Joker’s Kapsize imprint has grown from strength to strength since it’s inception last year, from getting dubstep and grime heads excited to drawing in the hip-hop crowd and with the last platter gaining Radio One recognition.
His collaborations have always been special the aqaucrunk madness of ‘Play Doe’ with Rustie was a true meeting of minds. Now for the latest Kapsize offering Joker has hooked up with another pimp, breakbeat producer that goes by many name ranging from 30Hz to The Body Snatchers, right now he is in his fur lined purple suit as Ginz.
First up on the 12” is ‘Purple City’ with those snapping crunk drums and electronic bongo rolls then a set of almighty synth hooks that just sing to you like a fucked-up robot soul machine with a real raw edge. Then the sick bass line just adds even more raw energy with a sub low growl. It’s an anthem that’s for sure dance floors will drop with a pimp limp to this one.
Flip it and you get the ‘Re-Up’ which all you wire fans and drug dealers will know means the stash is coming and fuck me it doesn’t disappoint. The orchestral build up above the crisp snapping percussion that ushers in the bass drop is a needle drop to the top, spin back moment. It pulses with high-octane energy and gets the gun fingers going, get ready to brock out.
Joker and Ginz show they are big time pimps on this Kapsize each side oozes with quality cop it while it’s hot.
Sci-Fi has been an inspiration for many electronic artists even since the use of machines to make sounds existed, one such group of musicians were the pioneers of the second wave of Detroit techno; UR. They had a kind of throw back future sound that somehow sounded like the future and the past combined. You can hear this in tracks like Hi-Tech Jazz where the sounds are not from this world but the funk and soul is firmly grounded, and this is where the Futurist EP comes in. Gravious has pulled off a similar feel, in-fact it could almost fit into the UR catalogue, which is no mean feat.
The EP inspired by a short story about an outdated vision of the future called ‘The Gurnsback Continuum’, which is ironic considering all the hardcore continuum talk of late… takes on the future / past ideas and translates them into sound. The first track with it’s UR nodding name, ‘Jupiter Jazz’ skips and builds with deep bass, bleeps, emotive pads and machine funk that could have even been made by the story’s ‘mad-doctor chrome’ is a mesmerising dance floor bomb.
This is the sound of ‘The Tomorrow That Never Was’, and if you ever heard ‘The Sound Of The Big Badou’ by Laurent Garnier you will have an idea of what, ‘Vultures’ sounds like but steeped in dub culture with chants and half-step drums, it’s like a flying car ride into the abyss.
The finale, ‘World of Tomorrow’ is like a subtle mellow version of the first track, full of emotive strings tweaks, bleeps and some moving bass. It really could soundtrack an advert to a flying car or an episode of Look Around You.
Another quality production from Gravious via the excellent Highpoint Lowlife, it’s already had radio play from non other than Mary Anne Hobbs and rightly so. Grab it while it’s hot.
There has been quite a bit of debate on whether grime MC’s should jump on funky or not. I for one don’t mind it if the music is good, MC’s spitting on good rhythms is kind of what they do best. But anyway the recent talk about this has generally not really interested me, neither has the music to be honest, until I stumbled upon an old documentary on Hip-House in Chicago in 1989 and it turns out there are a hell of a lot of parallels to what is going on today on the UK underground. Watch it for yourself bellow…
Yet again Deerhunter hit The Brudenell and yet again they kill it. The place was full and hot as hell; they brought a little Atlanta to Leeds tonight. Playing a set full of Cyrptograms, Florecsent Grey and Microcastles, in-fact it was maybe more waited towards C-grams thinking about it. To kick off they played brand new title track of the new EP Rainwater Cassete Exchange, which they were also selling on ye olde tape which I happened to pick up and put in my top pocket for the rest of the night, I’ve never felt so indie before. The band were tight under the heat and the epic noise-scapes of Cryptograms was really something else, the drums’n’bass get me every time in the Deerhunter live experience they really drive things forward.
The good shit just kept coming with Like New and Octet melting into each other with a brutal blast of sound in the middle. I’m pretty sure either Never Stops or Nothing Ever Happens came next but who knows, to be honest I zoned out and got lost in the sound. Things were chilled out a little in the middle which was well needed because of the heat, the wedges of fuzzed out sound Deerhunter bring really sit well with the hot hot atmosphere though it kind of gave it another edge somehow a clammy heavy edge.
