Subvert Central

Full Version: For The Electronica Lovers...review and mixtape archive 001
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Pages: 1 2 3 4
Hi folks Wave

The premise of my "For The Ambient Lovers...review and mixtape archive 001" counterpart thread, with over 10,500 views in 8 months at last observation, doesn't apply here. As I'm fully aware Subvert Central, underlying everything, is an Electronica-centric forum news wise, with many threads about Electronica-centric music, as well as science, politics and banter. But what I want to do with this topic is, firstly, prolong the work of my Dogs On Acid "Music And Mixes Of Interest Archive" started in 2006, which amassed over 100 descriptive reviews of Jungle, D&B and things in between. I stopped that to form the SC webzine, TDD, in late 2006, began the SC group blog SubVersion in 2009 with Statto as a firm continuation, so if you don't know me: the zine had thousands of readers, the alongside mix series' many thousands of downloaders and readers.

My plan here, then, is that anyone can join in with recommendations of tunes, albums and mixes, lumped into one thread all about Electronica, which to me constitutes House, Techno, Dubstep, Jungle, Drum & Bass and the various segregated sub-styles, and for the messages to reach as wide and varied an audience as possible. So, this thread will be updated periodically personally, but any further natter and picks from readers would be awesome. I'll start as meaning to go on...

FTEL 001 - February 2012

Colo - Midday Sun EP
Take Records 005 vinyl

[Image: 6482_midday-sun.png]

Seriously good eight track EP; Take Records' first of 2012, ululating synth on "Never Again" twirls lightly like a feather duster stuffed with confetti, perfectly accenting the broken beats that sensibly step. Last original "Church" follows that tack; sax clusters chisel a lacksaidasical groove, sanding the pieces together and possessing a gummy bassline in progress. George Fitzgerald's remix: proof where "bass music" foreseeably ends, Dubstep tempo is modern comma, punctuates Techno stylism. Ken Kojima aka Nick Anthony Simoncino's ambituous re-rub of "Church" adapts the wandering backing melody of The Cars' "Who's Gonna Drive You Home" and scatterguns a truckload of percussive licks over it; pick of the remixes, but only just - Epoque's "Rick" version half-speeds Hospital Records' golden days.

http://www.takerecords.co.uk/ (out March 12th)

Greenleaf - Cold Soul EP
Lightless Digital download

[Image: 19150-ra.jpg]

Booming beats, syncopation - not two things that always work really well together. But on "Cold Soul", New Orleans subvert Greenleaf bears testament to persistence in confluence. "Who", for example, stews Droppin' Science junglism to choppy waters, not unlike the path laid by Paradox in his 2004 breakbeat mission - more drums, more funk, less cheese, no junk heard. Except when every drum workout starts to sound the same. That's a fair criticism of the musical area, but assuredly on "Cold Soul" there's more to Greenleaf's title subversion than bass warmth. The atmospheres straddle 90s tablature to fork out old sensibilities, and the difference is the edits are readily alternated. Consequently boredom thresholds many heads tired from even after finding "the good shit" vanishes. "Mercy funk VIP?" Merci.

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...=greenleaf

June Miller - Give Up The Ghost EP
Horizons Music CD / vinyl / download

[Image: HZN046EP.jpg]

June Miller, the duo of Mark Mcann and Bert Van Djik, could be spited for associations with now nails-on-blackboard Drum & Bass labels including Renegade Hardware. Whereas "Give Up The Ghost" benefits from collaborations with established deeper soundsmiths like Instra:Mental, IChiOne guest Mindmapper and female Tracey Chapman-alike Gonnie Case, for now multi-genre imprint Horizons Music. "Neurosis (140 mix)" is the obvious choice for Burial fans, but excess soul turns saccharine with more knowledge and maturity, so I'm inclined to vote for "Tundra" as the lasting spirit exciter. Gorgeous 'verbed guitar granules mix up with tunnel-richocheted Latin percussion overlays, firm offbeat rhythms, and a vibe recalling a more restrained Arcon 2. Six very good tunes, one generic tech tune from Amoss.

http://www.horizonsmusic.co.uk/shop/index.php?cPath=111

2 Mixes To Begin

Tim - Reaper - Mix For Rhythm Incursions

Rhythm Incursions Wrote:Tim Reaper is a young Jungle/D&B producer I was introduced to by the always on it Joe Muggs. Since then his SoundCloud page has been a regular stopping point, especially when I need an amen fix (check his "Amen Warfare" mini mix for some chopped up bliss).

As always one thing leading to another we got chatting on Twitter and we invited Tim to deliver a mix for the show, which he did in the shape of this short but intensely sweet mini mix. With only two years’ producing experience under his belt, Tim’s already showing the kind of flair that bodes well for the future, especially in his ability to reconcile the sounds and vibes of Jungle’s golden era with its various modern incarnations and evolutions. He’s had releases on Trace’s DSCI4 label and forthcoming ones on Inperspective among others – there’s plenty forthcoming he tells us, so be sure to keep an eye out.

01. Ricky Force – All Kinda Style [Space Amazon Dub]
02. Discography & Tim Reaper – He Feels Like A Carpet [Dub]
03. Jazzsteppa & Foreign Beggars – Raising The Bar (Stray Remix) [Studio Rockers]
04. Jedi – Robber Baron (Gremlinz & Rene LaVice Remix) [Bad Concept]
05. LXC – I Know U [Bustle Beats Dub]
06. Future & Stranjah – The List [Dub]
07. Tim Reaper – Congo Bad [Dub]
08. Optimystic – Roots (Relapse’s Bleeding Roots Remix) [Dub]
09. Double O – Africa Sweetness [Hidden Hawaii]
10. Flatliners – Dub Tune (Jaybee Remix) [Dub]
11. Phuture-T – Waterhouse Dub [Dub]
12. DJ Trace – Final Chapta VIP [Dub]
13. Tim Reaper – Call My Name [Free Download]
14. Theory – Dirty Tricks [Translation]
15. Parallel & Tim Reaper – The Sound [Inperspective Dub]
16. Champa B – Bodies [Scientific Wax Dub]
17. Tim Reaper – From The Top [Free Download]
18. Nolige – The Drift [Free Download]

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...incursions

The Night Kitchen Podcast: Feb 2012

InfiniteSloth Wrote:This mix has been long in the works and I'm glad to finally be able to post about it. Wanted to give an upbeat and quirky intro to the PCMS/Drum Funk sound.

http://nastysonix.com/tagged/Night_Kitchen

Quote:"Well worth the wait, this incredible Jungle ‘n’ drumfunk mix is crafted by Nic TVG from Los Angeles. It’s been so long since I’ve enjoyed new/current Drum & Bass that these sounds were like an 8am wake-up call - caffeine to my ears. Warning - this mix may be addictive, and go into heavy rotation 'pon your iTunes. Enjoy!"

01. Baked Beans vs Toshi Ichiyanagi - Appearance
02. Nic TVG - A Mouse Among Monsters (Takeshi Nakamura’s Rhythm and Noise Mix) [Pinecone Moonshine]
03. Sub - So Finster die Nacht (Fracture’s Astrophonica Mix) [Pinecone Moonshine]
04. Fanu - Brotz [Pinecone Moonshine]
05. Takeshi Nakamura - 4 [Pinecone Moonshine]
06. Pieter K - Set the Record Straight [Inperspective]
07. Macc & dgoHn - July 39th [Subtle Audio]
08. Nic TVG - No Truth in Tuning (Mixed Media Version) [Pinecone Moonshine]
09. Icarus - Uke ‘Em [Not Applicable]
10. Sub - Tensions [Subtle Audio]
11. Macc & dgoHn & Nic TVG - TTT [Pinecone Moonshine]
12. Nic TVG - A Mouse Among Monsters [Subtle Audio]
13. dgoHn - Summit [Pinecone Moonshine]
14. Intense - Time Space Continuem [Rugged Vinyl]

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...t=pinecone

Ta all, and looking forward to getting this stone rolling.

