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| | Dubloaded: The Return | |
| By admin on3/25/2009 12:14 PM | |
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Dubloaded returns to the Croft on Wednesday 8th of April, for what looks set to become a monthly fixture. Tubby from the Newham Generals heads a line-up that also includes Joker, Peverelist, Pokes and Bristol rootsman DJ Stryda. The last time that Tubby was in town (and I unfortunately was not) he brought D Double E and Footsie along with him, so I am desperately hoping that he will do the same this time. Fingers crossed I suppose... |  | |
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| | Blog Weirdness... | |
| By admin on3/25/2009 11:14 AM | |
| I've had to repost a few blog entries, as for some reason they were not displaying properly in Internet Explorer (they were also stopping the page from loading at times). This means that the post dates for a few of the entries may now be a bit out of sync. Apologies to anyone who's been having trouble viewing the blog, it should all be sorted out now though. Curse the internet gremlins... |  | |
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| | Hyetal: Exclusive Mix | |
| By admin on3/25/2009 10:48 AM | |
|  Up and coming Bristolian producer Hyetal has been kind enough to record an exclusive mix for us. Having recently appeared on Mary Anne Hobbs' Radio 1 show and with an ever increasing list of releases in the pipeline, it is certainly an exciting time for the producer. When listening to his music, the reason for the hype that is surrounding him becomes instantly apparent; his subtle, yet assured use of melody and harmony, along with his delicate use of percussion, creates a sonic fragility that is full of energy and emotion. The picture above was taken from his myspace page and, to me at least, serves as a very good visual representation of his music. It looks as though Formant Recordings will be the first label to release some of his tracks, with FRMNT005: 'The Last Time We Spoke' / 'Armour', due in late March / early April. Other releases on Soul Motive and Reduction Records are set to follow, with the latter, 'Pixel Rainbow Sequence', being backed by a Peverelist remix. Promoters take note, now might be a good time to think about booking Mr Hyetal... ;-) Hyetal Highrise Mix - Download Here (Right Click 'Save As') Tracklist: Kulture – Midgar Skyline Desto – Inkdeath Hyetal & Shortstuff – Ice Cream Rustie – Tempered Guido – Tango 140 Zombie – The Lie Kode 9 & LD – Bad Jack Sparrow – The Chase Peverelist – Clunk Click Every Trip Shortstuff – Progression Hyetal – Gold Or Soul Gemmy – Kodama |  | |
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| | Guido Interview | |
| By admin on3/25/2009 10:46 AM | |
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Guido Mini Mix (Dec '08) Guido's life is about to undergo some serious changes. With his debut release on Peverelist's Punch Drunk label having just hit the shelves, the level of interest in his music has just risen dramatically. The 21 year old Bristolian producer has been preparing himself for this surge of interest, however, and has been using his time wisely, learning the skills which he will need to help his music reach an ever widening audience. Until now his musical focus has been solely on production, but aware of the need to perform his music, he has been using the daytime serenity of a local night club to hone his DJing skills and is now ready to start accepting bookings. This desire to do things right, or not to do them at all, looks set to serve him well in an era in which quality control is so often overlooked. For those of you who are not yet familiar with the young producer, the mini mix above should provide a nice introduction to his sound. He was kind enough to pop round for a chat on the eve of his first release... So, first of all, what kind of music are you into yourself? I’m into anything really, as long as the melody and rhythm capture something. Melody is definitely something that I’m into a lot. I’ve got a piano which I use pretty much everyday. I go and practice different scales, chords, intervals and stuff like that, so I’m coming from a musical angle. I had lessons formally for a little while, a jazz teacher for a year and a classical teacher for a year, although I don’t have lessons anymore. I really like Jazz. One of my favourite Jazz acts is the Esbjorn Svensson Trio. I listen to them a lot. When did you first start using a computer to make music? I started making music on the computer when I downloaded Fruity Loops when I was 15 or 16, maybe even younger. That’s when I first discovered the software. Do you still use Fruity Loops now? No, I’ve got a Mac now so I use Logic and Reason.
You MC a bit as well don’t you? Nah!
Well I heard you the other day… Yeah, I was a bit drunk! I used to write bars for a bit of fun. A long time ago I was making a song and I thought I'd write to it. I spat the bar to Shadz and he said, ‘you should jump on the track with me’, so we did that and it’s still really the only bar that I’ve got. I was just drunk at Joker’s the other day… It’s definitely not something that I want to get into (laughs). You work with a lot of vocalists when producing though… Yeah, I’m definitely up for collaborating, especially with singers at the moment. I’m really liking what can be done when working with vocalists.
