Round 2 of your Sonic Router x Bleep.com Podcast is now live.
Featuring a look back at the best of this month's releases from an SR perspective it contains brand newisms from producers like Tokimonsta, Fantastic Mr Fox, SBTRKT, 2562 and Daniel Savio. Stream supreme on Soundcloud, kop the direct download or subscribe to the whole podcast feed - which features other noteworthy shows from Allez Allez, Bleep themselves and Alex Wilson.
London based producer Pariah’s debut 10” has been in the works for a while now, making its impression felt on all right the airwaves and publications and this release sees him drop his first original artist works to date. After his spaced-out garage re-work of indie darlings The xx and his refix of Ellie Goulding’s ‘Under The Sheets’ we get two opposing slices of his style.
‘Detroit Falls’ twists Motown soul into a lazy hip hop drum structure as he fractures aspects of the original vocal, chopping snatches of it over the piano riff and his bonus spacey bubbling synth melodies. The real highlight is the rolling medative garage displayed on ‘Orpheus’; sitting somewhere between the spectral 2step of Burial and the bumping dance floor styles of Scuba and the soul of FaltyDL - its deep and introspective but with simultaneous flex and and serious hypnotic bass tones.
Pariah’s also set to be popping up in online shopping carts the globe over with his bootleg refix of Erykah Badu’s ‘On & On’ which is getting a white label release on the the back of Fantastic Mr Fox’s remix of Brandy. Both artists make a uniquely off-centre, wistful and melancholy garage-esq take on some R&B big guns in fine style and not only are they fun counterparts to the artist’s original work but they also bring some serious soul to the dance floor.
Whilst North London resident and producer-du-jour, Untold, and his profile have risen up into the echelons of cultural notoriety of late, he's also managed to carve himself a neat little plateau to launch other artists, in his own Hemlock imprint. Stylistically, the label sleeve's uniformity - blessed with a dark all-over Hemlock crest screenprint and a stark flash of colour on the artist label - has become a signifier for quality, and somewhat of a collectors item given the print standard and limited run of the pressings.
Having released 3 x 12"s and a double pack EP of Untold material - he seemingly reserves some of his most ground breaking work (see 'Yukon' b/w 'Walk Through Walls' and 'Gonna Work Out Fine') for release on his own imprint - the label has also become a home to work by Fantastic Mr Fox & Rich Reason on a collaborative single as well the ever blossoming harmonies of James Blake; who appeared on his first full 12" and on his dancefloor challenging re-work of Untold's 'Stop What You're Doing.'
For us, Hemlock truly is up there with labels like Ramp Recordings, Hessle Audio and Hotflush in terms of being a no-brainer for on sight purchase, and - ever so kindly - to celebrate both the label's new 12", a collaboration between Untold & LV which features a Mount Kimbie refix on the flip, and their takeover of Room 2 at next Friday's Hyp!Hyp!Hyp! @ Plan B in Brixton, they're offering a few lucky Sonic Router readers the chance to scoop a shit load of bounty.
Top prize: 1x Hemlock Sweatshirt 1x Hemlock T-shirt 1x Full Hemlock vinyl catalogue* 2x Guest list for the Event
3 x Runner up prizes consisting of: 1x Hemlock T-shirt 1xGuest list for the event
O' happy day!
EDIT - This competion is now closed.
Q: Walking through walls is a feat attempted in which recently released film starring George Clooney?
