Scottish beat constructor Rustie uploaded his much sought after refix of Keisha Cole to his myspace for a FREE download earlier today. The producer may be in the lab working on his debut release for Warp but today he's also been announced for a live set on a super stacked line up in Room One at fabric in early January at a Numbers event that's running alongside the launch of the 'Elevator Music' compilation.
On the evidence of his latest plate for Paul Rose’s Hotflush imprint, and recent collaborative effort with Spherix, Sigha is fast becoming London’s answer to dub-techno pioneers Basic Channel. Like Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, he seems to revel in creating wide-open spaces within his tracks that allow each individual element to breathe independently of the whole. The result is to draw emphasis to every minute change in rhythm or melody, creating a sense of hypnotic ease that ensures each track feels far longer than its actual runtime, yet never overstays its welcome.
The title track of his ‘Rawww EP’ is a case in point: with its graceful pivots and static-drenched motion, it could have been a component of Maurizio’s M-Series, a single monochrome melody line remaining constant as the rest of the track disassembles and recreates itself over ten long minutes. It couldn’t be more ‘Berlin’ if it tried – but that fact has no bearing whatsoever on its ethereal beauty, capturing in its all-encompassing synth wash and metronomic pulse a slow and considered journey down the autobahn.
On the flipside, ‘Hold Your Heart Up To The Light’ betrays Sigha’s London roots more explicitly, driven by the slightest memory of a garage beat and echoes of syncopation buried deep in the mix. It’s essentially a mood piece – something he does well; none of the tracks on ‘Rawww’ are overtly aimed for the dancefloor, instead choosing to stand alone as microcosms of London bass music’s potential for unlocking odd feelings of nostalgia and melancholy. ‘Untitled 2’ moves further back towards techno territory, awash in delay and coated in a fine film of vinyl crackle that clings whispily to the beat before being swept away in sudden gale force currents.
Sigha’s work on ‘Rawww’ is certainly not the sort of material aimed squarely at bass connoisseurs – in fact, there is nary a rumble of percussive sub-bass throughout. Instead, its presence is used to mark out a region for the track to operate within. The results, whilst minimal and firmly head-oriented, are well worthy of investigation and careful absorption.
Sumising a decade in beatmaking through the majesty of a mix seems like an impossible task but its one that 2tall, DJ Clockwork and Kper have taken in hand deftly. Aiming to: "highlight the lineage of hip-hop production and beat making from the turn of the millennium to the present day, and perhaps shed some light on the fairly quiet revolution that has been taking place under the surface of mainstream media in recent years," they've split a decade up into year long sections and mixed together the bumper crop of beats from those time periods.
The resulting ubermix is now live and available for download at 320kbps.
Celebrating 5 years of Bristol's pioneering dubstep rave, Subloaded, Tectonic boss Pinch brings a fire line up to Corsica next Friday, [insert shit pun about Christmas coming early here].
It finally happened... He was one of the first people we had in our sights when we started this blog nearly a year ago but today, after repeated bouts of gchat stalking, countless compliments and hours of repeated listening, Slugabed dropped his exclusive mix for us...
Its hosted by the good people over at The Quietus and accompanies an interview I conducted with him earlier this week for our monthly column. I'll post the full transcript here soon but for the mean time bang on the link below to read the piece and kop the mix.
Rooted Records is undoubtedly Bristol's best record shop. One of the only vinyl specialists in the city its a must visit destination every time you go there, even if it is just to pop in with the sole purpose of bantering the staff.
That should really be common knowledge by now; the real news is they've upped the first in what promises to be a regular series of podcasts recently and we've been given the pleasure of giving you the scoop, and the link to download a mix of upfront dubplates.
Keysound have stepped up a gear this year dropping more 12”s than ever before and doing it in fine style to boot, with several unique takes on the bass sounds of the underground. Starkey and Durrty Goodz dropped a killer 12” of hyperactive street bass anthems, Zomby did his aquatic gloop & bass rendition of label bosses Dusk & Blackdown, Scratcha DVA showed off the dark side of grime and Grievous Angel re-fixed a jungle anthem into a rolling garage number all to great effect. But with Kowton they come with something all together different, something that manages to sit so well with the Keysound output whilst expanding its sonic pallet.
‘Stasis (g mix)’ gets things rolling and here Kowton takes garage and deep dubbed out minimal techno and fuses it to a Youngtsa-esque half stepping dubstep sound. Lowering the tempo and upping the groove he creates a really unique zoned out number, which just rolls out like a long lost garage joint that Basic Channel and Youngsta forgot to make back in 2001. The deepness is hypnotising.
Things get minimal with ‘Countryman,’ a four to the floor pump and a relentless bass pulse replaces the garage vibes with something altogether darker and more sinister. The track builds and rolls with dub samples and a subtle groove, feeling simple it ends up greater than the sum of its parts, the minimal half step house rhythms really feel like a fresh slant on the dubstep techno sound.
Following up the sublime plate from Hxdb, the Manchester based label, Mindset, return to the retail world with a split release from 16Bit and the slightly more techno minded duo of Andro & Dimit. Sticking to their curveball ways the label has managed to dig up a couple of gems for their 7th release.
Whilst the London based production duo, 16Bit, might sometimes be known for their super aggro, fist pumping, middle heavy basslines on tracks like ‘Chainsaw Calligraphy’ they’ve consistently proved, most recently with a big portion of their ‘Milky Pie’ mixtape, that they can, quite brilliantly, do deep. ‘Serum’ is an eerie opening of glitches and whirring, layered with found sound percussion (incorporating both metal chain shakers and overly reverbered woodblocks) over a tumulus bass line, that hands down, has more impact over its first few bars than 80% of other bass lines have in their entirety. Melodically it is a little thin, but 16Bit use the a similar approach to that that Instra:mental did on ‘Watching You,’ employing the occasional stripe of aural fluorescence to colour the bass perfectly.
