James Blake – The Bells Sketch [Hessle Audio] / CMYK [R&S] / Klavierwerke [R&S]

Where to start with James Blake? He’s a unique talent making seriously twisted synthesized gems that can range from full on dance floor movers to bittersweet introspective soul. One of my blog projects Sonic Router was probably one of the first to interview and get an article on him via Oli’s column at The Quietus right after before he dropped the ESSENTIAL ‘Stop What You’re Doing’ remix and after the sublime first 12” on Untold’s Hemlock label. A release that is still in my bag and a firm favourite sounding as fresh as it did when Distance first dropped the dub on his Rinse show that got everyone’s attention. Ever since he’s been making waves, getting attention outside of the scene and dropping some seriously good 12”s/EPs. A low-key collaboration with Airehead on BRAiNMATH, one for the always on point Hessle Audio, whose quality control is just insanely high and another for legendary old school techno label R&S who seem to be making a return to my radar for the first time in years after dropping a brilliant few records from Pariah and now the guy in question.

For some reason I’ve not got around to writing much on him here so a rundown of his last three EPs is in order because I can’t stop playing them. He shows some range over the three from the stripped back percussive elements on The Bells Sketch EP to the shape shifting R&B sampling gems on CMYK or the mellow eerie bedroom soul on the latest addition Klavierwerke.

The Hessle release has a percy on it in the form of ‘Buzzard & Kestrel’ the rhythms are irresistible, they subtly roll out with a heavy groove before the synths are unleashed in a sudden flourish. It’s the paired back minimal clicks and booms of the percussion that do it for me here. The title track and ‘Give A Man A Rod’ are something else too, both melodramatic synthesizer jams that make people move in strange ways when they’re dropped in the dance. The collision of laid back funk and twisted synths on ‘The Bells Sketch’ is a killer combination, it’s a huge sounding track with so much pent up energy its unreal. ‘Give A Man A Rod’ is a subtler affair, a spaced out funk number that seems like its been beamed in from an intergalactic cocktail bar.

The two R&S EPs come from different angels CMKY plays around with that popular production trick of taking slinky R&B vocals and twisting them into new shapes. But instead of re-treding that post-Burial emotional landscape Blake morphs the likes of Aaliyah and Kelis into freaky funk jams like the anthemic title track with its looping mantra of ‘Look I found her, red coat, look I found her’ over bleepy melodies reminiscent of Peverelist’s ‘Roll With The Punches’ a track which he’s also made a cheeky remix of, but its the twisting euphoric synth rushes that lead into the big bass drops that really shake things up. The rest of the EP is a more low key affair reaching for subtler highs and drops that are designed to tug at your heartstrings rather than make you loose your shit.

It’s the latest EP entitled Klavierwerke that takes that mellow side and really runs with it though. James has hinted at his paired down vocal side for sometime with covers of Feist’s ‘Limit To Your Love’ with him accompanied by piano. Here he doesn’t go into full on vocal mode but hints at it by using his voice as another instrument, chopping bits in and out here and there. It’s all pretty chilled out, haunted and melancholy, really introspective. The title track has a late night deep house feel running through it that’s channelled through a hazy bedroom soul. At many points in the EP like on ‘Tell Her Safe’ when the hazy piano and vocal loop intro takes hold you think he could break out into full song at any point, but it’s the restrained mellow vibe that wins over and it’s a killer EP for it. The fragments of song get twisted into these new shapes and contexts that’s way more interesting than straight up song craft, but then that’s a talent he no doubt has somewhere too.

Who knows what else he’s got up his sleeve, go and see him DJ and you’ll see yet another side to him. As well as fresh dubs from the guy taking in all those vibes mentioned above you get some seriously adventurous combinations in the mix. It’ll make you wonder why Coki doesn’t produce for Beyonce for one… Plus if you’ve never experienced his remix of Untold in the flesh on a crowded dance floor you’re missing out big time. Now my catch up session is over you go and do the same.

http://www.myspace.com/jamesblakeproduction

12”+

Back once again with the renegade run down… of 12” from my record bag, which I haven’t had chance to chat about elsewhere. You can catch me dropping a few of these in a mix on my last Xplodersession if you like. But here are some words if you’re deaf and still like collecting 12”s. Lock in to Sonic Router on Hivemind.fm this Sunday night 10-12pm with MLR for some fresh jams too… Words!

