Press Pause Play

I found this great documentary looking at the relationships between art and technology. Some interesting points are raised. Is the increasing speed at which technology moves having a negative effect on creativity or does it drive it? Technology is allowing everyone to be an artist allowing young people to make art forms that were traditionally only for people with money. Increased communication is introducing an creative influence cycle rather than it being one directional...

PressPausePlay from House of Radon on Vimeo.

Portico Quartet

Portico Quartet "Portico Quartet" Real World Records 29/01/2012

Fusing electronic and traditional instrumentation is a concept that has always fascinated me. When done well, it can remove the clinical precision often attributed to very computer centric music, colouring and complementing organic sounds to produce interesting and unique timbres.
Portico quartet's eponymous third album displays this perfectly, incorporating Drums, Sax, Steel Drums, Double Bass, an array of production equipment and an obvious affinity for Jazz and the more progressive side of electronica, it paints a unique soundscape that wouldn't be out of place as a film soundtrack. The fact that these are live musicians dabbling in production and not the other way round means that each part expresses the personality and skill of the individual members rather than a reproduction of sequenced tracks.
Cyclic plucked double bass riffs and syncopated drum beats echo the influence of Photek and the short naked piano melody of "Export to hot climates" nods to Drukqs era Aphex Twin. The haunting sound of "Ruins" with its speed picked harmonic minor bassline and eastern saxophone melody make it one of the stand out tracks.
This album is much closer to 2009's Isla than to last year's far more straight up jazz set "Knee-Deep in the North Sea". If you are lucky enough to get hold of the special edition, you will get an extra bonus 5 track EP to go with it. Portico quartet have begun 2012 in style and their new live show is highly recommended.

Tracklist:

Window Seat
Ruins
Spinner
Rubidium
Export to Hot Climes
Laker Boo
Steepless
4096 Colours
City of Glass
Trace

10 Albums of 2011

Keeping with last year's tradition I thought I'd post 10 albums that I enjoyed that came out in 2011 and as with last year encourage you to tell me yours. I may add 10 tracks later this week too.

SBTRKT

Metronomy - The English Riviera

James Blake

Little Dragon - Ritual Union

Friendly Fires - Pala

Rustie - Glass Swords

Various - Back and 4th (Hotflush)

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

DJ Shadow - The Less You Know, The Better

Four Tet - Fabriclive 59

Falty DL - Hip Love

Falty DL
"Hip Love"
Ramp Records Feb 2011

Originally Published on 7digital.com

What could be more tempting than a slice of future garage from one of New York's finest beat-makers? Well, how about a remix by one half of Mercury Prize winners, The xx, too?
‘Hip Love’ bears all the hallmarks of a classic Falty tune – heavily-sliced and shuffled two-step beats, brass jazz chord stabs and soulful vocal fragments, all coloured with dirty-sounding synths. It’s reminiscent of Mo' Wax or trip-hop yet the rhythms fuse the swing and tempo of UK garage with the breakbeat science of jungle. Jamie xx does a good job on the flip too, keeping the human feel of the original whilst swapping Falty’s erratic beats for a sparser, almost four-to-the-floor beat, and shifting the focus from the vocals to that satisfyingly bouncy bassline.

Tracklist:

1. Falty DL - Hip Love
   


2. Falty DL - Hip Love (Jamie XX remix)

Exit Records Presents - Mosaic Vol. 1

Various Artists
"Exit Records Presents - Mosaic Vol. 1"
Exit 07/02/2011
Also Published on : 7digital