*Hemlock Catalogue to be won:
HEK001 12" Untold - Yukon / Walk through walls HEK001R 10" Untold - Yukon (Fantastic mr fox remix) / Walk through walls (LV remix) HEK002 12" Untold - Discipline / Bones HEK003 12" Fantastic Mr Fox & Rich Reason - Plimsoul / Bleep show HEK004 12" James Blake - Air and Lack Thereof / Sparing the Horses HEK005 2x12" Untold - Gonna work out fine e.p HEK006 10" Untold - Stop what you're doing (James Blake remix) Untold - I can't stop this feeling (Pangaea remix) HEK007 LV & Untold - Beacon / LV & Untold - Beacon (Mount Kimbie remix) (Unreleased advance copy)
Guestlist to be won:
Hemlock Room:
Untold James Blake (DJ set) LV Fantastic Mr Fox b2b Rich Reason
Doors: 2200-0500 Tickets: £7 advance / £12 on the door
Manchester based producer Fantastic Mr Fox celebrates his appearance in the Hemlock Recordings (the label run by Untold that has not yet but a single foot wrong) room at Plan B on Friday 14th March for Hyp!Hyp!Hype! with a mix. Check the flyer for the full lineup, any LDN heads not at Bloc that w/e would do well to check it out.
Black Acre seem to be bulking up a touch of late, OD-ing on musical Maximuscle with releases from Blue Daisy (who linked an exclusive mix for us last month here), 1000Names, Loops Haunt, Pariah and Fantastic Mr Fox. In celebration of this sudden weight gain, label boss Ian dropped a mix and interview on Kmag.
Taking an idea and running with it - much like his namesake’s hatred for Boggis, Bunce and Bean - Fantastic Mr Fox has this year found his music released on labels as diverse as Hemlock, 2nd Drop and Black Acre. Purveying a deeply off kilter love of snatched melodies and four to the floor kick drums his next EP ‘Sketches’ is definitely set to turn heads firmly in his direction, so aiming to stay ahead of the curve as ever, we asked him to take our text test and provide a mix for the ongoing series.
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
FMF: I’m 21, originally from Wolverhampton, now based in Manchester - I’ve been producing since 2002. Done lots of remix stuff and over the last year or so have started releasing my own music.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
I’m a student in my final year at Manchester University, trying to make myself do uni work instead of spending hours on end clicking and staring at a cubase grid.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
My older brother had always been in bands from when he was young so he’d picked up lots of production knowledge through that and started to teach me the basics on fruity loops when I was 14. I got addicted to it pretty quickly, for the first few years I made music I didn’t really have a clue how to make any particular genre, I just used to churn out loads of weird 1-2 minute loops and then stick out of time acapellas over the top.
What’s your production set up like?
Pretty basic- just cubase sx3 on a pc, when I’ve got the money I think I might invest in a synth.
How would you describe your sound to someone zoning in for the first time?
Urmm, melodic, beat driven, textured maybe..?
Whats with the FMF moniker? Big fan of Roald Dahl...?
The FMF moniker is a pretty rubbish story, I needed a name for my myspace page and didn’t want to use my real name (Stephen Gomberg) because it’d sound like I was a German hard-house producer. I searched my house for ideas and found a stack of tapes I used to listen to when I was younger and one of them was the Fantastic Mr Fox story tape, so I decided to use that.
Tell us about your production partner in crime Rich Reason how did you hook up and how do you all work in the studio?
Rich runs a night in Manchester called Hit n Run that I go to quite a lot and I’d been producing a couple of songs for Riz MC, who he’d started the club night with, so we started talking because of that link. I gave him some of my music and he asked to have a go at making some beats together. For our collaborations, I’d make the beat and the main melody, background noises etc, then Rich would come round and help add ideas and structure to the tunes.
You’ve already dropped one Black Acre 12” but I see your debut solo EP ‘Sketches’, what can we expect from that?
I think of all the releases so far, it’s the one I’m most happy with, especially a track on there called 'If I.' It’s coming out as a double 10” release with some absolutely amazing artwork by the Beat Street Collective, who I met out in Berlin when me & Rich played at their night ‘Sirius.’ The EP features three tracks of mine and a remix of ‘Sketches’ by Sbtrkt. It will be out early 2010.
I think you first came to our attention with the Hemlock remix 10” of Untold’s ‘Yukon’ and the 12” after that how did those tracks come about and do you have more plans in the works for the label?
