Since emerging out of Sheffield’s bassline scene in the early ’00s, Shollen Quarshie (a.k.a DJ Q) has carved out a career path for himself as one of the most enthusiastic torchbearers for the various strains of UK dance music to splinter out of the declining garage scene around the turn of the century. Through his spell as a presenter on BBC’s 1xtra radio station (he joined as the station’s youngest presenter in ’06, and only left last summer), he’s played a major role in backing the genre’s recent resurgence, and his 2012 compilation, The Archive, acted like a definitive chronicle of the history of the bassline micro-genre, played out through the filter of Quarshie’s own productions. This single, which is easily his most accessible release since his minor crossover hit “U Wot?” from ’08, is the first to be taken from his debut artist album, which is due to arrive later this year on fast-rising London label Local Action.
“Trust Again” finds DJ Q in full-blown 2-step-nostalgia mode; its classic kick-and-stick shuffle, melodic strings, and radio-friendly vocal—courtesy of regular collaborator Louise Williams—pay an unabashed homage to the late-’90s heyday of crossover UKG. This retro feeling is entirely welcome though; clearly, few people are as well versed in the virtues of vintage garage and its offshoots as Quarshie, and as a result, he’s able to craft a single that perfectly recaptures the sweet spot where vintage UK club music met the best moments of ’90s R&B. In particular, “Trust Again” brings to mind The Architects’ classic edit of Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine” with its fluid bass, kinetically charged beat, and catchy-as-hell hook.
The two accompanying guest remixes cement the pleasantly nostalgic mood of the single. The first, courtesy of garage icon Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown (formerly of influential ’90s duo Tuff Jam), adds a 4×4 beat to the track, transforming it into something more than slightly reminiscent of early pirate-radio speed garage, complete with plenty of repitched vocals and rapid-fire reversed percussion. Meanwhile, longtime DJ Q associate TS7 gives “Trust Again” a proper, old-school bassline remix, powered along by devastating snare hits and aggressively charged grime synths.
It’ll be interesting to see how Quarshie handles the balance between nostalgia and progression across his forthcoming album; while the charm of vintage garage wins out here, a few more forward-thinking ideas will probably be required to maintain momentum across a full-length LP. Still, there’s no denying that DJ Q is a genuinely skilled producer, and one who knows his influences inside out—here’s hoping that 2013 sees him living up to his obvious potential.
Colin Lindo has released music under the guise Nubian Mindz for more than a decade now, always maintaining his philosophy, “Keep your eyes on the future, know your past, and embrace the present.” Despite what you think of those ideas, the sentiments rings true in both his new EP for Disko404 (which we heard last week) and the one-off freebie featured here, “Working Title.” Lindo works out a deep, rooty-sounding groove over the course of over six minutes, while a minimal palette of downtempo drums dances around its aqueous soundscape. And Nubian Mindz’s use of practically timeless elements on this tune don’t just reinforce his creative mantra, they make for excellent listening, too.
Without question, Teebs (a.k.a. Mtendere Mandowa) is still a young guy, but in the context of LA’s constantly renewing beat scene, the Brainfeeder affiliate is practically a grizzled veteran. Over the past few years, he’s quietly assembled an impressive discography, one that frequently pairs lush melodies with shambling drum patterns to glorious effect. That said, 2012 was a relatively quiet year for Teebs, as he only offered up the Cecilia Tapes Collection, a compilation of unmastered raw cuts, loops, and sketches. Curious about the progress of his new music and armed with a series of questions about his gear set-up and production methods, we recently made the trek to Teebs’ home studio, situated in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood. As we snapped photos of his workspace, Teebs not only shed some light on a potential new solo album and his collaborative Sons of the Morning project with Prefuse 73, but he also told us about everything from his early days as a producer to his ongoing search for crappy toy keyboards.
XLR8R: When did you first start producing music? Teebs: 2006.
What kind of set-up were you using? Almost the same set-up that I’m using now. With me, the basics are an SP-404 and Fruity Loops. That’s the core, and I just interchange instruments constantly. I borrow like crazy, and that’s why there’s nothing in here—I had to give stuff back. Guitars and synthesizers and all that stuff, it comes in and then it leaves.
