Terror Danjah – Bipolar EP [Butterz]

Butterz drop their debut release with three grime bombs built to shake floors by Terror Danjah and his evil twin D.O.K. who turns in a remix. The two Rinse FM grime DJ’s Elijah and Skilliam have been making waves of late tearing up the airwaves with solid sets of grime instrumental fire, it’s been a force to reckon with and a refreshing change of pace from MC led mixtape beats that all to often lacked the vitality and hype that grime can have. To lead the charge they come fully loaded with the Bipolar EP.

The gremlin cackle signifies Terror’s return and kicks into action ‘Bipolar’ bright and chirpy first with neon synth pulses before dropping into some gravely basstones. The whole track feels like Terror Danjah in dubstep mode, but with his very unique raw and energetic approach, it’s hype and dirty. The most addictive track here has to be ‘Air Bubble’ the bursting popcorn rhythms get under your skin and bring the boogie. The hyper-funk synth lines and bass manoeuvres twists and turn and play off the bubble-boogie rhythm loops perfectly. D.O.K. takes on a percy with his ‘Sidechain’ remix getting things moving with a geezer coda chanting ‘come on lets ‘av it’ and when the monstrous bass funk hits and the pumping kicks are let loose you’ve got to obey. By the time the next vocal comes in, ‘if I’m going to have it, I’m going to have it large’ it feels like you’ve been sucked into a techno party in another diminution.

Quality first drop from Butterz who’ve got plenty more up their sleeve, Terror Danjah and D.O.K. are on form here. Pair this up with their recent outing on Hyperdub and you’ve started a 2010 grime 12” collection.

Buy @ Uptown Records

Butterz001 - Terror Danjah - Bipolar EP from Butterz on Vimeo.

http://verybutterz.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/butterzuk
http://www.myspace.com/terrordanjah
http://www.myspace.com/dokmusic

P.S. If you’re a producer get over to the Butterz blog and pick up the parts to ‘Air Bubble’ for your chance to remix Terror Danjah, just for the kicks. Also, hear the remixes so far…

Originally written for Sonic Router.

Live: Anna Rose Carter / Worriedaboutsatan / Her Name Is Calla @ Holy Trinity Church, Leeds. 29th March 2010

Every time I drive to Leeds its raining and tonight was no exception. But this time it wasn’t to go to the sub bass deep end that is Exodus but a Church in the centre of town to see some post-rock in the shape of Worriedaboutsatan and Her Name Is Calla two bands I’ve been wanting to catch live for some time. Worriedaboutsatan because they’re a certified Sonic Minefield favourite after what must be years of listening to their demos and assorted releases such as the wonderful ‘Arrivals’ and the remixes that followed. And Her Name Is Calla as after the Worrier recommended them I kind of fell for the epic restrained emotion of their music. Plus tonight we get a bonus act in the shape of pianist Anna Rose Carter, who I’m unfortunate to say we only caught the end of due to traffic and rain, the little we heard was just beautiful in the church setting and it set the tone for the rest…



Worriedaboutsatan opened with their latest single ‘Heart Monitor’, which you grab from them over the course of their tour and on their website when they come back and if they have any left. The gentle guitar loops and pulsing electronics really become huge mesmerising pieces in the live setting. Plus the vocal, ‘give me your heavy heart’ becomes an emotional mantra that cuts through the loops. Feeling the twisted electronic grooves of their music come alive in such a setting is a real experience too, the beats punch through the epic hall while percussive clicks bubble in all directions. When the bass really drops on ‘Arrivals’ under the slow-mo house kick and bowed-guitar lines it really hits you and has a visceral emotional impact. Hypnotic and beautiful all at once, Worriedabotsatan make the electronics sound like a human pulse while reaching deep into your soul with some seriously moving soundscapes.



Her Name Is Calla played as a seven piece and where the organic counterbalance to the electronics of …satan, utalising guitar, bass and drums along with cello, violin, flute, trombone and keys as well as bits I probably missed. They have a very restrained sound and love the slow reveal. They go from soft, stripped back and touching to grand full crescendos. They played their forthcoming album, ‘The Quiet Lamb’ in its entirety and it was a journey to behold. Each track was so epic and emotive, taking in hushed, intimate moments such as the wonderful single ‘Long Grass’ to pure post-rock crescendos. Their music reminds me of a quite walk in the woods, they have a very natural, organic sound like they’ve carved it lovingly out of fallen trees. In this setting the songs where like a meditative calm and a cathartic workout all at once.



All the artists made the Holy Trinity Church their home tonight, they all connect the dots between each other’s music somehow. With the gentle solo piano of Anna Rose Carter linking with the organic epics of Her Name is Calla who in turn play off the post-rock meets minimal techno/electronica of Worriedaboutsatan. It made for a wonderful bill and a brilliant gig that’s left me with a Zen like calm. Be sure to catch them on the rest of the tour, which is winding its way around the UK and Europe over the coming months.

http://www.myspace.com/annarosecarter
http://www.myspace.com/worriedaboutsatan
http://www.myspace.com/hernameiscalla
http://www.hernameiscalla.co.uk/
http://worriedaboutsatan.co.uk/

Scuba – Triangulation [Hotflush]

The second album from Paul Rose the man behind Hotflush, Berlin’s Sub:Stance club night at the legendry Berghain but as well as being an excellent curator he can create too. Producing deep and techy dubstep for many years, he’s been a main player in the scene releasing tracks as Scuba. There are many 12”s I adore from this producer but Triangulation steps up the game and shows scope that he’s only hinted at before on last years Aesuanic EP. From deep ambient passages through rolling techno and dubstep to spaced out minimalist d’n’b variants it takes in various tempos and vibes seamlessly.

