From the mind and machines of Drexciya member Gerald Donald (as Heinrich Mueller) and Victoria Lukas is the audio visual project Zerkalo.

Taken from an upcoming release (no date) is this beautiful track You, whose sleep is without awakening…. Featured is the well established electro wanderings of surely one of the scenes most prolific musicians: Gerald Donald (Dopplereffekt, Arpanet and a load more) together with vocalist Victoria Lukas.

Whilst you wait for more release details there are a few EPs worth of material to explore; 2 EPs for the Clone Aqualung Series and one for Frustrated Funk.

Fresh from last weeks performance in Belgium comes this recording of Welsh electro producer Dez Williams set laying down his brand of electro tech hard and proper.

Williams is one of those reliable producers of dancefloor electro, giving his own slant on the underground genre. Well respected and with a decade’s worth of releases under his belt, together with his own label Elektronik Religion he’s a musician whose tracks form stable parts of many a decent DJs setlist notably Rob Hall, Dave Clarke and Adam X.

This is his set recorded last week in Brussels at Café Central where his electro/techno pushed all the right buttons. All 1 hour and 42 minutes of it of button pushing.

Dez Williams – Live at Cafe Central 11/05/2012
DOWNLOAD STREAM

Tracklist
n/a

Mantis Radio 106 + Casual Violence
DOWNLOAD STREAM ITUNES PODCAST

DVNT
Logical Disorder – Sol Invictus [Mutoide]
Alphaxone – Emerging [Eg0cide Productions]
WIKAN – Monoliths [Dark Peaks]
Drugstore – Gaia (Oliver Kucera remix) [Cicuta Netlabel]
Pasquale Maassen – Waveshaper [Zimmer Records]
Rene Reiter – Invasion V1 [Alien Force]
Sev Dah – Saint Of The Cave (Grovskopa remix) [Gynoid Audio]
David Meiser – Assault Forces [Pareto Park]
Luke Creed – Ground Loop [Cicuta Netlabel]
Tachini – Ongeloof [Pareto Park]
Si Begg – Bad Boy [dub]
Mazzula – Harsh Boy [input - output inc.]
Phat Chex – Try for me [dub]
Clatterbox – Autofire [Ricochet Records]
Subnation – Scottie (King Yoofs 2012 mix) [Sub Slayers]
Swarm Intelligence – Scud [Swarm Intelligence]
SKELETONKIDS – $ (Rainn Bad Customer Service remix) [SKELETONKIDS]
SKELETONKIDS – Red Woods (AAIMON remix) [SKELETONKIDS]

CASUAL VIOLENCE
Casual Violence – Nothing Is Written [Maieutics]
Giorgio Gigli + Obtane – Patterns Of Behaviour [Zooloft]
Lapse – Sound 6 [dub]
Haus Arafna – Hingabe [Galakthorro]
Sandwell District – Grey Cut Out [Sandwell District]
Svreca – SS09 (Yuji Kondo + Katsunori Sawa/Steven Porter remix) [Semantica]
Subjected – Untitled [Vault Series] / [Vault 08]
Cub – C U 1 (UST remix) [Cub]
Orphx – Compulsion [Hands]
Alva Noto – Uni Acronym [Raster Noton]
Regis – Blinding Horses [Blackest Ever Black]
Cio D’Or – Organza (Milton Bradley remix) [Prologue]
Imaginary Forces – Old Rituals [dub]
Cio D’Or – Magnetfluss (Milton Bradley remix) [Prologue]
Casual Violence – Cardinal [dub]
Casual Violence – Thought And Language [dub]
Delusions – Untitled (Svreca remix) [Ballistic]
Regis – White Stains [Downwards]
Regis – Purification [Downwards]
Raidho – Reodan [Rune]
Whitehouse – Why You Never Became A Dancer [Very Friendly]
Destroy Aliens – Untitled [Destroy Aliens]
Sandwell District – Svar [Sandwell District]
Sigha – Drown [Hotflush]
Jeff Pietro – Still [Borrowed Language]
Allan Nonamaka – Without Control [Fervent]
Planetary Assault Systems – Call From The East [Ostgut Ton]
Jeff Mills – The Industry Of Dreams [Axis]
Milton Bradley – Escaped From The Dark [Zooloft]
Siege – Aftermath Contrast [dub]
Orphx – Preta Loka [Sonic Groove]
Emptyset – Aleph [Caravan Recordings]

#106

This week we present the dark techno lord of Manchester: Casual Violence.

the showcase

Any of you into the darker realms of techno will already know just who CV is and just what he can do with sound. For those of you who have perhaps heard the name but are unfamiliar with the sound, prepare for a session to blow your mind.

Hailing from Manchester UK, Casual Violence has a formidable reputation for dark, deep and visceral techno built on a base of rhythmic industrial. Slow builds, walls of texture, atmospheric drone and an ever present discourse of grind progression. His track selection is always on point and I don’t think there has been a single CV mix I’ve heard that I haven’t then spent the following day hunting down tracks he programmed. His exclusive session for Mantis Radio is no different.

His work has seen release on some of the scene’s most respected underground labels. Voidloss’s Singularity, Dutch label Aftertase (who released his phenomenal Briefly Sexual track), Rodz Konez, Biomechanics, Subsist and Duality Recs.

The work of one man with a clear vision of purpose, not bending to convention or popular consensus, instead choosing to carve his own unique sonic path of destruction.

Currently he’s working on a new album Ashes These, scheduled for completion and release around September on his own Maieutics Music imprint together with an EP to accompany the album. Also forthcoming on Maieutics. Back in January CV put together a large collection of his recent original and remix work which is one of the best places to start with bringing his sound into your collection.

If you want to witness the full might of CV on a system you can catch him up at Future-Past in Leeds on June 1st (the same date as our Darkfloor Live event in London with fellow techno heavyweights Voidloss and Coefficient), where he’ll be performing alongside Reeko and Forward Strategy Group. Those of you in Lithuania can catch him at the Tundra Festival on July 6th.

previous shows
MANTIS ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

BRAWLcast 71 comes to us courtesy of Edinburgh’s Ingen.

Ingen is a live DJ and producer based in Edinburgh UK. He uses an Ableton live setup mixed with ever changing midi gear to produce a diverse, forward thinking melting pot of sound.

He has been a long standing resident with Split at Cabaret Voltaire and Coalition at Sneaky Pete’s which has been one of the most popular techno and drum n bass nights in the capital’s history.Moving people to fresh and uncompromising sounds since 2005.

Look out for a track on the forthcoming Digital Distortions dd50 compilation followed by a full release later this year…

BRAWLcast #071 Ingen – Taking Stock
Download Stream Mixcloud

TRACKLIST
Aphex Twin – Flim [Warp]
Ingen – Loop
Ingen – Dawn Song
Monolake – Plumbicon – Loop [Monolake]
Savier – Alright Moldies
2562 – Lost [Tectonic]
Savier – Richard’s Civilisation
Ingen – Loop
Ed Chamberlain – Trapeze [BaseLogic]
Clark – Penultimate Persian [Warp]
Cursor Miner – Everybody Want Power [Combat Recordings]
Regis – Blood Witness [Blackest Ever Black]
Tommy Four Seven – Track 5 [ITH]
Traversable Wormhole – Spacetime Symmetries [Traversable Wormhole]
Mike Dehnert – A4 [Fachwerk]
LFO – Freeze [Warp]
Boggart – Drum
Instant
Ingen – Subway [Tribal Waves]
Reeko – Selection Natural – Parte 1 [Mental Disorder]
Tessela – D-Jane [Punch Drunk]
Extrawelt – Added Planet [Cocoon]
Bryan Black presents Black Asteroid – Engine 1 [CLR]
Alva Noto – Uni Dia [Raster-Noton]
British Murder Boys – Don’t Give Way To Fear [Counterbalance]
Blawan – What You Do With What You Have [R&S]
Drexciya – The Plankton Organization [Tresor]
Boys Noize – Trooper [Boysnoize]
Justin Maxwell – The Windey Man [palette]
Ingen – Loop
Dust Bowl
Whitehouse – Killing Hurts Give You The Secrets [Susan Lawly]
Emmanuel Jal – Kuar (Olof Dreijer Remix) [Innervisons]
Vex’d – Fire [Planet Mu]
Eight Frozen Modules – Datacasting [Planet Mu]
Lone – Explorers [R&S]
Ingen – Snap The Tilt [Digital Distortions]
GoldFFinch – Groove Panda [Saigon Recordings]
Clark – Violenl [Warp]
Ingen – TRYC9 [Digital Distortions]
DBX – Losing Control [Peacefrog]
Tessela – Darlene Please [2nd Drop]
Stagga – Prehistoric UFO Rhythm [Rag & Bone]
Milanese – Billy Electron (Venger Remix) [Planet Mu]
Distal – Boss Of The South [Grizzly]
Mike Dehnert – Pneumatic [Ann Aimee]
Chordata – Griffin [Militent Science]
Ital Tek – Topaz [Atom River]
Dom & Roland – Clip Kill [Moving Shadow]
Ochre – Circadies [Benbecula]

Paul Blackford, the man who together with Kronos Device and Stormfield tore the 100th Mantis Radio (live) apart adds another release to his already strong and solid discography.

Smiley’s Nightmare is familiar territory for Blackford fans; with those fast paced bass electro breaks that he is an undisputed master of. Part deep part upfront slamming this EP continues and builds on the recent work from Blackford on last years frankly wicked Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters album on Binalog and March’s Tudor Beats released Dream Sequence EP.

Opener Smiley’s Dream is a deep and mature piece of pure electro sci-fi. Going back to that place that his Dream Sequence EP released Voyager 2 track went (one of my favourite cuts of his yet) with a headspace trip of lush synth and locked down groove.

Smiley’s Nightmare is that bit harder and darker with trademark bass synth stabs. This is Blackford doing what he does best; dancefloor slamming electro breaks with heavyweight sub. Few compare.

Circus Drones is something almost entirely different, in that it’s beatless. This is a side of him we’ve not really heard much of before. Is this a taster of a new direction for him? I’m not sure but I’m eager and hopeful to hear more experiments.

Available at a price to cover hosting costs (£0.60) direct from Militant Science if you want lossless/WAV quality. If you just want it for your iPod and living room, grab the free download here.

Paul Blackford – Smiley’s Nightmare
GRAB

Tracklist
Paul Blackford – Smiley’s Dream
Paul Blackford – Smiley’s Nightmare
Paul Blackford – Circus Drones
MSIA042

The London producer Ben Gibson serves up an hour of cold, desolate techno with an edge of industrial glimmer. Shouldn’t really come as any surprise our posting of CLFT0040 then should it.

I haven’t really been following the work of Gibson since his 2009, Perc Trax released, In a Realized Luck Of Immanence album. Though I didn’t hear it until the following year. And that’s nothing against the album which is a fine longplayer of stripped to the basics drone doused dark techno, indeed some described it at the time as Auschwitz techno; reinforcing the bleak and desolate landscape it summons up.

Simply, since I listened I’ve been distracted by other music. I’m confident that in your mind as you read this you shouldn’t be expecting uplifting melody sections, catchy hooks and bubblegum pop motifs. If you are then you’re in the wrong place.

So in part this is a re-introduction or refresher into the sound and style of Gibson, and it features two recent-ish cuts of his from January’s More Than Milk on Milan’s M_REC LTD.

CLFT0040 contains Samuli Kemppi’s remix of Implex and the original version of Florentine. Also featured is work from William Bennett’s awesome Cut Hands, Manchester’s Casual Violence, Orphx, Sandwell District, RRose, Surgeon, Voidloss, Monolake, Mala, Grovskopa, Robert Hood and sleeparchive.

