Last Ever Mary Anne Hobbs Show w/ Kode9 & Burial

It’s was the last Mary Anne Hobbs show last night, she’s a legend and has introduced me to so much music over the years. Big up Mary!

Listen again here. It features a quality mix by these two…

Kode9 & Burial

01. Speedy J – Tesla
02. Zomby – Natalia’s Song
03. Brandy – Never Say Never (El-B version 1)
04. Brandy – Never Say Never (El-B version 2)
05. Brandy – Angel (X-Men vocal mix)
06. Laurie Spiegel – Voices Within – A Requiem
07. Alena – Turn It Around (Hard House Bantons Mandy Mix)
08. Cooly G – Him Da Biz
09. Theo Parrish – Soul Control feat. Alena Waters
10. KMFH aka Kyle Hall – Girl U So Strong (Wild Oats)
11. Terror Danjah – S.O.S.
12. Darkstar – 2 Chords
13. Prince – Condition of the Heart
14. Erykah Badu – Telephone
15. Foul Play – Being With U Rmx
16. A Guy called Gerald – Silent Cry

http://www.maryannehobbs.com/

Burial / Four Tet – Moth / Wolf Club [Text]

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.

http://www.myspace.com/burialuk

http://www.myspace.com/fourtetkieranhebden

Burial Collaborations

Burial has been quite ever since the mercury awards last year, well at least he hasn’t been in the public eye since then. But my god he has been busy where it counts most: in the studio if the rumours are right anyway.

First of all I read in an interview some time ago on ukhh with Flying Lotus where he mentioned after being asked about any Anglo-American collaborations he said, ‘I’ve also been working on something long term with Burial’ read it for your self here. This got my foaming at the mouth at the prospect, yet it was quite some time ago now and nothing has surfaced and there has hardly been a whisper since.

Then from the deep dark dance FWD>> comes news about people hearing a track that sounded like Burial from dBridge and low and behold confirmation comes from dubstepforum. Someone bumped into dBridge and he confirmed it.

There have been rumours a plenty for some time about Burial and D’n’B legend and Metalheadz owner Goldie hooking up but again nothing has surfaced and I once spent a good few hours locked into a sup-par Goldie hosted radio show on 1Xtra that promised a some sort of Burial action that never came.

Now for the real mouth watering part just a few weeks ago word came from a distributor that a Burial & Four Tet 12” was ready to drop at any moment. The tracks ‘Moth’ and ‘Wolf Cub’ are said to feature and I really don’t think any one but the lucky few have heard it, until clips appeared on Juno just yesterday. It sounds like business as usual from Burial but with a real tropical vibe and a four to the floor effort on the flip. I’m really not sure if it’s a collaboration or a split, but we will see next week.

Listen: Burial / Four Tet – Moth / Wolf Cub (Via Juno)


Then once again out of nowhere, well I say nowhere I mean Blackdown’s wicked Pitchfork column in an interview about Loefah’s new label Swamp 81 came word of Loe and Burial hooking up to remix Kryptic Minds for a 12” after the album drops.

I can almost hear these collaborations in my head when I think of the artists involved. Just imagine FlyLo’s organic flowing grooves playing off the sharp crackle of Burial’s ghostly garage or the D’n’B stylings of dBridge and Goldie bringing back the spirit of jungle together with a new pioneer. Then there is the subtle electronica of Four Tet with his crisp layers of atmospherics along side Burial’s vision. The deep half-stepping dark vision of Loefah with its massive bass and minimalist approach will be one hell of a juxtaposition to Burial’s riddims and Kryptic Minds vision of dubstep. Who knows when we will get to hear any of them mind but the mere speculation is pretty tantalising.

All pretty interesting stuff, and who says the mystery of Burial is now gone since the fuckers at The Sun ‘unmasked’ him. The music is doing the talking and that’s the way we like it.

http://www.myspace.com/burialuk

http://www.myspace.com/flyinglotus

http://www.myspace.com/exitrecords

http://www.myspace.com/metalheadzltd

http://www.myspace.com/fourtetkieranhebden

http://www.myspace.com/loefah

http://www.myspace.com/swamp81

S P A C I A L

http://infrasonics.net/

If you enjoy your 2-step in a ghostly kind of skeletal style not unlike the still pretty damn anonymous Burial then Spatial is going to be right up your street. Now, now don’t be going ape-shit over the Burial comparison this is just some more futuristic garage in a slightly atmospheric vibe for you to enjoy.

He dropped a 10” recently that Boomkat fell over it’s self to feature as it’s single of the week, which all at once makes me a bit weary and a bit proud. Weary because Boomkat have a habit of hyping a lot of things that just sound like basic channel and / or Burial when the mood takes them, but proud in that I had seen Spatial’s name before on dubstepforum and really dug his dubs well before I saw the wax was pressed.