The techno pump of ‘On Deck’ and ‘Heavy Machinery’ see Scuba coming at the sound from two different angles the first a big room shaker and the latter a more spaced out Berlin/Detroit experiment with wide screen bass and space age synth melodies. The one two punch of ‘Traces’ and the deep roller ‘You Got Me’ are the sounds of a dark dance floor that is happy to embrace dubstep sensibilities into techno. Big deep dub bass tones and hypnotic driving synth hook.

The sublime ‘Before’ and ‘So You Think You’re Special’ are the sound of melodic slow burning euphoria. Not unlike Hotflush stable-mate Joy Orbison. Lush synth pads, deeply moving female vocal samples, light ambient crackle and a restrained slow burning build make these tracks really shine. Closing tracks, ‘Glance’ and ‘Lights Out’ take blissful dub techno sounds and seep them in melody for an epic finale.

Scuba talks of being inspired by the divers sounds of dBridge and Instra:mental’s Autonomic project and you can hear the open yet cohesive nature of their vision taking hold with Triangulation. He’s happy to explore all sides from low-slung house, rolling dubstep and d’n’b but makes it firmly his own by creating a mood or style rather than an exercise in genre. Where as some artists fall down when they try and open up their sound Scuba really seems to thrive, he sounds inspired and free, which makes the different tempos, vibes and influences melt together as one singular vision.

Scuba - 'Before' from FACT Magazine on Vimeo.

Download: Scuba – Before (via Xlr8r)

http://www.myspace.com/paulhotflush

Tall Ships – EP [Big Scary Monster]

Cheeky debut four track EP from brand new Big Scary Monster acquisition Tall Ships. The three man band hail from Falmouth via Brighton and make a playful indie sound. Lodged somewhere between the emotional electronics of I Was A Cub Scout, the tender technical guitar work of This Town Needs Guns and a sprinkling of post-rock but with a woozy joyous energy to them that’s all their own.

The EP opens with a curve ball, ‘Books’ which opens innocent enough with gentle melancholic yet bright synths before dropping into some seriously unexpected trance riffing before twisting into a more conventional indie pop verse before delving back into the trance. This all somehow works perfectly and comes off as being pretty uplifting. ‘Words Are Pegs Upon Which We Hang’ crackles into life and a sample you’d maybe expect DJ Shadow use ushers in some clean, tappy guitar melodies and a brass section. It all just comes together nicely and rolls out like a small scale indie version of M83, kind of...

The Africa-aping guitar rhythms of ‘Beanieadodger’ come out sounding like shiny indie pop nuggets, like a freaky re-interpretation of Vampire Weekend’s ‘A Punk’ but it deviates pretty quickly into a rush of energetic surges of post-rock instrumental, not dissimilar to something I’d imagine Errors could pull off, if not a little less electronic. The closer ‘Vessels’ is the closest Tall Ships come to a sea shanty, with group singing and off-centre sea-sick melodies but with an epic sense of post-rock sea-scpaes, folk-like melodies and uplifting melancholy.

At a time when I’m finding less and less indie to adore Tall Ships have come out of nowhere and peaked my interest. Their sound is playful without being annoying or kooky, there is a underlying hopeful yet subdued atmosphere to it all and they seem at home in their own off-kilter world, truly refreshing.

http://www.myspace.com/tallshipsfromfalmouth
http://thepeopleofthisplace.blogspot.com/
http://www.bsmrocks.com/

Eprom – Never / (FaltyDL Rephresh) [Surfire]

Surfire Sound’s debut release features two fine beat makers: Eprom and FaltyDL. Both bring a skippy garage-esq variant to the table. San Fransisco resident Eprom brings the source material and New York’s FaltyDL show us his slant. The two share a love for deeply hypnotic bumping garage full of twisted, clattering drums and funky basslines that seem to echo with an otherworldly spectral atmosphere.

‘Never’ the original is aimed more squarely at the floor compared to FaltyDL’s rephresh. Eprom juggles sizzling high-hats, funky drum patterns, emotive cut-up female vocal samples and a bubbly urgent bassline against subtly progressing bleep-melodies. It’s got all the hallmarks of a post-garage track but steers away from cliché by having a sound that gets under your skin and stays there.

FaltyDL gets darker and more spaced out with his take, chopping the drums up into fragmented breaks and making the samples even more ghostly. The bassline gets dubby and smeared into a pulsing buzz while all the other elements shuffle in all directions. The brake-down melts into sub territory before the breaks and a subtle synth melody takes hold again.

Both versions nail it and will serve adventurous DJs well in the clubs, Eprom’s rolling original should get things bumping and FaltyDL’s will shake things up with its spaced out sub heavy bass pressure. It turns out Eprom and FaltyDL are a deadly combination, expect to see more from both.

http://www.surefiresound.com

http://www.eprommusic.com/

http://www.myspace.com/faltydl

Originally written for Sonic Router.

Stream Round Up: Worriedaboutsatan / Golau Glau & Blue Daisy

A quick round up of new streamable tracks from two of the Sonic Minefield’s favourite groups Worriedaboutsatan and Golau Glau. Plus a quality remix from Blue Daisy of the latter.

