Operating as Lazer Sword, Lando Kal and Low Limit have to date released a trio of singles and an album on the Innovative Leisure imprint. Having both made a name for themselves as singular entities with a smattering of beats on compilations like Beat Dimensions and a split 12” that minted the Numbers imprint the duo were focusing a little deeper on their joint project last year, working to create a synthesized haze of beat music on their debut eponymous album. With a selection of fifteen tracks that trickle up from a hip hop pace to a slow mo house tempo, it got a little overlooked back in November in our opinion. Beats like ‘Owl Tats’ and ‘Web Swag’ still bang - with their sound rooted in everything from southern hip hop to dubstep - and ‘Def Work’ should move any bass centric dancefloor that’s lucky enough to see it.
Everything included on the album seems like it’s been digitized specifically to give it a Tron like futurism, it’s all blossoming whirs and little intricate beat shuffles, but far be it from us to just give you a textual summation, we’re giving you the opportunity to grab a copy of it – and a borrowers mansion full of other prizes – courtesy of our family over at Earnest Endeavours.
Ahead of their date at the EE February throwdown next Wednesday – which also features sets from Cali based Edwardianist, Daedelus, Philly grime nutball Starkey and the first lady of Brainfeeder, TOKiMONSTA – we’ve been chosen as an outlet for you to grab two copies of the Lazer Sword album (on CD as well as on vinyl, that’s why we said 2), a copy of the ‘Batman’ 12”, the first single from the album which features remixes by Rustie and Nguzunguzu, a copy of the ‘Shot in the Night’ 7” - a slice of blue vinyl that isn’t on the album – a Lazer Sword t shirtand2 tickets to the EE event itself so you can see them rock the secret venue in tandem and maybe even buy them a soft drink and tell them that you really like their glasses.
To scoop the swag just email us the answer to the below question by next Tuesday (22/02).
Q: Lazer Sword’s first 12” for Innovative Leisure was called what?
a) Gucci Sweatshirt b) Gucci Network c) Gucci Footwork
The winner will be notified by email. Please make sure you can attend the event before entering.
Made after a plague of delays, silent bus journeys and forced walks home, Sonic Router Radio turns 8 editions old in style with another selection of hardrive heet.
This episode should soon come to mixcloud.com too.
Street Bass don Starkey drops another single from his forthcoming album ‘Ear Drums and Black Holes’ on Planet Mu. After the smooth R&B meets grime episode of ‘Ok Luv’ featuring the vocals of Badness comes another vocal cut but it’s on an entirely different tip. Featuring the vocal stylings of Anneka, who you may recall from Starkey’s ‘Build a Beat’ session on BBC Radio One the other month.
‘Stars’ comes in two forms here; the original is a warm, mellow and cosmic journey, whilst Brighton based beat merchant Slugabed takes that template and shatters it, in a freak experiment that leans it away from the headphones and more towards the dance floor. Anneka shines on both versions, either sweetly floating over the original’s deep space soul or chopped into melodic accents on Sluga’s refix. The remix isn’t as bat-shit as some of Slugabed’s previous material but he adds a nice bit of robo-boogie and keeps the vibe of the original in-between outbursts of smeared bass noise and clattering beats.
The two b-sides see Starkey back in the mode we’re most use to; on ‘Starting Gates’ he unleashes some of his evil bots, who I presume control the basslines as they’re pretty deviant, but as always Starkey’s melodic nature nestles inside the hype within the twisted musical progressions. It’s the wide screen cinematic experience of ‘Millennia’ that really takes the biscuit on the flip, Starkey shows his 3D sound ambition with massive builds full of sweeping synths before launching into a hyper-melodic bass drop and a positive flurry of snappy R&B beats.
New clip from Starkey, succinctly timed before the release of his sophomore album, 'Ear Drums & Black Holes' on Planet Mu, due 19th April - though this is him embracing his compositional side. An orchestral work rather than the brash street bass fuelled energy fans are used to.
Former Sonic Router mix giver (wow - bigg title), Akkachar - owner and proprietor of Rwina Records, just did an exclusive mix - which was first broadcast on Elijah and Skiliam's Rinse.fm show - for our friends over at Butterz.
Watch out for Starkey's 'Rain City'/'Beatingz' 12" dropping shortly on the Dutch label as well as an EP by SRC, a producer featured heavily on the mix and the lips of everybody from FACT to DSF, entitled 'Goin Out.'
