Plex return, taking over Corsica Studios with two rooms of music that blurs the angular greyscale shaded lines between dubstep and techno. Headliners Sandwell District and Forward Strategy Group get support from heavyweights in their own right, people like Peverelist, TRG, TVO and Subeena.
It’s probably inevitable given the curator, but Mala’s Deep Medi imprint has yet to disappoint. The label debut for Antisocial Entertainment member V.I.V.E.K luckily upholds this trend - both tracks are drenched in aquatic echo and old school soundsystem atmosphere, landing somewhere between Bristolian introspection and sci-fi futurism.
Of the two, ‘Kulture’ is the dancefloor monster, welding a sandpaper-edged three-note theme to thumping techno low end. The results are formidable, escalating to collapse point before imploding to leave only a dubby breakdown. Far better though is ‘Meditation Rock,’ sharing traits with DMZ’s manifesto in both name and nature. After the cosmic chaos of ‘Kulture,’ it initially comes across as a little sparse, pivoting around nothing but clouds of dense bass and a halfstep crawl reminiscent of Kryptic Minds’ recent ‘One Of Us’ long player. Two minutes in a muted string section begins to emerge from the depths of the mix, rising in prominence to form a slow complementary melody above the bass maelstrom. It’s as close as dance music can get to pure ambience, a melancholy and keening piece of music that presents itself far better as an insular track than a mixed tune. Further evidence, I suppose, that the outer reaches of dubstep nurture some truly impressive, genre-defying talent.
Nottigham beatmaker, Lone, was one of the first batch of people I properly interviewed in the ol' 3 Bar Fire days, and since I've been trying to locate the page - with no success I might add - in the hazy directory of the hastily backed up archive ZIP before the editorial side of the site went offline all those months back, it would appear the latest installment in the FACT mix series is pretty well timed.
Lone makes shimmer-hop like no one else. Enjoy it.
Kona Triangle – Mauna Loa Ghostface Killah – Clipse of Doom Samiyam – Cheesecake Backslap Bibio – Lovers Carvings (Letherette Mix) Mike Slott – SunTan Black Dog Productions – Caz Prophet – You Really Turn Me On Prince – Erotic City Lone – Once in a While Sweet Exorcist – Track Jack Lone – Taking off and Landing Ceephax Acid Crew – Space Paranoia Clark – Cremation Drones
Also - Lone gave a free track out to the URB.com readership recently; you can hop on that sheeeeeeeeit here:
The Bristol based Soul Motive imprint has slowly been carving out a niche for itself, quietly bustling, unearthing smash 12"s from Joker ('Snake Eater') and TRG ('Move Dis'), Hyetal ('Gold or Soul' b/w 'Neon Speech'). Word on the vineyard is that the boutique label - famed for their big boy, full colour artwork - have numerous projects on the way, including an album from Eleven Tigers, and this showcase mix of the label's forthcoming output seems to support that theory ten fold.
Having been led into TAKE Records blossoming roster thanks to the involvement of Mr. Spatial, who contributed 2 remixes to the 1st vinyl release, a 12" comprised of remixes of False Prohpets' 'Wake Up,' our ears really pricked up when we received promo files of the 2nd 12", 'Put It Back' which also includes a particularly cultured Ramadanman remix on the flip, by the somewhat unassumingly monikered, James Fox.
Crossing straight house ruminations with interesting flourishes of mechanical melody, his productions sit right with us so we thought we'd reel him in for a chat and to provide our 33rd exclusive Sonic Router mix...
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
James Fox: Well, I’ve been DJing for about ten years now, and making music for probably half that. I’m from Manchester originally, and I moved down to London a couple of years ago, for a change of scenery…
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
I am a professional admin drone, currently employed at a college in central London for posh rich kids from all over the world.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
Pretty standard really; always been fascinated with music in all its forms, so once I got a taste for DJing it was a logical progression to get into creating my own tracks.
What’s your production set up like?