Mick
nice one Twothumbs
:d
For anyone reading: please feel free to contact me via muttley_subversion at hotmail dot co dot uk with any music you think I might be interested in! The format the "Ambient Lovers" SC archive took is columns containing three reviews apiece by me, interspersed by recommendations from others and longer texts. The columns got sent to magazines and sources by email, spreading the word of SC-related (taste or involvement) music further. Then every five columns, a topic-inclusive mix arose. I'll have to see if I persist with that format here, but since I've got Ableton from dionysus for beatmatching live on my laptop, it's possible.

Smile

I've just joined the Soundium.net downloads store as a guest reviewer. That's in the name of the SC group blog SubVersion, for this new release to start with:

Mouse On Mars - Parastrophics (Monkeytown)

[Image: 0817231010285_800_jpg_145x145_q85.jpg]

Muttley on Soundium.net Wrote:Six years is a long time in Electronica terms, especially our last six. Dubstep inherited hybrids like UK Funky, "Bass Music" hit red dial in quantities, and what remained of "intelligent dance music", the IDM byline pioneered by Warp Records in the early 1990s by Squarepusher, later Planet Mu with Venetian Snares and u-ZIQ, had to accept limelight trading hands with basic revolutions of bass theory.

Six years is also how long it's been since the last Mouse On Mars album, and "Parastrophics", Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma's newest, is certainly no small fry in terms of bastardizing bass, as well as (s)mothering elements of glitch (throughout), and even Celtic Folk-esque intro melody ("Bruised To Imwimper"). You may be thinking "Parastrophics" is a mess of sonic e-numbers then, overfed on processing, struggling to try on clothes that don't fit. Where it succeeds, for example on the rather Aaron Funk-ish titled "Gearknot Cherry", is splattering small groove elements until it finds body, latches its fusions gradually, then fades them out before dynamics flatten. Sequentially it's dapper exciting, amorphing a peak/trough penchant, turning mental corners like a Super NES RPG. But it's also nodding to the dancefloor, and indeed, Dancehall - check "Metrotopy" for a filtered rudeboy/gal skank splaying against a vibe Flying Lotus kicked on his lauded "Cosmogramma". The beats are varied timbrally, hertz-ing bassbins - Mouse On Mars keep rough-hewn edge, separating them rather than imitating them into others. If you inspect just one tune on this, let it be "Polaroyced" for the drive-by slickness that never threatens to get sterile. But in all, this 47 minute electronic joyride is a must for the ears - breathe life into yours on Earth, not just Mars!

http://soundium.net/#/release/2622/parastrophics/?g=3
Antibreak - Horizons EP (Absys Records)

[Image: 8790001137981_jpg_145x145_q85.jpg]

Muttley on Soundium.net Wrote:Many Drum & Bass producers' transition to Dubstep includes an inclination to stick to half-time bass-and-tish. Some perceive that inclination as a democratic need for their work to be initially accepted. As such, if the D&B producer gets selling the transitional material from the start, experimentation doesn't always appeal to them. This impacts on the saturation of the Dubstep scene. So consequently it's harder to find who had the worth to transition at all.

Antibreak, with a history on deeper Drum & Bass labels like Covert Operations and Red Mist, is definitely one with the transitional diversity to be noteworthy. Active, careful listening isn't required for a certain awestruck-ness about his "Horizons" EP. Kickin' a transition between Techno and Ambient-influenced Drum & Bass, Absys invite him to offer three progressive Drum & Bass tunes, one rich Dubstep hybrid. There's a lot of musical content, plenty of variation and evolution, which for the collated style showcased here - a patchwork of 90s' Elementz Of Noize, "Oneiric"-ish Boxcutter and D&B influenced Monolake - intermingles a rare, transcendental introspection for this genre transition. You can actually sense projected realities other than yours that this EP's purpose serves.

This lifts "Horizons" above 'demonstration' level. Percussion showers flying around the sonic cubicle on the title cut alleviate depressive states. But Antibreak keeps himself locked to a grid of forward momentum; those purposeful melodies that take flight like doves in summer rain. Complimentarily, "Horizons" also works as a bridge mechanism - from D&B to Dubstep and vice versa; as a sequence of tracks as well as standalone tunes; and another great catalogue instalment to Absys, who deserve a lot of credit for keeping passionately unbroken. Broaden your horizons for this EP, with no regrets!

http://soundium.net/#/release/2566/horizons-ep/
FTEL 002 - January 2011 - March 2012

Komaton - Rachtor EP
Dame Records 013 vinyl

[Image: 6159_rachtor.jpg]

Techno: a false economy? Conservative shades and shifts are usurped to the power of the vitally functional. One way of seeing with your arms instead of your ears perhaps. The physicality counterpoint I constantly yearn for, purchased by intent listening to bore into your brain, has another way of embracing a hug-and tug. Komaton scooters a pavement, collecting obstructions such as perceiveable layering, ice cream synth whips, daft helium balloon sound stretching, hitherto a bastard child of the two bloodline forms of 4/4: House and Electro. Grace upstaged by transcendent valour, "Rachtor EP": it's pop-techno, a loosely defining descriptive, referencing influence topography, the triad of House, Techno and Electro - stabilised by the Techno - and techniques, which turns to popularity from its axel.

http://www.dame-music.com/

LXC - I Know U / Senses - Rodney's Choice
Bustle Beats 002 10' with exclusive comic strip / digital

[Image: bb002webpreview.jpg]

An irregular drum pattern, resembling an elephant with tap dancing shoes on and a rocket shoved up its behind, inducts submerged voices, shadowing like ghosts of Steve C & Monita's early Jungle; traipsing the edges of the groove. That's LXC's "I Know U", the Alphacut owner's top production so far, leading the second 10' vinyl on newly established Bustle Beats, Subtle Audio's big brother, who've received support from Mary Anne Hobbs and several leftfield D&B DJs in their still-progressing lifespan. Senses' "Rodney's Choice" instead goes heavy on the Tighten Up break, one of the Jungle & D&B circle's salts of the earth. Puncturing any unseen disability with a self-righteous attitudnal swagger, aggressive attentiveness unites the two sides, and represents an artistic jekyll and hyde.

http://www.subvertcentral.com/forum/show...LXC-Senses

Various Artists - It's All About House Music Vol.3
Musica Diaz Senorita download

[Image: 600x600.jpg]

Compiling 25 tracks genreifically builds detail disenfranchisement. But since we revisit the past cyclically, influenced by present priorities, and looking for clues to view our future, "It's All About House Vol.3" is forgiven for approaching Milo commercial cheesiness in elemental places. The variety, at the size, commands as strength, channelling soul-feeding honey like Tiger Stripes' "Kayoko (Kiko Navarro remix)", Soul Cola's "Hit The Morning Beat" and DJ Tekin's Funk-infused re-spin of "Black Magic Pearl". Where outros are inverted commas of obviousness in the unmixed format, the ordering improves the mundanity of DJ tools. "If you get the groove to start your day, the negativity bounces off you, and flies away" Terra Mia overlays onto his production. As a "It's All About..." mantra, it couldn't be more fitting.

http://www.emusic.com/album/various-arti.../12279921/
Nightshift 201 just got printed; the editor was interviewed for BBC Oxford TV on 17th March. Their edit of my Little Dragon review:

Little Dragon / Holy Other @ 02 Academy, Oxford

[Image: p.jpg]

Questioning your ruse doesn't faze Holy Other. Indeed, the Mancunian doesn't outline the exact ruse of his music; all full of half-there shoegaze density meets industrial 'Bass Music' dualism, but it's darn appealing. Through a set pre-ordained at dominantly 80-140bpm, Holy Other touches textural bases with Animal Collective support Grouper, Hessle Audio stalwart Pangaea and Murcof. Like those artists, it's a fairly lifeless experience visually, here mixed with no instrumental interaction. However when the tracks are this absorbing - especially effervescently flirtatious "We Over" - it makes for an interactive mindgame, and I for one am left with a desire to see this Holy Other again.

