RECOMMENDED: West Norwood Cassette Library - Blonde On Blonde/Pearson Sound Remix [Teal]

When West Norwood Cassette Library’s debut turned up earlier this year, it presented a confusing front. Considering 2010’s growing fetish for cassettes among lo-fi circles and an increasing tendency towards nostalgia (both from the lighthearted, often throwaway output of the chillwave set, and the warped, disturbing vignettes emerging from Not Not Fun and Olde English Spelling Bee), here was a producer whose name suggested an obsession with looking backward. Hell, before spinning ‘What It Is’ for the first time I fully expected to hear beats coated with static and analogue crackle, a thin haze of distortion and perhaps some heavily reverbed vocals chucked in for good measure. That it proved instead to be a jittery, anxious take on dubstep’s mutant template was a surprise, but a welcome one; instead of taking a rose-tinted look at the past, this was an impressively futuristic statement.

Still, with the release of his last 12” – the shimmering, deep house infused ‘Mrs. Fingers’ – and now the latest, ‘Blonde On Blonde’, his name has begun to make far more sense. ‘Mrs. Fingers’ offered a vision of dubstep as derivative of early house, all delicately swirling chords and a peculiar, offset groove. It occupied much the same territory as DJ Sprinkles’ gorgeous, elegiac Midtown 120 Blues album, examining the past with an emotive, if time detached, eye. ‘Blonde On Blonde’ goes one further, and sees him craft an anthemic slice of jackin’ house that, were its production values not subtly indicative of now, could have been made at any time over the last twenty years or so. Which isn’t to say it doesn’t fit neatly into current UK music trends; despite its gritty pockmarked surface, WNCL’s sound has an appreciation for bass-heavy immediacy that marks it out as a product of now. In that sense he fits neatly alongside much of the Olde English Spelling Bee label roster, who rebuild the sounds of the past into shapes that, whilst referential, are just as concerned with recent developments.

Securing man of the moment David Kennedy for the remix was a wise move; if the A-side delights in house music’s past, Pearson Sound’s version stares into its future. Admittedly it’s one of his subtler tracks in a while, slowing the juke and jungle inflections of his big hitters from this year (‘Work Them’; ‘Grab Somebody’; ‘Blanked’) into a stammering slo-mo groove, but delicately sliced vocals and a convincingly massive, synth-laden breakdown in the middle give the game away. A disorienting double kick-drum pulse lends the whole thing an aura of menace, like coming to your senses at 7 or 8 am and suddenly realising you’re left with one hell of a long, cold journey home. While it lacks the distinct percussive tics of much of his recent music, as usual you’re left safe in the knowledge that Kennedy continues to operate within his own unique, but impressively broad, niche.

Words: Rory Gibb
Out: Now


West Norwood Cassette Library - Blonde On Blonde [Teal]

Link:
http://westnorwoodcassettelibrary.blogspot.com

DOWNLOAD: WNCL - Mrs Fingers (Ekoplekz Replekz)

Long since a bringer of joy and great music to our inbox, West Norwood Cassette Library’s Bob Bhamra’s enthusiasm for the game is infectious. After hearing DJ C in Untold’s FACT mix he made it his own personal mission to track him down and snag a few of his unreleased cuts for his label, and it’s this commitment to going that little bit further to chase something he believes in, which has so genuinely struck a chord with us. As a producer Bharma’s anthemic ‘Blonde on Blonde’ is set to be the first release on the brand new TEAL imprint - hitting like Martyn does with his new trademark booming, relentless kick its coming correct with a deconstructed Pearson Sound remix on the flip – and his ‘What It Is’ track from the first WNCL release still stands out in any mix it’s wheeled out in.

In the wake of his label’s 3rd vinyl release, ‘Mrs Fingers’ - Bhamra’s self styled tribute to Larry Heard, placed over a stripped down dubstep template - he’s not only roped in Echochord’s dub techno don Quantec for a remix on the vinyl version but he’s also sought out Punch Drunk’s most recent artist, Ekoplekz, to submit a version.

“Ekoplekz surprised me this week by sending me a remix (or replekz, if you will) of ‘Mrs Fingers,’ completely out of the blue,” Bhamra recalled to me recently. “I was mostly surprised because his performances (live and recorded) are strictly analogue and improvised so I wasn't sure any remixes were ever on the cards... anyway, I checked the remix and it’s pretty bonkers.”

An experimental musician residing in Bristol, Ekoplekz just released the 20th 12” on Peverlist’s Punch Drunk label, a move that astounded many. Moving acres away from the usual oddball dancefloor pressure the label is so good at housing the two tracks, ‘Distended Dub’ and ‘Stalag Zero’ are pure sound experiments, reportedly made on nothing but analogue equipment. ‘Distended Dub’ takes a suitably heavy bass pulse and splatters it with sheet noise and swells for 8 minutes whilst ‘Stalag Zero’ veers through atmospherics and tortured Indian string instruments in a decidedly ‘BBC Radiophonic Workshop’ kind of way, igniting the ghosts of Delia Derbyshire and John Baker as it careers through its textures.

So to put it simply, we’re stoked and indebted to be able to bring you the premiere of the Ekoplekz ‘Replekz’ version of ‘Mrs Fingers.’ Taking the tonal qualities of the original version’s main riff, Ekoplekz thuds the whole thing out, deploying barrages of distorted kick drums, diamond edged stabs of noise and a severe talent for unleashing the requisite amount of reverb at any given time. It’s a sound experiment that really works; a dark and subtle almost beat-less (in the conventional sense) progression that stamps the Ekoplekz production process all over it while just hinting and the melody of the original.

