Seeing as i don't like direct sunlight, am scared of people and moving objects as well as being an anti-social bedroom dweller, i decided to allow Notting Hill carnage for the 5th year running.....!
Instead, i'm having an interweb fuelled carnival in my brain. Here's what's poppin in the main arena....
FINALLY i got my hands on a copy of this, (as did Winnie......!)
Having been bumping the crap low quality mp3 for weeks and weeks, i can now hear the full weight of this record. And jesus, it really doesn't fail......
Anyone who's been near S.Click HQ will have been subject to the caning of this recently and i have to bring it to the attention of any who may have missed it. While i've got to accept the vocal warping and slow roll on it won't appeal to everyone, those who get it, really get it. Spectrasoul emerged a few years ago as a very interesting pair of producers and since having numerous tunes put out by some of the scenes most respected labels, they have gone from strength to strength. Alongside Instra:mental, dBridge and the Exit/NonPlus records camp, they have fast become synonymous with downtempo, bass ridden, forward thinking d&b. Using the vocals of rising US singer Mike Knight to the fullest degree, blended with some deep tech pinches and slamming drums, this is tearing up both Drum raves and Dubstep parties alike.
The flipside brings us Insignia, a great tune in it's own right. Most B sides would disapper behind this anthem, but it somehow holds it's own. I think the intro sounds alot like a late 90's jungle tune, with light vocal snippets and swirling chords, but their trademark lowkey tempo takes it somewhere delightfully unexpected on the drop. The key to this tune has to be the bass though, as it grinds you along like a Ray Keith stomper played at half speed.
Dope work, dope producers and what can i say, Exit Records has released another amazing tune. At only their 16th release, i cannot wait for some more Lp's. The future is looking good.
Check the tune out, and go buy everything exit has released from abunchofcuts
When i was around 18/19, me a Pheb discovered the Fathom graphic novels and thought they were pretty heavy. Since then, i've always kept an eye out for future developments and releases. It's probably old news, but i just found out everybody's favourite tattooed starlet is set to play the underwater heroin.
There's nothing like waking up to a nice square envelope.
Thanks to the Hospital Records crew.
Matter on the 4th is going to be a big night. If you can get hold of a ticket, i recommend you do so. Any line up including Logistics, B-Complex, Liane Carrol/Diane Charlemagne and the mini mix tutorial king himself (Lolington!), Mr Cyantific, is going to be huge....... Room two also has Silkie and Mad Professor on deck.
Go here for more details, and while you're at it, listen to the dubplates section for snippets being played out at the moment from Loggy's fresh album, 'Crash, Bang, Wallop'. It's being released in late Sept so keep your wallets on standby. That will be a HUGE album. I was lucky enough to hear a few snippets at Cyan's and it was a mixed bag of different flows and the usual stompers. Great to see the little space cadet in action!
I had to do a quick post on this guy. He blew my brains in half with his work when i first saw it. Great style, dope technique and he can colour up pretty slick too!
I've had these two things i've been wanting to write about for a little while.
First up is the dBridge remix of 'Dreamworld' by Physics. I really think d's excelled himself on this one. As usual, the drums roll you gently forward into a tune lead by a stunner of a bassline. I've heard the usual cries of 'boring' but saw a forum reply of 'you're not listening to it loud enough......'. That says it all for me! As with much of his work, he manages to make a simple idea into something really entertaining. Somewhere between Odessa and True Romance VIP, in terms of chilled out rollers this has to be the cream of the crop of this year's releases.
Check it out below.
Second is Bop. Pictured is the 12" for 'Song About My Dog' but i'm actually going to talk about his album.
