Deadboy – Blaquewerk

Label: Numbers

Londoner Deadboy’s music career has always been a case of quality over quantity. With three solo releases to his name in as many years, the producer has nevertheless made a real name for himself off the back of two trailblazing early singles that showcased his unique voice, prefiguring the tropes of ‘bass music’ before it had even begun. Following these with 2011’s superb house anthem Wish U Were Here, an ability to effortlessly fuse powerful club chops with an authentic emotive drive has made every Deadboy release to date an essential release. Now he makes a welcome return, alongside Glasgow’s taste-making Numbers imprint, which apparently spent 2012 quietly gearing up for a bumper 2013 of festivals and high octane releases. 

As a producer who has always pushed his sound forward with every release, it’s no surprise that Blaquewerk feels so fresh, containing four very different tracks, each extending a strain of sound hinted at in Deadboy’s early releases. Because of this, some may find the variation of styles results in a bit of a mixed bag, but all four tunes are united by a confident voice and consistently high quality production, so there will definitely be someone here for everyone. Opener On Your Mind is a curveball even by Deadboy’s standards, where a jittery spread of stuttering tics and a sedate kick rolls along at 120bpm, accompanied by Deadboy’s own softened vocals. A strutting bassline rules the show here, occasional iridescent 80s synth bursts adding liberal colour to the sound. Second cut Geek’d Up has been floating around the web for a while, but familiarity does nothing to diminish the tune’s killer impact. It stands as a gloriously moody slab of nocturnal house, where minimal percussive twitches underlie dubbed-out synth stabs and a superb array of vocal cuts.

On the flipside Deadboy dwells more on atmospherics, with Black Reign conjuring an obvious predecessor with its gloomy take on metallic 2step and ghosted vocals. Still it’s the details here that count, the industrial ambient hum and vocal loops deep in the mix make it so much more than a me-too effort. Deadboy waits until final track Nova to give the listener a real surprise. Apparently harking back to his youth in South London, this closer ups the tempo with ragged breakbeats, a pounding sub-bass tattoo and genuinely spiritual vocals that make for a stunning finale. Anyone who has heard Heartbreaker will know how uniquely moving Deadboy’s dance constructions can be, and Nova continues the trend, evoking a meditative vibe rarely felt on the 'floor. While it may feel like only on the final track does Deadboy create something with the raw staying power of his early singles, Blaquewerk is still a very welcome return for one of the most impeccably consistent producers on the scene.

7.5/10

Read this review in context at Inverted Audio

Dawn Day Night – Dawn Day Night EP

Label: Astrophonica

Fusing the high-tempo genres of Juke and DnB might doesn’t seem like the wildest stretch of the imagination, but it’s still surprising how few producers have managed to get this one right. Aside from Dream Continuum’s EP from earlier this year, perhaps only one song has really stuck out in this niche genre-threshold; Fracture’s summer highlight Get Busy, which featured mysterious producer Dawn Day Night. Here the collaborator is setting out his own mission statement on his debut EP, and it proves for a frantic and intoxicating injection of dancefloor madness.

 

EP Clips

These four tracks run an impressive range, racing between genres while never sounding anything but part of a powerful, cohesive sound. Opener Alcoholic Dance Flow ricochets between DnB and Juke beat tropes, the Amen break battling for space with strong keys and a perfect vocal hook. Although there’s a lot going on here, it never sounds overloaded, retaining a balance that would surely churn up any dancefloor into a state of frenzy. The DnB break is traded for a Hip Hop equivalent as Dennis Coffey’s 1971 classic Scorpio is twisted into a manic footwork number on second cut Death of Scorpio.

Not one to rest on his laurels, the next genre Dawn Day Night targets is Ghetto Tech in the weighty Big Booty Girls, where serrated basslines duel for prominence with an impressive array of percussive tweaks and a perfect call-and-reply vocal. His talent for twisting existing genre tropes to this twisted new fusion is never less than superb, so it makes sense that it’s only on final track Voodoo Vibe, which again nods to big jungle beats that we’re perhaps left wanting more, having been spoiled by variety in the first three tunes. The slight dissatisfaction with the closer does nothing to diminish the breathless power of this unhinged debut, making this one an essential listen for anyone curious about the blurred borders between genres in our current music scene.

