Urban Essence

Five Essentials: Pattern

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:41:00 +0100

Set to release a sparkling new single on Alignment’s new project Realign, Manchester-based Pattern might be an unfamiliar name to most but ‘Draft’s intricate, Jungle-infused crystal clarity is a glowing debut by anyone’s standards.

Paired with a brooding Techno remix from fellow-Mancunians AnD, REALIGN001 makes for an exciting debut for both artist and label. We caught up with Jim who gives us his Five Essentials: five tracks that have most influenced his life and approach to music.

Photek - ‘Rings Around Saturn’

The first time I heard it on Logical Progression in my early teens I knew the track as “Pharoah”. I later found out more about Photek and his impact on electronic music. About 5 years ago I picked it up on 12” in a second hand record shop in Tokyo. I love the way he has flipped Pharoah Sander’s “Astral Travelling”. I love the drums on this track, the way they have been EQ’d and all the subtle switching programming. Goosebumps.

Rhythm & Sound w/ Bobbo Shanti - ‘Poor People Must Work’ (Carl Craig Remix)

I first heard this the week it was released on the Eastern Bloc speakers in our old setup on Oldham Street. From the moment the needle hit the groove I was hooked. All the sounds in this track are perfect for me. The FX, the hypnotic stabbing bassline, the progression. Also the stuttered vocal sends me a bit crazy. The whole remix has been done with a vibe that is unmistakably Carl Craig. Also worth checking… “Just Another Day” EP.

Breakage - ‘Lead Me On’

A man who pretty much managed to release some of the best D&B and Jungle music ever written (in my opinion). From 2001 to 2009 every single tune he wrote made me realise that this is the exact vibe that makes me want to move my feet, shout and rave. Love the vocal, the space-echo style tape delay kills me every time. The apache break is programmed perfectly. The eerie vocal catches you off guard on the second drop. The bass shakes your bones. Breakage is a true don.

Kenny Dope Unreleased Project - ‘Get On Down’

This tune reminds me of everything I like about Hip Hop. The Minnie Ripperton “Inside My Love” sample looped and tweaked to perfection. The Method Man vocal samples. The boom bap beats are right up my street too. All it needs now is Mr Thing cutting over the top.

A Tribe Called Quest Ft. Leaders Of The New School & Busta Rhymes - ‘Scenario’

The beats have been lifted from Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Miss Lover” and the bass loop from Brother Jack McDuff’s “Oblighetto”. Perfect in every way. So much energy, every verse incredible. Busta Rhymes nails it at the end - “Powerful impact… BOOM! from the cannon!” Tribe have the best loops, fact.

Pattern - ‘Draft’ / ‘Draft’ (AnD Remix) is out on May 13th. Grab yours from the official Alignment store.

Words: Jack Smith

[Pattern press shot courtesy of GB Multimedia]

Preview: HVL - Flats EP [Voyager]

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:25:47 +0100

The Crescent had really hit the floor running in 2012, with a trio of exceptional releases from a collection of key players - including Mode, Troy Gunner, eleven8 and Clarity - who reside under the loose UK-electronica umbrella term as it stands today.

Expansively defined by a delicate, above-all soulful sound rather than being unjustly tagged as either 170 minimal or 130/140 bass music, the label has recently taken the step towards further pinpointing that identity by announcing a new project that’ll cater for deep house and ambient techno. And cater for it Voyager certainly does, with no lack of enigmatic aplomb at that. HVL’s ‘Flats’ EP is first up: blissfully smooth with a real warmth to each of the three tracks. An exciting debut for Voyager if this is anything to go by, and, with the tantalising news that Manchester-based Versa has the label’s second waiting in the wings, we’re very much looking forward to hearing its progress.

Pre-order your copy from Redeye Records here.

Words: Jack Smith

Preview: Neumax - Ancient Ritual / Singleness [Terabyte]

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:24:00 +0100

UK-based label Terabyte are drawing in all sorts of arctic coldness from St. Petersburg with their latest release from promising newcomer Neumax.

Following on from his appearance on Syndrome Audio last year, ‘Ancient Ritual’ / ‘Singleness’ is a fine showcase of the producer’s production technique. Meticulous percussive arrangements and twinkling synth hooks are the order of the day here; think Halogenix’s ‘Raya’ on Dispatch Recordings. Certainly one to keep an eye out for in 2013.

TB005 is out May 13th.

Words: Jack Smith

Five Steps: Memory9

Tue, 07 May 2013 18:33:21 +0100

For those of you with a soft spot for all things synth- and Jungle- (or more specifically ‘Juke’) related, this one’s for you. Italian-born Memory9 is ready to release ‘The Abyss Within’ on his own imprint Mnemonic Dojo, an exciting amalgamation of sounds and styles old and new, with Om Unit and H-Sik on remix duties. We caught up with the producer ahead of the release who gave us his Five Steps from the influence of Warp’s Squarepusher, through to the fire-sale of his previous EP and his prolific use of old synthesisers throughout his music.

Step 1: Origins

When I heard Squarepusher for the first time it changed my whole outlook on music. That was just before I went to Berklee, and at the time I was very focused on my instruments, playing jazz, fusion or prog rock; your staple music school nerd. I was also really into jungle, hip hop and beats, but I thought my musical path lied elsewhere. I stumbled into tracks like Beep Street, Red Hot Car, Go! Spastic, Coopers World, and my apparently conflicting musical interests were immediately reconciled: I realised that there was a whole branch of modern music that was both alive and current as well as innovative, interesting and groundbreaking, something as deep as jazz but as relevant to my generation as jungle.

Step 2: Introducing

The first track I produced and released was ‘Ricrit Shiropp’, off my old EP ‘Terpsichore’. I think I was more or less trying to find a happy medium between very cut up breaks and downtempo beats. I wasn’t very good as a producer then, it was all trial and error and everything took me ages. I ended up chopping up loads of live drums and playing a bunch of guitar on this one, and using sounds from Hollywood sound libraries I had stolen from school to create textures. When I was done I had learned three things: that I had a lot more to learn still, that foley sounds can be exquisite musical elements, and that my instrumental skills were actually really useful for making tracks. Good things to keep in mind.

Step 3: Foundation

A track that a lot of people liked is ‘One of These Days’ off Black Dragon. I really just wanted to make some juke because I love the 160-180 bpm range, and listening to the stuff that was coming out on labels like Planet-Mu or Error Broadcast a year or two ago was really inspiring and refreshing. I also wanted to play more with the idea of using modulated kickdrums as the only bass element, I had done that in a remix for DJ Vadim’s ‘Electric’ project, which had worked really well. Black Dragon was the first thing I did with my label, it was cool because DK and DJ Food gave out the first copy live on the Solid Steel radio show. The record sold out in a matter of days so it all felt quite good.

Step 4: Present

‘The Abyss Within’ is quite different from anything I have done in the past. To begin with, the title track was really conceived as an audiovisual piece. I met Davide Bianca, the man in charge at Saizen Media, last summer through our common friend Jim Coles (Om Unit). We realised we both wanted to push our work in a similar direction, so we set out to work on music and visuals in parallel. Not having any budget to play with, getting the kind of quality we wanted took us almost 9 months, a proper labour of love. For the music, I wanted to integrate a lot of foley in there, so that the different subjects and environments of the video would be reflected. I used a ton of different sound tools, sand, water, metal, chains, granular synthesis, prepared piano, all kinds of things. All the bass bits are Reaktor and Yamaha CS-80, then I used a Yamaha DX-7 for the chords. Then there’s the actual foley opening in the video – about 80 tracks of sound design – that was also a challenge.

