Rustie – Zig Zag (Wireblock) 12”

This is a super limited slab of one-sided laser etched future funk bass hype music. There are only 1000 12”s of this around at the moment so if you want it you will have to grab it quick or forever be looking for it on ebay for ridicules prices. This track is like a sugar rush and maybe one of Rustie’s best so far, which is saying something with his track record. Zig Zag is all over the place its so wonky it hurts, you feel like you are being taken in so many different directions as you can hear different tempos and pitch shifts at once. This is wonky wild pitch if ever I heard it. The sounds he uses are like some kind of freaked out mix of hip-hop and trance with a blast of electro for good measure. It’s like he gave Blaze a sugar injection and set him loose in the studio with sonic the hedgehog some extra hairdo to top up with e numbers and made him get his wobble on. Right now Rustie is making some exciting music as are people like: Joker (who has an up and coming 12” on Kapsize with Rustie), Starkey, Zomby… They all get their urban bass music going in some strange off-kilter future style.

Buy it here: Wireblock

Rustie Myspace

Wireblock Myspace

MRK 1 – Get Out Clause / Infected 12” (Earwax) [EAR007]

This 12” is dropping on Earwax on the 8th September 2008 and sees the return of Manchester’s MRK 1 AKA Mark One of Virus Syndicate.

Get Out Clause is a dirty and raw skanker that will shake up the dance. The grizzly bass osculation will rip through you as the beat skips and pounds around like a beast on the rampage. The whooshing build up sound reminds me of a house track by Hatiras called Space Invader. There is a cheeky little vocal sample that I can’t quite place but it sounds a little like Jay Z. Get Out Clause is an energetic electronic pure dance floor track.

Infected is on the flip and is a slightly subtler affair with some live cymbal samples that add some warmth to the production. The half step groove and deep synths add a dirty grime edge to the track. Every now and again the half-step drums are interrupted by a wicked skipping robo rhythm that induces a little more energy. I am really feeling the dirty grime energy in bass music right now and MRK 1 certainly has that in bucket loads. I much prefer this side of the 12” to the first this seems to be the case with me I always go for the more subtle grooves rather than the full on dance floor bombs.

MRK 1 and Earwax have made a brilliant 12” here that well satisfy many heads…

I mean just check out ho has been letting this rip on the scene: Pinch, Joker, Plastician, RSD.

MRK 1 / Mark One Space

Virus Syndicate Space

Earwax Recordings

The Good, The Bad & The Weird

The Internet is a strange place at times, but then we all knew that didn’t we? Yes, yes we did…

So lets start with the weird: One day I was looking for some thread I had posted on about something or other and I stumbled upon my username for Drowned in Sound jimitheexploder on the Ministry of Sound website. So I went and clicked the link, which lead me to the news section, this was pretty strange I thought… The person at MoS had decided to trall music forums for opinions on the trance DJ Tiesto and come across a thread started on DiS called, ‘Who the Fuck is Tiesto?’ started by a guy inquiring who he was and why he was selling out the O2 arena yet he had no idea who he was. I commented on this thread with my opinion, ‘he sells out stadiums often all around the world he is massive. Plays a load of shit though’ and this quote gets into the news article… Surely it isn’t news that people don’t like trance? It must have been a slow news day for MoS maybe Oakenfold didn’t have a best of compilation or mix out that day or something I’m not very up on trancey goings on. I’m pretty sure the Internet will eat its self soon if opinion on music boards is used as news…

The Bad: As you may or may not know Bloc Party released an album last week entitled Intimacy, they decided to drop it out of the blue in digital format first then CD later in the year. All good so far for sure… So you know being a bored music fan I joined in some musical conversation on this new Bloc Party offering on an Internet forum. The opinions on the record varied from massive distain and abuse to pure joy and love, as they always do on busy music boards. This is normal business as far as I have seen, and I was making the odd joke and sensible comment about what I was hearing on the new record. But hell the Bloc Party fan boys weren’t liking any negative opinion what so ever, and even though I was saying good things as well about the band I enjoy, they got on their high horse and decided to keep name checking me, singling me out and be a little abusive. I have never had so much trouble from shearing my opinion on a band ever… These Bloc Party fans were truly annoying, pretentious and overall single minded fools that couldn’t see past their own un-dieing love for Bloc Party. Pretty strange stuff in my opinion, I had never seen it before but I was informed that similar things happened to people on message boards when Radiohead dropped In Rainbows the other year. I’m all for people being in love for music, but when they can’t see past their own little opinion and get abusive about it it’s pretty pathetic and makes me laugh…

The Good: finally some good stuff hey? Yep… Music boards are also full of excellent people who are passionate about music they love and are willing to discuss it with all sorts of people who both love and hate the music they are talking about. They turn each other onto new music all the time and generally keep the scene alive to an extent as well. They inspired me to start this here blog and write about music in all its glory, they also put me in touch with some good people who I chat to regularly. I have recently been writing for another site, which is why this has slowed down a little. Another good story about music boards is the one of my step bro and his wife, who met on an old skool dance music site after swapping mixtapes and eventually hooking up and getting married in Ibiza. Brilliant…

So that’s a little round up of my musical internet shenanigans just to keep you going while I concentrate on some writing.