How do you like to work with vocalists? I either give them an instrumental to take away, or I’ll email it to them etc, then if they write to it we’ll go over it again and then record it. In some cases I’ve written a few lyrics, only for a few songs but I have done a bit of song writing. Shadz is probably my oldest musical partner, I met him in 05. He’d heard a tune that I'd done with someone, and from that we went on to collaborate with each other. Through Shadz I met Joker and then we started swapping cds as well. This led to us meeting up more and becoming friends. Gemmy is someone that I only got to know recently, within the last year or so. Before that I'd never really had a chance to see him or talk to him that much. You mention Gemmy and Joker. Whilst you do all have distinctly individual styles, there are definitely similarities within your music. Do you think that this is just by chance or would you say that you have influenced each others music? I think we all come from the same kind of background; we all used to listen to garage and grime so I don’t know if that’s it. Back in the day I was really impressed with Joker’s stuff though, before I knew him too well. It was good to see another Bristol producer making really good beats.
Have you ever considered collaborating on a track with Joker or Gemmy? The first time I met up with Joker we made a tune together, but since then we haven’t been able to. I don’t know if it’s because we mess around too much or not… generally we've been better at bouncing ideas off of each other over the net, but in the future anything is possible.The way I get my ideas for music, sometimes it comes out very slowly. I can’t just set a time to make a tune with someone as it won’t always come out of me then. I’ve got to be a bit spontaneous I think.
What is the whole Purple Trinity thing about? It’s a name that came up for me Joker and Gemmy, it came out of nowhere really, but it’s cool, I like it. Joker had a thing for purple, he’s got a lot of purple pictures etc. We were talking about synthenasia one day, where you hear a certain tone and it reminds you of a colour, and his colour for his music is purple. I don’t know whether my stuff sounds like that or not. So you’re ready to start djing now? I’m saying yes to bookings now. I’m ready to go out there and show people some of the material that I’ve got, although I’ll play whatever sounds good. A friend lent me a pair of decks and I kind of taught myself not very well on those - I think I’ve just started to get it now though, after a long time. It’s the next step for me to take now, to get out there and showcase my stuff. Is music something that you want to try and pursue as a career or are you happy with it being just a hobby?
Definitely, I can’t think of anything else! I’m up for doing anything: film music, computer game music, tracks with artists - anything. I’m just doing what I like to do really. I make music every day; I spend at least a few hours every day on the computer or the piano. I’ve had a lot of support from my parents. What makes a good tune for you? I think for me a tune needs a really meaningful motif that connects with you. Then it builds up, it might a change a little bit, then there'll be some more tweaks and then some other things change. The progression of a track is very important to me, taking the listener on a ride. Do you always start with the hook then? Sometimes it’ll be a melody that I wrote on the piano, other times it might be a chord. I’ll get a certain feeling from a chord and from there add rhythm to it and some extra melody. Sometimes I’ll put down an idea and then months and months later I’ll find that idea and it will strike something off and I’ll go from there. That is what I meant earlier about not always being able to make a tune there and then, sometimes it just happens over time. What other music do you listen to? I listen to various composers, recently though I’ve been listening to a lot of Japanese stuff, music from Studio Ghibli Films. Joe Hisashi is the composer for most of those films and I think he really nails it. Like Gemmy has said before about a lot of the computer games we grew up playing, the producers there were very talented. It's hard to imagine those games without the music because that's what created so much soul and character and also the feelings that we've kept in our memories. I know Mario and Sonic were done by Japanese guys. For me, my favourite computer games were Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9. The music was by Nobuo Uematsu and is very nostalgic to me. I still play Final Fantasy 7 now, even though I don’t have the time for it – I just love it! Have you ever been to Japan? Not yet, but it’s definitely a place that I would love to go. Not just for the technological / neon side that Tokyo’s got, but also for the more traditional, outside of the city kind of thing. Do you think living in Bristol has affected your music? It’s hard to say as I’ve only ever lived in Bristol, but there’s definitely something about the place, a certain feeling in the air. There’s a good community of people here, you get a lot of support and everyone’s really helpful. I really appreciate little comments from people, or when I’ve been out and someone has recognised me and I don’t even know them - Bristol’s quite small in that way. Finally, how does it feel to have your music released? I feel very happy about it and very grateful. I'm really excited that my music is getting heard by more people now. Peverelist putting it out has given me a big boost and a lot more confidence. 'Orchestral Lab' / 'Way U Make Me Feel' is out on Punch Drunk now. |  | |
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| | Trouble & Bass Mix | |
| By admin on3/4/2009 2:56 AM | |
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This hour long piece of extroverted bass madness turned up in my inbox yesterday, courtesy of the good people over at Fabric. Star Eyes & The Captain, from New York’s Trouble & Bass crew, have put the mix together ahead of the crew's takeover of room three at Fabric Live on Friday (6th March). The mix combines dubstep, bassline, funky, booty and other such party rocking genres and is clearly heavily geared towards the dance floor. If you’re looking for something to get lively to then it should fit the bill nicely. It’s all about the Lil Silva track for me, but that’s blatantly just because it’s essentially a grime track which is masquerading as house. The Jack Beats remix of ‘Where’s My Money’ is one of the most ludicrous tunes I’ve heard in a while, an example of pure wobble madness done right - well I can’t stop grinning to it anyway. Here's a link so that you can check out the mix for yourselves...