The title track sets the mood for the rest of the EP. In ‘Escape The Ice’, the jukier 160bpm track, there’s this pretty Fender Rhodes harmony and melody, but I kept playing around with foley samples and went in pretty heavy on the prepared piano stuff. Bunch of half time edits of jungle breaks in there as well as all these gentle snare rolls. Some of the drums are live, it’s definitely the most organic track on there. Then there’s ‘Two Bodies of Venus’, which I love because it’s a modal track. I’m a big fan of modal jazz, and both the harmonic and melodic parts here are loosely inspired by ‘So What’ by Miles Davies, with the dorian scales and the half step modulation and so on. In this track I made heavy use of an Oberheim Matrix 12, it’s an amazing box. I am really lucky because I rent a room in this one studio complex where my friends next door, Iter Research, have a ridiculous collection of vintage gear. That’s how I get to play around with all these fancy machines!

It was great to have Om Unit and H-SIK doing the remixes, they are both amazing musicians and producers and I’m really excited with how they reinterpreted the title track. They both have amazing visions which I find very inspiring, I feel really lucky to have been able to work with them.

Step 5: Future

I think a track that will come to be looked at as a bit of a milestone is ‘Fuck a Rap Song’ by Dahlia Black, Blue Daisy’s new project. The beat sound fantastic, the mix is great and the flow is super fresh. To me it picks up where Death Grips left off, but with a ton more class.

As for Memory9, I’m working on some really exciting collabs at the moment, plus I have another EP in the works for the autumn and an album for the new year. Gig-wise, I am very excited to return to Soundwave Festival in Croatia this year, and to tour promoting ‘The Abyss Within’.

And the one ‘Urban Essential’ I couldn’t live without? My 18-speed with frontal suspension. I like big stocky bicycles that can take a beating, have gears and are comfortable. Riding fixed is like one-foot snowboarding: looks cool and all, but why try so hard?

Memory9 - The Abyss Within is out in May on Mnemonic Dojo.

Preview: AnD - 002 / 0202 / 0222

Tue, 07 May 2013 16:41:53 +0100

Fresh out of the Manchester hotpot of forward-thinking talent, AnD are coming in with some seriously desolate beats in 2013.

Having recently remixed Pattern’s ‘Draft’ on Alignment Record’s new sister imprint ReAlign, the duo are ready to let loose the second in their limited edition white label series, a trio of tracks cryptically-titled ‘002’, ‘0202’, and ‘0222’. Industrial techno at its blistering finest - sparse, unforgiving, and charmingly rugged - I wouldn’t be surprised if these sell like hot-cakes just like AnD001. Keep ‘em peeled.

Words: Jack Smith

Five Steps: Chris Octane

Tue, 07 May 2013 15:35:00 +0100

It’s the beginning of a new chapter for Leeds-based artist Chris Octane. The first release on his new imprint CO:RE and his first away from long-time collaborator DLR, ‘Synthetics’ / ‘Gaia’s Dub’ sets an intriguing precedent for the label’s freeform, creatively unrestrictive ethos; a clear evolution from the off-kilter production technique we heard within their debut Method In The Madness LP. Following on from the release of the single, the producer was kind enough to give us his Five Steps, from the track that started it all through to the future of his sound.

Step 1: Origins

Omni Trio - ‘Renegade Snares’. I think that was one of the seminal tracks for me. There’s countless others from that era but this one stands out in my mind as being one of the early greats.I was starting to get heavily into music around the time (I didn’t realise it then) although none of my friends were. One of those strange, personal interests I guess, but I was never one to follow. I never thought I’d end up here, being interviewed on the launch of my own record label. Funny how much influence the early days of Jungle / Drum & Bass really had.

Step 2: Introducing

I’d say, ‘Octane & DLR - Back in the Grind’ was the track that got me (and J) on the map. It was quite different to the mainstream DnB that was coming out at the time. We were playing with vocal samples and we just got a natural funk going. It just happened to be one of those tracks that wrote itself, so to speak. Start to finish in 2 days which is something I’d never done before and will likely never do again. We mixed and mastered it later after a few club plays but the bulk was done in two days! We had a load of kit between us at the time and used most of it a lot of the time so finishing a track in such a short period of time was quite the achievement - especially for us!

Step 3: Foundation

To be honest, I don’t really feel I have ‘made my name’, as such. I’d have to say the Method LP as a whole is the closest it comes really. It was structured as one big piece rather than it’s individual parts and I think I’ll always see it as one piece. We earned a lot of respect from our peers with that release and we’re both enormously proud of it. It’s easily the best work I’ve done yet. At least, It’s the work I’m most proud of.

The creative process was so varied in its approach. We recorded a lot of the material ourselves in our studio. We had guitar players, vocalists, sax, trumpets, viola etc. etc. etc. - we even recorded a sound system in the club we were based in! It was a massively invaluable experience. We also had too much kit to mention!! The studio rooms we had during our time in Leeds were pretty sweet - albeit very expensive for us - we write DnB!! Our combined studio kit along with a few select pieces we were borrowing from a friend were probably worth more than we’ve ever earned from music!!

The album was always going to be a Dispatch release. That’s both our homes. We’re all really good mates both in and out of music and Ant helped a lot during the building process and the final structure.

I think I’ve always been unique in my approach to writing and it no doubt comes through to the listener. As I mentioned, I was always a bit ‘alone’ in my writing. None of my friends have had the interest and it’s something entirely self taught. I didn’t have YouTube or production forums or any decent magazines for that matter. I didn’t study music. I actually qualified as a Bricky at 17/18 and music was a hobby. I’d never even considered the possibility of it being a profession.

Step 4: Present

CO:RE is my blank canvas. I have the freedom to do whatever I like. I’ve always been a little off-centre in my writing and this is the perfect creative outlet.

You can hear in the Method LP that there’s a distinct grasping of the obscure - especially with ‘Cometh the Horde’ and the Cymatic material. I think the writing process of the album really pushed us to want to explore more and it pushed us in slightly different directions. We thought, “Why not leave OD on a high”. Working together has been great for both of us but we’re artists and we need to explore and learn new things without the influence we’ve had over each other. I personally cannot wait to get back in the studio with DLR and see how we’ve progressed. That will be an interesting session!

‘Synthetics’ and ‘Gaia’s Dub’ are my first big steps out of the comfort zone. I’m using much, much more of my own sound design and recordings. I’m being as open as possible to what’s in my head and not just ‘sick bass’. I think those tracks will go to Ant! I’m writing without rules or any specific plan with CO:RE. I’m writing more artistically which is something I definitely needed to do for myself. I’m enjoying a new development process.

Step 5: Future

I don’t have any clips of forthcoming material right now but I’m working on a few really exciting collaborations that will hopefully come on CO:RE later this year. Because I have absolutely no rules or expectations, the collaborators are entirely free to go mad and I think it’s going to be really interesting to peek into the musical alter-ego of known artists.

The sound of the future NEEDS to be personal exploration of music for new artists I think. There’s a lot of samey, vacuous music coming through the whole industry and, although DnB has always been good at growing with its fans and expanding its influence, I think the greats of the future will be - and have always been - the innovators. Though they won’t all be greats for innovation, at least they do it for the right reasons.

Chris Octane - Synthetics / Gaia’s Dub is out now on the artists new label CO:RE

Introducing: Kaiori Breathe

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:19:26 +0100

Having recently released his equal parts fascinating and intricate Kokoro on Loodma Recordings, we thought it apt to speak with Kaiori Breathe about the Yucatán Peninsula, octopuses and bacon. Oh, and the release itself!