AnD’s ‘Nebulos’ is a slightly more upfront riddim, with its rapid succession of plump kick drums providing the mandatory low end pressure. Much like ‘Serum’ the track is coloured by rough percussion which tends to exude the same kind of ‘deep-like-pit’ aura; but whats particularly impressive is the duo’s use of hi hats to drive the drum pattern, panning and twisting the sounds around the mix so that they bounce off each other purposefully.
Anyone else suffering from Paul White withdrawl since the release of his 'Strange Dreams Of...' album? Well, those knowledgable few at One Handed Music just signed off your prescription, (note to self: that was a truly horrific pun - can you even call that a pun? - must reserve chat like that for inter department meetings), a free download of the A side of his new beat tape type mini album 'Sounds From The Skylight.'
Go to link below and kop the A-side for free, with the option to hand over £6 for a vinyl version. Well worth it, all the limited releases from One Handed have gone almost instantly; being forever condemned to a life of over inflated discogs bartering.
Taking an idea and running with it - much like his namesake’s hatred for Boggis, Bunce and Bean - Fantastic Mr Fox has this year found his music released on labels as diverse as Hemlock, 2nd Drop and Black Acre. Purveying a deeply off kilter love of snatched melodies and four to the floor kick drums his next EP ‘Sketches’ is definitely set to turn heads firmly in his direction, so aiming to stay ahead of the curve as ever, we asked him to take our text test and provide a mix for the ongoing series.
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
FMF: I’m 21, originally from Wolverhampton, now based in Manchester - I’ve been producing since 2002. Done lots of remix stuff and over the last year or so have started releasing my own music.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
I’m a student in my final year at Manchester University, trying to make myself do uni work instead of spending hours on end clicking and staring at a cubase grid.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
My older brother had always been in bands from when he was young so he’d picked up lots of production knowledge through that and started to teach me the basics on fruity loops when I was 14. I got addicted to it pretty quickly, for the first few years I made music I didn’t really have a clue how to make any particular genre, I just used to churn out loads of weird 1-2 minute loops and then stick out of time acapellas over the top.
What’s your production set up like?
Pretty basic- just cubase sx3 on a pc, when I’ve got the money I think I might invest in a synth.
How would you describe your sound to someone zoning in for the first time?
Urmm, melodic, beat driven, textured maybe..?
Whats with the FMF moniker? Big fan of Roald Dahl...?
The FMF moniker is a pretty rubbish story, I needed a name for my myspace page and didn’t want to use my real name (Stephen Gomberg) because it’d sound like I was a German hard-house producer. I searched my house for ideas and found a stack of tapes I used to listen to when I was younger and one of them was the Fantastic Mr Fox story tape, so I decided to use that.
Tell us about your production partner in crime Rich Reason how did you hook up and how do you all work in the studio?
Rich runs a night in Manchester called Hit n Run that I go to quite a lot and I’d been producing a couple of songs for Riz MC, who he’d started the club night with, so we started talking because of that link. I gave him some of my music and he asked to have a go at making some beats together. For our collaborations, I’d make the beat and the main melody, background noises etc, then Rich would come round and help add ideas and structure to the tunes.
You’ve already dropped one Black Acre 12” but I see your debut solo EP ‘Sketches’, what can we expect from that?
I think of all the releases so far, it’s the one I’m most happy with, especially a track on there called 'If I.' It’s coming out as a double 10” release with some absolutely amazing artwork by the Beat Street Collective, who I met out in Berlin when me & Rich played at their night ‘Sirius.’ The EP features three tracks of mine and a remix of ‘Sketches’ by Sbtrkt. It will be out early 2010.
I think you first came to our attention with the Hemlock remix 10” of Untold’s ‘Yukon’ and the 12” after that how did those tracks come about and do you have more plans in the works for the label?
I’d heard Untold’s music on his myspace a year or so ago, so I messaged him to ask if I could remix something and he sent me some parts for ‘Yukon.’ I sent back my remix the next day and luckily he really liked it, so it got released on Hemlock a few months later. With the Rich Reason joint release, those two tunes were the first couple of attempts I’d made at making beats around 140bpm instead of my usual hip-hop comfort zone of 85-100 bpm. We were really unsure about what people would think of Plimsoul and Bleep Show, so I sent them onto Jack (Untold) mainly for constructive criticism but in the hope he might want to put them out. Him and Andy (who he co-runs Hemlock with) liked both tracks so it progressed from there. I think there might be a remix release of one of those songs at some point, not sure yet, but I can’t heap enough praise on that label- Untold & James Blake are two of the best producers around at the moment.
How would you describe your sound, I saw Black Acre describe you as ‘the universe's greatest purveyor of clockwork garage’ does that fit you nicely ? If so what comes next?
I’ve got no idea really, I suppose that my beats sound quite clockworky. Not sure what my future productions will sound like- I hated 4x4 drum patterns not that long ago, and now half the tunes I make have a 4x4 beat, so who knows what’s next
You do share an affinity to more hip hop productions... is that more of the background you come from?
Yeah definitely, I think the main thing for me is the drum sounds used by people like Madlib, J Dilla, and then the detail in production of artists like RJD2 (early stuff not his last couple of albums), El-P, Prefuse 73, Four tet etc.
Tell us about the mix you’ve turned in, what tracks are you really feeling at the moment?
I put it together on Ableton, which I’ve learnt the basics of recently. There’s a few of my songs then others from producers I’ve discovered over the last few months, look out for a ridiculous Destiny’s Child remix from James Blake. There’s so much good music around at the moment that its hard to make lists, but I’m really enjoying all the Mount Kimbie, Airhead – new age Burial type stuff, oh also ‘Joplin’ by Loops Haunt.