After a few more hits, Bradford called to the audience for requests and they covered a track by someone I can’t think of right now, but I’ll edit it when my brain wakes up, it was the same one they did at ATP the week before apparently… [EDIT] it was Bragging Party by The Amp's!... It was a wicked 60’s infused punky number that suited their sound to a tea. By the time the encore came around Bradford was working the crowd with impressions, voices and general weirdness. Then the Deerhunter jukebox began as the crowed were asked to choose the final three tracks of the night. After some back’n’forth the fantastic Spring Hall Convert was chosen, which delighted me as I really wanted to hear it last time they came to town but alas it wasn’t to be so this was a bit special, it’s always been one of my favourites. I’m struggling to remember the middle track in the encore but it was fuckin’ brilliant and followed by Fluorescent Grey, which built and built before showering us in sound.
Then shit got weird as Bradford came back on to thank us in many strange ways before having some banter with the sound guy, before calling his mum over the soundsystem. Unfortunatly she wasn’t in so it went right to answer phone a nice message was left and things petered out. It’s probably the maddest ending to a gig I’ve seen for a while Bradford cracked me up throughout the night as well as really playing a quality gig, Deerhunter I salute you keep doing your thing.
The elusive ghostly garage producer from South London Burial hooks up with electronica producer Four Tet for a mysterious black 12” platter. It’s not only the first new Burial material since Untrue but the first ever collaboration to surface too. The two may not be strangers mind as some sources say they go way back to school days. But back to the important things the music.
The warm shiny looped tinkle that brings in ‘Moth’ has a deep ambiance that can be found in either producers tracks this is until a synth creeps in that is all Tet before an all mighty skeletal 2-step pattern that is undeniably Burial drops and the track really stats to build. A slightly tropical counter rhythm plays off the garage beat as the pads really start to hypnotise. When the track finally breaks down into distant spectral soul snippets so loved by Burial and the percussive elements feed back in as the synths build is probably the finest moment on the 12”. It’s probably been said a lot about this track already due to the hype flying around but this really dose sound exactly like what you would imagine the two to conjure up.
The flip ‘Wolf Club’ is the real surprise, the ambiance is still all there as is the brooding melancholy but its all set off against a deep slow almost house beat that you don’t expect from a track with Burial on it. The beats on here are well and truly Four Tet but the pitched vocal samples are well and truly Burial-like. The main synth hook is so lush and warm it really makes the track as dose the percussion in the breakdown where it gets a little stripped back and funky before the hook comes back in again. It’s reminiscent of Actress and even Lukid in places via some deep Berlin techno.
Overall this is one hell of a lush, warm, well-produced and interesting 12” that shows different sides to both artists. When the dust settles on the hype that surrounds every new Burial release this high profile collaboration with Four Tet will no doubt stand strong against the material of each. It’s a subtle sophisticated sounding meeting of minds that’s well worth a listen.
The tempo’s shifting again on the underground and it’s making for some interesting listening, music is being made that seems to fit in with so many different genres and styles what with funky, wonky and dubstep all playing off each other. Eclectic DJ’s have been around ever since the medium started of course but right here, right now the music is really forcing people to break out of genre and tempo restraints. Different styles and tempos are being pulled out of DJ’s bags more than ever and especially on the underground bass scene.
The rise of off-kilter hip-hop with smeared bent synths aka wonky, if we’re still aloud to call it that… last year, pushed by the likes of Flying Lotus and the Low End Theory crew really set things in motion and you could really hear this strain of lop-sided sounds pushing into different tempos and styles as people like Zomby and Joker brought similar aesthetics to the dubstep 140.
Around the same time funky was really grabbing peoples attention, the incredibly danceable strain of funky house with soca influenced drum patterns and a grimey bass riddled under belly that still manages to keep its feminine soul and energy was taking over the underground. These danceable rhythms really caught the attention of forward thinking DJ’s and producers in dubstep circles once again, with Hyperdub’s Kode 9 (also instrumental in the rise of wonk) pushing the sound.
All of this is kind of old news to people in the know but right now it really does seem to be taking root and making for brilliant music from producers and diverse sets from DJ’s, with people from all across the board bringing their own interpretations to the table.
It’s interesting to look at the roll of the DJ in this equation as well as the producer. The DJ has always had a big influence in dance music by chopping and blending sounds together in their own way to create whole new aesthetics that can sometimes end up pushing new genres into focus. The wonky, funky, dubstep axis of underground sounds are really good examples of this.