Worrieaboutsatan

They recently revealed a couple of teasers for their new single ‘Heart Monitor’, which will be released soon no doubt. It features a sublime little vocal hook by Greg Hoepffner and some addictive minimal beats to go against their blissful post-rock electronics.



http://www.worriedaboutsatan.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/worriedaboutsatan

Golau Glau

A couple of treats from Silver Pop duo Golau Glau: first a very special remix from the excellent Blue Daisy. He twists ‘A Better Drinker’ into new woozy blissful shapes that could only be Blue Daisy. Secondly an organic glitchy slo-mo house instrumental entitled ‘Neuro’. Both tracks are so addictive. Remember these guys aren’t singed yet so if you’ve got a label, you know what to do…

A Better Drinker (Blue Daisy Snow Angel Mix) by golauglau

Neuro by golauglau

http://www.myspace.com/golauglau
http://golauglau.wordpress.com/

Starkey – Stars ft. Anneka [Planet Mu]

Street Bass don Starkey drops another single from his forthcoming album ‘Ear Drums and Black Holes’ on Planet Mu. After the smooth R&B meets grime episode of ‘Ok Luv’ featuring the vocals of Badness comes another vocal cut but in an entirely different tip. This time it features the vocal stylings of Anneka, who you may recall from Starkey’s ‘Build a Beat’ session on Radio One the other month. They team up to show a laid back side to Starkey’s music before Slugabed soon tears down the notion of peace and quite, while Starkey perpetuates things further by making a couple of large ones for the b-side.

‘Stars’ comes in two forms here the original is a warm, mellow and cosmic journey, while Slugabed takes that template and explodes in a freak experiment that leans it more towards the dance floor. Anneka shines on both, either sweetly floating over the original’s deep space soul or being chopped into melodic accents on Slugabed’s. The remix isn’t as bat-shit as some Sluga, he just adds a nice bit of robo-boogie and keeps the vibe of the original in-between outbursts of smeared bass noise and clattering beats.

The two b-sides see Starkey back in the mode we’re most use to: on ‘Starting Gates’ he unleashes some of his evil bots, who I presume control the basslines as they’re pretty deviant. But as always Starkey’s melodic nature nestles the hype in twisted musical progressions. It’s the wide screen cinematic experience of ‘Millennia’ that really takes the biscuit on the flip, Starkey shows his Imax ambition with massive builds full of sweeping synths before launching into a hyper-melodic bass drop and flurry of snappy R&B beats.

It’s another solid selection from Starkey that shows depth and versatility, which bodes damn well for his forthcoming album ‘Ear Drums and Black Holes’. Starkey does street bass in space.

http://www.myspace.com/starkey

http://www.myspace.com/annekamusic

http://www.myspace.com/slugabedmusic

http://www.planet-mu.com/

Originally written for Sonic Router.

RxRy – Snwmltr / RxRy

Mysterious electronica producers are ten a penny so without further a do here comes RxRy, maybe pronounced ‘RexRay’ if I’m reading the myspace page clues correctly came to my attention the other day and the bright and mellow vibes suited the Sunday well. RxRy has a restrained, reflective electronica meets techno thing going on, you can imagine it either on Kompakt or as the soundtrack to the start of a hazy day. There isn’t anything glitchy about it, yet it’s not quite straight forward either. Loops and atmosphere, woozy soundscapes that remind me of the coming spring. Currently unsigned RxRy has released a debut eight-track s/t album and an EP entitled ‘Snwmltr’ as free downloads via the myspace (links bellow too).

Lightly bit crushed crackles, floating pads and strings along with heart pulse drums and subtle yet funky basslines are the mainstay of the RxRy sound and the two releases reflect this. Usually I like my electronica a little rawer or addled with glitches but there is something here that keeps bringing me back. The highlights include: ‘Sw Crstl Mlts’ an uplifting arpegiated almost trance like number from Snwmltr, it just cycles through its melody until some heartbeat drum kicks filter in half way through. The digital beach-scapes of ‘Hlljh Snds’ filter bird song and breeze through zeros and ones until you’re hypnotised by a droning bass tone. ‘Bld Drft’ takes bass guitar loops and keeps them fast and urgent but with that omnipresent dreamy atmosphere still in tact.

The s/t album is where things come into there own though, maybe it’s the added vowels in the titles that did it… The ultra smooth and woozy opener ‘Baulkn Slhts’ gently bubbles under with subtle loops and pads over a kick pulse. There is a melancholy yet hopeful emotional ambiance around RxRy’s music here maybe it’s the sound pallet or the gentle melodies. The electro drum hits on ‘Eaurowi’ play off the melodic pads and shifting subtly digitally distorted guitar loops, there is something a bit post-rock about it. The choppy pads on ‘Prajhil Ryhtm’ feel like a gentle morning light has just crept through your curtains, RxRy even gets a bit funky with the synth bass line here. Maybe the most upbeat track yet ‘Convrtbl Bvbes’ has a house kick and warm, bright looping pads but with a subtly hypnotic layer of guitar floating over it all. RxRy even gets a little evil on ‘Edvrd Rvrfy Guitr’ where he sounds like an outtake to a disturbing cyber chase dream sequence from a long lost SNES game. ‘Cartuulo Ashtry’, the final track eases you out into the calm…

If you’re a fan of gentle bedroom electronica of the likes of Gold Panda or The Field then you’re sure to find something in RxRy, you can get lost in these productions. The tracks seem simple as they progress, there are no wild twists or out there sounds. You just get some blissful slices of bedroom electronica to ease your day.

Edvrd Rvrfy Guitr - RxRy - RxRy 2010 from Rx Ry on Vimeo.