8.5/10

Indigo – Symbol #7

Label: Auxiliary

Although I've never followed the Drum & Bass world particularly closely, I’ve always felt inexorably drawn towards the music of Synkro, Indigo and the artists associated with Mindset Records, Indigo’s label. Known for stretching Autonomic beat patterns towards ambient and bass music territories, they’ve been attracting more than a little attention of late. There’s something intensely cinematic and atmospheric about the music of these producers; eschewing straight-edge DnB to create richer, more varied soundfields which never fail to create a unique ambience amidst the bristling beats.

 

EP Clips

Indigo, aka Liam Blackburn, has not put out a release to his name since a collaboration with Synkro with last year, and although he’s the lesser-known of the two producers, this new EP on Auxiliary should be set to cast the talented producer more firmly into the spotlight. Symbol #7 is an exquisite collection of tracks, oozing taste and atmosphere from every sound. Symbol #7.1 kicks off the A-side with deep, echoing drums contrasting with frenzied beats sped up almost to the level of static, before a huge synth sweep stutters an introduction to the core groove. Despite the frantic pace of the beats, running at an even 170BPM, the track glides rather than falters, with some deep ambient synths offsetting the twitching rhythms.

Symbol #7.3

Not only does Indigo pay attention to micro-edits and atmospherics, he goes on to prove himself a more-than capable sound designer in his own right. Two-minute interlude Symbol #7.2 closes the A-side, a superb combination of atmospherics and haunting vocal melodies drifting off into the dark amidst sporadic percussive touches. The producer goes one better with standout Symbol #7.3; an excellent combination of his melodic and percussive personalities that opens out with a plucked oriental melody which is allowed to play out, nakedly beautiful , over water effects for over a minute before the beats kick in. When they do, the combination is unexpectedly subtle, the plucked notes complimenting the subdued yet detailed percussive field to gorgeous effect. Indigo has a way with vocals and melodies which proves intensely emotive, a rare asset in his field, and all this goes without mentioning his masterly dextrous application of half-stepping Autonomic drum patterns, beats that shift ceaselessly and create soundfields at times unstable with nervous energy while at other points surprisingly calming in their fluidity.

As if this all wasn’t enough already, with closer Symbol #7.4 Indigo goes in a new direction entirely. Clearly the darkest cut of the pack, the finale runs heavy on the dread, a muffled 4/4 acting as the only anchor for the majority of the track in a deep field of ominous pitched-down vocals and rain effects. Expertly applied textures dominate the moody second half, rounding off a powerful closer that shows how skilled a producer Indigo is even without his spectacular beatscience. It’s been a long wait for a proper solo statement from Indigo but Symbol #7 is unerringly superb; ambitiously dramatic and intensely atmospheric, it’ll have you eager to hear just what this talented producer can do next.

9/10

Akkord – Akkord001

Label: Akkord

Everything about this release is steeped in mystery; the label, the anonymous Manchester-based group that made it, and the curious sounds themselves, but this tight collection of darkly atmospheric jams more than speaks for itself without much need for contextualisation. For anyone interested in sourcing the group, links to the likes of Synkro and Indigo seem apt; precise and percussive tunes that evoke a spellbinding mood situated somewhere between slow-mo DnB, ambient and the more spacious and cerebral end of early 2000s Dubstep.

These tunes are finely woven webs of moody ambient synthwork, evocative vocal samples and spine-tingling beats, and are marked by a fine craftsmanship throughout. Opening track The Drums is a strong mission statement for the sound, building to a powerful mixture of meditative samples and satisfyingly punchy beats, penetrated by a stuttering bassline deep in the low end. It’s all pulled off with a rare force that really hits home, and the dreamy vocals combine with the darker instrumentation to achieve an effect that borders on the spiritual. Second cut Back & Forth is just as strong, with a rumbling low-end that references Objekt’s Cactus but so much more restrained, with carefully applied clicks and beats conjuring a vast sense of space. This would all make for a fine track but just over the halfway-point a stuttering vocal sample takes centre-stage with a deep reverberating bassline, creating a stunning and surprising crescendo that makes the track a real treat from start to finish.