Generation Bass on Marry Anne Hobbs Experimental Show on Radio One 20th August 2008

Live and rolling review...

M.A.H. kicks off the Experimental with that brilliant little intro and introduces all the heads and the host MC Sgt. Pokes.

Silkie & Quest are up first, they are Mala’s choice. They are the Deep Medi, Anti Social posse and they bring some serious heavy weight bass. The first tune is seriously spooky and the next is a funky freak of a tune that I have on pre-order: Silkie’s Dam 4. The tracks come think and fast as each artist only gets about 15 minuets, next up is some dub reggae influenced vibes with a killer soulful piano. This is some space age soul music right here, its like the most swingin’ techno infused future soul going and the bass is indeed next generation. I’m a little bit taken back by how good it is and we have only just started. I can’t wait to get a track list for this…

Kulture is up next and Skreams choice; this guy intrigues me as I have found little about him. He starts with some spooky sci-fi vibes, like something out of Bladerunner if it was set in London via Jamaca, there is also a huge bouncy bass drop, which is followed by some head nodding reggae business and growling bass. This set isn’t quite smashing it as much as Quest & Silkie, but you know each to their own. Ah it just picked up again, with some pure rolling garage bongos and warm little twinkles of dub synth. More deep stuff follows and I’m happy as hell, this little echo drenched techno soul vibe tune is THE SHIT. Some female vocals mix out of that into some sexy dance floor stuff and a rap track that is hyper as hell and mixed into some down tempo laid back stuff, which reminds me of my own heartbeat.

Joker takes his place on the ones and twos next with his MC Nomad, he is Kode 9’s choice and what a choice he is. This guy is exciting me right now, not only in the dubstep circles but also in music in general. He is making some futuristic sci-fi grime infused bass beats that are pretty much the next wave of urban R&B sounds. He doesn’t disappoint by opening with what sounds like some twisted G-Funk that not even Dre could make. The next tune is another 8-bit synth freak out which samples Busta Rhymes as far as I can tell. Nomad spat some nice bars over some seriously squelch acid bass. This is some futuristic sounds, its like an alien just landed and decided to create some sounds that he thought would make us dance, and you know what the fucker got it right. And then he drops 80’s one of my all time favourite tracks right now, and into the flip to that 12” Gully Brook Lane / what ever that other one is called. This is from and I quote, ‘Next solar system’. Pitched bent synth lines and out there hooks fade into the huge Snake Eater, I think some sub systems just got kicked over… So far Joker is the winner if we have to choose, Quest & Silkie came so close but hell, Joker is not from this world.

American Starkey is up to the plate, Vex’d choice won’t disappoint. He makes some beautiful soulful stuff along with in your face industrial beasts. Its full of vibes and colour, I love his new EP Angel and he has an album dropping soon on Planet Mu. It’s a cross between grime and dubstep but with a really warm soulful edge. Gutter Music opens the set in true style, then into some growling future funk. He slows it down with some half stepping and rap vibes over the top or some bubble bass beats. These synths are pretty damn twisted to say the least. And it just gets more wonky in the bass section as some deep stabs flow on top the madness. Starkey is taking it into pumping techno territory almost before dropping some more twisted soul music from the heart. This is deep and emotional stuff; he is showing some range in his selection. As he proves by dropping some rap track with a mad growling grime style. Starkey is showing that this is truly a global thing…

Chef, Hatcha’s choice steps up. The Corydon rising star brings the heavy weight vinyl to all three decks. The bass is pretty ridicules on his opener, it sounds like the hardest garage you could make while still keeping the sexy soul swing. The beats are huge and rolling, he drops the anthem Reminiscin’ with tailor made vocals that say, ‘I’m Reminiscin’ Chef’. Man I love this tune; I play it any time I get chance. This is almost into D’n’B territory in places; I guess that’s because of the three deck beat action. He is the first guy to whip out some silence and make the build and drop huge to one of his tracks. Chef is good an all that, but others still have an edge over him in my eyes. It’s a tough line up though and he is holding his own. Chef drops a dirty junglest bassline number with reggae samples, then into some hard stuff again.

Oneman the DJ that spins pretty much anything awesome from old skool 2-step to what ever is hot right now, he’s up next and is Loefah’s choice. He doesn’t produce so he is likely to drop something special to keep it rolling and maybe even give us a history lesson. He starts his set with some pure rolling garage beats and twisted synths. The bass is huge and the vibe strong, he brings so many different styles to the table; he is a true DJ Selecta. He goes from the deep rolling style into some dirty as hell bangers with such ease. Oneman I salute you… This is the most on form I have heard him, I am a bit speechless, the slow rolling synth numbers that echo the 2-step scene as much as the dubstep are killing me. As is this piano riff creeping in, that drops into an eyes down dirty skanker, Forgive by Mala as Uprooted crew member Rudetone from York just informed me, big up to them. More 2-step soul to move your feet is up next in the mix. Onemans set was special…

Cyrus is the final choice and he was picked by Distance the metal monster of the scene. This is some seriously heavy beats again, and he starts with some Random Trio action, a deep bass growler. This is some dark, dark and dirty, sick stuff; someone should check this guy out he is ill. Cyrus has some metallic tones just like the guy who picked him Distance. Some of it’s not really my thing but the guy is still killin’ it, I’m nodding my head fo’ sho’. He is dark, deep and proper hardcore the bass weight is immense. He brings a little bit of light and soul into the set with a lazy swaggering number.

