There’s something altogether Aphex’y about the synth work on Bownr’s Water and Fire, the opening track for his EP of the same name on Ricochet Records.

The London imprint’s 13th release brings with it new signing Bownr, two original works, and three remixes; from label boss Lifecycle, and producers Mesak Al Tourettes.

Water and Fire has all the delicate hallmarks of that classic IDM 90s sound with a more tribal slant from the beat work, building itself into something altogether more trippy and hypnotic. Some of you may well remember first hearing this, nestled in Lifecycle’s showcase session mix for Mantis Radio 084 back in May last year. Either way it’s quite an introduction to the work of Bownr; Slovenian Tomaž Kladnik.

This theme of electrical psychedelia continues with Imagine Yourself; a more ‘glitch’ of an affair maintaining the tribal stylings from opener Water… with fractured beats and decaying looping vocal cuts. A fractal approach which is very befitting of Ricochet, a label increasingly pushing itself into more psychedelic electronics, without ever feeling the need to delve into the myriad of psy-trance subgenres to justify itself.

Crossing the line of IDM electro with some of the stranger tech/clicks you might have from a particularly forward thinking minimal or tech-house track from the past few years. A rare occurrence I know but stranger things have happened.

As far as the remixes go, and we have three on this EP,  Bristol producer Al Tourettes; a producer I’ll always love first and foremost for his heavy early electro work for sadly defunct [k]rack-troni[k]; turns in the first. His rework of Water and Fire keeps that Aphex style synth working it in before he goes down deep and chuggy with a dubtech roller that will keep plenty of the heads happy. Those accentuated tribal drums make for another quality track from the studio of Alec Storey’s Al Tourettes.

Next up in the remix pit is Mesak; it’s first time I’ve come across the Berlin based Finnish producer Tatu Metsätähti and his sound. Also remixing Water and Fire taking it into a clunkier headspace, and on first impressions I’m into what he’s done. It keeps the trippy aspect of the original piece with snippets/cuts into flourishes of brief edits. He restrains from using the main synth lead so much so it feels less like a remix and more like an original piece.

Turning in the final of the three remixes is label owner Lifecycle. A producer and DJ known for his excursions into deep and trippy electro varnished techbass. And he doesn’t disappoint either. Taking Imagine Yourself he adds in live-sounding jazz-drummer-like percussive work with gargling oddness and a nice touch on the sparingly used bass; which sounds played rather than electronically programmed.

This one is all about that drum work; those live sounding breakbeats, yup, I’m liking them. Nice to hear some cymbals too, rather than just hi hats in what is another well produced breaks track from the long haired producer.

So, another tidy piece of work from Ricochet and a great introduction, for me at least, into the work of the Slovenian Bownr. I wonder what else he’s done. I’m off to have a listen.

Released March 5th.

Bownr – Water and Fire
Grab 

Tracklist
Water and Fire
Imagine Yourself
Water and Fire (Al Tourettes remix)
Water and Fire (Mesak remix)
Imagine Yourself (Lifecycle remix)
RIC013

Continuing their aural assault on electronica worldwide are Acroplane with this, their 15th for cash and first for 2012; the debut release for the Belfast imprint from Patscan.

A producer I first came across on Leeds imprint Digital Distortions back in October; Patscan’s Pat Hime also has releases under his belt for Concrete Plastic, Lewd Recordings and his Plasticine album for Rednetic Recordings from 2007.

Making up the Mollycoddlers EP, Patscan weaves six tracks of melodic IDM electronica through to more dancefloor built electro jams. All six are delicately detailed.

The collection begins with Mollicodi; a beautiful synth waits to greet us; a gradual building series of clicks and ethereal shimmers of vocal; a digital jungle waterfall you walk into on some deep trip. Or something.

What I guess you can class as uptempo is Skipsyn which brings to the table giddy playing beats with a jam that brings a smile and a undeniable head nod. Fidimiddl continues with a deeper but no less upbeat piece. Prittipoli feels like a lullaby, chimes and childlike nondescript vocal snippets. An underlying drive flows up as the track begins to mature.

The most upbeat and sharp slice yet from the Mollycoddlers belongs to Boxydroplyn. It’s also the longest at just shy of 6 minutes. The beats are tight hi-tek electro but the added chimes and narrative-like melody take this track somewhere else entirely than that of a sweaty male dominated 4am club floor. Absolutely blinding this cut. Available now.

Patscan – Mollycoddlers EP
GRAB

Tracklist
Patscan – Mollicodl
Patscan – Skipsyn
Patscan – Fidimiddl
Patscan – Prittipoli
Patscan – Boxydroplyn
Patscan – Shrivlry
ACPR015

Hugarian born, Budapest based Peter Simon aka DJ Madd gears up for his debut LP release with The Real & The Shadow, due for release soon on Blackbox.

An album of darkside halfstep murk forms the core of The Real & The Shadow, a soundprint increasingly being termed ‘dungeon‘. A term I’m not overly familiar with but one that is perhaps best used to describe Youngsta’s weekly Rinse FM sessions on Monday nights. Spaced out pitch black chest rattling sub pressure.

There are more delicate touches on The Real… as closer Kyoto Station shows with its eastern textures and a lighter vibe together with that darkfloor bassweight that DJ Madd is a go-to-guy for.

Standout cut, for me, The Life You Chose has proven itself as a serious slab of dubplate on Youngsta’s show again and again the past few months. The Life… is a track I love both for its immense and bruising throb but also the wel placed Doug Bradley sample in his role as Hellraiser’s Pinhead, a favourite film of mine, so I’m somewhat bias. Nice to see it finally coming out.

From what I’ve heard of this album it’s not breaking any new ground, but it is big, and it is clever, so does it need to be new? Well I’d argue no. It does what it does, and it does it very well and I’m very happy with that.

DJ Madd – The Real & The Shadow [Blackbox]
VINYL CD

Tracklist
01. DJ Madd – The Real & The Shadow
02. DJ Madd – Deeply feat. Lady Maroo
03. DJ Madd – Riginal
04. DJ Madd – Body Pop
05. DJ Madd – Program feat. LX One
06. DJ Madd – No Tomorrow feat. Rebel MC
07. DJ Madd – Bristol 2 Budapest
08. DJ Madd – Junglist
09. DJ Madd – The Life You Chose
10. DJ Madd – Kensal Avenue
11. DJ Madd – Moving On
12. DJ Madd – Kyoto Station

Dublin native, London based producer and DJ P-Hocto drops a superb 76 minutes of gritty industrially textured techno.

Friend of Darkfloor, Parisien Mike Stern (himself a reliable source for darkfloor electronica mixes) highlighted this mix over on our Darkforum last week. Its taken me a few days to get around to listening to it but more than worth the wait.

A wall to wall vinyl mix with some of the best darker techno producers around. Orphx, Bas Mooy, Casual Violence, Grovskopa, Go Hiyama, Makaton, Adam X, Female, British Murder Boys, Sunil Sharpe… cracking stuff indeed.

P-Hocto – No Kissing
Download Stream

Tracklist
01. Orphx – Critical Mass
02. Bas Mooy – Bloedneus
03. Casual Violence – Dilute To Taste
04. Grovskopa – Strapped On Luka
05. Agony Forces – Migration
06. Kuniaki Takenaga – Meltybladdia
07. Grovskopa – Jahuar
08. Go Hiyama – First Hind Leg
09. 2nd Reality – Ed_Gein_Style
10. Makaton – Swarms Of New Flies
11. Adam X – Second Mission
12. Stanislav Tolkachev – Rudiment 4 (Grovskopa remix)
13. Bas Mooy & Charlton – Ibogaine
14. Delusions – Human Mistake
15. Female – Back Lash (female eDit)
16. British Murder Boys – Splinter
17. Grovskopa – Vund
18. Arrestar – Thoughts & Emotions
19. Dustin Zahn – American Revolver
20. Sunil Sharpe – Let Christy Take It
21. Go Hiyama – Residual Set (Radial remix)
22. Kyoudai Itsumo – Of The Flesh
23. Celluloid Mata – Eastern Works (with Drahomira Song Orchestra)

The UKs warped electro bass mentalist Alexis Cousins, better known as Jnr Hacksaw, offers for free download, fittingly or otherwise, a track self proclaimed as cuntstep.

Five minutes and forty seconds of flexing jammed sound waves pushing breakbeat fuelled electro. Hacksaw was one of the earlier producers to have been showcased on Mantis Radio, before the days even of Darkfloor official. And whilst his released output might have slowed down (as far as I can tell the last releases from him were back in June with the 12th and concluding 13th track of this Thirteen series) his sound is as sound system testing as it ever was.

Whilst pulling together this piece on his Mutant Cunt Jam I happened to read about his equally un-family-friendly named Fuckstick. A ravaged collection of controllers and guitar parts. Used with the band Wrongtourage.

It consists of an old bass attacked with a jigsaw to accommodate a cheap Behringer BCR controller. On the neck is a linear potentiometer, sometimes called a ribbon controller, above where the pickups used to be is a 1940s morse code key.

Jnr Hacksaw – Mutant Cunt Jam
DOWNLOAD

Also, whilst I’m here, here’s his collection of old tunes that never got released, made between 1998 and 2002.

A name that rose hard last year during the strongest and busiest year yet for hype bubbes was Blawan. And whilst most of those bubbles will level off or have already long popped, the name of Blawan is going to be around for a long time having established himself firmly in both the ever inventive and burgeoning bass music scenes of London and increasingly the techno fields of Berlin and beyond.

Details around this producer, self-described as being based in London via South Yorkshire are scarce. And in an age of sharing every minute details of one’s being (check Charlie Brooker’s recent piece about that very social mediated issue), I’m all for it.

Death Abyss who we featured on Mantis Radio recently, have even less details floating about than Blawan does and their music spoke volumes without needing to know they’d been raised on a diet of Prince and early Black Sabbath.

What there is, and I’m paraphrasing, is that he is a drummer. So that’s three points of interest. He is a solo artist, he is male and he is a drummer. That’s it.

So introductions are done. I wrote a short heads up piece last year highlighting Blawan’s superb remix of cerebral techno overlord Inigo Kennedy’s Revenge, which saw release back in October on ever on it Token Records.

Something that also saw release late last year is Peaches; a four version EP for Clone’s Basement Series. A groove permeating in each of the four cuts gets in and locks into my brain. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve had this EP on repeat beaming directly into my skull via the mighty power of my red and decidedly battered looking iPod nano.

The first version is Peaches (Coronation). Tight, filtered hats bring into a twang-like bass with a definite but mudded straight beat. It’s quick to lock you into that groove I mentioned. There is a definite rawness to the finish here, this sounds like a machine jam with minimal post DAW studio fiddling as do the remaining tracks.

Peaches (Freestone) is definitely a lighter touch that the opening Coronation. There’s still a definite drive but the drums are less bass heavy more clatter; there’s a shuffle to it. It’s that track that would be comfortable in house sets that want to switch up and dark techno sets that want to brighten that little bit and divert the floor.

The EPs third version comes as Peaches (Melting Flesh) and is a highlight of an already very strong EP. Think of it nestling between the first two versions; that beat together with the shuffle. The addition of that pitched down demon-like voice seals the deal for me. That and those mechanised quick fire claps, and, that heavy bass leaning down on you. Straight down the line awesome.

Finally the EP reaches its finish; the non-version, I’m assuming to be original, cut. The darkest of the four in my opinion and most ‘techno’ of the four too. Stripped down, and with the most pronounced beat yet akin to a hammer wielding demented goblin with a weight problem.

It’s still got that shuffle, that groove and just superb percussion work. From what I’ve heard of Blawan thus far, this is easily my favourite release of his. I cannot wait until he takes us somewhere else entirely on a longer LP format.

Essentially stylish and a name to keep a close ear on.

Blawan – Peaches
GRAB

Tracklist
Blawan – Peaches (Coronation)
Blawan – Peaches (Freestone)
Blawan – Peaches (Melting Flesh)
Blawan – Peaches
CBS011

Darkfloor: The first of two guest reviews from a producer with Darkfloor connections operating covertly under an alias. Over to Opine Kosinski and their review for 2008′s Atrocitizer by John Stillings & Larry Kerr’s Steel Hook Prostheses.

Opine Kosinski: The more vacuous candified myuzak Simon Cowell insidiously pours down my ear holes, the more hyperloud brickwalled-to-the-ceiling mainstream yawn-step (or identikit r’n’b ‘singers’ who struggle with pitch and moving beyond G major or posh boys in tight cardies, strumming guitars, squeezing their gentleman parts to achieve that falsetto) I am exposed to, the more I need to eviscerate my own ear drums and fill my head with coruscating NOISE (or NOIZE, if you dig US spellings).

Having spent the afternoon with my niece, politely listening to her pre-teen adoration of all things Cheryl Cole, I headed down to a local record shop, where I headed straight for the experimental section and bought the first CD I’d never heard of.

Noise for me fills a gap that punk left: an iconoclastic counter-culture in an age that holds up consumerism and mass-marketism as THE NEW RELIGION; something that retains the power to shock, that prompts cries of ‘turn that shit off’; a truly underground scene that thrives in its small way in numerous cities and towns across the world (even villages in New Zealand – Our Love Will Destroy the World), peopled by dedicated and enthusiastic individuals eschewing ‘success’.

There is noise and there is noise. The permutations of what should by rights be a narrow genre never cease to interest me: full-on confrontational NLP-inspired ravings from Whitehouse to guitar-based Jazkamer or Muscletusk, from noise-terrorist Kylie Minoise’s situationist live shows to the drones of Marzuraan or Sunn O))). Ever since seeing Whitehouse play live, to a surprisingly packed club, with a ferocious energy bordering on the sexual, I’ve been a convert to this rich, passionate and subversive genre.

Steel Hook Prostheses’ ‘Atrocitizer’ is my introduction to the noise scene of Houstin and represents yet another aspect this genre. Horror films rarely seem to have quite the music to match but this album is, for me, the sound track to the best horror-noise film yet to be made. While I don’t wish to use the term ‘cinematic’ (no pounding jungle drums or extravagant Devine-esque scapes – would ‘filmic’ do?) this feels as if it was made for an imagined film. It’s less out-and-out power electronics and more bitterly and harshly sinister. Swarthes of distortion are suffused with hideous and disgusting devil words, with interjections of rich drones and tentative soundscapes ebbing in the distance.

Atrocitizer is atmospheric and textured, without the hint of a recognisable sound or instrument that can mar other filmic music, and may even be the rare kind of noise that you can just about listen to in bed – I shall try tonight. It’s always refreshing to hear something that’s a bit different and difference can be a rare quality these days. Four stars.

This is Opine Kosinski, signing off.