I’m on a battered old PC running Ableton Live, I’ve got a Nord Rack that I use for most of my synth sounds and plugin wise I keep it pretty stripped down. I’m partial to the Korg Legacy synth package and I am a massive fan of the Sonnox EQ / Compressor / Reverb. I used to have a bazillion and one plugins, but I realised I was spending all my time trying to get my head round them (and failing), so I got rid.
How would you describe your sound to someone zoning in for the first time?
Hard to say really, the common thread between all the records I play and make is probably sub bass, I’m a sucker for it. Not about all the distorted midrange stuff in the slightest, it just sounds like music for sweaty teenage boys to mosh to. Beyond that, I guess I like records that are groove-based and not too obvious - from deep dubstep through house, broken beat, 2step, whatever really.
What first brought you to the dubstep/house-ish sound? what drew you to that?
Probably the complete disregard for the sort of perceived genre boundaries and tribalism that can really suck the fun out of DJing and production for me. It’s really exciting, because nobody knows quite what to call it, or where it’s going - they’re too busy making records or putting nights on or writing a blog or raving to really give much of a fuck about such insignificant details.
What inspires you musically?
That’s a hard one. I suppose people would often say that they are inspired by other producers, but I have the opposite problem – i.e. making a track and then thinking ‘well, my mixdown will never be as good as this Modeselektor record, or the vocal work won’t be as good as this Burial record, or the drums won’t be as good as this Scuba record… so what’s the point?’ – which is a very dangerous area to get into.
I guess I’m inspired by two things mainly: the producers that I’ve known for a few years who are doing things their own way and not compromising, and also going to clubs with my friends and hearing DJs that I respect rock it over a crisp soundsystem. When you get involved with DJing and production it can take away some of the thrill that you got at the start, so I think it’s important to go out dancing as much as you can, rather than sitting in the studio staring at a computer. I still can’t help but stop and stroke my chin if the DJ fluffs a mix even slightly, though…
Your debut 12” is coming on the TAKE imprint next Monday. How did you hook up with them? What can people expect from the release?
I’ve known the guys who run the label for a good few years. The whole project has actually been in the pipeline for a while now, and I think it shows – they’ve really taken a lot of care over the remixes they’ve had done, the artwork and the mastering to ensure that the final product is something you'd want to own. As for my release - 'Put It Back' is a percussive bass driven house groove for the club, and the Ramadanman Refix… well, I know I’m biased but it’s probably one of the best things I’ve heard him do. It sounds like 2step from the year 2020, and the breakdown is like a Boards of Canada record or something! There’s also a digital only track on the release called Rebuildings, which is well worth checking if you like Alex Smoke – think deep glitching electronic house, a proper B-side.
What other releases have you got forthcoming?
I’m currently working on a few things for TAKE, I need to find an extra day in the week so I can get them all finished though.
You’re a contributor to Bass Music Blog too; tell us a bit about how it all came together and where you wanna take it?
I know Sam Baobinga and Ed ID from around the way in Manchester; they decided to start a blog about 18 months ago, and being the sort of person who tends to ramble on about music to whoever is in earshot, they asked me to contribute. The idea – much like this fine blog – is to be editorially led, i.e. not just pumping out free music. I think it’s working out pretty well thus far; one angle that has been good for us is offering readers insight into the industry, so we've done interviews with mastering engineers, promoters, that sort of thing. We’ve also been focusing on bass music culture in cities around the world that might not get much attention elsewhere, and I think that’s an area that we’ll continue exploring. In future, we aim to get to the level where people like Fact Magazine are; their guest mixes and interviews are always super on point, so yeah – big up Fact.
What else does 2010 have in store for James Fox?
I've got to finish some more damn records that I don’t decide are rubbish and immediately scrap, play some more gigs in London, go out raving more, basically continual upping of game on all fronts.
Tell us about the mix you’ve done for us, what kind of vibe have you gone for and what tracks did you just have to put in?
