Elusive London-via-South Africa production trio LV, the tunesmiths behind the massive “Boomslang” single, recently granted a rare interview with all of its three members to FACT, who then turned it into this lengthy and informative Q & A. The Hyperdub-signed producers, Will Horrocks, Gervase Gordon, and Si Williams, talk about their backgrounds, both musical and personal, the inclusion of kwaito and reggae styles into their bassy club tunes, and how they got hooked up with Kode9’s label, among other revealing topics. Head over here to read the extensive feature.
On December 15, Colorado bass-centric imprint Plastic Sound Supply officially drops its first volume of a new compilation series focusing on producers from its home state, interestingly titled Experimental Dance Breaks 36. While it’s certainly not the 36th edition in a series, and you’re not likely to find many ‘dance breaks’ in its skittering, woofer-abusing tracks, the inferred experimental nature of the release is certainly valid. Take this production from Denver native c.db.sn, where elements of electronic genres across the board—including bits from ambient, glitch, bass, IDM, and techno sub-strains—coalesce into a somber tune that’s simultaneously familiar and refreshing. Maybe it’s not the most ‘out there’ experimentation, but sometimes just giving a few of your favorite, trusted sounds a good tweak before arranging them in new ways is enough. If you can’t wait for physical copies of Dance Breaks, you can nab a digital version here.
Veteran house and techno DJ/producer Recloose (a.k.a. Matt Chicoine) just dropped the first release to bear his name in two years, a compilation of his, um, early works, called Early Works. Amsterdam’s Rush Hour label released the collection of tunes—calling it a “retrospective featuring unreleased tracks and forgotten gems,” not unlike the imprint’s three-disc compilation for Anthony “Shake” Shakir—in a number of formats, each with a different tracklist. The digital download is the most extensive version, boasting 18 Recloose productions from the late ’90s and early ’00s, while the CD features a respectable 14-song tracklist, and the two-part 12″ edition manages to offer eight cuts. You can check out the artwork and full range of tracklists below, and head over here for more info and audio clips of the songs.
CD tracklist: 1. Get There Tonight 2. Soul Clap 2000 3. MYM 230 (RIP) 4. Insomnia In Dub 5. First Off (Dub Version) 6. Maui’s Lament (Original Demo Mix) 7. Lagan 8. Antares 9. Land Of The Lost Dance 10. Flotsam 11. Absence Of One 12. Can’t Take It (feat. Dwele) 13. Crosstown 14. Jetsam
Digital extras: Kapiti Dream Ghost Stories Processions Ain’t Changing
12″ Part 1: A1. Get There Tonight A2. Land Of The Lost Dance B1. Soul Clap 2000 B2. Insomnia In Dub
12″ Part 2: A1. MYM230 A2. Antares B1. Can’t Take It B2. Crosstown
One week before Christmas, Brooklyn’s third annual festival celebrating both veteran and up-and-coming electronic artists will kick off at Public Assembly and Music Hall of Williamsburg. The Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival (or BEMF) will host the likes of Sinden, FaltyDL, Javelin (pictured above), Tittsworth, Lemonade, Creep, Cubic Zirconia, Michna, Class Actress, oOoOO, and many more for a long night of live performances and DJ sets across the venues’ three stages on Saturday, December 18. You can score limited $25 pre-sale tickets for the forthcoming event, which is 18+, here, and check out the full lineup here.
At this point, little is known about Swedish group Niki And The Dove, apart from the fact that it’s made up of a singer named Malin and collection of old friends and associates. Though thin on background info, Niki And The Dove’s music follows in the spirit of lush, expertly realized Swedish pop à la The Knife or The Tough Alliance. At the outset, Niki And The Dove’s “Mother Protect” features understated percussion similar to that of minimal techno, but as soon as the chorus hits, the song transforms into a full-fledged pop song, albeit one that channels Kate Bush’s mystical eccentricity. After giving “Mother Protect” a listen, check out the beautifully rendered video of another epic song, “Under the Bridge,” which is posted after the jump.
When you have a name like Terror Danjah, “in bed” seems like a weird place to conduct an interview. Of course, it’s midnight in his native London, and despite his aggressive handle, his personality is more than affable, even at this hour, as he asks me if his TV is too loud in the background. These days, the early-30-something producer, who, at least at this point, hasn’t made his birth name known to the press, isn’t having too much trouble being heard.