Steel Hook Prostheses – Atrocitizer
GRAB (US) GRAB (UK)

Tracklist
Steel Hook Prostheses – Dehumanization
Steel Hook Prostheses – Murderous Science
Steel Hook Prostheses – Tepid Discharge
Steel Hook Prostheses – In Dreams We Are Malevolent
Steel Hook Prostheses – Skin Melt Threshold
Steel Hook Prostheses – Scarifier (Alternate Version)
Steel Hook Prostheses – Trauma Bonding
Steel Hook Prostheses – Grand Declaration Of Obedience
Steel Hook Prostheses – Atrocitizer
Steel Hook Prostheses – The Excruciation Sequence
Malignant: TumorCD34

You know how some things completely pass by you and you just straight up miss them. Well I guess I was looking the other way or something because about 6 months ago when one of my favourite techno DJ duos; Dead Baby In A Plastic Bag released parts two and three to their Clouds Of Sorrow And Confidence triptych mix I never noticed.

I wrote about part one back in April with positive adoration and these subsequent continuing and concluding parts are equally essential.

Unclean and Pripad, the team behind the Dead Baby project have an approach to programming dark techno based electronics that ensures they stay on my iPod for many many months. And as such I’m still miffed about just how I missed these two mixes.

Nevertheless here we are; two mixes weighing in with some 3.5 hours of darkfloor approved techno industrial electronica. You’ll be hard pushed to find a better mix/series, you need these in your life. Taking a look at the tracklists will present you with a guide to what to expect but it’s how they mix and program the sounds that makes them, for me, so good.

Dead Baby In A Plastic Bag – Clouds Of Sorrow And Confidence Part 2
Download Stream

Tracklist
Cut Hands – Rain Washes Away Everything
Zero Point Energy – Structure
The End Of All Existence – Endzeit
Antonym – Corcusate
Daily Fauli – Speed
Traject – Metropolis
Cyclo. – Id#08
Roman Lindau – Sub Suggestion
Kangding Ray – Mojave
O/V/R – Post-Traumatic Son (Marcel Dettmann Construction 1)
Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir – Sonar 123 (Edit)
Basqiam – Mantra
Silent Servant – El Mar (Svreca Remix 2)
Truncate – Jack
Emptyset – Point
Sandwell District – Svar (Live In Graz)
Violence FM – Perspectives
Voices From The Lake Feat. Donato Dozzy & Neel – Drop 3
Kryptic Universe – Diffusion Decay (313 Mix)
Autechre – PCE Freeze 2.8i
Sendai – Northeast
Demdike Stare – Filtered Through Prejudice
Starkey – Cockroach (Distal Remix)
Van Rivers – Wood Sequence (DVS1 Remix)
Unltd – Subversion
John Giorno – Purple Heart (Extract)
Tommy Four Seven – G (Regis Remix)
Mania – Mercenary
HTRK – HA

Dead Baby In A Plastic Bag – Clouds Of Sorrow And Confidence Part 3
Download Stream

Tracklist
Mordant Music – Travelogues 9: TiMe BegriMed
Submania/Ekmoah – Armagedon
Marcel Fengler – Shiraz
Perc – My Head Is Slowly Exploding (Ancient Methods Remix)
Sandra Electronics – Protection Now! (Demo – Boomkat Exclusive)
Kangding Ray – Pruitt Igoe (Fall)
Mark Broom & James Ruskin – Night Nurse
Inigo Kennedy – Cloudless
Kentolevi – Imola
Sonic Youth – Shaking Hell
The Great Taitor – The Great Traitor
Sigha – Politics Of Dying (James Ruskin Remix)
Radio Slave – Absolute Absolute
Surgeon – Radiance
Badawi – Anlan
AQF – Rhythm Bomb II (Art Greenwood Edit)
Agony Forces – Kybalion (Kero Remix)
Scorn – Shake Hand
Iesope Drift – Untitled
Vorheit – Norsk
Equinox – Into Battle (Joey Beltram Remix)
Silent Servant – El Salvaje
Samuli Kemppi – Quantum Mechanics (P.A.S. Quantum Dub Edit)
Truncate – Truncate 7
Regis/Female – Against Nature (11 Reclaimed Fragments)
Puzzleweazle & Richard Devine – Mad Bonce
Anstam – Albert
Fluid – Infected Memory (Eggblood Remix)
Anthony Child – Youknowiloveyou
Shackleton – Fireworks (T++ Remix)
Mira Calix – The Wolf, The Sheep & The Door
Various Artists – No. 8

The name Mike Shiflet might not be that familiar to you but he’s an artist signed to the avant-garde and experimental label type.

A label home to amongst others; Yellow Swans, Xela, Deaf Center, Grouper and Thomas Köner. Shiflet is a fairly recent addition to my own music collection; I found him late last year when I picked up his excellent, at times intense EP; Sufferers (Extended Mixes). A collection of drone and noise both delicate and powerful. Spatially aware and taunt.

His RRRighteous mix approaches things similarly, type say of the recording:

A blistering blend of fuzzy noise from Ron Lessard’s legendary RRR label (based out of New England’s Lowell), expertly pieced together by noise survivor Mike Shiflet. This is no mere patchwork of tracks, either – Mike has layered and sculpted this mix as if it was one of his own records, and the result is breathtaking.

Mike Shiflet – RRRighteous
Download Stream

Tracklist
01. Asmus Tietchens : Ptomaine / Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock : Dein Mund
So Rot / (Lockgroove)
02. Prick Decay : Mud Sound for Car Stereos
03. Impact Test : The Zone / Pain Jerk : SSPK-DSPK
04. Merzbow : This Dying Toad Become Forth… / Howard Stelzer &
Jason Talbot : temp.
05. Thomas Dimuzio : Sonicism / (Lockgroove)
06. Can’t : New Secret
07. Due Process : RRRadio Six / R.H.Y. Yau : Contiguous
08. Emil Beaulieau : Moonlight in Vermont / Chop Shop : Plays Emil Beaulieau
09. Alan Licht & Tamio Shirashi : Our Lips Are Sealed / Prurient : Three Sisters
10. Busratch : ????? / MSBR : Destructive Locomotion
11. (Lockgroove) / Kiyoshi Mizutani : Millstone
12. Runzelstirn & Merzbow & Gurgelstock / Haters : Ordinarily Nowhere
13. Jason Lescalleet : Accidental – Oriental
14. Masonna : Noisextra

Every two weeks, I sum up the best of the best of the electro grooves I recommend over at Vocode City of Bass to come up with the highlights of the electro scene from the past 14 days. Let’s go

The Ghost That Walks – Angry Angels [Satamile US]
Grab

This is the sound of Metalheadz if they did electro.. darkcore…hard, uncompromising and the reason I went and put this on the big ass 15″ subs halfway through writing it up. I missed this EP from The Ghost back when it first dropped last year.. glad to have found it. +CoB

Morphology – Information Paradox EP [Cultivated Electronics]
Grab

This new joint from Morphology ‘Information Paradox’ off Cultivated Electronics is dripping with more funk juice that Ice Cube’s hair during his N.W.A days. Dark and paranoid, yet sublime and funky.. this is a must-have. +CoB

Impakt – Resonant Escape EP [Solar One Music]
Grab

‘Dance The Pain’ is the one on this 6 tracker from Impakt, off the ‘Resonant Escape’ EP on Solar One. Definitely one to close a set with and leave the party people feeling like they experienced something… most excellent. When a song loops in my head long after I stopped listening, I just know man. Good grooves. +CoB

Detroit In Effect – Work It [MAP US]
Grab

‘In Yo Face’ and ‘Shake A Little Faster’ are the ones off this excellent EP from Detroit In Effect. Of all the cuts I compiled for this two week wrap up and jammed to as I was writing, this is the one that had Wax Jr doing his breakdance moves at City of Bass HQ. So Detroit..so dope. +CoB

Hardfloor – Skill Shot Remixes [Hardfloor Germany]
Grab

I’ve been listening to Hardfloor tunes near 18 years now, and that they’re now collabing with some of the best and brightest producers on the electro scene is damn sure doing it for me. Features several brilliant remixes by the likes of Versalife and Pip Williams, and includes the straight groovin’ original. +CoB

Paul Blackford – Voyager 2 [Sneak Preview]
Listen

The man like Paul Blackford puts in a deep groover of an electro tune, one for the spaceheads and bassheads, and manages to give you that incredible deep slow vibe yet fast-paced drums Militant Science is known for. Wicked and hopefully will see a proper release. +CoB

Karatuk – XR – [Kotangens Records]
Grab

Deep space electro on this 3 tracker by Karatuk off Kotangens.’Colour Images’ is the stand out track here, one for the head.phon crew but the other two joints don’t slack off either – scattershot beats, pulses and movement that all joins together in the right places. I know I could get a lot more traffic by posting up certain artists and labels, but that’s not what this is about.. it’s about music exploration and you guys always knowing you’re gonna hear the creme-de-la-creme in electro when you visit Vocode City of Bass and Darkfloor. +CoB

Ever Vivid – Sketches of My Life [Open Mind]
Grab

Incredibly deep Detroit/Tresor inspired techno and electro from Ever Vivid on Open Mind Recordings. Not Tresor during the jackhammer days, but Tresor during the 6 AM sunrise can-it-get-any-deeper days. +CoB

Galaxian – Looting of Reason EP [Last Known Trajectory]
Grab

Not content to follow pre-defined electro formula’s or to preach the genre bible, Galaxian takes it to the next level, and it’s why I keep listening. Such a great release, and most definitely recommended. +CoB

Dieptepunt – Feeling Deep (Delta Funktionen Remixes) [Dieptepunt Holland]
Grab

Apparently limited to 300 vinyl copies with no re-press planned, the 808 mix on Dieptepunt ‘Feeling Deep’ Delta Funktionen remix is the one.. Masterful production skills, and definitely a top Vocode City of Bass pick. +CoB

Hope you enjoy listening to these cuts as much as I enjoy writing about them. See you in two weeks.

So last week I wrote a heads up about the new Imaginary Forces LP from Anthoney J Hart & Balázs Pándi: Uppstigande, this is its Ascension.

The album recently dropped on Ohm Resistance and should at the top of your to buy list.

Anyways, earlier tonight I came across the following mix recording Uppstigande (Ascension) and it’s built with tracks too good not to share. It, together with four other transmissions can be found over at Hart’s Entropy and Energy site.

As a primer for my forthcoming album Uppstigande I have compiled this special podcast of music that inspired and informed me during the process of making this album.

Featuring Coil, Pan Sonic, Sleeparchive, Masami Akita & Russell Haswell, Autechre, Alvin Lucier, Whitehouse, Karl O Conner & Mick Harris, and one of my personal favourite pieces of synth work from John Carpenter; this not a selection to miss.

Imaginary Forces – Uppstigande (Ascension)
Download

Tracklist
01 Kenneth Kirschner – 100810
02 Alan Vega – Future Sex
03 Antti Rannisto – Ääniesineitä 7
04 Ilpo Väisänen – Asumaton
05 Pan Sonic – Uranokemia
06 Masami Akita & Russell Haswell – Fend Off Your Miserable Grief
07 Alvin Lucier – Bird & Person Dyning
08 The Ashante & Ewe of Ghana – Akom
09 Songhay Gulu Drummers (Niger)
10 Whitehouse – Dyad
11 Sleeparchive – 10 Years, 3 Beers, 3 Albums And No Seat
12 Autechre – pce freeze 28i
13 Sleeparchive – Hospital 03
14 Karl O’Connor & Mick Harris – We Can Elude Control
15 Autechre – LCC
16 Pan Sonic – Kierto
17 Closed Circuits – The River
18 Consumer Electronics – Grubbing
19 Sleeparchive – 10 Years, 3 Beers, 3 Albums And No Seat
20 Coil – Something
21 John Carpenter – Assault on Precinct 13 (Main Title)

Mantis Radio 099 + Duskky
Download Stream iTunes Podcast

DVNT
Vatican Shadow – Schwarzkopf Arc Of Triumph [Hospital Productions]
Raime – You Will Lift Your Frame Clear [Blackest Ever Black]
Inigo Kennedy – Cautum [Asymmetric]
Merino + Rat – Metamorfosis [Monofonicos]
Raidho – Circul [RUNE]
ONTAL – TAPHONOMY [Dub]
Havery McKay – Body to Body [Soma Records]
Inigo Kennedy – Squirkle [Asymmetric]
Deh-Noizer + Run DMC – It’s like that [Dub]
Mr76ix – 1ne [SKAM]
Jon Convex – Your Mind (or Mine) [NAKEDLUNCH]
Radioactive Man – Flying Fuck [Wang Trax]
Phat Chex – Skin Pop [Dub]
Jon E Alpha – Behind The Door [Western Panorama Recordings]
Ourobonic Plague – Connection Failed [Twice Removed Records]
Patscan – Boxydroplyn [Acroplane]
FSOL – Calcium (Kraymon Remix) [Dub]

DUSKKY
Minor Science – Ngwane [Dub]
wAgAwAgA – Dij Bakery [Dub]
Hurtdeer – Antilove [Broken Bubble]
Hurtdeer – Lick (Duskky Remix) [Dub]
Splines – Step Up [Dub]
Duskky – Crab Variation (Splines remix) [Broken Bubble]
Quarry – Quadplex (Duskky remix) [Stylss]
Gravious – Torus (Duskky remix) [Broken Bubble]
Duskky + Macka – No Lies [Dub]
Minor Science – Words [Dub]
Duskky – Tension [Dub]
Duskky – Chronotherapy [Broken Bubble]

099 /

For our 2nd show of 2012 we head to Bristol to get a lesson in dubfunk from Duskky.

the showcase

Bristol based producer Sandy Finlayson turns in an exclusive session mix for Mantis Radio 099. We put a few questions to Duskky late last week for our first interview at Darkfloor (expect more soon).

He had this to say about tonight’s mix:

Well it’s going to be a mixture of speeds and style, mostly from members of Mothers Against Noise and Broken Bubble (the netlabel run by Cogidubnus that’s released a few of my more recent EPs).

Plenty of unreleased stuff generally giving a flavour of what I play on soundsystems plus some more weirdy beardy numbers that I can’t normally get away with! Expect wonky textures and plenty of bass.

previous shows
MANTIS ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

Hi there and welcome to another installment of the Darkfloor Stalker. A nice start to 2012, from brain-flexing modular work-outs right through to crunchy hip-hop. Some new faces as ever, mix down the bottom of the page. You know the score.

Scanner – Souvenir
First up is Londoner Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner. Souvenir is a beautiful, pensive track, ambient keys contrast complex, synthesised drums. The arrangement knods heads at the likes of Steve Reich as phasing strings subtly build over the crunchy beats.

Robin’s journey began at the young age of 12, playing around with sounds on tape recorders. He then progressed to experiments with reel-to-reel machines, then synthesisers and computers.

These days Robin is kept busy. 2012 will see him touring with the Heritage Orchestra as a musical director for Live_Transmission, presenting a score for a ballet in Lille, France for l’Opera and his band Githead are releasing their 4th album coming out on Swim.

