As the world drools at the prospect of a Roska (Roska-Roska-Roska...) full length album, the man like Monsta has been making animated birds sing on a short preview clip for 'Squark.'
And ahead of the release of what is essentially the first UK funky artist album of any merit to date on Rinse Recordings on the 27th March, Roska has given out a few track previews which you can stream at your leisure over at the excellent Pipedown blog.
1. D-Malice - Visions - Roska Special 2. Roska - In Your Handbag - Fingaprint Remix 3. Deadboy - If You Want Me 4. Roska - Feeline VIP 5. Zinc - Music Makers 6. Roska ft Nikki - Energy 7. Altered Natives - Rass Out 8. Sticky & Paleface - Open Your Eyes (Roska Loves Congos Mix) 9. Roska - Time Stamp 10. DVA - Nasty Nasty Nasty (Roska Remix) 11. L-Vis 1990 - Zahonda 12. Untold - Just For You (Roska Remix)
With all this writing, linking and posting about regular mix series I'm starting to feel like a parrot - minus the dressing in bright colours shit, I'm a closet goth and proud of it, whut? - I'm constantly repeating myself for the sake of a cheap laugh... but shit... people like Ballers/Lucky Me, XLR8R and FACT are always coming with a gully selection that it's becoming real hard not to impart some of my obvious passion for their audio/internet skills onto you.
With that said, this next Ballers Mix comes from Samoyed, a man who runs Flask Records and shares his production moniker with a suitably fluffy breed of Siberian dog. The tracklist is packed full of dope people and includes exclusive business from Lukid and Rekordah with a specialist wandering eye over some pearls from the forthcoming Flask catalogue.
Mweslee - Variations Pour CX Pallas (nod navigators) Rekordah - Green Check (unreleased) Caural feat. Diverse - Blacktops & Plains (Choclate Ind) DAK - Wego (Leaving) Architeq - Mind Games (Samoyed remix) (Tirk) Radiq - Rude Boy Anthem (Logistic) Samoyed - fir (demo) Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood Ferguson - All For Love (Extended) (Alpha Pup) Samoyed - Slump (unreleased) The Poacher and The Ghillie - Herself (forthcoming on Flask) Comfort Fit - Superposition (Remix) (Tokyo Dawn) Stoopz and Breeze - Mercury Morris (Butter Made) Fingers inc. - Mystery of Love (instrumental) (DJ int) Telepathe - In Your Line (Rupture & Shadetek remix) (Dutty Artz) Lukid - Eye Begins to See (unreleased) Kentphonic - Hiya Kaya (Stalwart) Kenny Dope - Sown Bwoy (Dope Wax) Manitoba - Dundas, Ontario (Remix) (Leaf) Groove Chronicles - Stone Cold (DPR) 8Bitch - In the Moog for Love (unreleased) Mast - Bullocks Running (forthcoming on Flask)
Untold’s 'Gonna Work Out Fine EP' was a floor stopper, the instigator of countless “what the fuck is this?” moments in the middle of a night. But if ‘Stop What You’re Doing’ is still enough to halt a dancefloor in its tracks entirely, it’s a soft and welcoming hug compared with some of the tracks he’s been piecing together since. ‘Bad Girls,’ his contribution to Fabric’s Elevator Music compilation, jerked back and forth like an unruly child having a full-on temper tantrum, and his remix of Baobinga’s ‘Ride It’ hits the neural circuits so hard it’s nigh on impossible to tell whether that’s pleasure or pain hitting your gut. An exercise in barely restrained dementia, the track’s central drum motif circles in an ever-tightening loop around trademark Untold bass stabs and twisting, pained sampleplay. It’s intense to the point of inducing nausea, and I’m still trying to work out whether that’s entirely a good thing.
Next to such a wonderfully sadistic piece of work, Baobinga’s original never quite stood a chance. Which is a shame in a way, as it’s an addictive – if slightly straightforward – march through what-u-call-it territory, riding off a cheeky cowbell riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on a DFA record circa 2002. Its precise house groove can’t help but lack some of the rhythmic fluidity of his earlier ‘Tongue Riddim’ release though, as limb-flailing acrobatics are substituted for head-nods to a tight four-to-the-floor pulse.