Funky really came to attention when DJ’s Markus Nasty, Mak10 and Spyro started to bring together grime and the soca infused house in some epic sessions on Rinse FM. But before you knew it Kode 9 was opening sets with it and talking about it on wfmu radio. This really set the seed in the dubstep scene and ever since funky tracks have been creeping into peoples sets, from the techno influenced crowd like Martyn and the Hessle Audio / Ruffiage Session crew Ramadanman and Ben UFO on Sub fm, all the way to 2-step grime dubstep extraordinaire Oneman who really does it in fine style. Also the connected pose of Geiom, Brakles and Shortstuff are really making moves in the genre spanning funky infused dubstep sets too and exploring the soulful side of things. So many people are at it.
The wonky DJ is a whole new kettle of ball games compared to the funky meets grime meets garage meets dubstep as it’s more disjointed, less rolling and the tempo range really is wide going from slow-mo hip-hop at around 70bpm all the way up to dubstep and beyond. This is where the sound system style selecta’s of dubstep can shine with a cut’n’paste and quick blend. Flying Lotus somehow crosses the boundary of live show as a producer and DJ set all at once, while touching on everything from ambient passages, hip-hop and dubstep. LA’s Gaslamp Killer and Rinse FM’s Alexander Nut really know how to chop at the drop of a hat and blend up a massively eclectic set of wonk. Not to mention Kode 9, at it again dropping hip-hop joints alongside the faster Joker and Zomby productions. Again even the Ruffiage Sessions’s guys and Martyn have been known to have a go.
All these DJ’s and more really do seem to be pushing the sounds forward and along with the producers blurring the lines between all these styles and tempos. Mixing up such diverse bpm’s is a tough thing to do, the selection and skill involved to make a smooth flowing mix that can go from about 70 to 140bpm and back really is one to admire. It goes to show that there is more to DJing than joining the dot between one constant tempo, it’s all in the vibe as apposed to the speed at the end of the day. The tempo’s of all the genres may well start to level out again as they have in the past for the likes of D’n’B at 170 or dubstep’s 140, but it may well just push more and more people to embrace the variety and throw in music from anywhere just like the producers and DJ’s in this piece are doing so well.
Straight out of New York the ex sushi chef knows how to prepare some tasty beats that kicks like wasabi. Falty DL’s debut album Love is a Liability on the forward thinking Planet Mu, who are dropping quality releases with ease right now is another top class album. Taking influences from across the board from uk garage to techno, hip-hop and electronica Falty DL makes a sound all of his own.
Love is a Liability is skippy high hat heaven you can hear the garage running through its veins but this is only one element of the sound, sometimes sounds of Detroit can be heard thrown in with vibrant electronica and the deep bass of dubstep. It’s got that vintage Planet Mu sound you can sit it next to anything from Mu, Warp and Rephlex and it would stand up on its own yet fits in nice and snug.
Things start with ‘Human Meadow’ with its deep ghostly garage sound complete with pitched shifted soulful vocal snippets and swung hats, the bass and electronic elements really take it into a world of its own though, a melancholic bleepy underworld.
The organ sounds on ‘Dionysos’ and ‘To New York’ really take you into Underground Resistance territory the latter is reminiscent of the other worldly ‘Inspiration’ playing off some ‘Hi Tech Jazz’. Before you get taken into the dark side with ‘Encompass’ with its robotic machine dance sound. Love is a Liability flows so well as a whole and really draws you into a hypnotic state at times. This vibe is really present on the sublime ‘Winter Sole’ with its massive downward bending bass sweep that turns into a huge drone that will sound epic on a big system plus the orchestral moments playing around a subtle spaced out skipping drum pattern really set things off.
The back end of Love is a Liability gets deeper and more hypnotic as it goes on tracks like ‘Truth’ and the pent up soul of ‘Anxiety’ tweak and bleep like a robotic love machine over swung jacking techno garage breaks and big bass, but it’s the melodies in these tracks that really bring the vibes the album is full of them.
Out of the final three tracks, which all have a mellow sadness to them ‘Paradise Lost’ is the one that really nails it. The crackles and sweeps that melt into some organic swung beats and that deep warm building set of pads and synth melodies hits the spot that’s for sure. The jacking post garage electronica of Falty DL with its bittersweet vibes makes for a truly compelling listen. The album is both deep and interesting as well as massive in the dance. Love is a Liability and his Ramp Recordings 12” show he is one to watch.
