For the week ending 16/03/09

The 130bpm tempo and soca drum beats on '2 Far Gone' are further evidence of Kode9's continuing move towards the fertile new soil of (UK) Funky (house). However the word 'funky' is not helpful here, at least not as an adjective, and as for 'house', well there is a 4x4 kick drum in there somewhere ... underneath a lopsided snare pattern and a what sounds like a distorted Space Ape vocal sample. It really is a tough one to describe by comparision simply because, like much of his other music, it is so brilliantly unique. 'Black Sun' on the other hand undoubtedly sounds like the soundtrack to a psychotic episode: fidgety drum patterns support relentless synths that bend up/down/sideways to amazing but nauseating effect. I'll call this one paranoia-step, I think.
Kode9 - Black Sun / 2 Far Gone

Eyes and ears will probably be drawn to the Shackleton mix here but collaborator DJ Maxximus does the flip side more than enough justice with two great tunes. 'Israhell' particularly is worth your time, incorporating two key elements of dubstep in the big snare on the 3rd and that ol' wobble bass, but reducing the tempo to a lowly 120. Smart percussion fills the gaps nicely but more to the point this is probably my favourite use of the old wobble bass since Vex'd did 'Angels':
DJ Maxximus / Shackleton - Neo / Israhell / Neo [Shackleton remix]


And finally a brilliant 12" from the creative minds of Appleblim and Geoim. 'Shreds' on side A is a simply awesome: constantly evolving drum patterns splattered with all kinds of dub-inspired time delayed effects which eventually arrives at some simply stunning piano keys. Puts a smile on my face every single time. Side B on the other hand throws the dubstyled delay out the window and goes straight for punchy 2-step energy vibe:
Appleblim & Geoim - Shreds / Flame Tree

For the week ending 09/03/09

Martyn AND Surgeon remixes of Shed:
http://www.chemical-records.co.uk/sc/servlet/Info?Track=OSTGUT020

Dubstep from Kryptic Mind's on Loefah's brand new Swamp81 label:
http://www.chemical-records.co.uk/sc/servlet/Info?Track=SWAMP001

For the week ending 01/02/09

Mount Kimbie to start with this week. Something very Mogwai-esque about these tunes, particularly the title track:
MOUNT KIMBIE - Maybes

T++ and Peverelist remixing for Shed on this one. Peverelist predictably brings a relentless energy to the tune, while T++ gives it a soakdown in his characteristically dark, paranoid techno:
STP - The Fall (remixes)

And lastly some largely synthetic hip-hop grooves from Harmonic313, one half of the Global Communication duo who featured on Warp's Detroit-techno influenced 'Artificial Intelligence' mix tape from way back in 1994. The Detroit influence persists, and not just in the form of Cybotron and Drexciya inspired techno, but also in the form of late Detroit hip-hop legend J-Dilla. You can feel Dilla's presence from the first snarling bass synth, which makes for the almost eerie moment on track 8 when his vocal sample comes in and Phat Kat (another Detroit head) drops his name. All in all a carefully constructed homage to the last two decades of Detroit, but not the least bit derivative because of it.
HARMONIC 313 - When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence

For the week ending 11/01/09

I think just about everyone has shaken off their festive malaise and started releasing music again so here we go...

7even Recordings coming out of France continue to build up an impressively consistant catalogue with this one from F. Both sides are great but side 2 is the real killer, bringing almighty bass hits and echos (no pun intended) of Basic Channel, which drift through the track like some kind of German ghost:
F - The Untitled Dub

From dubstep-techno to... dub-techno, here's a really nice 12" from Intrusion. The second release on the Intrusion imprint (a sublabel of Echospace). One for the Rhythm & Sound heads:
INTRUSION - The Seduction Of Silence

Accompanying that last one from Intrusion and also released this week is the CD of the same name:
INTRUSION - The Seduction Of Silence CD

And lastly a really nice minimal house joint from Max Cooper. Harmonisch Serie is the one to check on this one:
COOPER, Max - Harmonisch Serie

Where's Amon Tobin?

Apart from releasing all kinds of free shit on his website (a live recording of the foley room album and a brilliant hendrix/velvet underground mashup amongst other things) Amon Tobin has been working on a project with Doubleclick called 'Two Fingers'.

The first release, What you know (feat. Sway), is out this week on Big Dada and has been humourously described by the press release as sounding like 'Blade Runner re-enacted in Tottenham'. On the flipside is an Emalkay remix which surely indicates the direction this project is set for is somewhere near Grime and Dubstep on the compass. A full length album, largely featuring Sway on the vocals, follows this first 12" and is set for a March release. This is the tracklist:

1.Straw Men feat. Sway
2. What You Know feat. Sway
3. Better Get That feat. Ms Jade
4. Two Fingers feat. Sway
5. That Girl feat. Sway
6. Keman Rhythm
7. Jewels and Gems feat. Sway
8. Bad Girl feat. Ce'Cile
9. High Life feat. Sway
10. Doing my Job feat. Ms Jade
11. Not Perfect feat. Sway
12. Math Rhythm

Apparently not included on the album, and arguably the best of the lot, is a track they did with Durrty Goodz on the vocal which can be found here. Nice to hear a big dubstep influence on that one, not sure if it's getting it's own release as it was featured on the latest Ninja Cuts CD almost a year ago now.