Ben Gibson – CLFT0040
DOWNLOAD STREAM

Tracklist
Cut Hands – Rain Washes Away Everything [Very Friendly]
Casual Violence – Borne [Biomechanics]
Orphx – Cracktest [Sonic Groove]
Kalon – Man is the Superior Animal [Sandwell District]
Ill Blu – Bellion [Hyperdub]
Ben Gibson – Implex (Samulli Kempi Remix) [M_REC Ltd]
Rrose – Pointilism (Variation One) [Sandwell District]
Surgeon – The Crawling Frog is Torn and Smiles [Dynamic Tension]
Voidloss – Dominion [Singularity]
Monolake – Titan [Imbalance Computer Music]
Jeroen Search – Section One [Sect]
Mala – New Life Baby Paris [Deep Medi Musik]
James Ruskin – Sabre [Blueprint]
Sleeparchive – Hospital 2 [Sleeparchive]
Ben Gibson – Florentine [M_REC Ltd]
Oscar Mulero – Like I’ve Been Here Before [Warm Up]
Robert Hood – The Family [M-Plant]
Grovskopa – Atopic (Lag Remix) [Sect]
Terrence Parker – Love’s Got Me High [Seventh Sign]
Actress – Green Gal [Werk Discs]

As someone who primarily buys and consumes music in album and EP form (that is to say, not dancefloor orientated releases) it takes a pretty huge track to make me take specific interest. Girl Unit‘s 2010 track Wut was, however, pretty unavoidable.

It came at a time when the neon/purple/synthy r’n'b sound was in full force, and it certainly lived up to the expectations of its peers. That was of course nearly two years ago, and as buzzy as it was at the time, that sound has mellowed and moved aside for other things to take the bass music community by storm. Girl Unit seems to have been pretty quiet over that period, so it’s exciting to hear a new EP from him. I’m very pleased with his eventual output. It’s different, packed full of exciting ideas and still super highly polished and perfectly presented.

My first impression is, before hearing any music whatsoever, the increased length of the release. Six tracks, at an average of five minutes each mean that while this is undeniably an EP, it matches a fair few albums in play time. This sits well with me immediately, although not without fears of stagnant dance music long players. Luckily, this is not the case.

Opener Ensemble (Club Mix) is understandably catchy and hooky. Presumably intended as a big dance-floor hit, it certainly hits all the required spots. The neon synth sound remains, but with (unsurprisingly) a much higher emphasis on the rolling, disco end of the spectrum. It takes a while for the main theme to build in, but when it does it’s undeniably anthemic.

Cake Boss opens with harsh electro stabs, and builds into full-on electro. Clearly taking a large tip from the juke scene that has arguably been the other main player in the bass music scene in recent years, it crams in about as many stark electro elements as it can without sounding messy. The results are angular and energetic. Most interestingly, it smacks of early Warp and SKAM work, and has an austerity that has only really been seen in the underground electro scene until quite recently.

Plaza picks the neon up again, but keeping a firm grasp on the electro sound. The harshness is gone, and replaced with a solid breakbeat groove. Aside from the filtered hooks that break through sporadically, it’s essentially just a raw 808 jam. It’s fairly unremarkable, but does the job. Certainly I can see it being a very effective club track.

For me, the most exciting track is Double Take. It starts up with the harsh noises again, but quickly brings in a beautifully deep and jerky halfstep beat. The strange sounds remain and fit the oddness of the rhythm perfectly. These elements build throughout, cutting in all the right places. There’s plenty of space in the mix so every jerk maintains its effect. Right at the last minute, a splash of neon is brought back up, going off into a neat melodic phrase. It’s moments like this which play up the EP’s strengths as more than just dance-floor music.

Rezday is firmly back in synth territory. A long, building intro gives way into skittering halfstep drums. Usually I shy away from obvious, plodding halfstep, but this has enough class and purpose to pull it off. The synths maintain their dominance throughout, and combined with the harsh mechanic percussion give the whole affair a brutal John Carpenter vibe.

Club Rez is exactly what it says on the tin. Rhythmically it stays both in the halfstep domain, and the urgent electro, but it is certainly much more R’n'B than it is dubstep. The depth of the kicks combined with the almost saccharin synth lines work to create a powerfully anthemic track, which is almost too much, but not quite.

It’s a strong EP, with each track holding its own perfectly. It doesn’t overdo any of its features, and remains a fresh and interesting listen for the full 30 minutes. It’s undeniably a product of the current bass music scene; all of the important sounds from the last year are displayed here (and with good effect), and it’s pushing what seem to be (excitingly) the scene’s newest focus, that early Warp/IDM electro sound.

Electro with grit and sincerity. It’s also very definitely a Girl Unit release, picking up where ‘Wut‘ left off, while still acknowledging the time in between.

Girl Unit – Club Rez EP
GRAB

Tracklist
Girl Unit : Ensemble (Club Mix)
Girl Unit : Cake Boss
Girl Unit : Plaza
Girl Unit : Double Take
Girl Unit : Rezday
Girl Unit : Club Rez
NS013

Darkfloor in Session 012
DOWNLOAD STREAM ITUNES PODCAST ARTWORK

Logical Disorder – Live at MicroMUTEK 2012

Tracklist
01. Logical Disorder – Intro: The Beginning + Repetitive Pattern
02. Logical Disorder – Hiperió
03. Logical Disorder – Obivion
04. Logical Disorder – Holy Hammer
05. Logical Disorder – Prince Of Poverty
06. Logical Disorder – Violent Playground
07. Logical Disorder – Isolation
08. Logical Disorder – Nonsense
09. Logical Disorder – Help Me

Recorded live at MicroMUTEK, Barcelona, Spain on February 8th, 2012.

Photography by Xarlene.

Dublin producer and DJ Peadar Ó Brádaigh is currently to be found lurking around London; as P-Hocto he’s a man you’re going to be hearing more from in 2012. Fresh blood with fresh ideas.

Until then you need to hit this mix of his; a re-record of his set at Bigwar 8 where he shared sound system space with King Cannibal and EOMAC.

In his own words:

The larger part of my set from Bigwar8. King Cannibal, Eomac and myself played in the basement, Pet Duo, Fran Hartnett and Rob Hatchell played upstairs. Considering the room I was in this mix is less techno and more bass than usual. This is actually a re-recording I did the next day as needle troubles on the night ruined my own recording, but Eomac and King Cannibal’s mixes came out fine and should be available online soon so keep an eye out.

An keep an eye out we shall.

P-Hocto – Bigwar 8
DOWNLOAD STREAM

Tracklist
Luke’s Anger – Badman Get Badder
Michael Forshaw – The Joint
Override – Machines Do The Work
Ben Pest & Wulfe – Chaouenian Sole
Chris Clark – The Magnet Mine
Exzakt – Transfusion (Dexorcist remix)
Buckfunk 3000 – 2 Much Booty (Product 1 remix)
The Dexorcist – Africadub
Dark Sky – Zoom
Tessela – D Jane
Bassbin Twins – Woppa
Cursor Miner – Grimewatch
Addison Groove – Work It
Bill Youngman – Cells Regenerate (Hanno Hinkelbein remix)
Author – The City
Uninerves – Black Ops
Neil Landstrumm – Energy Flush
Stormfield – Haiku (Ed Chamberlain remix)
Ed Chamberlain – Does Ape
Itsu Uno – B-Boy Rave for the Aging Hipster – Part 2

Hungary’s Audioexit, an always reliable source of techno, drop a new EP.

In many ways it’s business as usual for the label, headed up by Doryk; that being bass heavy, warehouse aimed flex sessions of machined techno. No complaints here.

Operating under a new alias Structural Form, Spain’s Lolo aka Acidus (Manuel Heras Carriazo) delivers four strong dancefloor workouts.

The techno underground of Spain produce and push their techno always with that harder darker edge and Carriazo’s Visszatérés EP continues that expanding legacy that Exium (arguably Spain’s current premiere flag bearer of proper underground techno) push high and hard.

Our picks on Visszatérés are Robot and Stratega. Two strong cuts of warehouse dirt. Spacey and heavy.

Structural Form – Visszatérés EP
FLAC MP3

Tracklist
01. Structural Form – Emotions
02. Structural Form – Robot
03. Structural Form – Stratega
04. Structural Form – Cosy Oh Cosian
AE055

Back in December I wrote about the remix competition that Greek production duo Fabrics were running in conjunction with label from a tree records. The results are in and the winning entries have been compiled and last month saw release.

Taking the many entries down to ten, Fabrics and from a tree have chosen a range of styles spawned from the original IDM compositions of their debut album; Refabricated is the result. These results are mixed but that is partly due to picking some electronic styles I struggle to find much to really get into in a general way.

What I do like are the following.

Skarf’s remix of Elbow Room works the original into a deep downtempo smokey track with Halftribe’s version of the same piece taking it down a similar path into a downtempo place but into a different abstract. Fragile Room’s version of original album opener Autofriend is worked into a more ambient drone experiment, removing the machined grind of the original.

Cosmic Box’s version of Attractor keeps much of the original vibe and electro drive though it rounds of the edges giving a smoother and spacier ride. The remix of Dark Entry by One Arc Degree goes into psy-inspired progressive tech which as a style I can easily take or leave, in this case I’ll take.

It’s quite likely that my favourite cut on this comp is Dama “Jen”‘s remix of Raw. Going into a spaced out electro landscape that is for late nights and early mornings. The original track was a harder ride but there was a landscape within it and Dama has worked to bring it out and interpret in their own way.

With an album as good as FABRICS was and is, a remix album was always going to be a tough call. Opening it up as they have has resulted in some interesting and varying results. Others will like different tracks and for different reasons and in that maybe that was the point. I’m not going to fall in love with everything I hear and neither should I. Refabricated is a mixed bag but one that won’t put you out of pocket to find out as it’s available for free download.

Fabrics – Refabricated
DOWNLOAD

Tracklist
Fabrics – Autofriend (Fragile Balloon Remix)
Fabrics – Elbow Room (SkarF feat. Lunarmare Remix)
Fabrics – Attractor (Cosmic Box Remix)
Fabrics – Deconstruction Yard (Genuss Remix)
Fabrics – Dark Entry (One Arc Degree Remix)
Fabrics – Raw (dama “Jen” Remix)
Fabrics – Attractor (Jimi Luckum Remix)
Fabrics – Dark Entry (Camelorg Remix)
Fabrics – Sad Modem (The Zars “Stupid Wanker” Remix)
Fabrics – Elbow Room (Halftribe Remix)
FATDIGI016

The latest from London based producer Plant43; Dreams of The Sentient City is a 4 track EP of crisp computer funk released on Semantica Records.

Plant43 (Emile Facey) is a name I’m sure you are familiar with; I first came to hear him on a split EP with Datassette on Ai records back in 2006, and more recently on The Sedna Sessions, where he provided a stunning 80 minute set for Up Digital’s mammoth New Years Eve show.

He has an almost trademark like sound; deep warm pads, arpeggios and punchy electro rhythms. His new EP on Semantica continues and builds upon this style and theming.

First up is Neon, a track that has hints of Dubstep/Electro and a overall feeling of menace, all is soon smoothed over with a few simple chords lending some lightness to the opener. Stellar Nursery again sees light on the horizon and heads back to more familiar Plant43 territory, arpeggios and 4/4 beats making a simple statement.

Metamaterial Cloaking returns to a much darker place and increases the pressure leading to set closer Fluid Reasoning; a heavy straight up techno beast that takes the Plant43 sound to new, darker places.

Plant43 – Dreams Of The Sentient City
GRAB

Tracklist
A1. Neon
A2. Stellar Nursery
B1. Metamaterial Cloaking
B2. Fluid Reasoning
SEMANTICA 41

Following a year after the MODULAR WITCHCRAFT EP, WIKAN serves up a fresh four tracker; his MONOLITHS EP.

It’s the first half of his Cross Half series. Not sure when the 2nd half is due for release, we’ll have to wait and see.

Operating in that murk ridden grave wave style that can be so very easily hit or miss, thankfully, WIKAN is reliably on the hit side with MONOLITHS and it continues well the sonic footprint left by last year’s MODULAR WITCHCRAFT EP

You’ve got the sludge like grind of the beats with rising, in lesser hands cheesy but not quite synth stabs peaks of opener Gucci Bitches with a vocal sample of the same naming effectively giving that dancefloor hook whilst not compromising on a dark beat effort which takes its murkstep further into the dark with an ever present light at the end of the tunnel. This is what good witchhouse can sound like.

Title track Monoliths hits next. A slower pace is set. Ethereal drone and wide edged synthing flowing above and beyond. A proper enveloping headspace, so much so, approach with caution on headphones. Very easy to get lost in the slow beat space. It’s a track I keep returning to.

MAGE rolls in with bassy kicks and snares and locks itself tight into a loop groove. Functionally simple.