So, first things first. Who are you and where are you from? What was the inspiration behind the name ‘Kaiori Breathe’?

‘Kaiori’ is a Japanese name for a girl. The character for Kao stands for ‘perfume’ and the character for Ri stands for ‘woven’. I just kind of liked the imagery in that name. I wanted to spell it differently to make it stand out. Playing around with it for awhile I decided an ‘i’ fitted best and gave it some symmetry. The ‘Breathe’ aspect is sort of a suggestion. It’s like somebody telling ‘Kaiori’ to calm down and breathe.

As for me? Well, my name is Aaron and I was born 65 million years ago on in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Most academics are agreed that the energy release in the event of my birth created the Chicxulub crater and vaporized the dinosaurs - bar a few Diplodocuses that I decided to domesticate and ride around on. Some academics however like to claim that a meteorite hit the Earth and it was the resulting impact winter which killed the dinosaurs - this is of course ridiculous!

How would you describe the music you make?

It’s influenced heavily by the likes of Vince DiCola, Nobuo Uematsu,Vangelis, Eskmo, Joe Satriani and the rain because rain sounds amazing. It’s atmospheric, texturally dense; there’s a lot of weird twists and turns, strange noises and the odd unexpected key change.

Talk us through your journey into music production. Where did it all begin for you so to speak?

I got into music when I was 15 or so. I started playing electric guitar. I figured I’d learn piano too, then I started learning music theory. I started producing in 2010, I think. What attracted me to production is that you can’t finish it. Sound design is pretty infinite. You’re never done learning and creating new things. You can get to a stage where you’re pretty much as good as you’re going to get on a physical instrument and the only solution is to get a new one; the same isn’t really true of a DAW.

Is your setup predominantly software or hardware-based, or somewhere in between?

It’s all software bar an incredibly beat up laptop and some temperamental PC Line speakers that I keep accidentally knocking over. I’m not great with hardware and technology that requires lots of physical interaction. I still have difficulty with the washing machine so goodness knows what I’d do with a stack of bleeping, ornate boxes with bright lights that make sounds when I caress them correctly - accidentally start a fire I imagine.

Talk us through the process of creation regarding Kokoro and your relationship with Loodma…

When I go to write anything I like to try to base it on something real that I’ve experienced, if I can’t do that then I won’t write anything.

All the tracks in Kokoro started their lives as experiments in sound design. These experiments were saved and filed away with highly detailed and informative titles such as ‘kerflabberjabby’. They would gather dust for months on end until something emotionally provoking happened to me and that’s when I would start putting all the sounds I’d created together into a series of songs that mean something.

Kokoro is a Japanese word that means a few things, but I suppose you could summarize it in the word ‘Heart’. I like to think that track is the sound of a heart skipping a beat. It’s that feeling that turned ‘kerflabberjabby’ - an experiment in making strange metallic sounds with LFOs and distortion effects - into a fully formed song.

In ‘Saying Goodbye’ I was basically trying to create the sound of loneliness and yearning; the void you feel when somebody who matters is a million miles away. I was listening to a lot of future garage at the time too and wanted to try to expand what I do in terms of percussive samples and sounds to that kind of rhythm.

‘Then I Walked My Diplodocus’ is about how much I love dinosaurs. I just wanted to create something that sounded like a giant lizard romping about. I think it hit the mark. My mom mailed my song about dinosaurs to dinosaur heaven and I got a letter back from Stegosaurus that said they all loved it. Dinosaurs are amazing. I want to be one when I grow up.

As for my relationship with Loodma, it’s a great, artist friendly label. It’s very professional, and coordinated. I have a lot of respect for Lauri and the other artists involved.I get a lot of support from the label in what I do and that’s obviously great. Plus, I know it’s a minor detail, I really love the artwork that’s been done for my releases.

Where can people hear more of your work?

My Soundcloud has a bunch of free downloads and stuff you won’t find anywhere else. You can also hear the first tracks I ever made there, well, that is if you hate having ears and want to punish them.

Any words of wisdom for our readers?

Octopuses are widely recognised as the most intelligent of all invertebrates. They can solve complex puzzles and have even been observed to use tools. They will blockade entrances to their dens with rocks and shells and some are even savvy enough to carry two halves of an empty coconut shell to hide inside when avoiding predators. Octopuses are capable of mapping territory by recognising environmental landmarks and using them to navigate. They have also been observed to engage in play with objects and with each other - although they are usually solitary creatures. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and amazingly roughly two thirds of its neurons are found in tentacles - which have a limited functional autonomy. An octopus can demonstrate a range of reflex actions that can be carried out with no input from the brain. Their impressive dextrous demonstrations have led them to be used as models in the field of robotics.

So yea, be nice to octopuses.

And finally, what is the one ‘Urban Essential’ you couldn’t live without?

Bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon in it. I have bacon with everything. I even put bacon in my coffee. If I could put bacon in my bacon I would. True story.

Kaiori Breathe’s Kokoro is out now on Loodma Recordings.

REVIEW: Swamp81 London

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:53:39 +0100

More Carhartt than you can shake a stick at. Girls sporting bulging rucksacks cos it’s obviously the ‘in’ thing. Joey Essex slicked-back hair everywhere. ‘Wash your finger for the minger’. Cold air jets through strobe lighting. Shoes held aloft in celebration. Packt like sardines in a crushd tin box. Sweat, gurns and footwork. All to a grimy, unrelenting miasma of beats and bass. Welcome to Swamp81 London.

If that painted a slightly disapproving picture of the night as a whole it’s worth stating right now: musically a Swamp81 night on this scale was never going to be anything short of pure vibes from start to finish. A mouth-watering lineup spread across all three rooms ensured you wouldn’t have to set up camp in Room 1 for the whole night despite the main room’s inevitable bias towards the heavyweights: Swamp bossman Loefah, Boddika, Zed Bias, Mickey Pearce, Tectonic head-honcho Pinch and Chunky with Skream playing an exclusive ‘Swamp’ set. Moving into the main room from the start became a smart manoeuvre as it quickly began to get congested, the atmosphere growing with intensity as the music was kept brooding and stripped back for the first hour or two - the scatty gunshot swagger of Mumdance & Logos’ ‘Drum Boss’ in particular making full use of the sound system’s weighty yet clean setup.

With the heat sweltering and the anticipation for Boddika and Zed Bias’ prime-time sets growing with every passing track there was a sense of inevitability moving towards the ridiculous climax that would be the latter dropping his new Swamp single ‘Furrball’. And when that moment came, well… the room literally took off. The sort of scene you’d expect from Tiesto at Creamfields for example minus the supercheese and excessive use of fireworks. That 3 minutes or so was the perfect snapshot of what the label and its affiliated artists are about: a decidedly left-field approach to quality music production - enough to appease the chin-strokers who new all too well which snare or assembly of hi-hats belongs to which track as it was being brought in (and made sure everyone around them knew about it) - married with the simple yet delicate ability to move those in the crowd who maybe didn’t even know or care where they were let alone which artist was playing.

Moving on from Room 1 to Lightbox to have a gander at was was going on elsewhere after Zed Bias’ supreme selection of contemporary house and oldschool grime and garage also proved a particularly astute decision. Having only heard through word of mouth how good Dusky were live, it came as an even better surprise that the reality exceeded such high expectations, tune after tune creating this above-all ‘happy’ vibe for want of a more complicated word to describe it. Given more room to buss a move than the skittle-like crowd in the main room came as a metaphorical if not literal breath of fresh air, with Harriman riding the vibe created by the Dusky boys with a set that exuded a refreshing attention to detail in terms of technical ability, a precision flow of tracks with Swamp classic Sicko Cell proving a highlight in particular. Respect to the DJ furthermore for politely declining a reload from the MC on a particularly tasty track, you tell ‘em son! Excellent to see the whole set surfacing online for your further listening pleasure too:

The time was right to reach for Skream’s set, but the excruciating journey in trying to get there brings me to my next point.