Are you formally trained in music? No, not at all.
Then what prompted the initial compulsion to start making music? My brother had Fruity Loops. He messed around, and I think I had a younger-brother complex, like, “Oh, I want to mess with that.”
You produce everything on Fruity Loops. How many of your sounds are synthetic as opposed to things you’re recording off an instrument? A third? For most of my stuff, I record noises and dump it into [Fruity Loops] to sequence. But yeah, I use Fruity Loops sounds a little bit, some random hats or something.
What kinds of sounds are you recording? Are they field recordings, or recordings of actual instruments and synths? Both, but mainly field-style recordings. The SP-404 has a really shitty mic on it, but it’s kind of fun, so everything goes through there. I just walk around, tap shit, and do weird stuff in the house. Mainly [the recording] is all in the house. Then I’ll take it into Fruity Loops.
How does your songwriting process go? It’s always a little different, but my usual go-to is a melody. I always find it easier to make melodies. I’ll pull from samples, or [recordings of] people playing, and try to make a melody. Whatever that groove is, I’ll try to fit drums to it.
How much are you effecting your recorded sounds once they’re in the box? Oh man, there’s so much effecting! I break things down, maybe too much sometimes, but I really like to layer a lot. Let’s say some guy has a guitar and he’s playing a song in a certain chord progression. I record that, dump it into my sampler, chop out the cool parts, and put it into Fruity Loops. Then, I like to layer different keys of the same chord progression, just so it gets all funky. Then you can do all kinds of weird shit. It’s easy, but it’s really nice.
When you’re doing this sort of composition, how do you know when a song is done? You don’t know. It’s just a feeling. You’ll think something is amazing, and tomorrow, it’s like, “This is the worst thing ever. This is not done. Why did I say it was done? Why did I turn it in?” It’s always just a feeling.
Even though you’ve been using the same set-up for the past six-plus years, do you feel like your production techniques have evolved? I think for the first three years, [my technique] was probably the same. I was using a lot of weird Fruity Loops editing tools, and I was really based in that. The last three years, it’s been more analog, [taking] the organic side of the material and focusing on how to use that. And moving into… I mean I’ve messed with other programs in the last few years, like Reason and stuff, but…
You always come back to Fruity Loops. Yeah, it’s too good. I feel like it can just understand what I’m trying to say.
What’s your favorite piece of gear? My sampler. The SP-404.
Do you use that to play live as well? Is having a tactile experience important when you’re performing? Yeah. That’s the live kit. I think it’s important to have some kind of [actual] feeling when you’re doing something out in front of people. So I love that there are buttons on this machine.
Is there any gear that you’d like to acquire? To be honest, right now it’s just really old-school, Casio-type keyboards and very old, crappy little keyboards that were made 20, 30 years ago. I want the old, crappy kids toys. Those things have crazy sounds, and you can circumvent them. It’s just mental. They’re very unique.
Are you working on a new record? Yeah, one should be out this year. I’ve been working on tunes for a bit, and I’m trying to just figure out how I want to [release it]. I have music, but I don’t know if I should put an album out. I’m just messing with it.
Stylistically, is the new stuff similar to what you’ve done in the past? It depends on what happens in the next three months. It’s in the middle. Again, I’m using a lot of the same gear, but I know that I’m going to be working with more people and experiencing more raw instruments with my own hands. I’ll see what the hell that does. It’s different, but it depends on what makes the cut for the record.
And whatever you put out will be on Brainfeeder? Yup. Brainfeeder and My Hollow Drum are the only two labels where I’m releasing my own stuff. But then, the music with Prefuse 73—we’re trying to put out a record this year also—we don’t know where that’s going.