T.Williams – Afric/Anthem/Flooring [Local Action]
Tough, dark and techy UK funky vibes from Deep Teknologi’s T.Williams: Anthem and Flooring slay it, the former building tension and hitting hard while the latter brings a smidgen of almost Detroit sense of techno melody into the mix. Afric dubs things out a bit more leaving plenty of space between the tight funky drums.

Marcus Price & Carli - Mat Bira Kvinnor Weed EP [Palms Out Sound]
Heavy remix package featuring loads of Night Slugs related producers flipping the Dutch duo’s tough electro-tinged floor shakers. Bok Bok is the one for me, a tripped out drum machine workout close to Girl Unit’s juke inspired IRL. Girl Unit Features too with a cracker alongside Double Dutch and Kingdom.

MJ Cole – Riddim EP [Prolific Recordings]
Big riddim’s built to take over dance floors, MJ Cole flexing his crossover muscles blending grimy UK Funky and want sounds like a mad-mans vision of minimal techno and electro. The Volcano and Thekla riddims destroy it with shape shifting bass lines that keeps you on your toes and tons of energy, they turn heads.

Joe – Claptrap/Level Crossing [Hessle Audio]
One of my favourite Hessle releases has to be Rut/Grimelight, they get regular plays and this 12” is set to stay in my bag just as long. Claptrap is the deep percussive dubstep lovers ‘Hey Mickey’ with full on clap-along action, coughs and splutters aplenty and some of the most addictive drums around. Level Crossing takes things a little deeper with soca-addled rhythms and bursts of bass that cut through the subtle plucky melodies.

Orson – Madness/808 Dub [Version]
One of Berlin’s original dubstep heads drops a couple of deep bass workouts on his own label: Madness is the one here, teasing you with a long atmospheric build and pulses of sub before dropping some hip shaking tribal percussion its almost Loefah/Digital Mystkiz-esq in its execution. The flip works that drum machine into big half step patterns and wobbles the low end in subtle ways, a fine 12”.

SRC – Gold Coins [Numbers]
Grime producer SRC is coming with pure fire on wax this year, bringing those 8-bit Gameboy boogie vibes into the mix that got him noticed with the mad Mario sampling Goomba and twisting it into new shapes. Deep bass, hyper-funk synth bleeps, Technicolor grime textures that leave the dance floor with a vibrant glow.

Ramadanman – Glut/Tempest [Hemlock]
Massive 12”, subtly hitting the middle ground between Hessle’s deep percussive dance floor vibes and Addison Grooves Juke inspired dubstep manoeuvres. Glut bangs and beeps, which Tempest takes it a little deeper with a bittersweet spaced-out breakdown. Bring on the Swamp 81 12”, Work Them is fire…

A Made Up Sound – Alarm/Crisis [A Made Up Sound]
2562 slips seamlessly into his other moniker with two deadly shattered techno tracks that pack a punch and keep rolling despite their broken nature. Twisted synth lines shimmy through deep bass and techy accents on Alarm and Crisis rolls on a more straight forward house groove with jabbering energetic bass leads before it all melts into an intense spaced-out more melodic affair.