Final of the four; Two Evils returns to the slow and deep with an end of the night slow dance with an increasing sense of hope and optimism.

Call this style of music what you will. Be that witch house, grave wave, drag, okkult and so forth, this EP is another tidy addition from WIKAN aka Duke Spook aka Fatty Ghettoblaster aka File With Interpol aka Tony Stone. Altogether one rather talented and diverse musician who hails from Sheffield and can add another successful notch on his musical bedpost.

Available through WIKAN direct on a pay what you want pricing structure.

WIKAN – MONOLITHS EP
GRAB

Tracklist
WIKAN – Gucci Bitches
WIKAN – Monoliths
WIKAN – MAGE
WIKAN – Two Evils
Dark Peaks 003

London based Ricochet Records induct Clatterbox to their growing crew of electro/breakbeat specialists with this awesome four tracker.

Combining state of the art sound design and proper dancefloor weight this release teleports around genre boundaries. Sounding completely futuristic, whilst keeping enough primal funk to drive the point home.

Opener and title track Autofire is a sub soaked rave in space, massive rolling breaks are intersected with holographic cuts, all driven by a black-hole powered hoover riff. Proper peak of the night mind-melt material for zero gravity DJs.

Stake Out, takes a stealthy but expansive mission into rough territory, the boom bass break spreading out over increasingly deep and complex soundscapes, exploring the resonant interplay between interlocking elements with a cold detached eye.

The ghosts of Tech Step haunt the third track Game Over, from the massive sub drop in the intro the tune descends into a fallout cloud of irradiated low frequencies and spectral echoes. A great reminder of what a real bassline is in these times of frenzied midrange aggro.

The funk is strong in the closing number Beat’em up, a snaking broken dub trip into the outer regions. Propelled by a nicely clattering (pun intended) break, that at times threatens to disappear into its self generated vortex but manages to snap back into focus just in time.

When it seems that every micro scene is building its walls , releases like this EP give me faith that good music and unique artists will bring people together regardless of perceived boundaries.

Highly recommended.

David Kempston may be best known for his stripped-down electro productions on Touchin’ Bass, Clear and Trust … but his dark explorations into dope beat territory are similarly accomplished and unique. These four tracks take us back to the Dark Mode era of hardcore breaks – driving minimal rollers with a deep, sinister underbelly.

Clatterbox – Autofire EP
Grab

Tracklist
Clatterbox – Autofire
Clatterbox – Stake Out
Clatterbox – Game Over
Clatterbox – Beat’em Up
RIC014

Darkfloor in Session 011
DOWNLOAD STREAM ITUNES PODCAST ARTWORK

DVNT – Live at Free-lectronica 7

Tracklist
Vysehrad – Comsat [Enough Records]
Sub Dub – Witchcraft [theAgriculture]
Exquisite Corpse – Cantadora [KK Records]
Shit FM – Next Door [thismachineisbroken]
Kryptic Minds – Arcane (feat. Youngsta) [Black Box]
Villain – Down In Flames (featuring Battle Flags mix) [Singularity]
Toob – Nueva Onda [Chop House]
Actress – Hubble [Honest Jon's Records]
Ben Klock – Napoleon Hill [Ostgut Ton]
Casual Violence – Briefly Sexual [Aftertaste Recordings]
Andreas Tilliander – Stay Down (The Field remix) [Repeatle]
Kwartz – Deviation (CBTO remix) [Digital Garden]
Headnoaks – Biodiversity [Headnoaks]
Dr Schmidt – Lobotomia [Maschinen Musik]
No Sunbeds – Tau Ceti Militants [Western Panorama Recordings]
Ourobonic Plague – Wintersoul [Witch-House]
Altered Natives – LFO Natives [Eye4Eye Recordings]
Benjamin Damage + Doc Daneeka – Creeper [50 Weapons]
Ben Gibson – Remote (Casual Violence Remix) [Limetree Projects]
Velapene Screen – 5-iVE (Meat Beat Manifesto My Beat Remix) [the Centrifuge]
214 – Vocal Calisthenics [Digital Distortions]
Taprikk Sweezee – Volt (kidkanevil remix) [XLR8R]
Habstrakt + Badjokes – Miaow (War + Mateba remix) [Radio Los Santos]
Badaszewski – My Reminiscence [Digital Distortions]
DJ Xed – Number Correct [Oscilator]
DVF – Warehouse [dub]
gremino – drumbeat [dub]
Kanji Kinetic – Bang Harder (Threnody remix) [Mutant Bass]
Bakalov D – Reverdo Jonare [Russian-Techno]
J Beatz – Tazer (Deset Remix) [Crown Jules]
Wascal – G-Strings (Sclist Mix) [dub]
+ Alavux – YUGO [Alavux]
Charjan + Anthony Johnson – Gunshot [Free Radical Sound Recordings]
Alex Under – El Alma Del Tiempo (Slam Paragraph Mix) [Soma Records]
The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows (Leftside Wobble edit) [dub]

Recorded live at Free-lectronica 7, 93 Feet East, London on March 7th, 2012.

Techno blog and home to the Unseen Selectors Graphite North drop a bomb, in the shape of a new mix from Patrick Walker.

Patrick Walker, half of Perc Trax signed Forward Strategy Group, is no stranger to the deep and bleak industrially honed techno that is finding increasing space on the dancefloors of the underground.

The duo’s debut longplayer, Labour Division, is slated for release next month on London imprint Perc Trax (check RA for the tracklist). And whilst preparations are underway for that, including a launch party in Amsterdam on June 15th, Patrick (the Scottish wing of the team, with Smear hailing from Leeds) is to be resident at Edinburgh’s forthcoming UNSEEN night. A collaboration between the Graphite North / Unseen crew, Studio24 and Club Dogma.

Described as pushing “pitch black techno” with an admiration of simplicity UNSEEN launches on May 4th with a free entry residents night. Dogma’s Neil Templar also joining the team as in-house resident.

Laying the ground work, and the actual purpose of this piece, is Patrick’s promo mix for the aforementioned night in question. Sixty four minutes ish of machined techno from the darker realms working into more of a tribal vibe two thirds in. Featuring the work of Casual Violence, Regis, Xhin, Hu, Developer, Ctrls, Exium, Claudio PRC, Silent Servant, Phase, and FSG.

Patrick Walker – Unseen Extracts 01
DOWNLOAD

Tracklist
Casual Violence – She
Silent Servant – Mad Youth
Claudio Prc & Svart1 – Black Moon
Exium – Recycler
Developer – Hexmode
Marcel Fengler – Thwack – Pas Mix
Xhin – Through the Line
Hu – Untitled
Raoul Delgardo – Steelworks 3
Regis – It’s a Man’s World
Ctrls – Socket
Raoul Delgardo – The Feeling
User 06 – A2
Santos Rodriguez – Road to Rio
Phase – Binary Opposition
Kenaz – Uncud
Woo York – Gradient
Emanuel Top – Le Sous Sol
Forward Strategy Group – A Greyed Out Life

Few weeks back now, maybe just two, I came across the label Kalpamantra. Then on April 10th they go and release a new EP from Alphaxone, an artist I found last year that has quickly become one of my favourite ambient drone practitioners.

Kalpamantra is an English netlabel with Steven D. Williams at the helm. All things are connected it seems. See, he’s the promotional manager for US dark industrial specialists Malignant Records of whom their Atrocitizer release by Steel Hook Prostheses was reviewed by us, well the mysterious but real person Opine Kosinski back in January. It’s more an oddity that the discovery of this label happened independently to Opine’s review but they are linked. They do say it’s a small world, and whilst I’ve yet to know who ‘they’ are this would seem to ring true.

So, back to Alphaxone, who also records downtempo ambient electronica as Spuntic, and his Invisible release for Kalpamantra. Five tracks of spaced out enveloping drone, overall lighter in tone than his earlier self-released work and his Portal release on Germany’s Petcord imprint. Opening track Gravity resonates deep, otherworldly, alien but calming. Spaces continues this theme of accessible, gentle and outthereness. Echoes is the best and darkest piece on Invisible. Fans of the Swedish psychedelic ambient duo Carbon Based Lifeforms are going to enjoy this one immensely as it takes their deep throbbing style of beatlessness exploration and goes off into the ether. This track just takes over. Stunning stuff.

Process follows and returns to the lighter drone style of previous tracks Gravity and Spaces. What feels like sustained strings or maybe piano build a meditative track and washes over. Title track Invisible is again in this lighter, gentle tone of drone that in the second half of the track allows the smooth sound to fracture ever so slightly on the edge, adding a very subtle amount of texture.

Invisible isn’t the best collection of work from the Iranian producer, nor is it the darkest, which is what captured my initial attention. Invisible is a decent 27 minutes of soothing, accessible drone. Echoes is wonderful but I would have liked its supporting four tracks to be more explored and less similar in tone to each other, also they feel just that bit too short. Maybe that’s the point.

I’m not expecting an 18 minute opus by any stretch but 4/5 minute ambient tracks can sometimes feel rushed or at the very least not completely realised and explored. I’m not saying the work on Invisible is rushed, a very strange concept for an EP of blissed out ambience just that I think there was more with these tracks we aren’t going to hear.

Listening to this EP on repeat, as I write this, it strikes me that perhaps that’s the best way to listen to this; having it on repeat, with its tones repeat and reflect over you. It’s increasing my interest in it and making me think my earlier words about the EP not being as realised as it could have been might be off the mark. Still, I need to finish this review at some point. This is that point.

Alphaxone – Invisible
DOWNLOAD

Tracklist
Alphaxone – Gravity
Alphaxone – Spaces
Alphaxone – Echoes
Alphaxone – Process
Alphaxone – Invisible
KM043

Mantis Radio 105 + Tundra Dubs
DOWNLOAD STREAM ITUNES PODCAST

DVNT
Qo – Transmission [Disturbed Recordings]
Paul Blackford – Dream Sequence (Screwtec remix) [Tudor Beats]
Ampa – Plex [dub]
Josco – An Echo (Alessio Ballerini remix) [Somehow Recordings]
Photek – No Agenda [Photek]
Kursa – Nightosphere Funk [Wonkay]
Lakker – Arc [Blueprint]
Slam – Azure (KiNK remix) [Soma Records]
Death Abyss – The Magic of Defiance [Rodz Konez]
The Vonn Trapp Family – Lynfield Mount [Kickin Records]
Mslwte – Gnarl [Noctambular]
Objekt – Porcupine [Hessle]
Lokodepo – Die vergessenen zivilisationen [Energun]
Posthuman – Genetic Coder [Acroplane]
Mitoma – Frz-Min (Nonimx) [mitoma]
Addison Groove – Bad Things ft. Spank Rock [50Weapons]
Fornax – Kepler (Promise.One.Cut) [Sub Pressure]
Sleeper – Kindred [dub]
Double Helix – Supreme Architecture [Keysound]
Double Helix – LDN [Keysound]
Scott Robinson – Insubordinate [dub]

TUNDRA DUBS
AAIMON – current [Tundra] from FLATLINER 12″
Men in Burka – Aljazeera Afterdark [Tundra] s/t CD
Black Jeans – Overgrown Grief [Sweating Tapes]
Loft – Loft [Sweating Tapes]
Mascara ft. //TENSE// – Empire of Man [Tundra] forthcoming split 7″ with Slow Head
Slow Head – Pegasus [Tundra] forthcoming split 7″ with Mascara
Dolphin Logic – Wet Goddess [Tundra] from Holographic Dreamingg
Soft Riot – Do Less [Tundra] from Another Drone in Your Head
AAIMON – Symbols [Tundra] from AMEN CDR
Panda Teeth – seek [Tundra] from Sunshine Sin tape
Black Jeans – Canyons [Tundra] s/t tape
Club for Boardgames – IXTLI [Tundra] s/t tape
Soft Riot – Another Drone in Your Head (Variation by Mild Peril) [Tundra] from Another Drone in Your Head
Grimm Soundsystem – Korby Bryers [Robot Elephant vs Tundra Dubs]
Myrrh Ka Ba – Pocket Monsters [Tundra] from There’s Only One of Us Here

105

From Glasgow to California, this week we welcome Tundra Dubs to the showcase session for Mantis Radio.