See you included Can Ox... Did you adore the golden age of Def Jux as much as I? What do you think made them so successful at that time?
Yeah, I love all that stuff, ‘The Cold Vein’ is one of my favourite albums. I guess the success came firstly from the fact they were releasing amazing music, but I also think labels like Def Jux and Stones Throw have benefited massively from the rise of the internet and in particular myspace- as it meant they didn’t need to worry so much about getting on MTV or radio.
What do you reckon to the Vast Aire/El-P beef?
Didn’t know there was one, I’ll google it and get back to you...
What have you got in store for us in the near future with releases and what not?
I’ve just finished a remix for Desto, got quite a few new songs in progress but they all need a lot more development. There’s a tune me and Rich Reason made a while ago called ‘Larry David’ that will be coming out on Black Acre along with Sukh Knight remix of ‘Fall.’
Have you got any words of wisdom for our readers?
Buy Blue Daisy’s new EP, I think it’ll be out by the time this interview goes up.
If the main trait Joker, Gemmy and Guido still share is a fiendish devotion to the use of synth textures to stain dubstep’s monochrome template a deep, groovy purple, then the last year has gone some way towards emphasising their substantial differences in approach. Whilst Joker’s ever expanding catalogue betrays a strong affinity with the smooth funk of West Coast hip-hop and Guido’s forthcoming ‘Beautiful Complication’ 12” sees him move ever further towards mutant, future-shocked R’n’B, the most recent music from Gemmy is hugely indebted to the scorched melodies that used to blare out of your brother’s SNES.
Gemmy’s second release for Planet Mu this year includes three of the tracks that featured on his mix for Mary Anne Hobbs’ Bristol: Rise Up special at the tail end of last year. At that point his only release had been the precociously brilliant 'Bk 2 The Future' 12" on Punch Drunk, but during his ten-minute mix its comparatively spacious atmosphere was entirely lost to shockingly barbed circuit meltdowns. The new EP’s title track ‘Johnny 5’ remains a case in point, its innocuously calm intro section suddenly exploding to life in a flurry of jittery high-hats and a grin-inducingly addictive melody.
By way of contrast ‘Wata Down Sound’ marries one of the cheekiest sample steals I’ve heard in a while to a hulking slab of Bristolian dubstep, driven by characteristic descending melodies and a cocky swagger. Final track ‘Shanti Riddim’ rounded off the Hobbs mix in silky-smooth style and in its full form is the EP’s highlight, playing toytown psychedelia off against a liquid groove that’s strangely reminiscent of Vincent Vega’s stoned ride down Pulp Fiction’s sleaze-ridden strip.
But it’s second track ‘Dolla Digital’ that may give some indication of the future potential in Gemmy’s music, its robotic refrain of "we don’t give a fuck about you" subverting dystopian menace with a sublime sense of the ridiculous. Crucially, it operates as an incredibly well-realised whole, its cruelly abrasive bass textures offset by the quirky pop sensibility that rears its head again and again over the course of the EP’s length.
Spam Chop runs the blossoming Wigflex label, its spin off clothing line and the club night of the same name up in Nottingham. The man had me locked into a wierd kind of trance when I watched him spin at the Blunted Robots vs. Berkane Sol night at fabric a month or so back, so it really tickles me to find stumble across mix he's done for the 'Fresh Out Of Death' series and present it to you people.
Re Group - Antichance (Jesse Somfay's Adiabatic remix) Max Cooper - Automnemonic Taylor - Sundaed Microtrauma - Atkin Yotam Avni - Coke Bouquet Dom Haywood - Sunshine Kode9 - 2 Far Gone Wookie - ???? Deadset - Farmhouse Nathan Fake - Fentiger Bogger - Kompoter Matthew Johnson - Walking On The Hands That Follow Me Mount Kimbie - At Least
Anyone who went to the Nosaj Thing party at Plastic People a few weeks back will be able to tell you that this kid positively tears up the dance with his live show. Musically layered with a heavy boom bap support structure his music often enamors listeners instantly. Played loud though, its truly something else to behold.
Joy Orbison put together a mix for the Greenmoney show on Ministry of Sound Radio recently. Listen here:
Tracklist:
Shed - Warped Mind // Ostgut Ton Dj T - Dis // Get Physical Stush / Hard House Banton - We Nah Run (Sirens Riddim) // Unreleased Greena - Maracay // Forthcoming Applepips Ghosts On Tape - Predator Mode (Roska Remix) // Wireblock Joy Orbison - Brkln Clln // Forthcoming Doldrums Pearson Sound - Wad // Hessle Audio Shortstuff - A Rustling // Ramp Recordings Joy Orbison - The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow // Unreleased Mount Kimbie - Sketch On Glass // Hotflush Strickly Dubz - Realise // Urban Dubz Joy Orbison - Tentative Bidding // Unreleased Joy Orbison - Wet Look // Hotflush
Having banged on about the "this album will own you" factor for a hot minute now, its my pleasure to be able to provide you with this aural preview of Peverelist's new CD, 'Jarvick Mindstate.'
Tom Ford's command of space is definitely one of the most arresting things about this collection of songs.
Find it in stores on the 30th November, available on CD and triple vinyl.
Its official, after those few leaked hints, Martyn is handling the landmark 50th CD for fabric's Saturday night mix series and yes, the tracklist features a smattering of producers you might expect if you've seen the man DJ lately.
Its truly an impeccable mix, spun together by one of dubstep's stand out artists in 2009. His sense of timing and mood is superb and the selection features several of the remixes forthcoming on his own 3024 label.
