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Chemist Mix For The Astral Plane

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April 3, 2014
Mixes
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chemist-uk2013’s end-of-year list busting Coyote Records compilation, aptly titled Coyote Kings, rung many a bell through its vivacious, immediate take on grime. Bringing in a mixture of new and old artists, the south London label’s collection featured the likes of recent Astral Plane mixer OH91, old school Skepta running-mate P Jam and relative unknowns (at the time) Spare and Jon DeVille. In hindsight, Coyote Kings was something of a seminal listen for this particular listener, proving in bombastic fashion that contemporary grime can both shmang on a soundsystem level and offer forward-thinking melodic content. Of the Coyote stable of artists, no one epitomizes that coalition better than Chemist.

Like many of his contemporaries, Chemist doesn’t actually have an “official” release to his name yet, but that hasn’t stopped him from garnering plaudits from some of grime’s more esteemed outlets. The UK producer’s “Hoodrat” (his contribution to Coyote Kings) has been utilized as a focal point in many a DJ set, its drastic mutations between feather-pillow loftiness and slamming, percussive weight captivating casual listeners and DJs alike. Chemist’s productions are angular, hawkish and immersive, often fluctuating between aggressive detonations and string-led melodies that are equal parts affecting and chilling. Chemist sits perfectly in the grime continuum, he often draws samples from video games like Metal Gear Solid, but his output also retains a certain tenderness that belies his propinquity for percussive machinations. This Summer, Chemist will release his debut “Defiance” single on Coyote Records, his first “official” record, albeit one that has already made its way into the Rinse rotation. Chemist’s Astral Plane mix brings the sort of gun finger waving attitude that we’ve come to expect from Coyote artists and we couldn’t be more excited to indulge in its madness. New and unreleased tunes from Rabit, Dark0 and Kakarot shine, while “Defiance” comes towards the end and rounds the mix off with aplomb. Enjoy. Track list after the jump.

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Niagara Mix For The Astral Plane (w/ Interview)

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March 25, 2014
Mixes
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niagara

 A lot of ink has been spilled on Lisbon, Portugal’s Principe imprint over the past several months, but few commentators have focused on the breadth and quality control that the label has achieved in just five original releases. DJ Marfox and DJ Nigga Fox have (somewhat fairly) garnered much of the plaudits from the press, largely because of their wildly creative synthesis of Lusophone-derived production methods, but each of Principe’s releases has shone a different light on Lisbon’s prismatic dance scene. As far as redefinition goes, Principe’s star act is Niagara, the trio made up of brothers António and Alberto Arruda, and Sara Eckerson. Working almost exclusively in the range of house and techno, the trio might lack the polyrhythmic capabilities of some of their label-mates, but they more than make up for it with melodic innovation and a keen sense of the grittier ends of texture. The most obvious contemporary comparison is Actress, but Niagara’s dubby, wind-drag take on house has a sunnier disposition than the London don’s brightest productions. 2013’s Ouro Oeste, the trio’s hardware-driven debut EP, is a six track rough hewn expose on chintzy snares, thick acid basslines and gritty, punchy kick drums. It’s easy to get lost in the fine-tuned analogue basis of the EP, but the sparkling, deceptively complex melodies are what really drive Ouro Oeste.

It’s not that Niagara are re-defining house music as a whole, but like their contemporaries MGUN and Actress, they strive to re-orient the form should be consumed. It can be both glamourous and uncompromising, dusty and sonorous. The following mix features 12 original Niagara compositions that make up 45 minutes of infectious, distractedly lo-fi fun. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t completely obsessed with it and Niagara’s focus on the minutiae of mixing cannot be ignored. I was also lucky enough to share a short email interaction with the group so stream/grab the mix below and hit the jump for the full interview and track list.