RxRy - "RxRy" 8 song LP

Download here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mdtccs2myd9

RxRy - "SNWMLTR" 4 song EP

Download here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mpj4mngtyjl

http://www.myspace.com/rxry

Geiom Ft. Marita – Sugar Coated Lover / Brackles & Shortstuff Remix [Berkane Sol]

Geiom’s Berkane Sol is an essential label and ‘Sugar Coated Lover’ is another reason why. They’ve been exploring the fringes of dubstep, house and garage for quite some time as well as introducing us to some sparkling new talent along the way, see: Brackles, Shorstuff, Spamchop, Earlybird and The Hizatron for example, some even for the first time… The last time Geiom made an outing with vocalist Marita it was on the anthem ‘Reminissin’ so this is a welcome return.

Geiom and Marita’s ‘Sugar Coated Lover’ is a house anthem waiting to happen, the vocals deal with the age old notions of falling in love over melancholic house pads and slinky groove that goes right to your feet and hips because of the infectious bassline and subtle percussive elements that shakes the kick free from its four four pattern while keeping the drive. But most importantly it has that infectious bitter sweat loved up vibe that should bring a smile to the dance floor.

Brackles & Shorstuff pop the cork on the sparkling stuff and drop a remix on a garage flex. They take their energetic 8-bit boogie, a bassline that’s full of momentum and splice it with some of that broken 2-step magic, a dash of cut up vocals and plenty of the original vocal to make it into something with a harder dance floor hustle but with that all important slinky garage bump.

Three producers that have been at the top of their game for a while all showing their flex along with some brilliantly emotive vocals from Marita: equals an essential 12” that will add a bitter sweat dance floor soul to your record bag.

http://www.myspace.com/geiom

http://www.myspace.com/djshortstuff

http://www.myspace.com/brackles

Originally written for Sonic Router.

Video Round Up: Esben & The Witch / Worriedaboutsatan

A quick look at some recent visual treats, featuring two Sonic Minefield favourites: Esben & The Witch and Worriedaboutsatan. They both hauntingly beautiful in their own way.

Esben & The Witch - Lucia, At The Precipice




Brilliant young Brighton based band make their video debut with a ghostly little number. They’re currently on tour supporting some big names in indie land so if you don’t know get to know.

http://www.esbenandthewitch.co.uk/


Worriedaboutsatan – Heart Monitor: Teaser I/II

Heart Monitor teaser from worriedaboutsatan on Vimeo.

heart monitor teaser II from worriedaboutsatan on Vimeo.

Leeds duo Worriedabotsatan drop a couple of cryptic teasers for the forthcoming single Heart Monitor. They’re currently readying their tour with the wonderful Her Name Is Calla.

http://www.worriedaboutsatan.co.uk/

Oneman – Rinse: 11 [Rinse Recordings]

You’ve got to love a good DJ: One that has the skills to match their selection, one that digs deep into their crates just as much as they dig for the party anthems, one that brings personality to the mix and brings disparate elements together like they where always meant to be… Well Oneman is that guy. He came to prominence a few years back by mixing up old garage classics with dubstep and bringing a refreshing twist to the table that helped re-energise the scene. Since then he’s just continued to shine and bring different elements into his sets from all over the spectrum of sounds vaguely related to the uk bass underground. Rinse: 11 shows Oneman in fine form.

Opening with an unreleased gem from the LHF crew’s Double Helix which has that Keysound vibe, a found sound urban atmosphere that ushers us in perfectly before melting into a percussive number by Ramadanman and the spaced out broken funky of Martin Kemp. Already you’re in to an interesting mix before he throws the almost Clash-like Martyn mix of The Detachments, a track that’s never floated my boat before but works well in the flow. Oneman keeps the twisted uk funky hybrids further with a double header of Kode9 and Martyn who bring the smeared synths and driving bass. The stripped back carnival drum machine workout of ‘Klambu’ is a killer too.

But its when he drops the calm before the storm that is Martyn’s beatless remix of ‘Acid Bells’ by Efdemin into the mix to really mellow it out that you know you’re in the hands of a master deck-smith. It slows down the vibe and makes for a brilliant segway into some rougher funky. Which comes in the form of a Oneman special of Ms Dynamite & Geeneus anthem ‘Get Low’. Sticky keeps the auto-tune dancehall/funky vibes going with ‘Jack It Up’ before the massively addictive ‘Rubberband VIP’ that somehow manages to meet somewhere in the middle ground between bassline/funky/electro and sound good. A trick Bok Bok also manages to pull off with the insane rave-up that is ‘Citizen Dub’ with it’s ascending descending bass motif, but not before the detuned electronic steel drum coda of ‘The Flying Saucer’.

Another switch up happens with the certified crossover anthem ‘Hyph Mngo’ where Oneman picks up the pace but spaces it out to by dropping a bit of 140-dubstep-ish after all the ‘what u call it?’-130-ish... Hyph still packs a punch and gets juxtaposed nicely against the badman riddim ‘Hard’ by the Newham Generals and Breakage, which is find by ‘Mweei’. The twisted grimey hyper-funk comes next in the form of Desto, Joker, 2000F & J Kamata and Starkey who bring their unique wonked-out synth styles to the fore, Starkey’s ‘Rain City’ sounding very much like a big melodic crescendo of epic proportions just like the Brackles closer ‘I Love London’.