Relatively fresh on the scene, having been around since September 2010 Tundra Dubs have made quite an impact pushing their particular brand of dark electronics most closely classified as witchhouse or grave wave. Forming, as many labels use to, from an abundance of great, but unreleased music being made by friends surrounding label boss Ben Versluis.

Versluis heads up a label that whilst predominately based in the digital realm has branched out into vinyl and is currently to be seen pushing the latest work of San Diego duo AAIMON, who many of you will remember delivered a stunning session for us last year. Their FLATLINER release sees the duo lay down some of their best work yet and is another milestone for the Californian label.

Perhaps the labels most successful release to date , and Ben’s personal favourite, is the Os Ovni/Modern Witch split 7″ which saw the light back in June is the best introduction to the label. Or better yet Ben’s selection of the label past, present and future forming the content of this week’s Mantis Radio broadcast.

In an ever homogenised corpus of wannabe Beatport chart chasers it’s always refreshing to find a label not afraid to create their own path with their own sound on their own terms. Tundra embody that spirit. You Indie and Connexion Bizarre interviewed Ben in August and October respectively last year and both articles give a better insight into what Tundra is and where Ben is taking it.

previous shows
MANTIS ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

I continue, pretty much daily, to be stunned by the quality of sound some musicians and producers can craft from their self-taught late night and early morning tinkering. The freshest example of this is the work of Cymophane and their years in the making debut Cymophane.

A collaborative project between Kevin ‘Pupilar’ Ingham and Ian ‘SDZH’ Ainslie; Cymophane present an electronic journey one can and I will, comfortably describe as cinematic, emotive, and crafted. Built on a healthy core of dub; taking in elements of techno, breaks, bass of course and working them into a more sound design aesthetic their namesake album is devastatingly good from start to finish.

The feel and vibe of opener Curse of the Fairest Joy takes you headfirst into where the rest of the album remains, a deep headspace world of sound. The final section of Curse feels like it could have been part of a 90s video game soundtrack in the way the synth melody has been built; infectiously and subliminally.

Throughout the album choice samples lend the work just enough contextual narrative to present the work as more of a cohesive whole than a collection of like-minded tracks. The work still feels abstract as good electronica should but it’s been built and designed to be enjoyed as a complete listen, rather than just picking out that single track you like. In a world where people can pick and choose the specifics of what they want from this and that release it’s good to hear people still seeing the bigger picture.

Available as a pay-what-you-want price structure and direct from the artists there is really no excuse why this wonderful piece of work shouldn’t be in your collection. A shout out to Billy Wood for highlighting the work of these two on our forum, who wrote:

A lad I used to live with just released this album. It’s a bit good.

Cymophane – Cymophane
GRAB

Tracklist
Cymophane – Curse on the Fairest Joys
Cymophane – Great Enveloping Cosmic Dark
Cymophane – This Unclean Spirit [Version]
Cymophane – Dead Men Naked, They Shall Be One [Dub]
Cymophane – Remnants of Exploded Stars
Cymophane – Kissed Bionics#
Artwork by Paul Clavé

Of all the many showcases we’ve had on Mantis Radio over the years, describing an artists work as epic is often tempting but never quite justified. That’s not saying the guest sessions haven’t been awesome, upfront, intense, extreme, deep and ultimately fantastic, just that the work of Javier Barrero and his Logical Disorder project does deserve the term epic to help describe his particular facet of unique sound.

Laying down a mix of 48 minutes of sound inspirational to him for Spanish mix series Concepto Radio. You can grab his Mantis Radio session from our archives where he was showcased alongside Romanian’s Sorin Paun aka Datacrashrobot, featured in this mix with his track Abandonware.

complex electronics and branching of influences in their DNA, from the literal IDM and the Golden Age of Artificial Intelligence in the 90, to the aesthetics Post-Industrial, Ambient Techno or synthetic, minimalist and experimental approaches digital or electro draft.

Logical Disorder – Concepto MIX #69
DOWNLOAD MIXCLOUD

Tracklist
01. Byetone – Capture This (I)
02. Architect – Episode 7 (Tympanik Edit)
03. Klangstabil – Beziehungsohr (Subheim Remix)
04. CJ Liquid – Outbreak
05. Pan Sonic – Radio Qurghonteppa
06. Datacrashrobot – Abandonware
07. Diaphane – Insight
08. Huron – Cruto
09. Nikka – Host
10. Dryft – Clustr2
11. Pina – Stimme

Belgium’s Token Records forthcoming release from Ctrls (Troels B-Knudsen) is sounding like some damn fine techno.

Three tracks make up his Interface EP, with the Danish producer going all out. This is some of his first solo work in techno, hailing from a drum & bass background as Pyro. Those of the more nerd among you will already know that together with Lasse Buhl he released some great techno last year, 2 EPs worth as it goes, under the name Northern Structures on Adam X’s Sonic Groove.

Whilst all three tracks are well produced slabs of detailed heavy techno it’s Social Vector that’s getting me all in a tizzy. Available April 23rd.

Also, Ctrls put together Token’s mix for April, which is well worth a look if you’re into techno and such. Call it a hunch.

The London producer Imaginary Forces self-released his All Is Forbidden EP back in late February.

It’s sat in my iPod playlists ever since, and no doubt shall remain for some time yet. In many ways, though I’m not sure if it’s intended as such, it’s a postscript to the captivating sound design electronics work of last year’s LP Uppstigande on aural brutalism go to guys Ohm Resistance.

From the beginning drone of All Is Forgiven into the bleak throb of Dead Fingers Talk, the EP is another notch on Anthoney J Hart’s already impressive discography. Dead Fingers Talk goes into a dark, evolving world of tones, waves and dread. There is a sense of ultimate doom that the regular almost grinding forward march of that bassline takes us ever closer to.

Broken Halves goes into distorted stringed like sheets of greyscale sound reducing itself down to about as minimal as it go without being silenced before enveloping your ears with high pitched machine scream. As the abrasive sound works its way in deep we move into Infraction. Intentionally grating, ever ebbing and oscillating with stereo panning and the high pitched machine scream making a return. Beats build out of the discourse into an effective though abstract techno plough. Sound dropouts, emphasis and reduction move the track on into a more industrial grind, not heavy but unsettling as the space the sound generates works your ears, creating for me, a more intense listen than perhaps you initially were giving the track.

Closer The Empty Amulet is a gentle beatless piece of ambient iridescence. A very meditative piece.

If you missed his quite awesome showcase session for Mantis Radio, have no fear it’s forever archived and available.

Imaginary Forces – All Is Forbidden
Grab

Tracklist
Imaginary Forces – All Noise Is Forbidden
Imaginary Forces – Dead Fingers Talk
Imaginary Forces – Broken Halves
Imaginary Forces – Infraction
Imaginary Forces – The Empty Amulet

Embrace the darkness, let it wash over you, filling you with feelings of warmth and compassion.

This is not a typo, the brilliant Black Robots EP by M4L-FunCt10n’D (Malfunctioned) has been released to raise funds for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, and also to raise awareness for @guinnessdj who is running a marathon on May 20th in aid of the same charity.

That aside this is a great EP of bass heavy, glitchy techno/electro that across its 6 tracks will lead you to a land inhabited by the Black Robots of the title, do not miss this EP as it will be deleted on May 21st 2012.

£5 secures you a place in the saviours compound when the Black Robots take over.

M4L-FunCt10n’D – Black Robots
SUPPORT/GRAB

Tracklist
M4L-FunCt10n’D – Didactic Delta
M4L-FunCt10n’D – Covariance Matrix
M4L-FunCt10n’D – Pressure
M4L-FunCt10n’D – Dominion-17
M4L-FunCt10n’D – Communion
M4L-FunCt10n’D – Tinnitus Masker

The future used to be sold to us as a fine shiny utopia, a pristine world where age is itself a thing of the past.

The new future being played out for us on Sendai’s album Geotope speaks only of a time after decay, after erosion, even after echoes are finally fading.

All that’s left are the machines.

This stunning album is the work of Yves De Mey and Peter Van Hoesen working together as Sendai.

Peter Van Hoesen is best known for producing heavy dark heavy techno aimed directly at the dancefloor, and recently appeared on the Inertia series of releases on the Ann Aimee label, while Yves De Mey may be better know for his recent Counting Triggers album of sparse crackling electronics on Sandwell District.

Terminal Silver Box opens the album with a deep droning wall of feedback and static, punctuated with what sounds like a needle stuck on the end of the run out groove providing a rhythm. Follow The Constant then hits hard with a beat full of lovely bass tones and crackle, a simple bass line, occasional chords and another hypnotic drone.

A Refusal To Celebrate a Statistical Probability is simply a stunning piece of sound design, it’s strange time signature and processing working to great effect.

Win Trepsit/Brief Delay builds gracefully through its 1st half based on simple bass pulses, clicks and cuts, a moments silence gives you breathing space and then the pressure is back on. Further Vexations is a real standout point for me, distorted and lofi, yet full of funk.

EP2012-4 is pure techno, the point in the album with most clarity, though still with enough edits to catch you off guard. Slowing things down is Geotope, it’s kick drum is like a pulse laying beneath more fuzz and crackle, and synths struggle to bring a melody to the surface before Emptiness of Attention closes this set with more tape hiss, bass throb and reverb, and some closing chords that would not sound out of place on an Autechre album.

Geotope, across 8 tracks explores many textures and is an album not to be missed by lovers of Emptyset, Alva Noto, Ben Frost or Roly Porter.

Sendai – Geotope
GRAB

Tracklist
Sendai – Terminal Silver Box
Sendai – Following The Constant
Sendai – A Refusal To Celebrate A Statistical Probability
Sendai – Win Trepsite/Brief Delay
Sendai – Further Vexations
Sendai – EP-2010-4
Sendai – Geotope
Sendai – Emptiness Of Attention

Sendai: live at CTM-Berghain

Based out of Varna in Bulgaria Dusted Wax Kingdom have been steadily releasing an ever growing catalogue of self described blunted downtempo beats, abstract hip-hop, trip-hop, and lo-fi electronics.

Having freely released ‘smoker friendly’ percussion focused broken beat sound for some 5 years, they’re a reliable source of decent hip-hop instrumental work. One of their latest offerings is Reverse of The Void, a 15 track album from Latvia’s Bulimic Orgy and Mile.

They’ve worked together before, on 2009′s Dairy Plant LP also to be found on Dusted Wax Kingdom.

Reverse of the Void is a dusty, delicate, at times soulful work; full of choice samples, birdsong, and groove looped beat work. A great album to put on, kick back and relax to on a hazy sunny afternoon, much like today is in London. Herbaliser fans will be attracted to this album, none more so than track Hippie Terrorist. Closer Zelyonka is for me the stand out track, a deep and reflective piece.

Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Reverse of The Void LP
Download

Tracklist
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Cocaine
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Let Me In
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Reverse of The Void
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Buried Remorse
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Pollution
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Stonefaced
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – N1
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Laos
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Smiling Suburbs
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Cockroach
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Things Are Bad
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Hippie Terrorist
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Stupid Minds
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Look Who’s Happy
Bulimic Orgy & Mile – Zelyonka

Fresh from their fantastic session for Mantis Radio I collared Danny of Flint Kids for a quick Q&A.

Who are the Flint Kids and how did they come to be?

Flint Kids are me (Danny) and my best pal Dave. 

Growin’ up in Bromley, we were in a few different bands, but never in the same ones. I was a guitarist/vocalist and Dave played the drums. 

I was into a lot of different stuff back then: Slowdive, Nirvana, Slayer et cetera and I suppose it was a slight shift in taste to include more industrial bands like Ministry, Godflesh, Front 242, NIN and the like that helped me to discover the electronic music scene more.

One day we just thought “fuck it, why aren’t we writing music together” so we started.

What are the origins of your production name; Flint Kids. Is there a story behind it.

This is quite a simple one, basically when we were lookin’ for a name we just got a load of single words, stuck em in a hat and pulled two out at a time. We wrote down all the pairings and Flint Kids sounded better than say… Plimsole Bricks.

The thing with names is that people can read whatever they like into it i.e. I think there was a school shooting in Flint, Michigan so if applied to that, our name could be quite dark, or simply that Flint is sharp and Kids are more youthful than OAPs.

Reading the small amount of information surrounding you both that I could find online before your Mantis Radio session it’s clear that you’ve been producing for over a decade but it’s only in the past 3 years that we’ve been able to get hold of your music commercially. What made you step up and unleash your sonic footprint with Interakt Records?