I really like creating DJ mixes that stand up to repeated listening, so to me this means things like: re-editing, mixing in key, subtle fx, layering things up, vocal / acapellas blends – the best tool for this is definitely Ableton Live, so that’s what I used. Vibe-wise, I wanted to try and represent the different styles that I like to play in the club, so you’ve got deep bass-driven house music, some 2step / bruk, a bit of edgy synth stuff and a few big ones at the end. It also ended up being a bit of a recap of my most loved tracks of 2009 ('WAD,' 'Pimp Jackson,' 'Since Last Night,' 'The Lighter/MAW' blend I did, etc).
1. Soul Clap - Rock The Boat [dub] 2. Dubbel Dutch - Trollsta (Round Table Knights Remix) [Palms Out Sounds] 3. Julio Bashmore - Tread Soft [dub] 4. Worthy - Crack El' (Justin Martin Remix) [dirty bird] 5. Lil Silva - Different [dub] 6. James Fox - Put it Back [TAKE] 7. Horacio - Taverna Del Funk [Raum] 8. Drop The Lime - Set Me Free (Zombie Disco Squad Remix) [Trouble & Bass] 9. Dan Black - symphonies (Hot City Remix) [Polydor] 10. Loco Dice - Pimp Jackson is Talking Now [Desolat] 11. Pearson Sound - Wad [Hessle Audio] 12. Wookie - Down On Me [Manchu] 13. Deadboy - U Cheated [Well Rounded] 14. Martin Kemp - Aztec [Blunted Robots] 15. Skinnz - Euphorbia [dub] 16. Joy Orbison - BRKLN CLLN [Doldrums] 17. Lighter - Skanker (James Fox Work Vocal Edit) [dub] 18. Uncle Bakongo - Bambara [Roska Kicks & Snares] 19. TRG - Since Last Night [Tempa dub] 20. Jaheim - Put That Woman First (Calibre Remix) [dub]
Former XLR8R cover girl and Hyperdub signing, Cooly G, fixes up the latest installment in their podcast series. Apparently theres a 2nd section to this mix coming via her twitter, so eyes out for that...
01 Cooly G "Intro" 02 Cooly G/DVA "Ol' Dirty" 03 DJ Gregory "Traffic" 04 T Williams "Hardcash" 05 Zander Hardy (exclusive) 06 Ben Westbeech & T. Williams (exclusive) 07 Martyn "Megadrive" 08 Artist Unknown "Glow" 09 O.B "ER" 10 Artist Unknown "Get Slapped Up" 11 Artist Unknown "Gain" 12 Artist Unknown "Dougsanna" 13 DJ Gregory "Work Me" 14 Sami Sanchez "Air Raid" 15 MA1 "Samurai Remix" 16 Wbeeza "Deep Underground" 17 Bowly (exclusive) 18 Major Notes "Friend of Mine Dub"
1. Bad Autopsy – Beam Beamer 2. Groove Chronicles – First Time 3. Sunship – Try Me Out 4. Bump & Flex – Long Time Coming (Big Up version) 5. Jinder – Youth Blood (Bok Bok remix) 6. Elektric Red – Drank in my Cup 7. Funkystepz – Touch On Me 8. Deadboy – Easy 9. Matt Jam Lamont – Feel My Love 10. Bakongo – Baga 11. Adonis – No Way Back 12. Buraka Som Sistema – Restless (Julio Bashmore remix) 13. Ultrasound – The Hard Way 14. Zinc feat. Ms Dynamite – Wile Out 15. Mosca – Square One 16. Ke$ha – Tik Tok (Untold remix dub) 17. Groove Chronicles – Blakjack 18. Dexplicit - Karma
The latest mix from Musique Large's La Mixette series come from the Nottingham based BiteSize Beats and, real talk, its got an monumentally stacked tracklist from a wish list of global 'beats' producers.
Following their mix on Mary Anne Hobbs' BBC Radio 1 show and ahead of releases on Black Acre, the Bulgarian duo 1000 Names have put together a mix for the Lowriders Collective. Cop it and the accompanying interview.
There’s scant information available about Binary Sequence online, which makes a pleasant change given that the typical pattern for the emergence of new music can involve a disproportionate amount of hype. Anyway, there’s something about his debut release for the Dark Arx label that justifies the anonymity – the '66/31' EP is appropriately stark and alien, trading obvious human emotion for a cool mechanical sheen.
