Podcast 236: Champion

While pundits may say that UK funky is “over,” clearly they haven’t been listening to artists like Champion (a.k.a. Reiss Hanson). After floating dubs around the London underground for a few years, Champion had himself a big 2011, dropping singles on his own Formula label along with an EP on Roska Kicks & Snares. His tunes are distinctive, injecting thick, grime-inspired basslines into the shuffling snare patterns and snappy drum sounds often associated with funky. And though his thunderous productions often have a dark—even gully—sensibility, that hasn’t prompted Champion to shy away from working with vocalists or attempting to infuse his tunes with some genuine pop flavor. For instance, his latest single, “Crazy,” which drops next week, puts the soulful vocals of Princess Nyah front and center. The track appears on this exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series, a DJ session that finds Champion nimbly throwing together low-end heavy rumblers with a number of pop-tinged selections. It’s heavy on his own productions, but also includes several contributions from like-minded producers who are similarly continuing to explore funky and grime in new and interesting ways. Even if UK funky is no longer the “hot” sound of London, artists like Champion are proving that it’s anything but dead.

01 Champion & Ruby Lee Ryder “Sensitivity” (Formula)
02 Notion “Digits” (Formula)
03 Funkystepz feat. Lily Mckenzie “Circles (Champion Dub)” (F.L.Y.)
04 Champion “Selectah” (Roska Kicks & Snares)
05 Heartbreak “Blaze Up (Roska Remix)” (Girls)
06 Redlight “Mosquito” (Lobster Boy)
07 Champion feat. Princess Nyah “Crazy (Champion Dub)” (Formula)
08 Royal-T “Inside The Ride (Personal 130 Edit)” (Rinse)
09 Champion “Lighter VIP” (Formula)
10 Champion “Cruddy”
11 Champion “Mr. Bogle”
12 Notion “Soundbwoy Killa” (Formula)
13 Champion “Tun Up Di Bass” (Formula)
14 Notion “Icicle”
15 Funkystepz “Trouble” (Hyperdub)
16 Champion “War Dance” (Roska Kicks & Snares)
17 Addictive “Bad Girl (Champion Remix)” (2NV)
18 Funkystepz “Bubbly Refix” (F.L.Y.)
19 Champion “Bammy”
20 DJ Naughty “District 6” (Formula)
21 Champion “Expensive” (Hardrive)
22 TRC “Oo Aa Ee (Royal-T’s I <3 Garage Mix – 130 Edit)” (Butterz)
23 Terror Danjah “Square Bass” (Formula)
24 Champion “Speed” (Butterz)
25 D.O.K “Untitled” (Formula)
26 Terror Danjah & Ruby Lee Ryder “Let Me Be The One” (Butterz)
27 DJ Q “Rocky” (Unknown to the Unknown)
28 Champion “Crystal Meth” (Butterz)

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Drop/Dead “Basic State”

Here’s a fresh slice of brooding, dubstep-ian soundscapes from London’s Drop/Dead. Slightly reminiscent of the thunder and rainfall on Burial’s new Kindred EP, “Basic State” employs a steadily knocking beat, a nearly inaudible synth melody, and a dark-as-night bassline to drive its slow groove home. It reminds us how nice it is every time we hear something new from the tunesmith, so if you’re in the market for more of Drop/Dead’s handiwork, look no further than the solid mix he dropped for Vienna’s Danceteria, after the jump.

Basic State

Ital Hive Mind

The music of Daniel Martin-McCormick practically begs to be conceptualized, contextualized, and intellectualized. Under the banners of Black Eyes, Sex Worker, and Mi Ami, he’s bolstered his visceral noise, punk, and electronic output by exploring ideas of subverting social norms—touching on gender issues, politics, identity, and more. It’s certainly not meant to be a distraction, as the music is often more than capable of standing on its own, but, sometimes, the message can overshadow the songs that carry it. And even though Martin-McCormick has all sorts of ulterior motives and mangled ciphers woven throughout his debut full-length as Ital, Hive Mind is first and foremost about sticky house grooves and atmospheric sprawl, of which there are plenty.

