Over the past two and a half years, we here at The Astral Plane have worked tirelessly to provide a carefully curated, diamond-precise selection of original content. That content has taken the form of interviews, reviews and a mix series that has nearly reached its 40th edition as well as a bevy of daily posts highlighting the most talented fringes of the club and hip hop worlds. Since the site was established in January 2012, our writing team has shrunk and so has our vision culminating in our current focus on the most deranged, exciting corners of the experimental dance music world. Baltimore, Newark, Lisbon, Bristol and Berlin are our meccas as we attempt to bring a conceptual framework to music that refuses to be classified. Our latest venture, Astral Plane Radio, is not a radio show in the traditional sense, but considering our role as a curator of original content with the internet as our outlet, it will function in a similar manner to your FM dial. Every month, our in-house DJ team will bring you a condensed version of our coverage, replete with exclusive originals, edits and club devices from the artists we look to for inspiration. Because the music we regularly cover doesn’t fit within any specific tempo, genre, or structure-based hierarchy, expect eclectic selections that refuse to fit into existing geographic, sonic, or intellectual strictures. Stream/download Astral Plane Radio 001 below and hit the jump for the full track list.

New Sabrina – “Clique Track”

By Gabe Meier

July 9, 2014

New Music

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Berlin is quickly becoming home to a cadre of wildly inventive producers combining the stringent hierarchy and supreme production ideals of techno with the roughshod experimentalism of grime, ballroom and Jersey club. Lotic, M.E.S.H. and Jacques Gaspard Biberkopf are the first to come to mind, but fellow Berliner She’s Drunk has also been churning out major tunes, many of which were highlighted in his “Materials” mix for DIS Mag. Recently, She’s Drunk joined up with Le Feu to form Sabrina, an exciting dancefloor duo that has found a home at (former Facebook group) Through My Speakers. “Clique Traque”, from Through My Speakers’ Nurned.01 compilation, is the first song to appear from the project and it does not disappoint, combining healthy wooden percussion with a demanding “fucking click track” vocal sample. The song can be downloaded sans fee here along with a track by Radar Bird.

JT The Goon Remixes Inkke’s “Paradise”

By Gabe Meier

July 9, 2014

New Music, Remixes

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Listening to a remix sans knowledge of the original is always a fascinating venture, inciting wild speculation and undeniably shaping ones eventual listening experience. JT The Goon‘s remix of Inkke‘s “Paradise” has had a perplexing effect after several listens, falling on the more beauteous, melancholic side of both JT and Inkke’s spectrum while featuring a vocal performance new to both producers’ work. Splintering kicks enter the picture when needed, but the track functions as a sort of grime singer-songwriter fair, churning several short vocal bits from Julia Juban into a wandering, cinematic piece of pop futurism. How Inkke’s original sounds is almost impossible to consider in light of JT’s brilliance, but the song, which will appear on his upcoming Crystal Children EP for Local Action, is readily anticipated.

New 6MAKA6 – “Clap Bakk (Clap For Me)”

By Gabe Meier

July 9, 2014

New Music

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Toronto by-way-of Montreal producer Steven Hill, aka 6MAKA6 (formerly Hesk), has plied his trade in the footwork-verse for several years now, representing the form in Canada and collaborating with the likes of Nadus and Paveun. 6MAKA6, Hill’s latest project, sees him delving into hyper-real drum trax by combining the visceral rawness of ghetto house with a hi-fi, crisp sound palette and slamming production quality. “Helium”, a reverb heavy track in the Jam CIty vein, set the tone for the project, but “Clap Bakk (Clap For Me)” is the mission statement, dispensing of pastiche to draft a wholly original document. Two deliberately chopped classic vocal samples, give the track texture and relative respite from the thumping kicks, while Boddika-esque arrangements drum machine arrangements delight. Whether you call it techno or something else entirely, it’s clear that Hill has tapped into something special with this alias. Head over to Insert to grab a free download of “Clap Bakk (Clap For Me)” and be sure to bookmark Sir 6MAKA6.

New Palmistry – “Protector SE5”

By Gabe Meier

July 8, 2014

New Music

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Back in 2012, Benjy Keating, aka Palmistry, released a collaborative full-length with Cantonese-language MC Vinh Ngan as Triad God. The album, titled NXB (“New Cross Boys”), was released on Hippos in Tanks and featured swimming, cinematic production that brought to mind both aquamarine ocean tones and molasses-drenched house production. These days, Keating is functioning as a solo entity and has taken the blueprint established on NXB and melded it with a melodramatic dancehall archetype. Keating brings a sensual touch to dancehall that goes against the form’s standard braggadocio, but involves a beyond complete audial/visual composition that belies his relatively recent entry into the solo singer/producer world. “Protector SE5”, presumably referencing the London post code, is Palmistry’s latest single for Mixpak and a brilliant follow-up to the still-in-rotation “Catch”. Pre-order “Protector SE5” here and watch the Keating and Daniel Swain directed “Catch” video here.