Akkord keep up the high quality in final track Renewal, a more restless number that lays a bed of tightly woven synths to anchor attention-grabbing percussive snaps until it settles into a tense groove that references the dark Electro of Instra:mental if their work were moved from claustrophobic corridors to a vast, echoing chamber. As the sounds fade midway a deep bass wobble keeps the tension mounting through a long ambient breakdown, and tight layers are added and removed to keep the tune interesting right up until the end. It’s busier and almost serves as a culmination of the ideas presented across these three brilliant tracks, proving how a keen sense of space and timing can make all the difference between a good release and a great one.

8.5/10

Dance and Electronic Roundup September – The Past

I’ve been away and moving to Paris so I’ve been neglecting the blog recently, but there have been all sorts of fantastic tunes coming out over summer and I’ve put together my highlights for all you guys here in a handy little playlist. It’s so big that I thought it’d be better in two parts; these are the best tunes I've been hearing from earlier in the year.

Download the whole playlist in mp3 format here.



Julio Bashmore – Battle For Middle You

Bashmore seems to be always on-point, whether in his remixes, co-productions or solo work, and his Everybody Needs A Theme Tune EP earlier this year proved he’s a force to be reckoned with. This is the standout of the EP, with a slow-build beat and wobbling synth giving way to a shady, bassy groove. I challenge anyone not to love it.

Hackman – Close

Now we’re going back in time somewhat to some tracks I never got a chance to mention on here. First up is undoubtedly a frontrunner in my favourite tracks of the year, Hackman’s tropical take on dubstep gives way to a deep groove and a genuinely heart-wrenching vocal sample. A track that is well-crafted and guaranteed to get people dancing, all while having a sincere emotional effect on the listener is a rare and wonderful thing.

Blawan – Getting Me Down

I know this is a very late nod to such a wonderful track, and Blawan’s new release should really be the focus of attention, but I couldn’t let the year pass without sharing this with whoever hasn’t yet heard it. A simple and rich beat is fused with some of the straight-up best vocal sampling I’ve ever heard, chopped and screwed whilst holding onto one of the best hooks of the year. You’ll find yourself attempting to sing this long after it’s over.

Sully – 2 Hearts

Although not released as a single, the second cut from Sully’s new Carrier LP easily deserves a 12” to itself. Sully continues where he left off on his last single The Loot, mining the darkest corners of 2-step with creeping synths, garage sounds and a frightened sampled scream that will stay in your head long after the track is over.

Koreless – MTI

Heading back to lighter pastures with one of my favourite discoveries of the summer, Glasgow’s young bass master Koreless. The subtlety and attention to his details in his tracks makes almost every one a winner for me, and it was hard to choose this B-side over the great single 4D that the 12” comes with, but this is the winner for me. A hiss-laden ambient wash introduces the track over a beautiful sample and ubiquitous bassy bleeps. Koreless shows himself a master of the micro-edit in how the vocal sample is laced through the track, bringing his trademark smoothness to the potentially rough business of cutting up vocals so fine.

Juk Juk – Winter Turn Spring

This newcomer on Four Tet’s Text label came out of nowhere to produce one of the best tracks this August. Backmasked vocals cast a ghostly shadow over the clean and punchy beat, the softness of which is later undermined by a dark dubby snarl. All the layers comes together to create a track that is subtly and beautifully edited as well as sounding genuinely unique.

Omar S – Solely Supported

The first track from Omar S’ great recent LP, this is also one of the best. Throwback sounds are put back together in new ways, creating a simple but great track that’ll carve a sinuous groove to your ears.

Prison Garde – L’Automne

Canada is just on fire at the moment. Prison Garde gave away a free LP, Systeme Hermes, that I didn’t have time to review over the summer, but for anyone who hasn’t heard it this track should persuade you. His focus on simple and clean retro synths, married to sliding percussion and a keen sense of timing and restraint works impressively on this track, presumably instincts born from so many years at the front of Canada’s club scene.