Martyn has been making some of the most amazing music for some time but he really came to attention with his move into the dubstep tempo from his D’n’B roots with tracks like Broken on Revolve:r, his sublime remix of TRG’s Broken Heart on Hessle and Velvet the debut 12” on his very own 3024 imprint, which has now grown into its own with fore 12” and now its first long player the debut from Martyn Great Lengths.
The man really does have a sound of his own that he’s been known to call Martyn music and you can see why when you listen to his stuff or even listen to his sets. He is a true rhythm master making liquid drums flow in all directions taking in organic sounds like clicks, crackles and field recordings with heavy synth sounds to create something engaging to your brain and the dance floor.
On Great Lengths just like in his DJ sets Martyn spans many tempos and genres ranging from beat less atmospheric surges through house and techno before dropping off in dubstep county, there is no D’n’B number here though but I bet he slams some out on occasions. Because of this you get a real diverse selection on the album and it still really flows.
There are plenty of highlights like when the beat first kicks in on ‘Krdl-T-Grv’ and things are really rolling after the intro track you can feel the quality of Martyn’s productions and it makes you move.
Its rare you find a proper happy hands in the air dubstep style track but ‘Right?Star!’ is it and could well be an underground summer anthem in the making with its uplifting chords, bubbling arpeggios, Right?Star! vocal snips and monstrous bass sounds. Even the slightly more acidic ‘Little Things’ has a similar catchy sunshine vibe to it.
Continuing the light theme the dBridge collaboration ‘These Words’ does it with an end of the night melancholic feel. It’s the first full vocal number on Great Lengths with dBridge taking mic duties and really singing his heart out over moving chords, piano, deep bass and skippy drum patterns. The other vocal track is the Spaceape featuring ‘Is This Insanity?’ and it also comes off very well indeed, his dub poetry adds a dark paranoid depth to Martyn’s shiny productions.
The first house tinged number comes in the form of the Slam like ‘Seventy Four’ it really does remind me of a more organic skipping techno track you would find on Soma records, with a droning Reece like bass but the drums really set it apart with a massive low slung deep thud to the kick. ‘Hear Me’ is another rolling houser reminiscent of old skool tracks like ‘Jack Your Body’ with organ sounds to match. When Martyn does house tempos he doesn’t really deviate into straight four to the floor he kips it a bit off-kilter and swung, its got have funk.
Of course along with the light comes the dark, which comes in the form of ‘Vancouver’ it sounds huge on the album and even though it’s been out for some time as a 12” on 3024 its still as fresh as hell. The dubwise bass and basic channel-esq chords make for a dangerous heads down skank out combination its one hell of a roller. The darkside jacking techno beast that is ‘Elden St.’ and previously released ‘Natural Selection’ both have a very similar sound but with the latter being the more dubbed out, darker brother of the two with a massive dub bass, sublime chords and pitch shifted vocals.
Great Lengths is a cracking debut album and it shows where Martyn is at musically right now brilliantly. It really shows his skills and scope in production, its pretty much an immaculate listen in that sense. It may not win legions new fans from outside of the dance floor genres of techno, dubstep and D’n’B but it may well unite the ones that weren’t to sure, scraping them from the margins to enjoy the vibes. That’s not to say its just for the heads Martyn really does have the potential to share his music with a wide variety of music fans alike.
For a long time now I have been listening to Atlas Sound, I stumbled upon his blog when I was skint and looking for some music late one night and I haven’t looked back since. All these tracks were / are available on the Deerhunter / Atlas Sound / Lotus Plaza blog, on EP’s, virtual 7” or just random tracks and as there has been so much music over the years I decided to make my very own best of and put it up for download to maybe help spread the Atlas Sound love to new people so they don’t have to wade through all the blog posts.
There are covers, remixes, collaborations, late night meditations, ambient electronica, live recordings, loops and loops and loops… lo-fi fuzzed out rock, some of it has even morphed into music for Deerhunter, which is the case with the two tracks from the Tour CD-R. It’s not definitive there is to much good stuff on there for that, it’s just tracks I have really enjoyed over the years compiled in a way that flows. Dig deep and download see you on the other side.