Ital’s LP clocks in at about 42 minutes with merely a five-song tracklist, an obvious indicator of the kind of jams he’s crafted here. At times, it can feel like you’ve been listening to the same funky bassline or warped vocal samples for twice as long as you should (or would like to), though the effect is surely dampened when the tracks are heard in the forum they belong: the dancefloor. Sitting down and having a listen to the undulating low end and propulsive boom-clap of “Israel” may be fine for some, but a full and proper experience of the music can only come from moving about in a club while a truly bumping soundsystem blasts it. That’s not to say that Ital’s tracks are produced in any refined or state-of-the-art way, though. (Martin-McCormick has been vocal about his use of the freeware program Audacity.) It’s more that this music is meant to elicit an immediate physical response, and not be analyzed and pondered outside of the effectiveness of its beats and the packages they come in. In that sense, Hive Mind succeeds by offering up fresh, experimental house music for listeners with a love for the classics.

Nonetheless, the album can also be enjoyed—in some respects—while at home or listening in headphones as you go about your day. Some of its most interesting qualities are the subtle intricacies and nuances that fill in the spaces between each melody and groove. Under the pattering percussion and celestial pads of standout “Floridian Void” swirls a thick cloud of sparkling ambient noise and warped field recordings; you could easily spend all of the track’s 10 and a half minutes trying to follow the trail of each sound without realizing you’ve been tapping your foot the whole time. “Privacy Settings,” the shortest of the five cuts, is a super-slow production completely void of danceable rhythms. It’s sort of a waypoint between Hive Mind‘s two meaty halves, an effectively eerie track that might just have you looking over your shoulder the next time you’re on Facebook.

It’s impossible to shake the feeling that there is a hidden meaning crammed into Hive Mind, especially when listening to it as a whole. And because that message is so obscured, it can sometimes muddle a perfectly good tune. 2011’s “Only For Tonight (Saviour’s Love Megamix)” and other Ital singles—like “Culture Clubs” and “Ital’s Theme”—are great because they are straightforward in their intentions to make you move with energetic rhythms and infectious melodies. Martin-McCormick’s debut full-length does exhibit those qualities, but they’re forced to share space with obtuse references to the internet and pop culture, which are often manifested as atonal sonic clutter. Had he trimmed the fat a touch and maybe tacked on an extra track or two in its place, Ital’s LP might have been something closer to remarkable.

Red Bull Music Academy Releases ‘Various Assets’ Compilation

Over the past month, we’ve brought you threedifferenttracks that were put together at last year’s installment of Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid. Those cuts were part of a double-disc compilation that RBMA has finally released online. Various Assets – Not For Sale: A Selection Of Tunes Recorded At The Red Bull Music Academy Madrid 2011 (artwork above) features collaborations and contributions from an array of up-and-coming producers like Ghosts on Tape, Brenmar, xxxy, and many others, not to mention appearances from more veteran acts like Addison Groove and Mark Pritchard. Stream or download the 35-song compilation below.

01. The Perfect Blues – Jesse Boykins III & Gora Sou
02. Red Sound – Yosi Horikawa & Dorian Concept
03. Ecovillage – Jorge Lima & Mathew Jonson
04. ReadY – Canblaster & Julius Sylvest
05. Racist Jazz Space Creature – Boycrush & Sander Mölder
06. Untitled – Ghosts On Tape & Clip!
07. Into You – The T2s
08. Vale Vale – Signor Mako & Om Unit
09. FRG – Raisa K & Thomalla
10. Power Up – Canblaster & Nightwave
11. Jacktrax – Nehuen & xxxy
12. Offhand – Behr
13. Pump Dat – Mark Pritchard & Addison Groove
14. One Hour Later – Broke One & Xavier León
15. Camp Song – Boycrush
16. AZRR – Claude Speeed
17. Dangle – Full Crate & Mark Pritchard
18. Late – Signor Mako, Santiago Latorre & Behr
19. Alien Titmarsh Riddim – Mark Pritchard, Danny Breaks & Om Unit
20. Cicada Sleep – Pazes, Anenon & Grayson Gilmour
21. Bedrooms – Xavier León, Broke One, & Kackmusikk
22. She Will Prevail – Jesse Boykins III, Doc Daneeka & xxxy
23. Chuglive – Dorian Concept & xxxy
24. Acquiescence – Anenon
25. Sicka – Nguzu & Boska
26. Question – Om Unit & Disco Nutter
27. C’est La Vie – Chico Unicornio feat. Anenon, ChaCha & Robin Hannibal
28. Eivar – Thomalla & Martin Riegelnegg
29. You Said You Loved Me – Krystal Klear, Broke One & Ghosts On Tape
30. The Earth Got Round – Sara Sayed & xxxy
31. Phone Tone – Brenmar, Canblaster & Ghosts On Tape
32. What is Sleep – Claude Speeed
33. Junk – Exeter & Naphta
34. Waking Into A Prior Dream – The Heartbreak Kids
35. Ode To Bootsy – Fuck Shit Up