Generation Bass killed it and showcased some of the scenes amazing talent; they took their 15 minuets each and ran amuck. Joker brought the hyper energy of a madman badman and was maybe my favourite of the night. Starkey follows him for me, but only just, I mean hell I’m going to have to listen to that again to make sure. Quest & Silkie pretty much blew me away with some pure future soul. Oneman is up there too, just for an impeccable style, selection and vibes. Cyrus is one dark mutha and the more his set went on the more I felt it, the deep and pure dirty sound was intence. The rest represented and showed me parts of the scene I wouldn’t normally venture and killed it still. I’m going to have to get up early and rewind this little gem of a show. Big up to Marry Anne Hobbs and her Experimental Show and the whole load of steppers, first up the original Dubstep Warz crew for choosing and then the new blood Generation Bass for keeping it alive and well.

What the heads say…

listen again on the BBC iPlayer all week, then I'm sure it will be around online after that as an mp3.

Wednesday 20th August

Generation Bass
Recorded live at Maida Vale, hosted by Mary Anne Hobbs & MC Sgt Pokes

Rustie - 'Jagz The Smack' (Stuff)

Silkie & Quest… chosen by Mala
Conquest – ‘Stand’ (Deep Medi)
Silkie – ‘Dam 4’ (Soul Jazz)
Conquest – ‘Hard Food’ (Ase)
Silkie – ‘Test’ (Dubplate)
Conquest – ‘Last Dayz’ (Dubplate)
Conquest – ‘The Seafront’ (Deep Medi)
Silkie – ‘The Horizon’ (Dubplate)
Silkie & Mizzbeats – ‘Purple Love’ (Dubplate)
Conquest – ‘The Unknown’ (Dubplate)

Kulture… chosen by Skream
Kulture –‘Diesel’ (Disfigured Dubz)
Kulture –‘Steppin’ Outta Babylon’ (Dubplate)
Kulture – ‘Spooked’ (Dubplate)
Kulture – ‘Vitamin D’ (Dubplate)
Kulture feat. Ghost 1 – ‘Purple’ (Promo)
Kulture – ‘Rock The Boat’ (Bootleg)
Kulture – ‘Tonight’ (Dubplate)
Late – ‘Misty Morning (Kulture Remix) (Dubplate)

Joker & MC Nomad… chosen by Kode 9
Joker – ‘Stuck In The System’ (Earwax)
2000F & JKamata – ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ joker special (Dubplate)
Joker & Rustie – ‘Play Doe’ (Kapsize)
Gemmy – ‘Double Yellow’ (Dubplate)
MR E – ‘Space Invaders’ (Dubplate)
Rustie – ‘Tempered’ (Kapsize)
Joker – ‘80's’ (Kapsize)
Joker – ‘Gully Brook Lane’ (Terrorhythm)
J@kes & Joker – ‘3K Lane’ (H.E.N.C.H)
Joker – ‘Holly Brook Park’ (Kapsize)
Gemmy – ‘Back 2 The Future’ (Punch drunk)
Joker – ‘Snake Eater’ (Soul motive)

Starkey… chosen by Vex’d
Starkey –‘Gutter Music (Keysound / Planet Mu)
Starkey – ‘Striking Distance’ (Planet Mu)
Starkey – ‘Pictures’ (Planet Mu)
Graphic feat. Beans – ‘ I am Metal’ (Starkey remix) (Offshore)
Starkey – ‘Pressure’ (Planet Mu)
Starkey – ‘Dark Alley’ (Planet Mu)
MOVES!!! – ‘All Skate’ (Dubplate)
Starkey – ‘Miracles’ (Planet Mu)
Styles P feat. Swizz Beats – ‘Blow Ya Mind’ (Starkey Remix) (Seclusiasis)
Starkey – ‘Spacewalk’ (Planet Mu)

Chef… chosen by Hatcha
Mr Lager & Alys Blaze – ‘Tell Me’ (Sub Freq)
LD + Clue Kid –‘Not Gonna Cry’ (Ringo)
Geoim feat. Marita – ‘Reminiscin’(Berkane Sol)
LD & Kode 9 – ‘Bad’ (Hyperdub)
Flying Lotus feat. Dolly – ‘Roberta Flack’ (Martyn’s Heart Beat mix) (Warp)
Clue Kid – ‘Monkey Style’(Subbalicious)
Cotti – ‘Calm Down’ (Bassface)
Kutz & Benga – ‘I’ll Kut Ya’ (Dubplate)
Coki - ‘Robotnik’ (Dubplate)

