Nu:Logic - Memories

Still haven't had a chance to check Nu:Logic's album "What I've Always Waited For" despite the fact it dropped about twelve years ago.

Lovely bit of liquid from two producers who are more or less keeping Hospital afloat right now. Great for staring out the window and wondering where it all went wrong.

Logistics - Winter Blues VIP

It's sunny outside! Time for an inappropriately titled Logistics track.

Whilst on the subject of Logistics, where the hell did Fibreglass come from? Seem to remember it popping up in mixes over the past year, but why wasn't it on Fear Not? Biggest oversight since Toy Town was left off Crash Bang Wallop!

Anyone else got this abomination stuck in their head by the way? Mixes frighteningly into Murderation :(

Mefjus - Double Tap

Logistics has been bigging Mefjus up a lot recently, and rightly so. Proper ERD vibes on Double Tap.

Logistics - Neon

More secretive download only wonderment from Logistics. Why did he save all the best stuff for digital release?!

Logistics - Falling

Disclaimer: I'm completely incapable of saying anything negative about any of Logistics' music, so you can pretty much disregard this post as pointless.

Massive tune from Matt Gresham. Apparently this one was a bonus for people buying the digital release of Fear Not, rather than the CD, so I hadn't actually heard it until yesterday. Now I'm gonna have to buy the bloody download version too. Ah well, one for the car, one for the phone. No worries.

As for the rest of Fear Not? Well, it's certainly broader than both Reality Checkpoint and Crash Bang Wallop, but for me that has always been Logistics' appeal; Big stupid dancefloor liquid slotted right next to dark 'n' moody rollers. It definitely fits in a lot more with Hospital's late '00s catalogue than their current output, although Logistics does seem to be keeping one eye on the Annie Mac crowd (and who can blame him?).

Anyway, 2999 (Where Ever You Go) does the wobbly dubstep thing just right by tempering it with enough D&B to keep things interesting and ensuring that people can actually dance to the thing. Is anyone else reminded of The Humans Are Dead by the robo-voiceover?

We Are One sets off on a housey-liquid rave offensive that actually works really well (much like Raygun on CBW) and really just proves that Logistics can turn his hand to anything. Having said that, the much stronger Nu:Logic remix puts things right back into D&B territory with some insane amen business and is also much more fun.

Tucked away towards the end, Destination Unknown is an interesting diversion that takes the album down a Bonobo-esque path and, although the track never really goes anywhere, it does add a nice bit of variation between Over And Out and Watching The World Go By.

There's plenty of more traditional Logistics business on Fear Not, with tracks like Timelapse, Running Late, Over And Out and Letting Go, but without a doubt the strongest track has to be Sendai Song. It's beautiful, atmospheric and rolling with echoes of Repetition and City Life. This really is Logistics at his best.

All in all, Fear Not is a great album, and whilst some people might knock it because it covers a range of musical styles rather than just being strictly D&B, these people should shut up because it's Logistics.

Logistics - Gang Colours

Fresh rolling darkness from Logistics. Sounds like he's back on a bit of a Reality Checkpoint tip, which is no bad thing.

Still can't believe that Lullaby wasn't a bigger track back in 2008, but I guess the downside of being such a prolific producer is that occasionally some real gems get overlooked.

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!

Hospitality @ Brixton - Live Set Recordings

Props to DNBA for recording the night. Pretty low quality recordings, and the whole lot are riddled with MCs, but still worth a listen back if you were there, or a first time run if you missed out on the night.

Unfortunately, there's no Andy C. Guess we'll have to make do with Nightlife 5.

B-Complex

Nu:Tone B2B Logistics

London Elektricity

High Contrast

Danny Byrd

Netsky

Fabio

S.P.Y - By Your Side (Logistics Remix)

Fresh from Hospitality at Brixton, this is Logistics' remixed B-side of S.P.Y's By Your Side, dropping on Spearhead in November.

Definitely more of a rolling dancefloor vibe to this one, but it certainly does the original justice.

Huge.

After Action Report: Hospitality - Brixton Academy 24/09/10

The Hospital Records crew can always be relied on to run a good party, and the past few years have seen the Hospitality nights rise from a promotional side-interest to both a major aspect of the label and one of the UK's biggest D&B events.