Mason “Superimposer (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)”

London duo Zombie Disco Squad has been delivering party-ready house jams for several years now, releasing original productions on labels like Made to Play and mixing an XLR8Rpodcast several years back. Now, the team has remixed “Superimposer,” a bubbling track by Amsterdam’s Mason. The remix is a warm, crisp slice of funky house, a tune that’s perfect for an early-morning haze. It’s out now as part of the Superimposer EP (artwork above) on Animal Language, which also includes remixes from Harvard Bass, Arveene & MiSK, and Polymath.

Superimposer (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)

DJ Harvey Drops Rare Mix for RA.300

The legendary Harvey William Bassett (a.k.a. DJ Harvey) has mixed the milestone 300th podcast for Resident Advisor. Harvey has been renowned over the past two decades for marathon DJ sets, massively successful and influential parties in both England and the US, and stacks of extremely rare, drooled-over disco edits on his Black Cock imprint. He has also largely steered clear of dropping mixes online, thus keeping his DJ sessions in the club and his cult status in the clouds. It makes this RA mix all the more special. Check out an interview we did with Harvey last year here, and download the RA mix, here.

Ambassadeurs “Duke Red”

Just last week, Brighton up-and-comer Ambassadeurs shared a video for his tune “M.O.P.E.” Now, he’s passed along a new track, “Duke Red,” which is said to serve as the first taste of the producer’s as-yet-untitled forthcoming debut album. As on “M.O.P.E.,” Ambassadeurs manages to combine a number of genres here, as traces of West Coast beat music, UK bass, and the now-ubiquitous touch of modern R&B are all present. It’s the kind of tune a beatmaker can appreciate, one that moves in measured steps and is held together by its solid drum work and an impressively precise aesthetic.

Duke Red

Duke Red

MikeQ Delivers Latest FACT Mix

Today, we’re pleasantly surprised to find a brand-new mix has surfaced from vogue house/ballroom posterchild MikeQ, which he delivered to FACT. The hour-plus-long DJ set features loads of the sample-heavy, minimalist dancefloor sounds MikeQ has built his name on, but there’s no tracklist available to peruse just yet. Nonetheless, you can listen to the whole thing, as well as download it, in the player below.

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Suspect “Inurface (Stereogamous Remix)”

Late last year, Suspect teamed up with Creepy Autograph (an alias of the prolific Jimmy Edgar) for a split EP (artwork above) on the freshly minted Thug imprint. The release came stacked with an original track from each producer along with remixes of each other’s tunes, which unfortunately left no space for Australian duo Stereogamous‘ sleek rework of “Inurface.” On its remix, the pair from Down Under manages to take Suspect’s cut into even deeper territory, dropping the original song’s robot vocals and injecting a healthy amount of undulating low-end into the affair, ultimately yielding a cut as primed for the dancefloor as either of its counterparts.

Inurface (Stereogamous Remix)

2562 Announces Forthcoming ‘Air Jordan’ EP

File this one under Titles We Can’t Believe We Haven’t Seen Yet. Dutch dub-techno producer 2562‘s next record is called Air Jordan. But the four-song EP’s title isn’t making the reference you might think. A press release states, “Based on field recordings taken in various bustling city centres, rugged desert landscapes, peaceful cornfields, lively amphitheatres, abandoned villages and ancient temples, [the EP’s] four tracks capture glimpses of Jordan’s often stark and desolated scenery as well as its warm and vivid spirit, channelled and reinterpreted through a simple recording device and a sampler.” See? Jordan the place, not Jordan the person. How clever. 2562 will release his new record on March 19 via his own When in Doubt imprint. Before then, you can check out the artwork (above) and tracklist (below). (via FACT)

A1 Solitary Sheepbell
A2 Desert Lament
B1 Jerash Hekwerken
B2 Nocturnal Drummers

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