Willy Joy – A Woman Like Me (Dillon Francis Remix)

A classic slice of the odd subgenre moombahton that’s been emerging for some time, this is a straight-up slice of dancefloor fodder, combining a crazy-forceful beat with a clean vocal sample and a really nice groove.

Lukid – Dragon Stout

(This track isn't on youtube, but the mp3 is included on the playlist downloadable above)

This is definitely where things get a little strange. Lukid’s woozy output is enough to make anyone outside the constrains of sobriety a little seasick at the least, and on his most recent Spitting Bile EP he continues to make some of the weirdest dance music out there with flare. Discordant digital synths crunch together into a stuttering beat accompanied by a rich soundfield of really bizarre sounds. This track may not be for everyone, but I’m loving it and you definitely can’t say there’s anything else out there like this.

Jam City – Barely A Trak

Although no recent Night Slugs activity means I don’t have anything new to share (I’m sure we’re all excited about L-Vis 1990s debut though, right), but I want to give a nod to Jam City’s bizarre and wonderful construction from the Waterworx EP. As the title states, there’s so little here that this is hardly a song, but its sparse components somehow manage to pull it off. The vocal line sounds suitably strange in a soundfield of loping beats and rising synthy oddness, before traffic and pedestrian noise engulfs the whole lot briefly. Has to be heard to be believed.

Jason Fine - Jack Yo Bodda (Feat AOS)

This track almost sounds like it came out ten years ago, but it’s yet further proof that our dance ancestors got it so right. A simple 4/4 underlies a great vocal sample and brilliantly woozy synthlines, creating a simple but punchy dance tune that could get anyone moving.

4UCKY – 1984 (I Want More)

I don’t really know anything about this guy, but I’ve definitely had this song on a lot over the summer. As the title indicates, it’s pure 80s throwback, with a driving beat and cheap bell sounds propelling sleazy vocals across the track. Then it all breaks down into a crunchy untreated synthline and, well, I just can’t really get enough.

Synkro & Indigo – Guidance

If that last track was moving away from dance genres, this track almost goes further. Drum and Bass is really not my thing, but Exit Records really put out a winner on this 12”. The cinematic and relaxed groove of liquid DnB can do things the straighter tracks can't achieve. Half-rooted in atmospheric ambient, a sharp beat skitters across the surface of this track and creates a dreamy, epic sound that goes down a treat. If you like this, the B-side Reflections is equally great.

Tycho – Hours

Last call here goes to my favourite ambient beatsmith on the scene, Tycho, who has a very exciting new album due out soon. Past is Prologue was the very definition of a grower, and the first track from his new album Dive sounds like exactly what the doctor ordered; more of the same unique sound, but a little pacier, a little more refined. Let it take you away.

Feature: Aphex Twin

Everyone knows that Aphex Twin is one of the godfathers of modern day electronic music, especially for his pioneering acid and ambient-inflected techno of the 90s. But how did he get to this pinnacle of respect and admiration? And with so many tracks and albums, where does the new Aphex Twin listener start? This feature will answer these questions and explore the musical journey that Richard D. James has taken over 20 years through some of his classic tracks.

James was born in 1971 and spent a great deal of time listening to the acid and ambient scenes that were exploding in the 80s, and their application to techno in the latter half of the decade. He took the name Aphex Twin as a dual reference, the 'Aphex' name derived from Aphex Systems Limited, a brand of audio processing equipment that itself took its name from 'analogue effects'. The origin of 'Twin' is far more interesting. James in fact had an older brother, also named Richard James, who died as a child before Richard D. was born (his grave can be seen on the cover of the Boy/Girl Song EP) and James took the 'Twin' moniker in reference to his being the single remainder of these two brothers. Taking this name, he released his first 12-inch EP Analogue Bubblebath in 1991 after spending his childhood tinkering with audio equipment and DJing at raves in Cornwall.