Oneman… chosen by Loefah
Brackles – ‘Get A Job (VIP)’ (Applepips)
Loefah – Midnight’ (Dubplate)
Toasty – ‘Lickable’ (Dubplate)
Point B – ‘E Blade’ (Combat Recordings)
Mala – ‘Forgive’ (Deep Medi)
Groove Chronicles – ‘Stone Cold’ (White Label)
Darkstar – ‘Aidy’s Girl is a Computer’ (Hyperdub)

Cyrus… chosen by Distance
Cyrus & Distance – ‘Violate’ (RTP005)
Cyrus – ‘Decisions’ (Dubplate)
Cyrus – ‘Night After’ (Dubplate)
Cyrus & Distance – ‘Surrender’ (Dubplate)
Cyrus – ‘Space Cadet’ (Dubplate)
Distance – ‘Magnesium’ (Dubplate)

LL - 'Out The Club' (Dubplate)

Picture From drumzofthesouth Dot Com ;)

BIG!

Atlas Sound – Logos (The Dead Album?)

As I’m a huge fan of Atlas Sound and Deerhunter I thought I would review this leaked album to try and get some love going and make Bradford finish it. Read about the whole load of drama that went down the other day here…

The Light That Failed is a woozy little shoegazer with sweet acoustic guitar and sweeping vocal manuva’s. Atlas Sound make some of the most beautiful music I have heard in recent times, I can’t get enough of it. Considering none of the tracks are complete on Logos they sure do have a lush sound. An Orchid is more of a driving song it propels forward with a hazy feel and yet more acoustic guitar, but this time chords are strummed out and bed the sweet vocals. I Know I Will Escape is not unlike some of the tracks on Let The Blind… album it’s a tender ballad type song about wanting to be free, but maybe not quite knowing how to go about it, the melancholy feel to it certainly says that to me anyway.

Difference BT has been one of my favourite tracks Bradford has ever put up on his blog for download. The version on Logos may well be slightly different to the version he posted quite a while ago now. But it moves me tremendously, the beelpy, bloopy synth bubbles are so hypnotic as are the subtle warm kick drum pounds. As with a lot of Atlas Sound the vocals add texture and layers of beautiful sound to the songs, this one is no different.

St. Echo reminds me of some ambient Aphex Twin structures with the piano and chiming bell type sounds. Quick Canal is an epic song that comes in at around thirteen minuets. Bradford stated that he didn’t get chance to add vocals to it yet, but it’s still a wonderful piece of work. He really needs to finish this album it’s a beauty. Any way this track builds in layers of sound into a bit of a bumping beat and bassline, it could almost be a Deerhunter tune. This sublime grove is interrupted with some noise and a electric guitar comes in to take it into fuzzed out shoegaze territory.

Avoid The Void continues in this more full on fuzzed out rock style and breaks down in the middle to some beautiful chimes and ambient textures. Which melts into the irresistible twinkles of Nocturnal Drivers, which sounds a bit like the ghost of Kraftwerk with insomnia driving through a dark jungle. My Halo has a bit of a doo whop feel to it, a bit like some of the tracks on Deerhunter’s other leaky album Microcastle. This is ambient pop songs at there very best.

Eros is a dreamy song that asks why people change over some epic and soothing sounds. Atlas Sound is like soaking your self in a warm bath some times, you just let the heat sooth you and the water hold you up, then close your eyes and drift off. Thanatos mixes out of the last track with a succession of bleeps and tinkles and into the final track of Logos, which just happens to be called Logos. This has a nice beat to it that really drives things forward. Fuzzy vocals glide on top of a big bassline, the whole track has a 60s soul vibe to it. Well one that has been drenched in pure shoegaze echo and atmosphere.

Logos is a fantastic album and I have my fingers crossed that Bradford Cox will finish it and this whole drama will be forgotten. I for one would love to hear the finished result with some hot as hell artwork.

Update: LOGOS LIVES! Bradford Speaks here.

Guillotine Clique

‘"we sometimes play with words like we play with women..."
Charles Bukowski

Started as a partnership, Guillotine Clique, is the combined output of MLR and Breach. Working separately or together GC are the bastard spawn of a modern dawn.

Standard.

Razor sharp in the club or in the headphones this shit will make your ear drums bubble.’

Guillotine Clique is a London & Bristol based beast featuring My Left Retina who has featured on this very blog before with a review of his Fever Ate My Fist EP, the other Clique member is Breach who by the sound of things makes a mean batch of D’n’B. But with their powers combined, they have only gone and made some techno infused dubstep, imagine that!

Luckily you don’t have to imagine to hard as not only do they have a myspace with actual sounds that come out of it, but they have a fantastic mix free for you to download.