Tracklist:
#1. Difference BT (Final Mix) #2. Borrowed Nostalgia #3. Words From The Wall (Version II) #4. Guitar 3 [Bitchfest 08] #5. ABC Glasgow #6. Airedale [Maybe Logic Virtual 7”] #7. Sunday Night In Chicago #8. Answer Me (Arthur Russell Remix) #9. Pure UnEvil (Liars Cover) #10. Words From The Wall #11. Rendered [How I Escaped the Prison of Fractals] #12. Activation [Orange Ohms Glow EP] #13. Oliver #14. Track 6 [Tour CD-R] #15. Track 8 [Tour CD-R] #16. Unicorn Rainbow Odyssey (Mark Sultan Cover) #17. Coffin Trick #18. Oh It’s Such a Shame (Jay Reatard Cover) #19. Dog Years by Ghetto Cross (Bradford Cox & Cole Alexander) #20. Dovers Jam [New Years Eve 2008 Live]
Kendal’s very own Asleep Beneath Volcanoes make a really dreamy blend of electronica infused fuzzed out shoegaze and guitar heavy indie rock, what the fuck does indie mean anymore anyway... but I digress. The debut three track EP on the bands own Dormant Records is some good shit.
‘Water’ kicks off things in heavy layers of distorted guitars and screeching electronics with drums that somehow remind me of Joy Division and vocals low in the depths of the mix building layers of lo-fi rocked out sound for an epic eight or so minuets that genuinely fly by.
Things get more electronic and dreamy on ‘Heavy Legs’ there is a daydream like atmosphere at work here. If Worriedaboutsatan took their minimal meets post-rock direction into shoegaze territories it might sound a little like the instrumental parts of this. There is a real techno-y pulse and electronic glitch that really adds to the deeply disturbing treated guitar lines, it’s both euphoric, melancholy and full of twinkling melodies.
The EP is finished up with the foreboding ‘Holiday’, which comes on with a techno pulse and some menacing growls and noise shakes you into being hypnotised by the fuzz before the mellow almost sweet and lonely vocal chants a mantra of, ‘holiday, holiday, wait, wait don’t stay around’ before it all descends into a dark fuzz growl and comes out the other end a little lighter and hopeful somehow.
Go see Asleep Beneath Volcanoes at shows and pick up the EP from them personally or the Dormant Records website. The band said I could give you a taster so grab the track ‘Holiday’ bellow and make up your own mind.
Esben and the Witch make a sweeping ambient sounding post-rock infused with elements of electronica that’s really eerie and melancholic as well as brooding intense and beautiful. The three-some from Brighton may well be named after a Danish fairy tale, which even if it isn’t true and my google skills are just sending me in strange directions it kind of fits, the spooky mesmerising ethereal sounds could sound track some twisted tales.
The vocal delivery really reminds me of the Sneaker Pimps or Portishead it oozes with sweet and fragile yet strong melancholy melody that deal with subjects in wistful story-like ways, her voice really is something of beauty. The instrumentation is just as good and full to the brim with tension built with stretched out other worldly guitars both electric and accoustic making swathes of gritty atmosphere or plucked subtle mellodys and electronic percussion and other elements really adding a sense of energy and dread.
33 is a strong EP throughout starting with the small intro number ‘(abstract)’ that melts seamlessly into ‘eumenidies’ via ghostly tortured singing and a beautiful subtle guitar melody that builds into a dramatic electronic bass pulse, piercing high hats and some gritty post-rock noise. When the tension drops into the stripped back breakdown it takes your breath away.
The middle two tracks ‘marching song’ and ‘about this peninsula’ are definite highlights. The first building with marching percussion and swathes of fuzzed guitar before an electronic pulse kicks in and the vocals really pick up the pace with some really swaggering dramatic pent up melody and words on a lone soldier having to walk into battle. The line of, ‘Your veins are my trenches, my gut is my own, the whispers fall heavy with delicate moans’ really gets things kicking off and peaks the track before it descends into ghostly moans and accordion. ‘About this peninsula’ covers similar themes all while reminding me of a post-rock 15 Steps by Radiohead, this must be because of the drum machine. When the first guitar burst kicks in on this one with a euphoric release after the dramatic build it really shows this bands strength.
Closing track ‘corridors’ is a moody deep number with plenty of bass and darkness that opens out into electronic drones and noisy guitars before drifting into an ambient mid passage before picking up a slow house-like kick and an epic soundscape not unlike a toned down Before the dawn heals us era M83 or early Portishead. It’s a nice number that’s for sure.
Esben and the Witch have an ambient post-rock underbelly that stretches out into full on melodramatic songs that are well worth a listen, 33 is an engaging listen. They are currently un-signed so go and show them some love.
