PRE-ORDER: Silkie - City Limits Vol 1.2 [Deep Medi]

Since Christmas last year one of Silkie’s unreleased productions has been running around my head. The video below captures when I first heard it; the Anti Social crimbo-spesh on Rinse FM where a track that was simply so full of vibes that it’s been playing on my mind ever since. It turns out that track was ‘80s Baby;’ a track you can hear on City Limits Vol 1.2 - the bridge gap between last years fantastic City Limits Vol.1 album and the follow up, unsurprisingly called Vol.2 - the first in a series of limited 12”s whose cuts you won’t find on the next album or the last.

‘80s Baby’ has a rolling street soul feel to it like a London variant on Detroit techno, all midnight tempoed machine funk that refuses to leave quietly. Sweeping pads, bumpy rhythms and funk stabs made from plastic sax and lounge piano fuse with 80s tinged funk synth keys that sound like they’ve been beamed in from a forgotten Cameo record. It all comes together with a hypnotic loved up vibe that’s just irresistible. The flip ‘Bass Junkie’ sounds like the tougher brother of ‘80s Baby’ it hits hard instead of rolling; its rattling breaks shimming over bass pulses and funked up synth lines that sound like aliens shooting the London breeze. Keeping that blissed out funk Silkie’s blessed with producing, ‘Bass Junkie’ manages to live up to its moniker, twisting itself into slab like gnarly shapes that are pretty relentless.

Words: James Balf
Out: Now



Links:
www.deepmedi.com

PRE-ORDER: Mizz Beats – My World/The Jester [Deep Medi]

East London’s Mizz Beats first made her mark producing grime beats for names like Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and D Double E to name just a few, but she really came to prominence last year when heard co-producing the bubbling anthem ‘Purple Love’ with Silkie. As part of the formidable Anti Social Entertainment crew along with Silkie, Quest, J5, Kromestar, Harry Craze and Heny G, she’s flexing her soulful dubstep muscles and there really is no better place to do that than on Mala’s Deep Medi imprint…

On the A-side comes the swirling funk of ‘My World’ with its skipping tight drum patterns and a digital groove carved from midi trumpets and buzzy bass tones. There is a meditative, laid back quality at work here; you can really feel the soul oozing out. The flip ‘The Jester’ takes us down the 8-bit route, with SNES-like sound effects fed through a haze of high-grade mist into a psychedelic soup of digi-funk.

No one does it quite like Deep Medi and the Anti Social collective; they melt together the roots of dubstep with all its space and bass with a trippy street-funk that echoes late night cityscapes and pirate radio like no other labels. Mizz Beats adds a bleepy dimension to the crew with this 12” and on the strength of these two cuts that’s a dimension that’s more than welcome.

Words: James Balf
Out: 25th Jan 2010

Link:
www.myspace.com/mizzbeats
www.myspace.com/deepmedi
www.deepmedi.com

EVENT: 5 years of Subloaded

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].

Facebook Event / Tickets

Link:
www.wefearsilence.com

EVENT: Deviation w/ Sa-Ra Creative Partners & Silkie

Benji B's monthly is back.

GET. THERE. EARLY.

Link:
http://deviationmusic.net/blog

EVENT: Silkie - Album Launch Party

DOWNLOAD: Heny G - Big Up Podcast

A new issue of Big Up Magazine means a new podcast...

This time its been handled by the Gangster of Boogie himself, Heny G, who weaves together an uber tight selection.

DOWNLOAD: Heny G - Big Up Podcast
(Direct download = Right Click/Save As)

Tracklist:

DJ Heny.G - Christopher - Dub
Conquest - The Unknown - Deep Medi Musik
DJ Heny.G - Retro Love - Gangsta Boogie Music
DJ Heny.G - Political - Deep Medi Musik
V.I.V.E.K - Groove On - Deep Medi Musik
Kromestar - Technique - Dub
Jay 5ive & Kromestar - Bass 96 - Bass 'N' Love Records
DJ Heny.G - Candy - Gangsta Boogie Music
Kromestar - Live N Experience - Dub
Silkie - 80's Baby - Dub
Breakage - Higher - Digital Soundboy
Silkie - Wierd Piano - Dub
Jack Sparrow - Thinking About - Dub
L.D - Oh Yeah - Dub
Conquest - Last Days - Deep Medi Musik
DJ Heny.G - Delayed Style - Gangsta Boogie Music
Blasta - Black Muscatel - Argon
DJ Heny.G - Arena 1 - Gangsta Boogie Music
Jay 5ive & Kromestar - Hands In The Air - Bass 'N' Love Records
G.Double - The Highest - Break The Habit