Spatial kind of came out of know here with me, I just heard the dubs and though to myself now that would be nice to see on wax. Then low and behold here they come on Infrasound, which I’m pretty sure is his own venture. A nice bit of marketing maybe? Who cares you have to check out these tracks…

The 10” has the same sort of sound as the two free tracks he is giving away on his website. One is really minimal like a skeleton knocking out a 2-step beat, no I don’t mean like Skull Disco I mean like someone did a job on Horsepower and left them for glue. Then the other is like a mixture of said garage and pure soulful Detroit techno all mixed up, you know for kicks. People like Pangaea, Untold and Ramadanman do something similar at times, but Spacial has his own slant on it.

Your mind will not be blown by these tunes; they are far too subtle for that. They will just kind of fit into your listening habits with ease whether you are a DJ or a casual listener. I for one am looking forward to fitting them into a mix; they just sound like house and 2-step history combining in one 10” future garage platter.

Pick up 70707 & 80723 free of charge from here…

http://infrasonics.net/dubs/infra001

Hyperdub

This is just getting silly now Hyperdub...

In the last month or so Hyperdub have been on a roll announcing some amazing 12"s of pure next level music, check this list out:

HDB014

12" vinyl & Digital

A. King Midas Sound - 'Cool Out'

B1. King Midas Sound - 'One Ting' (Dabrye Remix)

B2. King Midas Sound - 'Lost' (Flying Lotus Remix)

for the delay folks. . .new release date is October 27th

HDB015

12" vinyl & digital

Ikonika

A. Millie

B. Direct

Sorry for the delay folks. . .new release date is October 27th

HDB016

2 x 12" vinyl & digital

A1 Zomby - 'Spaceman'

B1 Zomby - 'Kaliko'

B2 Zomby - 'Test Me For a Reason'

C1.Zomby - 'Aquafresh'

C2.Zomby - 'Gloop'

D1 Zomby - '1 Up'

D2 Zomby - 'Diamonds & Pearls'

November Release

HDB017 - Quarta 330

12' vinyl & digital

A. Quarta 330 - 'Sabacco'

B. Cardopusher - 'Homeless' (Quarta330 rmx)

Soon come

HYP008 Kode9 vs. LD - BAD E.P.

A. Kode9 vs. LD - 'Bad'

B. Kode9 vs. LD - '2 Bad'

November Release

More news and full audio soon at www.myspace.com/hyperdub

You see what I mean hey?!?

It's probibly not the end of it either Darkstar's new track ‘Aidy’s Girl is a Computer’ has been played by Oneman on Generation Bass the other month and the tracklist say's it's a Hyperdub. Then when Burial unmasked himself he mentioned that an EP would be coming soon, he has since said on that very same blog that he is making the tracks at the moment and I for one can't wait for that. Plus he can take as long as he wants its Burial for goodness sake.

Hyperdub wow!

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…

Mercury Music Prize 2008

Nominations:

Adele, 19

British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music?

Burial, Untrue

Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid

Estelle, Shine

The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of the Understatement

Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim

Neon Neon, Stainless Style

Portico Quartet, Knee Deep in the North Sea

Radiohead, In Rainbows

Rachel Unthank & The Winterset, The Bairns

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Raising Sand

It’s really hard to tell what the hell the Mercury Music Prize is for. You look at the list every year and see a few good albums and think to yourself, oh wow this might be celebrating quality music? Then you look again and it’s full of that years over hyped chart fodder that sure has been picked up by loads and loads of people but seems to be their just to get publicity for the awards. What are they doing with the Mercury? They try to come off looking like it’s all for the music and nothing else, but I don’t buy it…

Is it a cunning marketing plan by the industry and journalists? Get loads more hype and sales going, so they have something to write about? I don’t know. Last year I was happy when Klaxons won I enjoyed the album a lot that year. I haven’t gone back to it since though, it just doesn’t stand the test of time. It smacks of hype and the in thing, which is what the prize gives the impression it’s not about.

Plus there always seems to be token acts to try and prop up the list to give it a little credibility. They look like tokens anyway, I’m sure a lot of them are excellent albums and I’m not denying that. This year for example if you take out Burial, Rachel Unthank & The Winterset and Portico Quartet you have a really average run of the mill, middle of the road list. That could be on any Q magazine or Sunday supplement music article.

Maybe the Mercury Music Prize just isn’t for me anymore, it seems to be looking to sell more records to people who don’t follow music very much. It’s probably not aimed at the geeks who spaff off on a blog everyday about music they love and look out for.

If I had to choose a top three it looks pretty easy Laura Marling has made a pretty little album that is a joy to listen to and it’s nice it’s getting recognition as I think it has probably been over looked since it came out at the beginning of the year. I know I haven’t listened to it in a long time. Radiohead seem to get nominated every year, I mean even Thome York’s side project did, and they pretty much always look like a good shout to be on the list. The thing is with Radiohead they have a lot of fans and make really good records but I struggle to love them. But hey they look good again on this list. The winner for me though is Burial…

Burial’s Untrue is a beautiful record that I am very attached to and have been ever since it got released at the end of last year. I went and picked it up on the day of release and haven’t stopped playing it since. Burial would be a worthy winner that is making some truly brilliant underground music that looks back at the past UK underground urban dance scene and brings it back to life as a new and spooky beast.