Musically, Little Dragon seem displaced from their 1980s upbringing. Their only throwback to that era tonight is a synth arpeggio intro, elongated to Oneohtrix Point Never size, similar to what adorned the "Ritual Union" standout "Precious", which fittingly commands the encore. Their signature swingbeat, slowed down to pop palpability, recalls a form of dance music tripping on its own laces from noughties exhaustion. This translates well live: bodies are moving early, lights are dimmed and everyone's at home, so they must be doing something right with their productions. Pogo beats of varying varieties don't clash with singer Yukimi Nagano's sultry, bandy voice; her range skits prettily between Madonna-ish broken melismas and wisps of a more subdued M.I.A. They're like a nocturnal version of 4Hero in the Academy, adapting to the venue's boxed-in-ness in a cuddly yet energetic bond with band and audience.

Ramjam up to the bar before we even start, an adventurous take on tonight might see Little Dragon as an update of 60s Rocksteady, while Holy Other a hint towards the Bass Music underground. The journalistic catch-all for whatever transcends Dubstep, it's excellent to observe so many enjoying themselves from a line that traces back over five decades.

http://subvertcentral.blogspot.co.uk/201...-holy.html
FTEL 003 - September - October 2012

Martsman - Black Plastics Vol.1 & 2
Martsman Bandcamp download EPs

[Image: 1707759088-1.jpg]

Scenically spun turf from Berlin's Martsman, recreating Hospitality to a Regg-a&e blockbuster - no surgery, breakbeat bludgeoning disseminated from foundational contraprism. Light, dark and intra-rhythmic modality, turning CI Recs classic "Antifunk", anti-frost, feasting amygdala. In essentialist terms, he understands constructive Dancehall psy-riddims, transmogrified into Reinforced planetary funk. Extending past Dub's Jamaican root wires, paving a minimalist reductionism path in D&B. Thereafter what alienated wider audiences, reclashing subsidiary Med School, key component of Bass Music's mainstream 2007-2009. Always the martyr, never the mart - "Black Plastics" interrogates sublime pop-techno-spinning pieces, second volume centred around Rhythm & Sound's motor-Techno gravitas for Martsman's 170bpm parking lot.

http://martsman.bandcamp.com/album/black-plastics-pt-1

Rhythm & Sound Spotlight: Boomkat Digital 8 Pack
boomkat.com digitial downloads

[Image: 333.jpg]

The boomkat.com "14 Tracks" series was born from "Last Dawn Before Meltdown", the 14-piece opus - and primer - to the now 60-instalment strong 15 Minutes Of Fame Mix Series. 'Something Special' is their spotlight section, and Rhythm & Sound, the minimal and dub Techno pioneers since the group's inception in the late nineties, are a chlorinated tooth polish on the digital salivation sense, doing a job very much fitting - the art of a so far thus, a real long there. Picking two releases from the bunch, it'd have to be the "Compilation" for sheer strength of Rhythm & Sound's ouevre, and "Roll Off", a two-title catch all for the theoretical ethos behind this mention. R&S have been like the blind leading the blind in dub Techno terms, a cats eye on the road of propulsion's steam without blue lines to inter-spleen.

http://boomkat.com/cds/3624-rhythm-sound-compilation

ICR - My Very Personal Miss-Tape Vol.1
[i]ICR MixCloud download


[Image: b31eec5f-6798-44d4-a1bb-3b66e4f83924.jpg]

A longstanding purveyor of feverishly deep D&B, one beaver who built continuity dams from Hungary to IChiOne's all-together gigging proposals, shown through Misspent Music's artist Sub, on the label Zoltan set up in 2007; for digital vinyl-off-putts to the regularity media. Like an eternal heart dangling beneath carefully crafted timbre stairways, each recording allows air and the decisive creator's touch to emblematize his monologue in a certain time and place. There's tunes with no lyrics, songs about kissing, condiments of love and affixing relational elasticity and stability, of the oneness possessed by courtship and wisdom. The effect of this emotional interpenetrating is, rather like a sprinkler shut off: rigged into an extractor fan, blitzing an electric buzz to external vent - time not Misspent in every respect.

http://www.mixcloud.com/ICR/my-very-pers...-1-part-1/
Optiv / Optiv & Maztek - Up & Down / Quarks
Subculture Dig002 download

[Image: Artwork_png_145x145_q85.jpg]

Who said neurofunk never developed passion? "Up And Down": lay a classical Greg Haines piano 16 tone polytonality over 2005's "Boudicca", processed through love in infinite clusters. This is where decrypting neurofunk becomes enjoyable, a forever-tone; when it is connected in real ambience, from an indebtable instrument(s). The scope transfers to the broad range of dissonant pallet drones Optiv takes reins of. Maztek pulses through "Up And Down", accompanied by an Adam Freeland-like "We Want Your Soul" mantra on behalf of producer and participant. A symbiotic com-bob-ulation quasi-narrative never threatens dismantling furniture, or turning Queenie's chariot of fire into chilling flame: "Quarks" disseminates from ironic framework - these tunes are polar opposite of rubbish.

They move with a polished lust, and illustrious Techstep rooting for the dance blitzkrieg. Aka a room of happy ravers screwing their faces to muses in the best possible way. Heavenly so. Chemistry in the mind for Techno lovers is evident with both these subtle funk powerhouses - rock a sub woofer and experience transformation of empty floors inne DE minimalist stylee. Proper, absolutely complete rinse work in every imaginable funk-u-lation. Bless up!

http://soundium.net/#/release/2853/quarks-up-down/
FTEL 004 - March - October 2012

Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Hyperdub CD / download

[Image: 333.jpg]

Piano-pins on plush line for eccentric disco-traditional swirl-fest "Airsick", Halo's vocal "Travelling heart, don't go away" repeated like a log pile smoking, striking scant eye contact flint with two travelling love doves circling above eternal flame. "I will never see you again" / "You're mad because I will not leave you alone", next calling coo, soft, gradually accentuated like a lovesick clockwork merangue whipping its pieces into cream. A joie de viva-la-vida-loca in terms of love infatuation signals, vocalist Laurel to her anomalous and anonymous subject on "Quarantine", all ways: these songs carry such multidimensional weight and purpose. The beats jab up your ears like rolling marbles working in unitary peacedom, priveliged just to be underneath her sultry drones and wisps of candlelight supper singing. The 42 minute duration nonetheless is a misleading time-directive, a bleeding for every problem and solution metaphorically through spoken voice, not broken bones or relationships - let's stay that trend.

http://boomkat.com/downloads/525375-laur...quarantine

Andy Skopes / Fushara - Oriental 808 / In The Shadows They Work
Bitrate Music 001 & download

[Image: 001_News_Cover_636px.jpg]

The abbreviation of 'dnb', rather 'drum 'n' bass' The Wire magazine priorly called it, questions intellect quota; sound in notation as constructive, de-regulated block between discovering true noisemakers, all staying true to Hardcore's emotive ecstascy recreationality. This runs right for Drum & Bass and Jungle retroactively, in their newest grouped forms. Subvert Central stringently lacks heresy in cutting off dnb from Drum & Bass - the written dialectical description ('dnb') to the aural examination ('D&B' / 'Jungle'), bypassing artificial intelligence. Favouring rhythmical sampladelic divergence from accepted wisdom. Journalism's fashionistic industrialisation; when 'the' D&B originally fell in late 1997; it placates Carl Rogers' ethicalities in positive congruence with Jonathan Statto's Charles Ives quote on the Subvert Central MySpace description - "ATTA BOY!" - hard fighting quality D&B and Jungle, or we eat hats past the Certificate 18 label.