Oneman takes us on a journey showcasing his unique DJ vision and some of the hottest tracks around, dropping a vibrant selection in a way not many can pull off. If you’re familiar with his Rinse FM shows you’ll know what to expect here and if you’re not then this is a good a place as any to see what the fuss is about.

http://www.myspace.com/1mandj

http://www.rinse.fm/

10-20 – Mountain [High Point Lowlife]

Third in the Landforms series EPs that have already seen 10-20 explore ‘Island’ and ‘Lake’ comes ‘Mountain’ a heady set of tracks. The Devon based producer takes his dense ghostly glitch addled electronica right up the conceptual mountain towards some skewed panoramic views. 10-20 is the sound of millions of nano-bots carrying out minuscule tasks as one flowing organism, turning the tiny elements of sound and shifting them into a cohesive whole like they’re carving a mountain out of found elements in a precise mechanical manner with an otherworldly organic flow.

The four tracks come thick with layers of sound: ‘Wercc’ opens the EP the way it means to go on, you don’t get much let up or change in pace here, just a steady stream of hypnotic glitches that seem to create a free roaming world of their own. ‘Wercc’ has an open air vibe, like your first breath on a cool county walk but it soon gets a little twisted as it’s fed through crunchy glitches and swirls. The ping-pong tweaks and bleeps of ‘Globe’ hit next, they echo an eerie calm under the tweaked out percussion, its reminiscent of an Aphex b-side that’s been washed-out and funk’d up…

‘Majik’ picks up the pace a little, with a spectral breakbeat clatter and airy soulful pads cut into something almost reminiscent of FaltyDL’s urban cityscapes, we’re still firmly in 10-20’s twisted vicinity mind but this track bumps. Finally ‘Littoral’ brings everything to a hypnotic close via echo drenched orchestral drones, space-laser synths and subtle rhythms to a windswept summit.

‘Mountain’ is another strong Landforms addition that takes Highpoint Lowlife and 10-20 nicely into 2010.

Buy: 10-20 – Mountain [Highpoint Lowlife]

http://www.myspace.com/1020musik

http://highpointlowlife.com/

Trouble Books – Gathered Tones [MIE]

The lo-fi bedroom ambient pop maestros Trouble books are back to follow up last years ‘Endless Pool EP’ and their wonderful debut album ‘The United Colours Of Trouble Books’ with a full another full length on MIE. ‘Gathered Tones’ sees the group expand their sound a little and reach ever so slightly out of the house and into the unknown. The last two outings where so homely it was almost as if they recorded their lives while bumbling around the house and they just happened to sound like songs, found sounds and everyday lyrics brought beauty out of the mundane. This time they keep some of that edge but expand it and it’s as though they’re gazing into the stars via a telescope in the garden or attic, with melodic synths adding a cosmic edge.

If you’ve seen the homemade sci-fi epic by Christmas On Mars by The Flaming Lips you’ll know that everyday items can be transformed into other worldly spaceship fixtures or alien appendages, a child’s toy as a control panel, a vacuum cleaner as a futuristic gizmo. All they need is imagination and a little tinfoil. On ‘Gathered Tones’ Trouble Books do just that but for your ears, they build a homemade space station of sound! Then move in like it’s a second home.

The gentle warm tones of ‘Ascending Kidney’ usher in the album along with sweat vocals and spaced out sweeping synths that are balanced out with melodic strumming and field crackles. ‘Past The New Parking Deck’ bubbles like a lo-fi Postal Service with subtler drums and a cooler nonchalant air, its all space bleeps like the Jetson’s rocket car, sequenced bass tones and souring tremolo guitar tones before it transcends into a twinkling crescendo of arpeggiated synth lines. ‘From Colfax Place’ continues the theme of a second home in outer space. They combine the synths effortlessly with their found sound folk and guitars, some bands struggle and seem to strap them on clumsily bit Trouble Books ooze with restrained confidence when they unleash them.

‘Arms Full Of Lemons’ strips back the cosmic stylings with its gently plucked guitar outro that’s drenched in warm reverb with what sounds like a game of ping pong in the background. ‘Abandoned Monorail Station’ is on a similar tip too, putting orchestral swells deep in the background droning away under weary floating melodies.

Somehow ‘Tropical Islands, Germany’ almost sounds like it could be at home on Planet Mu, with its twisted synthesizer shimmers before it drops into baroque woodwind pop and a brooding breakdown that sounds like you’ve been jettisoned into space.

The wonderful ‘Sudden Loop’, takes a looping sample and floats it against acoustic guitars and melodica where it becomes a subtly psychedelic backdrop to Linda’s vocals. This looping sample technique is taken further with the ‘Dusk Accelerator’ into where woodwind gets twisted into twirling patterns before dropping into a slow atmospheric number that soon turns into introspective stargazing soundscapes. Things come to a close with ‘Houseplants’ where synths harmonise beautifully with the guitars again to create a lonely, laidback yet hopeful atmosphere.

‘Gathered Tones’ flows beautifully as a whole and adds another string to Trouble Books’ bow. The space age synths work beautifully with their ambient found sound pop songs. The album just keeps giving and opens up with each listen, the heartfelt melancholic stories get under your skin and the beautiful music subtly grows on you until you crave its shimmering homely sound and gentle homemade sonic space station melodies.

Order: http://miemusic.co.uk/GTLP.html

Download: Trouble Books - Past The New Parking Deck(Right Click Save As)

http://www.myspace.com/barkandhiss
http://www.barkandhiss.com/
http://miemusic.co.uk/

Polar Bear – Peepers [Leaf]

The Seb Rochford led outfit Polar Bear are back again, this time on Leaf with their fourth album ‘Peepers’, which see them keeping the same general band dynamic of Seb Rochford on drums, Leafcutter John on electronics, Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart duelling on sax while Tom Herbert keeps the bass rolling. But as always they look to keep their sound progressing and taking different directions. With their last album, the s/t ‘Polar Bear’ they branched out into sprawling jazz jams and the Mercury nominated ‘Held On The Tips Of Fingers’ before it was more of a dynamic beast. ‘Peepers’ sees the band at their most raw: they’ve gone for a really live sound this time. They always had an organic, live feel of a full band working as one in a single space. But now that dynamic is really brought to the fore.