Download Here (Right Click Save As) Raffertie – Wobble Horror
Cardopusher – Steppin’ Worldwide
The Qemists feat. Wiley – Dem Na Like Me (Subscape Dub)
AC Slater – Calm Down
Bombaman – Eye Spy
DJ Manaia – Pull Up
TC – Where’s My Money? (Jack Beats Remix)
NROTB – Take Me Up (Math Head Remix)
Rico Tubbs - Born to Bounce (Supra1 Remix)
Heavyfeet – We Gettin’ Crunk
Wittyboi – Ironman VIP
Edu K – Raver Lovin’ (Nadastrom Remix)
Mikix the Cat – Freeze
Star Eyes – Disappear (Mikix the Cat Remix)
Jackmaster – Bang It
Lil Silva – Seasons
Buraka Som Sistema – Sound of Kuduro (Drop The Lime Remix)
Blackfinger – UMF (Supra1 Remix)
DJ Class feat. Lil Jon – I'm the Ish
Knuckles – Headphones (Mikix The Cat Remix)
Guns n Bombs – Riddle of Steel (12th Planet Remix)
B. Rich – We Ball Harder
Drop The Lime – We are The Future
Baobinga – State of Ghetto Jackin feat. DJ Nasty (TRG's Brooklyn 2 Bucharest Remix)
Rico Tubbs – Respect (Demo)
Udachi – Jellyroll
Blackfinger – UMF (HeavyFeet Remix) |  | |
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| | Rob Smith (RSD) Interview | |
| By admin on2/6/2009 1:17 AM | |
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Over the course of the last thirty years, Bristol’s music scene has continually reinvented itself and the music which has found a home in the city. Reggae, punk, soul, hip hop, jungle and more recently dubstep have all been adopted by the locals, gradually evolving and mutating into new and exciting sounds. Throughout this time Rob Smith has been right at the centre of things: an embodiment of the ‘Bristol Sound’.
His vast discography serves as a timeline of the city’s musical history: a history which he has been instrumental in forging. Beginning as a guitarist in local roots reggae band Restriction, he later teamed up with Ray Mighty to form the now legendary production duo Smith & Mighty. Their early work on their Three Stripe label helped to lay the foundations for both the trip hop and jungle scenes which the city would become so famous for. After a period of chart success and major label involvement in the early nineties, Smith and Mighty returned to the underground as uncompromising as ever in their musical vision. Joined by Peter D Rose they continued to release groundbreaking music, this time on their More Rockers imprint. Rob Smith also went on to collaborate with local roots reggae producers Henry & Louis. This fruitful relationship culminated in 2001 with the release of the fantastic, yet criminally overlooked ‘Time Will Tell’ LP.
