After recently being featured in our Bubblin’ section, young Cheshire resident Submerse has prepped a new record scheduled to drop on June 7 via the Party Like Us label. The up-and-coming producer will release two tracks as part of the aforementioned imprint’s second installment of the Party Animals series, the first of which featured NY tunesmith Udachi. You can check out a preview Submerse’s fiery “Shukka” tune, which is joined by “One For You” on Party Animals Vol. II, below.
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This, uh, flashy video just landed in our inbox from the UK’s always on-point Butterz label, and is for the fresh “Moodswings” single by grime producer Swindle. Directed by Mr. Tit, the animated piece features a load of twisted and trippy animations that we assume would be great to watch under the influence of any mind-altering substance, though they’re pretty exciting on their own, too. Wonder Woman runs in place, faces melt and transform into other visages (including Swindle’s), and a disturbing, Predator-looking character watches over it all. It’s all very weird, creepy, and evil looking, but highly entertaining throughout.
In the UK bass world, you could safely call Jamie Roberts (a.k.a. Blawan) an overnight success. Before he was on anyone’s radar, he sent tracks to Untold and Pariah, and immediately scored releases on Hessle Audio and R&S, two of electronic music’s most revered labels. “I am not gonna lie—I think I’m really lucky to have been able to get a foothold in this scene,” admits Roberts. “When I think back, looking from the outside of it all, the fact that everyone seemed to know each other, [it] was a totally scary place to try and get a foot in the door.” Roberts countered those fears with an inspired blend of garage, dubstep, and acid, all of which caught the attention of his peers and placed him prominently among the UK’s top up-and-coming producers.
Although Roberts now resides in London, amongst a bevy of like-minded musicians, he grew up in the northern UK, in a town called Barnsley in South Yorkshire, where he began playing drums at age 10, and, with the help of his school teachers, began making electronic music in high school. He’s played drums in everything from orchestras to post-punk bands, but it was his interest in club music that pushed his creativity to where it is now. “I’ve always had a big love for house and techno music,” he explains. “Producing dance music was a totally natural progression for me.”
His first release as Blawan on Hessle Audio, “Fram” b/w “Iddy,” burst onto the UK bass scene with a new perspective on the genre-blurring sounds of its contemporaries. The release channels funky, dubstep, and garage, though with a lean quality that allows it to work on multiple levels. Both “Fram” and “Iddy” are simultaneously headphone listeners and club shakers—each with punchy rhythms and deep lows that manage to come through brilliantly in all kinds of settings—a distinction not often achieved in dance music. But while that one may have sounded like the next evolution of dubstep, Blawan’s next release, the Bohla EP on R&S, changed all preconceived notions as he channeled house, acid, techno, and other dancier sounds. “If you think you found your comfort zone in making music, then for me, personally, I’d suggest you stop,” says Roberts, imperatively. “I see no point in staying within a certain zone. Take Ramadanman, for instance: His back catalog is so varied and diverse, every release has pushed his sound forward, and, for me, there’s no wonder he’s smacking it hard at the moment.”
Where Blawan is headed, only he knows, but be sure he’s not looking to be the new face of acid. “For me, [the Bohla EP] was just some good sounds I was playing around with. I am definitely not on a mission to revive the 303 sound,” he warns. “The releases that are scheduled for this year are quite different from one another, which is brilliant for me. I just hope people are feeling them, too.”
The four house revivalists of Canadian outfit Azari & III will at long last have a full-length record to call their own when the burgeoning Loose Lips imprint drops Azari & III on August 30. On the creation of his band’s 11-track album, producer Christian Farley says, “I think we just wanted to make art. We weren’t really trying to make anything except a beautiful piece of sound… It was a long, slow, drawn-out process.” Though we have no artwork for the quartet’s forthcoming record, you can check out its full tracklist, which includes Azari & III’s excellent early singles “Reckless (With Your Love),” “Indigo,” and “Hungry for the Power,” below. (via Resident Advisor)
01. Into the Night 02. Reckless (With Your Love) 03. Tunnel Vision 04. Indigo 05. Lost In Time 06. Infiniti 07. Change of Heart 08. Manhooker 09. Undecided 10. Hungry for Power 11. Manic
Acid techno pioneers Ramon Zenker and Oliver Bondzio (collectively known as Hardfloor) have been pumping out swirling techno jams since first producing tracks together back in 1991. Now the two have reached the 20-year mark of their collaboration, and are set to release a massive, three-disc compilation collecting 31 tracks from the duo’s prolific past, along with two unreleased tunes, “Eternal Tweak” and “T.D.O.H. (Two Decades of Hardfloor),” for 20 – Two Decades of Hardfloor. Perhaps best known for their Hardtrance Acperience EP, released in 1992 by the then up-and-coming Harthouse label, Hardfloor has made a name for itself with now-classic, dancefloor-ready techno, usually characterized by the constant twisting and turning of 303s and a heavy, consistent four-on-the-floor drum beat. You can check a stream of the opening track from the Hardtrance Acperience EP following the artwork and tracklist below. 20 – Two Decades of Hardfloor is set to be released June 13 via the pair’s own Hardfloor imprint.