It’s finally here Worriedaboutsatan’s album Arrivals has landed, in your record store on the 25th May. They have been working on it for a year or more now and if you’re a regular reader you’ll maybe remember previous posts on the demos and rough mixes of album tracks that they sent over. But now the finished article is here in its full glory.
Arrivals is a slight departure in sound to previous material the take their beloved ambient post-rock electronica roots and squeeze in their love for minimal techno with truly wonderful results. Electronica and post-rock have long had a relationship but post-rock and minimal, well it’s a new one. The two are joined together effortlessly by Gavin and Tom of Worriedaboutsatan with a subtle pallet of sounds and enchanting song writing.
The album flows effortlessly from one track to the next with the help of small dot named segments of the title track ‘Arrivals’ along with tannoy samples announcing tweaked and freaked coded messages to passengers. Opening track ‘One Down’ really sets the scene, from out of the blue you get bright pads and a gentle build into a big bass drop that loops and draws you in. The only track with a vocal of sorts ‘Evil Dogs’ is a killer track with a dubbed out atmosphere that opens into some beautiful yet sad chords like a minimalist classical piece being tweaked into ambient shape. The beats and bass tones really do propel this one forward as the ghostly vocals swoop in a high and beautifully subtle falsetto taken through a bed of effects.
It’s good to see ‘Pissing About’ didn’t get a name change since the demo stage, plus it’s a monster of a track in a Luciano meets Mono kind of way. The pulsing bass rings out loud and clear over a minimal kick and energetic jacking arpeggios that get tweaked and dubbed out as ambient soundscapes make for a dreamy background. ‘History Is Made At Night’ is in a similar vain but a lot more subtle, glitchy and organic; it’s an undisputed highlight. The way the hook blips and flips into action against the huge kick drum and baseline is sublime.
The delicate guitar ballad ‘You’re In My Thoughts’ is a beautiful melancholic number full of melody. The synth lines and bowed guitar build in layers to create a real sense of hope and subdued joy. Then when it builds it turns into something else all together. The way the beats are slightly industrial and skippy remind me of early SAW era Aphex Twin especially with the subtle and moving chords playing above.
The subtle almost drone like ambient track ‘All Things But You Are Silent’ makes good use of guitars and whooshes with a gentle build up of electronics. It’s a wicked transition to the album closer, ‘Arrivals’ which maybe without noticing you’ve been hearing bits of here and there throughout your journey so when it kicks off you get a feeling like you’ve been here before yet all at once you’re somewhere new. It’s a wonderful track that builds subtly with sampled vocals and violin like sounds and bows on guitars before glitches and bass take you deep, it’s mesmerising. There is a real sense that you’re home from a journey, the vibe is weary yet comfortable and somehow joyous in a slightly melancholy way.
Arrivals is a wicked album and Worriedaboutsatan really do have potential to crossover by joining some post-rock and alternative guitar music fans with the electroinica and minimal crowds. This idea is further enforced by the band dropping a second CD full of remixes, from the likes of P45 and Marco Zenker with the limited addition release of the record.
Straight out of Hungry a pair of producers come out of the mist the first being regular Highpoint Lowlife contributor and maker of sublime electronica that takes found sounds and twists them into beautiful shapes and soundscapes. The other is the reclusive Friskfisk who only really makes music for friends and himself. Yet his best mate Tigrics has brought him out to shine this one and only time.
These productions sound so warm and organic, which is a rare thing sometimes in electro but with Trigrics’ love of home made synths and Friskfisk’s no computer rule the two really do make a sound all of their own. This is a quality EP by two talented producers.
Northern Ireland’s Barry Lynn drops his third Boxcutter album Arecibo Message on Planet Mu and it’s a special one easily up there with his others. He somehow straggles genre boundaries seamlessly to make a sound that is unmistakably his own. Crashing together elements of 2-step, jungle, dubstep, electronica, and an organic sense of atmosphere Boxcutter makes for a great listen anywhere from the home to the dance floor.
Arecibo Message has some truly huge production values as we have come to expect from Barry Lynn and it picks up where Glyphic his previous effort left off but adding even more influences and vibes. You get everything from the ghostly 2-step tinged opener ‘Sidetrack’ to the summer time jungle of ‘Mya Rave’ and freaky skweee funk like on the cosmic ‘S p a c e b a s s’ all the way to super dubbed out atmospheric numbers like ‘Old School Astronomy’.
