In terms of music, 2010 has been a year of ridiculous quality. We’ve seen incredible albums from the likes of Scuba, Ital Tek and Phaeleh, similarly cracking EPs from various up-and-comers and just generally amazing musical genius appearing in every possible crevice. Just the other day I found a couple of Guido tracks down the back of your Grandma’s sofa and a Ramadanman dub poked its head out from behind a tin of baked beans at Waitrose…I mean Farmfoods (working class hero). Anyway, I sifted through what made me tingle and came up with this little mixtape, a compilation of my favourite tunes from the past 12 months. I don’t proclaim it to be a definitive “best of” list, but I am willing to say it’s the best mixtape ever to come out of anyone’s mind ever, classic ’80s non-mixed format notwithstanding. Even the Queen could get down to this.
Primarily made up of dubstep (and thereabouts) tracks, I did include a minimal beast from Max Cooper and top things off with the beautiful ‘Thousand Ways’ by The Tallest Man on Earth. It’s a bit of a mood-changer but I figured it would be wise to make sure you end with a smile on your face and no desire to kill someone in the rain. A thought which has never crossed my mind…
Download below, tracklist after the jump and don’t forget, if you like the music please support the artists and spend a penny. Like, you know, buy it with money…and please follow us on Facebook too. Bring on 2011, the year of the squirrel.
There’s rather a lot of snow piled up on the street behind me, I feel like I’m stuck in The Thing, I’m basically Kurt fucking Russell right now. Still, all this downtime and talk of “the never-ending winter brought by the heathens” is giving me the chance to find some sick new tunes. This one, a collaboration between Jack Sparrow and Ruckspin, appeared on Soundcloud a couple of days ago and wafted its chilled out vibes towards me like an Ancient Greek servant with a palm frond. Imbued with a tranquil jazz trumpet breeze, the occasional glimmer of flute and an overall organic warmth, I’m using it to heat my ears and rest my head. Hot chocolate for the brain.
In terms of details, they’re rather scarce at the moment, but I shall enlighten you if and when they surface. For now, just take off the thermals and chill.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Fresh from the launch of his new label, Woe to the Septic Heart, badman Shackleton is back with the latest instalment in Fabric’s infamous mix series: Fabric 55. Comprising 21 of his own tunes, the mix runs for around an hour and fifteen minutes and is, unsurprisingly, as atmospheric as a deserted manor on Halloween (with added reverb). Amongst the flurry of aural genius are both tracks from his latest release Man on a String Parts 1 and 2, two very special tunes which I feel the whole ordeal builds up to, although that could just be because I am fucking infatuated with ‘Bastard Spirit’. It makes me feel like I’ve had a lobotomy and can’t understand words any more and yet, it seems to leave me feeling rather tranquil. In fact, the whole mix gives me a glassy stare and disaffected demeanour, I’m thoroughly enjoying it in a “yeah, it’s pretty cool, whatever man” kind of way. I reckon it’s all that ethnic percussion, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard so much bongo/djemba/other similar percussive instrument packed into an hour before. Well, not since I came back from my interior voyage with Kurtz and the gang anyway. Tracklist after the jump.
The best thing to come out of Wolverhampton since Goldie and um…Jamelia, Fantasic Mr Fox is Stephen Gomberg, the man behind some of the most exciting and distinctive dubstep tunes of recent times. Following on from the rightfully acclaimed Sketches EP, his latest offering, Evelyn EP, is another work of sheer brilliance.
Identifying ascendant elements in this release is a hopeless pursuit because from the purely resonating percussion through the valley of infinitely smooth basslines to the sporadic rearing of impossibly rich synths, the whole thing is an absolute pleasure. To cite but one example of this genius, we could take a look at the title tune’s manipulated vocal sample. It beautifully rises and falls with the bassline in a marriage that seems so simple you’re almost fooled into thinking you could achieve the same effect. But it soon becomes clear that the alchemy of its union is immaculate and the other ingredients close in around it like musical protectors of a priceless artefact. Jesus, I’m finding it difficult not to be all Stephen-Fry-hopped-up-on-whiskey about this, but it’s hard not to be. All I’m saying is that Fox has achieved a clean and mellifluous sound and whilst there is always a lot going on in his tunes, he still maintains an apparent sense of space and simplicity. You’ll never feel crowded listening to the wonderful melodies of ‘Sepia Song’ or get lost in the densely imagined atmosphere of ‘Fool Me’.
Evelyn EP is no play and return later affair, it’s a play and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat situation. You can already tell that I love it. Music like this is good for the brain, so I think you’d better listen.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I recently wrote about Slugabed’s Ultra Heat Treated EP and how this humble producer from Bath was making music which wouldn’t sound out of place in some sort of bass-heavy dystopian future where robots ruled and slaves skanked on command. Well the other day I got nostalgic for a bit of this futuristic pondering, headed over to his Soundcloud and discovered — albeit later than most of the world — this ridiculous remix of Roots Manuva’s Witness ‘(One Hope)’. It sounds like the original track has been ground up with a corrupted mega drive and had the low end cranked to intergalactic levels. It’s magnificent.
Diplo has his fingers in many a pie and now he’s chosen to plunge it through the sweet, moist crust of dubstep. Diplo Presents Dubstep is a 16 track compilation which showcases “some brand new and unreleased, some classics, some overlooked sleepers”. The tracklist comprises a mixed bag, with some tunes hitting the jackpot and others floundering like Piers Morgan at a fundraiser. For example, James Blake ‘Sparing the Horse’ falls very much into the “maaate, sick tune” category, whereas Doctor P’s ‘Sweetshop’ falls into the “maaate, I’m not sure how much more I can take” division.
Starkey’s remix of Rudi Zygadlo’s ‘Resealable Friendship’ is definitely the high point, offering the beautifully vulnerable and epic in equal parts whilst James Blake’s refix of Untold’s ‘Stop What You’re Doing’ is similarly alluring. ‘Glazed’ by Brackles is another tune which I could loop and listen to all night long, but if you stop concentrating it drops into Stenchman and that glassy stare will be irreparably shattered forever. Anyway, Oldsy pointed out that this is probably intended to bring dubstep to a new audience, so in that case, it’s probably a positive thing that they’ll get the chance to listen to James Blake and Starkey alongside the bastardised creations from wub wub valley. Let’s just hope they make the right choices…
Posted by