Andy Skopes and Fushara are releasing tracks on Shiva's Bitrate Music definitely affording their own vinyl from the same proprietors. But that would obscure reasoning behind his message. D&B and Junglism is in a new golden era. It has been slowly developing this implicit recreaction, a philosophical and dance-happy baby candy from 2005 ("Thinktank's 'Skyscraper' my fave D&B tune of all time) to 2012. The 'dnb' upturns counter-text-speak easiness of 'n' to 'u'. Meaning everyone with roots from Improv to Closcrete can play roles to shape new electronically bright futures for all of us. The Wire has changed it's byline from "Adventures In Modern Music" to "Adventures In Sound And Music" in light of my interview with SC records label owner Jon, partnered with Rob Phokus of Jungle & D&B discography http://www.rolldabeats.com. Promotion of D&B beyond "yoof energy" (David Stubbs, Bark Psychosis interview, The Wire, pre-2007) now extends generationally, as: recognisable 80bpm / 160 rooted at its basic building mantricism.

And what's been the longstanding tempo of popular culture's radio Muzak. The 'dnb' remains natural partialist's linguism. Describing concomitant circumspect of future-looking developments, to the music press at large. Bopping, propping the teens and kiddies pleasurably as well as adults and Antiqus - me from far as Africa to America. Going back to the music: I've madly amerous manlove for this label's tunes. They've plenty of staying power in their force, especially the secure militant stances of Andy Skopes and Fushara on "Oriental 808" / "In The Shadows They Work", a possible destabilisation of any unjust racist remarks, pursuing oriental mythology and culturalist values from India. Dustmites' release is comparatively very jolly and joyous in extension. Not letting the bed bug bite, before the party gets truly started.

The drumwork of Skopes and Fush on 001 and 002 here reminds me of the punchbag thick-crunch of Fanu's "This Behaviour Is Not Unique" on Subvert Central, a blinder tune for the ear-wax at a speed discriminating up Dubstep's benchmark 140bpm to 150. "And as far as I'm concerned, 'This Behaviour Is Not Unique' is dnb, just at a slower tempo" commented Statto, 2008, proving opinions, facts and inter-P.L.U.R need not fuss nor fight over genre templates in play-grouted social maintenance, its creators suffering in any shape or form; it is wrong and to be preserved in archives, bottled in green grasses of home; further on the outer limits of love.

This anti-peeve on multiculturalist worth T.Goonewarde and A.Skopes have as working together on one release - Fush being a great Asian lad and Andy a good white egg from Chris Inperspective's Technicality jewel-crown. Shows, in itself to Chris' own black dominance for cultures; London's patient, reserved and cultivating side commingling. Conserving foundations of what this music's always really about, in the initial inception. We're Intabeats as Bailey could say, a Technicality guest, one playing tunes just like these pre-leaving 1xtra off his own accord.

So much more great work out there as forthcomingly good as Bitrate Music's ride-of-a-sprightly-time Orbital tiger-weaning, blazing a torch in contained histrionics of us - savour for the moment. Stepper realism of Metalheadz and Paradox-reminiscent Defcom Recordings Kryptic Minds & Leon Switch, healing the Subvert Central core, much as wider Bass Music. With quality mastering from the SC mastering team member Bob Macc, co-taught by Ben Scope, the forum's fatherly eye and king of "Subversive Beats", ATM mag issue 69's leading article, statement is on.

http://www.bitratemusic.com/bitrate-001-out-now

Sabre - A Wandering Journal (Club Mixes)
Critical Music download

[Image: 333.jpg]

Sabre's "Language Barrier", championed by Subtle Audio's Code in his Limerick NuKillaBeats events, permits the periphery of nomenclature appropriate to Sabre's tautology; previewing-ore-ironing mechanism that's weaved into many his tunes under this alias. On "A Wandering Journal", his tautology is diametrically instated like Paranoid Society's leftfield D&B; Syncopathic Recordings - gelling excursions for propulsive subconscious platitudes, reshaping neurological tech-funk, pleasing further than neurofunk's ever capable of doing. The LP's tunes are a mono-sympathy trip of Downtempo Dubstep flavours - D&B speed tunes sound mesmerisingly good slowed down with a CDJ on this album. Upward like smooth potato salad, Alix Perez collaboration "Javelin" wins day; an arrow to level-headed heartiness, subtracting swanning.

http://boomkat.com/downloads/280332-sabr...club-mixes
FTEL 005 - November 2012

Eschaton - Drum & Space
Omni Music CD / download

[Image: 3970153754-1.jpg]

Like an exercise bike, patience and persistence is prerequisite for Omni Music label owner Eschaton's sounds. And like the pedalling motion of one such bike, this needs space to work. "Drum And Space" emblematizes the ellipitical trend, stretching drums with time in Serengeti-tiger clusters: fiercely intelligent Drum & Bass for the new age. A selector's dirge imprint Omni Music isn't: Chris Wright acknowledges his Acid House and early GLR period obsessions, and fragmentarily navigates a plucky cauldron of transcendentally introspective courages. "Pegasus" and "Alpha Centauri" are two early highlights in the 12 track runtime, melding syncopated rhythms with sleep-dusty two-step stattaco. An excellent introduction to both Omni Music's artist roster, plus a noteworthy album of quality guarantee to the sometimes wonderful world of post-'98 D&B.

http://omnimusic.bandcamp.com/album/drum...e-volume-1

Pinecone Moonshine 006-020 & PCMS EX 005 "Pay What You Want" Releases
Pinecone Moonshine subscription vinyl / downloads

[Image: pcms_logo_smll.png]

Like a lead automaton, malfunctioning on its own frequency after metal corrosion, Pinecone Moonshine's introduction is best stated externally: precursor corollary track "Curse Of Coincidence" by Paradox, as a simile for Reinforced Records first and second wave. The 1993 'Ardkore continuum pioneered by Simon Reynolds still exists, in PCMS: a funkulation on the primary elements of Rave: drums and bass. From Equinox's dramatic, impossibly hissy remix of Ibunshi & Indijinous (recently released on Omni Music, do note) "Swamp Funk", all the way back to 011's "So Finister Die Nacht (Fracture's Astrophonica remix)" by Sub, Pinecone guests are exuberant as producers, open to the deadpan skit of dry dub dreariness. While inter-pressure on Nic TVG's label is: all the tracks sound like dubs, in released form: fresh out the studio for good evenings, universal toke. Latest batch, cat no's 006-020 with PCMS EX 005, bristle with heavy-bellied energy, repaying nerve tic tack repeats. With feral focus on one thing: Jungle-oriented Drum Funk with a heady, A-positive attitude.

http://www.pineconemoonshine.com/releases/all.php

Transient Waves - Transient Waves
CD / download

[Image: Transient+Waves.jpg]

Like electronic ethno-Ambient with a sturdy shoegaze devisement. Love Transient Waves: "Not everything has a name. Some things lead us into a realm beyond words. Art thaws even the frozen, darkened soul, opening it to lofty spiritual experience. Through Art we are sometimes sent - indistinctly, briefly - revelations not to be achieved by rational thought" argued Alexander Solzhenitsyn in "One Word Of Truth: The Nobel Speech In Literature". The gentility of the synth soundscapes served up by Transient Waves, aka Eric Campbell, Loren Jackson and Sid Tucker, are as elegant as they are pleasantly fleeting - a rare something exists within, too, that stops the beats, and layers from insipidly breaking down. Transience in this light, then, might best be worshipped as an exercise in untainted, calm solitude, and the pull of a warm Cuppa Soup vibe late at night. Highly recommended, especially for morning commuting.

http://www.discogs.com/Transient-Waves-T...ase/736134
FTEL 006 - November 2012

Bazaar - Op-Ep-Requiem
Metanoia 015 netlabel download

[Image: META015.jpg?cnt=0]