Guillotine Clique Vol.1

Track List:

Shackleton – Death is not final
2562 – Morvern
Appleblim & Perverelist – Circeling
Komonazmuk – Bad Apple
Martyn – Suburbia
2562 – Kameleon
Appleblime – Vansan
Martyn – Vancover
DJ Abstract – Touche
Guillotine Clique – Metal pedal
Benga & Walsh – Addicts
Tipper – Subalicious
Scanone – Atlas
Guillotine Clique – Militia Dub
Komanazmuk & White Boi – 2 paths of rage

!DOWNLOAD!

Laters…

Atlas Sound – Logos (R.I.P.) 2007 – 2008

I’m not sure what happened to be honest but it sounds like some kind of drama went down with Bradford Cox and his blog today. I have heard it was hacked and the Atlas Sound album, which was announced the other week titled ‘Logos’, has been leaked in un-mastered form, as has some Deerhunter songs that where to be released with the up and coming ‘Microcastle’, which incidentally leaked so early it hurts. By the look of the blog post that has now been removed it may not come out now because of this. To quote the post:

‘Fuck this shit. I can just make another album. It’s not finished and now it never will be. It was also going to have a rad cover. I would describe it to you but that would be stupid. P.S. there are no vocals on Quick Canal. I never got the chance to record them. This record was not free to record, so if you’d like to pay for hearing it send a paypal donation to lastdeerhunteronearth@yahoo.com. I am not a fucking opportunist so don’t think I expect it.’

So there you have it a post full of bad vibes, I have no idea how this all came about. But I hope that this gets released and finished at some point I adore all of the Deerhunter and Atlas Sound music I have ever heard. Is the Deerhunter / Atlas Sound camp the leakiest place ever for songs and albums? It seems that way at the moment and I feel sorry for them and can see why Bradford Cox is so angry in that blog post.

I will keep an eye on the blog and see if any more sense can be made of the situation. But for now, take it easy Bradford…

http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/

Update: This was found in the google cache read it here.

Dusk & Blackdown – Margins Music Video

Keysound Video presents... Dusk + Blackdown: Margins Music from Keysoundrecordings on Vimeo.

Starkey – Angel EP (Creative Space) 12”

A four track EP from state side bass warrior Starkey on Creative Space he has created some sublime beats for this 12”. I’m not even sure if this is dubstep and to be honest I don’t really care, its just beautiful bass music. The combination of huge bass swaggering hip-hop style beats and a beautiful warm glow put this release near the front of the pack.

Angel is a beautiful and mellow tune with huge bass weight and deep soulful vibes, yet it’s still perfect for the dance floor. This soul/grime/dub crossover is so good, its sunshine stepping if ever I heard it. The next track Bang Bang The Witch Is Dead does exactly what the title suggests, with its huge industrial sized beats and a spooky retro introduction that opens out into a big throbber of a bassline. It’s not quite as deep and soulful as the first track but some of the same elements still remain and make this, well… Bang. The flip is just as brilliant and opens with Drip, which is a melancholy slow booming track, the kick is massive, as is the low-slung bass. They both compliment the subtle synth lines perfectly, and watch for the drop it’s serious business. Drip is one of my favourites on this 12” along with Angel. The final tune Brilliance Tones does nothing to let the side down with its wonky, oh shit I’m falling down the stairs leaning rhythms, can you fall and dance? I’m not sure… Anyway its brilliant as the title suggests the breakdown really mellows the track out before the skiting badass drums come back in with the bass to destroy you.

Starkey is sublime and has an album forth coming on Planet Mu check him out.

www.creativespace.gr

Trim – Soulfood Vol.3

Trim, Trimothy, Trimbal, Trimski, what ever you want to call him that’s just fine. He goes by many names and is the badman grime MC from E14. Soulfood Vol.3 is one of the best mixtapes I have heard in recent times, it’s up there with Dot Rotten and Durrty Goodz fighting for the top spot. The production is top notch and features a hell of a lot of people my favourites being; Jerzey, Blessbeats, Brain, Radioclit, plus Dusk & Blackdown. The beats go from stripped back sparse vibes to full on ragga influenced ones, echoing London’s massive array of musical influences. Trim’s bars are excellent and original. His flow is laid back and lazy in vibe compared to other on the scene that like to spit venom with speed and aggression. Trim still bites just as hard as anyone though as he proves on the excellent beef track The Low-Dan, he doesn’t even rhyme on that one, its more of a talking thing.

As with many in the Grime scene Trim likes to talk about doing his thing and not wanting anyone to copy him, as well as stirring up beefs with bravado and bragging about being the best. Trimski also opens his heart a little bit to talk about the struggle of life in general on songs like Inside Looking Out. His sense of humour shines through on most tracks, which is one thing I love about grime, the English sense of humour cracks me up. The whole mixtape is top quality I can’t fault the tunes one bit, some stand out taller above the rest but overall it’s very consistent.

