Apex - Energy Lines

Bloody hell! Have you heard the flipside to Apex's Inner Space?

Top notch production and rough enough for my local council to grit roads with.

Inner Space/Energy Lines is out now on Subtitles.

Breakage Feat. Jess Mills - Fighting Fire (Loadstar Remix)

Breakage is currently causing quite a ruckus with Fighting Fire, thanks in part to Jess Mills' awesome vocal work.

Really digging the massive Loadstar remix right now though. Noise!

Cyantific Mix for Knowledge Magazine

K Mag have a nice little interview with Cyantific up on their website, but more importantly they also have a 35 minute mix from the man himself:

1.Chase & Status - Blind Faith (Loadstar remix) >> Lomax - Artisan VIP
2.Rockwell - Noir (Ulterior Motive remix)
3.Sub Zero - Brighter Days
4.Ram Trilogy - Lunar Bass (Commix remix)
5.Enei - Stonehead
6.Noisia - Displaced
7.Cyantific - Opium
8.Sub Zero - Poon
9.Enei - One Chance VIP
10.Icicle & SP - Dreadnaught
11.Enei - Cracker >> Logistics - Colour Wheel VIP
12.Cyantific - Bounce It
13.Culture Shock - Footloose >> Firefox - Buck Rogers
14.Noisia - Friendly Intentions
15.Breakage - Fighting Fire (Loadstar remix) >> Commix - Electric

Download!

Yo Dudes, Let's Talk About Dubstep!

Hi there pop pickers, have you heard the fresh new music that's taking the UK by storm? Young adults up and down the country are all grooving to a funky new sound called dubstep!

From Peaches Geldof to the cast of Skins, everyone's getting down to the exciting urban flavas, but what exactly is it that people are getting so steamed up about?

Well let's take a look!

Dubstep originally developed on the mean streets of New York City in the mid 1970s, where roaming urban street gangs would meet at weekly dubstep discos to "get up in each other's grills" and bust out some hot new moves.

An original NY dubstep crew, ready to roll.

"Dub" means to change the spoken language of a TV show or film to that of another language by replacing the audio track, and "step" is New York street slang for "walk", so dubstep literally means, "to change the sound of walking to that of another sound". The coolest thing of all about dubstep is the way in which it brings together both heavy basslines and repetitive drum patterns, something that has never really been attempted before in popular music.

Now it's 2011, and dubstep has started to cross the Atlantic. Instrumental in leading the charge of dubstep in the UK has been Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton;
"I really like dubstep," says Fearne, "it's the most exciting thing to happen to UK music since Take That reformed. It's mentaaaaal, but genius."

Even Wales is getting in on the action.

So what are my top dubstep picks for those of you wanting to get ahead of the game?

First up, one of the leading lights in the UK dubstep game: Katy B

Katy B seems to write a lot of songs about going clubbing and dancing, but for some reason neglects to mention the belligerent security, overpriced drinks and frequent outbreaks of violence and glassings that makes the UK clubbing experience one of the most unique in the world.

At the deeper, darker end of the dubstep spectrum is Britney Spears:

Wowzers! What a bass drop! Hold onto your hats!

Of course, not all dubstep is as serious as Katy B or Britney, as St Petersburg outfit Giant show us with their Dad-rock influenced classic:

This groovy little number was recently outlawed in Canada for being just too darn heavy.

UK crew Mumford and Sons are putting a distinctively British spin on the dubstep sound with their hit single Roll Away Your Stone:

Just listen to that massive drop at 2.41. Tracks like this should come with a government health warning.

Last up, it'd be criminal to write about dubstep without a mention of the godfathers of the sound; Scritti Politti:

If it wasn't for the daring innovation shown by these guys, dubstep could never have blown up in the way it has. The mind boggles.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief dubstep primer, see you cats at a discotheque soon!

Heart of Darkness

Saigon.

Saigon... shit; I'm still only in Saigon...

Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle.


Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice mission, and when it was over, I never wanted another.


I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now... waiting for a mission... getting softer. Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. Each time I looked around the walls moved in a little tighter.

Well, you see, Willard, in this war, things get confused out there. Power, ideals, the old morality, and practical military necessity. But out there with these natives, it must be a temptation to be God. Because there's a conflict in every human heart, between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil. And good does not always triumph. Sometimes, the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.


"Never get out of the boat." Absolutely goddamn right! Unless you were goin' all the way... Kurtz got off the boat. He split from the whole fuckin' program.


Someday this war's gonna end.