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Lotic Disassembles Club Music In Damsel In Distress Mix

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March 24, 2014
Mixes
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This post is late for promotional purposes, but now that I have some time on my hands, I can’t pass up posting it. In anticipation of last week’s massive Nadus, Jam City and Venus X bill at Berlin club night Janus, resident DJ Lotic put together the “Damsel In Distress” mix, a selection that both breaks down and builds up modern club music. An eclectic track list features oddly familiar song titles like “Hummingbird feat. MikeQ, Bobby Johnson, and Miss Modular” and “KIDDIKUGKIDDIKIGKIDDIKIDDI”, but there are only a few bits of recognition in this mix, mostly in the form of ballroom crashes and occasional snippets of recognizable vocal work (with the exception of an extended Beyonce rendition). The mix is full of pauses, brief and not so brief silences and bleating effects. There’s no discernible “flow” here per se, but that works in Lotic’s favor as he misles the listener into a supine state where the macro effect of the piece is more important than its constituent parts. Stream “Damsel In Distress” below and download it here.

Iglooghost Mix For The Astral Plane

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March 19, 2014
Mixes
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iglooghost

In the general sphere of “beat” music, the instrumental hip hop sound both directly and obliquely centered around Los Angeles’ Low End Theory club night, it’s an incredibly difficult task to differentiate oneself from the competition. While the club night has diversified and expanded (by leaps and bounds) since its inception in 2006, there’s a resounding sense that much of its original sonic make-up has become staid and predictable. With the exception of several recent projects, notably Teebs’ E S T A R A, it’s rather difficult to find producers invested in pushing the boundaries of experimental music. Which is exactly where the United Kingdom-based Iglooghost enters the picture. Encompassing both the direct and oblique connections to Low End Theory, the teenage producer is presently working on an LP with Hellfyre Club member-cum-laude Milo, the obvious connection. Iglooghost also represents an ever-growing camp of international producers adapting, expanding upon and sometimes aping the sounds of Los Angeles.

In January, Error Broadcast released Iglooghost’s first official EP, Treetunnels, an effort that saw him adding R&B flavor and vocals to his jazz-inflected productions. With productions under his belt for the aforementioned Milo and Kool A.D., he has also made strides into the hip hop world, resulting in collaborations that belie the oceanic distance between rapper and beatsmith. Outside of his work with rappers, he brings an expansive take on hip hop to the table, showcasing an impressive comprehension of sound design and composition. Iglooghost’s Astral Plane mix features a mature sound that starts with drum and bass and quickly dissolves into immersive ambient space. We first listened to the mix after a weekend at Death Valley and were quickly enveloped in a semi-coherent haze by 32 minutes of richly melodic, deeply rewarding beat work. The track list might not be immediately familiar, but rinse yourself in the mix and it will take you away.

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DJ Marfox Just Jam Mix

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March 12, 2014
Mixes, New Music
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If you haven’t read Ryan Keeling’s long-form essay on Principe Records and the fascinating Lisbon scene it has helped foster, then you need to do yourself a solid and get up on it now. The names DJ Marfox, DJ Nigga Fox, Niagara and others have been circulating for a few years now, but it appears that the sound of Lisbon’s lusophone club scene is finally garnering the ears is deserves. Involving various aspects of kuduro, funaná, batida, tarraxinha and other genres, Lisbon-based Principe Records has gathered, pressed to vinyl and distributed the sounds of the city’s isolated outer-rim housing projects. Of course, the sounds of Lisbon have been percolating for years, but like many other minority, regional club scenes, the producers are often wary of outsiders. Regardless, the five releases Principe has pumped out to date have been wildly inventive, opening up a divide between the label and, well… just about anything else these days. For the uninitiated, Marfox recently made an appearance at the much talked about Just Jam party in London and you can check out 15 minutes of his set below.