Tracklist: CD 1: 01 Trancescript 02 Murano 03 So What!? 04 Strikeout 05 Skill Shot 06 Groupie Love 07 The Trill Acid Theme 08 Alphabetical 09 Fish & Chips 10 Who Spends Money On Candygirls & Chocolate Chips? 11 Dog In The Manger CD 2: 01 Reverberate Opinion 02 Melorec 03 T 2 Da C (Tribute) 04 Da Revival 05 ….Me too 06 Into The Nature 07 Dubdope 08 Extra Ball 09 Acperience 1 10 Cube ² 11 Eternal Tweak (Previously unreleased) CD 3: 01 Soulful Spirit 02 Itz Not Over 03 Hardfloor Will Survive featuring Phuture 303 (Club Mix) 04 Lost In The Silverbox 05 Devils & Donuts 06 Frozen Spotlight 07 Tugger 08 Mahogany Roots 09 Confuss 10 T.D.O.H. (Previously unreleased) 11 Industrial Raze
The Netherlands city of Utrecht (about 30 minutes from Amsterdam) would certainly be a good place to find yourself on the first weekend of July, as the town will be hosting the 2011 edition of the Source Festival (quick warning—the website might be hard to navigate unless you read Dutch). The two-day festival (Saturday, July 2 and Sunday, July 3) has put together quite the line-up for its outdoor party with names like Kompakt dream-team Supermayer, UK epic beatsmith Bonobo (who will be performing live with a full band), and international electro-party duo Modeselektor rounding out the headlining spots. But the names don’t stop there—the list just keeps going with the likes of Tensnake, Pearson Sound, Nosaj Thing (live), Martyn, Kode9, Moodymann, Stacey Pullen (pictured above), Rainbow Arabia (live), and more gracing two stages at Utrecht’s Middelwaard Vianen recreation area. Unfortunate that it’s all going down so far from the XLR8R headquarters for us to partake, but anyone lucky enough to find themselves near Utrecht would be silly to miss either day. You can check the full line-up here (again, in Dutch) and head here to purchase tickets (where you’ll find an option for English text). Check the video montage of last year’s Source Festival below for an idea of what to expect from the upcoming festivities.
Just the other day, LA world-bass duo Nguzunguzu (pictured above) posted this remix of R&B chauntuese Jhene Aiko’s “Club Stranger” on its kinda-outta-control blog, Shade Business, and we couldn’t help but share it with you. The ubiquitous use of reverb and delay on Aiko’s sultry acapella quickly reminds us of a few of the deeply emotive tracks by folks like The Weeknd or How to Dress Well, though the frenetic drum programming and thick bass tones are purely the DJ/production outfit’s own. As “Club Stranger (Nguzunguzu Remix)” clearly illustrates, Nuguzunguzu’s curatorial tastes are always on point when it comes to sample sources, but it’s the pair’s knack for oddly singular dancefloor rhythms that puts them in a much more unique sound realm.
West London’s burgeoning PMR imprint (whose only release to date is Julio Bashmore‘s stellar Everyone Needs a Theme Tune EP, released earlier this year) has announced the label’s second release will come from Bristol vocalist Javeon McCarthy with a track produced by none other than Bashmore himself. Described as a “slow mo future-soul burner,” “Love Without a Heart” finds Bashmore operating at a slower tempo than usual—around 100 bpm—for the backdrop to the cut’s soulful vocal. No newcomer to the UK’s bass music world, McCarthy’s smooth stylings were first heard when he guested on L-Vis 1990’s “Forever You,” under the name Shadz. The single (artwork above), which comes with a remix from Brey of the Die Barbie Musik Kollektiv on its flipside, is set to be released June 13. You’ll find “Love Without a Heart” below, for your streaming pleasure.