When you’re producing with Prefuse 73 for the Sons of the Morning project, what’s the set-up? We’ve been working separately. He’s an MPC guy, and I’ve never been an MPC guy. But he was like, “I have seven,” so he gave me one. It’s really hard when people use different gear, especially computer stuff. [Different programs] just don’t like to talk to each other. I’ll send him a raw WAV of my Fruity Loops output file, and he’s like, “This is kind of hard for me to chop.” So, I’ve been using an MPC more. I’m figuring it out. [Sometimes], it’s just him fucking with my files. That’s been our process. We haven’t made too much music [when we were physically] together.
Have you only played the one Boiler Room show together live? We had a couple shows, but that was the only one people saw, because we have no idea what we’re doing. [Laughs] Portishead has a festival in Spain—we played that and it was really nuts. But we’ve only played two or three shows together, and they’ve all been weird, on-the-DL, “we out here” kinds of things.
When you two do play live together, what’s the live set-up? I’m still on the SP-404, but I take a lot of his samples in and loop them out. At the same time, I’m still playing a lot of my own songs. We kind of just do it back and forth, and then, every once in awhile, we collage sounds. It’s weird.
Following the release of his Stereo Typing LP (from which we posted the title track back in November), Berlin-based Brainfeeder affiliate My Dry Wet Mess (pictured above) is back with his spin on UK artist Auntie Flo‘s 2012 single “Sun Ritual.” The original track is taken from the split Speicher 72 EP with German producer Nick Höppner, and boasts a vibrant, glittering sound. On the other hand, My Dry Wet Mess’ version is more dramatic, with abrasive effects occupying the foreground, an oscillating bassline winding around underneath, and bits of energetic percussion and melody shining through it all.
This remix of “Jugu” from the awesomely named Brighton duo Baconhead is oddly being released ahead of its original version, a psychedelic-looking oddity by Krazy Baldhead‘s side project Donso. And Baconhead’s version is a solid one: Slo-mo synths burn at both ends, and a brushed ride cymbal and woodblock snare providing the smoke-filled backdrop. Baconhead’s arrangement is so diligent that it could probably be broken down to make a step-by-step “How to” on crafting balmy trip-hop, but that doesn’t mean the pair holds back any surprises. Baconhead makes good use of the original production’s Mali vocalists, filling out its remix’s hypnotic ride by pushing them to the front of the mix before ever-so-slowly sucking them back out into the vaccum. You’ll be able to compare this excellent rework of “Jugu” to the original version once it drops as part of Donso’s Denfila is out on April 2 via Comet.
Opening a loosely conceptual series of vinyl-only releases entitled Bangers and Ash, Netherlands-based producer tomlaan helped promising Brooklyn imprint Styles Upon Styles get off on the right foot last year with an EP that traversed experimental, drone-infused hip-hop to synth-heavy half-step. For its second installment in the series—which enlists artists to prepare abstract and experimental productions on the a-side (the “Ash” part) and club-ready “Bangers” for the flip—the label turns its attention to its hometown, shining a spotlight on another relatively unknown producer, 23-year-old Clay Wilson. However, rather than taking the same twisting, genre-blurring path as tomlaan, Wilson remains almost clinically focused on one thing over the course of his debut 12″: techno.
Specifically, it’s the darker realm of psychedelic techno Wilson is dealing with. Even after factoring in last year’s notable surge of a rather menacing variant of the genre, one would be hard pressed to find a recent effort as depraved of light as the majority of tracks which adorn this record. “Tab,” the opener of the “Ash” side, is essentially nothing more than what sounds like a series of bass stabs weeping for 50 seconds. The track may not strike listeners as anything too interesting by itself, but placed at the edge of this particular 12″, it almost serves to foreshadow the often stunning levels of intricacy that Clay puts into his low-end elements. Serving as the EP’s anxious pulse, the bass does have a metronomic and persistent presence, but its hypnotic—and at times seductive—gloominess prevents it from grating.
“Reset” is an early highlight, on which a bassline throbs slowly while industrial drone textures and skittering static float seamlessly above it in the mix. These hi-end layers seem to take on a life of their own, constantly changing shape and form while going through various filters and automations with the unpredictability of a free-jazz record. Indeed, the ethos of improvisational music is at the very heart of Wilson’s production, most prominently on “Pfizing,” a raucous ode to resonance, empty warehouses, and post-rave tinnitus that playfully explores techno’s ectoplasmic qualities.