The opening track ‘Happy For You’ welcomes you in with super bright and upbeat song writing, with bass lines bouncing off guitars and sax in a joyous outburst. ‘Bap Bap Bap’ follows on a similar tip, if not slightly more subdued with a Balkan skank feel to it. The abrasively disjointed ‘Drunken Pharoah’ see Leafcutter John’s crunching electronics take the stage and play off the tight harmonized sax stabs and lilting percussion to great effect, its an unpredictable number but it shines in its own freaked out way.

Things calm down a bit for the beautifully atmospheric ‘The Love Didn’t Go Anywhere’ with its gently building reverberating guitars and emotional sax lines that go from melancholy melodies to heartstring pulling fluttering and back again with ease. It’s a romantic sounding song with the classy feel of a smoky bar room and a well cut suit. ‘A New Morning Will Come’ (see video bellow) picks up the mood a little from the lonely to hopeful with teasing drones that melodies float out of and bumping beats that stay subtle yet driving all at once. The interplay between sax’s here is sublime, you get lost in the harmonies as they progress and flow out of the drones. It’s an undoubted highlight.

Title track ‘Peepers’ really gets under your skin, you’ll find yourself humming its folk-funk melodies, no idea how folk-funk is possible but Polar Bear make it so by being ultra funky with acoustic instruments and a really human organic sound. There influences come out in subtle ways, you can’t quite pin point where one idea comes from or how they manage to fit together but they combine to make a unique sound that’s a joy to listen to.

‘Bump’ and ‘Scream’ come out of the gates like a maniac before the brilliantly upbeat ‘I Hope Every Day Is A Happy New Year’, unfurls itself with firework noises and an unhinged jollity that breaks down into an off-centre broken lilt full of passion and tension before the party sounds feed there way back in through the discord.

The gentle almost bosanova shuffle beats of ‘I Want To Believe Everything’ offset some beautiful mood setting tones from the sax and double bass. The reverberation on these elements really brings it together and gives it a spaced out feel. The disconcerting vocal loops of ‘Finding Our Feat’ meet somewhere between the Middle Eastern sounds of someone like Muslim Gauze and Polar Bear’s own unique sound and when they really set in they become more meditational than disturbing. The closing track ‘All Here’ takes us down a smoother route with a romantic end of night slow dance theme to it.

‘Peepers’ sees Polar Bear in top form, they’ve come back with an album that is just as assessable as ‘Held On The Tips Of Fingers’ yet altogether a different beast. The performances gel brilliantly; when each musician takes the lead the others work perfectly with them before they all melt back into one singular theme. The live vibe rally gives ‘Peepers’ a vibrant atmosphere. It’s a dynamic and diverse album taking in many moods and sounds, which will keep you coming back for more where you’ll find new layers to explore with each listen.

Polar Bear - A New Morning Will Come from Leaf Label on Vimeo.

Seb Rochford (Polar Bear) mixtape by theleaflabel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X5j2LK1ses
http://www.myspace.com/sebastianrochford
http://www.polarbearmusic.com
http://www.theleaflabel.com/polarbear

Terror Danjah – Acid/Terror Danjah Ft. DOK – Pro Plus [Hyperdub]

Unless you count Joker Hyperdub haven’t released any grime before, which is a pretty amazing feet considering Kode9 has always been a strong advocate of the sound. Maybe there just wasn’t much need for grime on Hyperdub back then, the labels dark distopian sound in the early years may not have suited grime. But now the horizons have expanded and the raw synth led hyper-funk of more recent material opens the doors back up for grime and especially Terror Danjah and DOK.

‘Acid’ sees Danjah on an old skool rave tip merging his hard skipping hyper-funk with ’92 Hoover synths not far off being a homage to The Prodigy’s ‘Charlie’, minus the cartoon cat samples which have been replaced with some seriously big funk hooks and drum programming to die/dance for. ‘Pro Plus’ sees Terror Danjah hook up with the underrated DOK, thought to be his evil twin who stays in the shadows… who also has a distinctive hard-funk sound that’s maybe more percussive than Terror’s. Sub bass grooves and swirling synth melodies get things bumping next to a spacious drum groove. The two work together perfectly and unleash a twisted slab of hyper-funk that could give primetime Timberland a run for his money.

Two supremely funky grime offerings from two quality producers, they harness the raw energy of the genre and offset it with a musical edge that really brings things alive. Again Hyperdub bring the goods and open up their boundaries even more while keeping that distinctive sound firmly in tact.

http://www.myspace.com/terrordanjah

http://www.myspace.com/dokmusic

http://www.myspace.com/hyperdub

Originally written for Sonic Router.

Rude Kid – Jack Daniels EP [No Hoods No Hats]

Are you ready!?! That’s Rude Kid’s sonic trademark, when you hear that in the mix you know you’re getting a quality beat. The grime producer has been a staple of sets for so long now: shows or mixtapes hardly go by without you hearing that familiar sonic mem, it’s engrained in my mind along with Terror Danjah’s gremlin cackle and Silencer’s ‘Terrrrreeeey’ as a signifier for, ‘it’s going to go off’. It’s not his first time out on No Hoods No Hats either with the ‘Are You Ready EP’. Plus he comes hot on the heels of Royal T’s insane ‘1UP or Shatap EP’ and last years anthem ‘Next Hype’ by the one and only Tempz, but Rude Kid easily holds his own in such company with this new instrumental EP.