Be sure to check out past releases out on experimental labels Bine Music and Sub Rosa. Keep an eye out for an album coming out in February on the latter entitled ‘Colofon & Compendium‘. Robin tells me he is also collaborating on a new album with pianist Anni Hogan, featuring Jarboe among others. My ears are perked.

Head over to his site for more info.

Julien Mier – Sunken
Coming in next is Sunken by Julien Mier. Get out a pen and make note of this guy. Already booked to support Plaid and Funckarma this year, he’s someone we’ll be hearing a lot more of.

Sunken is super-swung, melodic electronica at its best. Beautiful warm synths, crip percussion and haunting atmospheres… As is clearly evident, Julien has a long-standing musical background, having played “a lot of instruments”, as he puts it modestly.

Roll on 2006, Julien meet sequencer, sequencer, this is Julien. What followed couldn’t have been more natural, Julien, finally able to realise his ideas, began recording, looping, cutting and pasting thousands of sound objects into a fragmented, melodic waterfall of sound.

He’s also a member of Night Shift, a futuristic, bass-driven collective founded by garage producer Inofaith. Some serious talent on there and a great place to check out new music. Set your bookmarks.

Check releases on Shipwrec and Lomechanik and keep eyes and ears out for more to come.

Boris Noiz – Untitled
Up next is a current favourite of mine.

Untitled is a pumping blend of African rhythms and broken, techno might. An aggressive fusion of bass styles and genres, destined for dystopia.

Boris Noiz has been making tracks and creating his own path of sonic destruction since 2003. He has put out releases on Bankai, Yellow Machines, Subtrakt, Combat Recordings and EX7 and remixed renowned artists such as Scorn, Machine Code, Anodyne, Point B and Gunjack. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

Besides performing in numerous venues in his home country – Serbia and festivals such as ‘Exit’ for the last 3 years, he has also performed outside of Serbia in countries such as Russia, Greece, Croatia, Spain and Hungary. His tracks have received support from Surgeon, Rob Booth (Electronic Explorations), Scanone, Warlock & Noyeahno, Stormfield and many others.

Boris Noiz also runs Syndetic Recordings along with Dekode, DrumR and Molez. Its main aim is to promote diverse alternative electronic music with emphasis on bass – sound as tasty as it looks? You know it does!

Molez – Gift
I was delighted to be asked by the Acre Recordings crew to remix something off Molez’s upcoming EP. His tracks are always right at the top of my crates and have done plenty of damage on Berlin’s darkest floors.

Gift was the obvious candidate for me, stark beats, bleak soundscapes and thundering bass. Allghoi Khorkhoi, the second track on the EP is a deep, crunchy affair- atmospheric, distorted dub built on blocks of noise.

Molez is a student of Electronic Music and Media Arts in Hungary. He uses software such as Max/MSP, CSound, and AudioSculpt to create and develop his own patches and sounds – resulting in his own unique, hand-crafted style.

You can find more of his output on Syndetic, Dubkraft, Rottun, Digital Distortions, Acroplane and now Acre Recordings.

My remix sits alongside reworkings by C Mantle and Datacrashrobot (both of whom have been featured previously in these articles). No, its not as good as you’re imagining, its even better. Bottle up a construction site and then smash it against the wall, that’ll be close to C Mantle’s mind-blowing take. Datacrashrobot blazes out a wonked-out electroid version, tight chopping and slicing from one monster beat to the next.

The EP is out for free now. Head over to Acre Recordings for more info.

Dubh Thrian – Abandon All Hope
Next up is Leitrim-born Dubh Thrian. Adandon All Hope is a beautiful track. Waves of haunting ambience suck in and out of crunchy, granular beats and squelchy percussion. Its big and warm with a combination of dub influences, slices of noise and tight half-step beats. Lights off, headphones on full stuff.

‘For me the trick is to get to the stage where I’m not thinking about what I’m doing and then something interesting usually happens.’

Keep your eyes out for a new ep/live show soon, hoped to be ready for the spring. In the meantime, grab some great releases on Alkalinear Recordings.

Hidden Persuader – Funk Droid
Cheeky mix for a cheeky track. Hidden Persuader delivers a bouncy trip into machine-driven electro funk. Funk Droid literally oozes with groove- Its all about that bassline. Sharp, acid-infected goodness.

The Hidden Persuader has been producing funk-fueled electro for over 10 years. He’s based in Wales and has something of a reputation for demolishing dancefloors. His sound sources consist of circuit bent instruments, frequency feedback, loop and software manipulation and bass. Minced up, spat out and squashed into your ears.

He’s currently co-running Access Tonal Communications and releasing music with ATC, Bass 4 Bots and Shameless Toady.

Kid606 – Crudeworld
Kid606 is certainly no stranger to us over here at Darkfloor. His sound is sometimes playful, sometimes menacing – from bass driven lo-fi weapons to deep dubby numbers. Crudeworld somehow captures both these styles – its deep and dark with a heavy rolling bass.

‘Inspired by the best of electronica, punk, jungle, hiphop, bass, dancehall and techno, Kid606 Fuses it all together with a love of pop culture that Andy Warhol would approve of.’

This one is out on his own Tigerbeat6 imprint with a handful of tasty remixes. Get to the shops!

Mad EP & Shadowhuntaz – In Living Stereo
Acroplane records seem to going from strength to strength of late. Taking up from their last devastating techno release by Deadsound & Videohead, now they bring us heavy calibre hip-hop in the form of Mad EP & Shadowhuntaz. Razor-edged beats, gut-churning bass and spitting lyrics.

Mad EP is Mathew Peters, an Iowa native who enjoys defying expectations as he skims through every imaginable genre. His music is made with computer, live instrumentation, found sounds and field recordings.

At eight years old Mathew began to learn cello, and at fourteen was already onto music theory, composition and improvisation. He studied cello performance at Northwestern University with the world-reknowned Hans Jorgen Jensen. While still an undergraduate, he did an internship at WFMT (Chicago’s fine arts and classical radio station) and became the youngest person to produce the Chicago Symphony Orchestra radio broadcasts in their history. After two seasons, he went on to study sound recording and digital media at McGill University in Montreal.

To say the guy is gifted is an understatement.

Check out ground-breaking EPs on Ad Noiseam and Hymen Records, jam-packed with guest appearances.

Shadow Huntaz are one of Skam’s finest signings. They were originally formed by a trio of MC’s, Breaff, Dream and Nongenetic, all of whom are based in different cities in the US, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles respectively. For their first full-length release on Skam records, Corrupt Data, they were joined by brothers Don and Roel Funcken from The Netherlands, better known as Funckarma.

Mudlogger – The Rice Fields
And decending into modular chaos next as Mudlogger takes over. Originally from England, he currently works from a small village in East Thailand. His music is 100% eurorack modular setup, with no external sequencing, recorded in mono in one take to a laptop.

‘Having no presets, no BPM is very refreshing.’

Ear-splitting goodness. Mudlogger gives all of his music away for free. Head over to his SoundCloud and fill your speakers with his incredible journeys, tweeked from simple waveforms into mind-bending sonic structures.

MANASYt – Head Transplant
Jacking electro up next from Petar Tassev aka MANASYt, a Bulgarian producer with attitude by the tonne. Bass-driven breaks, sweeping industrial atmospheres and piercing synths dominate. Bursting with raw energy, the track is bursting with strange mechanical noises drenched in reverb, dissonant stabs and a wonky, shuffled electro beat.

With past releases on Touchin Bass, MNX and Bunker, he’s no stranger to the scene. Expect to be hearing a lot more from him this year. Label heads, you know what to do.

Petar also releases synth-driven electronica under Sam Lowry.

the Darkfloor Stalker 005
DOWNLOAD STREAM

00:00 Scanner – Souvenir
03:30 Julien Mier – Sunken
07:50 Boris Noiz – Untitled
12:03 Molez – Gift
15:28 Dubh Thrian – Abandon All Hope
19:47 The Hidden Persuader – Funk Droid
21:28 Kid606 – Crudeworld
23:20 Mad EP & Shadow Huntaz – In Living Stereo
27:12 Mudlogger – The Rice Fields
28:25 MANASYt – Head Transplant

Put together by the DJ and producer Jerome Hill, New Beats the House is the first part of his Belgian Odyssey mix series. I can think of few people better suited to educate and illustrate this often overlooked part of dance musics history.

My knowledge of the New Beat scene is tiny compared to what I know about Detroit and the origins of techno in the 80s; and I’m hardly the expert on the Belleville Three or UR either. Jerome:

People talk about Detroit as being the place that shaped the techno sound, but you don’t often hear about the Belgians, who for me and many others were equally important and had their own individual and harder sound which gradually morphed through New Beat and Hard Beat to Acid, Rave, Techno and even Trance…

He continues:

These are some of my favourite New Beats to come out of Belgium in the late 80′s and there are a couple of later Techno/New Beat tracks on there too.. Two tracks on this mix weren’t made in Belgium, but could have been…

How many parts this series will run for, I don’t know yet. In the meantime here’s an article from a 1991 issue of NME written by The Grid’s Richard Noise.

Jerome Hill – New Beats the House (Belgian Odyssey part 1)
Download Stream

Tracklist
n/a

Mantis 099 + Duskky
BROADCASTING AT 20:00 GMT ON FUTURE MUSIC

For 2nd show of 2012 we head to Bristol to get a lesson in dubfunk from Duskky.

the showcase

Bristol based producer Sandy Finlayson turns in an exclusive session mix for Mantis Radio 099. We put a few questions to Duskky late last week for our first interview at Darkfloor (expect more soon).

He had this to say about tonight’s mix:

Well it’s going to be a mixture of speeds and style, mostly from members of Mothers Against Noise and Broken Bubble (the netlabel run by Cogidubnus that’s released a few of my more recent EPs).

Plenty of unreleased stuff generally giving a flavour of what I play on soundsystems plus some more weirdy beardy numbers that I can’t normally get away with! Expect wonky textures and plenty of bass.

previous shows
MANTIS ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

You might have seen the name Funerals before on Darkfloor associated with the San Diego production duo AAIMON, who some of you’ll remember delivered a very special session for Mantis Radio 089 last year.

Indeed the very track that I’m writing about now was featured in their session mix: Hold On This Will Hurt that they recorded for the show.

Funerals have remixed AAIMON and AAIMON have remixed Funerals both to great effect. Funerals track Water Over Night is taken from the forthcoming compilation and joint label release between US based Tundra Dubs, a label with an impressive and growing soundprint; and the UK label Robot Elephant, who I’ll confess I’ve not heard of before now. Mind you, another name I’ve been keeping tabs on is the Australian producer Ourobonic Plague who features on Robot Elephant’s half of the comp.

Funerals; the self confessed midnight-techno duo from Columbus, Ohio lay down a beautifully dark textured gothic track.

Robot Elephant Records from London and Tundra Dubs from Oakland, California are two labels from opposite ends of the world but tightly connected by strong DIY ethics, fierce independence and an unmatched zeal to champion new and unusual sounds. After last year’s similarly themed, critically acclaimed ‘ISVOLT’ compilation, Robot Elephant embarks on a joint venture alongside Tundra with label bosses Sebastian Robot Elephant and Ben Tundra each curating one side of five songs featuring promising talents on their respective labels roster.

The compilation is penned for release March 19th and will be available as a vinyl or CD package. AAIMON also feature with their track Low.

Robot Elephant Records’ side:
01.Husband – Flowers
02.Ritualz – Heat
03.Hipdiebattery – Bones
04.The Church of Synth – Geh Ins Licht
05.Ourobonic Plague – The Outer Alphabet

Tundra Dubs’ side:
06. AAimon – Low
07. Funerals – Water Over Night
08. Mascara – Sonnambula
09. Grimm Soundsystem – Korby Bryers
10. I†† – Local Locusts

Just over 2 years ago now I was asked by Paul Blackford, label head of Militant Science and UK electrobass producer extraordinaire; to program and record a retrospective mix of his labels releases to date.

My first commercially available mix, Data Terrorists was an exciting project to undertake especially when presented with the back catalogue of a label that released EP after EP of upfront bass heavy hi-tek electro such as Militant Science were and still are.

Towards the end of last year Paul contacted me to say he was going to get the mix re-mastered and republish it which he did a few weeks ago.

You can grab it for just £0.40 (to cover the bandcamp hosting costs).

It’s a mix I’m very proud of.

DVNT Presents – Data Terrorists Volume One [Militant Science]
GRAB

Tracklist
01: Paul Blackford – Plasma Energy
02: Paul Blackford – Renegade Bassline
03: Torq – Change Up’s (Headnoaks remix)
04: Scrase – Stakker
05: Headnoaks / Synapse – Power 2 Da Beatz / Jedi Nights
06: Synapse – Jedi Nights
07: Galaxian – Warhead
08: Synapse / Paul Blackford – Back The Fuck Up / G-Force
09: Paul Blackford – G-Force / Brain Dead FM
10: Vadz / Paul Blackford – Bees On Speed / Kaoss Theory
11: Paul Blackford / Scrase / Sound Synthesis – Kaoss Theory / Ford / Bass Maze
12: Sound Synthesis – Bass Maze
13: Paul Blackford / D-Bud – Crime Wave / Unlawful Entry
14: Synth Alien – Straylight Operation
15: Sound Synthesis – Spin
16: Beagle – Scanning Date
17: Badaszewski – Perfect Simulation
18: Fullspectrum – Replicant
19: The Exaltics – No Turning Back
20: Zen Robots – T Galaxy Lifeforms
21: Soundex Phonetic – Shoot 2 Kill
22: Paul Blackford / Chromia – We Have The Technology / Draisienne
23: Beagle – Crazy Person
24: Smashback – Banksters
cat# MSIA039 / MSR 022

Seems like a Placid mix is long overdue. So here’s one he recorded in mid December.

Bristol’s Paul Wise has quite the collection of acid house records as this mix proves yet again (can you tell I’m jealous). Standby for two hours of proper acid house mixed on the original vinyl by an ambassador of the classic sound.

Proper. no nonsense acid house. There is some absolute filth on here.. I’ll do a tracklist in the New Year.

If you like it please share it, pass it on to fellow acid lovers.

Placid – The Art of Acid
Download

Tracklist
Plastikman
Joe R lewis
White label promo
Omar S
Humanoid
Russ Gabriel
CCO
Random XS
Elec Pt1
Ricky Smith
Jared Wilson
State 808
Hienostunut Sonni
TinMan
CCO
Gene Hunt
Mike Dearborn
James Martin
Social Disco Club
A Guy called Gerald
Sequential
Armando
?
Lory D
Technodelia
James Martin
Seldom felt
Underground Resistance

For our first interview at Darkfloor we talk to Bristolian Sandy Finlayson ahead of his guest session on Mantis Radio.

Hello Sandy. So who are you and what do you do?

I’m Duskky, and I’ve been making various kinds of ‘bass music’ for the last four years or so. I started off having a bit of a dabble with dubstep and it just kinda moved on from there, incorporating extra sounds as I gained an interest in them.