“I did the whole mix CD live just because I thought that was more honest than doing an Ableton DJ mix," he muses. "It is how I would play live - not everything on the CD is perfect, but it’s not meant to be. That goes for my DJ sets and for my music as well; there’s always little bits and pieces that could have been much better or more streamlined or whatever, but that’s the beauty of music to me. I wanted it to be raw and honest. As for the selection, I just wanted to try and make it as varied as possible and get people from all different corners of the globe together on one CD. The idea of it was to bring together all these sounds and vibes, something I would never be able to do on a studio album, just because I’m not able to make all that sort of music. It's amazing music though, I love it, so I want to play it to people.”
Tracklist:
01 - Hudson Mohawke – Joy Fantastic Feat. Olivier Daysoul - Warp 02 - Alec Wizz ‘Drummin’’ (Louis Benedetti Drumminpella) - Defected 03 - Nubian Mindz – Bossa Boogie – Rush Hour 04 - Maddslinky – Lost On Tenori Street – Biasphere 05 - Altered Natives - Rass Out – One Minute Music 06 - Zomby - Little Miss Naughty – Zomby Productions 07 - Uncle Bakongo - Afar – Roska Kicks & Snares 08 - Zomby - Light Cycle - Zomby Productions 09 - Deepgroove & Jamie Anderson – The Clock (Ben Klock’s Timepiece) - Rekids 10 - DJBone - We Control The Beat – Subject Detroit 11 - Detachments - Circles (Martyn's Round & Round Mix) – This Is Not An Exit 12 - Joy Orbison - Brkln Clln - Doldrums 13 - Cooly G - Feeling You - Dub Organizer 14 - Martyn Feat dBridge - These Words (Roska's Speechless Mix) - 3024 15 - Kode9 – Oozi - Hyperdub 16 - Roska - Without It - Roska Kicks & Snares 17 - Martyn – Friedrichstrasse - 3024 18 - Levon Vincent - Air Raid - Ovum 19 - Martyn Feat Spaceape - Is This Insanity? (Ben Klock Mix) - 3024 20 - Martyn - Seventy Four (Redshape Mix) - 3024 21 - Actress - Slowjam – Werk Discs 22 - Zomby - Mercury's Rainbow - Thriller 23 - 2562 – Flashback - Tectonic 24 - Martyn – Vancouver - 3024 25 - Jan Driver - Rat Alert – Made To Play 26 - Dorian Concept - Trilingual Dance Sexperience – Affine
Lower End Spasm are laying host to a minimix of grime instrumentals done by Kode 9 a few years back, that is based around the loose theme of 'a momentary glitch in the supposedly predictable sonic geography of London dance music,' a micro genre dubbed sinogrime.
"I did this mix a few years ago that was just Jammer and Wiley and Target - of just half an hour of these Chinese-style plinky-plonk sounds…" explains Kode 9, "it was a bit sloppy, but it is fucking amazing music. Those guys were just on taking an aspect of hip-hop and blending it with really quite jarring, brash melodies."
Yep, the time is here... today's the day we can bring you that exclusive Slugabed track taken from the super limited 12", '251109' (which features a track from each of the 6 artist on the bill), being pressed for all of those lucky Londoners attending the Ramp Recordings jam at The Lightbox in Vauxhall next Wednesday with Tokimonsta, P.U.D.G.E, Shortstuff, SBTRKT vs Sampha and the White Sugh Knight.
'Thump Ass' is a straight shot of Sluggo; contorted computer squeals pitted against super tough drum pumps and erratic melody lines. An insight into the hype and the studio of the young Brighton based beatmaker.
Mosca's sometime DJ partner, Unknown Soulja, has put together a promo mix for his appearance at Um Bongo in Bethnal Green, on the 27th Novemeber (alongside the one Jackmaster and Cooly G). The tracklist is weighty weighty...
1. Jam City - In The Park 2. Al Ripken & Diamond K - Hands in the Air (Bok Bok remix) 3. Deadboy - Heartbreaker (Julio Bashmore remix) 4. Busy Signal - Picante (So Shifty remix) 5. Dubbel Dutch - Throwback 6. Martyn - Mega Drive Generation 7. Joy Orbison - BRKLN CLLN 8. Major Notes - \holy Ghost 9. Doc Daneeka - Drums in the Deep 10. Mosca - Gold Bricks I See You 11. Demdike Stare - Janissary 12. Movado - Fall Rain Fall (Survivor riddim) 13. Matt Shadetek ft Rustee Juxx - BK Assassin 14. Deadboy - Long Way 2 Go 15. Tego Calderon - Sudamelo Que Hace Calor 16. Busy Signal - Blaze Up Di Herbs 17. Red Rum ft Rick Ross - Thats on My Momma 18. Ikonika - Sahara Michaels 19. Major Lazer ft Vybz Kartel - Pon De Floor (R1 Ryders remix) 20. Untold - Dont Know Dont Care 21. LD - Shake it 22. Sbtrkt - Inamillion 23. Shortstuff - Progression 24. Wiley - Sidewinder (Vocal medley) 25. Busy Signal - Da Style Deh (Douster's Dagga Dagga Mix) 26. Busy Signal - Rass Out/Da Style Deh (Smutlee' blend) 27. Douster - Alleluja 28. Mosca - Square One (Roska remix) 29. A1 Bassline ft Saffie -Girl Thing (Christian Martin remix) 30. Hackman - Multicultural 31. T Williams - Flooring 32. Kazey & Bulldog - Gangster 33. XXXY - Sing With Us 34. Gremino - Screech 35. James Fox - Lighter Work refix 36. Vato Gonzalez - Badman Riddim 37. Mosca - Nike (DJ Edit) 38. Vybz Kartel - Genie Wine (Fitness riddim)
Session 006 marks a new look to SRR thanks to the man like Spam Chop, who took time out from running Wigflex (eyes peeled for 003 - its dapper don, believe me) to create a new logo for us and on this edition you can hear a mix of skweee, beats, dubstep and all that other stuff I play and talk about on the podcasts usually.