Ay, no doubt like countless other undiscovered artists out there we were pretty much confined to our bedrooms writin’ stuff that’d only be heard at mates house parties or whatever. 

The difficulty is, I suppose, is that we listened to Autechre, uZiq, Aphex, Squarepusher, Lamb… blah blah… ‘n all of these different people that we consider to be fuckin’ amazing, so naturally you write something and you’d only have those tunes to compare it to. And in our eyes, it was never good enough to take any further.

It’s impossible to listen to any tune you’ve heard rolling on different length loops nine trillion times over objectively, which is a bastard that can never be overcome.

For us the main two milestones were probably gettin’ a couple of Macs running Ableton/Logic and organising parties.

Cos nobody tells you how to write music you just figure out a system yourself. Before the computers we used to have an MPC2000 linked with an AKAI 6000 triggered by the sequencer on a Korg Trinity. The sequencer on that was so primitive you just had these black blocks that represented bars/notes. If we wanted to tighten shit up, and have reverbs stoppin’ when another sound came in or whatever we devised this arse about face system using numbers.

We had this chart on the wall where basically we got 2646000 (which was the sample rate we operated at multiplied by 60) and then divided that by the BPM.

We’d further divide that (or multiply it) to give us 8ths, 16ths and so on and we’d cut samples like that. Blind basically. Just trustin’ our ears and the figures. Having big waves in front of us made life a whole lot easier.

Around that time we started putting on parties at Public Life and later Corsica Studios and therefore got to be billed alongside some dudes we’d love for years and it all just snowballed from there.

Always a personal favourite to read in interviews, mostly so I can go off and track down many of the mentioned recordings. Let’s talk your musical influences. You’ve already mentioned some of electronica’s most reliable and arguably essential producers but let’s talk specifics, what releases have stood out for you over the years? Standout albums? What, in your opinion are absolutely essential releases no self confessed music fan should be without.

Errrrr… I can’t keep this question within the boundaries of electronica by any means but here’s a tiny insight in to some songs, albums or bands that at various points from 14 onwards, that have either changed the way I hear music or just knocked me over.

In no order:
Nirvana –  Nevermind
Afghan Whigs – Gentlemen
DJ Shadow – Entroducing
Faith No More – especially The Real Thing (live at the Brixton Academy) 
Slayer – Seasons In The Abyss
Ministry – Psalm 69
Jeff Buckley – Grace
Midlake – The Courage of Others
Lamb – Debut
65 Days of Static
The Future Sound of London – Lifeforms
Spiritualised – Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Aphex Twin – Remix, Ambient works
Slowdive – Just For A Day
Squarepusher – Do You Know Squarepusher
Bob Dylan
Bjork (nearly everything, without doubt in my mind the best female artist in the last couple of decades)
Autechre – Ganz Graf. (Wow)
Sigur Ros – Takk (I want Gong played at my funeral)
Mogwai – Happy Songs For Happy People (my favourite band)

I’ll have to stop or I won’t, this is too easy… Hendrix.

Quite a list. Who’s on your radar at the minute? Which artists are grabbing your attention, both in released sound and performance. Who should we be looking out for?

There’s a few that, for me, are the pooches ovoids. 

Dimlite
Matthewdavid
Roel Funcken
Eskmo
Amon Tobin (in particular his ISAM)
Monolake
Venetian Snares 
Mount Kimbie

And I’ve got to say, I’m lucky enough to know some cuntingly good producers i.e; ScanOne, Monster X, Point B, Anklepants, ADJ, Pathic, Cursor Miner, and Marco Bernardi.

Finally there’s some hard workin’ labels/organisations that have to be mentioned, namely: 

Bedroom Research
Combat Recordings
Yellow Machines
Acroplane

And last but not least in terms of live performance.

Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai, Mogwai.

From your history of putting on parties and making music through to 2009 when you started releasing it how do you feel about the current state of electronic music. Huge shifts are happening, and indeed have already happened with the ‘standard’ business model. Interakt release vinyl, is this a commitment to the format, acknowledgment of the importance of the 12″, is it still relevant in the strains of bass heavy electronics the label focuses on?

I just love plastic, reminds me of havin’ some SoundLab belt drives n spinnin’ Eat Static n shit when we were wee.

I reckon some releases deserve a palpable thing.

It’s the same with any medium. It’s just nice flickin’ through the pages of a book or looking through a CDs inlay. Goin’ around your mates house and scrolling through his iPod aint the same as fingering his vinyl.

As far as relevance, fuck knows. Time coded vinyl has helped keep the art of djing alive though I suppose.

Is physicality important as producers and record label owners? And what about as consumers, do you always reach for the vinyl over something that only has digital distribution, is there a preference?

My great Uncle died cos he was a sleeve designer and people just stopped buying jumpers. 

Does the piracy side of things that is now almost established practice, or at least so commonplace people don’t regard it as theft, affect you as a label.

I ain’t shittin’ you when I say that I’ve never downloaded any music off of torrent sites or owt like that. 

I’ve shared albums/tunes with mates n shit, but that’s just the way I roll. I ain’t no musical Hitler, I won’t tell people who’ve never paid for anything that they’re cunts, but I may tell them to try this little experiment;

Buy Tim Exile’s The Listening Tree or any music that somebody has blatantly put a lot of effort in to creating (for your pleasure) and then just sit back and feel happy about the fact that you’re partly responsible for their next masterpiece.

Are you still involved in events in London? What’s your view on the current state of event promotion here in the big smoke?

We ain’t done a party in yonks, I’ve got a shed load of different projects trotting along but I’m sure one’s not far around the corner.

Essential venues that are still pushing quality sound over profit margins? Corsica springs to mind for sound. The club, as most seemingly are in London, is in a bit of a state, but the Funktion One sound together with the vibe mostly makes up for it. The toilets are a whole other ballpark of disgusting though.

Corsica has always been a favourite venue of mine. Adrian n all the dudes down there are so bloody helpful, and as for sound, it does the artists justice. It’s a pleasure to play through :)

Stepping outside of music, your top three films and what is it about those films that they make the list.

Hard, very hard… in no order…

Pi. Cos I didn’t know anythin’ about it, n one night I was poleaxed and I got in bed and whacked the box on… and melted into it. Didn’t even find out it was called Pi till ages later when I tripped over it again.

The Rocky films. Feel good get up n go for a run up some stairs punchin the air schizzle, and it actually makes my shit itch how fuckin’ good the theme tune is

Big Lebowski. ‘Nobody f*cks with the Jesus’

Thanks Danny for your time.

You can catch the Flint Kids alongside ADJ, Pathic, Acell, and Steve Faulkner on May 18th at the Dodo Club, Battersea, London. A huge thank you to Danny for his time and patience.

Happening across this mix quite by accident it’s far too good a selection to keep to myself. It is the work of Belgium’s Derrick Scheerlinck, aka Derlich. I came to find it whilst listening to his work following on from hearing the latest release on Singularity Recordings; his Cult of Static EP.

The label whose recent and brilliant album from Villain, Escapade, I wrote about last week. This isn’t an industrially textured techno session but rather a serene and beautiful trip into the drone darkness.

Featuring work from Biosphere, Cut Hands, Blind Summit, Mika Vainio, his Ø alias, Pan Sonic, Senking, Robert Henke, Vromb and others, Quantum Chemistry II Dark Reflections is just the right kind of mix to put on to wind down to; to get lost in, to reflect upon, or simply to just enjoy.

Derlich – Quantum Chemistry II Dark Reflections
Download Stream

Tracklist
Biosphere – As the sun kissed the horizon
Eligi – Rak
Robert Henke & Gerhard Behles – Chowning Island
Mika Vainio – Omerta
Biosphere – Hyperborea
Blind Summit – Casseopeia
Biosphere – Silene
Piotr Kurek – Part i
Pan Sonic – Väinämöisen Uni/Väinämöinen Dreams
Jana Winderen – Sense of latent power
Anduin – The black line (Forever waiting)
Cut Hands – ++++ (Four crosses)
Biosphere – Uva/Ursi
MikaVainio – Half awake half asleep
Zazie Von Einem Anderen Stern – Raum ohne zeit
Vromb – Urgence
Masayoshi Fujita & Jan Jelinek – Change your life
Vromb – Les Débris De L’Appareil
Ø – Kertomus Kaukomailta
Ø – Äänikuva/Sound Picture
Senking – Pathogenic agent
Jasper TX – Mute Harbour Part 2
Cut Hands – Bia Mintatu
John Murphy – In the House in a Heartbeat (28 Days Later theme)

From years of working in a kitchen with a mad, Sicilian and The Shangri-Las obsessed chef, it’s a bit of a surprise to hear a messed up sample of them at their best open the title track of Swedish producer Totte‘s garage release.

Even odder is that it unfolds into a soulful, deep two-step number. It’s not a smooth, overly preened version of garage however, layered as it is with bits of cut and paste vocals and melodies, avoiding that nice but empty feel some of the later two step efforts. Think classic Zinc, and you’re not too far off.

The flip, Communication, is a more blissed out affair. This time though, the cut and paste snippets detract from the flow, but its still the kind of thing I’d have loved to hear on an essential mix at 5am on the drive back from the club, with a wandering, warm bassline, organic key stabs and lush pads. Like Restless it has an old school vibe without sounding retro, which is always a plus, and although touted as a dancefloor track, this sits well in a post-club repertoire.

Totte - Restless EP
GRAB

Tracklist
1. Totte – Restless
2. Totte – Communication
Slime Recordings / SLM028

Screaming Soul release their album of remixes from last year’s Ghost In A Shell, debuting the collaboration of MC Lucid Mover and Ghetto Priest, who alone are worth a look. This is a dubbed out affair mixed up by Adrian Sherwood and Mutant Hi-Fi.

Welcome to the team here at Darkfloor: Clodhoppa.
The UK has always mixed reggae and dub influences with it’s hip hop, and the album showcases the smokey end of the spectrum well. Being split between the two producers it is very much a game of two sides.

The Mutant HiFi productions focus on being deep, heads down dub. This works well at times, such as on the track Change Of Minds, but on some other ends up being a very muddy kind of bass weight. As the majority of the tracks on the album are Mutant’s total re-imaginings, then if you like this dense application of pressure, you’ll love it. If not, then the Sherwood versions may be more up your street.

Sherwood opted to do live dubs for his two tracks, in a traditional dub master style, and as such have a real loose, spacey vibe. Apparently they were both single tapes, which is impressive considering how together they sound.

There are some originals from Screaming Soul on the album as well. Blending a place between the two producers, although possibly more Mutant Hi-Fi leaning, they pull the album together well into a cohesive piece of work.

What you get here isn’t sunshine festival dub, it’s deep, dark system pounders with a few great headphone moments courtesy of Adrian Sherwood.