These days I guess there’s elements of dubstep, dub, uk funky & house, techno, jungle / drum ‘n’ bass, breakbeat hardcore and a smattering of psychedelic trance, spanning a tempo range of 100bpm to 160-ish, which are the bookends for my DJ sets too.

Recently I joined the Wonk#ay Records clan and have been playing quite a few gigs with them, they’ve been really supportive of the more experimental angle I take with tunes. Look out for a Duskky EP coming out with them in the next few months.

Sounds a diverse and rewarding approach. Where you aren’t limited to one specific sound or style, it’s at the core of what we aim at Darkfloor and on Mantis Radio.

What’s your production process like?

When I sit down to make a tune I tend to have a few ideas I want to try out – maybe a certain kind of atmosphere, a particular sound or speed – but I usually don’t have a clear picture of the end result.

My approach for a long time now has been not to dwell on things for too long. I see people spending months working on a tune and I just can’t hack that. I have to get a tune out in a couple of weeks maximum otherwise I lose that initial spark that made it really interesting to me.

I find making the tracks quite quickly allows me to try out more weird and wonderful ideas because I know if it comes across badly then I’ll be working on a new one soon anyway, but at least I’ve experimented as much as possible.

I try to keep it fresh for myself too, deliberately setting myself rules and challenges if I think I’m falling into familiar patterns in successive tunes. It’s all about keeping it fresh and interesting for myself really, and hopefully it is for other people too!

Yea, I think that comes across from listening to your music.

We’ve been big fans of Acroplane Recordings at Mantis Radio for years; how did you hook up with the Belfast digital imprint?

Thanks! Yeah I’m really glad that album’s out there. We (Mothers Against Noise) had just decided that we were sick of calling referring to our music as dubstep, because every time we played at parties people would always come up to us and be like “when are you gonna play some dubstep” so it seemed to make sense to call it something else.

Dubfunk felt like a good one ‘cos it touched on dubstep, dub and drumfunk drum‘n’bass which were the key influences at the time.

We’ve just carried on giving pretty much all our output to that label since then and carried on developing the sound, but at the point where Illeism was released we were doing it in a pretty purist way – rolling breakbeats, sub bass and a little bit of texture.

In terms of releasing through Acroplane it was just sort of fell together. wAgAwAgA‘s album, Mrepsican, had been a real eye opener because suddenly there was someone making music which was similar in many ways, but was ultimately carried by a really strong personality which would be impossible to replicate.

Then a close associate of mine, Hurtdeer, released an album through the label so it just felt like it made sense to approach Paul (Acroplane label boss) with a selection of tunes and see what he thought. He was into it and I’m hugely grateful to him for putting it out – it’s still my best known release by a long shot!

Are you planning any other work with Acroplane this year?

There’s not been any discussion of a follow up, but it would be great to do something with Acroplane again.

You mention Mothers Against Noise, who or what is it?

Mothers Against Noise is a collective of Producers and DJs that came together two, or maybe three years ago. We were originally all based out of London but recently some of us moved to Bristol so it’s become split between those two cities.

We’ve done a few events, about 4 podcasts and a compilation but the primary aim is to kinda join forces and help promote each others music through association, sharing fan bases and the like.

As a collective it’s been a bit dormant for a little while (even though the individual members have been very busy), but we’ve got a new website and a few other treats in the pipeline so expect to hear more from us in 2012.

The current lineup:
Duskky, Hurtdeer, Second Line, Myr, Macka, Tufrs, [Insert Gore], wAgAwAgA, Krest

Influence wise, who ticks your boxes?

To be honest the people that I’ve been enjoying most are fellow Mothers Against Noise people and associated producers from other labels I’m part of. In terms of who’s been really killing it for me recently I’d have to say: Hurtdeer, Second Line, Cogidubnus, Kursa and Macka.

wAgAwAgA has some interesting stuff in the pipeline so expect more from him this year. Apart from those more close to home connections I’ve been rinsing Scorn’s album ‘Refuse: Start Fires‘ – dunno why it took me so long to get hold of that, Stealth was excellent and his performance at the last BangFace Weekender sent me into space. Andy Stott’s last few releases have really been doing it for me as well.

Gigwise, what would we hear on your dancefloor?

I’d say it’s about 60% Duskky 40% other people. I was playing just my own tunes for a little while but it became a bit restrictive. Plus there’s so much great stuff coming out that doesn’t really get played by other DJs because it’s of too ambiguous a style; it’s great to be able to give it a platform.

What can we expect from your showcase session this week?

Well it’s going to be a mixture of speeds and style, mostly from members of Mothers Against Noise and Broken Bubble (the netlabel run by Cogidubnus that’s released a few of my more recent EPs).

Plenty of unreleased stuff generally giving a flavour of what I play on soundsystems plus some more weirdy beardy numbers that I can’t normally get away with! Expect wonky textures and plenty of bass.

Nice one Sandy, thanks for speaking to us at Darkfloor.

Upcoming events.
10/02 – Duskky – Tokyo Dub (In:Motion – Bristol)
11/02 – Duskky b2b Hurtdeer – This City Is Ours (Centro – Manchester)
17/03 – Krest – Jungle Syndicate Birthday (The Black Swan – Bristol)
13/04 – Duskky – Jungle Syndicate (The Rhythm Factory – London)

Released this week was Duskky’s remix of Quadplex by Quarry taken from the Hood Shit EP on Stylss.

He’s also working on an EP for Wonk#ay Records, due for release some time in March.

Contact Duskky via email, facebook or SoundCloud.

Released late last year; Anthoney J Hart’s Imaginary Forces returns to mighty label Ohm Resistance after his 2010 album Fifth Columnist with Uppstigande.

Very dark, abstract, heavily designed sound drops you deep in the thick of a strange electric nightmare.

The furthest-out points on the Ohm Resistance map are charted by London’s Imaginary Forces. Following up last year’s nightmarish “Filth Columnist” is his first work created in Sweden, combining a purer, cleaner sound with the elements of dementia that define the Imaginary Forces sonic vocabulary. Haunting spoken word from returning associate Closed Circuits, an uplifting and memorable contribution from Blood of Heroes’ drummer Balázs Pándi, and an appearance from Sex Gang Children’s Matthew Saw round out an amazing transformation album. From the edges of the avant-garde in electronic beat music, Imaginary Forces unleashes trademark chaos, refracted through the lenses of Scandinavian milieu.

All throughout last year London based cerebral techno mastermind Inigo Kennedy gave up to the world and his download button a monthly series of cracking mixes.

Going into 2012 we’re greeted with both a new mix, more on that shortly, and a new release from his netlabel Asymmetric. So what’s in the box, or file folder if you will.

Well, for the 21st Asymmetric’s MP3 release five tracks make up the EP that is; Walls Have Fears.

First out of the box is Cautum. A shimmering resonated beat that feels like a train chugging along a well driven path. Maybe it’s the overall fuzzy finish but Cautum is the kind of track that feels sort of dusty having been lovingly played for years.

Squirkle feels much more current; bass music current. A loose feeling drum beat with that hypnotic looping synth rise. It builds into a sharper and darker track with filtered, slicing hats and a downbeat synth-drone.

Midway through the EP and Sentinel Four continues in the dark with a reflective and to my ears at least; sci-fi themed piece of harder and bleaker beat work that gets unsettling and abstract at the breakdown. A difficult track perhaps to pull off in the club.

I can’t put my finger on what Nocturnal reminds me off, but that melody… it’s on the tip of my tongue. Going into a more melodic, but still pretty dark headspace, Nocturnal is one of those classic sounding IDM tracks from back then, that you know and love, together with the forward thud of a good solid techno piece.

Final of the five belongs to Speechless, a track featuring the vocal talent and dexterity of British singer/songwriter Laska. The classically-trained and multi-instrumentalist Kate Tustain adds a touch of the beautiful and serene to close Walls Have Fears, another strong EP from Mr Kennedy.

Inigo Kennedy – Wall Have Fears
Download

Tracklist
Inigo Kennedy – Cautum
Inigo Kennedy – Squirkle
Inigo Kennedy – Sentinel Four
Inigo Kennedy – Nocturnal
Inigo Kennedy – Speechless feat. Laska
ca# ASYMP3021

Something of a legend was Chicago’s Wax Trax.

Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher’s label has its routes in their 70s record store with releases from 1981 up until the end of the 90s. The label closed in 2001 after its final release: KMFDM’s Beat By Beat By Beat DVD.

Pushing the early work of Ministry and Revolting Cocks, together with their licensing of European releases from KMFDM, Front 242, Front Line Assembly, Coil, Chris & Cosey, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Suicide and Meat Beat Manifesto (and a whole lot more) meant that Wax Trax! will be forever cemented as one of the important electro/industrial labels.

“As important as Chess Records was to blues and soul music, Chicago’s Wax Trax imprint was just as significant to the punk rock, new wave and industrial genres.” (Richard Giraldi, Chicago Sun-Times)

The label suffered difficulties in the early 90s

Following a bankruptcy filing, Wax Trax! was bought by New York-based TVT Records in 1992, with Nash and Flesher retaining creative control of the label. TVT continued to use the Wax Trax! imprint for years, even after Nash’s death from AIDS-related complications on October 10, 1995.

Rude 66, an artist I came across as a remixer on a great piece of italo/electro from Raiders of the Lost ARP on Dublin’s Lunar Disko Records, recorded this last year for his Cosmic Overdrive show on Intergalactic FM.

Sixty minutes of 80s/90s industrial from a label at the forefront of the sound.

Rude 66 – Wax Trax Megamix (Cosmic Overdrive special)
DOWNLOAD STREAM

Tracklist
n/a

Intergalactic mutant electro bounty hunter Jon E Alpha drops four doses of irradiated funk on this wicked four tracker, out now on Western Panorama Recordings.

Utilizing constantly evolving, hypnotizing drum and synth patterns Alpha is crafting a fresh style that whilst tipping his space helmet to established techno mythologies, occupies its own unique sonic dimension.

Opener ‘Soul Slice‘ lets an atonal metallic bleep drift in and out of a metronomic drum pattern, driven by an oblique yet twisted bassline, the trademark low level vocal loop just serves to further disorientate the listener.

Dropping straight into the lean stripped filter funk of ‘Ttrak‘ the release goes into the upper stratosphere, the upfront lead synth line morphs and snakes around a dislocated echoing voice and submerged electro bleepage. It’s an intense arrangement with no breakdowns, taking you on a proper ride.

‘Behind the Door‘ assumes a panoramic elevated viewpoint with hovering cloud burst pads and seemingly random melodic tones moving over subtly shifting yet complex clattering percussion loops.

The EP is rounded off with the haunted tones of ‘Last Won Shuffle‘, a detached piece of melancholic utopian funk, the almost subliminal extended vocal sample suggests possibilities of change and metamorphosis as the highly swung beats and keys meander toward the final fade.

Freaks on parade enjoy the trip……

Jon E Alpha’s output impresses me on several levels. Firstly I enjoy the way the tracks start and run their course, avoiding tired drops and obvious edits, working well both as standalone individual head trips and mix tracks for creative DJs.

Secondly, that whilst certainly being futurist his tracks avoid the formulaic dystopian darkness that much techno and electro reflects. The music is optimistic and direct but equally powerful and subversive in its heavy psychedelic intent and unconventional use of audio dynamics.

Finally I respect his approach to releases, not hyping stuff to the max, seemingly aware that good music will find its intended audience eventually thru cosmic osmosis…

Available free through Bandcamp, there is no excuse not to splice this into your collection.

Jon E Alpha – Clowntown E.P.
DOWNLOAD

Tracklist
Soul Slice
Ttrak
Behind The Door
Last Won Shuffle
cat# WPR004

Some of the more eagle eyed of you will have picked up the first Rave Wars two years back when Balkan Vinyl unleashed it, complete with Star Wars action figure. Today saw the release of the follow up; another two cuts of shameless Lucas plundering bassrave.

Whilst the original 7″ saw AGT Rave Cru and Ebola bring the noise, Rave Wars II – The Hardcore Strikes Back sees Hrdvsion and Mark Archer step up with two cuts purely for the party.

Hrdvsion gets up close with Jabba and his band dropping an electro stepper, but I’m all about Archer’s cut. Darth Vader bass with big sub from a man who took a leading part in creating the beast that is rave. What’s not to love.

Limited to 200 copies, each with their own action figure this is not going to be around for long. Balkan have also repressed the first episode if you were lacking that in your collection.

If these don’t bring a smile to your face and bodies to your dancefloor, you’re doing something wrong.

Rave Wars II – The Hardcore Strikes Back
GRAB

Tracklist
Hrdvsion – Last Chance – Free Us, Or Die
Mark Archer – Don’t Make Me Destroy You

It’s been ages since we posted up a mix focusing on ambient and more drone based sound. Here’s a recent one from the Budapest based Hungarian producer oiseaux.

imaginary places, distant shores, twilight woods, forgotten moorland, atlantic trade winds, spectral forests, ancestral memory. shit im super listening to in january as a means of escape

I happened across his mix via the mix behemoth that is the ninjamixdump, and it’s a lovely blend of artists most of which you’ll have heard of. Artists like Boards of Canada, King Crimson, Aphex Twin, Tim Hecker, Demdike Stare, Brian Eno, Two Lone Swordsmen and Burial who opens this short but calming mix recording.

oiseaux – January 2012 Ambient/Drone
Download Stream

Tracklist
Burial – Untitled
cLOUDDEAD – Apt. A (side A)
Aphex Twin – Mould
Boards Of Canada – Niagara
Tim Hecker – Border Lines, Pt 1
Edward Artemiev – Stalker Soundtrack: “Meditation”
Demdike Stare – Matilda’s Dream
Brian Eno – Dark Waters
Stars Of The Lid – Low Level Listening, Part 2
King Crimson – The Sheltering Sky
Pink Floyd – Echoes
Two Lone Swordsmen – Six Underground (remix)
William Basinski – Melancholia III
Earth – Crooked Axis For String Quartet
Talk Talk – Myrrhman
Brian Eno – Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills)
Boards Of Canada – Corsair

Every two weeks, I sum up the best of the best of the electro grooves I recommend over at City of Bass to come up with the highlights of the electro scene from the past 14 days. Let’s go

E.R.P. – Lunar Ruins [Harbour City Sorrow]
Purchase

For the deep head.phon mellow crew, another release of brilliant electronic music courtesy of E.R.P. This is one of those artists who’s got one of the highest “hit” averages, consistently releasing dope product. Get some.

General Electro – Suburban Paradise [Napalm Enema]
Purchase

The ‘Suburban Paradise EP’ features four cuts of spacy detroit shit that sounds like it could have been produced yesterday.. or in 1992 in a burnt out motor city factory. Top release.

Scape One – Hydratype [Napalm Enema]
Purchase

Does this man ever get tired of producing dope electro cuts? ‘Hydratype’ will please the purists, but it’s the fourth cut ‘Tech Knowledge’ that will get cross-play from electro and techno DJs alike.