Why Be Mix For The Astral Plane

By Gabe Meier

July 8, 2014

Mixes

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If an observer were to theorize about the political context of Danish musician Why Be‘s output, the obvious answer would be dystopia. Alarm bells, gun shots and blood curdling screams are only occasionally interrupted by brilliant moments of calm, perhaps denoting a rapidly dissolving state or the supernal disposition of a natural disaster. Foreboding rap cuts echo out of the carcasses of motor vehicles as helicopters circle endlessly above, but while ensconced in the world shattering violence, Why Be’s world is pockmarked by moments of supreme beauty. The all-caps, un-Google-able world of Why Be is difficult to decipher, but like Janus resident M.E.S.H. and recent Astral Plane mixer Drippin, it’s a world that unnerves and disorients with deliberate abandon.

With only one semi-official release to his name, the collaborative fam EP in conjunction with E+E, Triad God and Godlink, and a sprawling collection of, at best confusingly tagged edits, remixes and mixes, Why Be has flown under the rainbow of the club music cognoscenti. Nonetheless, the Copenhagen-based producer’s tracks have ended up in a variety of high-profile mixes and each successive “chop”, “fix”, or “libsent martian attack” uploaded to his Soundcloud solidify his credentials as a bonafide contributor to the zeitgeist. If concrete-hewn, blood splattered dystopia isn’t your game, the brief moments of resplendent beauty in Why Be’s mix work offers catharsis. In his Astral Plane mix, it comes in the form of JT The Goon‘s “Twin Warriors”, albeit mediated through Rabit’s blipping remix, and Palmistry‘s foreboding, melancholic “Lil Gem”. The appearance of grace in a landscape of destruction doesn’t necessarily offer respite from the septic state of being, but it does mirror the paradoxical nature of modernity. At only 24 minutes, Why Be’s Astal Plane mix is brief, but you would be hard pressed to concoct a more accurate representation of destructive club music. Hit the jump for track list and be sure to hit up Why Be’s Youtube channel for a collection of songs, live recordings and other ephemeralia.

Rope Mix For The Astral Plane

By Gabe Meier

July 4, 2014

Mixes

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Bristol has generally been perceived as dubstep’s second city, a concrete-hewn outpost of everything rough, dark and ponderously weighty. Slightly outside of the influence of the capitol, Bristol legends Pinch, Peverelist, Joker, Appleblim and more have carried the mid-sized city into a surprising position of influence within the greater bass weight-focused dance music scene. In a similar fashion to the trend of aforementioned producers rising to prominence in parallel to their counterparts in London a decade ago, a new breed of Bristolian has begun to experiment with grime and techno with a uniquely insolent outlook that both bucks the influence of the capitol and draws on its more aggressive strains. Rope is a new name in the Bristol game, but the producer’s upcoming EP on also-brand-new Parison Records is one of the most mature, properly conceived releases to come out of the city in recent memory. Taking direct influence from anime soundtracks, Rope artificially designs an urban environment heavy on futuristic decay and out-of-control technology. Every movement carries a coinciding physical counter-movement, whether that be the scything snares that come in flurries on “Slugface”, or the desperate, immaculately textured rubber ball bass hits on “Cotham Warrior”. For his Astral Plane mix, Rope offers a proper overview of his contemporaries and slots his own originals effortlessly alongside modern classics along the lines of Gage’s “Tello”, Blackwax’s “Grimace” and Mumdance and Novelist’s “Take Time”. Bristol-bred dubstep and grime will always have its denizens, but the new breed, led by Rope, has an opportunity to raise the metropolis beyond second city status. Hit the jump for the track list and pre-order Cotham Warrior/Slugface here.

New Trap Door – “Luv Thang”

By Gabe Meier

July 3, 2014

New Music

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Alongside fellow Gang Fatale members Neana, Georgia Girls and Ra’s Al, Trap Door (born Connor Shepherd) has rocketed into the popular consciousness over the past several months. Whereas Neana cuts deep with razor-sharp percussive tools and Georgia Girls throws an array of frenzied samples and sonic manipulations into the mix, Manchester-resident Trap Door prefers a clean, stripped back approach to dance music. While an exact release date has not been announced quite yet, Shepherd will release the Emerald Dove EP on B.YRSLF DIVISION at some point in the next several months. Emerald Dove will feature remixes from Mike G, Dreams and Grandivaa.