2009 sees Rob Smith (now RSD) fully immersed in the dubstep scene: a sound which has quickly found a natural home in Bristol. When talking to him it is immediately apparent that his passion for music remains undimmed; he can’t enthuse enough about dubstep and is truly thankful for the opportunities that it has presented him with. Given that he has never really been one for press or publicity, it was an absolute privilege to be able to interview him and discuss both his own career and the musical environment within which he has operated. A huge thank you to him for taking the time out of his hectic schedule to entertain my curiosities… Reggae and Dub have clearly had a huge influence on your sound. How did you first get into Reggae? In school, when I was about 11, there was a kind of common room for older kids to use at break and lunchtime. Most of the boys would play football in the playground but I wasn't really into it so I'd hang around in this room. Some of the girls brought in piles of 7" records to play on the portable record player. I was really intrigued that on the ‘a’ sides were songs and the ’b’ sides were strange kind of spacey instrumental versions of the ‘a’ sides. One time I got up the courage to ask one of the girls if she would go and buy me a record as I didn't know the names of any. She bought me 'Festival Wise' by U Roy; I played it until it wore out. You have a history of playing in local bands; has this involvement in live music affected the way that you approach production? The thing that I really wanted to do when I was younger was to be able to play around with a tune and have control over each separate musical element. I used to make band recordings on a Portastudio (4 track cassette recorder), mixing down the whole drum kit onto one track, bass guitar on the next, keyboard and guitar on the third, vocals on the forth and then patch in a space echo and a reverb unit and make dub mixes.
What equipment were you producing with during the early Smith & Mighty days and how does this compare to what you are using now? He he! The first sampler we had was a Yamaha kind of toy thing with a plastic mic on a coily wire; it had 3 seconds sampling time which we thought was fkn marvellous!! Eventually we went for a 24 track mixing desk, 16 track tape recorder, Cubase sequencer on Atari, S1000 sampler, 808, 909, SH101 etc… Now I make everything mainly within Ableton. One of the main advantages for me of a computer based studio (apart from space saving) is that you get total recall, which means you can work on many tunes without losing the previous tune’s set-up. I do miss that tape ‘sound’ sometimes though. The way in which Henry and Louis’ ‘Time Will Tell’ album was put together is very interesting, with Andy having taken the tracks over to Jamaica to record the vocals. How exactly did it all come together and what was it like to work on the project? Andy Scholes (Louis) came round one day and said, 'I'm going to Jamaica.. got any dubs?' I gave him a batch and a few weeks later he came back with all these vocal recordings of Willie Williams and Johnny Clark etc. I thought it was my birthday! He’d hooked up with the guys from UB40 in Kingston and they let him use their studio to record and mix the vocalists - then I did post production and dub mixes back in Bristol. 
Albums such as ‘Time Will Tell’, and earlier Carlton’s ‘Call Is Strong’ were of great importance to Bristol’s music scene but did not necessarily gain the widespread recognition which they deserved. In your opinion which tracks or albums have been the most important to the development of Bristol’s music scene? Well it’s hard to name specific tracks, but the sounds from people like Mark Stewart and The Pop Group were early statements of how pioneering this city could be. Stuff from groups like the Cortinas, Chaos UK, Maximum Joy, Black Roots, Wild Bunch, Fresh Four, Andy Shepherd, (Smith & Mighty), as well as lesser known bands like Mouth and Fish Food. These definitely make up some of the deeper foundations of the Bristol music scene, as well as more obviously; Massive (Blue Lines), Tricky etc, and later on, Henry & Louis, More Rockers, Krust, Die, Ronni, Flynn & Flora, Suv... Bringing it up to date though, it's like there are too many people to list... Pinch, Pev, Blim, Joker, Headhunter, Gemmy, etc, etc, etc! You have always seemed to shy away from unnecessary publicity, is this something that you feel strongly about? I’ve never really been into that side of things; I just like making tunes. I think it's ok to choose what you want to do and what you don't want to do.
In the early 90’s you had some involvement with major labels; why didn’t things work out and what did you learn from the experience? Mainly, I think us (Smith & Mighty) and major labels didn't work out because of a lack of understanding about each other's aims and roles (ours and theirs). It was a dark time which almost led to me completely giving up music and I’m glad it's now history - although we were very happy with the Steppers Delight EP! I think there is something to be learned and gained from every experience - even the ones that seem bad at the time. Looking back are you pleased that you ended up following an independent route? Yeah I guess so. After 5 unproductive years with a major label it was quite a relief to get back to an independent status. Running a label is great but doing it properly does involve a lot of time and energy. Lately I’ve been really enjoying working with independent labels run by very cool people with vision!