Porkfour – V/OCT [Ortloff]
Purchase

Think Tangerine Dream, Giorgio Moroder and the most up for it Berlin clubs at 6 AM in 2013.

Jon Convex – Pop That P [Naked Lunch]
Purchase

Ghetto electro tracks are a dime a dozen, but this one gets in your head, filter freaks your ass and demands to be played on the floor. A must for DJs who actually have people dancing on the dance-floor.

Shadowbunny – O [Crobot Muzik]
Purchase

Deep deep space electro, ‘Earthtone’ is incredibly warm, lush and for the spliff headz. Pitch this down and watch your crowd sink into it.

Detroit In Effect – Break It Down [MAP US]
Purchase

Pure unkut Detroit, Funky as flux, and recommended… I know for a fact the Electrifying Mojo would have been jammin’ this if it had come out back in the day.

N-ter – 313 Funk Remixes [Space Funk]
Purchase

Detroit funk basslines, spacy cosmic asteroid shizzle to flux with your cortex….and straight kopfnikken.

The Exaltics – Irresistible [Last Known Trajectory]
Purchase

What I love most about The Exaltics is their incessant release schedule for burning electro tunes.. and that they have so clearly and uniquely crafted their own unique sound.

See you in two weeks.

Mantis 098 + Death Abyss
Download STREAM iTunes Podcast

DVNT
KidChameleon + Casual Breakin’ – Just Say No [Cue Burn Digital]
Disheveled – The Mask Is Slipping [Thac0 Records]
Galaxian – Psychociety [Last Known Trajectory]
Isodyne – River of Ruin [Broken20]
Voidloss – Purgatory Engine [Cicuta Netlabel]
Andy Todd – The Chime [Armatura Records]
Scott Robinson – It lives in the wardrobe [dub]
Dr. Schmidt – Mobula [Maschinen Musik]
Roman Lindau – Hunt [Fachwerk Digital]
kidkanevil – Words And Spit [kidkanevil.bandcamp.com]
Mr76ix – Version [SKAM]
Jon Convex – Pop That P [NAKEDLUNCH]
Byetone – Black Peace [Raster-Noton]
C Mantle – U235 (Burnibus’ Step Edit) [Acre Recordings]
Daega Sound – Stranded [Echodub]
Blawan – Peaches (Melting Flesh) [Clone Basement Series]
Neon Electronics – Over and Over (Radical G rmx) [DanceDelic Digital]
Marco Bernardi – A Line of Anguish [WHITENOISE]
Raiders of the Lost ARP – Lunar Lander [Lunar Disko Records]
Posthuman – Lander (Lifecycle remix) [Tsar Bomba Records]

DEATH ABYSS
n/a live PA

098 /

Rolling into a new year, maybe our last if you listen to some of the conspiracy nuts and their fervour, tonight Mantis Radio returns to Future Music to broadcast our first show of 2012. With an exclusive session, Death Abyss will be illuminating with their dark mix for the showcase.

the showcase

We travel from flame to flame. Ruling from the shadows.

A mysterious production entity are Death Abyss. Signed to Birmingham imprint Rodz Konez and with 2 EPs already under their belt, November saw their long awaited debut longplayer for the label be released unto the world.

Rodz Konez artist roster already boasts some fine talent in the form of Makaton, Regis, Inigo Kennedy, The 65D Mavericks, Female, Paul Damage, Max Duley, Datamine, and Tomohiko Sagae. Death Abyss are despite their anonymity, keeping good company.

Back in November, Techno.FM had a discussion with Death Abyss.

As soon as someone tries to create “Techno” then immediately they are setting limitations for themselves. This is an artistic failure, to us anyway. Many people trying to make what they think “Techno” is supposed to sound like, based upon what is currently commercially successful, or en vogue. These people are not artists. If they do not create or contribute then maybe they should be destroyed. Cast out and left to rot.

Their album Dominate Through Will was one of my releases of 2011:

Eleven industrially powered, fractured granite slabs of broken techno, taking in the sonic sub force that some of the better, darker and deeper dubstep cuts have done over the past few years.

Gritty, distorted dank growling electronics assault you like a lazer guided sledgehammer. This is anti-sunshine sound for a mature audience; Come As A Reaper For Thus You Will Sow just one cut from an album of depth, space and thud.

I’d been waiting for this album for many months and when I finally heard it it exceeded my expectations by a mile. Darkfloor through and through.

(check out our Darkfloor 2011 review part 1/part 2)

previous shows
MANTIS ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

Starting the year in fine style; Romanian artist Sorin Paun drops a beautiful 4 track statement for French netlabel Brainstormlab.

Entitled Vapr Core, recording under his Randomform alias, it’s a razor sharp, pure precision collection of sound.

From the opening sub zero placed synth on Rellic into its fractured lattice of electronics forming the percussive structure, you know this EP will be a great listen.

The 9 minute title track Vapr Core 2.4 takes centre stage with abstract glitch guilded digital machine flux. The sounds on Treact are wetter in construct, leading to my next few words; that it feels nautical, almost, particuarly with how Sorin works the synth and its subsequent flow over time.

Finally 4.6cycles takes a more punishing route with harder and bruising beats together with the clinically clean and crystal refined sound design Sorin excels at.

Randomform – Vapr Core EP
DOWNLOAD

Tracklist
Randomform – Rellic
Randomform – Vapr Core 2.4
Randomform – Treact
Randomform – 4.6ycles
cat# BSL 045

Mantis 098 + Death Abyss
BROADCASTING AT 20:00 GMT ON FUTURE MUSIC

Rolling into a new year, maybe our last if you listen to some of the conspiracy nuts and their fervour, tonight Mantis Radio returns to Future Music to broadcast our first show of 2012. With an exclusive session, Death Abyss will be illuminating with their dark mix for the showcase.

the showcase

We travel from flame to flame. Ruling from the shadows.

A mysterious production entity are Death Abyss. Signed to Birmingham imprint Rodz Konez and with 2 EPs already under their belt, November saw their long awaited debut longplayer for the label be released unto the world.

Rodz Konez artist roster already boasts some fine talent in the form of Makaton, Regis, Inigo Kennedy, The 65D Mavericks, Female, Paul Damage, Max Duley, Datamine, and Tomohiko Sagae. Death Abyss are despite their anonymity, keeping good company.

Back in November, Techno.FM had a discussion with Death Abyss.

As soon as someone tries to create “Techno” then immediately they are setting limitations for themselves. This is an artistic failure, to us anyway. Many people trying to make what they think “Techno” is supposed to sound like, based upon what is currently commercially successful, or en vogue. These people are not artists. If they do not create or contribute then maybe they should be destroyed. Cast out and left to rot.

Their album Dominate Through Will was one of my releases of 2011:

Eleven industrially powered, fractured granite slabs of broken techno, taking in the sonic sub force that some of the better, darker and deeper dubstep cuts have done over the past few years.

Gritty, distorted dank growling electronics assault you like a lazer guided sledgehammer. This is anti-sunshine sound for a mature audience; Come As A Reaper For Thus You Will Sow just one cut from an album of depth, space and thud.

I’d been waiting for this album for many months and when I finally heard it it exceeded my expectations by a mile. Darkfloor through and through.

(check out our Darkfloor 2011 review part 1/part 2)

previous shows
DOWNLOADABLE ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

Trying to do a small list of great electronic music in 2011 is hard. Really hard.

It’s hard enough if you only play one niche style of electronics, let alone what I try to attempt on Mantis Radio and in my DJ sets. Nevertheless here we are. I’m having a go.

Following on from where Part 1 left us back in 2011 and later than originally intended (thank you Mr Illness) here is Part 2 of my Darkfloor 2011 review.

10 more of our faves from 2011
01. Emptyset – Demiurge [Subtext]
02. Anodyne – Menace 808 [earwiggle]
03. Perc – London, We Have You Surrounded [Perc Trax]
04. Death Grips – Exmilitary [Third Worlds]
05. The Fear Ratio – Guv Three [Blueprint]
06. Rory St John – Noughtsmith [Singularity Recordings]
07. Roly Porter – Arrakis [Subtext]
08. Mad-Tek – Terra [Digital Distortions]
09. Death Abyss – Come As A Reaper For Thus You Will Sow [Rodz Konez]
10. Sturqen – Praga [Kvitnu]

Emptyset – Demiurge [Subtext]
So. Let’s start with Emptyset. The reductivist collaborative project between James Ginzburg and Paul Purgas. Their 2009 debut album, the self titled Emptyset just raised the bar so high.

Although releasing together as Emptyset since 2007, it was their ’09 debut that had a massive impact on me. So when I saw news of Demiurge their followup LP I was grinning madly. Released on Subtext back in May it didn’t disappoint.

Rhythmic noise never sounded so good. They also had the EPs Avichi and Altogether Lost see release on Chris Liebing’s CLR. Essential.

Absolutely, seriously, essential.

Anodyne – Menace 808 [earwiggle]
Many new labels joined the masses in 2011. One such Irish one was earwiggle, a natural progression from the Dublin clubnight of the same name. Their inaugural release saw anodyne lay waste with the mighty carnage that is Menace 808. A 140bpm heavy synth electro jam like few others.

Perc – London, We Have You Surrounded [Perc Trax]
Much has already been written about Perc and his label the naturally named Perc Trax this year. Although both Ali Wells and his label have been at their craft since 2004, 2011 saw them launched proper with everybody wanting a piece of the action.

Wicker and Steel, Perc’s first long player, was released at just the right time. In the midst of the London Riots and a summer of protest it almost became the soundtrack. Although not intended as such, London, We Have You Surrounded draws comparisons to the riots and the situation as it was in August.

it was never meant like that. The title refers to the Home Counties and the way they surround London, and people coming into London to get a new life or go clubbing. It’s nothing to do with violence.

The album is a refined fierce. Industrially powered sure but headspace industry. And if you haven’t already you need to get on his live showcase session for Mantis in September.

Death Grips – Exmilitary [Third Words]
One act to really blow me away this year were Death Grips. They played in London and I witnessed them perform their UK debut. With all the lights that could be turned off, off.

An hour of brutal, hard, unique, on message, raw awesome blew my head apart. Their freely available mixtape Exmilitary is one of the freshest, rawest, heartfelt even pieces of work I listened to this year. And I listened to it a lot.

There are few who sound as honest as Death Grips can. Start with Guillotine and go from there.

The Fear Ratio – Guv Three [Blueprint]
Only released in November but from the first listen I knew that Lightbox (the first album recorded together as The Fear Ratio from heavyweights Mark Broom and James Ruskin) would turn out to be one of the best. Whilst both have long established histories in the world of techno, The Fear Ratio wasn’t just more hypnotic, dancefloor fodder. It is so much more.

Taking bass music’s sub, adding in some 90s style deep Warp IDM synth work and moving around the bpm: Lightbox delivers one of the freshest works in techno this year. Whilst the Berghain thing is all well and good; innovate don’t imitate, doesn’t the saying go.

Standout cut: Guv Three.

Rory St John – Noughtsmith [Singularity Recordings]
Voidloss’s label Singularity had some great work released this year, one of my favourite pieces comes from Rory St John with Noughtsmith; industrial heavyweight granite slab techno.

If you like your Ancient Methods, you’ll love Noughtsmith. Come the mid point this goes up a gear with that synth. More. More. More.

Now would be a great point to also mention the superb Voidloss Blood Rage Mix of Death Grips mighty Guillotine, which you can grab for free.

Roly Porter – Arrakis [Subtext]
Another artist and album that got hyped hard in 2011 was ex Vex’d member Roly Porter and his debut solo effort Aftertime. At least until Kuedo, the other half of Vex’d released his 80s Bladerunner inspired epic Severant on Planet µ.

We’re talking about Aftertime though; taking away those hard broken beats that made Vex’d such a force to reckoned with but keeping all the dark, dank, deep discourse atmospherics and industrial texture.

This is brutal epic ambient draped in widescreen high definition greyscale, case in point: Arrakis.

Mad-Tek – Terra [Digital Distortions]
Originally a production duo between Joby Osman and Guy Fforde; Mad-Tek closed the year off with an EP that is 100% spot on.

December saw their label Digital Distortions release their 3rd original material EP: Midnight Oil. A 3 track bass weight electro-break-step collection of serious dancefloor sound.

The other notable point was that these three tracks were produced solely by Joby, with Guy continuing to focus on his deeper post-beat Gyu solo material and his label Coral Recordings. Joby has also been playing around with the deeper side of sound this year as his BRAWLcast mix; One for the Road proves.

Difficult, very difficult to select one track, even just from three, but I’ve gone for Terra. It was the first of the three I heard from the latest collection and it’s the one that from those lush swaying synths sends goosebumps up my spine. It’s that kind of a track.

A beautiful serene calm before the beats build in. Bold swinging bass wells up from the deep before the track switches itself to 11 and thunders across your aural passage. It gets heavy but it keeps it smooth and deep at the same time. Dark progressive breaks on a knife edge. Sublime material and one of the best tracks yet from an already admirable and impressive back catalogue.

Death Abyss – Come As A Reaper For Thus You Will Sow [Rodz Konez]
Shortly to be appearing on Mantis Radio with an exclusive live session, Death Abyss had already released two EPs; The Hermetic Antagonist and The Mechanics of Dissent/Descent before their much salivated LP Dominate Through Will dropped in November.

Eleven industrially powered, fractured granite slabs of broken techno, taking in the sonic sub force that some of the better, darker and deeper dubstep cuts have done over the past few years.

Gritty, distorted dank growling electronics assault you like a lazer guided sledgehammer. This is anti-sunshine sound for a mature audience; Come As A Reaper For Thus You Will Sow just one cut from an album of depth, space and thud.

I’d been waiting for this album for many months and when I finally heard it it exceeded my expectations by a mile. Darkfloor through and through.

Sturqen – Praga [Kvitnu]
David Arantes and César Rodrigues are Sturqen. A production duo from Portugal who’s electronic experiments together push the sonic envelope a whole lot further than most. Their showcase for Mantis Radio back in 2010 blew our audience, and my mind, away.

Praga is their second LP, coming 2 years and two EPs after 2009′s Piranha. 2011 was a great year for the duo where they won in two nominations of the Qwartz Electronic Music Awards in Paris – as The Best Artist and Discovery category for the 2011 released EP: Peste.

Describing their music the duo, in their own words try:

…to explore a vast amount of sonic intensities where a techno-trance universe is combined with a constant noise attitude.

And something beautifully brutal is the result. Praga occupies that space between challenging, abstract, enduring, intelligence, experimental sound, producing an exquisitely listenable experience. Where so many go too far off into harsh noise seemingly for the sake of it, resulting in brash statements of intent rather than quality sound from accomplished artists.

There we go then.
So with those ten making a total of twenty tracks (with Part 1 of course) I guess that makes up from my point of view at Darkfloor and Mantis Radio; 2011 in sound.