On the title track his closest contemporaries are probably mid-period Autechre, somewhere between the sci-fi dystopia of 'Tri Repetae' and 'Confield'’s stammered half-rhythms. Yet that duo’s terse atmosphere is successfully refracted through the last few years’ worth of post-garage music. The result rattles with static interference and the digital equivalent of vinyl crackle, offset by chill stabs of sub-bass entirely removed from either the soft dub edge of Digital Mystikz or the heady heat of Burial. After such a reserved opener, ‘Below The Ice’ is unexpectedly gorgeous, restoring an analogue warmth that leaves a long burst of noise trailing behind each percussive hit. It’s the guitar work that really resonates though; like the more contemplative moments of Fennesz’s 'Black Sea' album it emerges from heavily effected fuzz as a delicate contrast to the background wash of computer chaos.
Closer ‘Arc’ is the most in thrall to London-borne dance sounds, driven by a stuttering beat that might once have been garage, but somewhere along the line was stripped of any organic quality. Like the rest of the EP this soul isn’t locked within rhythm but lost in the background drone of subtle ambience and slow-moving melody, suggesting there’s more wintry beauty to come from this intriguing producer.
Words: Rory Gibb Out: Now
For audio of the EP download the second installment in the recently upped Dark Arx podcast, mixed by Binary Sequence...
January's URB.com column just went live-o with discussion points ranging from Shortstuff & Hyetal to the new double pack Pangaea EP, Airhead & James Blake, Kuedo, Joy Orbison, Slugabed, Low Limit & Lando Kal, Martyn (and his forthcoming bunch of remixes) plus word on long players from Scuba and Starkey.
The eagle eyed SR followers amongst you may well have noted a few posts on Om Unit before, most recently through his involvement in the epic Boom Bap Continuum mix, or his past, present and future retrospective type mix for the Irish All City record label - a label with a superbly healthy beats legacy (releases from Hudson Mohawke, Fulgeance, Mike Slott and Dimlite) that he himself has just recently released on.
Having come to our consciousness through his emphatic 'Pop Lock' remix of Joker's 'Digidesign' (available to stream below), which has now been released on 12", he's got music forthcoming on both Plastician's Terror Rhythm imprint and on fabric's Elevator Music compilation.
He's kindly offered our readers the opportunity to grab a copy of his fresh 7" on All City, containing 2 slices of his hard hitting take on bass heavy hip hop music: the intricate bubble synth & 4x4 kick drum posturing of 'Lavender' b/w the slower more menacing taught atmospherics of 'Lightgrids' for absolutely nothing. Well unless you count emailing someone with an answer to a question as costly...?
To mark the passing of their 3rd release, which is apparently imminent according to their twitter, If Symptoms Persist have contributed a mix to FOO Magazine's series, segued together by label boss Wedge. Featuring a bunch of ISP material it includes tracks from the new 12" Wedge & Aesoteric's 'Night On The Wonk' and the Gemmy remix.
If there’s a problem inherent in any producer attempting to pull off a variety of different moods, it’s the danger of watering down through lack of focus. With the release of his latest two 12”s, Toronto native XI neatly manages to sidestep any such issues, marking himself out as impressively eclectic in style. Across two plates for Formant and Immerse, his music flits as though weightless between icy broken beat, two-step and austere techno, leaving a frosty tundra landscape punctuated by sudden shards of warmth and emotion. It’s appropriately chill for its Canadian origins.
Of the two 12”s, the Formant release is warmer in tone. The wispy drama and skittery percussion of ‘Glass’ recall the more abstract moments of 2562’s ‘Unbalance’ album, and ‘Light FM’ sends glacial chimes rippling through an ascend-descend bass melody that never really takes any drastically different trajectory - instead exploring every permutation before dissipating. Appropriate to the label’s output, which tends towards dark, percussive minimalism, his Immerse 12” further relegates melody to a supporting role, barely making an appearance at all in the sub, voice and drum battle of ‘000.’ 'Slippin' on the flip is another slice of particularly delectable ghostly garage, joining the ranks of an ever-swelling sub-genre that manages to encompass (amongst others) Burial, recent work by Instra:mental and Scuba, and Clubroot’s aquatic ambience. It’s also probably the best – and most dancefloor-ready - of the four tracks here, underpinned by razor-sharp, hard-panned hi-hats and a techy two-step flex.