Analogue Bubblebath - 1991

In this title track many of the traits he would later become known for are already present: squelching synths, a hard, rushing drum beat and a superhuman knack for musical precision; techno layers emerge and recede in perfectly spaced intervals in this spacey, propulsive track. However here we also hear a softer edge, the lo-fi wash that thrums quietly in the background from around the 1 minute mark shows a lush, analogue quality that was lost until much later in his career.

After changing his recording name to AFX (one of many names he records under whilst tending towards the Aphex Twin staple), James went on to release the track that first brought him recognition, the single Digeridoo, first released on the Analogue Bubblebath 2 EP on his newly established label Rephlex records that he set up with a DJ friend, Grant Wilson-Claridge with the aim of promoting “innovation in the dynamics of Acid – a much loved and misunderstood genre of house music”.

Digeridoo - 1991

Here James first took on the cold acid precision mixed with a techno aesthetic that would become his musical trademark. Quite literally an electronic digeridoo sound, he recorded it at first to tire out the audiences in his DJ sets. The brutally paced synths were dancefloor gold and the ever-increasing force of the track made it interesting enough to get onto newly-legal radio station Kiss FM's rotation and got him quickly signed with R&S Records. He released the EP Xylem Tube with alarming rapidity shortly thereafter.

The climate for 'intelligent' techno was warming in the early 90s, leading to the genre title IDM – Intelligent Dance Music – that the artists it was applied to rejected, James himself stating “It's basically saying 'this is intelligent and everything else is stupid.' It's really nasty to everyone else's music.” The Orb had proven the commercial viability of ambient house music and with their chart-topping Blue Room, and in 1992 James released his first full-length album Selected Ambient Works 85-92 to massive critical acclaim, described by Allmusic as a “watershed of ambient music” and Pitchfork as “among the most interesting music ever created with a keyboard and a computer.” The album showed a heavier ambient leaning than his previous works as a collection of home material he had recorded during the past few years. If the timespan of the album title is to be believed, James created some of these tracks from as young as 14.

Heliosphan - 1992

In one of the many highlights of this landmark album, James showcases more fully formed and carefully constructed songwriting than ever before, with several layers of quick-fire percussion laying down a seamless beat for oceanic ambient sweeps and a distant but addictive recurring synth-line. Many of these tracks are ambient techno classics from the ethereal electronic fuzz of opener Xtal to darkly churning and atmospheric Hedphelym, the album is astoundingly consistent in its innovation and brilliance.

As his reputation grew, James was commissioned to remix artists such as St. Etienne, The Cure, Curve and many others; producing almost unrecognisable reworkings of the originals. In early 1993, James signed to Warp Records, the influential label trying to chart the future of electronic music with stablemates such as Autechre and FUSE. After the release of Analogue Bubblebath 3 in 1993 which rejected any ambient influence with bracing beats and hard acid-styles, James toured America with Moby and Orbital, continuing to play more of his headbanging fare. However following this, James did a complete 180 and released his second full-length, Selected Ambient Works II in 1994. These tracks, said to be inspired by lucid dreams and synaethesia, almost completely remove the beats and melodies of his previous work and lay bare unsettling ambient soundscapes.

Rhubarb - 1994

In this slow and majestic track, vast landscapes unfold from the loops of off-kilter ambient synths which throb with sorrow and life. This album was James' mellowest release so far, and in a characteristic move he didn't stay with the sound longer than this one release. Interestingly the track was looped for many months during BBC's digital widescreen test transmission screen as it was introduced across the UK in 1998, so it would've been on show for anyone tuning in for many months.

1995 kicked off with James' compilation release of Classics, including material of the Digeridoo and Xylem Tube EPs with a handful of other tracks. A harsher mix harked back to James' repetitive tracks with acid house sensibilities, analogue synths and punchy drum machines. Later in the same year he released his third full-length, ...I Care Because You Do, the last of his 90s material to be produced with analogue synthesisers, and also the first to utilise the motif of James' own face in his album covers and music videos.