Sometimes you miss stuff... you get yourself so caught up in planning something, traveling somewhere or babysitting your sister's schizophrenic cat that those little bits pass you by. This is what apparently happened to me over the last week or two, so here you have it... a round up.
::
Given away after his EP, 'Long Live The Plan,' took longer than expected to appear in/on digital outlets (it's there now btw), MCR's Illum Sphere dropped 'Agent White' for free.
Starkbot Beats gave away a remix of The Constellations track 'Setback' last week too. A prelude to his awe inspiring album, 'Ear Drums & Black Holes,' which is dropping imminently on Planet Mu.
Bristol producers Wedge & Aesoteric gave up a free download of their 'Use Only As Directed' track ahead of the Apple Pips takeover at fabric this Friday night.
Your friendly neighbourhood pop duo, Darkstar, also leaked a track called 'Automating' which apparently didn't make the final cut for their forthcoming Hyperdub album. A nice little insight into their new material...
And to round it off, LV spun together an exclusive mix of mainly South African house music for Blackdown. As always there's an accompanying interview that makes anyone else's knowledge about music sound slim to weak in comparison. READ/DOWNLOAD:LV - OKZHARP Mix
Tracklist:
Okmalumkoolkat - OK Zharp intro ? - Ketokole Big Nuz - Le Ngoma DJ Killer & Nyekx aka Blackboyz - Killer in the Jungle French Fries feat Bambounou - Coconut LV - Dream Cargo slomo rub Tshwara feat DJ Menace - ? ? - Bring Me Love DJ Clock - Track 13 ? - The Offering Dikota- Track 6 DJ Cndo - Terminator Big Nuz with Tira, Bonz Twitty - Superman ? - Nkosana ? - ? ? - Arise and Shine Scratcha DVA - Dump Spin - Track 3 ? - ? Zomby – Balloon People DJ Fork and Knife vs Cabbage - Track 4 Mujava feat Tamara and K - Alostro Brothers of Peace feat Zulu & Costa - Bop Killers ? - Wild Percussions LV & Fletcher - Michael Jones (LV dub)
Unless you count Joker, whose sound easily flits between the genre cracks, Hyperdub haven’t released any grime before, which is a pretty amazing feat considering Kode9 has always been a strong advocate of the sound. Maybe there just wasn’t much need for grime on Hyperdub over its 5 year tenure, the labels dark distopian sound in the early years may not have suited grime so afluently; but now the horizons have expanded and the raw synth led hyper-funk of more recent material opens the doors back up for producers like Terror Danjah and DOK.
‘Acid’ sees Danjah on an old skool rave tip merging his hard skipping dense funk with ’92 Hoover synths that aren’t far off being a homage to The Prodigy’s ‘Charlie,’ minus the cartoon cat samples, here replaced with some seriously big hooks and drum programming to die/dance for. ‘Pro Plus’ sees Terror Danjah hook up with the underrated DOK - a producer sometimes described as Danjah’s evil twin who stays in the shadows, lurking with intent - who also has a distinctive sound that’s maybe a little more percussive than Terror’s. Sub bass grooves and swirling synth melodies ensue getting things bumping with a a spacious drum groove.
After twitter ruminations and rogue facebook updates broke the news of an imminent 2010 Brainfeeder LDN showcase - the two previous events were held at a warehouse location in Shoreditch - we're happy to be able to confirm that, yes, the Flying Lotus helmed Brainfeeder family is traversing the oceans and once again coming to London this March.
With the presence of the Red Bull Music Academy weighing heavy on our nation's capital this month, FlyLo has teamed up with the RBMA crew to bring his label's party to fabric on the 10th March.
Featuring a factual whos who in instrumental hip hop, the line up is hands down, jawdropping. Dimlite - the originator - alongside the only man alive capable of playing a micro korg with a shoe and making it sound beautiful, Dorian Concept, alongside future dubstep masters Kode 9 and Martyn, plus the bountiful energetics of Gaslamp Killer, Daedelus and J Rocc. Topped and tailed by Warp's wonderboy Flying Lotus (whose 2nd LP for the label, 'Cosmogramma,' is due around Easter time) and former Sonic Router mix giver (thats the official title of all SR featured artists), Tokimonsta.