Once again Fire and Lightbox’s glaring impracticality and inability to handle large crowds has been laid bare here. A warm welcome at the opening soon became hurried crowd control at key entrances throughout the hallways, I was at one point shoved back by a bouncer for mistakenly trying to enter an exit-only door that wasn’t sign-posted properly. Bars soon became inundated, queueing extensively for toilets became annoyingly standard. Yes some of the light patterns were pretty, but at what point will the paying customer begin to boycott when at times it was even too oversubscribed to be allowed to enter the main room? The same situation happened at the similarly roadblock affair that was Exit’s 10 Year Birthday. Hopefully moving forward promoters will get enough slack to help prevent overselling and thereby force them to hit the sweet spot between busy and manageable.

This minor blip on an otherwise stellar evening will nevertheless remain just that. Anyone who was there will most likely agree that the overall musical quality and diversity on display made for a pretty special night indeed.

Words: Jack Smith

Introducing: Double Helix

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:02:09 +0100

Following on from his and debut release on new Austrian imprint Deep Field Audio, we caught up with Viennese native Double Helix to discuss his sound, the music that’s influenced it and production technique.

Tell us about yourself DH… how long have you been producing for, and what would you say influences your techy production style?

I started playing around with music programs eight years ago (about six of those with a forward thinking attitude to taking it seriously), and it’s been quite a journey to the point where I am today. A lot of sounds and artists have influenced me along the way, I like it particularly when a track takes you on a journey and constantly surprises you with its variety and little ‘gadgets’. The concept of making music with a combination of taking it seriously and having a lot of fun at the same time with an emphasis on ‘groove’ has been a guideline for my work.

What facilitated the connect between yourself and Deep Field Audio? Must have been a particularly proud moment knowing your music would be their debut release!

The fact that I have been part of of Deep Field Audio since the beginning has made the discussions a lot easier I guess! [Haha!] And yeah, I am proud of the debut release!

It often takes a certain amount of time for an artist to find their niche, even after they’ve began releasing music, yet it seems you’ve found your feet already with your debut. Would you say you are satisfied with your output right now? How would you like your sound to develop moving forward?

To a certain point I’m satisfied. There will always be certain aspects and details that I’m not 100% happy with, but I think that’s part of the process. It’s also the main driving force behind searching for and discovering new sounds. I have a lot of ideas with where I would like to go [with my music], so we’ll see what happens. Mainly though I’d like my sound to become cleaner and the mids to become more powerful.

If you could collaborate with any living artist, who would it be and why?

My top favourites to work with would be Noisia, the Neosignal boys Phace & Misanthrop, and Rockwell. Noisia because I really like the way they constantly push the sound to the next level; Neosignal because they’ve got the skills and the madness; and Rockwell because I think he has also found a way of making a very unique sound that I like.

What does the future have in store for Double Helix, on both a work and personal level?

I can only guess but I hope my sound will develop well and I’ll be able to make a living from it.

Any words of wisdom for our readers?

Phew, that’s a tough one! How about: ‘There is no truth, only perception.’ (Gustave Flaubert)

Finally, what’s the one Urban Essential you couldn’t live without?

It would be my PC I guess :)

Double Helix - Wellenkammer / Delusion is out now on Deep Field Audio. Check out the artist on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Label Profile: Protect Audio

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:43:52 +0100

To accompany the forthcoming release of their ‘Diffraction of Sound’ EP, we spoke to Protect Audio bossman Pete Callaghan to discuss the origin of the label, the highs and lows of label management and future beats.

Greetings Pete! Tell us a little about yourself and where you’re from… what would you say prompted the creation of Protect and does it channel your own taste in music in particular?

Hey! Well, I’m Pete, I’m 26 years old, 6ft 4 and I’m from Worcester. Sounds like blind date doesn’t it? I’ve been involved within the dance music industry for around 5 years now. I started off running another label that was aimed towards the commercial end of the music spectrum, before every man and his dog wanted a piece of the action. I’ve always loved the darker sides of Drum & Bass, but at the time I didn’t really know a lot about it, so I just left it on the back burner. 2012 hit and I’d been chatting to Marukomu for a good couple of years and I pitched him the idea of a release on a label called Protect Audio and it started there. Malc (Marukomu) sent me over some ideas that he’d been working on and we got to work. So yes, I love the music I put out on Protect.

How long did it take between having the original idea of setting up the label to it actually coming into form? And were there any particular barriers to entry along the way that elongated the process?

As mentioned above, I’ve always loved this type of Drum & Bass, so creating a label to put out the music I love feels pretty natural to me. There is always barriers when it comes to music. I originally wanted Protect Audio to release on vinyl, but trying to get a distributor was an impossible task. With Load Media and Nu Urban going bust I can see why other distros are bricking it, and probably taking on a spanking new label scared them a little bit. One distributor also told me that my music wasn’t good enough for their distribution, so I politely told them to sod off, and I moved on! I now distribute myself using Label-Worx’s software, it’s wicked. I actually made an enquiry today about limited vinyl runs, but that story’s for another day ;)

It must take some patience and planning to juggle a normal working life with that of label management. Would you say you are able to dedicate a substantial amount of time to one without compromising on the other?

Well I keep telling myself all the hard work will pay off, and it does. Label’s don’t run themselves so I put in a silly amount of time. Now it’s all up and running I can get away with slacking occasionally. I’m also doing a degree and co-piloting Bass Explorer, so I’m always busy! When it comes to doing uni work I find myself doing label work. Ha! I just can’t help myself.

Talk us through your first release and how that played out. It’s an eclectic group of artists for sure; did you have a clear idea of what you wanted from your debut release or did it present itself after having put the feelers out?

When Protect started off I set my aim to release 90s influenced Drum & Bass, so I had a chat to Marukomu who makes that exact style of music. His stuff is wicked, and he really does enjoy the music he makes. He hasn’t jumped onto the waggon of dubstep, trap, or anything like that - He just makes good quality Drum & Bass, and probably always will. I know instantly if I want to sign a bit of music, and he hit the spot with ‘Visions / Ganymede’. I also got Eleven8 and Mono on the remixes and they did a spanking job. Being a new label with new artists I used the hefty Backdrop PR to deal with my promotion - These guys delivered my music to all the right places to give Protect that initial impact.

On to your latest release, the ‘Diffraction of Sound’ EP. I’d hasten to say it’s your strongest to date, and it seems as if each respective producer if teetering on the edge in terms of becoming established in their own right and no longer simply a promising ‘up-and-coming’ artist. That in itself must be pretty satisfying right?

Thanks man, yeah they are all extremely good producers and they all bring a different element to the release. I love working with them, and really enjoy the music they send me. They guys really do push themselves musically, and this is why they’re better than average. Yeah I’m very satisfied with how they are all doing, after all, I wouldn’t be doing what I do unless it was for them.

What’s the most satisfying aspect of your job, and vice versa which aspect gives you the most grievance?

The most satisfying part for me is seeing the final product charting on the download stores. It reassures me that my ears are working and the hard work is paying off. It’s a wicked feeling to know it’s all finished, but then I’m straight on the next release to start the process all over again.

