untitled

16bit - Dinosaurs - MTA008

2011-08-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

16bit - Dinosaurs

Someone actually read my last blog post, in fact I got enough views to take me to about 30 from having 1000 views in all thanks to Skream and Echo Park for tweeting and sharing the post. So I felt like carrying on my posts by showcasing another artist that is releasing music on an Indie label ran by one of the undergrounds biggest commercial crossovers.

The artist this time is 16bit, a production duo - DRT and Kidnappa - who are signed to MTA Records, a record label run by Chase & Status. Their latest release on the label is a destructive dubstep tune by the name of Dinosaurs and it comes complete with a killer b-side and an unbelievably good video, both can be seen below;

16bit - Dinosaurs

16bit - Boston Cream

The video for the single is produced and animated by Kristofer Strom, a part of the collection of designers and artists by the name of Blinkart. More examples of his work can be seen on the link attached to his name above. The video itself is visually stunning playing out like a simple storyboard of various dinosaurs with the important addition of some sort of vicious hallucinogen. It is simply a brilliant video. And the song lives up to the anger and aggression of it's namesakes with some fantastic sound design and a distorted bassline that has become synonymous with the duo as well as the uniquely positioned drum's.

The talent of the producer's in question has caught the eye of some of the biggest acts, recently lending their production skills to artists like Professor Green and Bjork providing singles for both and supplying remixes for acts such as Chase & Status and Plan B. This along with their highly acclaimed skills as DJ's for both their live set's and their mixes for radio shows and released online (The Milky Pie Mix won the award for best mix from the Dubstep Forum in 2010). The future looks promising for any act on this label with Nero debuting both a single and album at the top of the UK Charts in recent weeks and although a much more underground and raw act their is no reason, with their diversity, why they can't emulate this success.

'Dinosaurs/Boston Cream' is out on the 29th August on MTA Records.

Echo Park - Disfigured Dubz

2011-08-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

Echo Park

After starting and never finishing a few blog posts I've not really done much for this blog in a while, so when I heard of a new producer on Dubstep pioneer Skream's label I decided to check him out. A funky vibe combined with the smooth and slick productions make Brian Gibbs aka Echo Park an exciting modern twist on the Disco era. Sounding a bit Hall and Oates and James Ingram with the addition of a Vocoder, Echo Park caught the attention of Skream when he was played, by music journalist Joe Muggs, some samples of the "little songs" Echo Park had made - following a stint in hospital with a digestive condition, an 8.8 earthquake - about lost love amongst other things, songs he declared he "would like to listen to himself". Being a big fan of disco and funky stylings - even dedicating specialist sets just to disco tunes - Skream had no qualms in signing Echo Park to his record label - Disfigured Dubz - describing Gibbs's music as "Fucking amazing".

Echo Parks first business as part of the record label is providing the release for DIS016, a dazzling summery anthem in "Fibre Optic" coupled on the flip by both 12th Planet & Flinch and Jon Convex providing electronic reworks varying massively in the genre they represent in the musical spectrum. A preview of all three versions of the track can be heard in the following video;

Following this monstrous release Echo Park will proceed to be the artist deemed worthy of the first LP release on Disfigured Dubz by Skream. Taking the aforementioned "little songs" that caught Skream's ear and transforming them into a full album continuing the new disco-funk vibe of his debut single with tracks like "Go" his album looks to be a very promising and exciting release which will be an eagerly awaited one. Gibbs transformed his musical style to what he felt more comfortable creating in the face of adversity, moving away from the dark and deep dubby flavours, which would lay the foundations for his record label boss to form a now thriving genre - Dubstep, the music that he now graces sounds naturally brilliant and flawlessly produced. This album is definitely going to be one for the summer - watch out for Echo Park.

FabricLive 57 : Jackmaster

2011-05-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

FabricLive 57 - Jackmaster

A quick introduction to both aspects of this album.

FabricLive is a monthly compilation album - released by London nightclub Fabric - which is mixed by various high profile DJ's in a variety of different genres. Alternating monthly with a partner compilation simply called fabric, the mixes often incorporate genres inside the Electronic genres more commonly, ranging from House music to Hip Hop and Dubstep.

Jackmaster is a Glaswegian DJ who was recently voted as the best breakthrough DJ in 2010 for his exciting and varied sets which can grip a listeners attention for hour upon hour. Mixing retro styles such as disco and 80's and 90's classics into the underground genres of today with Dubstep and Grime featuring prominently alongside UK funky, techno and 2-step in his wide spectrum of genres mixed in. It is no surprise that Jackmaster is causing quite a stir in the electronic music scene and garnering praise from some of the most respected figures in the scene. An interesting array of different music stylings along with some innovative and attention-grabbing mixing on his behalf makes sure that a mix for a highly regarded compilation series promises very good things.

It is obvious from the first beat of the mix that there are big things ahead as Jackmaster starts with an 80's club anthem in "Release Yourself" a track of the once flatmates of Jimi Hendrix - Aleem. An upbeat and retro start to the album starts to blend itself into more underground sounding, timeless sounds of 80's dance music as the music takes a turn towards Model 500 and the massive club mix of Kim English's tune "Nite Life". It is at this point where the album starts to turn towards the music that is made at this point in time to destroy the dancefloor and one of the highlights of the album is produced when Jackmaster mixes into "2 4 6" by Geiom (ft. Terrible Shock) as the mix starts to touch tunes with licks of Dubstep and Grime all over them. This vibe is continued throughout the mix in different capacities, including highly acclaimed producers such as SBTRKT and Addison Groove.