Drum ‘n’ Bass and Jungle have always been genres that lend themselves well to experimentation. Back in the 90’s break beat slicing and manipulation layered over jazz textures and unusual sounds by jungle pioneers led the way for more outwardly experimental musicians like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher to use the genre as a framework to explore the possibilities of electronica.
This spirit of experimentation has arguably remained dormant (or at least below the surface) for the first part of this decade. However the “no bounderies” approach of the closely connected Dubstep movement has arguably given Drum ‘n’ Bass the wake up call it needed and urged producers to reconsider the genre, question production techniques and avoid what Exit label boss, dBridge accurately describes in a recent interview as “paint by numbers” music.
Exit records has always focussed on promoting forward thinking DNB regardless of whether the music is dance floor orientated or not. On this compilation, dBridge goes one step further. Most of the tracks on this comp, despite many being made by respected producers of the scene, have little resemblance to what your average punter might call Drum and Bass. Taking a leaf out of the dubstep rule book, although still floating around the 170bpm mark, a lot of the beats are half time allowing for a great deal of space for the producer’s ideas such as melody and sonic textures to shine through. The sound sets used are more reminiscent of Vangelis’ Bladerunner score than the latest Andy C set, and the melodies are well thought out progressions rather than straight up loops.
There is a great deal of diversity over this double compilation, tiny percussive snippets alongside dark swamping bass patterns, fragmented soul vocals humanizing futuristic 80’s synth pads. However this all seems to fit in to the autonomic ethos that dBidge et al have strived to define over the past couple of years without sounding disjointed.
Mosaic interestingly features many established Dubstep producers (Scuba, Skream, Synkro…) working outside the comfort of their usual tempo, perhaps freeing up an opportunity to display new facets and influence to their work.
Many originators of the sound have also contributed to this set. Loxy’ and Commix’ offerings definitely have their rightful place. Much like dBridge and intra:mental, they have also done a lot to promote and push the more ambient and leftfield sounds, Loxy with his CX series of podcasts and Commix who’s ( 2009 fabriclive 44 mix brought a much wider interest to the movement.
Though the quality standard is exceptionally high throughout the release, the initial stand out tracks are Croms’ ultra slowed down space disco sounding “Invisible Cities”,
Invisible Cities (Exit, 2011) by Croms
Commix’ City section which somehow manages to sound both organic and digital at once features some lovely stereo circling pad sounds
Commix - City Section • Mosaic Vol 1 • by Exit Records UK and Synkro’ Open Arms with its stunning bell like melody accompanied by emotional vocal stabs.
Synkro - Open Arms by Exit Records UK
Mosaic Vol. 1 is a mature collection of tracks that accurately describe the ambient and melodic side of Drum ‘n’ Bass influenced electronic music in a post dubstep 2011.

Tracklist:

In 2 by Scuba
Pushed by Stray
Fading by Distance
Forgot What I Needed to Forget by dBridge
Open Arms by Synkro
Rendezvous by dBridge
Nu Este Roz by Dan Harbanham
Decayed by dBridge
Splinter by Consequence
Modular Concepts by ASC
Invisible Cities by Croms
City Section by Commix
Time by Indigo
Stepping Stones by Mode
Scene 3 by Instra:Mental
Another World by Skeptical
Motorway by Skream
Further Searching by Genotype
Chasm by Code 3
Essence Of Time by Abstract Elements
Observation Point by System
Vertigo by Loxy

10 Albums + 10 Tracks 2010

In no particular order, here are some of my favorites of 2010. Why not reply with yours? Enjoy.

Albums

Tracks

James Blake - CMYK


Scuba - So You Think You're Special?