The most annoying part: The stores spelling the bloody release title wrong, I know they must have a tonne of music to get online for the release dates, but it’s not hard to use your brain and double check the spellings!!! Luckily this hasn’t happened in a while…

What does the future hold for Protect, and what would you ultimately like to achieve with the label? Anything in the pipeline we should know about or is it still under wraps for now?

Well I can spill some beans, but not many. Protect will be releasing an EP from Survey, a single from Cursa, and a single from DeadBeets. When I have some time, I’d like to sort out the occasional Protect Audio night, I got some plans but you’ll find out some other day.

And finally, what’s the one ‘Urban Essential’ you couldn’t live without?

Coffee? Is that an Urban Essential? [By God yes, yes it is…]

The Diffraction of Sound EP is out Monday 29th April.

Preview: Memory9 - The Abyss Within

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:09:00 +0100

Freshness incoming from Italian born Gadi Sassoon aka Memory9: the titular ‘Abyss Within’ EP is set to drop on Mnemonic Dojo within the next couple of weeks. Brooding, elegantly musical and technically precise whilst transcending typical juke and footwork tropes, with remixes from man of the hour Om Unit and H-Sik (who also recently featured on the hugely successful Mad Hop compilation Vol. 6), the ‘Abyss Within’ marks another enigmatic release for the producer following on from the success of his critically acclaimed single ‘Black Dragon’.

Check the teaser below:

Keep your eyes on the Memory9 and Mnemonic Dojo Facebook pages for pre-order info. Happy listening everyone!

1. The Abyss Within

2. Escape The Ice

3. Two Bodies Of Venus

4. The Abyss Within (Om Unit Remix)

5. The Abyss Within (H-Sik Remix)

Five Steps: Break

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:18:00 +0100

After dropping a monumental VIP of one of 2012’s biggest tracks ‘Love So True’ on his own imprint Symmentry Recordings, Break has kindly taken the time (whilst on holiday! work hard, play hard…) to give us his Five Steps, from bootleg tapepacks, DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing through to the present day and beyond.

Step 1: Origins

A good friend of mine Marek introduced me into production, he had these bootleg jungle compilations from Camden Market on copied tapes so I loved all the tunes on those. At the time I hadn’t realised that they were tracks like Babylon and Terrorist which blew my mind back then, from then on all I wanted to do was chop up Amens. Hearing DJ Shadow’s early music and the Endtroducing Sampler EP was really the moment when I knew I really wanted to make tunes, and realised how to do it. I’ve made a lot of tracks like that which never came out, more for pleasure and learning.

Step 2: Introducing

To be honest my first 100 tunes before I released any thing weren’t rollers, I was much more into amens and chopage, but by the time I got my first tune out, which was all amens and oldskool breaks, the jungle sound had kinda died so I had to force my self into the new tech stuff. But listening to Kemal and Rob Data, Bad Company, Digital & Spirit and No U Turn stuff really got me into the darker sound. Just from making a lot of tunes and listening to loads of Dub I learnt to condense things down to one killer groove, once you’ve got that, the tune will keep rolling with the right edits and arrangement. A-Sides put out my first tune, and a lot of my other latter tracks he would suggest there’s too much going on and it’s hard for Dj’s to play with loads of sounds going over the drop, that advice helped me to refine my sound to the crucial elements more.

Step 3: Foundation

I don’t think I’m one of those producers that just had one massive tune that represents their career, it was more constant steady quality throughout the noughties, Let It Happen and Ringing Ears were big at the time, Evil Twin is also one of my personal favourites. I never wanted one exact formula to be my sound, so that every tune sounds similar, its more the content, style and overall sound that made my tunes have a distinct character.

Step 4: Present

[For ‘Love So True’] I found a cool dub vocal sample which was the starting point for the track, I harmonised some rhodes piano with this vocal to create a new progression. Once I had this basis it was a case of building this up as a tasty musical intro with the intention of dropping into a heavy minimal bass drop after a cadence from the keys, with vocal delays drifting over as in many dub tunes I love. With the VIP, I just felt there was more embelishment I could add to intro, and was keen to change the chord progression, as so many sequences worked with the vocals. I added a few of my own backing vocals to adorn the spread of the vocals as a digital harmonizer sounded rubbish. Playing in new bass and piano parts all in a reggae style was a real help, but needed to treat them in a way so they sounded like classic reggae parts. I lost some plugins that I used on the original so it was a challenge to get the mix as good or better than the original, I felt I could maybe get even more bass in the VIP so that was one of the aims when I started it. I don’t think much to my goals in making tunes has changed , other than skills and tastes maturing, I just find it slightly easier to get the sound I’ve imagined in my head.

Step 5: Future

I’ve got some great music signed from other producers due for release in 2013, such as an Xtrah E.P, a sick colab from Villem, Fields, Mako and Hydro, tunes from Detail & Tiiu, NC17 and possible tracks from L33, DLR and several other, a remix from Calibre should hopefully be on the way soon. I’m always getting new tracks from producers and have a selection of Dub, House and Chillout vibes by myself for release on the label to bring some other flavours to the Symmetry sound. Any previews will be available on my website symmetryrecordings.co.uk or on our Soundcloud page.

REVIEW: ASC - Flood Tide Rising EP [NASA007]

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:16:00 +0100

Our favourite cosmic imprint, Space Cadets, returns for its seventh instalment with another cutting edge release from ASC, following a brief hiatus for the otherwise prolific producer.

We’ve come to know Space Cadets as a label characterized by their truly groundbreaking ethos, refusing to sit still and constantly moving forward, and this release has once again blown us out of the water with its futuristic outlook.

Dream of the Future is a bittersweet assault on the senses, a disorientating array of industrial sounds swirling round together in a whirlwind of astral machination. Despite the robotic militancy of the track, elements of raw emotion creep their way into the overpowering mayhem in the shape of reverb-drenched chords that render the track a mysterious wonder. This is pretty apocalyptic stuff, a lot closer to IDM than anything else, but another genuinely interesting direction from ASC.

Flood Tide Rising is a return to the ASC we know and love, albeit at a tempo we’re unfamiliar hearing him use. An atmospheric, meditative slice of futurism that fuses half beat drum patterning with double time percussion to bewildering effect, practically throwing out conventions of rhythmic arrangement. What makes this track so enchanting though is what ASC is so adept at, and that is creating a mood, a feeling, an ambience, which he then goes and totally subverts, thus throwing your original sentiment into some doubt. The woozy, ethereal melodies that lurk behind the percussion at times appear benevolent but similarly are never far away from the uncanny, brooding sense of malaise that persists throughout most of the track. It’s like an aural journey into the mind of Sigmund Freud.

But it’s Outflow that is without doubt the stand-out track of this multifarious EP. An ambient, slow-burner of beautifully sombre dub-tinged chords and sparse percussion, yet just over 3 and a half minutes long, it’s an absolute pleasure to listen to on repeat and calms the very soul. A stunning track that explores the depths of loneliness and solitude, and shows that sometimes, less really is more.

Another sterling release of the kind of calibre we’ve come to expect from Space Cadets.

Dub Phizix's 'Rainy City Music'

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 14:54:00 +0100

To celebrate the release of Mise En Place Pt. 2 on Ingredients, we asked Dub Phizix to give us a selection of his favourite ‘Rainy City’ tracks. From the man himself, “Urban Essence asked me to choose five tunes which represent ‘Rainy City Music’ but there were so many I ended up choosing six, I could have gone on all day. Mainly due to the fact that I listen to most music in Manchester and it’s always pissing down here.” So without further ado….