DOWNLOAD: West Norwood Cassette Library – Mrs Fingers (Ekoplekz Replekz)



Both WNCL003, ‘Mrs Fingers’ b/w Quantec Remix and DRUNK020, Ekoplekz’s ‘Distended Dub’ b/w ‘Stalag Zero’ are out now. TEAL001, WNCL’s ‘Blonde on Blonde’ b/w Pearson Sound Remix is out 20th December.

Audio of nearly all of these is available at our Hivemind.fm show archive: mixcloud.com/sonicrouter

Links:
http://westnorwoodcassettelibrary.blogspot.com
http://ekoplekznews.wordpress.com

INTERVIEW: West Norwood Cassette Library [WNCL Recordings]

Email courtesy goes along way round these parts; and considering that politeness, astuteness and having your shit together are also bonuses, when we heard the first full release from West Norwood Cassette Library – forthcoming on his own label of the same name - and engaged in the back and forth ritual of electronic conversing, getting him to unsheath an exclusive mix for us seemed like the best possible thing for both of us after we realised his communication game ran so deep.

With a name that suggests an extensive knowledge of music and a penchant for near pedantic cataloguing of genres, a regular monthly night in Brixton and a sound that maintains a constant level of dancefloor appropriate energy whilst displaying perfectly his synergy between delayed techno chords and funky percussion, we’re proud to introduce you to the WNCL…

Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

West Norwood Cassette Library: I’m Bob Bhamra aka West Norwood Cassette Library aka No.1 Astronaut, one half of Data 70 and another half of Plastic Soul. I DJ and produce a bit, put on a monthly night (Rock La Bibliotek! at The Hive Bar in Brixton), do a blog and podcast sometimes and have just launched WNCL Recordings.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

I’m involved in production of an entirely different nature. I work at Verso Books, an independent publishing house based in Soho.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

Records… I grew up surrounded by 3 older sisters who were all mad for buying records. Some of my earliest memories involve stealing their vinyl and staring at it for a long time. As for making music - the process was entirely informed by the desire to have a record out.

What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?

Frankly, it’s embarrassing: a cracked copy of this, a broken down that, all held together with string. I’m sure it’s quite easy to upgrade everything but I’m a technophobe. Too many wires and I go blank. My favourite bit of kit is anything that doesn’t crash.

Where do you take inspiration from when making music?

Bleeps mostly.

What’s the deal with the West Norwood Cassette Library moniker?
It’s just a joke between me and a friend – a mild ribbing of my obsession for filing and memorising record catalogue numbers.

How would you describe your sound? You share a dancefloor slant similar to say Shortstuff…

I have no idea how to describe it – that’s your job! Still, I won’t sniff at a comparison to Shortstuff.



And how did you get into this current flux of dubstep?

I missed out on the roots of it. I’d been buying house records from the days of the early Chicago Trax releases and was equally obsessive about hardcore, jungle, speed garage and drum and bass that followed. But by the early millennium I just had dance music fatigue. The clever ones dug deeper whereas I just fell asleep in the corner for a couple of years. I blame my colleague Rowan at Verso for the dubstep infection. He pretty much spoon fed it to me on a daily basis until I gave in. I’d say that by early 2007, specifically N-Type’s Dubstep Allstars Vol 05 mixtape, I was sold; hook, line and sinker.

Your first release as WNCL comes out shortly. What’s the deal, what can we expect from the release?

It’s a 10” vinyl press of my own track, ‘What It Is,’ backed with a fantastic remix by Brackles. It’s in the shops from Monday 24th May. The digital version is already available.

What other projects have you got in the pipeline? What’s happening with you in the rest of 2010? Gigs, releases, personal growth etc?

At the moment, everything is based around promoting WNCL001. I’ve just done a spot for Jonny Mugwump’s Exotic Pylon show on Resonance FM and there are a couple of gigs coming up. This Friday 21st at Babalou, Brixton with James Blake and Untold and next Friday 28th is the next Rock La Bibliotek at Hive, Brixton with Hanuman from Monkey Steak.

Release-wise, I’ve got a remix of Unique 3’s ‘Take This Love’ out now, a track called ‘Blonde on Blonde’ forthcoming on Teal, a new label from Denmark and, of course, more plans to release on WNCL.

And there’s a WNCL mini mix on Mary Anne Hobbs’ Radio 1 Experimental show that broadcasts on June 2nd – which I’m terrified about.

Any words of wisdom for our readers?

Litter – put it in the bin

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DOWNLOAD: West Norwood Cassette Library - Sonic Router Mix



Tracklist:

1. West Norwood Cassette Library - What It Is (Brackles Remix) [WNCL Recordings]
2. Quantec - Busted [WNCL Dubplate]
3. DJ C feat MS Thing - Jump Up And Bounce [WNCL Dubplate]
4. Unique 3 - Take This Love (WNCL Remix) [Mutate]
5. West Norwood Cassette Library - Blonde on Blonde [forthcoming Teal]
6. Kerri Chandler - House Is House [Downtown 161]
7. Gideon - Work That Shit [Southern Comfort]
8. Plastic Soul - Body Form [Dubplate]
9. Ramadanman - Glut [Hemlock]
10. Random Noise Generator - Instrument of Change [430 West]
11. Riva Starr - Dance Me (Jesse Rose Remix) [Made To Play]
12. Stuffa - A Million Secrets (Carli Remix) [Trunkfunk]
13. Point B - Industrial Revulsion [Combat]
14. Don Froth - Von [Dubplate]
15. West Norwood Cassette Library - What It Is (Origianal Mix) [WNCL Recordings]

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You can catch WNCL at the following events:




Link:
www.myspace.com/westnorwoodcassettelibrary

Photo: Georgina Cook