. FINGAPRINT - RISING SUN
3. L VIS 1990 - FOREVER YOU
4. SMASHER - DUBZ 2
5. DVA - NEW WORLD ORDER
6. MAGNETIC MAN - I NEED AIR (REDLIGHT REMIX)
7. BOK BOK - DANCE REPORT
8. FUNKYSTEPZ - FULLER
9. BREACH - FATHERLESS (DOC DANEEKA REMIX)
10. DONAEO - IM SO FLY
11. R1 RYDERS - HYDRAULIC
12. DEEP TEKNOLOGI - DISTORTION 101
13. EL B - I FEEL
14. KODE 9 - BLACK SUN
15. DVA & STARKEY -
16. GREENMONEY - WHO'S GREENMONEY (DUB MIX)
17. REDLIGHT FT MS DYNAMITE - WHAT YOU TALKIN' ABOUT

DVA005 - The New World Order EP is in shops now.

Link:
www.myspace.com/scratchadva

DOWNLOAD: Illum Sphere - Psycho (Doc Daneeka's Hatchet & Spade Remix)

Since our first encounter with Doc Daneeka back at the tail end of last year thanks to his inclusion of the Elevator Music Vol. 1 compilation with the positively tribal 'Drums In The Deep,' the Leeds based producer has gone from strength to strength to strength, with global publications like XLR8R and FACT becoming more than a little smitten with his production and remix work.

Following his recent Kelis 'Milkshake' bootleg, audio of which is available on our Hivemind.fm show (archived here), we've been bestowed with something of a coo, thanks largely to Manchester's Illum Sphere - a man also experiencing somewhat of a boost in profile thanks to his recent 12" on Martyn's 3024 label. Basically, Illum commissioned a slew of remixes of his most recent Fat City release, Long Live The Plan, and he's kindly decided to give us dibs on the freebie Doc Daneeka re-rub of 'Psycho.'



DOWNLOAD: Illum Sphere - Psycho (Doc Daneeka's Hatchet & Spade Remix)

Soundcloud DL limit breached, now hosted on Fairtilizer.



Links:
www.myspace.com/theillumsphere
www.myspace.com/therealdocdaneeka

RECOMMENDED: V/A - Elevator Music Vol. 1 [fabric Records]

All personal bias aside - go read the liner notes - 'Elevator Music Vol. 1' is an impeccable collection of beats and fresh ideas from some extremely talented underground producers. Joining the likes of Mosca, Julio Bashmore, Hackman and Doc Daneeka with more established artists like the work of Martyn, Untold and Starkey pays dividends in the end listen and an extremely high percentage of these tracks are a sheer pleasure to mix.

Big thumbs up. Lord give us vinyl...

Out: Now



Link:
http://www.fabriclondon.com/label/misc/Elevator_Music