Synkro - Look At Yourself

The Stone Roses - Elizabeth My Dear

The Roots - You Got Me Ft. Erykah Badu

Nina Simone - Mr Bojangles

Yelawolf - Pop The Trunk

Noel Harrison - The Windmills Of Your Mind

Various Artists - Mise En Place Pt. 2 is out now via all good retailers including Redeye Records.

Five Steps: delPurr & Eraser

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:49:00 +0000

Following on from the success of their majestic debut release on BMTM, delPurr & Eraser kindly sat down with us to discuss their Five Steps, from the GTA 3 soundtrack and Dance eJay 2 through to “Fairytale” and beyond.

Step 1: Origins

delPurr: My first experience with electronic music was in the early 90’s (at that time I first heard The Prodigy). So my taste in electronica was formed rather early during my childhood and has been shaped ever since by producers such as The Chemical Brothers or ATB. It was only a matter of the time before I discovered first drum&bass track, which really touched my heart - FSOL - Papua New Guinea (High Contrast remix). I had an opportunity to hear the original track earlier and I was quite fascinated by nature of this remix. That was the time I started to realize that I was one of the few people in my neighborhood who found this kind of music not only rather dynamic, but also beautiful and genial at the same time.

Eraser: It was maybe in 2002 when I got in touch with Drum & Bass for the first time. I played GTA 3, the soundtrack of which featured pirate station called MSX FM, which was in fact a track mixed by DJ Timecode and MC Codebreaker [Editor note: we featured Codebreaker’s Five Steps too interestingly!]. I was only twelve years old back then and I found the music and MC-ing quite hilarious, therefore I would have never thought that DNB music would affect my life later on. Interestingly though, there was a track in the mix that attracted my attention and gave me goosebumps and shivers back then… as it still does now! It was “First Contact” by Omni Trio, which was a rather fitting name, considering the occasion. In the next four years I enjoyed various types of music genres, with the likes of Prodigy, ATB, Deftones and many others. It was the year 2007 and Andy C’s “10 years of D&BA” mix, which helped me rediscover my love for Drum & Bass. Then I came across liquid from Hospital Records and I have been hooked since. Apex – Space Between (feat. Ayah Marar) is the track which reminds me of those times vividly.

Step 2: Introducing

delPurr : When I was 13 I started playing around with an easy Dance E-Jay 2, which was probably the main reason why I wasn’t scared by a ‘horrible’ layout later on in 2003, when I grabbed my first copy of Fruity Loops. I had no internet connection and absolutely no idea about the existence of tutorials. The only influences from the beginning were the tracks from the producers like Roni Size, Aphrodite or Teebee. With my own ways of experimenting with this program I was producing music only as a free-time activity until 2008, when I met Jan (a.k.a. Eraser) for the first time. After our first meetings we both decided to commence a kind of a deeper discovery process of music production, which was kind of fun for both of us and since we found out about our music compatibilities, which kept us moving forward. The first successful track which was admired by quite a lot of my friends was called “Sad Eyes”.

Eraser : Pretty much the same as my mate delPurr with one exception - I was 18 when I first used E-Jay and I eventually moved to FL Studio. The mass spread of broadband internet and the access to various tutorials made my learning process faster and it was easier to catch up. Before we got together we used to produce tracks by ourselves, but we often exchanged comments regarding each other’s results. Our sound and approach towards the music production used to be so different that we would not ever imagine making a track together… Our first collaboration appeared just a year ago! As for my first track, I think the first listenable was the one called “2142”. There were so many artists that influenced me, that it’s almost impossible to pick just a few. Matrix & Futurebound, Logistics, Seba and London Elektricity came to my mind at this moment… I believe there is a considerable amount of influence from outside the Drum & Bass genre as well. As for our setup, we both use FL Studio (10.0.9 at the moment) with plenty of VST’s and sound libraries. I also use Reaper 4.32 for recording and time-stretching vocals, which is a perfect complement to my setup and gives me exactly what FL Studio was missing. Our approach is to take literally any sound and change it totally by applying a massive amount of processing. It’s so exciting to end up with totally different sound you started with. We are also leaping towards to recording sounds on our own, which I believe, will take the fun factor to the next level, so yeah… we are really excited about that!

Step 3: Foundation

Unarguably for us, it was “Fairytale”… which is pretty unexpected, because 90% of our musical output before was (and probably still is) liquid Drum & Bass. Fairytale was one of our a very few experiments in that area of sound… but it all came naturally, as we both feel deep atmospheres and always gave a lot of attention to details. We love Drum & Bass, but strong, slamming beat lines is not always what you want in conjunction with the melodic content. Those moments, when we realised we created something uniquely ours, came long time ago, in those times we were making tracks ourselves… Occasionally, one of us used to come with unique idea in mediocre song…and we both used to be really excited about it, only because the idea (no one else was getting). “Fairytale” seems to be the track where everything finally got in place and there is also a musical story behind it, which seems to retain the attention of non-nerdy listeners as well… which makes us super-happy and motivated!

Step 4: Present

When we began working on Fairytale, we had no idea how it would end up. Even after its completion we had other plans with it… but it was right at this time when Blu Mar Ten Music was opening their doors to other artists and looking for demos. We felt an irresistible impulse to send it there, you know… just in case (maybe because they emphasised they were looking for unique tracks… and Fairytale was pretty much the most unique track we’ve ever made). After a few days, Chris BMT got in touch and asked us for some more stuff. It was right in the middle of creating “Imagine”, while being motivated and adrenaline boosted, we finished it extraordinarily quickly and sent him a preview… and in a few days, there was an offer for a single for BMTM from Chris. We find Blu Mar Ten utterly professional, promo is an important part of the release and the BMT crew are doing a fantastic job about it, bringing our sounds to audiences we could not even imagine before. We could not be happier!

Step 5: Future

We are constantly busy producing new stuff, both DnB and pretty much hard-to-classify 170 BPM electronic music (like our BMTM release). But we cannot share them at the moment, as it would cause potential problems if we wanted to release it. But there is still one track we would like to share with you. We did a remix for a Slovakian audio competition… well, it’s more of a remix treatment for our older, unreleased track… but it represents our attitude – deep atmospheres and details, this time in DnB form. It also features vocals in Slovak language, which is quite rare even for Slovak Drum & Bass.

Five Steps: Frederic Robinson

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:43:00 +0000

In order to make yourself known in an already over-saturated scene it takes not only a unique, identifiable presence of sound, but also an outstanding level of technical prowess. Achieving this can take a solo producer a considerable amount of time, patience and dedication to the craft, yet once in a while one particular artist enters the fray, humble, unannounced and without ceremony, and simultaneously confirms and denies all of these with a single, seemingly effortless flourish of musical brilliance. That track, for us, was Frederic Robinson’s “Mood Swings”, buried deep within a compilation of excellent tracks in their own right under Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood imprint.

At once both a celebration of breakbeat culture and a clear, exuberant departure from the norm, that five minutes or so of music single-handedly established the artist a 170 genre all to his own; combining a delicate, emotive precision with an undeniably abyssal creative depth. Every track since that striking debut has recreated that organic, microcosmic aesthetic with enviable consistency, so it comes as no surprise that his latest release on Blu Mar Ten Music is not only one of characteristic excellence, but also a pairing of the two standout talents to emerge from that seminal Electr*c 2 compilation. With great pleasure, we present Frederic Robinson’s Five Steps, who takes us through his first contact with Drum & Bass through to his aforementioned collaborative single with Stray.

Step 1: Origins

I first got in contact with Drum & Bass through Commix’s Fabriclive 44 when I was 16 years old: I was blown away by the intricate rhythms and delicate sounds on that album. There were no DnB parties where I lived so I only listened to tracks that were suitable for home listening, which contributed to me ignoring most of the dancefloor-orientated music of the genre. My goal back then was to take the rhythms and sound design of the more minimalistic DnB and put it into a more musical context with more development and faster-paced musical ideas.