New Riley Lake – “B Goin In (Dub Mix)”

By Gabe Meier

July 1, 2014

New Music, Remixes

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As he’s balanced hip hop production, mix engineer work and the ever-progressing concern of a growing hardware stockpile, Milwaukee-resident Riley Lake (born Will Mitchell) has also consistently dipped his toes into the realm of club music, drawing material and influence from a collection of producers, labels and crews that range from the tasteful linearity of Clone and 3024 to boundary-pushing grime outlets Goon Club All Stars and Glacial Sound. “B Goin In” is his latest foray into clubland and features both a dub mix and a delightfully fun Destiny’s Child flip. The stripped back dub mix highlight’s Mitchell’s substantial progression over the past year or so, a veritable simulacrum of the contemporary avant-garde dance that signals a bank of well-researched samples and a strong comprehension of the physical dimensions of the club space. Drop Mitchell a line on Twitter for a download and hit the jump to the stream the “B Goin In (Vocal Mix)”.

Mid-Week Mix Roundup (6/23 – 6/27)

By Gabe Meier

June 25, 2014

Mixes

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Inspirational mixes from the past week that deserve to reverberate beyond our “office”.

Whenever DJ Slimzee or Slackk take to the NTS airwaves, the listener is sure to receive a number of cracking exclusives, dubs and deep cuts from the annals of grime past and present. Last week, the two joined forces for a special, guest heavy four hour special featuring Logos, Murlo, Trends, Oil Gang, Spooky and a brief appearance from man of the moment Mumdance who shows up just to play a Riko Dan-assisted version of “Take Time”. Astonishingly, 17 new JT The Goon tracks are rinsed and a bevy of other new ones from Dark0, Inkke and Shriekin that have left us scuttling around attempting to construct a track list.

With the release of Moleskin‘s eponymous EP on the very near horizon, the London-based Goon Club Allstars label has been on many a tongue. With Mssingno’s debut EP still making the rounds and Moleskin’s heavily anticipated tape being played out by the likes of Evian Christ and Bok Bok, the Goon Club team has done an excellent job of showing two very different sides of the grime-club spectrum. Even as they’ve inundated listeners with unique UK-centric productions though, the label has looked further south, focusing their attention on kuduro, dancehall and the multifaceted sounds of Lisbon. Back in May, the label gave away DJ Name’s “Name 4 U”, a palpitating blend of funky and interstitial continental madness, and the Goon Club DJs recently took to Sinden’s Kiss FM to show off a selection of heavily syncopated, densely rhythmic tracks from DJ Nigga Fox, President T and DJ Lag.

The Astral Black crew has always shown a predilection for early-aughts hip hop and R&B, specifically the chipmunk soul stylings of Kanye West and Just Blaze, and that influence has percolated to the surface of JonPhonics, Inkke and especially DJ Milktray‘s productions. To celebrate an upcoming European tour, Phonics and Milktray have joined together as Milkmakerz to bring you the sleaziest from Tweet, R. Kelly and Ginuwine as well as a heavy heaping of heat from Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan and Cam’Ron. It’s not so much an influence mix as it’s a mix of influences and if Phonics and Milktray’s joint output sounds anything like it, then we’re in for a treat.

Not that it’s anything new, but Bok Bok licked the most recent Night Slugs Rinse show with a dashing two hours of analogue techno, Neana and Neana-inspired drum tracks, and hyper-real synth machinations. If you haven’t rinsed BB’s Your Charizmatic Self EP to death, you’re missing out. The NS Rinse slot is about as essential as it gets.

As a House of Trax resident, Rushmore has worked tirelessly to bring ghetto house, ballroom and Bmore legends to East London and has expanded the HoT name into the label world under the Trax Couture nom de guerre. Alongside fellow HoT resident Fools, Rushmore has become one of the most recognizable names in the transitive world of percussive techno/house/ballroom and much of his best work comes out in his mixes. His Astral Plane volume is still a personal favorite and he recently contributed a volume for Mute, a Brighton club night that just happens to be putting on a massive July 4th happening featuring Kahn & Neek, Flava D, Last Japan, Dark0 and Sudanim. Rushmore’s mix is of a slightly different flavor, a full throttle mash of compatriots Akito, Grovestreet, Dreams alongside folk heroes DJ Clent and Slugo.