It is then that the mix starts to go back into the old-skool Garage and House feel that was previously present as another killer tune in Wookie's remix of Sia's "Little Man" brings about a short but sweet breakdown at around the half-way mark of the mix. The mix moves into more rave vibes as The Outlander's tune "Vamp" is faded into the mix over DJ Deeon's "Freaks" at which point the music moves into it's final sages with a indefinite jump-up straight-out dance feel to the closing stages. With 90's breakbeats and early 00's underground bangers the mix descends into a high pace adrenaline filled last section of massive tunes, which would still have their desired effect in nightclubs today as they would have done back when they were released in a more dance music orientated era.

The last few tunes are a show of Jackmaster's varied music choices in the mix as the last few bars of Aphex Twin's "VBS.Redlof.B" (under the AFX alias) fade out - the grime flavours of well renowned artist in the genre Skepta merge into the mix. This takes the album once again from Acid House and Techno tunes back into the new upcoming nightclub genres with a Grime pioneer before switching sweetly to a new take on the 2-step garage movement. The soulful falsetto crooning of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke floats wonderfully over the dark vibes created by the ambient tone of the brilliant "Idioteque" - a song with a very deep dark garage feel and with aspects of dubstep combining to create a perfect conclusion to a fantastic mix.

Jackmaster lives up to his reputation as the most exciting breakthrough mix with this stunning installment in the FabricLive compilation series. A word I've used alot in this article is the word 'vibe' and the word sums up the mix as the album creates a vibe which is fitting to any atmosphere be it and nightclub scene or just a casual listening session, this mix would fit almost any "vibe". The mixing to string together the intricate selection of quality tunes both new and old is flawless and it can often be so strong that it is hard to tell even whether you've entered the next song or not. All in all this is one of the heaviest and classic mixes I can remember hearing for a long time and Jackmaster has done himself a lot of favours in enhancing his reputation and status in an ever-growing bass culture that is now blossoming with new and old genres boasting some of the worlds most exciting music producers and DJ's. This mix is a brilliant showcase of music in the genres that Jackmaster chooses to represent and this is an album that every person should at least hear once and own a copy of, a really fantastic collection of music.

SBTRKT Live..

2011-05-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

SBTRKT live at Abbey Road Debuts
Here is a link to a man who goes by the persona of SBTRKT whilst on the stage, performing his live show with frequent collaborator Sampha on the vocals. A pretty mysterious man in music, SBTRKT is pushing together lots of different genres as he wishes, incorporating 2-step garage, dubstep and general bass aspects in his work. I love how Sampha's vocals slide into the pattern created by SBTRKT's fine-tuned 2-step rhythms. The idea of triggering the separate parts of each song in a variety of ways along with the cut and chop sampling of Sampha's voice means that the show looks and sounds very-well crafted with neither of the duo involved stopping right from the very first second. SBTRKT creates the beautiful music which Sampha croons over in what is a very understated manner as his passionate vocals add the finishing touch to what looks like an exciting, intricate and interesting live show.

Yasmin again...

2011-05-15T05:10:00.000-07:00

..get used to it, I'll probably just use this blog to rave about her, but check this brilliant acoustic performance of "Finish Line"

Better Watch It .. Rizzle Kicks!

2011-05-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well i thought i better get to promoting some proper unknown talent, i doubt many of you will have heard of Rizzle Kicks. Rizzle Kicks are a pretty exciting duo - they performed a set on the Introducing stage at Radio 1's Big Weekend - and there are definitely vibes of Example's early material in their most recent free download, "Prophet (Better Watch It)". As with any new talent they aren't the most complete package just yet but I highly recommend you go out and check their free downloads too check them out - I reckon they could go big so watch out for them in the future.
Their unique, in touch and interesting lyrics make them an exciting prospect watch out for them in the coming months.

Suck It and See..

2011-05-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well in case you didn't hear Arctic Monkeys on Jools Holland last night, you missed a treat. They played three new songs from their "Humbug" follow up LP - "Suck It and See". The new songs are brilliant and there are definitely aspects of all of their previous works in each of the songs. They played "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala", "Reckless Serenade" and "Library Pictures" - the latter being my favourite of a fantastic trio.

Ask me anything....

2011-05-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

decided not to use this one to plug another song of the titles name - but just ask me anything or if you want me to review or promote something - just e-mail it me at conor.wilson@hotmail.com or something, i'm open to anything..

Finish Line

2011-05-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Well i'll kick it off with my favourite song of the moment, by probably my favourite singer around - Yasmin. After the stunning singing debut's - "Runaway" and "On My Own" - following on from being a successful DJ. Yasmin releases her second official solo single "Finish Line". A collaboration with highly rated producer Labrinth, of "Pass Out" and "Frisky" (both w. Tinie Tempah) fame, the single showcases Yasmins ability over a more mainstream dancey beat. Yasmin pulls off what could be one of my favourite songs of the year. Not only this but Yasmin pulls out some of the most varied and fantastic remixes, covering Garage, Drum and Bass and House, with Shy FX (a collaborator on "On My Own") providing one of my favourite remixes for a long time. What Yasmin does best seems to be recruiting the best new and old artists for collabs and remixes and she pulls out no stops on this single.

An exciting venture into new and old genres this single and it's remixes does alot to be favoured - it's easily one of my favourite singles yet of 2011 -10/10
Check out the song and it's remixes from here -
Radio Edit
Freemason's Mix
Shy FX Mix
MIike Delinquent Project Remix

I'm new here...

2011-05-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

Well I'm new here, so why not a song remixed by one of my favourite artists at the moment to kick it off expect more of the same...