The title track ‘Jack Daniels’ is a freak hybrid of hard pulsing techno, dubstep, funky and grime. The four to the floor kicks and beefy bass pulses wouldn’t be to out of place in an old Laurent Garnier set next to ‘Crispy Bacon’ or ‘Acid Eiffel’. But they’re equally at home in the boxes of grime DJs too the track bangs hard and should add some energy to sets. Rude Kid then drops the instrumental to his shake up of Man Like Me’s ‘London Town’, it’s a bubbling garage number with a grime flex, piano licks, skippy drums, rudeboy bass and it pretty much hits the spot.

The flip is the grimiest: ‘Emergency’ brings out the big guns with its dirty, grizzly bass tones, raw funk and cheeky rave stabs that are guaranteed to make you skank. ‘Best Crawler’, a collaboration with Terror Danjah is the highlight of a solid package. It’s got the hard-funk and raw power of both producers, along with both of their sonic trademarks. Plus the flip between huge bass pulses, grimy violins, Gameboy-esq bleeps and propulsive, musical trance-like elements just kills it.

With grime’s instrumental releases picking up once again on vinyl with big hitters and new kids on the block loading their guns ready for release on labels like Butterz, Hyperdub, Planet Mu and Numbers as well as No Hats No Hoods, Rude Kid is out the blocks with an EP full of grime tools to get things moving in fine style.




http://www.myspace.com/nohatsnohoods

http://www.myspace.com/rudekidproductions

Written for Sonic Router.

Video: Polar Bear - A New Morning Will Come [Leaf]

Just a quick heads up: Polar Bear release their fourth album entitled ‘Peepers’ on March 1st 2010 via Leaf and I can tell you it’s sounding brilliant, but more on that later. For now check out the video for ‘A New Morning Will Come’.

Polar Bear - A New Morning Will Come from Leaf Label on Vimeo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X5j2LK1ses
http://www.myspace.com/sebastianrochford
http://www.polarbearmusic.com
http://www.theleaflabel.com/polarbear

Her Name Is Calla – Long Grass EP [Denovali Records]

Epic and emotional folk drenched post-rock from the Leeds band Her Name Is Calla. I bumped into this band via the wonderful Worriedaboutsatan who led me to them with a gentle nudge and before I knew it the subtle sounds of Her Name Is Calla really got under my skin, they also happen to be on tour with each other pretty soon. The ‘Long Grass EP’ is out now on Denovali Records and is the pre-cursor to the forthcoming album ‘The Quiet Lamb’. This EP concentrates on their quieter side; they unleash three dynamic tracks that seem to build from a whisper into grand emotional soundscapes.

The title track, ‘Long Grass’ opens proceedings with an icy plucked melody and a lonely hushed vocal and it all starts to build layer upon subtle layer with sparse elements playing off each other. It’s the subdued/prolonged crashes that accent the gentle shifting elements that tug on your heartstrings, especially when the orchestral parts feed in it’s the soundtrack to a long walk in the wilderness, alone... ‘A Sleeper’ is a happier number: it’s got a community vibe where they all come together to sing gang vocals and clap, in a manner that reminds me of a skeletal Broken Social Scene line-up if they where ghosts and from the UK. It’s a really full, orchestral track that builds with ease before disappearing: A delicately uplifting track. The final song, ‘The White And The Skin’ takes acoustic melodies and subtle melodic droning brass to create an otherworldly backing to the vocals. The vocals go from hushed, loner to something with a restrained bombast before the backing vocals usher in a calm, which is soon broken by the passionate ending.

Her Name Is Calla echo that time of the year when the winter isn’t quite over yet and glimpses of spring keep appearing just to be taken out by a random frost, at least they do on the ‘Long Grass EP’ and I mean that in a good way too. They somehow balance cold subdued elements with warm comforting ones to grate effect. It’s a brooding, at times dark and even ghostly. It’s a set of songs that has a delicate and beautiful feeling to it, plus the acoustic instruments really gives them a warm comforting sound that lifts the mood of the songs from being too melancholy and makes them rather touching instead.



Order: http://denovali.com/hernameiscalla/

Info: http://www.hernameiscalla.co.uk/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hernameiscalla

Don’t forget the Tour with Worriedaboutsatan…
UK TOUR DATES - MARCH 2010
27 - Glasgow | The Flying Duck
28 - Newcastle | The Cluny*
29 - Leeds| Holy Trinity Church
30 - Leicester | Firebug
31 - London | The Lexington
*Her Name is Calla only

12”

Another episode in the sporadic series that goes by the name of: ‘Eight random platters from my record bag that I’m kind of addicted to right now’.

Baobinga – Ride It/Ride It (Untold remix) [Build]
Tough rhythmic house from Baobinga, the original bangs hard with a heavy broken, tribal feel that’s so chunky it’ll make the dance floor bumpy. Untold turns it into an evil bass pulse driven number that ups the pressure nicely.

D1 – Just Business/Pitcher [Dub Police]
Jungle infused dubstep from D1. Just Business comes out of the dark via a sample from The Wire, clattering drums and bass big enough to shake down Hamsterdam. Pitcher goes all bleepy with funky-esq drum patterns that are pretty infectious.