Maybe some of you considered us to be a 'bit slow' on posting about Starkey's uber special challenge to build a beat in 2 hours live on Mary Anne Hoobs BBC Radio 1 Experimental show with samples provided by BBC DJs, producers and members of the public...
Ahead of his 2nd album for Planet Mu, 'Ear Drums & Black Holes,'Starkey speaks to the fabric Blog in anticipation of his Room 1 debut at the London club on the 15th January.
They've also given out a mix initially recorded for Redlight's BBC 1xtra Radio show...
Rinse.fm staples Elijah & Skilliam, the duo behind the Butterz blog, marked the passing of a new calendar with an upfront mix packed with fresh beats from a smattering of producers, teeming the grime they're a little more renowned for with new beats from Joker, SRC and Terror Danjah - who'll you be seeing releasing a 12" on the newly formed Butterz label.
Swindle - Open Your Mind (Butterz) Royal T - Hot Ones Remix (Unreleased) Terror Danjah - Acid (Hyperdub) Swindle - 'Trending Topic' (Butterz) DVA feat P Money - Wind It Up (No Right Turn) Rude Kid - Absolut Vodka (No Hats No Hoods) DOK & Terror Danjah - Hysteria (Butterz) Swindle - Air Miles (Planet Mu) Silencer - Miss Asia (Wow Bass Level 3) Joker - Output One Two (Tectonic) Rude Kid & Terror Danjah - The Best Crawler (No Hats No Hoods) Tempa T - Boy Off The Ting (No Hats No Hoods) Terror Danjah - Bipolar (Butterz) OGZ - Hot Ones (Deeco Remix) Maniac - Lengman Tune (Unreleased) Terror Danjah - Sidechain (Swindle Remix) (Planet Mu) SRC - Powerman 9 (Unreleased) DOK - Keep Making Grime (Unreleased) Rude Kid - Electric (Earth 616) J Beatz - Life & Death (SCUK) Terror Danjah - Air Bubble (Butterz) Starkey - Ok Love (Planet Mu) ????? - ?????? (Teaser)
Adult Swim and Beaterator have put together a remix album of Atlanta hip hop artists like Young Jeezy, Lil Jon and the like featuring refixes from people like Flying Lotus, Starkey, Dam Funk, El-P, Hud Mo and more.
With releases on Ramp and Rwina Recordings to his name already, as well as a collaboration with the veritable feast of an emcee, Durrty Goodz and an EP forthcoming on Numbers (as well as an album well on the way for Rwina) we thought we’d have a virtual sit down with the man who’s got probably the best alcohol sanctioned production moniker in dubstep, Taz Buckfaster.
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Taz Buckfaster: Well, I’m a 26 year old, Glasgow-based dubstep producer/DJ and I’ve been playing out and making music in one way or another since my mid-teens. Had a few releases out on various labels (Dubkraft, Ramp, Rwina) and have a load of things planned for the year ahead.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
On the daily, I do music. It’s hard to stop. I’ve just begun writing Dubstep reviews for a magazine (www.core-mag.net), so I’m looking to cut my journalistic teeth on that then perhaps expand on that. I’ve been on an extended break in the countryside while making this album, testing new material on the free-party scene (big up the Bass Alliance system and the Electrikal crew), away from the city lights, and I’m now looking forward to getting back to the hustle-and-bustle.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
I’ve always had a passion for music. I was into hardcore rave, 80’s metal, synth-pop and gangsta rap/g-funk in primary school and added jungle, house, breaks and trance to the list when I started high school. The time eventually came when I wanted to see if I was capable of making something that I would otherwise pick up off the shelf and listen to. I’d started playing guitar by that point, but buying my first decks at 16 was really the catalyst. That was when I knew I wanted to do more than just spin other people’s records.
Started off messing with the Ejay series (as you do) and then started importing my own loops from Propellerhead software’s ReBirth soft synth, moved onto Cubase and kept progressing.
You mentioned to me before that you fell out of love with computer based producing for a while. What was it that sucked you back in? I mean, was it this new type of music being made that inspired you?
To be honest, the main reason I 'fell out of love' with it was the fact that I was broke and my equipment was failing me, big-time. I started working after college, but was barely making enough to get by, so splashing out on new gear just wasn’t an option. During this period, I got into writing guitar based music, listened to a fair bit of breaks, garage and dnb, and eventually, along with some other mates, discovered the emerging Grime sound.