I would like to make a special mention to a bunch of other tracks and releases that make an impact on me in the past 12 months.

In no particular order:
Threnody – The Science of Silence LP [UK Trendz]
Planetary Assault Systems – The Messenger LP [Ostgut Ton]
Spatial – Spatial LP [infrasonics]
KidChameleon – Red Light Queen [On A Break]
Lifecycle – Chatter (Ion Driver remix) [Ricochet Records]
Dr. Schmidt – Gunhed [Maschinen Musik]
Om Unit – The Timps [Civil Music]
Mazzula – 2 Note Wonder [dub]
George Lanham – The Cambridge Offensive [dub]
C. Mantle – L Mink (the wee djs remix) [Acre Recordings]
Oyaarss – ibumetins sagurusai dveselei [oyaarss]
Mark Archer – Frequency (DMX Krew’s Asylum Seekers remix) [Balkan Vinyl]
Ben Frost – Unbreakable Silence [Bedroom Community]
Sam Kidel – String Loops part 3 [A Future Without Press]
Modeselektor – Evil Twin feat. Otto Von Schirach [Monkeytown]
Jon E Alpha – Dreadfire [jonealpha.bandcamp.com]
Cova – Lacre [cova.bandcamp.com]
Logical Disorder – Help Me [logicaldisorder.bandcamp.com]
Si Begg – How The Internet Ruined Your Life [Addictech]
Slam – Alien Radio (Harvey McKay remix) [Soma Recordings]
Headhunter – Clone [Black Box]
V/A – Codex I [Acre Recordings]
Dom & Roland – Big Bang LP [Dom and Roland Productions]
Robert Pain – Black Queen [Black Queen]

A huge thank you to the artists I’ve showcased on Mantis and all the producers who’s work I’ve played on air and in my sets, not to mention on my iPod and home system.

Welcome to the end of the world; 2012.

If you’re staying in tonight rather than spend a hefty wedge of money down a club then you’d struggle to do better than Sedna Sessions on the Mantis Radio hosting station Future Music.

Headed up by fellow station DJ and show host Up Digital. Some 16 hours of music lay ahead with guest mixes from our own DVNT together with some awesome live sets and DJ mixes from some of the cream of the electro and electronics scene.

Showcasing the very best electronic artists and DJs to get 2012 off to the best of starts on Future Music Radio.

Tune in from 20:00GMT

LIVE PERFORMANCES FROM
Plant 43
Sense
UNScene (The Hidden Persuader)
Pip Williams
Somfay
Steve Conner (Adapta / Bitstream)
Cygnus
Dez Williams
Ian McCarthy & Piers Caldwell
ADJ
White Mask
Nonima (Mitoma / Altered:Carbon)

UP DIGITAL MIX SELECTIONS
Carl Finlow (Bandcamp Selection)
Noumen
Majestic 12 (Sonar Base/Ultradyne)
Bipolar Beats

DJ SET PERFORMANCES FROM
Chris Spotta
Galaxian
Hanal
Up Digital
Paul Chillage
Laica
Phat Chex
DVNT
Mike Stern
A Person Disguised As People

As the year nears it’s last day, I hit the crates and dug through all of the electro grooves I recommended over at City of Bass to come up with some of the highlights of 2011.

It’s been a good year for electro, with tons of new producers and labels joining the ranks, old school heads delivering the goods, and the continued development of drum n bass producers joining the electro ranks and putting out pure unkut quality grooves. This by no means is a definitive list, but are mos def cuts worth checking out if you haven’t already. With that, here’s the must-have joints in no particular order…

AS1 – Solar Lifestyle EP [Last Known Trajectory]
Purchase

Morphed, twisted and phreaked cuts that combine the dirty-east-berlin-club-stale-cigarette-smeared-lipstick style strings with hardcore blown-speakers miami bass beats that smack it down, flip it and rub it good.

Mars Frequency Records Label Compilation Volume One
Purchase

After doing this for 11+ years, you’d thing I’d be tired of electro music, but if anything, the new breed of producers showcased on this comp is making me hungry to up my own production game and get back in the studio.

Pip Williams & The Hidden Persuader – The First Replicators EP [Shameless Toady]
Purchase

Absolutely stellar futuristik funk from Pip Williams and The Hidden Persuader on this collabo effort for Shameless Toady.

Komarken Electronics – Granular Material EP [Solar One]
Purchase

This is clearly influenced from the Drexciya/Dopplereffekt school of production, and it’s done extremely well. There’s a reason so many cats try to capture the spirit of that classic sound, and to be honest a lot of them are half-assing it. No shots though. This isn’t one of those however… every cut is a stand out.

Boddika – Electron [Swamp 81]
Purchase

The title track ‘Electron‘ on this two track 12″ EP is brilliantly hypnotic electro, showcasing those lauded drum n’ bass production skills that I’m always on about. This shit bangs.

Electron by Boddika

Versalife – Night Time Activities Part One [Clone West Coast Series]
Purchase

This one’s for the headphone mellow crew. Incredibly well produced and vibin’, I saw some folks describing this as Detroit, but to me it sounds like the best vibes from Eye Q and Recycle or Die from back in the day, not that these sounds are dated in anyway though.

Datawelt – Human Technology [Superdisko Recordings]
Purchase

A nice tidy little package of electro lush grooves. Both label and artists are based out of Vienna, Austria. Anyone remember the ‘Mas 2008′ album from years ago? This has that same deep Elektrolux electro space vibe going on.

The Exaltics – 1000 Lights In The Sky [Bunker]
Purchase

Back in the 90s when I first started buying vinyl, there came a point when I didn’t even have to listen to certain labels when I went on Friday’s to prep for Saturday night’s radio show. The track record was so consistently dope, I bought these sound unheard. I get the same vibe when I see that The Exaltics are dropping new releases – crazy deep space exploration shizzle that manages to tweak the brain frequencies and get the booties shakin’ when it counts.

Scape One – Altered Carbon [Napalm]
Purchase

Voodoo rays peaking through dark clouds. On the horizon the outline of abandoned factory buildings. Inside the bunker, an up-for-it crowd riding the wave of synth washes, weaving and bobbing basslines embedded with the DNA of May, Atkins and Saunderson. This is the sound of the 4-tracker from Scape One, ‘Altered Carbon’.

Microthol – Supergravity [Trust Records]
Purchase

Deep introspective puffa and a cuppa electro groovers from the mighty Microthol.

microthol – supergravity [preview] by T R U S T

Dagobert & Kalson – Astronaut EP [Dominance Electricity]
Purchase

What I find most interesting about this record, and in general across most of the DE releases, is that they really capture this crazy vibe of modernizing the classic electro sound. This shit doesn’t sound old school, it doesn’t sound new school… it just sounds like what one images electro would sound like in 2011 if you were pontificating on that in 1991. You can tell these are cats who follow the Rakim school of thought – know where you’re from but it’s where you’re at that counts.

Tudor Acid – The Wrong Side of Day Part 7 [Tudor Beats]
Purchase

Incredibly lush, succinct piece of electronic acid electro that will stay in your box for a good long time. Perfect for deep sets or head.phon bud sessions. Did you like Elecktroids, James Stinson’s side project of deep analogue electro goodness? Then you need to listen to ‘Glass Doors (Tudor Acid Remix)‘ right now.

Trevino – Chip [3024]
Purchase

This cut absolutely kills it, hands down, bar none. Producers – step your game up. And I mean that, because if cat’s like Instra:mental and Marcus Intalex are coming in and making electro beats now, it’s only a matter of time before this little underground electro scene blows the funk up and your competition is about to get mad real. I don’t want to hear any crying when Oakenfold is releasing “Now That’s What I Call Electro” on Perfecto;)

See you on the other side of 2012.
_
DJ Mad Wax writes about the electro scene daily at City of Bass. Follow him via Twitter.

It’s always nice to see music you heard many moons ago see the light as a release. It gets even better when it’s made freely available as this, the 3rd release for the Scottish digital imprint Acre Recordings is.

What’s on offer is a 4 track EP with an original track from both Burnibus and label co-owner C. Mantle (who together with El Wraith look after Acre and its emerging catalogue) together with a remix/version of each other.

It’s the first time I’ve come across the sounds of Burnibus; Manchester based Simon Brown. He opens Signified Other with a deep beat IDM electro stepper. Almost eastern sounding synth work compliment a fractured and delicate drum pattern.

Maverick electronics producer C. Mantle is an old favourite here at Darkfloor whose music has been gracing our radio shows and blog for many years. Laying down a techno rework of his own U235. Never one to produce just one style of dark sound, Chris delivers a foreboding claustrophobic industrial techno workout with drone aplenty. This is a dark track for dark places. Watch out for the midway beat switch up as it goes militant.

Continuing to go off the dark end and taking Burnibus’ opener Treadl with him; C. Mantle comes at you with an equally deep but altogether unsettling rework. The synth programming has an unraveling ebb flow to it similar to that of Aphex Twin’s Bucephalus Bouncing Ball. Headspace dark.

Final of the four comes by way of Burnibus’s remix of C. Mantle’s U235. Taking the regularity of the techno rework we’ve already heard and moving it into more broken techno/step territory. Very nicely done particularly the way Burnibus tightens up the beats with a smoother flow after the offbeat breakdown.

Two great tracks with 2 strong vibe keeping but holding their own remixes for Acre Recordings. Despite having only a few releases under their belt they already have my complete attention, as well as many of you reading this.

Burnibus vs C. Mantle – Signified Other
Grab

Tracklist
Burnibus – Treadl
C. Mantle – U235 (Techno Rework)
Burnibus – Treadl (C. Mantle Remix)
C. Mantle – U235 (Burnibus’ Step Edit)

Leipzig based Solar One Music have collected tracks from some of today’s freshest underground electro operatives for this, the fourth instalment of their series of limited edition CD releases. Coming in custom packaging with stickers and a mysterious extra track for 20 lucky customers, you certainly feel like you have received something special when it drops through the door.

Welcoming to the small crew of us here at Darkfloor: Blackmass Plastics and his inaugural review.
SOM Compilation Vol.4 by Solar One Music

Offering 13 individual tracks that compliment each other perfectly on its trip to the outer regions, the artists onboard all occupy an active but uncharted region of the musical cosmos. Realising that covert action can be far more effective in achieving longevity in today’s cultural hyperstream, the producers showcased here have built considerable bodies of work and crafted intriguing conceptual frameworks, whilst never utilising the day-glow style over substance self promotion tactics utilised by many to gain quick attention.

From the beatless sci-fi movie tension build up of the opening track ‘Fall‘ by Kan3da, the album lifts off into a zero gravity zone of futurist electronic experimentation. The highly productive Headnoaks delivers one of the best tracks I have heard from him in ‘Opiatrezeptor‘, a full tilt, rapid fire trip into a intergalactic battlezone of chopped synths and synaptic twitching percussion.

Followed immediately by a great slice of abstract funk from Luke Eargoggle on ‘Girlfriend from Madrid‘, eerie vocal cuts are driven with a monotonous arpeggiated acid line,with just enough warping bass weirdness to take the track into unsettling territory.

Clatterbox deliver ‘Singularity‘ on what is probably my favourite track on the release. A open throttle decent into a vortex of quantum theory sound design and phased spastic energy that will probably be still considered advanced in the 23rd century.

Anti-Zero agent, Aliensextoy, hammers out a cool piece of zombie speed electro on ‘Come back 2 life‘,a track that demonstrates an interesting movement by some producers towards a ‘new’ accelerated sound. Rather than produce music at ‘easy’ to dance to tempos with standard grooves, the listener is challenged to reach a higher level of mental stimulation in order to receive the funk in the music.

The album works well as a linear listening experience as well as offering some serious dancefloor ammunition. The low slung space grind of Crotaphytus‘ contribution ‘Cycle of life part 2‘, is a brief but effective headtrip, and The Exaltics ‘My point of view‘ manages to work on multiple levels of synchronicity during its three minute cycle before fading into the distance.

Although there are a diverse range of production styles and intents onboard, the album presents a coherent unified sound. The final tracks by Das Muster and Composite Profuse bring the compilation to an open ending, Solar One Music seem clear in their vision of what music should sound like in the 21st century.

You had better catch up with them…

Various – SOM Compilation 4.- Entertainment for Adults
GRAB

Tracklist
Kan3da – Fall
Morphology – Dark Flow
Headnoaks – Opiatrezeptor
Luke Eargoggle – Girlfriend From Madrid
ESS – Comet ELEnin
Clatterbox – Singularity
Aliensextoy – Come Back 2 Life
Crotaphytus – Cycle Of Life (Part 2)
The Exaltics – My Point Of View
Weltwirtschaft – Maud
Das Muster – Massendynamik
Composite Profuse – Die U-Bahn Mörderin

As we come to the end of 2011 those end of year reviews seem to rear their heads. This year, I thought with the readership growth as we have had on Darkfloor it would be nice to do a piece on some of our favourite music released in the past year.

Some might say we have questionable taste, nevertheless in the past year we played host to 21 Mantis Radio shows not including our 4th anniversary show with those shows seeing thousands of downloads. Some of you out there like how we approach things. Thank you.

What are your favourite tracks from this year, let us know in the comments.

This year has been so strong for stunning, impressive, excellent releases. Great music, week, after week.

Techno most notably stepped away from minimal and went harder and industrial. It also had a shift into more broken rhythms which we’ve been loving at Darkfloor for years. Glad to see people are catching up…

Electro has seen quite the resurgence this year, no doubt in part thanks to hyped and followed bass music producers and labels embracing and promoting it. From labels Swamp81 and NAKEDLUNCH to a more established and supported Sherard Ingram (DJ Stingray) laying waste with his hi-tek electro sets and tracks. This is just the tip of the iceberg and the stuff that pops into my head as I write this. And of course the Drexciya re-issues… And I’m not even mentioning Dave Paton’s alias the wee djs releasing some sterling machine birthed electro.

One last thing I’ll briefly mention is that crossover and multi-genre/niche thing has gone into overdrive this year. Juke/footwork possibly being the flagship example of this. Yea I know it’s been in Chicago for ages but this year that niche went global with seemingly everyone (myself included) finding a lot of love for fast 808 simplistic raw looping dancefloor hooks. Perhaps the pinnacle of the footwork style as it meets the ever burgeoning bass music scene is that of machinedrum and his universally loved and praised room(s) on the ever on point Planet µ.

OK, so tracks this year. Where to start. I mean. Wow. Over. Loaded. A great year for electronic music this year. Here’s the first 10, in no particular order.

