The 17th edition of the Sonic Router column of theQuietus focuses on Rinse FM DJ, Braiden. With his debut release, 'The Alps,' now sold out release on Joy Orbison's Doldrums imprint and a steadily building reputation as a selector we treated him to lunch on a snowy afternoon last December and sat eating quietly as he monologued...
"UK music is so based on rhythm, you know what I mean? You look at a lot of drum and bass, UK funky, dubstep etc and a lot of those genres would look down on 4x4 music because it's one rhythm – which is totally missing the trick – but, they would say that. And a lot of it is rhythmically focused but it doesn't have any atmosphere to it, or doesn't really experiment with the emotive qualities of the music. You get that a lot more in techno - I think sometimes you get that too much in techno - but it's very much about the atmosphere and the sounds made, but they don't do anything interesting rhythmically. That's what I'm trying to bring together: something that is emotive, in an interesting headspace that does a lot for the mind but is also rhythmically interesting." - Braiden
Described to me over a positive torrent of Old Speckled Hen at an open house several months ago, Gerry Read’s debut EP for the Dark Arx imprint sounded interesting. Given the label’s first two releases’ monochrome explorations around the verges of dub techno, the bold flashes of colour and euphoria illustrated to me through enthusiastic hand movements and extended patter definitely had me curious. Thankfully Read's Patterns EP didn’t disappoint.
Built around a budding tick loaded drum progression, which subtly builds through waves of texture and a repetitive vocal snatch, ‘Patterns’ erupts into life, centring itself around the power and impact of the sawing synthesizer. Then dropping into the track’s most melodic section, it teases and squirms through near silence before bringing just as much vitriol on the second drop. For me it was a wakeup call, a definite kind of jaw drop – reload - repeat five times kind of realisation that still happens regularly. So it’s incredibly rewarding that the flip, ‘Dreamer,’ is just as listenable. Slower, more introverted and layered to perfection, it’s the bass pulse and distorted stabs that really strike a chord on any soundsystem, with the flowery piano touches adding contrast to the harshness of the low end.
So, to keep doing Sonic Router’s thing for label relations whilst keeping my own half cut promises and simultaneously pushing new and exciting music, we proudly present the 61st Sonic Router mix from Gerry Read...
SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Gerry Read: Hello, I’m a young DJ/producer by the name of Gerry Read. My debut EP with Dark Arx drops 22nd November 2010.
Outside of music who are you What do you do on the daily?
I’ve just got back to England from living abroad, I was doing a diploma in audio engineering there. Supposed to be finishing that off here but the college I was at was useless, I'm learning a lot more just working and experimenting on my own.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
I first started making music when I moved to Australia at the age of 15. It’s actually really hard to make friends and start a completely new life the other side of the world. I'd started school there and wasn’t doing much outside of school, despite being right next to a beach, but believe me that gets boring after a week or two.
It was really isolated where I was so there wasn’t much to do. I used to go out on my BMX by myself just listening to old school jungle mixes. I didn’t know anything about making electronic music but I was really interested to learn, and despite the immense originality of jungle, it sounded quite simple to make.
We were living out of our suitcases for about 8 weeks because all of our stuff was getting shipped. My parents bought a cheap laptop in a sale, to check there bank and what not on. Whenever no-one was on it, I'd just look up how to make tunes and I realised you could just make music, by yourself with a computer in your bedroom. So I started making jungle.
I'd always wanted to play in a band but you need about 3 more people at least to do that; 3 people with similar ideas and abilities, it’s quite hard to find that. So I ended up getting into electronic music and just took it from there.
What’s your production set up like?
Very simple. I will eventually get some really nice equipment; I know you can benefit a lot from it but I’m happy with what I use now at the moment.
How would you describe your sound?
A mixture of stuff I listen to and stuff I don’t. People have told me it’s quite house/techno sounding, but I don’t really listen to that. With a few of my tunes my inspiration is remembering when I had this sound in mind. A sound I spent ages looking for by googling loads of genres, but could never find; just a really urban raw, techno sort of rolling bass sound. So I ended up trying to make it myself, the influence is just coming from my own ideas.
What is an inspiration for you?
The whole vibe of a dancefloor; everyone moving, feeling and agreeing to that one tune. I’ve played out a few times when I lived abroad, rarely played any of my own material though. Now I can’t wait to eventually start playing again, turning what goes on in my bedroom into a moment. I’ve got a lot of tunes I’m confident with now which I'd definitely like to test the floor with.
Where do you see your sound developing?
Into something a lot more experimental, better production wise and a sound that I can call my own... still dancefloor friendly.
Are there any producers you rate that the world should know about? Any peeps not getting the props you think they deserve?
A producer called Lethem. Look him up, not sure if he’s that known but when I first heard his tunes, they gave me a very similar feeling Burial gave me, but a lot more subtle; down tempo, rolling dub. He hasn’t got anything officially released either I don’t think, he puts all his stuff up for free download!