Tensnake - Coma Cat


Gorillaz - Stylo


Rustie - Dragonfly


Noisia - Split The Atom


Flying Lotus - Do The Astral Plane


Warpaint - Baby


Bonobo ft Andreya Triana - The Keeper


Boys Noize - Yeah

Mount Kimbie - Crooks and Lovers

Mount Kimbie
"Crooks And Lovers"
Hotflush 19/07/2010

If you wanted to make an electronic album which encompassed the current global trends in bass music around the 140bpm mark, you would be hard pressed to come up with something better than Mount Kimbie's debut. Following on from 2 EPs and remixes for the likes of hot indie bands Foals and The Big Pink, Crooks and Lovers gives the south London duo their full length introduction.
Combining lost guitar chords and vocal fragments with dubstep, wonky and leftfield hip hop beats to form an dreamy organic whole. With much of the instrumentation drawing influence from the likes of Four Tet and Boards of Canada this is certainly not a dancefloor record.
Perhaps the most instantly likable track is the first single “Mayor” (youtube below) with its undecipherable vocal chorus and unconventionally plucked harpsichord riff. Other highlights include, the more future garage inspired “Blind Night Errand” and "Adriatic" which sounds like a tune creating after a sampling session at a band practice.
If you like this album, I recommend you check out other releases on the brilliant Hotflush imprint who also do a regular podcast.

You Can stream the whole album for one week only here.

Tracklist:

Tunnelvision
Would Know
Before I Move Off
Blind Night Errand
Adriatic
Carbonated
Ruby
Ode To Bear
Field
Mayor
Between Time

Spor - Knock You Down (remix)

Spor / Apex"Knock You Down (remix)"Lifted Music 3/5/2010

After a string of great releases from the likes of Spor, The Upbeats and Apex, Forward thinking Drum 'n' Bass Label Lifted Music broaden the field with their first Dubstep release, a remix 12" of Spor's "Knock you down" and Apex's "Nowhere to Run" by Eskmo and Datsik & Excision respectively.
Knock you down is a powerful Stomping take on the original accompanied by a heavy guitar style riff.
On the flip Canadian producers Eskmo and Datsik deliver a gnarly twisted bassline remix that would give 16Bit a run for their money.
We look forward to more Dubstep being release on lifted soon.

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Flying Lotus
"Cosmogramma"
Warp 03/05/2010

There are very strong links between the worlds of Electronic(a) and Jazz Music; both seek to discover new sounds and question the traditional forms that define a piece of Music.
Like his label mate Squarepusher did recently on Just a Souvenir, Flying Lotus delivers an album soaked in Jazz philosophy. Where Square's roots lie in UK Drum 'n' Bass, Lotus's are more in leftfield Hip Hop. But Steven Ellison is no stranger to the world of Jazz. As a member of the Coltrane family, he was brought up with its ideals of experimentation.
But make no mistake, Cosmogramma is more than an interesting, experimental record of which not a single melody will be remembered. Tracks like "And The World Laughs With You" with Thom Yorke on vocal duties and "Do The Astral Plane" with it's Barber Shop style loop re-contextualized over a swung house beat give more an impression of Lotus' live sets.
The wild bass guitar improvisations on "Pickled" and "German Haircut" help the music free itself from the often over structured approach that often comes with using sequencing software.
Cosmogramma lives up to the high expectations of this album to provide a more well rounded, textured and diverse journey than the critically acclaimed Los Angeles album.

The "Ran Out Of Tape" Mix

W
The "Ran Out Of Tape" Mix
2010

Well it's been a while since the last LFCast who knows whether there'll be another one but here's a DJ Mix by yours truly...

The "Ran Out Of Tape" Mix by willmunn

Tracklist:

1. Burial vs. Fourtet - Moth
2. Luke Vibert - Acid 2000
3. Boards of Canada - Midas Touch
4. Metro Area - Miura Bootleg
5. Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
6. Joy Orbison - So Derobe
7. Bop - Clear Your Mind
8. Falty DL - Anxiety
9. Martyn - Mega Drive Generation
10. Pangea - Memories
11. 2000F feat. J Kamata - You Don't Know What Love Is
12. Joy Orbison - Hymph Mngo
13. Ruckspin - Jibber
14. Millie and Andrea - Ever Since You Came Down
15. Prodigy - Out Of Space
16. Skream - Burning Up
17. Foul Play - Finest Illusion (Legal Mix)
18. Deep Blue - The Helicopter Tune
19. Origin Unknown - Valley Of The Shadows
20. Martsman - Hallow
21. Instramental - Watching You
--END OF TAPE--