 Much has been made of the importance of the Dug Out club to Bristol’s music scene. Which venues / places have been particularly important to you musically? Yeah the Dug Out was pretty good although to be honest everyone used to complain at the time, 'Uuuh Dug Out again!' It was open every night and was a bit like a youth club with a bar, a dj and a sticky carpet. More than that though it was where a lot of people met and exchanged ideas about music and bands etc. Other great places for me were Fosters/The Guildhall Tavern, The Bamboo Club, The Granary, The Western Star Domino Club, The Topcat Club, Green Rooms… mainly because these places had a healthy mix of people and sounds: kind of a mish mash of reggae, soul, funk, punk, arty guitar stuff and then later hip hop. You have strong links with Japan, both playing over there regularly and releasing on Japanese labels. How did this first come about and why do you think you have such a strong following over there? I first went there with Peter Rose as More Rockers in about 97. We went with Jah Shaka and played in Tokyo, Osaka and also went with Shaka when he played in Kyoto. I met Naoki E.Jima and his wife Miwako in Tokyo and we’ve been friends and worked together ever since. Naoki runs the excellent 'Disc Shop Zero' record store and also the 'Angel's Egg' record label. He has been totally nuts about Bristol music from time and knows everything there is to know about it, right up to the present day. I've been really fortunate to have made some great friends and contacts over there and have been able to go back once or twice a year to DJ and work with various labels. When did you first become aware of the emerging Dubstep scene? I was enjoying things like early Hyperdub and Horsepower and then people like Toasty, but it wasn't until I went to see Digital Mystikz play that I really 'got it'. After they played, Tayo introduced me to Mala who told me about Pinch! I’m assuming that it was something which immediately appealed to you, seeing as you have been producing very similar stuff for years? Yeah - to be honest I couldn't believe my luck! 
Why did you decide to use the RSD alias when producing Dubstep? DJ Flynn suggested it. He said, 'you ought to call yourself RS Dub!' How would you say the Dubstep scene in Bristol at the moment compares to the other sounds that you have been involved with? Musically speaking which has been the most exciting period for you? For me, Dubstep is maybe one of the most exciting things to happen musically - not just in Bristol, but in the UK and world wide. It's comparable to the excitement of the Jungle movement in the early 90's and it’s a bit like a musical ’conclusion’ in a similar way that Jungle was, but with a broader scope of styles, sounds and attitudes. It seems to be influenced in a kind of butterfly effect way by all the people who love it. Other periods that were exciting and important for me were the punk/reggae of the late 70's/early 80’s and the early rave/free party period. You have worked with or alongside many of Bristol’s best musicians; has there been anybody that has stood out to you as being particularly talented? Loads of people. It’s difficult to narrow it down but as for vocalists I'd have to mention Tammy Payne and Louise Decordova. Also a friend of mine who played piano on one of the albums that went out in Japan: Beni Williams… wicked!! Which producers are you feeling at the moment? Loads of people. In Bristol, I’m always loving Pinch, Pev, Appleblim, Joker, Gemmy, Hench and at the moment, Guido, Chasing Shadows, Phaeleh, Time… loads. Outside of Bristol, always Mala and at the moment Synkro, Monkey, DJG, Widdler, Sparrow… loads. I’ve also recently heard some really impressive bits by Wrexile, Kalbata, Fragile and O-kapi. If you could give new and up and coming artists one piece of advice what would it be?
One thing I would say is be honest with yourself. Are you passionate beyond the thought of making money? If not, then maybe do something else. What do you have planned for the future release wise? Will there be an RSD album? Anymore Smith and Mighty stuff? All things are possible.
What do you think you would be doing now if you’d never been involved with music? That's a really difficult thing to think about… postman maybe? |  | |
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| | EL-B Producer Masterclass | |
| By admin on1/29/2009 1:27 PM | |
| | This video was recorded for Computer Music back in 2007 as part of their 'Producer Masterclass' series and has just found its way onto the internet today. EL-B (Ghost / El-Tuff / Groove Chronicles) explains how he goes about producing a track and reveals a few tricks of the trade in the process. The video provides a great insight into how his tracks are put together and should be an interesting watch even if you don't produce music yourself. Enjoy... |  | |
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| | Trojan Records / THTC T-Shirts | |
| By admin on1/28/2009 6:56 PM | |
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We've just got these rather nice Trojan Sound System t-shirts in from the ethical folks over at THTC (The Hemp Trading Company). They are made from organic hemp and cotton and are screen printed using water based inks and a discharge screen printing process that ensures the tees are as environmentally friendly as possible. We've gone out of our way to make the price as friendly as possible too and are selling them for £18.90 each. We believe this to be the cheapest price around. We have now also got the 'Herb 'n' Warrior' design pictured below in stock as well.