Infrasonics boss Spatial hooked up a mix for FACT - including a hell of a lot of exclusive material from his label including beats from Hot City, Ike Release (who released a split 12" on the label last year) and new signings xxxy, Gon, Jamie Grind and people like VVV and Atki2 - ahead of the Infrasonics Rave at a warehouse in Hackney this Saturday (info on that here).
Ahead of his first release for Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label, an 8 track mini album called 'Righteous Fists Of Harmony' which'll be out on the 22nd March, the Victorian dressing gentlefellow, Daedelus, has eeped out a promo video for the record...
Throwing an aural curveball into your iTunes subscription, Caravan Records boss man, October, has put together the latest in Hotflush's podcast series; but contrary to the run of upfront mixes from people like Sigha, Skipple and Hotflush honcho Scuba, October selects from the finest grunge and sleezey rock bands giving us an insight into his love for Killing Joke, The Butthole Surfers and The Jesus Lizard.
1. (Intro) Audionaut -'Sea & Sky Part 2 (Caravan) 2. Neu! - 'Hallogallo' (Gronland) 3. Wooden Shjips - 'Contact' (Disco Frisco) 4. Johnny Richmond & The Modern Lovers - 'She's Cracked' 5. Killing Joke - 'Change' (Virgin) 6. DAF - 'Der Musollini (Mute) 7. Adriana Sings 'Me and my rhythm box' (Liquid Sky OST) 8. Big Black - 'The Model' (Touch & Go) 9. Tri-Pod Jimmie - 'Autumn Leaves' (DCG) 10. Butthole Surfers - '22 Going On 23' (Touch & Go) 11. The Jesus Lizard - 'Happy Bunny Goes Fluff-Fluff Along' (Touch & Go) 12. Earth 2 - 'The Gold and the Feaceted' (Sub Pop) 13. Sonic Youth - 'The Burning Spear' (SST) 14. PIL - 'Theme' (Virgin) 15. Killdozer - 'Hush' (Touch & Go) 16. Sleep - 'Dragonaut' (Earache Records) 17. Melvins - 'It's Shoved' (Boner Records) 18. Scratch Acid - 'Greatest Gift' (Touch & Go) 19. The Heroine Sheiks - 'Grab The Wheel' (Rubric Records) 20. Babes In Toyland - 'Bluebell' (Reprise Records) 21. Cows - 'Heave Ho' (Amphetamine Reptile) 22. Rapeman - 'Trowser Minnow' (Touch & Go) 23. Meat Puppets - 'Up On The Sun' (SST Ryko Issue) 24. Foreign Bodies -'The Incredible Truth' (Amphetamine Reptile) 25. Nirvana - 'Beans' (Geffen) 26. (Outro) Audionaut - 'Sea & Sky' (Caravan)
Look out for October's latest single 'Flat Top Muscle' b/w 'Memory Man' dropping sometime in March on Caravan; its a glorious example of his micro-produced techno brilliance. 'Memory Man' is just retarded good...
"Are you ready!?!" That’s Rude Kid’s trademark sonic stamp - much like the 'Ross Car Ross Car Ross Car' sting that Roska uses or the manic cackle Terror Danjah repeatedly creeps out – and those three words have become synonymous of incoming quality when you hear it in the mix. The grime producer has been a staple of sets for so long now: shows or mixtapes hardly go by without you hearing that familiar phrase. It’s not his first time out on the No Hoods No Hats label either with the conveniently titled ‘Are You Ready EP’ preceding this one by a good few months.
The title track ‘Jack Daniels’ is a freak hybrid of hard pulsing techno, dubstep, funky and grime. The four to the floor kicks and beefy bass pulses wouldn’t be to out of place in an old Laurent Garnier set next to‘Crispy Bacon’ or ‘Acid Eiffel’ but they’re equally at home in the boxes of grime DJs too; it’s a track that bangs hard and will always add energy to any set. Rude Kid follows this with the instrumental to his shake up of Man Like Me’s ‘London Town,’ a bubbling garage number with a grime flex, piano licks, skippy drums, rudeboy bass that pretty much hits the spot.