Subtitles Music Podcast 002 - TeeBee

New Subtitles Podcast with TeeBee

01. System & Fracture - Close The Circle [Subtitles UK/Dub]
02. Basher & Extra - Reflections [Subtitles UK/Dub]
03. System & Fracture - Yeah, But [Subtitles UK/Dub]
04. Optiv & BTK - Jacknife [Subtitles UK/Dub]
05. Basher & Extra - Pressure Rise [Subtitles UK/Dub]
06. Ulterior Motive - Seven Segments [Subtitles UK/Dub]
07. Total Science & SPY - Venuss Prime [Subtitles UK/Dub]
08. Total Science & SPY ft Lenzman - Narrow Margin [Subtitles UK/Dub]
09. Ulterior Motive - Featherweight (VIP) [Subtitles UK/Dub]
10. Basher & Extra - Hubble [Subtitles UK/Dub]
11. Audio & Meth - Grit [Subtitles UK/Dub]
12. Ulterior Motive - Bringer [Subtitles UK/Dub]
13. Chris.Su - First Snow [Subtitles UK/Dub]
14. Apex - Inner Space [Subtitles UK]
15. Audio & Meth - Alone [Subtitles UK/Dub]
16. Apex - Energy Lines [Subtitles UK]
17. Optiv & BTK - Let It Hit Em [Subtitles UK/Dub]
18. Dual Process - Curfew [Subtitles UK/Dub]
19. Source Direct - Made Up Sound [Metalheadz]
20. Photek - Fusion [Photek]
21. Hiodden Agenda - On the Roof [Metalheadz]
22. Calyx & TeeBee - ?
23. Orbital - Belfast [Orbital]
24. Brian Eno - Secret Place [Polydor]

Chris.Su - First Snow followed by Apex - Innerspace?

TeeBee is a badman.

After Action Report: Hospital Fabric Takeover 7/1/11

A simple Fabric takeover may seem like a bit of a step down for Hospital, considering that it was only last September the label sold out the 5000-odd capacity Brixton Academy, but with the Hospitality brand going nationwide over the last couple of years, it was nice to have another London Hospital night, and there was certainly a lot of buzz around this one, despite it coming so soon after Xmas and NYE.

Fabric can really be a hit or miss venue. Either you'll get in nice and early and have a great time wobbling around on Room 1's bouncy floor before crashing in Room 3, or you'll queue for three hours to be groped by security on the way in, become hopelessly confused by the club's bizarrely dysfunctional maps and accidentally wander into the girl's loos, at which point someone's coke-addled boyfriend will punch you in the mouth. Whatever happens, you'll mostly end up having a good time.

Anyway, onwards to the DJs:

Stanza opened in Room 1, with a really good mix of old Hospital tracks, recent D&B anthems and a few newer curve balls. Essentially the standard This Is Drum And Bass sort of mix, but all the better for it and a good warm up for the night ahead.

Next up was S.P.Y., easily one of the strongest contenders for Producer of the Year 2010. Having been on fire throughout the year, I was really looking forward to seeing the Brazilian DJ and he did not disappoint on the night. By Your Side has yet to get old, and when we ambushed the man himself by the merch stand, he seemed like a bloody nice chap, and very impressed by the response the track has been getting over the past year.

S.P.Y doesn't get all of the Room 1 glory however, as Nu:Tone's subsequent set more than kept the energy going. Gotta give a nod to Natalie Williams' magnificent vocal work as well, and hearing the Room 1 crowd singing along to System was strangely beautiful, although sonically pretty damn horrible. Dan Gresham's new album is hitting the streets at the end of February, and from the stuff he's been dropping recently, it's gonna be good.

Other Takeover highlights were Joe Syntax, who kept things fixed well into the deep end in Room 3, along with London Elektricity, whose Room 3 Med School set reminded everyone that drum and bass is serious business. At 2.00 - 3.30, Blu Mar Ten were perfect for a battery recharge ahead of Cyantific's incredible Room 1 onslaught, and I urge you to check their promo mix if you haven't already done so. Rounding off the evening were Sigma, who pulled the trigger on the night with a heavy final set.

All in all, a fantastic night of D&B. See you at Hospitality Brixton in April.

The XX - Crystalised (Dark Sky Remix)

More impressive xx remix business, this time from Dark Sky.

I hate UKG. It's pretty much universally awful. It almost sounds like D&B, but with all the fun and hope and joy sucked out of it. However, this is actually quite nice; old school enough to make you feel a little nostalgic, but not so 90s garage-esque as to make you want to turn it off. A fine line indeed.

Hospital Christmas Cracker

Just in case there was any doubt about how amazing Hospital Records are, they released a bunch of free tracks to anyone who had bought anything from the Hospital Webstore in 2010.

Pick of the bunch has to be Logistics - I Need You (of course)


Next up is a slice of deep minimal from Bop and Despot - Removing The Past


Thinnen provides an amazing rework of Nu:Tone's Strange Encounter


Last up is the instrumental version of Danny Byrd's Wait For Me.


Can't wait for the Hospital Fabric takeover next week!