Price up to a potshot; I'm clicking a heat dispenser, easing the rough spot. I find it incredibly draining, showering under a livid blotchiness; dishevelled gravity station on apartheid. A gloriously gloopy, non-garish, emulsifyingly fluid beat and synthesizer rail service, tracked spendthrift like a small kid in a chocolate factory - waiting line, Bazaar integrate the choralism symptomatic of Gregorio Allegri's "Miserere", to push from left to right and back again on the playlist, instead of up and down, in physical or mood-symbolic media maximalism. Each drum has a softblood pressure, that erupts low down in the filtration amidst clatter, natter and rattles. The sense of smell in these tunes for a right rollickin' racket, withholds the framework as abundant in keys, tempo calm and the non-homogenisation of Middle Eastern cultural sounds, with the bogginess of glitch and noise-based Improv. These tendencies are counterpointed on each other in opener "Hypertension" and finale "Heart Failure", as if the heart of the album starts to die in polygamist entry from the very beginning. What remains is an Orbital-esque trance-Techno induction via classic atmospheric 808 State road. Brain food from beyond the sane.

http://archive.org/details/META015_17

Pilote - Do It Now Man
Certificate 18 CD

[Image: Pilote.jpg]

Stuart Pilote's music is naturally exo-thang-ular: it shakes its' beats' syntax like a raunchy handclap at a hen night; while the vocal samples he interjects, seem more self-therapy on all records, than intended idiosyncratic narratives off. "I'm not actually a murderer, but I've felt at some times like killing myself" - I find this a lyric we can all relate to at some point, and trajectory, in our lives. The key to a great listen, is that Pilote doesn't labour emotion, or do the crocodile tears melody tricks lesser deep individuals try shoehorning down mass media throats. I bought this CD from the ever-reliable impeccable taste-maestro Statto in 2006 when Selectadisc Nottingham was open - hasn't left my memory since.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Pilote

Soul Delay - Threshold / Float [wanted by me for Certificate 18]
Unsigned tracks

[Image: p.jpg]

Keyboard workhorse with relaxed, welcoming exterior rhythmicism, spiralling like visors on a motorcycle in a thunderstorm, angularly optic, hipnotic aka Soul Delay got his start via the now-golden 15 Minutes Of Fame Mix Series Pt.3 - "Shades Of Everlasting", by Muttley. Signed to Subtle Audio after, "Ustad spiralled viral amounts of tracks, beginning with a terrific understatement - a possible B side in "Threshold", a whirling dervish of pulverizing Assembly Line and Tighten Up breaks.

Paragliding through the multiverse of relevance, on a turtle's release, I received a letter through from Counter Intelligence label concerning running the Certificate 18 imprint after its mid-noughties hiatus. I'd love to do that, and these two tracks by Soul Delay would be a deserved double A-side. Hipnotic formed part of the band Keiretsu, programming drums, and playing with saxophone parts. On the two tracks here, the story continues at a much deeper level.

"Float" is all Turkish-mixulative percussion sprinkled with This Mortal Coil's Liz Frazer on the simulative chorus. Builds are heavy like a pig's trough, ready to snuffle for truffles with the consecutive, and asymmetric, pairing with "Threshold". The outro speaks a long-lost neo-junglist language - reversed 16ths of quantization simmer, over dirt-nosed bass that crusts over the quarks, and belly-dives you straight into complex heaven.

http://www.myspace.com/souldelayuk
FTEL 007 - January 2013

Fanu - Breakbeat Brew EP - guest review by noisemonkey
Lightless Digital download

[Image: 575265_10151207122292550_1600012193_n.jpg]

"A Matter Of Life And Death" commences proceedings with some stylish breaks driven grooves and chanting. Blending in a bit of 80's style synth work which is almost reminiscent of M83 is a nice change of pace before the drums strike up again and groove the track in to full effect before warped acid lines conclude things like the end of the world.

"Monkey Got Choked" has even more manic stylings on the drums as a triple espresso is kicking in at Fanu's studio. A variety of weird vocal samples emphasise the frenetic mood.

"My Drumming Sucks" is surely an oxymoron in the world of Fanu so let's see what craziness is in store. A cinematic opening salvo of sampledelia regarding drumming abilties moves your feet before the bass gets to work on your bowels. A classic hip hop strut is the main feature of this one precluding more acidic melodies for laser reaching antics.

"Slack And Roll" is a rare excursion into 2 Step for Fanu, bringing with it some classic hip hop samplage and police sirens. Oh for the days of 1995 Emotif and late period Deejay recordings although the bonkers last minute or so of the track reminds you that arrangements and production standards have come a long long way since then.

The "Rescue" remix of "Slack And Roll" casts a sheen of Bass Music and shimmering synth work over proceedings that is pure candy to your ears. Further tunefullness to round off an EP that really showcases a further progression in Fanu's sound to care take care of skillfull notation as well as the expected rhythmical dexterity we've come to know and love from the Finnish breakbeat maestro.

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...reviews%29

Dense & Pika - Crispy Duck EP
Hotflush Recordings 12' / download

[Image: 333.jpg]

This is diversive and bracing in a technoid kind of way, and for all its Techno rudiments - handclaps; breathing vox; crowd noise; grinding-gears synth streams - it still manages to unsettle. "The fear of negative evaluation may reflect underlying beliefs about being less good than others, different, or not quite up to scratch, and it usually goes with assumptions such as thinking that 'you've got to do things right to be acceptable." commented Gillian Butler in the "Overcoming Social Anxiety" handbook. The reason I mention that is, for one thing, I'd almost freak out negatively if I heard this EP clubwise, yet its elusion is part of the appeal. It feels like poison as I listen to it, letting it into my consciousness, yet at the same time it's great work in the genre which is usually all too much homogenised and saturated by minimal fake-orgasm-steppers. Dense & Pika have carved worthy echoes into Techno.

http://boomkat.com/vinyl/596758-dense-pi...py-duck-ep

Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
Parlophone CD / download

[Image: tumblr_me5bikPgZe1rhjqvho1_500.jpg]

It’s high timing for another Bat For Lashes album after three long years – the storytelling lure of Khan’s “Two Suns” had started to wear off, and “The Haunted Man” definitely continues on a high note, cajoling as many as 5 different soundsets as ‘genre’ contradistinctions together in one track, so they form a clean rhythmic sheet: something Natasha always muses in. Journalists may finally start to see Khan as a female artist with her own musical identity, with her own sense of storytelling as a promising entry on the End Of Year 2012 list. Blending her Pakistani ethnic roots into and beyond the trite Kate Bush comparisons, she does more than “running up hills”; rather, you’re “running too slow” by the time communication and splendour of this album is over. Piano ballad “Laura” is the real tearjerker, a song of heartbreak where the listener is left to fill in the gaps regarding the pain. That filling-in-gaps is a befitting phrase for what I’ll call “occultasms” – the expulsion of emotion at times you don’t even have to hear to place. Haunting indeed, and the best Bat For Lashes album, by far, to date.

http://www.batforlashes.com/
Muttley Wrote:FTEL 007 - January 2012

Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
Parlophone CD / download

[Image: tumblr_me5bikPgZe1rhjqvho1_500.jpg]

It’s high timing for another Bat For Lashes album after three long years – the storytelling lure of Khan’s “Two Suns” had started to wear off, and “The Haunted Man” definitely continues on a high note, cajoling as many as 5 different soundsets as ‘genre’ contradistinctions together in one track, so they form a clean rhythmic sheet: something Natasha always muses in. Journalists may finally start to see Khan as a female artist with her own musical identity, with her own sense of storytelling as a promising entry on the End Of Year 2012 list. Blending her Pakistani ethnic roots into and beyond the trite Kate Bush comparisons, she does more than “running up hills”; rather, you’re “running too slow” by the time communication and splendour of this album is over. Piano ballad “Laura” is the real tearjerker, a song of heartbreak where the listener is left to fill in the gaps regarding the pain. That filling-in-gaps is a befitting phrase for what I’ll call “occultasms” – the expulsion of emotion at times you don’t even have to hear to place. Haunting indeed, and the best Bat For Lashes album, by far, to date.

http://www.batforlashes.com/

Been rinsing this album in the last month... Really good. I could feel the influence of Kate bush in her music. She really is brilliant.
Annastay Wrote:Been rinsing this album in the last month... Really good. I could feel the influence of Kate bush in her music. She really is brilliant.