1. Robot Koch – Death Star Droid (forthcoming on Robots Don’t Sleep) 2. Beat Bully – Buck Fergen (Dodpop) 3. devonwho – Whispers (free download from http://devonwho.bandcamp.com/album/3p) 4. Hudson Mohawke – 3.30 (Warp) 5. DOOM ft. Kurious – ? (forthcoming on Gold Dust Media) 6. Pariah – Detroit Falls (R&S Records) 7. Rigas Den Andre – New Plastic Bastard (Flogsta Danshall) 8. Darkstar - Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer (Hyperdub) 9. Ikonika vs. Eero Johannes – We Could Be Ikons (Planet Mu) 10. Gemmy – Johnny 5 (forthcoming on Planet Mu) 11. Desto – Broken Memory (forthcoming Ramp Recordings)* 12. 2562 – Like A Dream (Tectonic) 13. HXDB – Showdown At The Cinema (Mindset) 14. Blackdown – Concrete Streets [Zomby Remix] (forthcoming on Keysound) 15. Blackdown ft. Durrty Goodz – Concrete Streets (forthcoming on Keysound) 16. Fantastic Mr Fox – Sketches (forthcoming on Black Acre) 17. Headhunter & Invisible - Love Dup (forthcoming on Soul Motive) 18. Untold – Palamino (Hemlock) 19. Joy Orbison – J.Doe (forthcoming on DLDRMS)
* This particular mp3 clips. We are aware of the issue.
Whilst our immediate relationship with the Caravan record label may have started through its close association with Pinch’s label management company Multiverse, the label's music could not be more different from Tectonic’s output. Caravan boss October kindly dealt us an amazing addition to our mix series a few months back to set the tailgated tone and since then, along with discussing the merits of Green Day’s early career, we’ve generally kept in radio contact.
The new, self titled, album from Emptyset - the duo of Paul Purgas and James ‘Ginz’ Ginsburg - has graciously found a home on October's label and thanks to our sideline in love of textures from people like Murcof, Fennesz and Phillip Jeck and our attendance of festivals like 2008’s Venn Festival, it’s also found a spiritual home with us, in our mutated ADHD riddle headspace.
‘Emptyset,’ as an album, is an exploration of low end frequency like no other. Its slow tribal thumps sit atop a brutal chorus of bass and droning atmospherics, perplexing the use of the techno prefix a tad by its eons of space and conceptual ideas. It’s a full on aural immersion - seemingly inspired as much by its Bristolian surroundings as by its musical contemporaries - that needs to be consumed whole to be understood.
We locked the duo down to Multiverse HQ, got them to spin us together a mix and give us the good word on their album project...
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Emptyset: The project began in 2005 after we both met through the Bristol music scene. We were from different backgrounds but realised there was a crossover in our way of thinking and a shared set of musical reference points that we wanted to explore. So from there we started experimenting with a sound that connected our interest in rhythm, bass and sonic detailing.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
When not working on music James Ginzburg manages the Multiverse network of labels, and Paul Purgas works as a curator of contemporary art as well as running the Body Hammer night in London.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
We'd had experience with producing and performing music prior to working on emptyset. This particular project presented us with an opportunity to define a sonic world and look at what was possible in terms of signal chains and experimental textures.
What’s your production set up like?
We wrote the entire album in the Multiverse Studio. The signal chain we used was based on using Logic 8 as a playback device for the noise and sine waves and sending it through a series of valve compressors and EQs, various transistor based gear and series of microphones set up in the control room and on amplifiers set up in other isolated rooms. We wanted to create situations where the music came alive from its own side by finding the points within signal chains where distortion begins to form before it overpowers. If you listened to our source material it would sound pathetic, everything interesting happens in the relationship between different elements in the chain.
Where/who do you take inspiration from while making music?
Inspiration is fundamental to the project, if we don't feel the sense of immediacy or an urge to create we know it isn't right for us to get into the studio, so we just go back to conversations and discussions and when an idea begins to form we eventually get back to work. That seems to be the only workflow that feels natural and productive.
How did you get into techno?
Techno music was something that we've always been interested as a medium, but in essence we have always treated it as simply one reference point amongst many. That seemed to be the best relationship that enabled us to work with more freedom and flexibility.
Where did the Emptyset moniker come from? The ‘structure without content’ concept is quite interesting...
As the music started to emerge we needed to find a title that would help tie together the source ideas we were working with. The name inevitably helped us think about music functioning as a formal container for a wider universe that we could step into and start to deconstruct. In essence we wanted to think about the relationship between absence and presence and what that would translate to sonically.
How does the partnership between you guys work?
Ginz acted as engineer, but the creative partnership worked more in terms of us creating situations where we could float around the studio environment without working, bringing in ideas and conversations about what was going on in our life (usually our collective propensity for attracting awkward and complicated situations with women) and waiting for moments when the time felt right to sit down. Most of the time this was late at night when we thought we had talked for too long and nothing was going to happen that day and thought we might as well have a little go before going off our own ways.
Your debut album, also called ‘Emptyset,’ is out now. In your own words what can people expect from it?
The album was an opportunity to take some time out from making twelve inch records and instead focus on a more substantial interlocking piece of music that felt like an in-depth exploration. The process we used was geared towards a bedrock set of rhythms that gave a foundation for sonic events and generative textures.
In the accompanying album information Bristol is cited as a major influence to your music. It’s written about in an incredibly passionate almost romantic way. How do you consider the turmoil of redevelopment and the city’s history has affected your music?
Bristol over the past ten years has been in a constant battle with counter-urbanisation. The collapse of the city centre and the migration of services to the outskirts created a vacuum. From here central dereliction, abandonment and decay became a stark reality, and Bristol became in essence a city without a heart, a more fragmented type of urbanism. These influences around us were definitely feeding back into the sound we were creating.