Step 2: Introducing

I have been making music since I was about 12, which means alongside the necessary acquiring of technical skills I also had to find out which elements in music were important to me and which were not. The first 6 years of my musical output were completely chaotic and have nothing to do with the music I make now. I am still amazed by the crazy things I have on my hard-drive from that time. The first track that I considered good enough to show around was “Mood Swings”. I made it right after buying a decent set of speakers and that made all the difference I suppose. It was also my first release; part of the “electr*c 2” compilation on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings. Stray recommended me to them, incidentally. He was, and still is, a big influence because of his elegant handling of DnB stereotypes. I can very much relate to the thought process behind most of his tracks. An important element of music in general is playing with the listener’s expectations and he does it brilliantly.

Step 3: Foundation

My first single was on Diffrent Music (who found my music on Soundcloud) and decided to feature “Laughing at Clouds”, which is my best known track I suppose. The initial thought process behind it was “I should use the sound palette of a standard liquid DnB tune and give it a little twist.” And that’s pretty much how it turned out. I tend to get a bad conscience when I work with overused sounds, but the track is somehow resistant to that. I suppose it is the little gap after each snare… The track I am most proud of is my remix of Pedestrian’s “Hei Poa”. As you make anything more complex you create an exponential number of new ways it can fail. In my eyes, the remix balances “too much” and “not enough” better than any other track I have ever made. But then, my perspective is very different from my listeners’ so I cannot speak for them.

Step 4: Present

Stray and I had been planning to collaborate for a long time. A long-distance collaboration was never an option (because of its lack of precise communication). I eventually flew over to London, we started “Thumbprint” when I arrived and finished it just before I had to fly back. All that while also getting to know each other as people and as musicians. The creative progress was quite chaotic; a constant stream of ideas that were either fought back or accepted and developed. It was a very new way of working for me (I rarely produce for more than 1 or 2 hours a day): huge fun and very exhausting, since you had to stay focused all the time otherwise the tune would go in a direction you were not happy with. It was a great experience and it will definitely happen again, even if I have to force him ;-)

Step 5: Future

Next to lots of studio work I am currently developing a live setup even though all my musical output so far has been completely production oriented. I have no interest in DJing but do not want to miss out on the live aspect of music so for me it is definitely worth the effort. I am not quite sure to what extent this will influence my music, but I expect it to at least slightly shift my focus from technical perfection to expressiveness of fewer musical elements and more “instruments” (meaning sound sources that can actually be played). If you are willing to invest some time into today’s music software, the possibilities are limitless and there is so much more than “quantized button pushing”. So that is what excites me at the moment; it feels like entering a whole new world of music that is completely different from the one I know through production and I cannot wait to present the result of my work.

Stray & Frederic Robinson - ‘When It Rains’ / ‘Thumbprint’ is out now via Blu Mar Ten Music.

Words: Jack Smith

REVIEW: J. Robinson & Gantz - 'The Maasai' / 'Misread' [Soundman Chronicles]

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:32:51 +0000

I think it’s about time we added J.Robinson to the list of exceptionally talented, brooding new-school artists including Clarity, Overlook, Sam KDC, and Ruffhouse to name just a few.

With a handful of accomplished releases on a variety of top labels including Renegade Hardware, Loxy’s Cylon & Ink’s Architecture, and a steady flow of urgent output from his own label Tribe12, the future is certainly looking bright. A forthcoming, devastating collaboration with Loxy & MC Fokus looks set to enhance his reputation even further, yet it’s this collaborative release with rising star Gantz on London-based Soundman Chronicles that really highlights his distinct diversity and tribal-aligned technical proficiency.

With a slew of artists generally associated with DnB making the step across to 140 territories of late with remarkable aplomb – Amit is reportedly lining up a single for Tempa. with ‘Don’t Forget Your Roots’ and ‘Acid Trip’ lying in wait; and Jubei, Consequence and Skeptical all offering up some tantalising dubs with appearances in sets from Youngsta, J:Kenzo, Icicle et al – it comes as little surprise that there too exists no regression in terms of quality of output from the Londoner at a similar tempo. You may already be familiar with the A-Side which made a brief appearance on Icicle’s Rinse.19: solo offering ‘The Maasai’ glides through its arrangement with a deceptively simple swagger, a supremely confident sum of few parts involving a not over-excessive use of cowbell and a pounding triplet of kicks. Laced with a dangerous immediacy, what’s intriguing here is that, for a genre almost defined by its sub-bass movement, it takes a few listens to realise not one single bass-note appears throughout, testament to the precision and originality of the track itself. The B-Side continues the fruitful partnership that gave us ‘Spontaneous’ on Tribe12’s Mysticism EP, as ‘Misread’ marries Gantz’s trademark attention to detail with a pulsating flute sample and delicate handling of ticking hi-hats and vocal snippets.

Vinyl lovers rejoice! Pressed on a limited run of 12’s with no digital copies in sight, with an alluring lack of artwork also adding to its white-label prestige, J & Gantz’s appearance on Soundman Chronicles is a perfect introduction to the two’s stripped-back, articulate bustle at 140bpm, and a great piece of wax for those making the costly yet supremely satisfying journey within the greater confines of record collection.

J. Robinson & Gantz – The Maasai / Misread is out now. Get yours via Chemical Records.

Words: Jack Smith

Five Steps: Bungle

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:02:38 +0000

I don’t think I’m alone when I say the latest release from one of Brazil’s most accomplished artists on Soul:R is the finest of 2013 so far: both sides of the single as breathtaking beautiful and technically proficient as the other. A future classic in the making for sure… so it is with great pleasure that we introduce the artist himself to our Five Steps series. Step forward Bungle.

Step 1: Origins

One day I was just playing football at school & someone was playing ‘XRS – Get Back’ so I stopped to hear it out. Just after, Sci-Clone’s ‘Everywhere You Go Remix’ came on my radar. What the hell was that? My friends laughed at the mechanical-sounding beats but I loved the piano & sax solos. Then listening to that whole album I realised electronic music could actually be cool.

Step 2: Introducing

I was already involved with recording at the time as a guitarist, both with a band and as a solo musician. The more I went out to clubs, the more I started trying to experiment in the studio, but it was all very weird and unacceptable for a progressive rock / jazz musician to make some bleeps with FL Studio. It was a very basic setup to be honest, and it took me some time to come up with something consistent. The first track I presented to local DJ’s was ‘Yes, I Know’.

Step 3: Foundation

I don’t know if I have one track that I feel ‘made my name’. If there is, I reckon it’s ‘Good Times’. I was doing my first tour in Europe and Smithy talked to DJ Hype about me, I had just finished ‘Where I Am’. Kevin asked for something different for the B-side though, my very own sound so I said ‘alright’ and headed back to Brazil, and went as much introspective as I could. The result was ‘Good Times’ – and I really believed he wouldn’t sign it. My life was changing fast in between these tours, so writing something very personal at that time made me realise about things I haven’t before, really important stuff in my personal life and I was lucky enough to express it all on the track. At the moment I finished, it was already such a big personal achievement no matter what happened from then on. Kevin loved it and decided to release it as the A-side of the record. To my surprise it went straight to the top two on Beatport & number one on D&BA, and people began asking for it at gigs. The track shaped who I am and I’ll always thank Kevin for that.

