Bass
Ikonika shares track via Adult Swim, ‘Resurrection Machine’: Listen
Adult Swim Singles have teamed up with Hyperdub affiliate Ikonika for its 44th label release, 'Resurrection Machine'.
A typically fierce club cut to the core, the bass-laden and ominous 'Resurrection Machine' is the DJ/Producer's first release since 'Into U' on Bok Bok and L-Vis 1990's Night Slugs earlier this year.
On Cue: Plaid
The emotional blend of many elements is something Plaid have refined over almost 30 years of recording together as a duo. They’ve moulded a characterful sound from meandering off-world melodies that bound off at unexpected tangents, and beats that skirt the edges of dance music but refuse to conform to stiff regulation. ‘Polymer’ finds Plaid in especially tuneful form, while maintaining the exploratory impulse that has made them one of the UK’s most celebrated leftfield electronic acts.
Though they might intend to make dancefloor-geared material, Plaid’s way of creating sounds instead leads them off on more colourful, non-linear paths, governed by interweaving harmonic ideas rather than gridded beat structures.
“We love dance music and it influences our work, but we find it difficult keeping things simple,” Turner says. “When we’re working on a few bars for hours, it feels natural to keep adding or altering to keep ourselves interested. We want the listener to go back to discover more.”
“The branch of techno we loved initially was the hopeful Detroit version, the Carl Craig, Derrick May, Juan Atkins stuff,” Ed Handley says. “A lot of their earlier output was very positive, it was sort of melancholic, but it was trying to find a better way. It was a response to alienation, trying to create something warm from the technology. I’ve always liked the meeting of the two, where you have this machine quantisation, but then you have these almost romantic harmonies.
Though Plaid appreciate the positive effects of technology — as well as noting its potentially harmful aspects — their feelings on the damage brought about by mass consumption and climate change are clear. Both are supporters of activists Extinction Rebellion, and hail the recent peaceful protests in London as a positive step.
Tracklist:
How the Moscow bass scene is tearing down the city's techno barriers
Dog Blood announce collectible action figures
Dog Blood have returned with a new EP. And to celebrate, Skrillex and Boys Noize are calling on fans to help them create collectible action figures.
Announced via Twitter, Skrillex is asking fans to submit their drawings of the duo. Whoever wins will have their illustration transformed into an official Dog Blood Collectible Figure.
The competition is run with Fan Forge and Good Smile Company, and comes with the release of the new Dog Blood EP, ‘Turn Off The Lights’.
Dog Blood drop new EP, ‘Turn Off the Lights’: Listen
Dog Blood have just dropped a new EP, 'Turn Off The Lights', their first release together in six years.
Bass titans Boys Noize and Skrillex, the latter who's also been releasing new solo remixes, have recruited guest collaborations for the four-tracker including Otira, X&G, and Josh Pan.
On Cue: Logos
Logos is, by his own admission, not the most prolific producer. The London-based artist, otherwise known as James Parker, still works a dayjob, and in the near-six years since the release of his groundbreaking debut album ‘Cold Mission’ has added the rather time-consuming endeavour of raising a kid to his list of non-musical pursuits. What his discography lacks in quantity, however, is made up tenfold in quality.
“I ended up working with a few synth patches I really liked, and I basically just rinsed them,” recalls Parker, mentioning the cohesive sound of the album ‘Tooth’ by Blackest Ever Black regulars Raime (who also released on Different Circles last year) as a point of reference. “‘Cold Mission’ was me trying a lot of things out, and then this one was me saying I actually just wanna focus in on one or two ideas, and then reiterate,” he adds.
Tracklist:
On Cue: Jubilee
When we decided to relaunch our flagship mix series, one artist remained at the top of our hit list to kick things off from the outset. With her eclectic style of bass-focused club music arguably having more of an impact than ever before on both European and US dancefloors, Jubilee perfectly epitomises everything On Cue is intended to represent.
“Miami is inside me no matter what I do”
Born in Miami, Jubilee — real name Jessica Gentile — relocated to New York in 2003. But there’s no doubt that the city she was born in still has a huge impact on her musical output, both as a DJ and producer.
Her style of playing is also something Gentile says came to her quite naturally as a young DJ. So what advice can she offer to young DJs trying to do the same? “My only advice to DJs doing the same is to know their songs very well,” she explains. “And to actually go out and dance and see what works. Taking risks is cool but mashing up a bunch of stuff together with no flow can really just kill everyone's groove. Everything needs to flow.”
“Theatre people and I aren't really the same. I fit in more with the ravers”
Through Miami’s previously vibrant jungle raves and her own digging in subsequent years, the UK scene is also something that had a huge impact on her as an artist. “[The UK influence] is in there,” she smiles “I got really into UK music when I was a young raver in high school listening to d&b. From there I learned about two-step, garage, and then grime and dubstep. Florida actually had a really decent jungle scene, and when I moved to New York, Breakbeat Science was still open. So I was heavily influenced by the UK when I started buying records.”
Fresh Kicks 98: High Class Filter
Since launching at the end of 2017, Reprezent Radio resident High Class Filter and Definite Party Material's Ian DPM’s Scuffed Recordings label has been going from strength to strength.
A core member of London’s mighty Reprezent Radio crew, the independent station has done much for growth as a DJ and producer, as well as linking him up with like-minded individuals who share his determination.
Premiere: Djoser ‘Wera’
The next V/A EP on Martyn’s 3024 will be released early next month.
Featuring four fresh cuts from Jacques Greene, NKC, Djoser and Martyn himself, the suitably riotous release follows breakthrough bass wizard Yak’s debut on the label in December 2018.
Premiering below, we’ve got Egyptian-born, Washington DC-based Djoser’s ‘Wera’. A percussive, low-key rattler that could subtly alter the mood of any dancefloor, it’s one of four gems in an increasingly essential series of V/A releases on the label.
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