I ended up getting back in touch with a friend from back in Castle Douglas who I hadn’t seen in a while and he was messing with a few programs and coming up with some alright sounds, so I took out a loan to get a new comp, fired up the cylinders and soon enough he was coming to me asking how to do things. I tend to be my own worst critic, so when I let some other people hear tracks I’d made and they were very enthusiastic, so that inspired some confidence in my abilities and I carried on.
What aspects of dubstep connect with you, and similarly spur you on to continue producing?
What’s your production set up like? Has it changed a lot since day dot?
Primitive and makeshift! Up until a few months ago, I was working with an ancient desktop PC that was far beyond its last last legs, so I was in a bit of a technological rut insofar as what software I could run. My new lappy has been a godsend. Current setup looks like: Laptop (4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Core 2 Duo), software (Cubase 4, Reason, etc), shitty powered speakers and an M-Audio Axiom 61 that I borrowed off a mate who owes me money. I’ve got some catching up to do software-wise and there are a few bits of kit that are sorely needed.
What’s the Taz Buckfaster moniker about? An ode to the thick wine of Scotland perhaps? Or is there more to it than that…?
Nah, you’re spot on. Everyone calls me Taz, and Buckfaster just came about through excessive consumption of the dark stuff. Couldn’t escape it really, and I suppose it gives me, and the name, a bit of a Glasgow identity; an ode to its grimey underbelly.
Who do you consider to be of great influence on your output?
There are too many to mention. Far too many.
You’re a Scot and as geographically such, you’re tied in nicely with the Numbers crew. What’s your area like for you to make music in and what’s it like having that network around you? How does Glasgow differ inspirationally from Castle Douglas…?
Glasgow’s a sick place to make music, there’s plenty of good patter, and it’s great to have people in the extended family of mates and acquaintances who are on a similar wavelength and all making their own respective marks on what they do. Glasgow and Castle Douglas are polar opposites. “Castle Douglas”, to paraphrase Vic Reeves, “is where people go to die.”
Your older productions have that kind of dark edge and bass impact that really suits grime emcees. Was that an intentional thing do you think or did it just turn out like that?
I got into Grime in 2004/05 and I guess its influence just stuck with me. Almost everything I do is self-taught, so some habits die hard.
How did the track with Durrty Goodz come about? He mentions you approaching him. Did you manage to get in the studio together? What was it like seeing/hearing someone spray like that over your beats?
I added him to myspace after realising I’d not done so before and a few hours later I had a message in my inbox telling me how much he liked the beats in my player and that he’d like for me to produce some tracks for him. It was around this time that I was making my transition between grime and dubstep and I just kept passing stuff his way and I’d get honest opinion and good advice back.
Ended up going on a road trip last summer to Bristol to check out Bodynod as the lineup was sick (Goodz, Slimzee, Zed Bias, El-B, Joker, Blazey) and got talking to Goodz again there. It was good to hear him tear it up on ‘Destruction’. I guess it was time for certain naysayers to button their lips.
Who else are you rating in the grime scene at the moment? Production and MC wise?
If I’m honest, I don’t really keep up-to-date with the grime scene at the moment. When certain heads started falling off and doing grime-pop and dodgy electro, chasing chart money and writing bars about girl trouble and watches, I tuned right out. I still rate Goodz because he thinks outside of the box, and Tempa T is sick (even if ‘Next hype’ is beginning to grate a little from over-play).
Production-wise, I rate Nocturnal. His stuff sounds sharp and has a real musical feel, which some producers really seem to lack (no names mentioned). Rachet, from Outtakers, is coming with some big things these days too, although it’s more of a departure from grime than his earlier stuff.
Your newer stuff seems to be more in key with the ‘purple’ twisted synthesized sound of Bristol... What producers are you really feeling right now in dubstep?
Without getting into a debate about semantics as these things generally end up (re: Dubstep or not Dubstep); in no particular order - Joker, Gemmy, Ginz, Guido, 501, Starkey, Numan, Raffertie, Silkie, Emalkay, Synkro, 2000F & J Kamata, Reso, Ikonika, Untold, etc. I could go on, and on, but endless lists bore me to tears and I’ll inevitably leave someone out.
Your debut album has been announced, forthcoming on the Dutch label Rwina. How did you link with them? What have you got in store to keep ears interested over the long player format?