Bristol’s affiliation for dubstep is pretty well publicised but how does it fare for the more brazen techno?
Techno music definitely has a presence in the city, something collectives like under_score and cuisine have worked hard to ensure, though it is still more of an underground.
What other producers should we be looking out for pushing the forward thinking deep techno sounds?
Louis Digital the former Warp/Arcola producer will be starting up a new label called City of Quartz next year. His 'Unspecified Enemies' record with CiM was a big inspiration, so we are looking forward to that.
Tell us about the mix you’ve made for us. There is a diverse range of artists involved from classic house producers to ambient/deep experimentations through dubstep, techno and beyond... what makes you bring all these strands together?
There has been such a diverse range of music that has inspired and interested us that DJing offers a good medium for sewing all these connections together. Mixing is simply an opportunity to think about how sounds come together in a very immediate and raw way, and cross patching genres and influences is often where the most interesting results happen.
What else is coming up for the project?
At present we are taking some time off after completing the album. We are putting together some loose ideas for a new record which will involve spatial recordings so that is in the pipeline.
Fennesz - Happy Audio Emptyset - Over Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Pattern 1 Villalobos & Tanaka - Fumiyandric Peverelist - Erstwhile Rhythm Wax - 10001 A Made Up Sound - Bounce Shake - Frictionalized Taho - Energy Fields (Quince Remix) Carl Craig - It's a Wonderful Life Radioslave - Tantakatan Rhythm is Rhythm - Move It (Only Mix) Mark Broom - Bournewood (Soundhack Remix) Peverelist - Infinity is Now Fuzzy Logic - Bangers & Mash Vol.2 Robert Hood - Hoodmusic 2 Nitzer Ebb - Join in the Chant (Instrumental) Lil' Louis - New York Unspecified Enemies
Fresh from being supported by Gilles Peterson and landing a track on fabric's 'Elevator Music Vol. 1,' compilation, Hackman, has put together a mix for Blackdown's blog to accompany an interview.
We just got wind of something very special. Ramp Recordings are organising a super treat for all attendees of their soiree at The Lightbox in Vauxhall on the 25th. They're pressing up a free EP cleverly called '251109' which will include tracks from those performing on the night, namely P.U.D.G.E, Tokimonsta, Shortstuff, SBTRKT, Sampha and Slugabed.
Cue intriguing gumpf: "The vinyl features tracks from every act playing on the night, and will be signed and decorated by each of the artists. This 12” will only be available at the Lightbox, so get down early to secure your free copy!"
We're happy to be able to present to you an exclusive stream of the P.U.D.G.E contribution today - and, thanks to the White Sugh Knight, if you keep your browsers locked right here, we'll have the Slugabed track for you to hear next week.
I wanted to make some joke about that ODB lyric in his ill fated Mariah Carey collaboration where he went like "Me and Mariah, go back like babies with pacifiiiiiers/Old dirt dog no liiiiiiiar/Keep your fantasy hot like fiiiiire" when I downloaded this, but I've tried several times and failed on all of them.
But yeah, I've not heard of Ellie Goulding outside of some pictures my housemate might have showed me once (out to Skepple), but then I guess thats the main thinking behind how a remix works innit? Opening doors for scene purists to spill their guts about pop music on message boards across the internet.
Still, Pariah is the shit, literally, he's so money that he doesn't even know it. And this remix of a great example of why we'll be keeping a close eye on all things Arthur, that and his frankly astounding 'Detroit Falls' b/w 'Orpheus' release on R&S.
For your benefit I linked him AIM to chat about the remix:
Pariah: "I guess this remix was probably my first attempt at doing a more straight up 'dubstep' track. I had been listening to loads of Scuba before making it so I think that whole dub-techno vibe has leaked through onto this tune."
Sonic Router: Yeah... I guess you can hear it in the lead synth, all those imperfections and crackles...
"I was surprised by how this turned out... I was really struggling to do anything with the tune and I'd been trying loads of different tempos and that, but this is the one that seemed to suit it best and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out."
A new DOOM album is an event. His last, 'Born Like This,' is definitely up there in the SR albums of '09 (more on that shortly) and in between that and the release of the 'Gazillion Ear EP' - which features Thom Yorke, yep, the dude from Radiohead, on remix duty - we get a compilation of off cuts, remixes and the like called 'Unexpected Guests.'
Scottish uber crew, and thrower of Off Sonar '09's stand out party, Numbers, are launching their new and improved collective (the joined forces of the Stuff, Wireblock and Dress 2 Sweat labels) at Plastic People next Thursday.
Performing on the night will be:
Dorian Concept - live (Kindred Spirits / Affine) Redinho - live (Numbers) Deadboy - DJ (Numbers) Jackmaster b2b Ben UFO - DJ (Numbers / Hessle Audio)
If you've listened to Mary Anne Hobbs' Radio 1 show of late you'll have more likely than not heard the beats of Tokimonsta, her productions have littered the tracklists since the West Coast Rocks special back in January. An affiliate of the Brainfeeder camp, she's a big part of the LA beat scene and kindly offered to put together a mix for us in exchange for a few words ahead of her UK tour later this month...
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Tokimonsta: In short, I’m a female beat maker repping Brainfeeder and all my LA-liens.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
I have a strange obsession with cooking shows, documentaries, and cartoons. I wake up in the afternoon because I go to sleep at 6-7 in the morning... I have a tendency to work on music late at night, or would that be early in the morning...? Clothes, shoes, clever music gear and sick vinyl are my weaknesses.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
I was always a purveyor of music—you know, a bit of a music snob. One day a friend suggested I tried making beats of my own, so I did. BAM! That’s how I ended up where I am today. Now I get to create music I enjoy that other people can enjoy with me.