Starkey – Rain City/Beatingz [Rwina Records]
Street Bass Don, comes back with two slices of pure dance floor fire that combine his gutter music hyper-funk, party starting ideas with a gnarly bright and trancy set of riffs that are so melodic that they get lodged in your brain.

Harmonimix – A Milli/Bills Bills Bills [White]
Cheeky white label from the mysterious Harmonimix, if you know your bass heads you’ll easily pick up the clues on who’s behind this. Both tracks take the well-known numbers into twisted soul-funk/dubstep hybrid, with buckets of funk. The finale to ‘A Milli’ harmonizes Lil Wayne’s raps in a way you just don’t see coming.

Pangaea – Pangaea EP [Hessle Audio]
12” Double pack from a producer that always brings a subtle timeless vibe to his tracks that just oozes quality. Here we see him branch out his style a bit compared to recent material. ‘Why?’ uses quick jungle meets funky drums, a bumping bassline and emotion packed vocal sample to great effect. ‘Neurons’ takes on dubstep at its own game, a half-stepping deep as hell Headhunter meets Youngsta number. ‘Sunset Yellow’ takes subtle atmosphere; a deadly chord sequence and bumping electronic drums accented with tribal rolls and makes a really slow burner that gets under your skin. The rest slays as well…

A Made Up Sound – Sun Touch/Drain/Untitled (Original Shortcut) [A Made Up Sound]
2562 whips out his alter ego for some slower paced techno infused gems. ‘Sun Touch’ meets techno and garage halfway down a hall in a dark basement; the warm house stabs and gentle horror pads build the track with minimal ease. ‘Drain’ takes the pads further into warm, detuned bliss, fleshing out the dark sparse beats. The ‘Untitled’ track is an original from the Shortcuts album, which showed him working out sketches, this one turned into the fantastic ‘Love In Outer Space’.

Martyn – Hear Me (Zomby remix)/Seventy Four (Redshape remix) [3024]
Quality remixes of tracks from Martyn’s album last year: Zomby takes us into bumping house territory, with big dub basslines and psychedelic synth licks, it’s seriously addictive stuff. Redshape goes all dub-techno, low slung and cold, echoing Detroit as much as Berlin.

Sully – J Treole – The Loot (Sully remix)/In Some Pattern [Keysound]
Insanely addictive 12” from Sully, the garage swing king. His remix of ‘The Loot’ goes deep and jazzy with plenty of bump and bass, which really offsets the smooth jazz vibes perfectly. ‘In Some Pattern’ is a super slinky, low swung beast with twisted anthemic synth hooks that build and drop into bass fuelled oblivion.

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The James Clever Quintet – Ten Stages Of A Make Up [Ondryland]

The Eastbourne based quintet make a frantic, catchy and slightly unhinged hardcore-punk hybrid that oozes energy as well as ideas, but most importantly they’ve got the tunes too: ‘Ten Stages Of A Make Up’ is their debut release despite playing live together for several years and it’s a quality six track ride through the JCQ sound. This EP just rock’s they nail down a hardcore sound that fits somewhere between frantic, energetic hooky rock and spazz-out, space-case jam sessions.

The six tracker kicks off with a track that just rolls off the toung, ‘I Do, You Do, We do Voodoo’ with riffs and high-hats blazing into a fizzy broth of sound: They’ll get your head nodding, when the vocals start matching the riffs word for chord and the drums propel you into the pit, wind-milling that guy’s pint into oblivion… If I was an idiot I’d say that this lot are like an unhinged, less blazed, more on edge Queens Of The Stone Age that grew up in the UK on a steady diet of Hardcore rather than learning how to roll a fat one. Track two, ‘Throne To The Lines’ thrashes the living shit out of you with barbed guitar strings and spaced out post-punk like overtones that ring out like beacons through the frantic riffs. This lot keep it tight and hooky, harnessing their ideas into a rock soup that really straggles the edge between experimental hardcore and full on rock prowess, I’m already salivating at the idea of catching them live... As I’m more a master of sound rather than lyrics, I’m missing the all-important words and they come think and fast with plenty of hooks to shout along too, I’m just shit at picking them up, if I reviewed an acapela album I’d be on about the breaths and pauses, man... ‘Pink & Blues’ gets more spaced out, utilising a funky rock groove that gets the rim shots firing and bass doing a workout, and even an organ.

‘The Shame’ gets unleashed like a madman that only gets rained in by vocal hooks (I dunno, like a sheep dog whistle? But with vocal hooks?). They really don’t let up it just keeps coming heavy. The spaced out fuzz rock of ‘TNT’ keeps the adrenalin going before going clown shoes like a Balkan, and doing a circus punk skank into the final track, ‘Coming Of Age’. Which gives you a rest-bite with space age synth-scapes that sound like they’re from a long lost scene of A Clockwork Orange, if the soundtrack happened to be played by a mad hardcore band from Eastbourne. Frantic drum hits and riffs as heavy as trucks (including driver and Ginster’s pasties…) build to a crescendo and let loose before the creepy as hell horror show; I’ve just walked into the hillbilly local shop and run out of petrol, late at night with a killer on the loose… distorted steel guitar record plays out and I see a blade shine off the old gas lamp…

‘Wasn’t that lovely?’

The James Clever Quintet make an interesting racket that will take you on its journey through brutal riffing and relentless hooks with ease. Their sound is kind of addictive; the energy keeps you coming back for more.

Catch them on tour with Blakfish, dates on the Myspace.

Buy: http://thejcq.bigcartel.com/

Info: http://www.myspace.com/thejcq

Label: http://www.ondryland.com