There are so many records that could have made this list a hell of a lot more interesting, just off the top of my head: Youthmovies, Johnny Foreigner, M.I.A., Trim, The Bug, Mystery Jets, Down I Go, Portishead, Fuck Buttons, hell even bands I’m not keen on Wild Beasts, who I think are terrible would be a nice little addition, Foals could have made it they are going own a storm with the kids, or was it their turn last year with the Nu-Rave theme? Spiritualized, who in my opinion made a rubbish album that sounded like Embrace are more worthy than some on the list. I can’t be arsed to go on anymore. So yeah, what the hell is this prize?…

Is the Mercury Retrograde? (I hate my self now for that Bloc Party joke)

Burial

As I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for Burial’s DJ Kicks mix that is apparently shipping in a week from Boomkat, I thought I would have another listen to his self titled debut album as I hadn’t reviewed it on this blog before. My first Burial listen was from Untrue and I fell in love with it there and then and I must admit Burial’s S/T took me a little more time to get my head round. Now I have and its pretty much a classic, one day I’m sure it will be hailed as much, but maybe it’s a little early to tell right now it only came out in 2006. it made massive ripples though for an underground urban dance album. It topped many polls that year as album of the year and for some reason this still passed me by at the time.

This is darker than Untrue it doesn’t have that bright lyrical, vocal splashing the follow up has its darker and more straightforward dubstep in comparison. Burial has always been on the outskirts of dubstep dipping in to the style and many others all at once. His myspace describes him as 2-step, Hardcore and Garage, this might give us some clues of what treats we have in store for the mix album, but more on that when it pops through my letter box.

The album Burial does have a vocal track on it though from Hyperdub and Kode 9 collaborator Spaceape. He does his dub poetry brilliantly over the sparse dark skipping beats and crackles. The album Memories Of The Future by Kode 9 & The Spaceape is another dubstepping masterpiece that didn’t have the mass crossover appeal that Burial has.

Burial is full of a kind of sonic poetry about late night London with rain lashing down and pirate radio stations perforating the murky airwaves. Spewing out dark underground sounds to the lost souls of the city. You can’t really have a Burial review without mentioning a Night Bus I think it’s the law or something so there you go. You can hear snippets of influence from rave, hardcore, 2-step, garage and ambient works in Burial but he filters it through his own unique ear into something bigger than the sum of its parts, its breath taking some of it. Emotion seeps through it, which is something that is hard to come by sometimes in electronic music. I say electronic as Burial obviously is but it sounds pretty damn organic and warm too, the dubstep, 2-step whatever rhythms bring a swing that offsets the coldness. Every song is a cracker and pulls this album together perfectly.

Burial and his anonymous ways add a ace air of the unknown to all his music, it makes it an event to behold, you know when Burial drops something its going to make waves. I for one can’t wait to hear his DJ Kicks mix and I hope to god another full album appears in the near future too.

Boy 8-Bit - Fog Bank (Jack Beats remix)

This is a big dirty as hell dance floor bomb. Boy 8-Bit has been making some dance floor waves recently, I esspecialy like his remix of Burial's Archangel. Jack Beats are a couple of scratching masterminds behind the desk, Dj Plus One (Scratch Perverts) and Beni G (Mixologists) check it out. The EP is available to buy from Juno.

Boy 8-Bit - Fog Bank (Jack Beats remix)

Burial - DJ-Kicks (Word from the net)

"Coup!
!K7 are buzzing on the announcement that the next installment in the DJ-Kicks series comes from the hugely acclaimed, underground dubstep producer BURIAL at the end of June. The South London producer is notoriously shy of press and public performances yet his last two albums on Kode 9's Hyperdub label have established him as one of the global leaders in this exploding scene on word-of-mouth alone.
The latest DJ Kicks from Four Tet, Henrik Schwarz, Booka Shade and Hot Chip have all pushed new limits in eclecticism, making linear genre-specific DJ mixes a thing of past... so who knows where Burial will take it next. We hear whisperings from the studio that he may treat his dearest dubstep, techno and even r'n'b tracks with his unique production style before mixing them with exclusive material and... well watch this space."

This is news I didn't expect to hear.

Burial – Untrue

For me this is a sublime album that takes you on a trip through a foggy night in a city on the way home from a club until the sun rises. Then the album is done and it’s such a pleasure it’s untrue. The nearest thing I have heard to this apart from the first self titled Burial album are only vague reference points to vague ghostly bits of this music. It sounds a bit like Burial has resurrected the ghost of 2-step garage through Brian Eno and Aphex Twin. Burial however makes it a sound of its very own. Beats skip past and boom all around you like half remembered memories of a whole nights clubbing rattling relentlessly in your mind. I’m not even sure there in time with the rest of the music, yet it works so well. The bass really grabs you and draws together all of the elements beautifully. Everything about the melodies, strings and synth parts give the atmosphere of a longing sadness but with a warm loving glow. The vocal elements really echo the 2-step movement for me. But again it’s all put through the Burial mechanics, these pitches up and down gleams and shatters through each tune like shards of forgotten vocals on forgotten records. Burial – Untrue is a sonic masterpiece a real beautiful record that shines with both darkness and hope.