OH91 Mix For The Astral Plane

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March 11, 2014
Mixes, New Music
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oh91

The best club music possesses a certain level of immediacy. There’s a lot of squishy rhetoric surrounding the “togetherness” and shared experience of club and drug culture, but it’s undeniable that a certain sensation is widely felt when the DJ plays that song. It’s not the hand-in-the screams of festival kids or slack jaw grins of pill heads, but a quiet, resounding sense of submission among the crowd at-large. It’s the sentiment I felt when OH91‘s remix of Kahn’s “Percy” first graced my ears. It wasn’t the shear physical force of the song, or it’s head-spinning structure that struck me, but the immediate bodily submission I felt. It’s not that the song is universally adored, it’s the immediacy that those that know will almost undoubtedly feel.

Luckily for OH91, many others besides myself feel similarly and his name has been on the tongue of many a grime enthusiast over the past few years. Bred in the rich Bristol scene, the man born Omari Champagnie has only a few releases to his name, but each one has proved his talents in a different realm of UK music. He’s released fluttering, funk-infused hip hop (on Subdepth), bouncy house/garage, and roughneck, apocalyptic grime (on Coyote Records). Along the way, he’s garnered acclaim from some prime names, getting a Spooky remix on the Coyote release and receiving support from the likes of Kahn & Neek, Royal-T and Elijah & Skilliam. The “Percy” remix put his name on many a tongue, but this young Bristol representative is going to be taking his rightful place among the aforementioned tastemakers before too long. With assistance from Tomas at Coyote Records, OH91 has graced us with our 22nd Astral Plane mix. A quick glance at the track list, might lead an undiscerning listener to conclude that the mix is just an amalgamation of huge grime cuts from the past year or two, but that would be overlooking the expertly placed edits and skillful sequencing. Rather than coming off heavy-handed, the mix is one the most mellifluous 45 minutes you’ll hear all week. An unreleased collaboration with Sir Spyro doesn’t hurt either.

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Bones & Money Mix For The Astral Plane

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March 4, 2014
Mixes
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BONES & MONEY ART

In a sense, Bones & Money‘s production acumen mirrors their beginnings as a DJ duo, an amalgam of innumerable dance music styles rolled up into a tightly wound ball. Hailing from Aberdeen, Scotland, otherwise known as the Granite City, DM Bones (Shaun) and O.T.O.H. (Calum) began producing as Bones & Money at the beginning of 2012, releasing a free single on Tuff Wax Records, the label they co-run with Lockah. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the duo take a less is more approach into their productions and curatorial work (Tuff Wax was founded “as a boutique label aiming to revive interest in high quality vinyl”), preferring to synthesize grime, footwork, R&B and garage into an angular, club-focused weapon that can be deployed with ease in a wide variety of sets.

From an aesthetic perspective, Bones & Money’s output recalls the more abrasive output of a Paul Johnson or Parris Mitchell in its less-is-more focus and ruthless efficiency. B&M certainly don’t make ghetto-house, but their roughneck ethos and compositional understanding certainly allow for similarities. For their Astral Plane mix, the Granite City dwellers funneled contemporary grime and classic Baltimore into 35 minutes of rapid-fire break beats and swelling sub-bass. The pacing is excellent and the mix demands several listens to pick up all of the expertly composed gems. Find the full track list after the jump.

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Jacques Gaspard Biberkopf Contributes To Truants’ Functions Of The Now Series

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February 25, 2014
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JGB-FOTN

Truants‘ Functions of the Now mix series has been one of the most pertinent touchstones for anyone curious in contemporary grime and its variegated mutations. Past editions — from Inkke, Murlo, Strict Face and Sudanim & Miss Modular — feature some of strongest young producers, many of whom reside outside of London, dipping their toes into the protean grime pool, adding their own personal skill to the sounds of London. Jacques Gaspard Biberkopf lives in Berlin and makes metallurgic tracks that function on the periphery of club music. Truants also spoke with Biberkopf about the construction of the club environment, Berlin and the human voice in a wonderfully illuminating environment. If you’re at all interested in how we relate to the body, then Biberkopf’s Functions of the Now contribution is a must have.