The flip is the grimiest: ‘Emergency’ brings out the big guns with its dirty, grizzly bass tones, raw funk and cheeky rave stabs. ‘Best Crawler,’ a collaboration with recent Hyperdub signing Terror Danjah, is the highlight of a solid package though, it’s got the hard-funk and raw power of both producers, along with both of their sonic trademarks. Plus the flip between huge bass pulses, grimy violins, Gameboy-esq bleeps and propulsive, musical trance-like elements just kills it.
After a quick nudge in the right direction by the minds behind Brighton's skweee heavy night, Donky Pitch, we've come across a gem in Boss Kite and his free 4 tracker 'Clef Basset.' Drawing from the same circuit boards as his Scandinavian synthesizer bretheren he's got an impeccable talent for swampy bass frequencies and glittery flutters of uber melodics.
Since falling into Pariah’s music after a myspace six-degrees-of-separation type delve, we’ve kept up a constant barrage of instant messages. With his debut single on R&S due shortly and his remix work for people like Ellie Goulding (yeah... you probably would) and The XX getting him attention from promoters and listeners alike ,we thought it was prime time for Pariah time round here.
See him below in the answers and the mix…
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Pariah: Hey there. My name's Arthur and I'm 21. I was born and grew up in Scotland but I moved down to London about four years ago now and I've been producing music for just over a year now.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
Most days I'm at uni where I study English Literature. This year I've got a lot more work so I haven't had as much time as I would like to write music, but the course is interesting so I'm not complaining too much. I also write for a music blog called Inverted Audio but, again due to workload, I haven't written for a while.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
Well, I play guitar and piano so I've been in quite a few bands over the years and when I was about 16 I used to mess about on Logic with a friend because we had it on a computer at school. Nothing really came of it and I didn't learn shit about production. But ever since then I've always wanted to produce but I just never had the software. It wasn't until I got my Macbook Pro that I was finally able to make a start.
What’s your production set up like?
I run Logic 8 Express on a Macbook Pro and I use Genelec 8020a monitors. I also have a second hand Alesis Micron but I still haven't gotten round to getting all the cables to connect it to my soundcard and so I haven't really made good use of it yet which is probably very silly of me.
Where do you take inspiration from while making music? How did you get into dubstep?
I guess I got in to dubstep a lot later than most people. Towards the end of 2007. It was ‘Untrue’ by Burial that really made me take notice. Truthfully, I don't think there has ever been a record that has such an enormous emotional impact on me as that album has. So yeah, a lot of my inspiration comes from Burial.
I'm a massive fan of Brian Eno, Global Communication, Boards of Canada and ‘Selected Ambient Works’ era Aphex Twin. It was the first electronic music that I got into and, to this day, it remains my favourite. I go completely nuts for how texturally rich the music is.
My list of influences is stupidly long and it would be silly for me to try and name them all. Everyone from J.Dilla through to Arvo Part via bands like Cursed, Pavement, My Bloody Valentine and Sun 0))).
How would you describe your sound?
To be honest, I don't think I've been making music long enough or have enough tunes to really have a 'sound' yet. I'm still in the early stages of production knowledge so I'm still experimenting with techniques and ideas. I guess all of my tunes are pretty 'nice' and most use vocals in them but I don't know if that quiet merits having a 'sound' just yet. That being said, listenability is an important aspect that I take into account when I make tunes. I want my tunes to stand out on their own as tracks that you can listen to rather than simply incorporate into a mix.
There is a lot of soul in your music. What draws you to the soul/R&B/garage sounds?
For me, vocals are an essential part of the music I make. Pretty much all of my favourite dance tunes use vocals in them. It’s not a particularly profound thing to say but, for me, the use of vocals really adds to the emotional weight of a tune. It gives the tune a hook, something memorable, something human.
Can you also tell us a little about your relationship with garage, your tracks have that sort of bouncy vibe to them. Did you grow up with it around you on pirates and all that or is it just in your blood to make beats like that?
I would be the biggest liar in the world if I said that I grew up listening to dance music on the pirates. When garage was at its peak, I was quite young and I hadn't really found my musical feet yet. I really didn't appreciate it fully. I thought it was all a little bit too cheesy for me and it’s only as I've grown up that I've looked back and realised how amazing some of those tunes were. I'm completely obsessed by the rhythm of garage. It has such natural 'danceability' to it which is something that I think a lot of the more straight up dubstep lacks. Since getting into it, it’s been a real pleasure searching for tunes on ebay and discogs. It amazes me that so much of this stuff is worth next to nothing nowadays. It’s a shame really because it’s great music. Stuff like Dem 2 'Baby Your So Sexy' and Nu Klass A – ‘The Rhythm (Steve Gurley Remix)’ get me every single time I hear them. Beautiful stuff!