Over the past decade, Terror Danjah has developed a consistent, instantly identifiable style. His songs—funky, melodic, full of neon synths, hyperactive clacking drums, and cartoonish effects—are hardly a bunch of grungy beats for MCs to scream over. But the most recognizable element of his production is what gave his last album, Gremlinz, its name. “People think it’s me,” he says emphatically of the ‘gremlin,’ the unforgettable cackle that hides in most of his tracks. “It’s not—it’s a sample from a jungle [sound] pack. People started to like it, then I took it out because I was bored of it, and people were like, ‘Where’s that laughing thing? That’s so you, so your personality.'”
Terror grew up on a steady diet of Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Salt N Pepa, “the soul revival thing,” he says. “And so much Mary J Blige,” but it was playing jungle that got him started in the production game, and its fidgety percussion is a trademark of the tracks he makes now. “What made jungle special was the way the percussions and the hats glided into their own pockets,” he reminisces, with a hint of sentimentality. In the early 2000s, he and his cohorts would eventually birth grime, the genre in which he’s now considered legendary. “I think what happened is that all the guys who couldn’t get into garage rolled into grime. Myself, Wiley, the rest of us,” he explains.
Working with top vocalists, Terror’s role was in the backseat, the master producer providing the distinctively funky and futuristic grooves beneath the screwfaced scrimmages of MCs like Kano and Bruza. He released several renowned EPs, a couple of scene-spanning all-star compilations, ran his own label (Aftershock), and became an influential force in the burgeoning grime scene, with his productions all over pirate radio airwaves and grime raves in the mid-’00s. “You couldn’t get away with hearing a set without hearing at least half Terror Danjah,” he boasts.
But he wasn’t exactly a star: To him, there was no way out of grime into bigger things, especially considering the genre’s propensity to undervalue its producers. So he responded with two oversized hits: “Cock Back,” which he calls “the aggiest gun tune ever,” and “So Sure,” a remarkably relaxed and tender tune sung sweetly by grime chanteuse Sadie Ama; even Kano’s verse on the track is gentle.
Sadie Ama ft. Kano – “So Sure”
“So Sure” was such a 180 that it actually heralded a new trend in grime, affectionately known as rhythm’n’grime. “It was a movement,” he insists, and a trend that cemented Terror Danjah as a singular artist. With “So Sure,” and other similarly minded tracks, Danjah managed to twist his twitchy grime sound into something classy and convincingly sensual.”I just made that music because I love neo-soul and R&B and all that,” he explains. It’s grime that wasn’t necessarily aimed at the dancefloor, but rather for the bedroom, for home-listening, for “Sunday dinner,” he suggests. He calls it “Musiq Souldchild on a UK ting,” and casually reveals that his next release will be an eight-track affair that revives the style.
Danjah goes as far as to call “So Sure” his favorite track, describing the vocal as “magic.” The tune’s overtly poppy production—where Terror’s violent and frantic riffs were sedated and coaxed into seductively snaking melodies and feminine flourishes initially proved controversial amongst his ultra-masculine peers. “Crazy Titch heard it and he was like, ‘Ah, that’s crap! You shouldn’t do tunes like that!’ but then six months later he says, ‘I want a tune like that!'” Terror says, laughing. Trepidation quickly gave way to rightful recognition in a big way; even major labels fought it out for the rights to the song, but negotiations fell through and the track was doomed to live out its life as an obscure white-label single, a convenient metaphor for the detrimentally disorganized state of grime music at the time.
Indeed, things started to spiral out of control as grime in general seemed to blunder and jeopardize any commercial potential it had, with notable success stories like Dizzee Rascal eventually moving away from the insular scene. Even post-2004, when times were at their toughest, Terror continued plugging away with Aftershock, but the constant work of managing the label and its artists by himself, with little to no payoff, became too much even for his indomitable spirit. “I was working the hardest I ever have in my life and no one knew I existed,” he says. So, in 2008, he got out.