Our stocks of some of our other t-shirts have taken a real battering recently, but we've just re-stocked as many of them as possible. If we were previously missing a size that you were after then it is well worth checking again now to see if we have it in stock. Unfortunately the limited Planet Mu tees have now completely sold out. If you have some t-shirts that you think we may be interested in stocking then please do get in touch.   
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| | Ruffnek Teachings | |
| By admin on1/27/2009 4:18 PM | |
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Bristol sees out January in fine style this weekend with two more nights of bass-heavy niceness. Teachings In Dub kicks things off on Friday by bringing the mighty Jah Shaka to town. Back at the Trinity Center following the success of their last event there, DJ Stryda and the Bristol Reggae Society have the honour of playing host to a man who is ever more selective about the dances which he plays. A night of mystic vibes and incredible music is guaranteed, but how deep he will dig into his pretty much endless collection of dubplates is anyone's guess. The Zulu Warrior will, as usual, be handling the night's proceedings on his own, running things from 10pm right through until 5am (also known as dubplate o'clock). This is truly one not to be missed. Scottish dubsters Mungo's Hi-Fi are in town the following night for some serious party action at The Croft. Their unique blend of digi-dancehall and dubstep fits perfectly with the Ruffnek ethos, guaranteeing as the tagline declares, plenty of 'Riddim & Bass To Wind Up Yuh Waist'. They will be supported by two stalwarts of the Bristol scene: the legendary Rob Smith (RSD) and DJ Pinch. In a move which is particularly fitting for the venue, Pinch will be playing a pre 2005 'lost dubs' set which is bound to evoke memories of the early Dubloadeds at The Croft. Further (and no less notable) support comes in the form of Atki2 and his increasingly impressive arsenal of laptop trickery.
All in all it's another great weekend to be a Bristolian. |  | |
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| | Planet Mu T-Shirts! | |
| By admin on1/16/2009 7:08 PM | |
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We've teamed up with the mighty Planet Mu to produce these limited edition collaboration t-shirts. They are available in white and slate grey and cost £15 each. The tees come in sizes S, M, L and XL. They are screen printed onto our blank Highrise tshirts so you can be sure that the quality is absolutely top notch.
It's a real honour to be involved with a label as prolific and diverse as Planet Mu. You only have to take a quick look at their forthcoming release schedule to see why they are so highly revered; it's a pretty impressive roster I think you'll agree. The label's open-mindedness and relentless passion for music is something that we definitely share with them and it is one of the reasons that it is so great to have them on board for these tees. A special big up to Gemmy as well for his recent signing to the label, this is going to be a very big year for him.
Imminent releases:
Remano Eszildn - R-Tracks (album)
Boxcutter - Arecibo Message (album)
Venetian Snares - Horsey Noises ep
Jamie Vex'd - In System Travel ep
Gemmy - Supligen ep
Tim Exile - Family Galaxy 12"
Tim Exile - Listening Tree (album)
Venetian Snares - Filth (album)
Shitmat - One Foot In The Rave (album)
Starkey - Creature/Miracles remix 12"
Distance - Skream/Goth Trad remixes 12"
Future releases:
Jega - Variance (album)
Ceephax (album)
Falty DL (12" & album)
Raffertie 12"
Pinch 12"
Ital Tek 12"
and many others |  | |
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| | Commix Interview | |
| By admin on1/9/2009 9:39 PM | |
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Of late, Drum and Bass has received a lot of criticism from those outside of the scene for becoming increasingly stale and inward looking. Whilst this may be true for a large percentage of the genre's output it does not tell the full story. There is still a small group of producers and labels keen to push the increasingly rigid boundaries which define the genre. Cambridge based production duo Commix are part of this group. 2007 saw them release their debut album 'Call To Mind' on Metalheadz, a particular honour given that it was the first album to be released on the label by an artist other than Goldie. The duo is now back in the spotlight once again, having just mixed the latest CD in the Fabriclive series. We caught up with them to discuss the Drum & Bass scene and their explorations into other genres of music. We also quizzed them about the Fabriclive mix and their approach to production and the music making process in general. One of the most striking things about the Fabriclive mix is how much space the tracks have in them; they are focused largely around the sub bass and carefully eq'd percussion. Was this a conscious decision?