What’s your production set up like?
Messy! I have my monitors, mixer, 1200s, handytrax, sp 404, computer, various midi controllers... etc etc. I can’t give all my secrets away :)
How would you describe your sound to someone zoning in for the first time?
It’s strongly hip hop influenced, spiked with electronic sounds and a lot of spacey Asiatic/Latin jungle vibes.
What’s your take on being part of the LA beat scene? I bet it gets the creative juices flowing with so many quality producers in the community, is there a sort of friendly rivalry between you all?
I love it! I don’t believe there is any rivalry because we’re all so different. Though we might have similar roots, we have branched out into our own unique sound. I always get to hear something fresh from my LA music fam.
Being picked up by Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label is very cool indeed, what do you have in store on that label for us all and what’s it like being the first lady of Brainfeeder? Do you get a crown or anything cool like that?
No crown for me... I’m fine just knowing I’m associated with great people. I will have something out on BF, but not quite yet. I want that project to be personal and something special, so I will be taking my time. In the meantime, I will have other releases that will be out sooner and the rest of the BF fam will be putting their albums out - it’s going to be sick!
How did your live show come about, what’s the set-up like and what do you like about the freedom of having controllers to tweak as apposed to turn tables and all that?
My set up varies, but most times it includes my laptop, a midi controller, audio interface, footswitch, and every now and then my SP404. I feel as though it’s not just the controllers that give me freedom, but the software as well. You can literally create new music on stage verses just mixing songs on a turntable.
What music are you feeling at the moment from inside and outside the scene?
I love the new Kings of Convenience album. I have a thing for very spacey, soulful, and romantically-twinged music.
What other releases have you got dropping soon; I spy a Ramp Recordings plate on your myspace?
Yes! I have an EP coming out on Ramp very very soon—maybe this month or the beginning of next month. Then I have a shared 10” on All City. There’s also the collab project with Suzi Analogue which will be on Jazzy Sport (JP) and I have another solo album in with Art Union (JP). Of course, I have my BF project as well, the date of that is TBA though.
You’ve got a UK & Europe tour coming soon, have you been to the UK before and what are you looking forward to the most? Apart from playing loads of awesome music of course…
Actually, I have never been to any part of Europe at all. I’m looking forward to the eats, people, architecture and culture. It’ll be great to see more of the world that has a richer history than the US, which is more an infant compared to other places.
Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve done for us, what tracks did you just have to play?
I threw in the type of joints I love... grimey, bangin’, dark, funky, dancey, soulful, nerdy, all of it! I just had to make sure I mixed them in a way that made sense. What’s the fun of only liking one type of music right? Plus, I actually want to see if people can manage to recognize the songs (so no playlist). Of course, I stuck my tunes in there as well.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us? Have you got any words of wisdom for our readers?
Don’t let society tell you what you should or shouldn’t be listening to. If you dig something, just stick with it. Another good tip bit, a good dose vitamin B helps prevent or alleviate a hangover from too much boozing... just thought a few people might appreciate that. ;)
::
UK residents can catch Toki at the Ramp Recordings showcase at the Lightbox in Vauxhall, LDN on the 25th November, Donky Pitch in Brighton on the 26th, New Bohemia in Leeds on the 27th and Hoya Hoya in Manchester on 28th.
FWD>> + Rinse are taking to North Greenwich for the second time, bringing the oodles of future bass masic they duly represent to matter, inside the 02 dome. If the vibrancy, atmosphere, classic performances and sheer number of ravers was anything to go by at the July event, this one should be marked a DO NOT MISS for all LDN based SR readers.
Performers on the night include: Skream & Benga (2 hour set), Heartless Crew, Wiley, Oneman, Headhunter, Ramadanman, Cooly G, Floating Points. The full line up can be found, along with links to buy tickets, at the matter site.
We've kindly been given a pair of tickets to give away. To be in with a shot email us your answer to the below question.
Q: Whats the name of the Wiley album that was released on Big Dada?
A: Treddin' On Thin Ice B: Playtime is Over 3: Race Against Time
The winner will be announced the week of the event. Please make sure you can attend before entering the competition.
You can read a Sonic Router penned feature on Komonazmuk, which accompanies a guest mix that the Bristol based producer has put together, which includes news on his forthcoming projects and the truth behind the moniker on the Kmag site right about now.
In association with Dirty Canvas, Blunted Robots celebrate their 2nd vinyl release, Martin Kemp's highly anticipated 'Aztec' b/w 'After The Night,' with a launch party at Gramaphone in East London.
Well... whatever... we'll remind you once again with this: Jus Wan's installment in the Hotflush podcast series. Look out for his 12" on Pushing Red, 'Dwell' b/w 'Azure' dropping shortly too.
Blackdown's blog turned 5 this week. For us this is a major milestone in dubstep journalism, his blog is pretty much one of the main inspirations for us to keep doing this. As a birthday gift he's upped a super rare mix from DJ Hatcha which he's timelined as being from around 2002(ish)...
There are so many things we could say about the style of the mix and the impact of the blog but Blackdown does it more eloquently then we ever could. Digest it all after the jump.
1: Hot City - If That's How I Feel 2: xxxy - Sing With Us 3: Doc Daneeka - Drums In The Deep 4: Hackman - Pistol. In Your Pocket 5: Julio Bashmore - The Moth 6: Untold - Bad Girls 7: Octa Push - Doctor Bayard 8: Shortstuff - Behave 9: Skinnz - Ukraine 10: Mosca - Gold Bricks, I See You 11: Martyn - Friedrichstrasse 12: Vista - Elixir 13: Caspa & Rusko - One Of The Same 14: Om Unit - Encoded 15: Starkey - Black Monolith 16: Shortstuff & Brackles - Melvin Blue (Digital Bonus Track)
The compilation will be released on January 18th 2010.