Screaming Soul – Ghost Inna Dub
GRAB

Tracklist
01. Thunder Rumble (co-produced by Mutant Hi-Fi)
02. Minds
03. Ball Point Bayonet (Mutant Hi-Fi mix)
04. Frown Town
05. Screwface City Dub (Adrian Sherwood mix)
06. Warfare (Squatters in the Oval Office Mix) (Mutant Hi-Fi mix)
07. Change of Minds (Mutant Hi-Fi mix)
08. IllumiNatty (150 Watts Dub Mix Parts 1 & 2) (Mutant Hi-Fi mix)
09. Dusty Rub (Mutant Hi-Fi mix)
10. Fully Furnaced Hellfire Dub (Mutant Hi-Fi mix)
11. Bear Nang
12. Ghost in the Machine (Adrian Sherwood mix)
Emerging Species / EMSP 005

Mantis 104 + Chordata
DOWNLOAD STREAM ITUNES PODCAST

DVNT
Somatic Responses – Phuture Phuckers [Hymen]
Paraphonic – Kamchatka (Christoph Schindling remix) [Loud and Clear Netlabel]
CIRClings – Liquid Light [Hidden Records]
CIRClings – Ears To The Sky [Hidden Records]
Synus0006 – Capricorn [Chi Recordings]
Planetary Assault Systems – X Speaks To X (Al Tourettes + Appleblim remix) [Ostgut Ton]
David Meiser – Dark Roots [Hard Benzel]
Energun – Immer in bewegung [Energun Records]
RFS – Laboratory [Noctambular Rec]
Smear – Waiting Area [Teskoba]
algo – macuahuitl [algorhythms-co-uk]
Derlich – Radioactivity (Voidloss Cutaneous radiation syndrome) [Singularity]
MicroControlUnit – Escape [Fundamental Bass Intelligence]
MicroControlUnit – Electro Enterprise [Fundamental Bass Intelligence]
Synus0006 – Only Drumz [Chi Recordings]
Swarm Intelligence – Locust [Stasis Records]
Radioactive Man – Bodycount [Wang Trax]
Mr 76ix – Lectric Landlady [SKAM]
The Mover – Program Your Fate [Tresor]
Rory St John – Mandelbulb [Teskoba]
Robert Lippok – Sugarcubes [Raster-Noton]
Hecrom – Sedna [Zimmer Records]

CHORDATA
Chordata – Inner Strength   
Chordata – Griffin [Militant Science]
Chordata – Clarky Cat
Chordata – Nocturnal Predator [Militant Science]
Chordata – Feline Domination [Militant Science]
Chordata – Samhain [Militant Science]
Chordata – The Fifth Dimension
Chordata – RESIST
Chordata – Astral Projection
Chordata – Innebriated Hobo Clown
Chordata – Elipse (Vocal Mix)
Chordata – When Nature Fights Back [Militant Science]
Chordata – Ostara [Militant Science]
Chordata – Kelpie [Napalm Enema Records]

#104

There’s something in the water up in Glasgow. The Scottish city has a long history of pushing great electro upon the world, and this week we welcome the work of Chordata to illustrate just why she is another producer continuing in that tradition.

the showcase

Her releases grace some electro’s finest pushing it imprints; Militant Science, Napalm Enema Records and later this year she joins the ranks of Tudor Beats with her new EP. The Scottish producer has been producing and experimenting with electro, techno and cutting edge electronic music for the past decade.

Based in Glasgow and having supported the likes of Soundex Phonetic and Michael Forshaw; Chordata’s original approach and high octane/tempo electro techno is rich with killer basslines and sweet playful melodies with the dancefloor kept firmly in her sights.

Heavily influenced by both classical music and sublimely dark electronica and techno from around the globe, Chordata captures a distinctive and unique resonance of discordant electro.

Her forthcoming Resist EP on Tudor Beats, will be, uniquely for the scene, available in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. For show 104 kick back and witness: Chordata.

previous shows
MANTIS ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

Being half of the mighty Ancient Methods, Baeks is a man who knows his techno.

He’s put together this 50 minute all vinyl session for the Robot Army crew in Berlin, ahead of his DJ set there on April 13th together with a live set with Trias as Ancient Methods.

No tracklist but expect deep, headspace techno that builds. Perfect to get lost into. Shouts to Perc for giving me the heads up earlier this morning.

Baeks – Wintertechno
Download Stream

Tracklist
n/a

A year ago, almost to the day, I wrote about Panacea‘s rather stupendous hardcore breaks mix Big Bad Head from 2002. Well here’s the followup, a seriously slamming selection of rave from yesteryear.

Sure some there is a fair old helping of pianos and the odd chipmunk pitched vocal sample but there is no denying this is ‘rave’ rinsed hard and proper. Big, bassy and fun rave. What more do you need for a Friday? Exactly. Enjoy.

Panacea – Big Bad Head Part II
Download Stream

Tracklist
01. Wishdokta & James Hyman – Flavourings [Kickin Records]
02. Undercover Elephant – I Got The Key [Bogwoppa Records]
03. Smith & Brown – Do It Now [Homegrown Records]
04. Formula 7 – Dark Star [Quayside Records]
05. DJ Red Alert & Mike Slammer – 1-2-3 [Slammin' Vinyl]
06. Kid Andy – Baby Stop Spinning Me Around (Late Summer Remix) [Bizy Boy Recordings]
07. Stu J. – Gadjet Part Deux [Adrenalin Records]
08. Remarc – One 4 Da Vibes [Dollar Records]
09. DJ Dance – Death By Stereo [Yo!Yo! Records]
10. Mr. E. Pressure, Stakker & Spindizzy – Palace Pier [Uridium Records]
11. Noise Factory – Future II (The Remix) [3rd Party]
12. China White – High And Dry [Vicious Pumpin' Plastic]
13. Cybernetic Empire – Ozone Storm (Remix) [Paradise Records]
14. Overdubb – Eruption (Original Mix) [Impact]
15. DJ Solo – Axis [Production House]
16. Mega City 2 – Dark Child [Extra Terrestrial Recordings]
17. Diplomat & Safe T. – Giving My House What It Deserves [Immunity Records]
18. Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era – Calm Downizm [Suburban Base Records]
19. Essence Of Aura – Can I Dream [Outstanding Productions]
20. Satin Storm – Let’s Get Together [Satin Storm]
21. Curly Greylox – Fools Rushin [Buzz Records]
22. Atomu Shinzo – Heredia EP A1 [Not On Label]
23. Tight Control – Stormtrooper [Bear Necessities]
24. Subject 13 – Armageddon Countdown (Blatant Remix) [Underground Level Recordings]
25. Bay B Kane – Giant Steps [White House Records]
26. Smooth But Hazzardous – Push Up The Levels [Sound Entity Records]
27. DJ Pooch – Reincarnation [Skrufneck]
28. M-Beat – Dark Dub [Renk Records]
29. Bribe – Goldseal [Headhunters Recordings]
30. RJ – Love Is What We Need [Labello Blanco Recordings]
31. Rhythm Section – Dreamworld [Rhythm Section Recordings]
32. Skanna – Ceasefire [White House Records]
33. The 2 – Lovin’ You [Not On Label]
34. Space Cube – Kool Killer [Force Inc. Music Works]
35. Oktiv – Feeling The Desire [Sound Asylum Records]
36. DJ Red Alert & Pepsi – Somthing Unreal [Brain Records]
37. Skoffin Allsorts – Love II Love It [PM Recordings]
38. Ionosphere – Just 4 Me (Infra-Red Mix) [Ionosphere Recordings]
39. Essence Of Aura – Destiny [Outstanding Productions]
40. A Guy Called Gerald – This Is The Right Time [Juice Box]
41. Wishdokta – Joy (No Bogle Mix) [Kickin Records]
42. Jungle Terror Productions – Girls [Future Vinyl]
43. Exit 100 – Louie Frantic [Force Inc. Music Works]
44. Hardware – Night Stalker (DJ SS Remix) [Face Records]
45. Dubb Hustlers – Poison EP A1 [Armshouse Crew Records]
46. DJ Lee – A Touch Of Darkness [Impact]
47. Ellis Dee – Big Up Your Chest [Not On Label]
48. Chatta B. – Journey Into Sound [Redskin Records]
49. TDK – This Song Is 4 You [Not On Label]
50. The Panacea – “Taking Needle Off The Record Just To Have 50 Tunes In 1 Mix” Tune [Not On Label]

I’ve written about Bufo just the once before, back in November 2010, highlighting his Industricity Session no.29 mix.

That mix was very good, and compared to this one it was all too brief (despite that session being some 97 minutes). You’re What You’re is a 2 part upload collectively weighing in the other side of four hours.

I’ve tried to find some information about Bufo, but my search has so far, been fruitless. All I have is his SoundCloud profile which plays host to several of his mixes. Going out on a limb here I’m thinking he’s based in Poland. Still, as interesting as it can be to read a little bit about folk the music is the important aspect and here we have a mountain of sweetly dark and deep industrially dipped technoid sound, or techno for your headspace if you prefer.

It’s a mammoth session taking in some of the upfront edge of new producers carving out their sound, artists like Death Abyss, Lucy, Voidloss, Jon Convex, Xhin, Dead Sound, Kangding Ray, Ancient Methods and Roly Porter together with the established old guard. Cristian Vogel, Nitzer Ebb, Oscar Mulero, Ben Sims, James Ruskin, Inigo Kennedy, The Bug, Surgeon are but a few.

This then is You’re What You’re.

Bufo – You’re What You’re I
Download Stream

Tracklist
Black Knight – Capita
L.B. Dub Corp – Lurchers Dub
Conrad Van Orton, Vilix – Coppergreen Project
Subjected – Vault Series 008.2
Michaelangelo – The Thaumaturgist (Exium Remix)
Dj Rush – The Breaks
Carl Craig – At Les
Kenaz – Ungewis
Xhin – Teeth (Surgeon Remix)
Reeko – Thick Matter
Frankie Bones – I Love It
Jeff Mills – The Bells (Grovskopa Remix)
Steve Glencross – Jd’s Cartell
Obtane & Giorgio Gigli – Contextualised In Monochrome (Smear Remix)
Dead Sound – Dead Slater
Cristian Vogel – Alien Conversation
Monolake – Hitting the Surface
British Murder Boys – Be Like I Am
KiNK – I Don’t Play Piano
Grovskopa – Haas
Pacific Blue – Industry (Rrose Remix)
Voidloss – Scar Glamour
Jeff Mills – Gamma Player
Jon Convex – Your Mind (or Mine)
Dead Sound & Videohead – Degree
Phase – Binary Opposition (Process 1)
Dead Sound & Videohead – Rails
ASC – Magnetic
Casual Violence – Acceptance Of The Fact At Hand
Exium – Frontline (Inigo Kennedy Remix)
Function & Jerome Sydenham – Drift (Xhin Remix)
NIL – NIL (Kazuya Kawakami Remix)
Surgeon – Waiting For Me B1
Robert Hood – Unix (Alive)
Skudge – Overture (Substance Remix)
Sbtrk – Wildfire (Objekt Dub Mix)
Kangding Ray – Odd Sympathy
Kangding Ray – OR
Ancient Methods – Fifth Method B1
FBK – Nanomal
Claude Young – How Is Your DNA (James Ruskin Remix)
3ST & Dash – Getting Divorced
Death Abyss – Thee Grey Book
Various Artist – No. 8
Lucy – Eon (Truss Remix)
Voidloss – Diaphanous Fever of Dreams
Raiz And Truncate – Rhythm
Sigha – I Am Apathy, I Am Submission
Go Hiyama – Concrete Advance (Dead Sound & Videohead Remix)
Edge Of Motion – Set-Up 707
Scion – Emerge (BMB Remix 2)
Surgeon Meets Outline – Golden Age
Karenn – Chaste Down
Reeko – Miracle
Arovane – Tascel 7
Autechre – Laughing Quarter
Rhythm & Sound With Chosen Brothers – Mash Down Babylon
Sian – Coup De’tat (Xhin Remix)
Zomby – Godzilla
Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras – Soon (Kink Remix)
Dash – You Surf
Nitzer Ebb – Smear Body

Bufo – You’re What You’re I [2012-03-24] by bufodj

Bufo – You’re What You’re II
Download Stream

Tracklist
Nitzer Ebb – Smear Body
Tadeo – Winds Of Glory (Marcel Dettmann Remix)
Shiver – Subsonic Soundscape
Oscar Mulero – After All
Maad – 313 Dremaadream
Exium – Dummies
Cristian Vogel – Absolute
Rivet – Inside Looking Out
Dave Tarrida – Horrormone (The Horrorist Remix)
Dave Tarrida – Dry Red
Dead Sound – Shuffle
Smear – Form Constant
Surgeon – The Crawling Frog Is Torn And Smiles
James Ruskin – Confession
Silent Servant – Discipline
Blind Summit – Metrical Constants (Allan Nonamaka’s Proprietary Sequence Mix)
Inigo Kennedy – Lagrange Point
The Black Dog – Black Chamber Order (Blawan Remix)
Ital Tek – Manhattan
Unspecified Enemies – Multi Ordinal Tracking Unit
Apologist – Sorry (Dub)
Breach – Fatherless
Addison Groove – Footcrab
Modern Heads & Perc – Moddax
Jimmy Edgar – Sleight Of Mouth (Subtle)
The Bug – Politicians Version
Surgeon – Transparent Radiation
Monolake – Alaska (Substance Remix 1)
Pfirter & Dadub – Metropolis
Ben Sims – Slow Motion (Skudge Mix)
Jolka – Inception
Modeselektor – Dancing Box (Sleeparchive Rmx)
Kritical Audio – Spandex
Bufo – Chaos (Unit:B Remix)
Ochre – Rem Sleep Research
Dubkasm – More Jah Songs (RSD Remix)
Bufo – Rozplywa Sie W Ustach
MNK – Ransome
Battles – Toddler (Kangding Ray Remix)
Roly Porter – Rossak

Bufo – You’re What You’re II [2012-03-24] by bufodj

Whilst many DJs can lay claim to playing a ‘banging’ set, dropping their bass heavy trusted dancefloor bombs and hold the session together with some slapdash mixing; maybe a few of them will even use some EQ and the crossfader, few, in fact just one, can claim to be Jerome Hill.