You’ve got some releases coming on R&S, tell us a little about those and what it’s like to be on a label with such a history in dance music that stretches back all the way to the early 90’s.
It’s such an honour to be putting out music on R&S. I mean, it was the label that pretty much got me into dance music. Listening to their back catalogue, some of those early 90's rave tunes still sound so fresh and innovative today. The first thing coming out is ‘Orpheus’/ ‘Detroit Falls’ on a 10" and that, hopefully, will be out in the next few months or so.
The next release is going to be a 6 track EP coming out on a 2x12". Two of the tracks that should find their way onto that release are in the mix I've done. If everything goes according to plan, it should come out pretty soon after ‘Detroit Falls’/’Orpheus.’ I'm really excited to be working with them and, this year, they are definitely one of the labels to look out for. Some of the releases that they have coming up are completely next level.
You did a fantastic remix for The xx how did that come about?
Thank you very much! I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I think that The XX are the most promising band around at the moment... Every single track by them is amazing and they do such great covers. That Kyla 'Do You Mind' cover was incredible. Very sexy. It’s so rare for bands who are massively hyped to live up to the hype but they truly deserve all the praise that they have received.
I was asked by Caius who runs Young Turks to do it and it was actually the easiest remix that I've done and that's probably because of the strength of the original song. I made the basis of it in about an hour and a half and then just spent time on and off for a couple of weeks tweaking it. The vocals were such a pleasure to work with and I really enjoyed doing it.
Who are you feeling musically inside and outside of the scene right now?
Inside of the scene, James Blake, Mount Kimbie and the Hessle/Hemlock lot are doing truly amazing things right now. Recently, I've heard so much good new music but there's one producer, Bad Autopsy, that has really made me sit up and listen. He's already being played out by Braiden and Oneman on Rinse and my mix opens with one of his tunes; definitely worth checking out.
I wiped the dust off the Bok Bok and Manara Niche Mix as well the other day. It had just been sitting on my hard-drive and I'd completely forgotten how amazing it is. I have a real soft spot for bassline/niche but I don't know much about it. Although, in general, it’s a bit ridiculous, I find that the some of the melodies and vocals used have a real sense of heartbreak around them. It’s hard to describe what I'm trying to get at but there is real emotion in some of those tunes.
Outside of the scene, I've been listening a lot to Heather Broderick who's the little sister of composer Peter Broderick. She released her debut album at the end of last year and it’s stunning; William Basinski, the new Four Tet record and Jay Electronica have all been on repeat too.
Tell us about the mix you’ve made for us, what tracks where screaming out for you to include?
I did this mix using Serato and vinyl. I tried to incorporate all the styles of music that I like to play out so there's a bit of house, techno, garage and 'what do you call it.' When it goes into the garage section it was completely spontaneous and unplanned so I'm glad that it turned out nicely. The tune that I had to include above everything else was ‘The Bells Sketch’ by James Blake [forthcoming on Hessle Audio]. I've been obsessed with it ever since I first heard it sometime last year. Also, the Hanuman tune.... deeeeeep as fuck!
What other releases have you got in the pipeline?
After my first two releases for R&S, I'm doing a single on Black Acre and then something on Young Turks. I should have another single out on R&S in between these two which will consist of a Detroit influenced house track that I've done with someone doing a remix on the flip. There are a couple of other things planned but nothing's set in stone so I don't want to jinx it.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers, any words of wisdom?
I wish that Stephen Fry was my uncle and that David Attenborough was my grandad haha.
The last time the Infrasonics camp put on a rave we piked an exclusive mix out of Ike Release but alas for their 2nd event outing we've got nothing; nothing but the word to spread on another low key, warehouse bash that this time features TVO going back to back with Goodhand and the awesome xxxy alongside Ike, Infrasonics honcho Spatial and the Wifey DJs.
Don't miss business.