We’ve always liked music with a lot of space in it, for us simple music is the way forward. To a certain extent we’ve always been into the simpler side of Drum & Bass. I guess over the last year or so the deeper end of Drum & Bass has been going more and more down the minimal route. For a long time though, especially 2003-2004, it was all about big soul samples and that kind of thing. Now it seems to be taking a lot of influence from the Detroit thing and the whole minimal thing and that’s something that we’re really in to. Certainly when we’re trying to put together DJ mixes that’s something we think about; we don’t like things to be too brash or full on. We like things that are a little bit slower, have a little bit more space in them and are a little bit deeper or more forward thinking.
In my opinion the mix has a very old school feel to it, with many tracks sounding like a new take on old ideas. Would you agree and if so was this a deliberate choice?
Yeah. We tried to put some tracks in there that pay homage to where we come from and what originally influenced us to make Drum & Bass, so I would say that was a definite theme. I’d like to also think that it’s quite forward thinking – like we were talking before about the more minimal sounding stuff. When it comes to that kind of music there’s a lot more room to experiment with the engineering and for more general experimentation with sounds. That’s one of the reasons we’re into Techno, because it’s very experimental. So I’d like to think it’s a bit of both really, we wanted to pay homage to the old school whilst bringing everything up to date at the same time.
You talk of wanting to be experimental; do you think that this is made harder given the length of time that Drum & Bass has been around for and how much has already been done?
I think that perhaps it is becoming more difficult, but I think that it's more to do with the landscape of music in general as it is now. When Drum & Bass first started becoming popular and getting all the press attention it got in the early 90’s, the landscape musically was very different to how it is now. In the charts you had people like Massive Attack and Bjork who were quite experimental and left of centre. If you look at things now though it’s all quite watered down and mediocre if you’re looking at music in a wider sense. I think from that perspective it’s becoming slightly more difficult to be experimental within Drum & Bass as well. At the same time, there’s a little group of producers, like ourselves, D Bridge, Marcus Intalex and Calibre that are kind of sticking to that early 90’s ethos of trying to push things forward a little bit, trying to experiment a little bit and do something that’s more valid as a work of art rather than just a seven minute DJ tool.
On ‘Call To Mind’ you experimented with other genres as well; is this something that you are continuing to do?
All the time. The more we make music, the more we want to break the boundaries of being genre specific. We’ve never gone into the studio as Drum & Bass producers, just like we’ve never gone into the studio as House producers or Hip Hop producers. When we get into the studio, depending on how we feel or what we’ve got in our sample banks, we just make music. One of our big things for this year is to try and break down those boundaries even more. Hopefully our next album will be even more like that; it won’t be so directed towards Drum & Bass or anything really. Music to us is just music and hopefully we’ve got enough of a signature sound to be able to play across any format.
Which other genres do you listen to and draw influence from?
House and Techno as we spoke about earlier; the more tech house side of House and Techno I’d say. Also a lot of instrumental Hip Hop, we really like a lot of the Warp stuff . A recent example would be the stuff that Flying Lotus is doing at the moment, Harmonic 313 as well. It’s very hard to pinpoint our influences as it were; it’s a pretty broad spectrum of stuff.
Am I right in thinking that there are some remixes of your stuff floating around at the moment?
They’re on their way. We’ve got a big project called ‘Re-Call To Mind’ which is going to be a remix package taken from our first album ‘Call To Mind’. We’ve chosen some of our favourite artists across various genres to do remixes for us. Konrad Black’s doing one, Matthew Johnson, Burial’s done one, Mark Pritchard, Harmonic 313 is going to be doing one and there’s the possibility of Carl Craig…
We’ve always loved the remix idea; people taking a different angle on producers that are already out there and are already well known. We loved it when Jazzanova did their remix package. I think it’s been missing in Drum & Bass recently. The last thing I can really remember that was properly like that was when the Represent album came out. It’s much more interesting to see a completely different take on the music rather than just seeing what another Drum & Bass producer has done with it. For us, Drum & Bass seems to have pulled away from the grander scheme of dance music. You don’t get things like Skunk Anansie remixes by Optical and Bjork remixes by Photek anymore. We want to try and stretch what we do a bit more – make the electronic music world a bit closer to home, a bit more part of our family.
Do you have a set way of working when making music?
