PRE-ORDER: Joker - Tron [Kapsize]

"Everytime I play Tron by @Jokerkhk I get the same response. Ur a genius mate!" - @mrroska

This one has legs.

Read the full review here: http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=7317

Links:
www.myspace.com/thejokerproductions
www.kapsize.com

PRE-ORDER: Joker & Ginz – Purple City/Re-Up [Kapsize]

Joker’s Kapsize imprint has grown from strength to strength since its inception last year, whipping both dubstep and grime heads up into an excited fury whilst managing to draw in a whole heap of those Alex Nut excited hip hop heads with the last platter ‘Do It’ b/w ‘Psychedelic Runway’ – which coincidentally was Joker’s first release to achieve that saturation level of BBC Radio 1 recognition.

The young Bristolian’s collaborations have always been special; the squall of the manic synth led madness of ‘Play Doe’ (KAP002) with Rustie was a true meeting of minds but now, for his latest offering, he’s not letting up, hooking up with 30Hz of The Body Snatchers who appears here under his Ginz moniker. ‘Purple City’ rolls with snapping crunk fuelled drums and electro bongos before the synth hooks sing at you like a crooning robot, whose tortured circuits ooze raw soul, before the bass line pumps energy into every orifice possible with its sub low growl.

Flip it and you get ‘Re-Up’ which for all you educated watchers of The Wire will know is slang for a stash re-stock, and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t explode out of the blocks like a morning bump. The orchestral build up atop the crisp snapping percussion that ushers in the bass drop is a pure fire spin back moment. Pulsing with the kind of high-octane bass pressure and the kind of hooks not heard since ‘Gully Brook Lane’ or ‘Grimy Princess’ this one has been working dance floors into a frenzy and is still showing no signs of slowing up.

Words: James Balf

Link:
www.myspace.com/thejokerproductions
www.myspace.com/30hzverticalsound

PRE-ORDER: Pinch - Attack of the Giant Killer Robot Spiders/Teleportation [Planet Mu]

All round, May’s been a pretty good month for Rob ‘Pinch’ Ellis. The launch of Tectonics’ second compilation and a coinciding launch night at The Arches in London Bridge resulted in a large degree of positive press, blog and message-board attention. Many of the press articles took the opportunity to not only just review the LP or preview the event, but to look back at the Bristolian’s crucial influence on the genre’s development over the last four years. FACT Magazine felt so strongly for the cause, that they even felt it necessary to suddenly declare that 2007’s ‘Underwater Dancehall’ was the joint-best dubstep album yet made. Perhaps an overdramatic statement, but if the widespread-recognition continues, Pinch will soon be replacing Kode 9 as the scene’s leader.

Taking the momentum into June, but having a breather from his own imprints, Pinch releases the curiously named ‘Attack of The Giant Killer Robot Spiders’ on Planet Mu. Possibly in reference to the awesome 30-foot machine that terrorised Liverpool late last year, but still not the easiest title to deliver in a straight-faced manner. Those expecting a dubstep track with such a title to be a sci-fi themed, wobble-assault won’t be experiencing anything of such an up-front nature. Instead this is a fractured voyage into broken percussion that if anything is more atmospheric than many of the Bristolain’s tracks to date. Obviously keen to continue his recent explorations into the experimental, ‘Spiders’ is rhythmically off-kilter throughout with a tripping beat-pattern reminiscent of mid-noughties future-jazz. Initially somewhat rudderless, depth and added-chug builds with every thirty-seconds that passes, until a pulsating bassline finally thrusts things forward into an ambient, yet almost-hydraulic crescendo.

The B-side, ‘Teleportation’ continues the vibe, but is all-round a more levelled affair that may be the pick for purists who prefer the producer’s more straight-forward Tectonic releases to date. Overall, this 12” perfectly demonstrates an exciting artist at the very top of his game, who isn’t scared to experiment and break even further away from the original South-London blueprint.

Words: James Lawrence

Link:
www.myspace.com/tectonicrecordings

DOWNLOAD: Joker - Solid State

The rumourmill has been grinding like the relentless whore she is and this time its wielded results. Joker aka the young prince of Bristol's gronk scene (bite on that hastily compiled genre tag please Simon Reynolds...) is giving up an mp3 of his 'Solid State' track for nowt.

DOWNLOAD: Joker - Solid State

Links:
www.myspace.com/thejokerproductions

PRE-ORDER: Joker – Do It/Psychedelic Runway [Kapsize]

Kapsize is the label, Joker is the producer. His style is imitable, instantly recognisable and intrinsically his. The self proclaimed ‘Purple Prince’ has been much hyped of late, remixing Little Boots, Djing all over the world and releasing beats on Hyperdub, with another forthcoming on Tectonic. This plate is the third release on Kapsize so far - following on from the collaboration with Glasgow’s hip-hop badman, Rustie on KAP002 – and it features the heavily BBC Radio 1 supported ‘Do It.’

Still managing to sound as catchy and as fresh as the day you first heard it, ‘Do It’ makes for a wicked peak time floor shaker harnessing the southern boom bap kicks and snare snap-click that drive the dirty chugging, snaggle-toothed grime synths in making a dark backdrop to the ascending string samples and filtered Dr. Dre-esque talk box lead lines and the oft repeated “do it” vocal sample.

If Silkie played more Sonic The Hedgehog and less jazz at home he may well have channelled his soulful funk vibes through some whining 8-bit synths like Joker has on ‘Psychedelic Runway.’ Using jagged bass synthesizers Joker propels his straight dubstep drum pattern swabbing the edges with punishing pads and leads that take the track into a more melodic grime territory, swapping the aggression of the genre for a guide book on key Moog manipulations.

This platter shows that both Kapsize and Joker are growing. With these tune he shows that he can turn himself to the deep side as well as the darkside fusing the upfront melodies of grime with some spatial meditation.

Links:

www.myspace.com/thejokerproductions
www.myspace.com/kapsize1