Ventolin - 1995

In this abrasive dedication to James' asthma inhaler a high-pitched ringing sound reigns, referencing the reported side effect of tinnitus that this particular asthma drug induced. This is pounded out of shape by crashing drums in perhaps James' most aggressive release.

Following this James adopted software synthesisers, again ahead of the curve in adopting computers to make his music before the mainstream had even conceived of it. With his new equipment he produced the uncompromising Hangable Auto Bulb EP and later in 1996 his next album, Richard D. James Album.

4 - 1996

In the opener James elegantly fuses jolting beats with sweeping melodic fragments and synth-lines to craft one of his most masterly pieces. Elsewhere on the album James showed more range than previously noted, from the nostalgic fuzz of Fingerbib through the creepingly brilliant sampling of To Cure a Weakling Child and the combination of pastoral plucked strings and rushing DnB beats in Girl/Boy Song.

His next releases were aimed towards his skewed notions of becoming a chart-topper, an ironic twist on his heavy DnB beats were seen when he released the Come to Daddy EP, accompanied by a video produced by Chris Cunningham.

Come To Daddy - 1997 

All of his trademarks can once again be heard in the harsh stuttering beats and metallic time-stretched vocals. The jungle-inflected track's horror is almost so over the top that it loses its power (especially the children's song just after the 3 minute mark), but Cunningham's genuinely creepy video cemented this as James' highest charting hit and one of his best-known tracks to date.

Flim - 1997

Short and sweet techno-pop cut Flim was also included in the album, a floating synth tune that reins in the heavy horror and ended up as one of James' airiest and freest tracks, as well as one of my personal favourites. Placing these two tracks on the same EP hinted at the extremes of aesthetic to be seen more clearly in his most recent album proper, drukqs. However before he got there James also released his other MTV success Windowlicker with its own EP in 1999, another acid storm of DnB with a similarly creepy video, this time transposing James' face onto female models instead of children.

Vordhosbn - 2001

In 2001 the sudden release of drukqs showed an album that was a mixture of abrasive drumkit exercises such as the masterly and storming Vordhosbn that contrasted with tracks like mellow oriental opener Jynweythek (many of the tracks on the album are written in the Cornish language, for example 'jynweythek' translates as 'machinemusic').

Avril 14^th - 2001

Most surprising of all were the carefully programmed computer-made piano instrumentals such as Avril 14^th and closer Nanou2. Critics didn't take particularly well to the release, calling it a contract breaker with Warp (which holds some weight, his next major release was on his own Rephlex label), with some magazines such as Rolling Stone calling the piano pieces in particular “aimlessly pretty”, but you can judge for yourself- I see the tracks as aiming further to a deeply-felt mourning, complicated by the electronic shadow of their computer-creation. You can hear the fingers rising from the keys, before you realise there are no fingers at all in these John Cage-inspired prepared piano pieces.

Since this release all was quiet on James' front for a while, until in 2004 the rumours of a return to an acid-techno sound were realised with the Analord series (once more partly under the AFX name), 11 EPs of a few tracks each that return to using analogue equipment and a meticulous pressing technique for the vinyls.

Fenix Funk 5 - 2006

A selection of these tracks was compiled and released on Chosen Lords in 2006, and opener Fenix Funk 5 showcases both a return to acid-squelches over the beats but incorporates James' more melodic bent with chaotic syths that work fluidly to create an enthralling whole, showing that James is still going strong. Throughout this period James released nothing else, but still frequently DJed at festivals and club sets.

Since these releases there have been many rumours of new albums, with James stating in a 2010 interview that he had 6 completed albums ready to be released, but apart from a rumour that he is recording as The Tuss on the Rephlex label (for which there is rather compelling evidence), we will have to be satisfied with odd tracks for now until James deigns to return and show us how its done all over again.

In a career spanning 20 years, Richard D James has again and again shown himself to be a superb innovator, championing many styles and creating some that are uniquely his own. His music isn't the easiest to get into, but it is rarely less than thrilling, and hopefully this article has proved interesting or offered a way in for those looking to follow the progression of one of electro's biggest stars.