Your Dark Arx release is imminent. What else have you got forthcoming?
I’ve got a Lorca remix forthcoming on a new London based label/clubnight 'Live Ones', and my tune ‘Seraphim’ on a Saigon compilation. Both should be out early 2011 on 12"/digital.
I've actually jumped into lining up a fair few things, some of my more experimental stuff. I’ve had a lot of labels messaging me, but I want to pace my sound but hopefully theres something with a few certain established labels I’ve been speaking to, still in the works though...
Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…
I'd say it’s a representation of how my sound is slowly progressing, in chronological order, with some of my favourite current producers in between. I’ve got a lot more tunes I haven’t included though. 'Climb', my first tune in the mix is about 2 years old. I dug out the only WAV of it to show Tim (Dark Arx), it had a shocking mixdown but he saw potential in it. Now it’s been mastered and sounds like a completely different tune.
Any words of wisdom, for our readers?
Anyone who’s making tunes, just experiment and see what happens..
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].”
Over the last couple of years Hotflush’s little sister imprint Hotflush Two has been responsible for some of that community’s deeper and more experimental cuts. Sigha’s first two EPs operated with a defiantly minimalist agenda, and Pangaea’s jazzy ‘Mosaix’ is among the most opaque things he’s yet committed to tape, all tightly syncopated upright bass and mournful Berlin shimmer. But then again, it’s also home to Joy Orbison's 'Hyph Mngo’, so it’s hardly as if it’s totally neglected populism in favour of stranger treats. George Fitzgerald’s debut EP finds itself somewhere between those two poles; the humid synths of ‘The Let Down’ easily match that track’s dancefloor heft, but flipside ‘Weakness’ proves to be something else entirely.
It’s probably worth getting it out of the way early: Joy Orbison comparisons are going to flow thick and fast from many quarters keen to write Fitzgerald off as some kind of copyist. And the similarity is undoubtedly there - you’d have to have lived under a rock for the last eighteen months or so to miss it – but anything deeper than a cursory listen should suffice to highlight their differences in approach. It’s largely down to structure; both tracks on this EP show a more obvious garage influence, and Fitzgerald certainly knows his way around a bassline. Both these two tracks and others doing the rounds currently like ‘Don’t You’, are driven by huge, sinewy pulses of sub that solemnly refuse to engage with any other element of the music. Instead they brood darkly in the background like unshakeable monoliths, while at the top end diffuse strands of melody curl around two-step percussion.
Fantastic though the title track certainly is, B-side ‘Weakness’ is where the real heat’s at. Here Fitzgerald shows off in understated monochrome, crafting a roller that manages to strike a delicate balance between euphoria and crippling sadness. It shifts back and forth like mercury that’s escaped from a shattered thermometer, with a central melody so thin and evasive that each time you attempt to get a grasp it slips away like secondhand smoke. It’s certainly the equal of anything Orbison’s yet put out, and I’d argue that its subtler approach makes The Let Down an even more accomplished debut EP than 'Hyph Mngo' was last year.
Joy Orbison put together a mix for the Greenmoney show on Ministry of Sound Radio recently. Listen here:
Tracklist:
Shed - Warped Mind // Ostgut Ton Dj T - Dis // Get Physical Stush / Hard House Banton - We Nah Run (Sirens Riddim) // Unreleased Greena - Maracay // Forthcoming Applepips Ghosts On Tape - Predator Mode (Roska Remix) // Wireblock Joy Orbison - Brkln Clln // Forthcoming Doldrums Pearson Sound - Wad // Hessle Audio Shortstuff - A Rustling // Ramp Recordings Joy Orbison - The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow // Unreleased Mount Kimbie - Sketch On Glass // Hotflush Strickly Dubz - Realise // Urban Dubz Joy Orbison - Tentative Bidding // Unreleased Joy Orbison - Wet Look // Hotflush
So you thought I was lying when I wrote this, "Our inability to stress how good XLR8R has been in securing heavyweight mixes has been a burden on every evening's last moments for a couple of months now," about the recent Wireblock mix XLR8R hosted...?
Following probably the best photograph to emerge of Jack Dunning of late (pictured) comes one of the biggest mixes he's offered out to the internet.
Some tracks simply have anthem written all over them from the first time you hear them. When London producer Joy Orbison's "adieu" chant rings out on 'Hyph Mngo' its one such happenstance.
This Saturday, East London's Gramaphone plays host to Lone, John Daly and Joy Orbison - pusher of one of the most hyped tracks of the moment, 'Hyph Mngo,' which we can confirm has been scheduled for an early September release on Hotflush with 'Wet Look' on the flip.
Familiarise yourself with the Back To The Wood people and what they do by delving into their podcasts:
Anyone who attended the last Thugs'n'Hugs w/ Slugabed and Joy Orbison will know whats up.
This is the first mix I've seen pop up from Joy Orbison so I'm trying my darndest to filter my enthusiasm for it, through this text and into your jittering eyeballs.