Coming this summer, Invasion of the Mysteron Killer Sounds is a double-disc compilation that boasts 35 tracks of digital dub sounds handpicked by London-based dubstep/grime producer Kevin Martin (a.k.a. The Bug) and Soul Jazz label boss Stuart Baker. In addition to the wide array of dubwise tunes coming from the UK, Jamaica, and beyond—music from the likes of artists Ward 21, South Rakkas Crew, Harmonic 313, Diplo, King Tubby, The Bug, Redlight, Roots Manuva, and many others—this massive offering will feature a limited-edition graphic novel by Italian comic-book artist Paolo Parisi, which portrays “a science-fiction vision of the future of digital music.” Soul Jazz will release Invasion of the Mysteron Killer Sounds on CD and vinyl on June 16. Before then, you can read more about the compilation and listen to clips of the music here, and check out the full tracklist below.
CD ONE (Compiled by Kevin Martin) 1. Steely & Clevie “Streetsweeper” 2. Lenky & Sly “Now Thing” 3. Ricky Ranking feat. Roots Manuva “Doogoo Dub” 4. Dave Kelly “The Return” 5. Annex Crew “Summerbounce” 6. Federation Sound “Flatlands (Brooklyn Dub Mix)” 7. Lenky “Diwali” 8. Team Shadatek “Yoga Riddim” 9. Stereotyp feat. Alley Cat “Modern Times” 10. The Grynch feat. Tippa Irie “Electro Agony in Dub” 11. Fira “Hummer Version” 12. Diplo “Diplo Rhythm” 13. Harmonic 313 “Bazooka Riddim” 14. Ward 21 Productions “Pit Bull” 15. Redlight “M.D.M.A.” 16. The Bug “Aktion Dub”
CD?TWO (Compiled by Stuart Baker) 1. Fat Eyes “Clothes Pin Rhythm” 2. Steven Ventura “4 Kings of Kings (Throw Your Hands Up Version)” 3. Sly Dunbar and Christopher Birch “Corners Boy” 4. David Jahson “King of Kings Dub” 5. Fat Eyes “Steel Plate” 6. South Rakkas Crew “Red Alert” 7. Parara and McCoy “Them Can’t Hold Yuh (Gal Version)” 8. King Tubby “Fat Thing Version” 9. World Beat “Gold Mine” 10. Andre ‘Suku’ Gray (Jammys) “Sign Rhythm” 11. Henfield and Shadowman “Babatunde” 12. Firehouse Crew “No False Hair” 13. Computer Paul “World Talk” 14. Fat Eyes “Overdose” 15. Prince Jazzbo “Great Stone Version” 16. Kickin’ Productions “What You Gonna Do” 17. Pliers (Bonner Productions) “I’m Your Man Dub” 18. Wiz Kidz “Team In My Heart Version” 19. Jammys ‘Jam 2’ James (Jammys) “Peenie Peenie”
Mark E‘s debut full-length, Stone Breaker, saw its release through the renowned Spectral Sound imprint earlier this week, and with it a slew of promotional fanfare has come down the line, including this new mix from the UK-based producer for the GhostlyCast series. Lucky for us, E doesn’t take any mix lightly as evidenced by this impeccable 80-plus-minute excursion through an astounding variety of shimmering house styles. Touching on everything from the light and airy to the funky and deliberate, E throws down 17 retro-tinged tunes, sprinkled with a few of his own productions and remixes, including one track from his new LP, “Oranges.” You can stream/download the Stone Wall mix below, and read our review of Stone Breakerhere.
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Tracklist: 1. Agoria – Heartbeating (Mark E unreleased version) 2. Chicken Lips – For Ava (Mark E remix) 3. Dressvn – Sex Tags 4. Blagger – Strange Beahviour (Koze mix) 5. The Untouchables – Something Bugged 6. Naomi Daniel – Stars 7. Pascal Bongo Massive – Pere Cochon 8. John Swing – Rollin 9. Edward – Maxa 10. Relative – Vinylog 11. Function – Immolare 12. Skatebard – Ta Ta Arr 13. James T. Cotton – On Time 14. Mark E – Oranges 15. Miles Sagnia – Relativity 16. Edward – Naxa 17. Ghost Town – Motor Booty