Yeah it's definitely there, what I mean though is that journalists get lazy when they describe Khan as a Bush successor, when she really is her own songstress. People have said that, seeing as Bush pretty much covered everything by the nineties, comparisons of a similar vocal timbre were always bound to spring up, but that undermines Natasha's unique gift with music - I think she could cover everything herself in her own way.
Muttley Wrote:Andy Skopes / Fushara - Oriental 808 / In The Shadows They Work
Bitrate Music 001 & download

[Image: 001_News_Cover_636px.jpg]

The abbreviation of 'dnb', rather 'drum 'n' bass' The Wire magazine priorly called it, questions intellect quota; sound in notation as constructive, de-regulated block between discovering true noisemakers, all staying true to Hardcore's emotive ecstascy recreationality. This runs right for Drum & Bass and Jungle retroactively, in their newest grouped forms. Subvert Central stringently lacks heresy in cutting off dnb from Drum & Bass - the written dialectical description ('dnb') to the aural examination ('D&B' / 'Jungle'), bypassing artificial intelligence. Favouring rhythmical sampladelic divergence from accepted wisdom. Journalism's fashionistic industrialisation; when 'the' D&B originally fell in late 1997; it placates Carl Rogers' ethicalities in positive congruence with Jonathan Statto's Charles Ives quote on the Subvert Central MySpace description - "ATTA BOY!" - hard fighting quality D&B and Jungle, or we eat hats past the Certificate 18 label.

Andy Skopes and Fushara are releasing tracks on Shiva's Bitrate Music definitely affording their own vinyl from the same proprietors. But that would obscure reasoning behind his message. D&B and Junglism is in a new golden era. It has been slowly developing this implicit recreaction, a philosophical and dance-happy baby candy from 2005 ("Thinktank's 'Skyscraper' my fave D&B tune of all time) to 2012. The 'dnb' upturns counter-text-speak easiness of 'n' to 'u'. Meaning everyone with roots from Improv to Closcrete can play roles to shape new electronically bright futures for all of us. The Wire has changed it's byline from "Adventures In Modern Music" to "Adventures In Sound And Music" in light of my interview with SC records label owner Jon, partnered with Rob Phokus of Jungle & D&B discography http://www.rolldabeats.com. Promotion of D&B beyond "yoof energy" (David Stubbs, Bark Psychosis interview, The Wire, pre-2007) now extends generationally, as: recognisable 80bpm / 160 rooted at its basic building mantricism.

And what's been the longstanding tempo of popular culture's radio Muzak. The 'dnb' remains natural partialist's linguism. Describing concomitant circumspect of future-looking developments, to the music press at large. Bopping, propping the teens and kiddies pleasurably as well as adults and Antiqus - me from far as Africa to America. Going back to the music: I've madly amerous manlove for this label's tunes. They've plenty of staying power in their force, especially the secure militant stances of Andy Skopes and Fushara on "Oriental 808" / "In The Shadows They Work", a possible destabilisation of any unjust racist remarks, pursuing oriental mythology and culturalist values from India. Dustmites' release is comparatively very jolly and joyous in extension. Not letting the bed bug bite, before the party gets truly started.

The drumwork of Skopes and Fush on 001 and 002 here reminds me of the punchbag thick-crunch of Fanu's "This Behaviour Is Not Unique" on Subvert Central, a blinder tune for the ear-wax at a speed discriminating up Dubstep's benchmark 140bpm to 150. "And as far as I'm concerned, 'This Behaviour Is Not Unique' is dnb, just at a slower tempo" commented Statto, 2008, proving opinions, facts and inter-P.L.U.R need not fuss nor fight over genre templates in play-grouted social maintenance, its creators suffering in any shape or form; it is wrong and to be preserved in archives, bottled in green grasses of home; further on the outer limits of love.

This anti-peeve on multiculturalist worth T.Goonewarde and A.Skopes have as working together on one release - Fush being a great Asian lad and Andy a good white egg from Chris Inperspective's Technicality jewel-crown. Shows, in itself to Chris' own black dominance for cultures; London's patient, reserved and cultivating side commingling. Conserving foundations of what this music's always really about, in the initial inception. We're Intabeats as Bailey could say, a Technicality guest, one playing tunes just like these pre-leaving 1xtra off his own accord.

So much more great work out there as forthcomingly good as Bitrate Music's ride-of-a-sprightly-time Orbital tiger-weaning, blazing a torch in contained histrionics of us - savour for the moment. Stepper realism of Metalheadz and Paradox-reminiscent Defcom Recordings Kryptic Minds & Leon Switch, healing the Subvert Central core, much as wider Bass Music. With quality mastering from the SC mastering team member Bob Macc, co-taught by Ben Scope, the forum's fatherly eye and king of "Subversive Beats", ATM mag issue 69's leading article, statement is on.

http://www.bitratemusic.com/bitrate-001-out-now

Great writing, really interesting perspective. Kind of what it's all about. Not about pigeon holing, about the wider concept of the progression of this underground music we have been living for may years. Next release out yesterday changes tempo and vibes once again whilst maintain the core principals.

Hope things all good at your end.

Shiva Smile
FTEL 008 - January 2013

Naibu - Fall EP
Horizons Music CD / Digital Subscription download

[Image: HZNCD011.jpg]

Naibu has use of the classically trained melody, squeezed around the mouth of an ice cool rink like a mango with a flouride protection shield - forever fresh, never stale. Horizons Music's catalogue has trod a heaviosity path that veers into pseud-angularity, like someone sketching a triangle that never quite revolved, but all the same remains a triangle sketch. Suitable for horizontal and fuzz-z-y headed states and dancing groove-time too, the aquiescent nod to Naibu's influences - Downtempo, hip hop and early 90s D&B - shows in standout "Until" - putting the lyric on an offturn "'til perfection is done", with rose red production values oozing out of all and sundry. Second dance-smartser "Play With Fire (feat. Key)" goes for the Tech House imprinting over pianos from Naibu that sound crazy fresh.

http://www.horizonsmusic.co.uk/shop/index.php?cPath=121

Octal Industries - Himinglaeva
Entropy Records Vinyl 001

[Image: ev001_product_01_web.jpg]

Entropy has been slowly edging its way to more dance music-orientated waters from 2011, with Techno and dub Techno high on this priority list. The Ruxpin connection Octal Industries has - Jonas Thor Gudmundsson of the same pro-creation - assorts these productions with a tough act to follow - I'd encountered Ruxpin remixes on ASC's "Remixes And Collaborations" CD in 2007 and they were next level then. "Himinglaeva 1-3" follows a consistent suite-esque glow that shines light over the rudiments of dub Techno, but comes from a more intergalactic angle, like a dart shooting between black holes, high on its own slipstream and untempered by a snowplough feel. "Himinglaeva 1" is the best example of Techno styled consecutively from Detroit, humming its melody like a Carl Craig jukebox.

http://www.entropy-records.com/release2001.htm

Survival, Silent Witness, Klute - In From The Wild LP Sampler
Dispatch Records vinyl / download

[Image: 150]

"Visitation", "System Fault", "Feel It": a triumvirate of elastic funk-spills, with ample dexterity on the ones and twos as imaginistically vital, concrete debris. Those debris' tinsel around a tree wired to the nervous system, of a furious cycler down a mountain bike track. Klute's presence is felt in a daubing way, "Feel It" strokes a liquidy penchant fit for an aquarium oxidiser, while "System Fault", the best tune on the sampler, sounds like a live wire that lost itself in a hotlinked stream, sparking itself out before the end of the river is nigh. These beats do a devolution on Pop Drum & Bass by taking it down to the nether regions of feeling while giving you a caffeine kick up the dance energizer. Equalling a normalized overtone: double the volume, and double the potential to screw one's face up.

http://www.digital-tunes.net/releases/in...lp_sampler
FTEL 009 - February 2013

Synkro - Acceptance EP
Apollo Records vinyl / digital

[Image: A-150-1196411-1266619122.jpeg]

I'm glad releases like this exist, I really am. For all its ditzy paint flecking, watercolouring the woodblock rhythms, Synkro displays a deeply human connection to mentality with "Acceptance". It's a symptom no less present than on the eponymous "Acceptance", with the vocal "I just wish people could accept each other for what they are on the inside" a precluding and idiomatically noble excursion into New Age Dubstep. But forget the tags, what dominantly breaks Synkro significantly from the norm of form is unrivalled.