Untold – Gonna Work Out Fine EP/Stop What You’re Doing (James Blake remix)/I Can’t Stop This Feeling (Pangaea remix) [Hemlock]

Its been a very big year for Untold with 12”s appearing on the regular that have torn up dance floors and confused the hell out of them too, sometimes both at once. His own label Hemlock has also been leading the way with fine examples of the UK’s freshest underground dance music with the likes of Fantastic Mr Fox & Rich Reason plus the brilliant James Blake all featuring. Now I’m not sure why I haven’t written about these 12”/10” until now they’ve been on my radar for ages not to mention being absolute percy’s, so instead of letting them slip…

The ‘Gonna Work Out Fine EP’ is a two-disc beast that explores an inspired concept and pallet of sounds to grate effect. Untold takes Chicargo house pianos, strings, kicks… the whole sherbang and twists it all up with the gnarly raw energy of grime and of course Untold’s own fresh take on dubstep. It’s an experiment that’s really paid off bringing a hell of a lot of fun and energy to dance floors all over the place as everyone from Gilles Peterson to Modeselektor and countless dubstep heads all reaching for it.

The title track takes a grimy percussive loop before dropping a smooth housy twinkles and chord sequences then dropping some huge pulse-x like bass on you and flipping out with skippy drums that make for some slinky grooves. Now onto one of my favourite tracks of the year, ‘Stop What You’re Doing’ really does make you freeze in your tracks. I’ve seen people go crazy for this as much as I have seen them utterly confused. He takes the beat-less eski style experimental grime template he did for the sublime ‘Anaconda’ and twists it even more, it’s taking Wiley’s ideas and running with them into the unknown, just like Zomby has done with ‘Mercury’s Rainbow’. The track twists and shifts into a massive grin inducing psychedelic club weapon that’s unlike anything else around right now. ‘Don’t Know, Don’t Care’ is the housy-est track of the lot so far using stabs and piano to full effect, in fact its like a Bob Sinclair summer time peak floor in Space anthem remixed by Wiley on the sly while he drinks Champaign with porn on in the background. It’s the stupidly infectious down turning bass motif that gets the hip wiggling, incredible track. The sexy little vocal samples splattered throughout really remind me of Lil Louis’ ‘French Kiss’… man I’d love to hear Untold fuck that one up…

The super slinky ‘Palamino’ is another highlight and sets disc two into motion. The pulsing organ licks and twinkling chimes offset the spectral pads that just keep rolling and building before all hell breaks loose and Untold’s knack for bumping percussion and energetic bass are unleashed, this time in an explosion of carnival vibes, that really show the UK funky crew how its done its really something. ‘No one Likes A Smart-Arse’ has a ravey edge to it not unlike the recent output of Hot City but with more bump, wiggle and flex. The closing track, ‘Never Went Away’ takes the supernova space station boogie that he used so well on the Hotflush 2 outing ‘Just For You’ but with the Gonna Work Out Fine sound pallet. So you get spaced out atmospheric pads like your entering a space station and the insane energy but all done in a super smooth house meets grime fashion, the bass is just so addictive and the high-end screech samples get you shaking it.

The remix 10” is an absolute killer too taking two very talented producers takes on Untold. First up is James Blake a guy we’ve only seen one 12” from until now, but what a record that was I for one can’t stop playing it. His sound is very unique taking in soulful almost gospel tinged R&B vocal samples, which he sings himself and twisted smeared synth lines that come out sounding like a freaky Joker experiment mixed with the group he does live vocals with Mount Kimbie. He turns in a inspiring remix of ‘Stop What You’re Doing’ where he ups the hype, adds some beats and lots of harmonies until you can’t take the building dance pressure anymore and it makes you want to move like your crazy. Pangaea works his garage muscles on his version of ‘I Can’t Stop This Feeling’, the original of which can be found on the flip to ‘Anaconda’ a track that is so full of energy and tension its insane. He takes that energy and harnesses it into his own unique 2-step sound; the result is the liveliest Pangaea track released yet. After his deeply emotional track ‘Memories’ this year it’s a really welcome release to have.

Next year Hemlock and Untold are set to continue the trend with releases from: Ramadanman, LV, Mount Kimbie and himself all dropping on the label, plus another brilliant track for the BRAiNMATH label soon and plenty of surprises I’m sure. Untold, his label and associates have made some of the freshest most fun and downright brilliant music this year. I for one cannot wait to see what they come up with next.



http://www.myspace.com/hemlocklondon