A DJs DJ who is much loved by those who know him and have bore witness to his selection, programming and dexterous fingers. This man can scratch like a demon and just kills it each and every.

Few years back he delivered a mammoth and diverse session for our own Mantis Radio and whilst you should check that out, something a bit fresher is this; a recent set of his from March 23rd over in Berlin at the Suicide Circus club for record label Killekill’s 7th release party. Coming in just over the 3 hour mark this is technically, in the trade, classed as dynamite.

Also, those of you who are fans of Old Skool UK Hop and Britcore then he also re-upped a sterling mix of the stuff he recorded last year.

Jerome says of the mix

So here’s my techno set from the KilleKill party at Suicide Circus, Berlin. I played 12-3am and as the club opened at 12 I got to warm up for myself which was fun as i don’t often get to play some of these records.. Big thanks to Mark Hawkins for the recording.

All tracks are on vinyl and i’ll try to put together a tracklist when i have time, but feel free to ask for IDs and as always all comments are appreciated.
This was the release party for the Killekill 007 EP by Bill Youngman (who can be heard at the close of the set)

Jerome Hill – Live at Suicide Circus, Berlin 23/03/2012
Download Stream

Tracklist
n/a

Self released and hard to come by as only 250 were produced Live.Traces is the 2002 CDr release collecting recordings from Gridlock‘s 2001 US tour.

Mike Cadoo & Mike Wells the duo behind Gridlock retired their alias in 2005 but not before they had released some bold, captivating and intense IDM including many a fans favourite Formless; their 2003 release on the uncompromising IDM label Hymen Records, an offshoot of often intense noise label Ant-Zen.

Big shouts going out to das boy for deciding to share this rare release as a lossless FLAC file.

Gridlock – Live.Traces
Download

Tracklist
[00:00] Gridlock – uh4.17 (4:29)
[04:29] Gridlock – further (4:11)
[08:40] Gridlock – burn (5:01)
[13:41] Gridlock – estrella (4:44)
[18:25] Gridlock – .0002 (4:45)
[23:10] Gridlock – caloc (4:01)
[27:11] Gridlock – ich dien (4:52)
[32:03] Gridlock – voiceless (5:54)
[37:57] Gridlock – bu’yaam (4:19)
[42:16] Gridlock – recycle (5:41)

If you’re a regular listener of Mantis Radio, I hope you are, then back in January you’ll have been blown away, as we were at Darkfloor Towers, when Death Abyss delivered one of our best sessions yet on the show.

Last year saw the mysterious and anonymous producer/s (we don’t actually know how many people or indeed who is involved in the project) unleash their debut album Dominate Through Will following two earlier and no less essential EPs.

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.

Together with new girl on the block Girls Revenge, Voudou Nation drops on April 23rd on British digital imprint Rodz Konez with both production entities contributing one track each together with a remix of the other.

All four tracks are sounding bleak, gritty, fractured and like proper dark techno should. Put this EP on your wishlist.

Death Abyss + Girls Revenge – Voudou Nation

Tracklist
Death Abyss – The Magic of Defiance
Girls Revenge – Watch You Burn
Death Abyss – The Magic of Defiance (Girls Revenge Disco Hospital mix)
Girls Revenge – Watch You Burn (Death Abyss Until The Bones Are Dust mix)
released April 23rd.

Darkfloor in Session 010
DOWNLOAD STREAM ITUNES PODCAST ARTWORK

C Mantle – Drone or be Doomed

Tracklist
Iannis Xenakis – Diamorphoses [Chrome Dreams]
Nurse With Wound – Organophosphorous Resistance in Studio Conditions [United Jnana]
Cut Hands – ++++ (Four Crosses) [Very Friendly]
Xela – Beatae Immortalitatis [Type]
Svarte Greiner – B3 [Digitalis Industries]
Cut Hands – Ezili Freda [Very Friendly]
Steel Hook Prosthesis – Skin Melt Threshold [Malignant Records]
Teho Teardo – Dance the Sauris [Wire]
Sunn O))) – Richard [Southern Lord]
Sunn O))) – FWTBT [Southern Lord]
Electric Wizard – Golgotha/Altar of Melektaus [Rise Above Records]
Thomas Dimuuzio – Column [RRecords]
recorded 23/03/2012

For me, Techno always has and always will be conceptual.

Taking and creating sounds that imagine places known and unknown, and emotions to match. Production Unit‘s ICU Tracks continues this theme, using the sounds heard on frequent visits to a friend in hospital to construct sparse haunting Techno that is reminiscent of Sleeparchive at moments and Steve Reich at others, but that is not to say this is not an original piece of work.

Snare drums seem to echo down long uninhabited corridors and there is the constant sound of life monitoring bleeps and the life giving hiss of pumps. The Beatless version of Broken20.3 is more than an ambient pause in proceedings, adding perfectly to the tension of the EP. Also adding serious weight are the two remixes, courtesy of Perc and Paul Purgas (one half of Emptyset).

Production Unit was a member of electronica outfit The Marcia Blaine School For Girls alongside TVO. He has released on Highpoint Lowlife and Stuff Records amongst others, and assists in the running of Broken20 with TVO and Erstlaub. Broken20 release music that in their own words is

concerned with decay, erosion, entropy, mistakes and errors, line noise and tape hiss, hum and buzz.

Production Unit – ICU Tracks EP

Tracklist
Production Unit – Broken20.1
Production Unit – Broken20.4
Production Unit – Broken20.3
Production Unit – Broken20.5
Production Unit – Broken20.3 Beatless
Production Unit – Broken20.5 (Perc Mix)
Production Unit – Broken20.4 (Paul Purgas Mix)
Released April 30th.

Hailing from the market town of Pershore in Worcestershire come Absorption; the work of David Pugh, Paul Groom and Georgina Groom.

Working in the realm of ambient sound, they produce soundscape electronics aiming to bridge dark ambient drones, acoustic elements, and spoken word. And with Evolution they pretty much cover that successfully.

Absorption create, experimental, ambient, chillout, soundscapes and electronic music. Using such instruments as, synths, guitars, e-bow, bazouki, violin and of course the human voice.

Released back in February on netlabel Faturenet Recordings, Evolution is an 8 track collection of work recorded by the trio between 2008 and 2011. It consists of shimmering ambient sound and drifts between darker and lighter tones over the course of the album. This isn’t dark ambient along the lines of the seminal Lull project of Mick Harris or the actual at times terrifying work of Brian Williams’s Lustmord instead it’s more melancholic, calming but not uplifting, in fact parts of Evolution feel remorseful, funereal and for some a place to find solace.

Absorption – Evolution
Download

Tracklist
Absorption – Evolution
Absorption – Fountains Of Paradise
Absorption – This Moment In Time
Absorption – Shimmer
Absorption – Paranoid
Absorption – Genetic Blueprint
Absorption – Unspoken
Absorption – Bio Tech Century
FNet033

In an ever saturated market of music it takes quite the talent to make you sit up and take notice; Villain‘s album for London based digital imprint Singularity Recordings does just that.

This is just wall to wall stunning. Deep, hard and focused. For music made in the sunshine of California it couldn’t be deeper, darker and further from the shining Golden State. Broken techno deftly programmed. The production level on Escapade, is, quite simply, as good as they come.

From the slow evolving grind of The Plan, into the industrialised sub of Materials, to the bleak and captivating Stakeout; with a sonic footprint that you might find on the darkest of Raster-Noton’s output. An album chillingly precise and yet not rigid; with a deep respect of spacial awareness in his tracks the mysterious Villain has produced an essential piece of darkfloor electronics.

Escapade isn’t just one facet of techno either; where a producer finds and nails that one style, no, Villain has an album that flows as one cohesive piece but also takes the individual tracks into different headspaces as an album should and so many rarely seem to these days. Take the dubbed out shimmering groove of In Motion up against the acid laden big synth, verging on epic title track Escapade, into the more experimental and exploratory journeys of Subterfuge and Leave No Trace; a resonating growling shard of techno that closes the 9 piece 1 hour collection all too soon.

Singularity have become one in my opinion of the essential techno imprints operating at the moment. Delivering dancefloor and beyond sound to an exquisite level of production, detail and underlining force. They are not afraid to push the definition of techno forward either. Available now.

Villain – Escapade
GRAB

Tracklist
Villain – Intro
Villain – The Plan
Villain – Materials
Villain – Stakeout
Villain – In Motion
Villain – Escapade
Villain – Subterfuge
Villain – Safe House
Villain – Leave No Trace
SIN 016

I’ve written about Croatia’s Robert Pain before and you can rest assured I’ll write about him again. I first noticed him last year with his immense Black Queen debut and its follow up; the Inquistion EP for the Czech Republic’s Transporta.

He’s been building up a bit of a following in techno circles and rightly so; his techno is dark, uncompromising, defined and beautiful without being overly so. From cerebral deep to warehouse hard stomp he nests somewhere in between. He is one of my favourite techno artists around at the moment.

The four track Escape Attempts is up for download from his SoundCloud profile. It’s lighter in tone than his discography so far, even dare I say jacking in parts as Old dog and his Barking man will illustrate. And then there’s 65mins later going all out for a Detroit synth inspired flex.

My pick has to be Constant Shock. A jackhammer throb of a track. Relentless and piercing without being overpowered by a booming kickdrum.

Robert Pain – Escape Attempts
Download

Tracklist
Robert Pain – Oldman and his Barking Dog
Robert Pain – Constant Shock
Robert Pain – Old Dog and his Barking Man
Robert Pain – 65mins Later

Mantis 103 + Flint Kids
DOWNLOAD STREAM ITUNES PODCAST

DVNT
Death Grips – Lost Boys [Epic Records]
Paul Blackford – Event Horizion [Binalog Productions]
Paul Blackford – Bass By Dope Demand [Binalog Productions]
Intergalacterrorist – Torn Apart [Void Tactical Media]
O.O.O. – AKIKA [ooomusic]
Aon – Noguruma kamols [dub]
Andrea Belluzzi – Kali [transmissions]
George Lanham – Paradox of Plenty [Cicuta Netlabel]
vacated – Borley 1937 [vacated]
RFS – Laboratory [Noctambular Rec]
Drugstore – Helios [Cicuta Netlabel]
Wirewound – Wirewound [Acre Recordings]
Alavux – Do Dat [Digital Distortions]
Fan Erhalder and Aunderwex – Uran 154 [Russian-Techno.com]
Mouse on Mars – Baku Hipster [Monkeytown]
Threnody – Fractured [dub]
Dave Clarke – The Wolf [Skint]
Villain – Stakeout [Singularity]
Villain – Escapade [Singularity]
2methylBulbe1ol – Golem (Hecq remix) [OverClockHeadz Rec]
Redrot – Mutant Youth Choir [Void Tactical Media]
Elemental – Blob (Full Spektrum rmx) [dub]
Stormer – Size N Pitch (Prod. By Preditah) [@stormer]
Drumspyder – Summer’s Drums Solo (Master Margherita remix) [mastermargherita]
Imaginary Forces – Dead Fingers Talk [Sleepcodes]
Subkoks – #4442 [dub]

FLINT KIDS
unreleased and previously unheard as yet unnamed Flint Kids tracks.

103

Up this week in the Showcase Session we present London’s Flint Kids.

the showcase

Responsible for Interakt Records, Danny Nolan & Dave Smith are a London duo who for the past decade have been conjuring up various forms of electronica, heavily forged in the electro breaks bass substrains which makes them honourary Darkfloor practitioners. Describing their sound as

Glitches and bleeps fuse with organic matter fired from a techno blunderbuss to create a pool of binary sputum that finds no home in any one genre.