Lapses of pure time signature or sequencer signposts keep the grooves mixed up in a layer of foggy fudge, the higher plain being nodded to here Dub Techno with lyrical accent smarts. Synkro's sound is as much a discombobulation of Dubstep as a transmuting to Ambient, taking a step off presets and carving a niche for himself. Apollo is an appropriate label: once home to "Atmospheres And Soundtracks" by Eno(s) and Daniel Lanois, the current climate sees the post-Dubstep - indeed, post-everything generation pack the dance in a hailstorm.

See what Resident Advisor say and order

Natan H & Amy Jean - For Her
Man Make Music 005 vinyl / download

[Image: 10477_her.png]

Hand-machinery percussion that sounds like a razor trimming a flowing beard; operatic gasp-gasms of voice that keep the 4/4 tidily based; swooning, swooping, bassy pads cloying at the fundamental 4 bar/16 bar exploitations of "For Her" - a real party viber or gone off jive? It's the former, taking a "Doctor Detroit Techno" reverence to reverb as the production is nuanced and considered. Timbres of the handclaps are doused with a delightful delay to accentuate the vocal samples, and the bassline works really well together with the drums. This theme carries into "I Know", with more sonic information: "I know you're sick and tired", yet it continues to plait a big room Deep House metronome, with seeming weaves of horns, synths treading Hinduist levels, jabbing bass stabs wub-wubbing over the lead. "Rush" is anything but rushed, a slower tempo, passionate kiss of chilled House. These three tracks are no fodder - they belong in any Electronica enthusiast's collection.

Sample at Tailored Communicaton

Scale - Melting Point EP
Omni Music download

It's not 1997 any more, for some D&B's golden era with the rise of syncopated Techstep. Scale would fit right in, marrying the electronic clatter of early Technical Itch with the forward propulsion of Decoder. This three track EP hefts around the 168bpm mark - "Blacklight" benefiting from a low torque / high frequency modulated bassline that plays tricks with time and space. "Mutated Soul" mashes up the Apache, doing a 3/4 time (where half-step and double time mix), whereas "Melting Point" is perceptually eager to lock itself to pure two-step but doesn't quite compute, sampling Goldfrapp, coming across fresher as a result. The music in this EP deserves vinyl if it was a possibility from Omni Music; for now Chris Eschaton is just going to keep on keeping on with hearty goodness by the sounds of it.

Download from Subvert Central
FTEL 010 - March 2013

Jon Rundell - Hammer
Emms Publicity promotion / Etch 12'

[Image: artworks-000039365752-hefvpp-t200x200.jpg?ad764e0]

It's pounding, it's on the prowl, it's out to take your towel away from you on the dance floor...Jon Rundell hits with "Hammer" like a wild panther nailing a large kill, repeatedly wired to the strike zone. A simple, super mechanical handclap/bass/shaker pattern runs the track over bleeps that indicate weight, but never integrate their presence in an overt manner. This is full-blooded Techno, heavy on the groove but razor sharp in mood. Timbres are treated like claret needed to power the system; texture is fluid and pristine like a China doll, except they'd be scared off by this kind of late night material. What won me over the most is that while "Hammer" is aggressive, it's not anxiety-provocative. Everything sits squarely in the mix like it belonged there all along.

https://soundcloud.com/jon-rundell/jon-rundell-hammer

Dwarde - Discord / Algid
Scientific Wax Digital download

[Image: mp3%20logo_final.jpg]

In his recent 6Music ouevre, David Bowie speaks of "someone falling from a New York window", as David Byrne suggests, being what a writer needs to produce something. Jungle producers, too sometimes take a draining board with breakbeats approach to sampledelia, and Dwarde, a young Jungle & Drum & Bass producer, knows his way around a proper rinse out on the amen. "Discord", for instance, shares kindred spirit with early Deejay Records proto-Jungle, but smoothes out the progressiveness with filters, phasers and reversals so the 163 bpm contortions of "Algid", too becomes toxically addictive. How does it not end up a couple of carbon copies? Dwarde has serious Oldskool knowledge and a collection to match, playing Jungle Syndicate events alongside Scientfic Wax head honcho Equinox.

http://scientificwax.com/digital-downloads

Various Artists - Subvert Central Vol.2
Subvert Central 3x12

[Image: avatars-000001200430-ylq1mu-t200x200.jpg?ca77017]

Whether it's Dissident's ode to Polar in "Taiga", fiery lights of robot foundation on Sileni's "Another Track", or the high-speed tech maximiser "Soulkast" by Uz-Has, understatement is not a populist virtue in the 'no promotion' policy of Subvert Central's label. Since, these tunes are the bee's knees, and for anyone looking at Electronica with a means to broaden the grinding poverty of truly experimental beatsmiths, you should consider buying one of these volumes right off the bat. Some may see the real highlight as Fracture's amen pottery "Visions Of Amen". But there's something about collective unconsciousness working magic for the lesser stated tunes to have serious merit. How does one question the calibre of leftfield Drum & Bass in the 21st century? Subvert Central have served you the answer here.

Listen at SoundCloud

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...-available
To celebrate 10 FTEL's...

Muttley - 15 MOF Pt. 68 - Oh Yeah (March 2013)

[Image: 220px-Miss_Khan.jpg]

Photo: Natasha Khan, Bat For Lashes

Simply, tunes that make me go "Oh yeah" when I hear them. All lifted from FTEL (For The Electronica Lovers). Mixed at 160bpm in Ableton, and included is a two word description of each standout feature. Enjoy!

01. Bat For Lashes - Oh Yeah [female melisma] (The Haunted Man LP, Parlophone, 2012)
02. Fanu - About Life And Death [mega bass] (Breakbeat Brew EP, Lightless Digital, 2012)
03. Silent Witness, Survival & Klute - Visitation [Techno squelches] (In From The Wild LP Sampler, Commercial Suicide, 2013)
04. Boduf Songs - Fiery The Angels Fell [ravey guitar] (Burnt Up On Re-Entry, Southern, 2012)
05. Fanu - Slack 'N Roll [faux-gangster charm] ([email protected] for bookings - Breakbeat Brew EP, Lightless Digital, 2012)
06. Naibu - Just Like You [svelt delicacy] (Fall EP, Horizons, 2013)
07. Nebula - Avalanches [Fuzz & The Boog drumbreaks] (V EP, Nebula Bandcamp, 2013)
08. ASC & Ulrich Schnauss - Theta [half-time contemplation] (77 EP, Auxiliary, 2012)
09. Martsman - Martha Didn't Go To School [fuzzy adventuring] (Black Plastics Vol.1 EP, Martsman Bandcamp, 2012)
10. Nickbee - Rush [roller beats] (Horizons X06A Vinyl, 2013)

Download (limited to 50)

28:50 end

https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/mutt...68-oh-yeah
FTEL 011 - May 2013

Gaelle - Transient (Naked Music Recordings CD)

[Image: R-150-355167-1315668538.jpeg]

She's "not your average bitch", and it shows: Gaelle knows her way around Deep House contingency like the air we breathe. Lyrical themes of falling in love, city expeditions, mixed with light handclaps, Rhodes keys, undulating bass and twinkling pianos equals dynamic encounters sitting down or standing up, with no movement. Lines like "Disappear and fade away / Understand it please somebody help me" mix half-rhyme with a diva sound aesthetic, but Gaelle is no Aretha Franklin - she's true to her lesser known groove and capitalises on the frenetic percussion of "Haiti" by leaving it a full instrumental. "I'm on the outside looking in" predates "Repetition", one highlight, where she coos "Please excuse my repetition / I've never been in this condition". It's a likeable identifier to where dynamism is so far-reaching, yet always comes back to a central core: love, and it's circumnavigation.

http://www.discogs.com/Gaelle-Transient/release/355167

Eschaton - Drum & Space Vol. 2 (Omni Music download)

[Image: attachment.php?attachmentid=1359&d=1367685042&thumb=1]

"Drum & Space Vol.1" was a little known classic from Chris Wright aka Eschaton (pronounced Es-kuh-ton) in 2012, which blended Good Looking Records melodic integrity with Certificate 18's knack for a quality soundtrack. "Drum & Space Vol.2" could be viewed as more of the same, being capitulated on space themes (Stellar, Interstellar) with track titles such as "Zodiac", and "Quazar" clear appeal for Star Trek fans. Hoi polloi aside, this is simple very fine. It segues together as a continuous journey, with "Cepheus" a standout; piano phrases given space to move and drift through the sphere like a lost comet. That "lost" feeling is one dynamic that sees renewal throughout the journey, synths bubbling away like lava Cornetto's in the mouth of the Earth's yin/yang atmosphere.