There are plenty of highlights here, like the Burial-esq future garage of ‘Sidetrack’ which really hits the sweet spot and the soulful vocal track ‘A Familiar Sound’ is pure bliss and sits in the middle of Arecibo Message perfectly, its slightly reminiscent of a really spacious version of Jamie Lidell’s funk or Martyn and dBridge’s ‘These Words’.
The acid dubstep style of ‘Sidereal Day’ is a cracker with its tweaked out acid bass, dubstep snare on the third and an off-kilter skweee funk vibe full of glitches and dub space. ‘Otherside Remix (Earth My Spaceship)’ has a similar feel but with a massive dub feel instead of skweee. Those all familuar dub samples like echo drenched horns and stabs are all present along with space age tweaks and bleeps. The off-kilter jungle of ‘Kap 28’ with infectious breaks and ravey high-pitched vocal snippets, much like ‘Mya Rave’ really kills it.
Arecibo Message is a light affair full of sunshine and funk but this is also off set by deeper moments of blessed out atmosphere and full tilt jungle moments. This one is essential for fans of all shades of dance music.
One of many of supreme jazz drum being Seb Rochford’s groups is hitting The Shed this weekend yet again. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Polar Bear twice and the band tonight Fulborn Teversham just the once in this shed of a venue. Seb is joined by long time collaborator in such bands as Acoustic Ladyland and Polar Bear Pete Wareham on Sax, Nick Ramm on Nord synth and Alice Grant on vocals. They make one hell of a punk infused, experimental jazz racket unlike anything I’ve really heard before. They drift from sweet mellow smokey jazz numbers to full on balls to the wall skronk sessions, they even manage to sound something like ye olde seaside music at times mixed with a hammer horror soundtrack, interesting stuff.
A pint of Shed bitter a hand full of nuts and Fulborn Teversham take the stage, opening with a set of instrumentals in the first half then joined by Alice in the second for some vocal workouts. ‘Count Herbert II’ opens things nicely with a Transylvanian vibe with tweaked synths, elaborate drums and skronky sax. The mood ebbed and flowed from punked out hardcore jazz to deep and mellow ballads about love in a sweet melancholic style. Throughout the night pretty much everything of debut album, ‘Count Herbert II’ was played including maybe two or three new tracks.
The musician-ship on show tonight was something else, this group and all their projects blow me away each and every. Nick on the Nord really does make some quality sounds ranging from deep bass to skewed 8-bit-like gameboy, it’s a joy to hear. Seb’s drums are tight and varied as always playing some full on funk licks this time as well as almost 80’s like stuff in the ballads. Pete on sax can make eerie atmospheres or really crank it up and build layers of psychedelic hard rock-like melodies; he really takes you with him. Alice has such a wicked voice that can go from soft and delicate to all out punky shouts; she has a knack for lyrics too.
Highlights have to be, ‘Beachtune’, ‘Castle Music’, ‘Amazing’ and the closer ‘Silent’. To be fair it was all quality and The Shed bitter has made me forget some names. It was also a special day for The Shed’s head fella Simon, it being his birthday and all so much respect to him for that and putting on so many excellent nights.
The blog Not For Resale (NFR) has recently conducted a study investigating the Last FM stats of the Drowned in Sound community, of which I’m a member. It concluded that, 'jimi is the apex from which everyone else fans out of' and ‘jimitheexploder is the go-to guy for music the rest of us are unlikely to have heard before’. This either means I’m really fucking cool or a massive freak, but then I’m not sure the two are exclusive.
Big up to GoatmeatMF for geeking out and scientifically proving how cool I am once and for all.
Music reviews and words. No leaks. Feel free to comment.
Miss Marple? No Dot Cotton...
Other projects include Sonic Router and the mess around news feed Xpldr and the occasional contribution to Always Everything. Check out the links and RSS bellow for the low down.
'jimi is the apex from which everyone else fans out of' NFR Blog
'so here's to jimitheexploder. The only name to trust' Worriedaboutsatan
'Jimi - whose enthusiasam for this remarkable genre is humbling - he say's "Now that's a single!" And let's face it, I know who I should be more inclined to take my dubstep recommendations from' Wendy Roby of DiS
Joker’s Kapsize imprint has grown from strength to strength since it’s inception last year, from getting dubstep and grime heads excited to drawing in the hip-hop crowd and with the last platter gaining Radio One recognition.
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