Regardless of their relative energy levels, the common trait running through all four tracks is a deliciously palpable tension between XI’s complex, spiraling drum patterns and their backdrop of swelling, oceanic ambience – leaving his music suspended in some tranquil vacuum between waking and dream. The overall effect is oddly disconcerting, neither entirely dance-immediate nor calm enough for comfortable headphone listens, but all the better for it.
Another XLR8R podcast goes up, another post on SR goes up pointing out how they are probably the best US site pushing the variant chasms of UK dance music. It seems to been a chain reaction of late...
Wandering asides aside, this week's podcast comes from Greena (with another tailored Steve Braiden image) and taking in everything from unreleased Terror Danjah, Untold and Ikonika, to Omar S, Carl Craig and Villalobos the Applepips affiliated dude smacks it on the TL.
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.'
Tactile is relaunching, after a short hiatus at the end of 2009, at the Horse & Groom, Shoreditch, with Ikonika, Chris Box from Run Sounds and Paddy Freeform.
Friday, 22 January 2010 Time: 9pm - 4am Venue: The Horse & Groom, 28 Curtain Road, Shoreditch, London, EC2 Cost: Free before 11, £5 thereafter/£4 with flyer/£3 guestlist Facebook Event
And as if by divine intervention they Tactile residents have summoned a promotional mix:
Ultra Nate – Love Is the Only Drug Soul Tourist – Fo Eva (Gruber & Nürnberg rmx) (Drumpoet Commuity) Rene & Gaston – Pouah! (Ours Savant edit) (ARTLESS) Scotty D – The Sound (white) Perempay and Dee – Just Wanna Be Your Girl (white) Aaron Carl – Oasis (Nick Holder vocal dub) Chez Damier – Untitled B1 (KMS 049) Delano Smith – The Explanation (Third Ear) dOP – Blanche Neige (Circus Company)
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...
As Raekwon's 'Only Built For Cuban Linx II' album proceeds to get better and better - dominating almost every journey to work whether on cycle or tube - we're proud to link you to this brand new mixtape hosted by DJ Whoo Kid and DJ Scream. 'Coke Up In Da Dollar Bill' pulls together '09 freestyles and collaborations from Rae Rae the Chef, himself.
01. Happy New Year ft. Ol Dirty Bastard 02. Coke Up in Da Dollar Bill 03. I Wanna Rock 04. Blood Missles ft. AZ 05. History 06. Trenchman 07. The Set UP 08. Real Talk 09. Stick Up Muzik ft. Busta Rhymes & Uncle Murda 10. Yessir ft. Ghostface & Crooked I 11. Crime Wave 12. Heat Rocks
In a world where every record label has a voice thanks to the socially [inept] network the internet has provided, some imprints choose to use it a little better than others, offering an insight into fresh and creative music from aspiring producers.
Echodub do that anyway, packaging up free releases from producers you should definitely check, but head honcho DFRNT has taken it a little further with the podcast series...
"Since we spend so much time exploring new and intriguing music, it seemed like a logical progression to allow Echodub members to present their musical interest as a series of podcasts."
BTS Radio is back after a short hiatus and the duo of Andrew Meza and Charles Munka seem to be doing things right promising every Tuesday to deliver "a new guest mix from some of the most progressive artists around the globe."
Step up then Wolverhampton duo Letherette... with only a couple of remixes for Bibio and Machinedrum to their name thus far this is the perfect opportunity for the world of beats to get to know.