As luck would have it, last year Danjah was tapped by Planet Mu’s Mike Paradinas to compile a retrospective of instrumentals, and his star would finally receive the apotheosis it had so long deserved. Gremlinz, named after Danjah’s distinctive soundbites, gathered tracks made between 2003 and 2009, and rewrote the twin narratives of grime and dubstep with Danjah placed firmly at the center, making him instantly relevant and, by the time the disc was released, one of the most-talked about producers in the UK. Since then, he’s been on a tear, releasing several EPs for free online, and on Planet Mu, Butterz, Rwina, and Hyperdub, with 2010 proving to be one of his most successful years to date.
“Acid”
“It’s like I’m a new producer,” he says.”I can make an album in two weeks if I really want to, because I’m working like a workhorse. I’m not saying I’m a monster, but I’m a monster. When I made ‘Bipolar,’ I was on the phone!” After a string of EPs (five to be exact, including an eight-tracker), his incredible year has culminated in the Undeniable album on Hyperdub, a confident address on the state of all things Terror. Half vocals and half instrumentals, the album ventures outside of Terror’s usual grime, features vocal spots from Bruza, D Double E, and Mz. Bratt, among others, and even includes the eight-minute “S.O.S.,” which gradually slows down to a house tempo—something Danjah refers to as a “mindfuck.” The album flows wonderfully, no doubt in part because it was assembled by Hyperdub’s resident genius Kode9. “It was more like what he would like to hear,” says Danjah.”It’s what he likes. It made me open up as a different type of producer; most of the tunes on Undeniable I probably wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for Kode.”
The album is just one volley in what has been a triumphant comeback, a year that’s seen instrumental grime ever on the rise. “Of course I’m a leader,” he says, laughing. He’s started a new vinyl label, Hardrive, which already looks promising, lining up releases from himself, DOK, and Joker, and his work rate is as blistering as ever. However, he’s stubborn that this isn’t some miraculous rejuvenation, but rather a continuation: “People think now I’m consistent. This is not me consistent—this is me having freedom to be me. The last time I was Terror Danjah was the end of 2004. I don’t have to look after 26 artists. Now I can look after me.”
This taste from the latest compilation to come from Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label, Brownswood Bubblers Six, is a rough-draft recording of “Liiines” by rising London-based wordsmith Ghostpoet. The affectionate MC calls this version of his brief piano-led tune a demo, but the way we hear it, maybe it’s not entirely necessary to make that distinction. Sure, Ghostpoet’s vocals are a bit murky and distorted for whatever reasons, but those kinds of homespun nuances lend the song an even stronger intimate feel, like he had to rush to get the song out while still in the thick of his own desolate emotions. And the beat? Well, that sounds as dusty and handmade as it should—demo or not.
Released earlier this month on Berlin imprint Ostgut Ton, Fünf (German for “five”) celebrates five years of Ostgut Ton as one of the world’s premiere techno labels. Not unlike London club Fabric’s double-life as a record label, Ostgut Ton is owned by some of the resident DJs of fabled Berlin nightspots Berghain and Panorama Bar. Fünf puts those venues front-and-center with a unique field-recording concept that finds many of the compilation’s producers capturing the pedestrian noises of both clubs, either in spirit or in actual live recordings. The album features 26 tracks made exclusively for the release, one of which is Marcel Dettmann‘s “Shelter,” a highly compressed and white-noise-laden slice of techno that chugs along with machine-like efficiency.
While in Italy rocking the Dancity club night, NY-based garage patron FaltyDL sat down for a chat with some of the local press. The DJ/producer talked a bit about his musical education, the history of the style of music he makes, how he had to incessantly bother Mike Paradinas before the Planet Mu label head checked out his tunes, and other interesting topics. You can check out the video interview, which includes snippets of live footage from FaltyDL’s set, after the jump. (via Resident Advisor)
The recently minted imprint from Swedish producer Martin Brodin (pictured above), simply called MB Disco, just announced its next release will be a 12″ of remixes for the classic ’80s tune “Jam On It” by Newcleus. The new mixes come courtesy of UK outfit Chicken Lips and label head Brodin. Chicken Lips delivers three versions of its disco-centric space jam, while Brodin offers just one remix, all of which will be released this December. You can stream a couple tunes from the 12″ on MB Disco’s MySpace page, and check out the vinyl label below.
