Squarepusher interview from 1996

Particularly like the bit where he asks to do a soundcheck and gets completely shutdown. I imagine that doesn't happen too often nowadays.


The other two parts of this documentary are also on youtube:
Part 2 (Photek)
Part 3 (Source Direct)

How records are made.

Here is a short piece from BBC news about the process of pressing a record.

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

Interviews

I have been meaning to post some of these interviews for weeks and last week two more popped up (with Kode9 and 2562). Starting with the newest first:

Kode9 talking to Fact magazine about the constant evolution of his sound.

2562 mostly talking about his influences

RSD talking about his long term involvement with electronic music.

Theo Parrish running around Detroit capturing sounds and droppin some knowledge:

"Creating rap music because I never dug disco..."

I have been looking for the origin of the 'never dug disco' sample that Automator used for the legendary Bear witness since... well since I first heard that tune, which must be going on a decade! Amazingly the same verse also contains another sample Automator used to great effect on the track Holy Calamity two years later.

And here it is...

4-Ever Fresh - Urban Sound Surgeon

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

New Burial tunes

There's a Burial/Fly-Lo collab on Fly-Lo's myspace

And here are two more from last week's Benji B 1xtra show:

Pangea

Pangea

This guy is pretty much boshing out exactly the kind of shit I love at the moment: punchy but deep rolling 2-step patterns runnin ~140bpm. The You & I / Router 12" was in my imaginary (I never wrote it down) top five of 2008, and can be heard on his myspace along with another unreleased tune called Memories which is et for a March release.

If you can't wait till March then this is out Friday on Hot Flush recordings:
Bear Witness / Mosaix

For the week ending 22/02/09

Either I'm slacking or the last two weeks have been pretty dry. Only one for this week and it's another one from French label '7even recordings':

Likhan - Redlight / Quiet Riot

Not much to say except I think it's probably an early contender for 12" of the year.

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