Infrasonics Rave 002 - Sat 20 Feb, 10pm - late The Camp Basement 70-74 City Road, London EC1Y 74
Ahead of the 1st Its All About party at Gramaphone in a couple of weeks Deamonds has put together a promo mix repping the kind of steez you can expect on the night.
1. Shakedown - At Night - Martin Buttrich Dub Mix 2. Andrea Oliva - 9 Seconds With Jazz 3. Chris Lattner - Sick 4. Tini - That's Right 5. Thodoris Triantafillou & CJ Jeff - Got To Be 6. Deep Teknologi - In The Deep 7. Tim Green - Lone Time 8. Palmez - Black B - David Jones Remix 9. Marlon D - Trust The Drum 10. Kris Wadsworth - Direct 11. Dj T - Try To Understand 12. Chocolate Puma Beats - Soul Mokassa 13. L-Vis 1990 - United Groove - Kingdom Remix 14. Jam City - What I Think About You 15. Scratcha DVA - Natty 16. Johnny D - Point Of No Return
All personal bias aside - go read the liner notes - 'Elevator Music Vol. 1' is an impeccable collection of beats and fresh ideas from some extremely talented underground producers. Joining the likes of Mosca, Julio Bashmore, Hackman and Doc Daneeka with more established artists like the work of Martyn, Untold and Starkey pays dividends in the end listen and an extremely high percentage of these tracks are a sheer pleasure to mix.
Zackey Force Funk - The Split [2009] Luke Eargoggle - The Swedish Code [2003] The Other People Place - Let Me Be Me [2001] Drexciya - 700 Million Light Years From Earth [2002] Bangkok Impact - Junge Dame mit Freundliche Telefonstimme [Legowelt rmx] [2003] Drexciya - Journey Home [1995] Little Jinder - Youth Blood [Bok Bok remix] [2009] Egyptian Lover - Freak A Holic [1986] Underground Resistance - Electronic Warfare [1995] Legowelt - Disco Bitch [1999] Ikonika - Space Ugly [2010] Anthony Rother - Luzifer [2006] Bass Junkie VS The Dexorcist - Robot Movement [2006] Nukubus - Second Moon [2003] Rebound X - Rhythm & Gash [2006] Underground Resistance - Final Frontier [1991]
Rather than a mix of Gaga into that N Dubz track that features the albino Mr Hudson which, its fair to say, probably would be immense, Dirty Canvas honcho, Reecha - fresh from the Sonic Router is 1 RAVE - drops a mix for POP mag.
The newest podcast from NYC's Dub War club night comes from resident DJ, Incyde, and continuing the club night's run of unfathomably deep mixes he includes a bunch of fresher the fresh dubs from a smattering of awesome producers.
Oh... and if someone out there wants to fly me out to NY, the next night is the day after my birthday...
After a little name change, from simply TRG to Cosmin TRG, the Romanian producer is releasing his latest and greatest double pack EP 'Now You Know' on Tempa (pre-orders are up now on Boomkat) and to stamp the occasion he's outing a recent Rinse Podcast for your ear holes.
A busy 2010 seems to be getting busier from Manchester's Illum Sphere: a 2nd 12" hungover from December (a 3rd is due in the next couple of months btw), a mix and profile on FACT, this SHOOK magazine podcast and a forthcoming term at Red Bull Music Academy.
If you hadn't heard of him, chances are you have now (and not just because you just read this post).
Ahead of his Apple Pips label's Room Three takeover at fabric on the 19th Feb, Appleblim has put together a promo mix and gets interviewed over on the fabric blog.
Black Acre seem to be bulking up a touch of late, OD-ing on musical Maximuscle with releases from Blue Daisy (who linked an exclusive mix for us last month here), 1000Names, Loops Haunt, Pariah and Fantastic Mr Fox. In celebration of this sudden weight gain, label boss Ian dropped a mix and interview on Kmag.
Along with a swish new website We Fear Silence present the latest Subloaded night at Corsica Studios this Saturday. Featuring guests like Hyperdub boss, Kode 9, the elusive purveyour of Skull Disco, Shackleton, amongst such esteemed company as Oris Jay under his Darqwan guise, Harry Craze and RSD. Plus Loefah and The Bug take Room 2 operations away from Gilles Peterson's 4 hr sets, seeking to provide a similarly deep ying to Tectonic boss (and Subloaded curator) Pinch's metaphorical yang.