A little run down of some of the vibes: Signal, the opener is a low lobbed ragga style beat with a ace vocal hook, ‘If you didn’t catch my name, I will throw it to you, and for those that can’t catch, I’ll roll it to you, or you can kick back and I’ll flow it to you’. Ask For Trim is a darker one but with a just as catchy hook, the bass growls as some subtle gunshots are used as percussion. For Real comes on like a dancehall classic with the shout of, ‘Yo, Vibes!’ in a heavy Jamaican tone. Full of Shit is a dark skipping minimal grime stepper with a bassline that sounds like a computer game from 1990. Inside Looking Out is a slow emotional one with sci-fi atmospherics a badass beat with a wonky edge and some plucky little strings. Just Do Your Thing is another straight ahead grime beat but Trim has some of the catchiest hooks and bars I have heard ever, he makes most beats a treat. Old School Bars, starts slow and builds into a beast with the tempo moving up and synth violins building the tension as Trimble rides it. The Low-Dan is the talking thing, the lazy wonky flow that’s about abusing Flow Dan. It is a massive tune and the stand out on this tape, which is one hell on an achievement. Bleeps, bloops and 8-bit flourishes punctuate the lazy flow. Put Your Mind To It, stick a needle on this dub, its fat. It’s a real dark side whopper of a track, with evil bass and bars. Dusk & Blackdown make a brilliant backbeat to Trim’s The Bits, it’s an off kilter and full of wonky samples that echo sounds from around London, there is a slight Asian hint to the loops used.

Trim’s Soulfood Vol.3 is one of the reasons I’m loving grime right now, the quality is so high in some areas. I don’t know what he is going to do next but his myspace mentions Vol.4 and on this mixtape he mentions an album, but who knows…

Today, I Got Published

I wrote a review for the excelent 3barfire (The Tangerine Hype Machine) click the link bellow to check it out...

Lutzenkirchen - Pandora Electronica Review for 3barfire by James Balf

Dessktop – Kirpi EP

Dessktop has been at it again for Rack & Ruin Records one of my favourite purveyors of sounds on the Internet. This is catalogue number rrr054 and can be downloaded for free over at R&R. What more could you want?

Dessktop has made a very nice five track EP of ambient electronica that is full of loops and field recordings. It makes for a wonderful listen; track one valea lunga river (simisna) is an aquatic little number, with water dripping just like the name would suggest, a riverside ambiance. Then the clatter of what sounds like an implement being sharpened and bashed around, while a voice sings about water every now and again. A looped up string instrument of some kind brings some more rhythm and melody to the proceedings. The thing being sharpened could well be that of the knife on the front cover… A thunderclap draws this track to an end and starts the next.

Adonis vernalis is the second track it’s full of more beautiful field recordings and an amazing almost child like pots and pan percussion section chiming away, like part music box and part campsite found drum kit. This tune is taken into the next by knocking on a door and us being let in at the beginning of the next, I do love the way this works.

Calceolariaceae has a warmer feel I guess that’s because we are inside now, there is a beautiful drone that is used as the backdrop to some more chiming found percussion and strumming. These songs are beautiful ambient electronica with a happy little vibe to them.

Trakhtemyrivskyi monastery has a thumping start and tribalistic drumming, with some wind instrumentation that sounds not unlike some kind of bagpipe, but not quite. This feeds into the final track…

Autonomously replicating sequence, which is a lovely drone induced synth and found sound ambient pad followed by what is almost a funky as hell percussive loop, but then the EP ends and you are left wanting more. Dessktop has done it again and made another fascinating EP full of beauty and originality. I love this dude keep it up man.

Links:

Rack & Ruin Records

Dessktop R&R Page

Dessktop Space

Robby Massey Dot Com

Burial Has a Face

So Burial decided to beat everyone to it and reveal himself on his myspace blog in typical low-key style. This is what he said in the post entitled ‘tunes’ on Tuesday August 5th 2008:

hi

for a while theres been some talk about who i am , but its not a big deal i wanted to be unknown because i just want it to be all about the tunes. over the last year the unknown thing become an issue so im not into it any more. im a lowkey person and i just want to make some tunes, nothing else. my names will bevan, im from south london, im keeping my head down and just going to finish my next album, theres going to be a 12" maybe in the next few weeks too with 4 tunes. hope u like it, i'll try put a tune up later

sorry for any rubbish tunes i made in the past, ill make up for it

a big big thank you to anyone who ever supported me, liked my tunes or sent me messages, it means the world to me

big up everyone, take care, will ( burial )

So there you have it from the man himself, can we all just get on with listening to the music again now? The most exciting bit of this for me are the lines, ‘im keeping my head down and just going to finish my next album, theres going to be a 12" maybe in the next few weeks too with 4 tunes. hope u like it, i'll try put a tune up later’. This is brilliant news, new material on its way and soon by the sounds of it. See what some other people thought about it here and here…

Uprooted with N-Type, Ramadanman, Signus b2b Rudetone, Shiftah @ The Junction, York 8th August 2008

Uprooted

N-Type

Ramadanman

Signus

B2B

Rudetone

Shiftah

£5

8pm-Late

Friday 8th August

The Junction

Leeman Road, York

Uprooted Space

Modern Classic: # 4. Dizzee Rascal – Boy In Da Corner

Is it to early to call this a modern classic? It came out in 2003 and won a lot of fans and critical acclaim. It still stands up to listens now in 2008 and Dizzee’s profile has gone through the roof, with another two ace albums and even a number one. This is a super raw in your face production from Dizzee, he made most of it and pretty much took Grime into the mainstream single-handed. This album pretty much introduced me to the genre, as it no doubt did for many other people that don’t live in London and have access to pirate radio and all that. Fix Up, Look Sharp is a massive tune that will still get the floor bumping in a lot of clubs round the land, you still hear in on the radio even now. The album is full of gems with attitude and energy; there isn’t even the cheese pop moments like on later albums.

