Vice or as I like to call it “The Onion of Hipster news outlets” chimes in with some witty observations about dance music culture in England today.
At some point in 2007, a bunch of people realised that they hadn’t been laid for the entirety of the four years they’d been listening to dubstep, and fucked off to make something that sounded like the exact opposite of it.
It began life without a name, but pretty soon music hacks realised the jig was up for dubstep because no one wanted to feel like they were trapped in a submarine in the Thames having a panic attack any more, and so “post-dubstep” was born. A few years later, and here we are: with the first British club music built on a 4×4 kick to soundtrack a T4 ident since “Where’s Your Head At”.
Modern-day house is undoubtedly the movement of the moment, currently occupying a territory somewhere between the internet underground and the stereo of your mum’s favourite shop on the high street. Some of its facets have broken through into the mainstream, but the heart of it definitely remains in the “sub” part of culture. “Latch” may have made the top 20, Bashmore might be blowing up on your workplace radio, but if they did another Live Aid tomorrow, nobody from the scene’s ready to be up there singing “Let it Be” with Paul McCartney and Emile Sande quite yet.
UK duo R1 Ryders didn’t really pull any punches when it came to naming its latest EP, London Underground, which is out today via Brookyln-based label Party Like Us. The four-track effort embodies the classic, hard-edged sound its title references, offering beefy bass and thick, skittering drum patterns with a crisp, modern production sense. “On My Own” even manages to sneak in touches of string-like synths and glimpses of melodic piano into the dark, dancefloor-aimed style.
Tracklisting:
01. SBTRKT – Hold On.
02. SBTRKT – Right Thing To Do.
03. Addison Groove – I Go Boom.
04. Shadow Child – So High.
05. Bugz in the Attic – Hold It Down (Bugz In The Attic Remix).
06.
07. Domu – Worldwide (Solid Groove Remix).
08. Disclosure – My Intention Is War!
09. SBTRKT – Living Like I Do.
10.
11. Machinedrum – No Respect.
12. Jay Electronica – Exhibit C.
13. Flying Lotus – Putty Boy Strut.
14. Frank Ocean – Thinking About You (SBTRKT Remix).
15. SBTRKT – Wildfire.
16. Machinedrum – Alarma.
17. Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank.
Scratcha DVA (a.k.a. Leon Smart) is an animated guy. (We thought so even before he sent over the above depiction of himself as Raiden from Mortal Kombat.) His productions are obviously the work of an extrovert—check the wonky exuberance of his recent Fly Juice EP on Hyperdub for proof. And as the longtime host of Rinse FM’s Grimey Breakfast Show (he’s since switched to Hyperdub’s less frequent program), DVA frequently peppered his sets with his own hilarious charisma. However, there’s nothing funny about this harrowing tale from his early days. At the height of UK garage, Cyprus’ Ayia Napa was the setting for a story of mistaken identity, police brutality, gruesome bloodshed, and more.
You know Ayia Napa, when everyone was going there? Not now, cuz it’s different [now]. But I went there in 2002, so 10 years ago—garage days. I wasn’t a proper DJ or anything like that, but I had records—I wanted to be in the scene, so I just took loads of records out there, and hustled loads of DJ sets at [venues] like Twice As Nice and Faces, known places. Anyway, I played in one club—can’t remember what one—and I was with a few of my mates, cuz it was a bit of a holiday as well. I left my mates in the club—I said, “Listen, I’m going to take my records back [to the hotel].” I took my record bag, winged off on this moped. I go back to the hotel, and the door was open. This is like a chalet as well, it wasn’t like in a hotel where you’ve only got the room—the room was on the street…
KING (Slit Jockey/119 Sound) – Las Vegas John Barera (Mmmmaven) – Boston Jonathan Santarelli (Unregular Radio) – Boston DJ Sense (GoHomeTomorrowProductions) – Boston
10 PM – 2 AM, 21+, $10 – includes admission to Factory in the lounge
Roska returns to Tectonic following his collaborative track ‘Paranormal Activity’ that he made with Pinch last year.
For his first solo outing on Tectonic Roska comes with 2 tracks of ice cold minimalism, utilising his brittle UK funky sound palette to create two rolling, dancefloor friendly tracks. Opening the A side with a stepping 130 bpm cut ‘Blurry’ and the Dubstep compatible ‘Spearhead’ on the flip.
1. Did you pick your artist name ‘Roska’ because it’s really hard to rhyme anything with it? Is this a tactic to avoid lazy MCs linking you to words you have no desire to be associated with?
Come to think of it, it isn’t a easy name to rhyme with. Wiley mentioned my name in one of his freestyles and he managed it.
2. Back in the day – you used to be ‘MC Mentor’ and later moved to production. What was your best catch phrase pon tha mic? What was the phrase you over-used most?
Ah haha. Too cringe-worthy to place up on here…
Untold’s Hemlock Recordings label – sometime home of Joe and Pangaea, and the label that gave James Blake his break – will celebrate their 20th release with a mix-CD / triple-vinyl package.
Simply titled Hemlock Recordings: Chapter One, we’ve known about the release for a little while – in fact, we referenced it here when audio of Joe’s ‘R.E.K. Bit’ hit the net – but full details have now been sent out to press. The mix-CD finds Untold blending highlights from the Hemlock back catalogue (Ramadanman’s ‘Tempest’, Pangaea’s ‘Fatalist’, James Blake’s remix of Untold’s ‘Stop What You’re Doing’ with new, exclusive material from FaltyDL, Sei A, Randomer, Guy Andrews and Untold himself…