Though undoubtedly system-focused, “Bangers” probably isn’t the appropriate terminology for the tracks on Side B. Rather, both “End Gap” and “Toe the Line” are the kind of dizzying sprawlers clearly catered for the spaced-out crowds populating ill-lit underground parties after 3 a.m. “Toe the Line” is particularly impressive, its constant low-end mutations—all fidgety and paranoid in nature—met by equally itchy hi-hats and fleeting instances of wriggling acid. It’s an apt conclusion to an uncompromisingly moody EP from an adventurous new face.
Even if you only take the most cursory of glances at XLR8R, say, once a week, you’ve undoubtedly seen the name Glenn Jackson in numerous bylines before. But the Oakland resident isn’t only one of our talented staff writers and resident gearheads, he also co-runs the fledgling West in Dust label, comprises half of “bummer-pop” duo James & Evander, and produces solo tunes under his given name, among other endeavors. Today sees the release of Jackson’s debut EP, Morning Swim, via Brooklyn label Ceremony, and you can now stream its three effortlessly winsome house tracks in full. Between the sunny piano chords and slow bounce of “Save” and “You Too”‘s understated, starry-eyed dancefloor groove, the Morning Swim EP offers plenty of handmade sounds, music which Spin‘s Philip Sherburnedescribed as being “awash in lush textures and limpid color.” You can listen to all of Jackson’s new record in the player below.
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Along with the announcement that Irish producer The Cyclist will release his debut album, Bones in Motion, next month via Stones Throw and Leaving Records, we’re treated to this video for the refreshing “Visions.” Originally released as part of the Dual Form compilation, the boppy tune is compliented by a visual piece from director Miko Revereza, which follows the song’s upbeat kicks, dancing bells, and subtle snaps through a series of colorful, geometric patterns contained in a single square. The Cyclist will include “Visions” on the 15-track Bones in Motion when it’s released on March 26, but in the meantime, you can check out the record’s artwork and tracklist below.
Feel Beauty Mangel Bones In Motion Sheen Makeshift Stove The March Another Exploitation Visions Black Train Fleet Meeting Dusty Mongel Reels Sleeping
Though he spent most of 2012 ramping up his work as Martin Eden, longstanding Portland ambient artist Matthew Cooper will soon end the roughly three-year hiatus of his Eluvium project with the release of Nightmare Ending, his sixth full-length album. As Spin reports, Brooklyn’s Temporary Residence label has scheduled the two-disc, 14-track record to be released on May 14, approximately seven years after it was conceived. Cooper’s Nightmare Ending is said to be “a fully instrumental affair” that a press release describes as “[encompassing] everything remarkable about past Eluvium albums, executed more powerfully and poignantly than ever before.” Before the release of Nightmare Ending, you can check out its artwork and tracklist below.
Disc One 1. “Don’t Get Any Closer” 2. “Warm” 3. “By the Rails” 4. Unknown Variation” 5. “Caroling” 6. “Sleeper” 7. “Envenom Mettle”
Disc Two 1. “Chime” 2. “Rain Gently” 3. “Impromptu (For the Procession)” 4. “Covered In Writing” 5. “Entendre” 6. “Strange Arrivals” 7. “Happiness”
Frequent Benjamin Damage collaborator and heavyweight UK tunesmith in his own right, Doc Daneeka will drop his first release of 2013 next month. Appearing on the 2020 Midnight Visions label (an offshoot of 2020Vision, of course), the forthcoming EP features four tracks that are considerably more house-oriented than Daneeka’s and Damage’s excellent collaborative LP from last year, They!Live, but still stay true to the hybrid form of bass, house, and techno which Daneeka has proven himself adept at crafting over the years. Before Sketches of You drops on March 4, you can check out the artwork and tracklist below.
01 Day By Day 02 Just Say the Words 03 Everyday 04 Sunset to Neath