We try to be as diverse as possible, to keep ourselves as interested as we can. Sometimes we’ll go and borrow some old synthesisers and I might sit on them whilst Guy scoots around on the mixing desk. There are no specific working methods – we like that because it helps to keep our music more varied and interesting.
You mentioned borrowing synthesisers, what equipment do you use to make music?
We’re pretty much software based as far as the arranging and processing of things goes. We were using Reason for a long time. We’ve recently got a copy of Logic that we’re hoping to delve into more and more this year, but our album was put together entirely within Reason. We’re very sample based artists, be it a sample that we’ve taken from a record or like we said, borrowing synths off of other people and just pummelling the shit out of them for a few days and seeing what we get out of it. The sound sources that we use are all over the place really.
The more time goes by, the less we’re borrowing from old music and other people’s records and trying to forge our own, completely original sound. It’s an ongoing process though that takes a long, long time to get right. We’ve got various synthesisers in our studio that we’re constantly trying to learn and master. It’s quite a shortcut to just get old electronic music and sample synthesisers from it and rehash them into something else – that’s becoming less and less of a challenge for us. For us it’s more about forging our own sounds and working our own synthesisers into stuff. In that way, if you get the combination right, you’re going to get something completely unique. An example of that would be someone like Matthew Johnson who is completely original with every track he writes – you could never reproduce his sound. Tracklisting for Fabriclive 44 - mixed by Commix: 01. Commix - Life We Live - Soul:R
02. Rufige Crew - Sometime Sad Day - Metalheadz
03. dBridge - Creatures Of Habit - Exit
04. Alix Perez - The Reckoning - Alix Perez
05. Data - The Causeway - Influence
06. Logistics - Murderation - Hospital Records
07. Commix - Justified - Metalheadz
08. SpectraSoul - Buried - 31 Records
09. Calibre - Can't Get Over You
10. Lynx & Alix Perez Ft. Kemo - Dangerous
11. Commix - Belleview [dBridge's Belle-reviewed Mix] - Metalheadz
12. SpectraSoul & Ben-E - Suppression - SpectraSoul
13. Calibre - In Denial - Soul:r
14. Commix - Bear Music - Hospital Records
15. OAK - Nu Sunrise - Brand Nu
16. Jonny L - Common Origin - XL
17. Breakage - Old School Ting - Breakage
18. Instra:mental - No Future - NonPlus+
19. Photek - Yendi - Virgin
20. Instra:mental - Photograph - Darkestral
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| | (Audio) Barry Steppa: Roots Time | |
| By admin on1/4/2009 7:45 PM | |
| If the festive period has left you feeling a bit worn out and in need of some serious relaxation then the mix below should be just the ticket - think of it as a belated Christmas gift. The mix was recorded by Bristol's inimitable Barry Steppa and is made up almost entirely of 70's roots reggae, although he has included a couple of tracks from the latest Dubkasm 12" as well. The records are played in the traditional style, with most of them being flipped over to air either the dub version or an alternate cut. It was a pleasure to sit down with Barry as he dug gem after gem out of his bag and I haven't been able to stop listening to the mix since. I really can't enthuse enough about this mix, so please take my advice and download it now, you won't regret it. Massive thanks to Mr Steppa for the music and the education, it's very much appreciated. Download Here (Right Click 'Save As') Tracklist: 1. Ijahman Levi - 'I'm A Levi'
2. The Jewels - 'Love And Livity'
3. 'Love And Livity' (Version)
4. Sylford Walker - 'Burn Babylon'
5. 'Burn Babylon' (Version)
6. Judy Mowatt - 'Black Woman'
7. Joy Tulloch - 'Black Beauty'
8. Cultural Roots - 'Drift Away From Evil'
9. The Revolutionaries - 'Drift Away' Dub Plate Mix
10. The Silvertones - 'Rejoice Jah Jah Children'
11. Jah Lion - 'Columbia Collie'
12. Twinkle Bros - 'Rasta P'on Top'
13. 'Rasta P'on Top' (Dub)
14. Desi Roots - 'Warning'
15. The Mighty Three - 'Rasta Business'
16. 'Rasta Dub Business'
17. Levi Roots - 'Respek/I-Spek'
18. Afrikan Simba - 'Touch I Heart'
19. I. Jahman - 'Jah Heavy Load'
20. Jahman's All-Stars - 'Straight To Blackwax Locks' |  | |
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