Download Exclusive Piri Piri Mix, Patterns EP Out Today

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February 24, 2014
Mixes, New Music, Remixes
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PIRI PIRI - PATTERNS EP artwork

For most, piri piri is a chili sauce with origins in Lusophone Africa, elevated into worldwide fame by the mouthwatering Nando’s franchise. For devotees of London’s club scene, Piri Piri has taken on a whole new meaning, primarily the nom de plume of a rising multi-national duo. Hailing respectively from Manchester and Spain, Piri Piri released their debut EP, Manifesto, on Sounds of Sumo back in 2012 and have steadily been gaining experience, production acumen and a fair amount of hype in the interim. Today marks the release of the Patterns EP on Silverback Recordings (Nguzunguzu, Grown Folk, Damu), the duo’s most high profile and most complete release to date. With remixes from Visionist, Neana, Jean Nipon and Matthias Zimmerman, Patterns touches on an innumerable amount of contemporary club criteria, infusing an adventurous experimental spirit into the standard club music platform.

Piri Piri’s ‘Patterns’ EP is out now on Silverback Recordings.

With a remix package this heavy, it’s always a possibility that an act’s original work can get bogged down by surrounding expectations. Not only do Piri Piri escape this fate, their original work is easily the highlight of the tape, allowing the remixers more room to flex their individual interpretations. “Peak” represents this in the fullest, a six minute four on the floor journey that manages, raises and alleviates tension with ease. It’s the sweaty, metallic form of dance music that’s a pre-requisite for warehouse parties replete with dank fog, squadrons of faceless patrons and a bevy of illicit substances. Set off by a rusty kick drum and a muffled male voice, “Peak” is an exercise in heartbeat accelerating music that combines ‘nuum history with a contemporary sound palette. While “Peak” hits all of the high notes as far as rawkus energy is concerned, “Quest” is near-comedown music, a beatific array of melodic synth tones fits for a Flying Lotus song. It’s only “near”-comedown music, because by the two minute mark, it explodes into a rattling, squeaking burner of a track. Meanwhile, “Ice Cream” sounds like the sui generis combination of Wu-Tang Clan and Model 500, an effortlessly aggressive track with a distinctly vintage flavor. It’s a drum machine workout hidden behind a call-and-response facade. It’s also near impossible to listen to without sub-consciously moving.

As noted above, the remix package is a massive entity in its own right and features some of our very favorite producers in its own right. That being said, Patterns is the Piri Piri show. It’s rare that such fully composed club music is produced by a relatively fresh act. It’s even rarer that said club music functions on a level above dance floor functionality. Patterns is the rare release that both mirrors a night out in its flow and performance and offers a transcendentally enjoyable experience beyond the dancefloor.

To celebrate the release of Patterns, Piri Piri graced us with an exclusive stream of the following promo mix. Full of jarring hip hop tunes from likes of Denzel Curry and Lil Ugly Mane, the mix helps explain some of the aesthetic decisions behind Patterns, but most of all, it’s just an outrageously fun listen. Pop it into your cassette player onto the way to the rave or play it for the friends you want to impress at the function. While Piri Piri’s first EP was titled Manifesto, Patterns and the following mix might just eclipse it as far as definitive statements go.


 

Chants Mix For The Astral Plane (w/ Interview)

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February 18, 2014
Interviews, Mixes, Uncategorizable
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CHANTS ARTChants gives me goosebumps.

Jordan Cohen, better known to the world as Chants, has been making everything from lullabies (“Way Awake“) to topshelf makeout (“I Feel Like I Feel It”) music out of sleepy Madison, WI for the last five years. After getting a few EPs and remixes under his belt, Jordan offered last November’s I Feel Like I Feel It through Seattle’s Hush Hush Records. The album defined his sound as warm and lovely and catchy and somehow perfect in any weather. Favoring drums and doing everything himself, Jordan didn’t leave anyone much choice, but to look at him and the music that he is creating. We were lucky enough to get Jordan to send us over a mix and answer a few questions about who he is/what he does/how he does what he does. Stream Chants’ Mix For The Astral Plane below and get to know the sweet man/find a tracklist after the jump.