Kanye West - Love lockdown (Flying Lotus remix)

Along with his rumoured involvement with Kode9's next album this new FREE tune, a Kayne West remix, from Flying Lotus is another big indication he is taking some inspiration from the UK electronic music scene (or Burial at least)

It's free!

Unreleased Burial dubs

It's now mid-december so it looks like we are going the whole of 2008 without a Burial release, not counting the Thom Yorke remix of course (I preferred the modeselektor remix off that 12" if I'm honest). Anyway here are some unreleased dubs I found scattered around youtube to remind us what we're missing out on.

Firstly a few from last year's kode9 Untrue preview mix that still havn't seen the light: Feral witchchild, Stairwell and Speedball.

Next up is Commix - Be true (burial remix). This one is a remix of a dnb tune.

And finally my personal favourite, and apparently snipped from a Blackdown Rinse fm show broadcast in January True Love VIP.

Unreleased Mala dubs

My favourite, which featured on Skream's latest mix CD, is Mountain Dread March. Another one that has popped up recently is Stand against war. Towards the end of that last one you'll hear the beginning of another Mala tune called Unexpected, which has been on his myspace for a while now but still hasn't been put to plastic.

Also here are some previews of more unreleased Mala tunes that someone clipped from various radio shows.

The tune 'Miracles' on that last link was recently released on Mala's own imprint Deep Medi Musik: Miracles / New Life Baby Paris (Medi-10). Here is a sample of the other tune on there New Life Baby Paris

Mary Anne Hobbs' 'Bristol: Rise up special'

Several weeks ago Mary Anne Hobbs did an entire show dedicated to the Bristol Dubstep scene.

Here's a rapidshare link to the mix in question. Conveniently divided into sections according to artist.

And this is the tracklist:

• Hyetal - We Should Light A Fire

Pinch mix
1. Moving Ninja and Pinch - False Flag
2. Pinch - Attack Of The Giant Robot Spiders
3. Pinch - Motion Sickness - Tempa
4. Pinch - Teleportation (edit)
5. Pinch and Pavel Ambiont - Poison-Remedy

Joker mix
1. Rsd - Trample (Joker mix)
2. Joker - Untitled.Rsn
3. Joker - Digidesign
4. Joker - There She Go-s
5. Joker - Do It!!!
6. Joker and Ginz - Purple City (Pimp Style)

Gatekeeper mix
1. Gatekeeper - Slow Motion Dub
2. Gatekeeper - Event Horizon
3. Gatekeeper feat Grilza and Dread MC - Ignite
4. Gatekeeper - Which Way

Komonazmuk mix
• Music for Mary Anne - Exclusive tracks written especially for the show

Jakes mix
1. Jakes - Part Of Me Part Of You - Hench
2. Jakes - Forgotten - Hench
3. Jakes - Justice - ench
4. Jakes - Paper (VIP) - Hench
5. Jakes - The Mysteronz - Hench

Appleblim mix
1. Hector - Tension (Al Tourettes and Appleblim mix) - Phonica
2. Appleblim and Le Ruffiant - Ravenous
3. Sideshow feat Tikiman - If Alone (Komonazmuk and Appleblim mix) - Aus Music

Headhunter mix
1. Brendon Moller and The Spaceape - Strangers (Headhunter mix) - Deep Space Media
2. Aligning Minds - Way Back When
3. Headhunter and Djunya - El Presidente
4. F - Night Drive
5. Headhunter - In Motion - Tempa

Gemmy mix
1. Gemmy - Kodama
2. Gemmy - Johnny 5
3. Gemmy - Temptations
4. Gemmy - Shanti Riddim
5. Gemmy - Rusty Tin
6. Gemmy - Wata Dwn Sound

Peverelist mix
1. Hyetal - Pixel Rainbow Sequence (Peverelist mix)
2. Peverelist - Bluez
3. Peverelist - Clunk Click Every Trip

RSD mix
1. Henry and Louis - Rise Up (RSD mix / edit) - 2 Kings
2. RSD feat G-Rina - You To Know (Versatile mix)
3. RSD - Good Energy
4. RSD - Naked Mariocart

Wedge mix
1. Wedge and Aesoteric - If Symptoms Persist
2. Wedge - Bequest
3. Wedge and Rasha Shaheen - Backward Puzzle
4. Wedge And Aesoteric - Detachment From Reality

Forsaken mix
1. Forsaken feat Ben Blackmore - Sagrada
2. Forsaken feat Ben Blackmore - Cross The Border
3. Forsaken feat Ben Blackmore - Evening Star
4. Forsaken feat Ben Blackmore - Learn The Hard Way