10 of our faves from 2011
01. Croms – Invisible Cities [Exit Records]
02. Instra:mental – Sun Rec [Semantica]
03. Dead Sound vs Videohead – Pench EP [Acroplane]
04. AAIMON – Amen [Tundra]
05. RadioNasty – Radio 3 [EPM]
06. Kangding Ray – OR [Raster-Noton]
07. Lucy – Lav [Stroboscopic Artefacts]
08. Hoth System – Foreign Object [Audioexit]
09. Objekt – The Goose that Got Away [Objekt]
10. Surgeon – Those Who Do Not [Dynamic Tension]

Croms – Invisible Cities [Exit Records]
Right, so one of the earliest tracks I loved this year was from Croms and his Invisible Cities on Exit. Resplendent with its 80s nighttime drive approved synth work. A lush deep track to fall in love with. Beautiful.

Instra:mental – Sun Rec [Semantica]
Arguably the light force for the electro resurgence this year, Instra:mental really took over. From the anthemic When I Dip and User to Voyeur and Grand Prix to the deep Vicodin. And that’s not taking into account the duo’s Boddika and Jon Convex’s solo work. Originally only available as a limited vinyl run with Semantica, Sun Rec eventually saw digital release on Instra:mental’s Resolution 663 LP. Another deep, bass heavy, electro love affair of mine.

Dead Sound vs Videohead – Pench EP [Acroplane]
There is not a better example of techno’s shift to more broken rhythms than the work of Dead Sound and Videohead as DVF. We’ve been loving their sound at Darkfloor for a few years but 2011 saw them really pick up speed, with fresh work on Perc Trax, Electrax and original home Acroplane. Raw, machine powered thunder. Their Pench EP is a brutal example of just what they are capable of.

AAIMON – Amen [Tundra]
Witchhouse seemed to lose a lot of the hype this year. Good. It allowed some other artists experimenting within the wide style to come forth. One such example: AAIMON. The San Diego duo really impressed me this year, both with their own productions and their taste (their session for Mantis Radio really bringing something new to the show). Amen was the first track I heard from them and together with their remix of FUNERALS one of my favourite. And others agreed as an Amen Remixes EP came out soon after. Their label Tundra Dubs and fellow witchhouse/drag merchants; the Manchester based Aural Sects have been intriguingly interesting sonically these past 12 months.

RadioNasty – Radio 3 [EPM]
2011 seemed to be the year for collaborative partnerships, one such example Radionasty: Radioactive Man and Billy Nasty. Their track Radio 3 a razor sharp deep electro bass warbler. An out and out dancefloor slammer. Radioactive Man’s Keith Tenniswood is on target to launch a load of fresh new material early next year, together with a very promising hookup with Bass Junkie as The Brink.

Kangding Ray – OR [Raster-Noton]
Raster-Noton had another strong year. A year that saw their some of their releases shift from largely abstract focused minimal glitch intricate electronics to something more, with bass and electro stylings. Essentially stuff you could dance to rather than just stroke your chin to. Whilst Senking’s Pong from late 2010 got and still gets quite a slamming in my sets and on my iPod, Kangding Ray’s OR became a truly awesome listen from opener Athem through to the closing La Belle. One of the stand out cuts for me was title track OR. If you listen to one album from Noton this year, make it this one.

Lucy – Lav [Stroboscopic Artefacts]
Stroboscopic Artefacts label boss Luca Mortellaro (Lucy) released his debut LP Wordplay For Working Bees and it is a brilliant piece of work. Part techno, part sound design. Uncompromising, at points abstract but wonderfully textured, focused and seriously heavyweight. An album I’ve come back to many times this year. Standout cut: Lav.

Hoth System – Foreign Object [Audioexit]
We finally got Belfast’s Tony McMurray on Mantis’s showcase session and this year saw him continue to release his particular brand of dark and hard techno like few others. I’ve chosen one of his recent tracks, Foreign Object released on Hungarian netlabel Audioexit who have also had a solid year as far as we’re concerned. Sure they won’t be on many peoples end of year lists as being a netlabel they’ll be ignored by much of the techno scene and its writers, but that hasn’t stopped them releasing proper dancefloor dark, meaty tracks.

Objekt – The Goose that Got Away [Objekt]
You’ve probably seen that name being hyped to high heaven on influential blogs like FACT, and deservedly so. TJ Hertz really found his feet this year under his Objekt alias. He hasn’t released much, but when you’re as good as he is you don’t need to. Being a software designer for Native Instruments means his technical knowledge is verging on the obscene and whilst his work is extremely intricate and well produced it still nails and demolishes the dancefloor.

I’ve chosen The Goose that Got Away, A1 from the first Objekt EP. An amazing techno/dubtech/bass piece of work. His remix for Radiohead’s Bloom (part of a huge remix project under the Ticker Tape label, Radiohead’s own imprint) really stood out amongst the many great remixes turned in. It’s abstract and going somewhere new but it’s taking you along for the ride with it. Quite possibly my favourite remix of the year.

Surgeon – Those Who Do Not [Dynamic Tension]
In the earlier introduction paragraphs I mentioned that techno saw a really focused return to form, part of that involves the work of Anthony Child: the mighty Surgeon, who released a follow up to his 2000 longplayer Body Request. Yup. Eleven years. And whilst he’s not been quiet on the release front, we were long overdue a new album. And he did not disappoint. Surgeon sums up his work better than anyone else could:

This album isn’t about entertainment, it’s about transformation, and transformation requires effort on behalf of the aspirant.

My initial idea for this album project was to explore ideas of science fiction, but when I started the groundwork, it soon became obvious to me that my journey was one to inner rather than outer space.

I studied the music of La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Eliane Radigue, and Alice Coltrane, all of whom made deeply spiritual, abstract music. I was searching for the deep spiritual essence that lay behind the surface structures of their individual music.

This album is the closest I have been to reaching that point.

Friend of Darkfloor Olaf Quintessa wrote a great article on just this very album. Well worth a read.

So that’s it for part 1. Some 10 tracks from a long list of many. Part 2 with a further 10 tracks will be published next week.

Original photograph by Amir Kuckovic.

New live PA by Digital Distortions latest signing Alavux. Premiered, performed and recorded on 4th November 2011 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Look out for Alavux’s Time Zones EP (DDD049) released 19 January 2012 on Digital Distortions.

BRAWLcast #065 Alavux – Live @ Gumitwist 04/11/2011
Download Stream Mixcloud

TRACKLIST
Alavux – Floating
Alavux – Volvo
Alavux – Fiat500
Alavux – Yugo
Alavux – Minimal Expression
Alavux – Tha One
Alavux – Roller
Alavux – Watt
Alavux – Elektromagnetni Branovi
Alavux – Phome Home

BRAWLcast065 Alavux – Live @ Gumitwist 04 11 2011 by Digital Distortions

I know. I know. I’ve seen the date. In the past, yes, I have posted these at the beginning of the month. However, seeing as Inigo only uploaded it on the 10th and well, since then. OK, I forgot.

Right, so we all know that what follows is going to be another 90 minutes of dark cerebral, masterfully mixed techno don’t we. A big thank you from us here at Darkfloor to Inigo Kennedy for a great series of mixes this year that I hope he continues with in 2012.

If you’re in the UK you can catch him playing at the next Plex event on February 3rd down at London’s Corsica Studios.

Inigo Kennedy – live at TS0012, London, 10/12/2011
Download

Tracklist
Svreca – Jade (Skirt remix) [Semantica18z]
Fingers – Aqui [BR003]
FBK – Nanomal [4-Diam.]
Paul Mac & Mark Broom – Remember When [BMD005]
Actress – Get Ohn (Fairlight Mix) [HJRCD49]
Roman Lindau – Raumgestaltung [FW005]
Shapednoise – Lightness [KEY002]
Guise – Incision [ARCH002]
Perthro – Adfaru [RUNE004d]
Oktored – Ease Up 1 [Yo-100]
Perthro – Dimscua [RUNE004d]
Yoshihiro Arikawa – Karusuto [MGREY013]
I1 Ambivalent – After Midnight [LTP011]
Unbalance – Freeze (Inigo Kennedy remix III) [dub]
Inigo Kennedy – Insist [dub]
Dax J & Chris Stanford – Programm (Shifted Mix) [ETG001]
F.U.S.E. – F.U [WARPCD012]
Adverse Event – Onim [LTP010]
Perthro – Carung [RUNE004d]
Auction For The Promise Club – Dancer (Inigo Kennedy remix II) [dub]
Actress – Let’s Fly [HJRCD49]
Delta Funktionen – Minds Into Meltdown [ANN015]
Jake Conlon – P Sequence [LTP010]
Jeff Mills – The Extremist (Retro Mix) [TRESOR023]
Inigo Kennedy – Revenge [TOKEN019]
Mike Dehnert – Blattwerk [FW022]
Xhin – Teeth [SACD002]
Aiken – Silent Knowledge [Semantica30.4]
P.E.A.R.L. – Hideout [AAR039]
Ben Gibson – Implex (Samuli Kemppi remix) [MRECLTD010]
Conrad Van Orton & Vilix – Coppergreen Project [CRS016]
Svreca – Narratif [Semantica18z]
Svreca – Post Madrid [Semantica18z]
Stanislav Tolkachev – Fadeout [Sub-D08]
Svreca – Utero (Regis Invisible Mix) [Semantica18z]
Inigo Kennedy – Obsidian [TOKEN014]

Shouts have to go over to Vocode Records boss Mad Wax for highlighting this album to me late last night.

It’s a fresh LP from one of the UKs foremost and established electro producers: Kurt Baggaley, or Scape One as you’ll know him. Releasing Plastic Analysis freely as a thank you to his fans and their support during the past year.

Kurt writes:

A free album of all new material especially for you…

As a thank you to all the friends who have supported Scape One in 2011. A collection of minimal analog electronic grooves and oscillating sound-scapes from the command module.

Please feel free to share, copy, give, mix, add a video to, DJ with, play out, play in, spin, remix, play in the car, on the pod, in the dock or whatever you feel is appropriate. Just remember to include the Scape One deal of approval.

A large back catalogue of Scape One work is available via his Bandcamp profile.

Scape One – Plastic Analysis
Download

Tracklist
Scape One – Introductions
Scape One – Escape To Paradise
Scape One – Regression Analysis
Scape One – Shore Leave
Scape One – Pure Logic
Scape One – Internal Symmetry
Scape One – Plastic Lunch
Scape One – Lab Specimens
Scape One – End Credits

released: 25 Dec 2011

Hailing from Glasgow is the sometime shapeshifter, sometime cat, sometime seagull and occasional question mark: Chordata.

Heading up the 38th release for London’s Militant Science netlabel she lays down 8 fast paced, melody rich electro bass pieces. Griffin, Feline Domination and Samhain are our stand out cuts.

Griffin we’ve be lucky enough to have for a good few months. Upfront, sharp kick stabs with a wet acid line. Add to that an infectious synth hook and you’ve got a crowd pleaser.

Similar vibes are felt on Feline Domination though it’s just that bit a harder track. Vocoded vox, growling synths and fast beats. To the point.

Darker cut Samhain goes for the more deranged on its synth. It’s no less upfront though.

An EP designed straight for the dancefloor.

Chordata – Bringers of the Dawn
Buy Download

Tracklist
01. Chordata – Nocturnal Predator
02. Chordata – Griffin
03. Chordata – Feline Domination
04. Chordata – Mr Morris
05. Chordata – Apocalypse No
06. Chordata – The Epic of Gilgamesh
07. Chordata – Samhain
08. Chordata – Evil Aquarium

cat# MSIA038 / released 03 Dec 2011

So, I for one am really glad that Dylan Richards’ King Cannibal has decided to share his hour long mega set: Cannibalism 2011 with his fans.

Recorded on August 27th ahead of his performance at l’Usine in Geneva Switzerland which was featuring a big AV hookup for his set. As a favour to the visual crew he put this together to help familarize them with what he would be dropping on the night. It is fit to burst with bass and features a slew of Ninja Tune cuts. Essential listening from an artist and DJ that’s going to go to 11 in 2012.

Cannibal:

As we’re reaching the end of the year and i’m looking towards developing my set in to my newer productions in 2012 i thought it timely to take a glance back at the kind of sets i was playing out this year, for those who didn’t get a chance to see me or want to re-live one of the shows they caught me at.

No tracklist, simply due to the amount of tracks thrown down. Cannibal continues:

Its somewhat of an expansion of The Way Of The Ninja mix cd released at the end of last year, but goes way beyond that.

Way too many tracks to list, feel free to tag and name them!

King Cannibal – Cannibalism 2011 by King Cannibal 3

It is the season for gifts after all. For a limited time, until January 1st 2012 Posthuman‘s back catalogue is available to download for free or as pay-what-you-want from the duo’s Bandcamp profile page.

Josh from Posthuman:

This includes:
The remastered versions of our first two albums: Uncertainty of the Monkey and Lagrange Point
The unreleased Sector EP from 2000 (this was a demo, so please be forgiving when listening!)
Distant Personal (released under the name On/Off) from 2002
The recent Datalinks collection.
The ‘Blue’ version of our debut release – the first time this has been made available in high quality download.

There’s a few missing bits & pieces – suck as tracks from compilations, and the split EPs on Skam and Smallfish, but this is still probably the most complete collection of our output as Posthuman since 2000.

There is also a very small number of original physical copies (vinyls and CDs) still available for some of the releases.

Josh goes on to tease us with what 2012 will deliver from the Posthuman camp:

We have several new releases and remixes planned already for 2012 (most of it on vinyl): some electronica, and plenty of acid & techno, and we’re going to get back out on the road and start gigging more regularly.

So, for now – merry xmas & a happy new year!

It’s the perfect chance to fill in some of the blanks of their discography in my record collection. The pair have also selected some of their favourite productions which serve as a great introduction to the group and their sound.

Some of our favourites at Darkfloor include:

It’s been about a year since we last heard a session from the mysterious Unseen Selectors for their Graphite North blog. This week 2 mixes have surfaced for their series; numbers 9 and 10. The last one I posted here was their 7th session back in October 2010 (number 8 from December last year can be got here).

So why has there been a year since we last heard a recording from these guys, turns out:

Performng live, Producing, DJ-ing, Blagging, Travelling, Occasionally getting naked….

Musically we’re going deep, bleak and cold with work from The Haxan Cloak, Demdike Stare, Tropic of Cancer, Ekoplekz, Forest Swords and Godspeed You Black Emperor gracing mix 10. Mix 9 goes for the techno framework with sound from Regis, Robert Armani, Silent Servant, Oscar Mulero and Heiko Laux constructing a sharp cerebral session.

Definitely some sound to lose yourself in during these wintry days laid down before us.