I’d heard Untold’s music on his myspace a year or so ago, so I messaged him to ask if I could remix something and he sent me some parts for ‘Yukon.’ I sent back my remix the next day and luckily he really liked it, so it got released on Hemlock a few months later. With the Rich Reason joint release, those two tunes were the first couple of attempts I’d made at making beats around 140bpm instead of my usual hip-hop comfort zone of 85-100 bpm. We were really unsure about what people would think of Plimsoul and Bleep Show, so I sent them onto Jack (Untold) mainly for constructive criticism but in the hope he might want to put them out. Him and Andy (who he co-runs Hemlock with) liked both tracks so it progressed from there. I think there might be a remix release of one of those songs at some point, not sure yet, but I can’t heap enough praise on that label- Untold & James Blake are two of the best producers around at the moment.
How would you describe your sound, I saw Black Acre describe you as ‘the universe's greatest purveyor of clockwork garage’ does that fit you nicely ? If so what comes next?
I’ve got no idea really, I suppose that my beats sound quite clockworky. Not sure what my future productions will sound like- I hated 4x4 drum patterns not that long ago, and now half the tunes I make have a 4x4 beat, so who knows what’s next
You do share an affinity to more hip hop productions... is that more of the background you come from?
Yeah definitely, I think the main thing for me is the drum sounds used by people like Madlib, J Dilla, and then the detail in production of artists like RJD2 (early stuff not his last couple of albums), El-P, Prefuse 73, Four tet etc.
Tell us about the mix you’ve turned in, what tracks are you really feeling at the moment?
I put it together on Ableton, which I’ve learnt the basics of recently. There’s a few of my songs then others from producers I’ve discovered over the last few months, look out for a ridiculous Destiny’s Child remix from James Blake. There’s so much good music around at the moment that its hard to make lists, but I’m really enjoying all the Mount Kimbie, Airhead – new age Burial type stuff, oh also ‘Joplin’ by Loops Haunt.
See you included Can Ox... Did you adore the golden age of Def Jux as much as I? What do you think made them so successful at that time?
Yeah, I love all that stuff, ‘The Cold Vein’ is one of my favourite albums. I guess the success came firstly from the fact they were releasing amazing music, but I also think labels like Def Jux and Stones Throw have benefited massively from the rise of the internet and in particular myspace- as it meant they didn’t need to worry so much about getting on MTV or radio.
What do you reckon to the Vast Aire/El-P beef?
Didn’t know there was one, I’ll google it and get back to you...
What have you got in store for us in the near future with releases and what not?
I’ve just finished a remix for Desto, got quite a few new songs in progress but they all need a lot more development. There’s a tune me and Rich Reason made a while ago called ‘Larry David’ that will be coming out on Black Acre along with Sukh Knight remix of ‘Fall.’
Have you got any words of wisdom for our readers?
Buy Blue Daisy’s new EP, I think it’ll be out by the time this interview goes up.
Hemlock’s third full 12” vinyl release comes from the production pairing of Fantastic Mr Fox and Rich Reason. FMF first came to light on the first of the label’s remix 10”s last year remixing Untold’s ‘Yukon’ into a glitched up hip hop stormer.
‘Plimsoul’ is a delightfully jiggy number that revolves around what sounds like a cut up and playfully pitched snatch of synthesizer. The off key loop gets decimated by a cheekily primitive drum machine skip and a scything hard edged distorted bassline that ascends through its cuts to devastatingly memorable effect. Evolving through acres of spaced out chords and lead melodies the track all drops in sync the 2nd time round and its unattainable chaos – all be it in a jiggly, happy kind of way.
Centred around one of those inebriated stumbling hooks that Rustie might throw down ‘Bleep Show’ is an altogether different beat than its predecessor. The drums find themselves slowed up dancing a more hip hop pattern, and the synths find themselves erratically jumping around the scales, with the top ends almost squeaking as they shimmer.
Everything this duo do on this single is very highly commendable. Constantly keeping the ear guessing, working with multitudes of ideas and techniques, differing their bass sounds and vocal samples they create pieces that bounce from one evolution to the next with the kind of cocky swagger that was so abundant in Joker’s first few releases.