Step 4: Present

After my first album I wanted to go for a more serious and artistic sound, but it’s hard to not sound ‘fluffy’ if you lay down thousands of melodies on the arrangement. ‘Good Times’ was a big step but I wanted to go even deeper, so it all became a big issue for me. Marcus was into ‘Good Times’ and he understood my issue and where I wanted to go with my music. Memories LP on Spearhead was a huge step, but it only really happened [with Soul:R] when I did ‘Aura’ five years later Marcus and I started talking about that. Again, I did it for personal reasons, just for me basically and didn’t expect him to like it.

Step 5: Future

There’s no new material in sight yet, I’ve decided to let ‘Aura’ breathe for the time being. Though I’d like to point out new talent Urbandawn as a future big artist!

Bungle - ‘Aura’ / ‘Astral Travel’ is out now - get yours from Chemical Records.

Words: Jack Smith

Five Steps: Phil Tangent

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:07:02 +0000

After the success of his second single on Marcus Intalex’s Soul:R at the close of 2012 - ‘Restitution’ / ‘Squaring The Circle’ - we caught up with Phil Tangent, giving us his Five Steps from recording to cassette from PS1 to his forthcoming release on Rubik.

Step 1: Origins

My first venture into the world of Drum & Bass was back in ’96 when a friend of mine gave me a copy of LTJ Bukem’s compilation ‘Logical Progression’. I listened to it at every available opportunity and was the soundtrack to my walks to and from secondary school. The track that started it all for me was ‘Links’ by Chameleon with its atmospheric pads, lush keys and intricate arrangement (something I try to incorporate into my compositions). I’d never experienced music like it before. Everytime I heard it I’d fall into a trance-like state. It still gives me tingles to this day.

Step 2: Introducing

I have been inspired by artists such as LTJ Bukem, Goldie, Rob Playford, Alex Reece and Calibre to name a few. However, as well as Drum & Bass and Jungle, my ‘sound’ has been heavily influenced by house and soul music. My friend ran a record shop in my home town. He introduced me to these guys Onionz and Joeski who made soulful yet techy house music with saxophones.

I guess the first track I made as a ‘producer’ was an instrumental piece for a song competition at school. I’d asked for Music 2000 on the Playstation and learned that I could record from the console to cassette. Another record that has proved influential in my early career is ‘New Forms’ LP by Roni Size/Reprazent. The song I entered for the competition centered heavily around the album track ‘Destination’. However, I was disqualified from the competition as the track I’d made wasn’t considered a song as such due to lack of vocals.

This didn’t deter me from making music. I used to enter competitions on Drum & Bass Arena’s production forum. I still have the tracks on my hard drive which I might revisit at some point. I would recommend this to any budding producers as constructive criticism from other like-minded producers has helped me in terms of learning to structure tunes, mix-downs etc.

Step 3: Foundation

‘Billie’s Smile’ was receiving a lot of airplay on Bailey’s show on 1xtra. However, I think the track that has given me the most recognition is ‘Lunar’ on Soul:R which is funny considering it’s the B-Side to ‘Billie’s Smile’. I get asked to play it at every night I’m playing at. I recently played Soul:ution at Fabric. People were coming up to me thanking me for ‘Lunar’ which was a very special moment for me.

‘Lunar’ evolved over time and started life quite differently to the tune you hear today. I wanted to make something atmospheric and spacey. The main pad set the precedent for the rest of the track and the other elements just seemed to flow. The stars and moon were out in full force the night I was writing the track which inspired me and aided me in achieving the atmosphere I was looking for.

Step 4: Present

When I start a track, I never know what or where it will take me. I like to go with the flow. ‘Squaring The Circle’ just happened really. It was one of those weeks where I had a complete lack of inspiration and nothing was happening. Half an hour before I was due to go to the pub to meet friends I came up with a loop. It was like something clicked. I sent the loop to Marcus to see what he thought of it. He said to finish it.

The process for ‘Restitution’ was similar as far as I can recall. It was again one of those weeks. I was messing around with some pad sounds and found one I particularly liked and built upon it by layering other melodies. I’m a big fan of Al Green and I’d been hoping to use an acapella that had been in my acapella’s folder for months. The vocal just seemed to fit in accordance to what I was feeling at that moment in time.

Marcus and Bailey have been integral in terms of my career within music. If it wasn’t for Bailey sending ‘Billie’s Smile’ to Marcus on my behalf the future might have been very different. It’s strange in terms of the fact I’ve followed Soul:R and his career - now I’m part of it.

Step 5: Future

I recently signed ‘Pleasure Trip’ - a track I made about two years ago - to Rubik Records. I often get asked if it will see a release and finally I can say a resounding yes. I really like the way Rubik operate so I’m pleased it has found a good home.

Phil Tangent - ‘Restitution’ / ‘Squaring The Circle’ is out now - get yours from Chemical Records.

Words: Jack Smith

REVIEW: Beastie Respond - Fictitious Nostalgia LP Sampler [TEAL007]

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:43:02 +0000

Testament to the globality of 170 Drum & Bass as we now know it that such a unique, spellbinding release can emanate from the Danish heartland of all places, a wonderful triumvirate of artist, label, and Kasper Pyndt’s icy, conservatist artwork.

Whilst it’s true that this seventh release in TEAL’s catalogue of genre-crossing, quirky beats is no newfound pairing of the two, Tobias Pedersen aka Beastie Respond’s fourth appearance on the label – the sampler to his forthcoming debut LP Fictitious Nostalgia – represents the zenith of his artistic reach in his bare yet intriguing career so far, and a clear triumph for the Copenhagen-based label who has nurtured such an obvious talent since his 2011 debut – a pair of signature Autonomic tracks back when the moniker was still an active one in the form of ‘Syncopy’ / ‘We’ve Seen You Through’ [TEAL003].

In my humble opinion the release’s A-side is exactly that: Beastie Respond’s hallmark subtle-engagement combined with the new-age 80s throwback aesthetic that has become more and more prominent not only from a musical perspective (casting promiscuous glances towards such talented artists as Lapti and Grum), but also within popular film, looking particularly at the wildly successful if emotionally lacking Drive and its glossy reflection of sleazy, glamorous neonlight society made all too transparent by its melodically vibrant soundtrack. ‘UL90’ represents your more typical headnodding affair, its sparse arrangement laced with flickering synth stabs and airtight percussive elements, drifting on the precipice of anger whilst still retaining the core retro-futurism of the sampler as a whole. In a similar vein, the B-side’s second track ‘Jetliner’ assumes the role of ‘UL90’s louder, 808-laden brother, introducing widescreen arpeggios to those familiar plucking synths from the former as an altogether more arresting alternative to Wait For Me’s soothing intimacy.

Referring to the single’s lead track and without taking away from the strength of the sampler as a whole, I can vouch for the fact that occasionally a solo piece of music comes along that just sits perfectly in your lap, saying ‘yeah, I am exactly what you wanted right now, right?’ I can give no higher praise to this release simply because I can write such a glowing review without having ever heard the song in its entirety, as I’m sat here typing at my laptop in the comfortable knowledge of Alia Fresco’s every word and all the teasing musical elements in-between. Hearing ‘Wait For Me’ open Loxy’s CX:21 Part 1 has hence made that podcast my most listened to of 2012, the recipient of an innumerable amount of plays, and it’s an even rarer case when a release I’ve fallen for actually grasps my attention now just as much as the first time, all these many months later. To quote Nat King Cole, ‘after you get what you want, you don’t want it. If I gave you the moon you’d grow tired of it soon.’ Thank God in the rarest of cases we don’t have to take such a sweeping statement too literally.

Beastie Respond’s Fictitious LP Sampler is out on February 18th 2013.

Words: Jack Smith