Boy In Da Corner has some massive bouncy beats mixed with some sparse electronic atmospheric stuff that was a massive pleasure to my ears when I first came across it. Dizzee’s flow is brilliant and he is even getting props in the US as a rapper. He was even in the running for best MC in vibe magazine recently, he got knocked out by Andre 3000 in the first round though that was a tough match up he had going on there. I have a feeling the fantastic I Luv U was the first track Dizzee made and it’s a story about modern love and lots of back stabbing fakeness that goes with it. The beat is huge and bouncy as hell, it goes off when he plays it live, which I have been lucky enough to witness a few times. A lot of Grime is pre-occupied with bravado and name-calling, with a bit of swagger thrown in for good measure. Dizzee does a bit of this but he transcends that a lot of the time too with some more personal lyrics, which is one of the reasons I think he has grown in stature so much since he dropped this album. Sittin’ Here deals with this self meditative side as does Brand New Day other tunes are about anger and frustration like Stop Dat, I Luv U, Cut ‘Em Off, Hold Ya Mouf and Round We Go.

Sittin’ Here opens the album with a laid back vibe and lyrics about sittin’ around while the urban environment goes round him and he is seeing things go down the pan. There is a hopelessness to it like he doesn’t know what to do about any of it so just sits there. This is done over sounds of ambient noise from the city and a rolling sharp melody, with fat bass and skitting/clattering drums. Stop Dat is an evil sounding beast of a tune with some badass aggressive MCing from Dizzee. When the huge bass plays of a little twinkling synth melody about half way through the tune, it really goes off, I love the phrase, ‘screw face’. I Luv U is such a huge tune and still gets played quite a bit, I read about Blackdown dropping it recently at FWD>> and it going off big time. The looping I Luv U hook is awesome then the bouncy beast beat drops hard. Dizzee rides this one in style, and interchanges lines with a female in great style to add to the story of fucked up ‘love’. Brand New Day is a sunny little number with a chiming melody and laid back bass vibes. It’s about reminiscing about times before so much violence in his area, and wanting people to grow up. 2 Far features Wiley and is an amazing tune with a bit of an eski beat style to it. Both rappers are on form here, in fact I can’t think of any bars Wiley has done since that I enjoy as much. ‘I'm getting stronger bro your getting weaker broi came straight from the gutter lay lowI'm a ninja turtle u can't step into my circlein a sound flash I will hurt you’ is just a brilliant set of lines. Fix Up, Look Sharp is the next tune and what a huge one it is too, this is the one that propelled Dizzee into everyone’s face. I don’t think I need to say much about this tune to be honest every one knows it, ‘Sweet as a nut mate, sweet as a nut’. Cut ‘Em Off is a minimalist little banger with sparse beats and bass with echo drenched vocals about being a badass in true grime style. Hold Ya Mouf is another angry one with some gunshots and shit coming back on you if your not careful, the line, ‘If your not careful you might get hit by a chair’ cracks me up. God’s Gift features on this tune and has a massive angry style he scares the hell out of me on his bars. Round We Go is some other level space invader style grime madness, the beats and flow is just sublime. Jus A Rascal is a bit of an anthem and I remember it getting quite a lot of plays on mainstream radio, there are evil sounding subtle rock guitar and a strange operatic chorus. Wot U On is another mad beat with backward sounding drums and sci-fi loops, then that huge bouncy bass again. Jezebel is a sweet sounding one but has a hell of a bite. It’s all about some girl who got knocked up young and who is always in trouble, or got loads of STD’s. Seems 2 Be has an ace intro by a girl sayin’ how bad and nasty she is, the beat is another sci-fi beast with a strange high grimy radar sound going on. Live O sounds like the strangest phone line in all history, its cold and claustrophobic with Dizzee spitting bad bars on top of it. Do It is the final track and is a bit of a grime ballad if there is such a thing, it’s a laid back beauty of a tune.