Pinch's vocal anthem 'Get Up' which features the vocal stylings of sometime Massive Attack vocalist, Yolanda, is finally getting a single release with a super deluxe remix package. The track, taken from his debut artist album 'Underwater Dancehall,' gets the refix treatment from Guido, Jack Sparrow, L.V. and Bristol luminary RSD alondsige an extended instrumental dub.
Look out for it in shops around about the 30th November.
Get the skinny on the new 2562 LP and Peverelist's forthcoming CD plus news on new Guido, Gemmy, Headhunter, Sigha, Joy Orbison and Untold by reading this month's Sonic Router Column on The Quietus.
Mono/Poly's music has made a huge impact on us over the past few months, merging the unquantizable patter of slumped hip hop with aggresive bass lines and an inpeccably natural swing. Keeping his online presence minimal, quietly running things from his California base, he's played at Low End Theory, is an associate of Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label, has featured on a split 7" with Illum Sphere on Fat City and also appeared on Mary Anne Hobb's 'Wild Angels' compilation.
With a European tour in the works (someone needs to bring him to London...) and his 'George Machine' 12" just out on the Tastefullicks label we pinned down his IP address and digitised him some questions.
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Mono/Poly: I'm a 22 year old electronic musician from a nice sized town in California called Bakersfield which is about an 1 hr and 30 minutes away from LA. I've been making music from my home since 2001 and started playing live since 2008.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
I'm just a big music fan but if its not music that I'm creating or listening to I'm home reading various things on metaphysics.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
I was influenced a lot by Timbaland and the Neptunes and it got me interested and curious about the process of making beats. It had to be the way they created drum samples and synth sounds that really infected me to produce... I love freedom and being able to create sounds however I want is what brings the creative spark.
What’s your production set up like?
Ableton Live, Access Virus, Roland Xv5050, MPC 2000XL for the most part.
How would you describe your sound to someone zoning in for the first time?
I don't know what to call it... I try not to worry to much about labeling it since things change. Its everything from Hip Hop, Drum & Bass, Fusion, Dubstep, Electro and more.
You’re based on the West Coast of the US. What is it about those sun drenched climes do you think, that’s spawned such a solidly unique underground beat making scene?
Well its probably because California is such a diverse place... You can find just about anything here so I'd say the reason why its such a unique underground beat scene is because there are so many unique people and places around.
Obviously a lot of the music stems from Daddy Kev’s club night, can you tell us about your first experience of Low End Theory? MAH describes it as ‘positively biblical,’ how would you describe it to someone that hasn’t been before?
My first time at Low End Theory was when I played at a Beat Invitational in 2008 and it blew my fucking mind! After the first experience I would drive 2 hours from my hometown to get to Low End every week... Its like the church of beats =).
Is there a friendly rivalry between a lot of the LA producers to try and out do each other in the studio and in the dance?
I can't speak for everyone else since I'm not sure on everyone's mindset but for myself I'd say yeah but in a different way... I'm constantly trying to out do myself. I think that's a good way to work.
What music are you feeling at the moment from inside and outside the scene?
A lot of Darkstep Drum and Bass, dubstep and some french electro mostly the Ed banger crew. Outside of the scene I listen to a lot of Jazz Fusion and Progressive rock.
Tell us about the mix you’ve made for us, what are the tracks and blends that you just had to include?
Its a mix of hard beats from Dubstep to forward thinking Hip-hop. This is a mix of stuff from several producers including myself.
You’ve got the European tour coming soon what are you looking forward to the most about that?
All of it! It's gonna be my first time out of the country so its gonna be a good experience for me.
What’s coming up for you in the near future?
I'll be releasing an EP on Brainfeeder and a full album on Tastefullicks Records in early 2010.
Are there any words of advice you can depart to our readers?
Listen to what you like... Don't believe the hype!
Both Appleblim’s Apple Pips label and London duo Instra:mental have pretty flawless track records, so it was always unlikely that a collision between the two would be anything less than worthwhile. The only real difficulty was going to be in following up their last release on Nonplus+, ‘Watching You’ b/w ‘Tramma’, arguably this year’s finest 12” (a statement that should not be taken lightly). With their origins in the group of producers currently managing to inject drum ‘n’ bass with a much-needed shot of originality, musicality and relevance, ‘Watching You’ was still a revelation. A deceptively simple structure belies its intelligence: skittery breaks skate across its surface, lending minute intricacies to a relatively straightforward rhythm, whilst dBridge’s angelic vocals play tag with a jagged, ascending synth melody that draws a line straight into the night sky. It evokes a sense of violent nostalgia, for midwinter train journeys, for nights spent dancing with the perfect group of people and for the shared camaraderie of the morning after’s crash.
If ‘Watching You’ reshaped d’n’b as an emotional force to be reckoned with, ‘Tramma’ on the flip did the same for dubstep, a gradually evolving perpetual motion machine akin to the slow-mo transformations of Peverelist or Appleblim’s later work for Skull Disco. In keeping with the rest of the Apple Pips roster then this 12” picks up where ‘Tramma’ left off - at the burgeoning void defining the border between dubstep and house. The appropriately titled ‘Leave It All Behind’ retains barely a semblance of Instra:mental’s parent genres, instead melding their signature vocoders and dystopian atmosphere to a curling four-four pulse.
By way of contrast, ‘Forbidden’ places itself firmly in experimental dubstep/techno crossover territory, its ambient pads and imaginary garage beat bringing to mind Scuba’s ‘Negative’. Yet stripped of ‘Negative’’s distinctly human element, ‘Forbidden’ is mechanical and hypnotic, a lurching cycle of rhythmic elements that swarm at the borders of consciousness, leaving an eerie feeling of foreboding once it tails off.