Letherette - Eye To Eye (CDR) Pete Rock - We Roll (Nature Sounds) Letherette - Master Chin (CDR) Letherette - In July (CDR) Madlib - The Mystery (Dilla's Still Here) (Stones Throw) Letherette - Check My Head (CDR) Kashif - I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On) (Arista) Pheonix - If I Ever Feel Better (Source Records) Cherelle w/ Alexander O'Neal - Saturday Love (Tabu) Letherette - Langsette (CDR) Letherette - In And Out (CDR) Machinedrum - Late Night Operation (Letherette Remix) (Normrex) Letherette - Good For Me (CDR) Lone - Fire Fly Rainbow (Dealmaker) Letherette - Feel Real (CDR) Letherette - Shoe Be Doo (CDR) Letherette - Blad (CDR) Letherette - Yea Yeah Love (CDR) Letherette - Giro Milo (CDR) Hudson Mohawke - Track #003 (CDR) Letherette - Donnie Ball Ball (CDR) Letherette - Optimise In Prime (CDR) Thomas Bangalter - Club Soda (Roule) Letherette - This Time (CDR) Bibio - Jealous Of Roses (Warp) Bibio - Lovers' Carvings (Letherette Remix) (Warp)
Ramadoozle just dropped a new mix in aid of the next Ruffage at Wire in Leeds next Friday which features selectors Ben UFO and Untold alongside a headline slot from Hatcha doing a 2004 set.
01. Timeblind - Space Cadet [Agriculture] 02. Rhythm & Sound - Why [Burial Mix] 03. Alix Alvarez - Boom Bip [Sole Channel] 04. DVA - Ganja [Forthcoming Hyperdub] 05. Untold & Roska - Long Range [Forthcoming Build] 06. A Made Up Sound - Sun Touch [Forthcoming A Made Up Sound] 07. Jam city - What I think about you [Unreleased] 08. Ikonika - dckhdbtch [Unreleased] 09. Ramadanman vs. Missy - Mir's a bitch [Unreleased] 10. Mos Wanted Mega - Diffrent Lekstrix [Unreleased] 11. Joy Orbison - So Derobe [Forthcoming Aus] 12. 2562 - Who are you fooling? [Tectonic] 13. Pangaea - 5-htp [Hessle Audio] 14. Ghost - Two Thousand [Ghost] 15. LV feat. Rubi Dan - Crossfire [Unreleased] 16. Bok Bok - Citizens Dub [Forthcoming Blunted Robots] 17. Ramadanman - Glut [Forthcoming Hemlock] 18. Pangaea - Neurons [Hessle Audio] 19. Icicle - Xylophobia [Unreleased] 20. Ramadanman - Bleeper [Unreleased] 21. Lil' Wayne - A millie (Harmonimix) [White] 22. Mala - Blue Notez [DMZ] 23. Ramadanman - Don't Change For Me [Unreleased]
As the Berlin based Club Transmediale festival is about to kick off its 11th edition - between the 28th Jan and the 7th Feb featuring work varying from experimental cello work to beat 'experiments' - they're offering up the relevant compilation, featuring tracks from people like Scuba, Mount Kimbie and Funckarma alongside work from Richie Hawtin, Joris Voorn and Glass Candy, as a free download for a limited time only.
"Much loved low end theorist Mala (Digital Mystikz/DMZ/DEEP MEDi Musik) makes the trek up from snowy South London to join GP in the Brownswood Basement for a chat about his musical roots, dubplate culture, the evolution of the dubstep movement, and of course to spin some of his favourite records – past, present and future."
1. Mala – Level 9 (Hyperdub) 2. Mala – Livin’ Different (Dubplate) 3. Mala – Education (Dubplate) 4. Burning Spear – Door Peeper (Supreme) 5. Little Roy – Hurt Not The Earth (Pressure Sounds) 6. Augustus Pablo – East Of The River Nile (Message) 7. Steve Reich – New York Counterpoint (Nonesuch) 8. Quest – Smooth Skin (Dubplate) 9. Jill Scott – Slowly Surely (Theo Parrish Remix) (Ugly Edits) 10. Mizz Beats – My World (DEEP MEDi Musik)
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