Chafik got in touch earlier in the year, we had a chat and it turned out we shared some ideas and some background, so I sent him a handful of tracks and we planned out some releases. After getting a taste of the newer material I was coming up with, he suggested I put together an album and I’ve been working on it since.
The album basically comprises of different ideas around the 140 bpm mark, not sticking to any one formula or style and it reflects the thoughts I had at the time. I’d like to think it covers a few roads, as opposed to just plodding along in one lane. It’s not as obvious as previous releases may lead you to believe.
You mentioned an EP on Numbers as well, can you take us through that and whatever else have you’ve got coming up?
Yeah, I’d been talking with Jackmaster for some time about a release and the ‘Bare Grills’ EP is the result. It comprises of 4 tracks and is one of the first releases on the new label. Release details will follow in the near future.
‘Half Man, Half Trout/20 Red’ 12” drops at the beginning of October on Rwina. There are a few releases that I’m not supposed to talk about yet, so I’ll keep it hush for now. Some remixes by other people that will rock your socks.
I’m in the planning stages of a quick jaunt to the west coast US for a show or two in October (tbc), I’ve been invited to play at a night in London run by grime (and now purple-drenched dubstep) producer Rachet on the 14th of November (the details of which are pending), and I’m heading out to Patronaat in Haarlem, Amsterdam, on December 5th to play Dub Infusions with Stenchman, Nicon (Subway) and Akkachar (Rwina), so those who missed me after my passport trouble earlier in the year will get a chance to catch me this time round (bigups to Nicon for covering last time).
Tell us about the mix you’ve done for us, what tracks just had to be there? Any exclusive business?
I put a fair bit of my stuff in there for the heads who haven’t got familiar with my music yet, some exclusive cuts from the album, a couple of past releases, and some tunes by artists I rate. Things like 501’s ‘St Ives’ and Rachet’s ‘80’s Substep’ were definite picks because they’re great tracks and on a similar note, Starkey’s ‘Rain City’ had to be the opener because it’s just simply massive and sets the pace nicely.
Have you got any words of wisdom you’d care to share with the interweb?
“Where words fail, music speaks.” – Hans Christian Andersen
Don Rwina himself, Akkachar, the man who gave Starkey's 'A Mili' refix an airing on wax got in touch a while back proposing he weave together an episode of our ongoing exclusive mix series. Who was I to stop the dude when he's taunting me with the prospect of unreleased Taz Buckfaster dubs and some ultra exclusives from Untold, Gemmy, L.D, and DJ Madd.
There's not a lot of information out there about the good fellow himself, all i can tell you is he's from Amsterdam. You can learn more if you feel the need by checking out the super deep interview with Ak over at the very competent and loverrrly Bass Music Blog here:
Rather than doubling up on surplus info we asked if he'd put together a Top 10 Dubs chart for us... but at the rate he gets his mitts on exclusives this is most likely his Top 10 of the week, let alone a chart for the entire month of July, but it's a credible indication of some forthcoming bangers for sure.
Akkachar - Top 10 Dubs July '09
1. Taz Buckfaster - Half Man Half Trout [Rwina] 2. Playdoe - Freeze Step (Starkey remix) [Rwina] 3. 501 - St Ives [Rwina] 4. Noah D - Seeeriousss [Subway] 5. Starkey - Rain City [dub] 6. DJ Madd - Jam Master [dub] 7. Matt-U - Take Cover [SCUM] 8. Taz Buckfaster - Headlock [Rwina] 9. Noah D - That Hardcore Tune [Subway] 10. DJ Madd - Bass Come Down [dub]
Sukh Knight - Diesel Not Petrol (Noah D remix) [True Tiger dub] Playdoe - Freeze Step (Starkey remix) [Rwina dub] DJ Madd - Better With You [Boka dub] Little Beezle - I Left My (Starkey remix) [Seclusiasis dub] Debruit - Soles Sweat (Reso remix) [dub] Untold - Never Went Away [Hemlock dub] L.D. - Oh Yeah [dub] Taz Buckfaster - Digital Nomad [Rwina dub] DJ Madd - Bass Come Down [dub] Dio ft. Jeugd van Tegenwoordig & Reverse - Ruimteschip [TopNotch] Zero G - Scorpion [S.C.U.M. dub] Gemmy - Rusty Tin [dub] Taz Buckfaster - Half Man Half Trout [Rwina dub] 501 - St. Ives [Rwina dub]