Illum Sphere - Psycho (Fat City) Flying Lotus - Data Entry (CDR) Mike Slott - Six AM (LuckyMe) Eccy - Silver (CDR) Samiyam - It`s Not a Fluke (CDR) Flying Lotus - Vicodin (CDR) Ras_G - Raw Fruit (CDR) O.J. Simpson (Madlib/Guilty Simpson) - The Paper (Stones Throw) Samiyam - Zombie (CDR) TokiMonsta/Blue Daisy - USD (CDR) Quasimoto - Main Girl (Stones Throw) Sluggabed - Get The Fuck Up!!! (CDR) Otto Von Schirach - End Of The World 16 Bit - Chainsaw Calligraphy Foreign Beggers - 7 Figure Swagga (CDR) Excision & Datsik - Swagga Back (CDR)
Traversing genres, styles and tempos isn't really the newest thing for a DJ to do, but to completely enamour the listener, constantly keeping them guessing, even aching for the next blend at the same time as making them forget the origins of the mix is definitely an achievement. This is something Bristol duo The Kelly Twins have done impeccably well with their instalment in our ever growing mix series.
Fierce recommendation led us to book them for our 1st birthday party (conveniently placed on your calendar this Saturday night) so we persuaded them to answer a few of our queries and break convention in committing a mix to tape.
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Kelly Twins: We are Bristol based identical twins who play records together, we have the pleasure of getting to play the music we love in various different clubs for a variety of different nights. We have held down residencies for nights such as Byte and Best Before (RIP). We currently run our UFO parties on a monthly basis and have recently got involved with a night called Crazylegs, which we help to run alongside a crack team of like minded promoters.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
We are both students currently in our final year and work menial part time day jobs, when we can find time between work and uni we like to search youtube for obscure boogie records and 80s horror soundtracks.
How did you first get into DJing, what was it that infected you?
Our dad used to be involved with rave promotion back in the 90s so dance music was something that was always in the background growing up. We got our first set of decks when we were 14 and had our first residency when we were 16. Not long after, we went to Ibiza with some school mates, while we were there we went to Space to see Laurent Garnier do a 3hr set. He played everything from techno to jazz, by the end he was even dropping Squarepusher and Dillinja tunes. To play those sort of records at what was predominantly house club, was a brave move and we really respected that. That night completely changed our view of DJing and what a DJ can do, it inspired us to take more risks when we play and a more eclectic approach is something that we have adhered to ever since.
How would you describe what you play to someone checking you for the first time?
One half of us wants to play really camp electro funk, freestyle, acid house and italo disco records, while the other half wants to play grimey gutter beats such as hip hop, ghettotech and dubstep. So most of the time we play a combination of the both. If we genuinely like something then we will play it, irrespective of musical genre.
What/who is currently floating you boat musically?
We have been getting into a lot of really slow 4/4 type stuff at the moment, producers like Om Unit, Funkineven and Illum Sphere. Also Been listening to quite a lot of commercial RnB instrumentals, quite often the vocals in these tunes detract from how good the beats are. Producers such as The Dream and Pharrell are proper next level. As always we like to delve back in time and seek out forgotten gems, Kerrier District has had a massive revival at the Kelly Twins HQ as have Anthony Shake Shakir, Ron Hardy and anything on Dance Mania
You guys run the UFO nights in Bristol. Tell us a bit about the history of it, what goes down at one of your parties?
UFO was first started by our good friend Mitch down in Plymouth about 12 years ago, it was one of the very few nights in Plymouth brave enough to go against the usual hard house/ happy hardcore flavour and try to do something a little different. It ran sporadically for many years and become somewhat of an institution, a night where regardless of who the guest was you were guaranteed to hear good forward thinking music. After being involved with UFO for a while, we decided to give it a go in Bristol when we moved here about 5 years ago, and thats what we did. At first we popped up with the occasional one off party, putting on peeps like Rustie, Hudson Mohawke and Joker amongst others. But now we run UFO monthly at the Dojo Lounge and we will have been running it there for a year in Feb. So far we have had guests like Tim Wright, Actress, Andy Blake, Hot City, Funkineven and we have some exciting stuff in the pipeline. We are often asked what sort of night UFO is? Our answer to that is we are about good music, whether it be old school or next level, being played by a big guest or a local dj. As long as its good, thats all that matters to us.