Dizzee Rascal has gone off the scale since he dropped this album and he continues to make ace tunes and albums, yet Boy In Da Corner is maybe his defining moment so far. Big up Dizzee…

Sunday Viewing

It’s Not Just Bass

Part One


Part Two


EYES DOWN: A Dubstep thing



Dubstep Documentary



DMZ - Coki b2b Mala - Digital Mystikz - 5th Jan 2008 dubstep

Skull Disco – Soundboy Punishments

This collection is getting on a little bit now, but I’m a little late to the older Skull Disco stuff I only have the 12”s: 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 so far. I think they are only going to drop one more official 12”, which will have four Shackleton tracks on it, then maybe some white labels and another Soundboy Punishments compilation. What an amazing label it has been, Shackleton has been making some seriously good music that spans quite a few genres and maybe even invented the minimal/techno/dubstep hybrid along with Villalobos and Appleblim. Appleblim’s tracks on this compilation are good but I think they pale in comparison to Shackletons, Appleblim has come along way since these early tracks though as the newer 12” will show as will the next Soundboy comp no doubt. Gatekeeper also features here on one track, as does the aforementioned Villalobos in his huge mix of Shacks Blood On My Hands more on that in a bit though.

Shackleton’s tracks are out of sight they are that good his minimalist approach with polyrhythmic African drumming and huge basslines mix so well to make some of the darkest and most exciting music I have heard in a while. You can see why Villalobos asked to remix Blood On My Hands, as he just loved it so much. Shack isn’t keen on being described as dubstep and to be honest his sound is pretty far removed from that scene’s sound and tempo that it is a kind of genre of it’s own. Appleblim on the other hand sounds pretty dubstep esspecialy in comparison to the other work on the comp; the first CD is Shackleton’s organic groves juxtaposed against Appleblim’s techy and almost jungle sounds. Both artists have matured since this compilation and are ready to move onto new ventures, but as long as I get to here their tunes I will be happy even if it means no more Skull Disco.

The art work by Z is fantastic as it is will all Skull Disco releases it reflect the sound so well with its skeletal bone wrenching dark and deep sound that’s all at once organic and not from this earth at the same time.

Disc two is slightly more dance floor influenced Shackleton makes most the tracks and really breaks loose in the most dubstep style stuff he has on this comp. The huge bongo patterns are still in full effect but it’s all at a faster passed and almost 2-step rhythm to make you move your feet. And of course the bass is still huge. Ricardo Villalobos’ mix of Blood On My Hands is on this disc I really love it and it pretty much got me into looking at Dubstep, but after hearing the original mix I think I prefer that, just. Villalobos makes it an epic deep and dark minimal masterpiece though and for that I salute him. Skull Disco Soundboy Punishments is a brilliant retrospective collection of tracks from their vaults, I look forward to the last few 12” very much and another one of these, before Appleblim and Shackleton move on to new things.

Skull Disco

Free Skull Disco DST Mix

Ratatat @ The Duchess, York, 31 July 2008

This is my first time in the newly opened ex snooker hall now York super venue The Duchess. I must say it’s a pretty nice venue with lots of potential there wasn’t that many people in it though for most of the night, there was a lot more hipsters than I’m use to in York god knows where they came from, it seemed busy at the front for Ratatat though. There was a DJ spinning some of that electro/techno hybrid music but kind of messing up the mixes a little and I wasn’t feeling their selection very much. Any way that was loads better than the support band, I can’t recall their name but I aren’t fussed about that to be honest. They sounded like a boring bunch of kids playing at being a tribute band to Black Kids and Foals all at once, sure they could play their instruments but they shouldn’t have bothered. Anyway onto the good stuff as Ratatat were amazing and saved the night in style.

I wasn’t to sure about Ratatat’s latest album LP3 it’s a good one but I just didn’t fall for it. They blew that train of thought right out the window pretty quickly in the live experience mind. The beats are huge and phat as hell, with a funky swing to them full of bongo driven hip-hop loops. The keyboard added some 8-bit/atmospheric huge sounds, while the afroed up player bounced and head banged hard. The bass made you move your feet and arse, and those insane guitar solos made the crowd go wild as he rocked out like an old school rock god. This is sci-fi cowboy dub-hip-hop electro party music at its very very best. The energy Ratatat had was insane and they brought it to the table hard. They had back projection of artwork and snippets of old film footage that added to the retro vibe of the sound. They sound like they are taking Daft Punk’s Aerodynamic with its huge guitar solos and bumping beats into the hip-hop electro realm with great success. I don’t know many names of tunes unfortunately but they didn’t play a bum one all night long, each one got the heads nodding, people bouncing and girl dancing, pure party music. The last tune brought a more rock edge to the proceedings and one guy even got crowd surfing to the crunked out tune. Then it was over and there was silence, everyone smiling. As the place emptied it had a kind of youth club vibe to it though I guess it was the school holidays after all.

I found a mixtape Ratatat made of remixes they did of some rap and hip-hop tunes it’s a real treat and can be found for free on their myspace page or indeed here as I grabbed the link. Check it…

NEW: MIXTAPE VOL. 2
14 new remixes featuring: Bun B, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Slim Thug, Devin the Dude, Young Jeezy, T.I., Beanie Sigel, Pimp C, Ludacris, Young Buck, Saigon, Juvenile, Z-ro, Memphis Bleek, Kanye West +exclusive tracks from Despot and Beans...

Download.