Graphite North Mix Volume 010 mixed by Unseen Selectors
Download Stream

Tracklist
Intro – Illuminati 1_1
Haxan Cloak – Fall
Tropic Of Cancer – Dive Wheel Of The Law
Demdike Stare – Hashashin Chant
Interlude – AM_FM
Duppy Gun Productions – Earth (Version)
Sandra Electronics – New Purpose
Powell – The Ongoing Significance Of Steel & Flesh
Ekoplekz – Narco Samba
Yves De Mey – Past To A Halt
Iesope Drift – Korot
Interlude – Mechanisms
Forest Swords – Miarches
Godspeed You Black Emperor – Dead Flag Blues
John Cohen – Tar River
Haxan Cloak – Memoriam

Graphite North Mix Volume 009 mixed by Unseen Selectors
Download Stream

Tracklist
Zadig – Reform
Antigone – The Machinist (Zadig mix)
Marcellus – 24_7
Developer – Edifico
Robert Armani – Ambulance (DJ Hyperactive mix)
Punto – 3tempo3
Silent Servant – Mad Youth
Heiko Laux – Re_Televised
Unknown – B1 – Edit
Unknown – A1 – Edit
Mike Parker – Pulse Trader
Oscar Mulero – Tidal Acceleration
Emmanuel Jal – Kuar (Olof Dreijer remix)
Emmanuel Top – Brutal Drum
Regis – Blinding Horses
Robert Armani – Winter (Dave Clarke mix)
Sapiano & The Partycrashers – Signal

Are you a fan of electro. Proper, dark, often dystopian flavoured deep machine flexing sound. You are. Well then this news will interest you greatly.

Stalwart UK electro producer and for the past few years French citizen; Carl A. Finlow aka Silicon Scally aka Voice Stealer aka Random Factor aka… you get the idea, has begun to release his back catalogue on the self publishing platform bandcamp. I’m told this is going to include unreleased material together with work previously only available on limited run vinyl. So expect some gems to surface as he builds the profile discography up.

At present he’s 2 releases up; an unreleased 8 track album as Voice Stealer and 1997′s The All Electric House, also recorded under the Voice Stealer alias.

I should also point out that that other prolific UK electro producer Scape One has been upping a serious wedge of his back catalogue on the bandcamp service this year.

Nearly 1 hour and 20 minutes of upfront dubs from Gordon Sweeney, better known as Threnody; together with fresh plates from his extended fam come together for his Music is Process mix.

If you like heavy bass, broken beats and an ever present sense of the grimey then you’ll find much to love. Taking in sound from breakstep, dubstep, grime, mutant bass, dark house and bleep together with a few of Gordon’s upcoming cuts.

The tracklist reads like a who’s who of producers carving their own brutal bassrave path: Dexplicit, Rrritalin, Kanji Kinetic, Succulent-C, Geiom, Side9000, Luke’s Anger, Toasty, Mad EP, Blackmass Plasics and Wascal.

Threnody – Music is Process
Download Stream Mixcloud

Tracklist
Threnody – Bash [dub]
Shimano – An Unusual Sound [Blueprint]
Lucid – Shh (Sam Tiba remix) [Nightshifters dub]
Dexplicit – The Centaur [DXP dub]
Yeahhbuzz – Killinger (Rrritalin remix) [dub]
Kanji Kinetic – Bang Harder (Threnody remix) [dub]
Succulent-C – Grime Time [UK Trends dub]
Threnody – A Certain Space [dub]
Geiom – Row2Land [dub]
Side9000 – Ants [dub]
Luke’s Anger – Earthworm [dub]
Lucid – Togo [Nightshifters dub]
Threnody – Hologram [dub]
Wascal – 12 Sided Dice [dub]
Geiom – Know U [dub]
Bugz In The Attic – Booty La La (Toasty remix) [dub]
Threnody – Fractured [dub]
Blackmass Plastics – Non Ionic [dub]
Mad EP – Haunted (Threnody remix) [Mutate dub]
Moova – Smash Time [UK Trends dub]
The S.K & TMP – Looters [UK Trends dub]
Dexplicit – Pirate cave [DXP dub]
Threnody – Slo Motion [dub]

Threnody – Music is Process Mix by threnody

Mantis 097 + Echo Park
Download Stream iTunes Podcast

DVNT
Mad-Tek – Terra [Digital Distortions]
Death Grips – Guillotine (Voidloss Blood Rage Mix) [dub]
Alex Under – El Alma Del Tiempo (Slam Paragraph Mix) [Soma Recordings]
Mark Rogan – Anxiety [dub]
Mad-Tek – Glycemic [Digital Distortions]
Headhunter – Clone [Black Box]
Sunil Sharpe – Line Rage [Black Sun Germany]
anodyne – Empire of Glass (Fausten rmx) [Combat Recordings]
Dan Mute – A Candle for Me [Audioexit]
Hoth System – Foreign Object [Audioexit]
AS1 – I Suffer [Fundamental Records]
the wee djs – Employed [thismachineisbroken]
Volsoc – Compuphonic Intelligence (Bass Kittens & Single Cell Orchestra rmx) [World Electric]
Mad-Tek – When The Wheels Fall Off [Digital Distortions]
Illektrolab – Interdimensional [Duality]
George Lanham – In The Crosshairs [dub]
P.E.A.R.L. – Break Affection [Audio Assault]
Videohead – destroyer [dub]
Threnody – A Certain Space [dub]
Phaeleh – Lament (DJ Madd Remix) [Black Box]

ECHO PARK
Geoslide – Futura2000
Mike Slott – Snow Birds
Forss – Tacit Knowledge
Flying Lotus – Dance of the Pseudo Nymph
CL Dawkins – Bentest
Take – Soul Particles
Mike Slott – My Lightbridge
Knxwledge – Pattern Klear
Geoslide – Rey Mono
Echo Park – Do Androids Dream of Electric Jeeps?
Dufrayne – On the Moon
Duke Slammer – VHS Distress
Onra – Don’t Stop
Wild Hadess – Purple Heaven
Prefuse73 – I’ve Said All I Need to Say About That
J-Dilla – Bye

097 /

Show 97. Show. Number. Ninety. Seven. And indeed our final show proper of 2011. This week we welcome back a producer who in the past 18 months has gone from a decade of hard, industrially edged broken techno to boogie funk. Welcome back to Mantis Radio; Brian Gibbs with Echo Park.

the showcase

As Gunjack, Brian graced our show back in early 2009 (with a double showcase session alongside New York’s Hellfire Machina). His sound has morphed quite dramatically from thundering hard, relentless techno into boogie funk, disco powered hip-hop beats. It’s something different yet again for us here at Mantis Radio and an upbeat send off for our final show of 2011.

2010 was a turbulent year for Brian. With an 8.8 magnitude earthquake his family and he had to content with at his home in Santiago de Chile in February, to August when he was hospitalised for weeks with ruptured internal organs and blood poisoning. Following a month long battle in hospital Brian finally got back to his studio and producing beats. His move from hard edged dark sound had already begun with his Dials Mavis and Marty McFly projects. Slowing down the tempos, bringing swing and space in and producing much less anger powered sound.

As Echo Park, Brian has found support with many, most notably Skream who has already released the much loved Fiber Optic single on his own Disfigured Dubs imprint with an album to follow early next year.

Currently in London for a few weeks to record more material for Disfigured, in between continuing studio sessions in Hammersmith and Hackney, Brian took time out to record an exclusive guest session for our show, which I present tonight.

previous shows
MANTIS ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

Following the free release of Shorn back in November; Swarm Intelligence drops another heavy bass glitchstep roller on us which you can also grab for free. When he’s not putting together the monthly Darkfloor Stalker articles, the Stalker mixes or producing quintessentially darkfloor beats he can be found tearing dancefloors apart in Berlin and beyond.

Swarm Intelligence – Tame
Download

Tame (Free DL) by swarmintelligence

Recent mix recordings made available include Swarm Intelligence live on Combat Recordings: Riddim N Bruise, live at Redrum from August ’08 and live at La Casa Invisible from May 21st this year. Plenty to dig your ears into then.

Mantis 097 + Echo Park
BROADCASTING FROM 20:00 GMT ON FUTURE MUSIC

Show 97. Show. Number. Ninety. Seven. And indeed our final show proper of 2011. This week we welcome back a producer who in the past 18 months has gone from a decade of hard, industrially edged broken techno to boogie funk. Welcome back to Mantis Radio; Brian Gibbs with Echo Park.

the showcase

As Gunjack, Brian graced our show back in early 2009 (with a double showcase session alongside New York’s Hellfire Machina). His sound has morphed quite dramatically from thundering hard, relentless techno into boogie funk, disco powered hip-hop beats. It’s something different yet again for us here at Mantis Radio and an upbeat send off for our final show of 2011.

2010 was a turbulent year for Brian. With an 8.8 magnitude earthquake his family and he had to content with at his home in Santiago de Chile in February, to August when he was hospitalised for weeks with ruptured internal organs and blood poisoning. Following a month long battle in hospital Brian finally got back to his studio and producing beats. His move from hard edged dark sound had already begun with his Dials Mavis and Marty McFly projects. Slowing down the tempos, bringing swing and space in and producing much less anger powered sound.

As Echo Park, Brian has found support with many, most notably Skream who has already released the much loved Fiber Optic single on his own Disfigured Dubs imprint with an album to follow early next year.

Currently in London for a few weeks to record more material for Disfigured, in between continuing studio sessions in Hammersmith and Hackney, Brian took time out to record an exclusive guest session for our show, which I present tonight.

previous shows
DOWNLOADABLE ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

Ah yes. Arriving in my inbox over the weekend came news of a new release from one of our favourite electro producers: the wee djs.

I’ve written about Dave Paton; the singular man responsible for the multiple personality implied production alias a fair few times on Darkfloor already and no doubt it will continue into 2012 as Dave keeps working his machines. And working his machines is what he does, damn well too.

His work continues to sound raw, free and with an instinctive almost playful, demented, groove to it. It also sounds like hardware he is jamming on. Even, and perhaps specifically because of that, he can be quite a unique voice in electro. A genre which is enjoying somewhat of a resurgence as hipster approved artists of ‘bass music’ and the dying early dubstep crew embrace and release it.

the wee djs have been at it for years and this level of accomplished ability shows with Chase (and indeed Dave’s back catalogue). Chase is the 2nd in a planned series of 7 EPs which continues what Drive began last month.

It’s not over produced, it’s straight to it. I wouldn’t be surprised if these tracks are mostly straight from live jams. That’s not a problem, some producers have a skill at translating an idea, a groove, a rhythm, quickly as they know their machines/tools inside out. Dave has that vibe about his sound. And whether he slams out jams over a weekend or hones them down over months it doesn’t matter, what does matter is it’s another EP of his full of damn fine, electro. Damn fine electro which you can grab for free, or pay what you want for and support him directly.

With 2 sterling EPs already in this as yet unnamed series, the pressure is on for Dave to deliver on the 3rd which we hope will see the light early in 2012.

the wee djs – Chase
Grab

Tracklist
the wee djs – A Large Estate
the wee djs – Weird Behaviour
the wee djs – Cracker Barrel
the wee djs – Drunk Again
the wee djs – Employed
the wee djs – Advice

cat# TMIB 021 / released 10 Dec 2011

Delving into the work of French rhythmic noise producer Edgeist, comes this 5 track EP recently released on the ever diverse continually prolific Portuguese netlabel Enough Records.

Now my forays into the world of rhythmic noise or power noise as I think those you of the American nationality term it, are few. So I’m not really the best person to lay out the finer details of the style of sound. As you though, I know what I like and I like this. It’s something that I can get into, the sonic sculpture of Landscapes slams across over its 5 short tracks. The longest piece here is Depths; a buzzing stamping industrial onslaught but that’s only 3 minutes and 19 seconds.

EP opener Dawn is my favourite track. It’s nightmarish but has enough structure to really suck me in deep. Stabs of distorted static infested noise attack, it breathes out midway through and then kicks in with a great groove that dark techno fans will gravitate towards with gusto. This could really do with an extended edit.

Subsequent tracks Wreck, Remanence and Windward venture into, well without the walls of white noise and static could potentially be regarded as trance. With the distortion you’re looking at sound that would be at home being classed as drag or witch house. A scene I’ve written about on here before, that I’ve showcased on Mantis Radio and that has some interesting artists pushing things forward (it also, as with every scene is full of copycat dullards trying to cash in).

It’s free to download, so what have you got to lose; take a hit. Available at the moment as 256kbps MP3s though I am speaking to the label and hope to have some WAV quality download links shortly.

Edgeist – Landscapes
Download

Tracklist
Edgeist – Dawn
Edgeist – Depths
Edgeist – Wreck
Edgeist – Remanence
Edgeist – Windward

cat# enrmp288 / released December 8, 2011

The final album under the artist name Xela has been released. Type Records owner John Twells; the man responsible for the Xela project has decided to call it a day.

2003 saw his début release with For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights and from there the project moved forward into darker more drone based sound which is where my interest began (I haven’t actually listened to his debut release).

One of my favourite pieces from Xela was the b-side to Tsuki No Seika Volume One on Root Strata (with Liz Harris’s Grouper on the flip) I think it was also the first piece by Xela I properly sat down and listened to. It’s a piece I keep returning to.

Exorcism, his final LP, is available for free.

So here it is, the ‘final’ Xela album, and it’s been a while coming. OK, so it’s not technically the final album chronologically speaking (‘The Sublime’ and ‘My Memories of Gallifrey’ were finished after this one) but since it’s being released now, it may as well be the last album. It seems fitting too – I wrote the record in 08/09 while camped out in my childhood home with my laptop, FX and Pro-One synthesizer squeezed onto a dresser table while I recovered from a bout of illness some years back. The idea was to write a record that would serve as some kind of therapy, something I would enjoy making and enjoy listening to, so to act as an ‘ending’ to the Xela project in general seems perfect to me.

You see I came up with Xela in 1999, when I used to make shonky beat tapes for girls at school and pretend it was all other people’s tunes so they wouldn’t be so dismissive. As soon as the name stuck, it took on a life of its own and the shitty jungle, hip hop and garage tracks became more melodic, escapist sounds. At the time I was working at Halfords on Bescot Stadium (Walsall’s football ground) selling bass boxes and fitting car stereos, and my mates were pushing me to max out on the bass content – voila ‘For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights’ was born. This was an album where I wanted to capture the dank griminess of the Black Country (the wider area where my hometown resides – hint, it’s NOT Birmingham) but give it hope, because I hoped I’d get the fuck out.

Fast forward twelve years and I did make it out, I do miss it – but it feels disingenuous to still find myself shackled to a moniker that was born mostly out of a specific place and possibly time. The last two years, living in the US and still recording/performing under the Xela name has been weird for me. This was a project that for better or for worse lived and died in the muddy puddles outside the Arboretum, and in the 50p bin on the VHS stall at Bescot Market. It doesn’t have any relevance here in Massachusetts, and that’s why I’m bringing things to a close. I’ll still be making music of course, but it feels good to say ‘this is the end’ of this particular era.

Fittingly, ‘Exorcism’ contains field recordings I recorded in the Park Lime Pits in Walsall, a flooded limestone mine that I spent much of my childhood traipsing around (when I wasn’t in front of a screen, anyway – would hate you all to think I’m an ‘outdoors’ type).

Xela – Exorcism
Download

Tracklist
Xela – Charm
Xela – Recitation
Xela – Potion

Xela – Exorcism by _type