With an unreleased back catalogue reportedly larger than Linford Christie’s chopper it’s only in the past few years that select cuts of their sound has been unleashed through their own Interakt. Their exclusive session is rammed with some of these unreleased pieces together with some forthcoming heavyweight bleeps.

What may begin as a well earned, candlelit, soak in the tub of ambience can quickly drain away, as they pull the plug, leaving the listener cascading down a dark, jagged, hole with only a rungless ladder made of plasticine……. not for the faint hearted.

previous shows
MANTIS ARCHIVES ITUNES PODCAST

Since coming into existence last year and picking up from where the now retired purveyors of techno netaudio Offaudio and Antiritmo took us, Madrid based Cicuta Netlabel is firmly entrenching itself as a go to label for multi textured techno.

With a back catalogue of EPs from Voidloss (the devastatingly sharp and essential Relics), Bran Laden, Hyo and label management Drugstore together with two compilation EPs featuring work from i1 Ambivalent, Vegim, Kuniaki Takenaga and Stanislav Tolkachev amongst others, their 7th release has a certain threshold to reach when it comes to what it needs to deliver. And it does.

From the deep and bubbling oceanic Comes To Be And Passes Away by Sweden’s Mattias Fridell into the jarring industrial warehouse grind of George Lanham’s Paradox Of Plenty. Samot goes cerebral on their Evolution with Surit’s Expand keeping the inner cranium vibe with a tight percussive workout and some spellbinding synth waves.

Kill Minimal delivers the curveball, a bleeping squelch deep tech house switch with more than a nod to proggy psychedelic trance. As out of place it might seem on a first listen, it does sit within the range of the labels 3rd compilation. Drugstore step up for the sixth and final piece of Axon presenting Helios; a bold heady driving piece of work.

Various Artists – Axon EP
Download

Tracklist
Mattias Fridell – Comes To Be And Passes Away
George Lanham – Paradox Of Plenty
Samot – Evolution
Surit – Expand
Kill Minimal – In The Way
Drugstore – Helios
#Cicuta007

[CICUTA 007] V.A. – Axon EP by Cicuta Netlabel

If you’ve even the passing interest in London’s Grime scene the name Terror Danjah should already be familiar to you. With over a decade of experience behind him; an ever growing back catalogue with releases on Planet Mu, Hyperdub and grime current bright lights Rinse FM duo Elijah and Skilliam’s label Butterz. Add to that since 2010 he’s been publishing music on his own Harddrive Records together with D.O.K., Champion and others.

And it’s his Harddrive Records that concerns us here, as recently the internet’s Grimeforum posted up a 20 track Hardrumentals ZIP. Designed for the use of MCs to spit over but nevertheless also for us who prefer the music over the ‘vocalists’. Our highlights include Scotch Bonnet and 808.

It’s quite possible some of you already have this, I already did as these were originally shared back in 2010, still if you haven’t grab yourself some dirt. Also, there is an updated RIP version of Zumpi Leaker kicking about.

Terror Danjah – Hardrumentals
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Tracklist
Terror Danjah – 808
Terror Danjah – As The Beat Goes
Terror Danjah – Beats By Terror
Terror Danjah – Drumline
Terror Danjah – Fairy Liquid
Terror Danjah – Freek Show VIP
Terror Danjah & DOK – Good Love
Terror Danjah & DOK – Lifesaber
Terror Danjah – Morph
Terror Danjah – Nut Meg
Terror Danjah – Pat Sharp
Terror Danjah – Raincoat
Terror Danjah & Babyface Jay – Redlight District
Terror Danjah – Scotch Bonnet
Terror Danjah – So Real
Terror Danjah – Start Stop
Wiley – Taplin (Terror Danjah Refix)
Terror Danjah – Trojan
Terror Danjah – Why Not lol?
Terror Danjah – Zumpi Leaker

Taken from bass supremo Dave Tipper‘s forthcoming EP of the same name, Puzzle Dust is another slick cut of glitched out electronic awesome.

Should be dropping April 1st over at Addictech, which if you pop over there you can hear samples from the rest of the four tracker.

Puzzle Dust by tippermusic

This release popped onto my radar a few weeks back. Released on German netlabel omaramusic, a platform for German producer omara; Seducing is the label’s 40th release and comprising an original track of an innermind techno tool together with a remix.

If you like loop based hypnotic techno which gradually morphs across its intended 9 minutes of airtime then you’ll gravitate towards Seducing. The drop outs are grainy and textured and add some interesting diversions to an otherwise decent but bass-lite techno tool. I’d have preferred if the kick was just a tad on the fuller side but that’s something that can be remedied in the mix.

Track two, a remix of the title track by fellow German producer tooltech; has a harder kick with an almost gnarly growl brewing. Almost. Feels more hammer against stone than the cerebral focus of the original. Again, it’s decent enough but has less evolution and gradual shift over the tracks length than its original namesake.

omara – Seducing
Download

Tracklist
omara – Seducing
omara – Seducing (tooltech remix)

For the 70th mix of the BRAWLcast series Bushby smashes together this 2 hour mix of dubstep and bass heavy breaks.

BRAWLcast #070 Bushby – Crush Depth
Download Stream Mixcloud

TRACKLIST
Fault – 2034 [Terminal Dusk]
Blawan – Iddy [Hessle Audio]
Jack Sparrow – Regress [Tectonic]
Djunya – Moonwalker [Dubstep Records]
Slaughter Mob – Dub Weapon [Rephlex]
Modeselektor – VW Jetta [Monkeytown]
Jack Sparrow – The Chase [Tectonic]
Spac Hand Luke – Grave [Rephlex]
Milanese – Billy Electron (Venger Remix) [Planet Mu]
Atki2 – Crowsteppah [WerkDiscs]
unkown – Dead Letter Drop #1
Boris Noize – Inceptive Point [Yellow Machines]
Blackmass Plastics – Futurepast
Warlock – Black Bag Of Doom [Coin Operated]
ScanOne – Skip (Cursor Miner VIP) [Combat Recordings]
Gremino – Bleak Rocking [Rag & Bone]
Baobinga & Randomer – Crom2 [Build Recordings]
The Squire of Gothos – Cum Wid Dat [Rag & Bone]
JDS – London Town (Serious Danger ‘Groove’ Mix) [Pepper]
Bracket – Butters Bounce [Coin Operated]
Submerse – Need To Know [Sounds of Sumo]
ScanOne – Feep [Yellow Machines]
Ku Bo ft. Joyce Muniz – And You [Man Recordings]
Mark One – Stargate 92 [Rephlex]
Merlin – Whoz In Da House (DJ Controlled Weirdness Remix)
Warlock – Perana [Rag & Bone]
Search & Destroy – Espionage [Destructive]
Warlock – The Horror [i-o-inc]
Vex’d vs. Search & Destroy – End Of Line [Planet Mu]
FZV – Assimilator [Rag & Bone]
Toasty – The Knowledge (Vex’d Remix) [Hotflush]
TRG – Your Friends Like Techno [Subway]
Spookhouse – Break Yoself Fool!!! (Mad-Tek Remix) [Digital Distortions]
Mad-Tek – When The Wheels Fall Off [Digital Distortions]
Badaszewski – Future Dictator [Digital Distortions]
L.J. Harvey – Def Ender [Western Panorama]
Kanji Kinetic – Southern Cross [Mutant Bass]
Blame – 2 Bad Mice Take You [Moving Shadow]
Rufige Kru – Jim Skreech [Reinforced]
Metalheadz – Terminator [Synthetic]

BRAWLcast070 Bushby – Crush Depth by Digital Distortions

One way to describe FMcontrol‘s 2011 EP for Germany’s Crazy Language netlabel could be that of crunchy loose drenched in squelch, crystals of glittering sound. Bleeps wrapped in slithers of sliced angular intricate fractal is another.

This is my first introduction into the world of Fabio Minardi, an Italian producer working out of Gela, just south of Sicily. It would seem from reading the EPs linear notes that Genetic Control Frequencies is a calmer, less crazy selection of his work. If that’s the case then I’m looking forward to checking out his earlier LP on Crazy Language and his work on the multi European city based brainstormlab together with France’s Bruits NetLabel.

Monolih’s Resonance is a stand out cut for me. Early vocal snippets together with alien like chatters that in part feel like tuning in an old transistor radio in some hallucinogen powered experience. As interesting and ultimately as captivating as it is, it’s far too short and I would have loved to have been able to explore that world more. But then the EP itself is, with the 7 minute PpatoSciro O Sciroppato the single exception; a collection of short, sweetly stabs of acid soaked electronica.

It’s on PpatoSciro O Sciroppato that the somewhat demented producers flow is really let loose as Fabio explores a world that flips between a track whose vibe you can get into between that of something all the more abstract with the snappy electro playing host to subtle dropouts and shifts. Offbeat synth against beat.

For me and my introductions into Fabio’s sound I really enjoyed letting my ears soak up the sound and hit repeat just as soon as it had finished. I’m now off to check out his back catalogue.

FMcontrol – Genetic Control Frequencies
DOWNLOAD STREAM

Tracklist
FMcontrol – Gfhh Space Quadrant2
FMcontrol – Bosone75Master1 Mix
FMcontrol – Gui+
FMcontrol – Linfocity
FMcontrol – Monolih’s Resonance
FMcontrol – PpatoSciro O Sciroppato
FMcontrol – Tanino Stile Mix
cl-040

cl-040 | FMcontrol – Genetic Control Frequencies by Crazy Language

Few producers can manipulate bass quite as confidently as Mr ‘throb bass’ Si Begg.

He’s one of my personal heroes within electronic music, both as a producer / sound designer and as a fantastic DJ. If you’ve yet to catch him destroy a dancefloor in the way he does, you need to remedy that. Quick smart.

Bad Boy, a mostly finished track from 2009 proves his studio prowess quite effectively, delivering a bass stuffed dancefloor filling beast. In Si’s own words:

This track has been knocking around for far too long. You may have heard it in my sets and at the end of the Pioneer DDJ-Ergo promo film. To my mind its not finished, but I’m done with it. So take it as it comes and share as you please. In fact I might follow it up with all the layers so one of you clever people can finish it off for me .. ha!

Let’s hope he does follow up with the stems. And if you’re going to play this in your sets, watch out as it ends rather abruptly.

Si Begg – Bad Boy (2009 WIP) by sibegg

Ireland’s Tony McMurray, better known around Darkfloor Towers as Hoth System has unleashed a new mix.

20 Lashes is a well mixed selection, that as with Hoth’s production work; is take no prisoners, heads down gnarly techno. It’s not fast and hard, but it packs a punch. Amongst new work from his studio there are tracks from WJ Henze, Johan Bacto, Robert Hood, Duality’s Systemic, Christian Wunsch, Anton Pieete, Tuomas Rantanen, Forward Strategy Group and Miller & Keane.

If you’re looking for an hour to blast away your brain without resorting to ringing that back alley pharmacist some bloke in a pub gave you the ‘business card’ of you’ll be in capable hands with 20 Lashes. If anything the choice of image to accompany the mix should make an impression.

Hoth System – 20 Lashes
DOWNLOAD STREAM

Tracklist
01. Hoth System – Stripped of Dignity [unreleased]
02. WJ Henze – B H10 [H-Ten]
03. Hoth System – Bone of a Saint [unreleased]
04. Johan Bacto – B2 [Mankind004]
05. Johan Bacto – B1 [Mankind001]
06. Robert Hood – Strobe Light [Music Man]
07. Hoth System – Grim Acceptance [Audioexit]
08. Systemic – Synesthesia [Duality]
09. Hoth System – Foreign Object [Audioexit]
10. Christian Wunsch – B Master Avalanche [IM]
11. Fanon Flowers – B1 Slovakian Nights [Mechanisms Industries]
12. Virgil Enzinger – Lifestream (Robert Natus remix) [Killaz]
13. Hoth System – Pilot Error [C24]
14. Anton Pieete – Karate [Manuke]
15. Tuomas Rantanen – Concrete Symbol [Aftertaste]
16. Carlos Rios – Propane [Zwart]
17. Hoth System – The Gnashing of Teeth [C24]
18. Forward Strategy Group – Code#1 [Perc Trax]
19. Hoth System – Official Myth [unreleased]
20. Miller & Keane – Depth Charge [Audiosculpture]

Hoth System – 20 Lashes [mix] by hoth system