QUICKIES DUBSTEPREVIEWS
Boozoo Bajou
Jan Mayen Apollo 8.0
Downbeat/leftfield legends pop up unexpectedly on Apollo with a glorious four- track EP of fresh, edgy electronica for 2013. More please.
GoldFFinch Digital Dysfunction EP
Mindset 7.5
Four-tracker from the Belgian lads on Liam Indigo’s ever-reliable imprint. Showcases nicely balanced nu-breed techno, a cut above your usual DJ tools.
Infra
Cold Mountain EP F4TV 7.0
Big, bassy and badass sounds from Berlin, Infra unleashes three chunky dungeon dubstep tracks that have obviously been left to breed and cross mutate with balls-out dub techno in a subterranean cave.
Ore State
Civil Music 8.5
I do like it when Civil do techno, and boy this is good quality stuff. Stuffed and punctuated by a kaleidoscope of classic sounds and new mutations. Seek out!
Close Beam Me Up feat Charlene
Soraia & Scuba !K7 9.0
A clutch of remixes from Scuba, George Fitzgerald and Hercules & Love Affair still couldn’t out-do the brilliance of the original from Aus and Simple record label boss Will Saul’s alter-ego. A pseudonym that allows him to wander a little further than usual from the house and techno car park, getting closer to more “easy access” poppier locations. This is top-quality stuff; classy, tasteful vocals from Charlene and extra production tweaks from Scuba all combine to create an absolute hands-down house anthem.
DJ Eastwood KHAN PUNCHDRUNK
01. KAHN ‘Badman City feat Flowdan’ Blackbox “Flowdan is one of my favourite MCs and this record is a real milestone for me
as a producer, and I’m really excited for people to hear the whole EP in full.”
02. JABU ‘Slow Jam’ Ramp Recordings “It’s tricky to pick a favourite track out of all of Jabu’s work so far, but this
one is dear to me.”
03. ISHAN SOUND ‘Clash of the Titans feat Ras Addis’ Peng “Ishan Sound is half of Zhou, and he’s been writing some amazing soundsys-
tem music recently.”
04. TRICKY ‘Christiansands’ Island “This is one of my many favourites by Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird, I love
the lyrics and it reminds me of Bristol.”
05. HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR ‘In Gray’ Touch “The whole album that this track is lifted from, ‘Mount A’, is so beautiful and
this is a stand-out piece for me.”
06. BARRINGTON LEVY ‘Why Did You Leave Me?’ Greensleeves “Barrington Levy is one of my favourite vocalists, I love his mournful style
and lyrics.”
07. FOOTSIE & JAMMER ‘Bare Right Hooks’ White “There’s countless grime cuts I could nominate for this, but I knew I wanted
to include Jammer, as he’s one of my favourite producers.”
08. MALARIA ‘Your Turn To Run (I Will Be Your Only One)’ Monika “I recently came across a compilation of Malaria, compiled between 1981-
1984, and I’ve been rinsing it. I really love this track, it’s spooky but groovy.”
09. MALA ‘Miracles (Commodo Remix)’ Dub “It’s no easy task to remix a classic, but I think Commodo did an amazing
job with this, keeping enough elements of the original tune, but giving it his own flavour.”
10. THE SMITHS ‘These Things Take Time (Hatful of Hollow Ver-
sion)’ Warner Music UK “The Smiths have a special place in my heart and this track really reminds me of being a teenager walking around Bristol with my headphones on.”
066 Kode9
Xingfu Lu Hyperdub 7.5
Like a carefree couple of teenage elopers, bounding off into the sunset with nothing but love and a Woman & Home subscription to their names, Kode9 and his Frankenjuke bride continue to honeymoon at a pace. But lucky for us, it is the Hyperdub
U Ain’t Ready No Hats No Hoods 9.5
An underground grime classic from 2003 that originally saw the light of day on white label vinyl only and got picked up and royally fucked with by Hemlock big cheese, Jack Untold, back in 2010, only to sit on his hardrive and in a few choice DJs’ sets, virtually lost and forgotten. Until now. Hold on to your coconut water and skinny burritos people, it’s a wormhole of insanity on a record. Watch people’s jaws drop as this explodes!
Mafioso at the head of the table, channelling those rapid-fire riddims through a pinball machine of wonky synths, damaged pads straight into the mouth of a Chicago trap house.
Paul White Street Lights feat Danny Brown
One Handed Music 8.5
Oh shit, Dabrye got beamed up by a freakin’ UFO along with his studio knobs and whistles, with this Paul White track stuck in the floppy disc drive! That’s the only plausible and sane explanation of how this joint featuring the gritty, effervescent bars of Detroit rapper Danny Brown sounds so fuckin’ outer space. Intergalactic hip-hop bass music yo!
Raffertie
Build Me Up Ninja Tune 7.5
Raffertie eschews the heady dancefloor movements of his earlier career and trots off with mic in hand to record four tracks that span electrified, distinctly fuzzy, computer funk, aching ballads and distressed folky electronica, all drowning in a lavish melancholic syrup. I like this the more I listen.
u-Ziq
Xtep Planet Mu 7.0
A welcome return from the Planet Mu chief of staff, and clearly the medication has kicked in. Known for a more extreme perspective on IDM, this brand- new taster ahead of his summer LP is V.E.R.Y. different. The dank, clanks and distortion are gone, in comes the quirky computer funk of ‘XT’, classic rave tropes
www.djmag.ca Akkord
Navigate EP Houndstooth
10
Manchester’s worst-kept secret, and transversely one of the city’s most exciting agents of forward-thinking UK dance music. Yes, Akkord are an industry dirty secret (that might well be out by the time this goes to print), but boy do they back it up. This four-track EP explodes out of the speakers with more urban vitriol than a pitbull on gunpowder, but unlike the glut of other garage x techno x d&b hybrids, this sings with power, angst and most importantly, the vibrant soul of the UK underground. Essential.
on ‘Ritm’ (boy those keys!), to Moroder reincarnated on the disco inflections of ‘Pulsar’, to the washy Vangelis of ‘Monj2’, which hides a tough, breaky footwork element, a tiny glimpse of the beast from the past. All concluding on the rather flouncy melancholia of ‘New Bimple’, making for a rather bizarre, but enjoyable listen.
Xxxy
Progression Ten Thousand Yen 8.0
Good to see XXXY back on Doc Daneeka and Ian Yeti’s Ten Thousand Yen imprint, as he has a nasty habit of spreading himself around the estate a wee bit. But don’t get me wrong, the quality hasn’t suffered, and this 12 is no exception, kicking off with the arppegiated monster that is ‘Progression’, a relentless oscillating number underpinned by driving, deftly syncopated drums. But check ‘Thinkin’ Bout’ for its chopped vocal riff and infectious skip.
MARKLEmarkgurney@gmail.com
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