Link:
www.myspace.com/djhenyg
www.thebigupmagazine.com

DOWNLOAD: V.I.V.E.K. - Electro East Mix

I love shit like this. I knew nothing about this dude but now i'm hooked. Fusing subtle percussion with the kind of muffled kicks that soak my jean-shorts through, V.I.V.E.K. has officially made his entrance into my consciousness.

Judging by the title it looks like a mix put together for Nerm's BBC Asian Network show, Electro East, so its entirely his own productions. Mans is affiliated with Heny G and Silkie's Anti Social Entertainment clique and he's reportedly got a 12" forthcoming on Mala's Deep Medi Musik too.

Look out.

DOWNLOAD: V.I.V.E.K. - Electro East Mix

Tracklist:

Change
Strategy
Groove On
Engage
Shift
Untitled
Meditation Rock
Feel It

Link:
www.myspace.com/vivek321

EVENT: Dirty Canvas Room 3 Takeover @ fabric

From humble beginnings in the Whitechapel Art Gallery, the Dirty Canvas club night has succinctly and surgically carved its own niche into London’s nightlife. As the first club night to regularly feature grime music alongside dubstep, garage, bassline and hip hop, they stood as highly vocal pioneers throughout their shows at the heralded regal hollows of the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Since those days they’ve taken their hyper-wiggle formula to the dancefloors of London’s Cargo, Rhythm Factory and 93 Feet East before taking themselves further afield, cross promoting parties in Brighton and Bristol, with Plat Du Jour in Barcelona and taking over The Villa in Berlin back in April of this year.

Friday 10th July sees Dirty Canvas welcomed with open arms into the freshly tweaked soundsystem space of FABRICLIVE’s Room Three. Bringing the proprietor of one of 2009’s most anticipated ‘musical’ dubstep album’s, Silkie, residents Reecha and DJ Magic have irked out one of the most varied bass music lineups you’ll see all month. Alongside Silkie, the Applepips affiliated Brackles will be bringing his sleek, tech infused, super quick mixing to the platters, alongside the dancehall tempered bass pressure of Mumdance and the eclectic selection prowess of Rinse FM’s own Alexander Nut. With MC Badness hosting, the vibe is sure to be on par.

Expect the unexpected.

Link:
www.myspace.com/dirtycanvas

PRE-ORDER: Joker – Do It/Psychedelic Runway [Kapsize]

Kapsize is the label, Joker is the producer. His style is imitable, instantly recognisable and intrinsically his. The self proclaimed ‘Purple Prince’ has been much hyped of late, remixing Little Boots, Djing all over the world and releasing beats on Hyperdub, with another forthcoming on Tectonic. This plate is the third release on Kapsize so far - following on from the collaboration with Glasgow’s hip-hop badman, Rustie on KAP002 – and it features the heavily BBC Radio 1 supported ‘Do It.’

Still managing to sound as catchy and as fresh as the day you first heard it, ‘Do It’ makes for a wicked peak time floor shaker harnessing the southern boom bap kicks and snare snap-click that drive the dirty chugging, snaggle-toothed grime synths in making a dark backdrop to the ascending string samples and filtered Dr. Dre-esque talk box lead lines and the oft repeated “do it” vocal sample.

If Silkie played more Sonic The Hedgehog and less jazz at home he may well have channelled his soulful funk vibes through some whining 8-bit synths like Joker has on ‘Psychedelic Runway.’ Using jagged bass synthesizers Joker propels his straight dubstep drum pattern swabbing the edges with punishing pads and leads that take the track into a more melodic grime territory, swapping the aggression of the genre for a guide book on key Moog manipulations.

This platter shows that both Kapsize and Joker are growing. With these tune he shows that he can turn himself to the deep side as well as the darkside fusing the upfront melodies of grime with some spatial meditation.

Links:

www.myspace.com/thejokerproductions
www.myspace.com/kapsize1