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...t=eschaton

Fanu - Northern Movement EP (Lightless Digital)

[Image: artworks-000042432748-2ezfja-t200x200.jpg?c96936e]

Janne Hatula hasn't stood still of late, hosting an Ableton Live tutorial in his native Helsinki, globe-trotting as a DJ and getting set to release an album dedicated to producers from Finland who push fun and breakbeats all into one. "Northern Movement" continues the heavily dynamic breakbeat 'n' synth smorgasbords he was pushing up until "Breakbeat Brew", and "Northern Movement", with its polar bear theme, reflects a transcendental introspection he has for looking to the sky and seeing that even clouds can be sampled. The fluffy yet tough harmonies of "Abyssinia (feat. Gigi)" implies a cutoff frequency for the ultramundane that goes beyond mere words - we are drawn in by the synthesizers recalling old Photek, and even the very William Orbit-esque arpeggiation serves to break cluster.

https://soundcloud.com/fanu/sets/norther...p-march-29
FTEL 012 - May 2013

Various Artists - Friends Are Electric (Future Follower Records compilation, 2013)

[Image: CS2196894-02A.jpg]

This compilation comes packed with 23 tracks spanning the Bass Music spectrum, cultivating a healthy curiousity for effected vocals, gentle bleeps, non-autotune soul and glittering atmosphere. Excavating of sun spot rubble in under 2 hours, the package is lined with quality synth work, tightly produced and knitted together cross-sequences, and a healthy dollop of bass. There's a trend in all things Bass Music lately to ricochet off the Future Garage podium, with more and more of these type of tracks being created by those with an eye planted firmly in post-dubstep. This has occurred as an after-effect of heavily influential artists like Mala, Loefah and Burial. With this compilation, the tune amount could be sized down a little, but that would obscure its point as a definitive touchstone of new movement.

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...t-06-05-13

Naibu - Never Released (Horizons Music CD / download / vinyl, 2013)

[Image: INSIDECD02.jpg]

This May, Naibu has become very much a "who, what, when, where" artist - someone you can always compare the Drum & Bass scene's middle sector to, and who trod just that bit further to get noticed, and whose understated productions speak for themselves. The classically trained artist's subtle innuendo with melody is a great characteristic of "Never Released", a disc or download that from start to finish communicates Naibu's enigmatic sonic language - without becoming tiresome or insipid. His taste for drum breaks stretches appearance as a kind of retromaniac furore, from the ever-reliably-danceable Fuzz & The Boog to the Amen, as usual being a guest-listed proponent to the party. If you scan the Plug.DJ site you'll find this should be entering the chill rooms as much as the others, too.

http://www.horizonsmusic.co.uk/shop/prod...ts_id=1411

Sad City - You Will Soon Find That Life Is Wonderful

[Image: 11772_you-will-soon-find-life-wonderful.jpg]

If I wasn't reviewing this I'd find it difficult to comment on anything noteworthy about Sad City, the lo-fi scrunched production of "You Will Soon Find..." billowing out in an underachieving sort of way - but to look further unwravels a bigger message. It's like a comment on pre-satisfaction, where the capitalist copy-mongers force higher work rates unsuspectingly on helpless people tied to the grind. Then when you edge off the beaten path a little, in a stage of post-beaten brain whisk, records like these, with a lovely Ambient ending that grows on you like a cleansing fungus, build paradoxes out of polar opposites. The dirty-sounding beats scalp away nice lines of content; the harmony gains credence out of anti-sibilant chord changes. With speed, this ended up a very noteworthy release of 2013.

http://www.tailored-communication.com/re...-wonderful
Smile
Nice read this:

Rafael Toral Wrote:I
Fundamentation

a) Music is and has always been a human activity, a manifestation of beings endowed with free choice, self-awareness, creative impulse, and the ability to judge and adopt criteria.



b) From its beginnings until today, electronic music has been primarily based on technology. From circuit behaviour, synthesis techniques or computation to manipulation of recordings or studio composition strategies, the majority of its past and current practices holds its basic technological configuration as being of primary value. The human (physical, mental, spiritual) aspects of performance have thus been regarded as being of secondary value, especially those which result from free decisions. The expression "electronic music" itself reveals these values.



c) Musical creation, being a human activity, should not be based on technology but, naturally, on the musician. Artistically relevant art forms tend not to have their own technology as subject. Music, regardless of its form (except generative), genre or creative process, is based on the musician's free decisions.




II
Designation

a) Electronic music is about one hundred years old, and has developed substantial maturity as an artistic practice. However, it has not reached cultural emancipation as a musical genre. Cultural emancipation is understood in this context as the appreciation of a genre by its formal, aesthetic and spiritual characteristics, regardless of the type of instrumental resources used.



b) The term "electronic music" refers to the type of technology used in its creation. It is a cultural anomaly for a musical genre to be defined by the instruments that are used in it (one does not use the term "saxophone music," for instance), and this demonstrates its lack of cultural emancipation.



c) In its early decades, an innovative and revolutionary kind of artistic expression was generically named "electronic music". Today, however, the instrumental resources of electronic music are commonly used by multiple musical genres (techno, academic, glitch, ambient, experimental, noise, minimalism, etc.), yet all these are still indiscriminately known by the term "electronic music". It is no longer justified to apply the same designation to musical practices whose sole commonality is the use of the same electronic tools.




III
Conclusion

a) Music as a human achievement (physical, mental, spiritual) is a primary cultural value.



b) Music as a technological achievement is a secondary cultural value.



c) The term "electronic music", which encompasses musical expressions that have little in common, is no longer useful and is becoming void of meaning. Cultural emancipation of music creation using electronic means requires that the term "electronic music" is no longer used as a reference, referring instead to its actual or closest musical genre, or establishing a new one.





Rafael Toral
Europe, June 21, 2012

http://rafaeltoral.net/manifesto_EN
FTEL 013 - Various Artists - The Breakbeat Sound Of Finland
Lightless Digital download

[Image: bbsof-1024x1024.png]

"The Breakbeat Sound Of Finland" has been doing the rounds for a while now, with an increase in subversive activity in D&B responsible for this inclusion at this time. It wasn't going to take long to mention this as the first of its kind: a D&B album from Finland, about Finnish D&B artists. However, "TBSOF" doesn't subdue its characteristic intent, in the sense that the 13 tracks all have solid movements. Unlike milk bottle D&B - white on the outside, full of white boy music platitudes without any of the grit of Black music, where the muscle comes from Funk and House - these pieces, especially Defo's "Culture" in the early stages, herald a return to meaty 90s production with raw breaks processed to just the right level of sub zero chilliness. There's also nods to the best parts of white culture - Techno stability and ferocity, and a recompense to any purchasee who doesn't like surfeits of fusion via diversity.

http://fanumusic.com/the-breakbeat-sound...se-june-1/
Pages: 1 2 3 4