'Clear Your Mind' was one of the most eagerly awaited electronic albums of the past year. Lots of different genres had a keen eye on what this guy was going to pull off with a full length effort. It's hard to decide where to start with this. Sitting back and listening to this album, the one thing i'm left feeling is the space it creates. It's honestly like a spaceshuttle has just taken off in your room, fed you a load of cosmic sweeties and you're listening to comets bouncing off each other. The synths, glitched out beats and tiny techno pads make this one of the most intense l.p's i've ever heard! I can see why Tony Coleman signed it to Hospital Records but still can't get my head round why it's not on Warp, or a label more suited to it's style. Anyway, highlights for me are the bonkers 'Ataraxia' which is getting plenty of play from dBridge and the minimal heads, 'Lost In This World' has a really nice mood and swing to it (swing might not be the right word! lunar bounce?!?!) but as with the 12", my favourite is still 'Song About My Dog'. I'll post the first reggae tune in space...... 'Nothing Makes Any Sense'. I figure it's a prime example of a producer using a sample, flipping it, and coming out the other end with something truly different!
That's got to be the resonating thing when listening to the Bop album. As many dj's say, it's not exactly music made for playing out, but what it is, is different. Very rarely does a record come along where as soon as it starts rotating on the plate you know it's unlike anything you've heard before. Ok, so there are strong references to Warp, Aphex ambient works and many spaced out euro Tech producers, but it seems like such a personal record. The Russian Percussion no longer lays in Vadim's hands, this stellar dwellar's taken the title for me......
Cricket is one of the most mentally deranged sports ever invented. Imagine sitting an American down and trying to explain it. 'Well, we have this game right? It takes 5 whole days to finish, a load of men who are public school boozers dress in pristine white clothes and pretend to be rather polite'. And then there's the crowd!!!! It's quite joke going somewhere that's acceptable to be pissed at 10.30am, and where the richest of the rich mingle with the rowdy working classes and in our quaint British way, give a good old round of applause each time someone does anything (from what i gathered!)
Anyway, England won something, and from what i could tell, it didn't involve getting a Scotsman to do it for you and suddenly calling him 'British'.......!
Oh, and if anyone goes to a match at some point, take P's advice, it was the best i had going into the experience. Aim for the hospitality tent girls (as pictured above). They're 90% as bored as you are, and sometimes, just as pissed.....
Headnods to 'We're only making plans for Nigel' for the ticket.
I've been hearing this tune doing the rounds of late but never got a name to it until tonight. The mighty Instra:Mental have it rolling out through many of their sets and it balances somewhere between a Spectrasoul roller and a Burial vocal cut.
Sit back and enjoy. I've got a desk full of new tunes to review and link to, so it's going to be a big week for you tune lovers.
Deep in the leafy undergrowth of the furthest streches of West London, dwells a creature so illusive, so cunning and so slippery only a chosen few have even glanced it. The thickets of mystery in this black boar jungle hide a wipper stepper.
Many stalk this creeper on a daily basis, enduring buses, brain trains, automobiles, street sharks and roller controllers. Upon a fine summer's eve, after many trials and tribulations, i found myself face to face with the beast. It was late in the summer of 2007. It was early in my clicking career and i'd heard rumours of a vast kingdom that lay buried in the suburban maze. I was met with a barrage of sub bass and low end squeltch as the sound serpant attempted to lay a fake scent. Quickly stalking it to an underground den of cables, drum machines and logic patterns, i caught a glimpse of its true beauty. The Divine Manifestation!
Since that day I have caught soundwaves, digital messages and carbon footprints from the beast. Some travel through Bailey's BBC 1xtra show, others arrive through the hardened casing of Fabio and Grooverider's Radio 1 slot. ATM Magazine recently published a review, heralding the animals P style as revolutionary.
Bang your chests, howl to the skies and let the freaky drum demons inside you get D-D-D-D-DOWN! Wait for the morning after, collect up your scattered molecules, get some brown coffee and remember to elf dance your way home from the jungle..........
Courtesy of Caz, i re-found my deep deep adoration for this guy's photos. He's a true living master in my opinion, managing to document things i an utterly real and sensitive way, whilst being in the most insane spots! He shoots things now, that i thought only existed in early 90's grunge music video's and drug travelling novels.
Check his work out here and make sure you're sitting down!
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