What events have you got coming up?
We have the UFO 1st birthday on the 26th of Feb with AGT Rave Cru then we have Om Unit, T.V.O plus others lined up for the next couple of months as well as a few collabs with other nights. We have a Crazylegs party coming up on the 12th Feb with Ikonika, Pangaea, Mosca and Martin Kemp, which we are very excited about. it's going to be ridiculous!
Tell us a bit about the mix you put together for us…
Its quite difficult to condense what we do into a short space of time so we tend not to do mixes that often, with this mix in particular we were determined to take it across the board musically and switch up the tempo a bit. We didnt like the idea of it being too rehearsed or after edited, so we recorded it in one take on 2 turntables and 1 cdj and thats it. We wanted it to be a true representation of what we do and we feel as though we have achieved that. Tracks wise, the Dream – Rockin that shit had to be in there. Its such a positive tune and the perfect way to start a mix, its a statement of intent. Also the SBTRKT mix of Fantastic Mr Fox was a no brainer, any track that sounds like its raining multicoloured 8bit on you definitely gets the thumbs up from us. We have exclusives from Kaiser, who is doing big things this year and a name you will be hearing a lot more of . Plus LuckyMe cohort Dema sent us a remix especially for the mix.
You’re playing at our 1st birthday party on Saturday, what can ravers expect from your set?
The unexpected with a side order of lazer bass.
And lastly, have you got any wisdom for the internet users?
If a Nigerian prince emails you asking if he can store 100,000 in your account, then it is a scam.
Also we would like to dedicate this mix to the memory of our mum and dad, they were our biggest supporters and inspiration. Everything we do is in honour of them.
Catch the Kelly Twins alongside Brackles, Jack Sparrow, Shortstuff and Gemmy at Lakota in Bristol this saturday night:
Jimi Tenor - Paint The Stars (Hudson Mohawke version). The Dream - Rockin that shit (Instrumental) Tiago - Babel Fish Dizz1 - Frazzled Harmonic 313 - Call to Arms Illum Sphere - Incoming Mux Mool - Death 9000 (Machinedrum remix) Peter Digital Orchestra - Born In MattB - Cars go Boom (Lunice Remix) Hovatron - Lets get wet Robot Koch - Love and the Machine Rustie - Bad Science Eprom - 64 Bytes Royal T - Beat Fighter (Bok Bok Remix) Coon Daddy & DJ Godfather - See u no mo DJ Guy - The Runner Untitled - Dopeman (Dema RKGB Refixx) DJ Funk - Happy Feet Geiom & Shortstuff - No Hand Signals Joy Orbison - The shrew would have cushioned the blow Hyetal - Pixel Rainbow Sequence Kaiser - What would Martin do? Fantastic Mr Fox - Sketches (SBTRKT Remix) Apparat - Interupt
In case you’ve not been on the internet for the last month or so: The Red Bull Music Academy is coming to London this month - from 7th Feb - bringing with it an enviable slew of upcoming producers you’ve read about on here if you’re a regular reader, that are too many to individually name check.
Cue G=gumpf:
“The Red Bull Music Academy is a platform for those who shape our musical future, a music workshop that has been traveling the world since 1998. Setting up our EQ HQ for two fortnight-long 'terms' in a different musical metropolis each year, we pull together pioneers of days-gone-by and musical legends of tomorrow from all aspects of rhythm and sound.”
Along with lectures (you can see an exclusive excerpt of the Kode 9 interview from a few years back below), studio workshops and radio workshops for the lucky few selected, there are also numerous events coming to the metropolis of London.
Keep your eyes peeled for news on events and happenings.
Wigflex unveils step 2 in its bid for podcast domination. This installment comes from Taylor who's got some dopeness forthcoming on the Nottingham based label, including a track on the imminent split 12" with Blunted upstart Shortstuff.
Marking our 1st birthday and the turn of the calendar into 2010 in our usual, ever so slightly late fashion, we hooked up another SRR Session on Radio Magnetic.