Whilst it was sad to see Matter close it's doors, Hospitality always seemed a little bit big for that place, despite it being a custom-built superclub. The gantry of death was pretty cool, and Room Two had a great vibe, but there often seemed to be too much pushing and not enough dancing.

It was therefore with some trepidation that we rolled out to Brixton for the largest Hospitality yet. With something in the region of five thousand tickets shifted, it seemed like we'd be in a for a night of long time queuing and jabby elbows.

On the night however, these fears seemed to be completely unfounded, with the Brixton Academy easily able to accommodate the five thousand-odd liquid ravers messing the place up. Hospitality evolved from a club night into a full on rock concert/religious pilgrimage a long time ago, and the open plan set up and balcony of the Academy was much more suited to this than Matter's main room ever was. There was plenty of room for bad dancing, and the soundsystem backing it all up was truly trouser-shaking.

Having missed B-Complex because of previous commitments, we steamed across London at Warp Nine in order to catch Nu:Tone and Logistics. The frantic scramble was rewarded, and we were able to catch the majority of their set. Hearing By Your Side go off was definitely something special, and Nu:Logic was probably the highlight of the evening, despite the best efforts of MC Ruthless.

London Elektricity also played a blinder, with the Hospital CEO clearly revelling in his role as superstar DJ and label chief. When you're playing to a crowd that size, it must be pretty rewarding to reflect on just how healthy the Hospital brand is right now, and Tony Coleman really is at the top of his game. A live performance of Just One Second by Elsa Esmeralda rounded off the set perfectly, making LE a hard act to follow.

Fortunately, High Contrast was next up, packing fresh tracks from his current project. I'd never heard this stuff before, but going on these tracks, Lincoln Barrett's new album going to be one of the biggest things to happen in 2011.

The other standout performance of the night has to be Danny Byrd, who raised the roof with a brilliant set, plugging his new album and throwing plenty of old skool rave classics in as well.

So overall, one of the best D&B parties of recent times. Link To The Past going off five times in one night was both awesome and hilarious, with every DJ apparently running it out. Here's hoping Hospitality will return to the Brixton Academy before too long. Matter was fun, despite the drawbacks, but The Academy seems much more suited to this sort of large scale D&B shindig. Twenty thumbs up!



£4.45 for a Gaymers though?
FAAAARCK ORF!

Commix - Double Double

Been a while since we've heard anything from the Commix, but here's a delightful, deep roller that reminds you just how awesome they are.

Hold tight for Re:Call To Mind, a Call To Mind remix album due out in October, and if you didn't grab Cold Kiss (with help from Logistics) off SoundCloud whilst it was up, you can still hear it here.

Cyantific & Logistics - Brighter Day

FUCK YES.

The last time Cyantific and Logistics got together, they produced the brain-mangling Flashback , the stand out tracks on a whole album of stand-out tracks. Once again, Cyantific is really smashing things up, with Brighter Day due out on his own Cyantific label later this year, along with some proper jungle nonsense in the form of 88 MPH on the B side.

Keep plugged in to Cyantific's blog for news and gig updates, and be sure to grab the ridiculous Cyantific & Wilkinson remix of Kid Adrift's Oxytocin.
Proof that drum and bass ruins everything to perfection.

Logistics Live on 1Xtra 24/09/2009

Big mix from Logistics from last September.

01. SPY – Slum Dub (dub)
02. Fresh – Heavyweight (DSB)
03. Marky & SPY – Riff Raff (dub)
04. Logistics – Murderation (Hospital)
05. SPY – Dark Corners (Liquid V)
06. Fierce & Break – Hooligan (Quarantine)
07. Break – Bassface (dub)
08. SPY – A Trip (dub)
09. SKC – Off Guard VIP (Commercial Suicide)
10. Break – In Limbo (Quarantine)
11. Mindscape – Unknown (dub)
12. Subfocus – Follow The Light (Ram)
13. Metrik – Anthem 09 (Viper)
14. Logistics – Together (Hospital)
15. Logistics – Toytown (Hospital)
16. Sigma – Point It Back (dub)
17. Logistics – Cosmonaut (Hospital)
18. Logistics – Eastern Promise (Hospital)
19. Metrik – Forward Approaches (Viper)
20. Trei & State of Mind – Thunder Biscuit (Samurai)

Download here!

Turning Back The Clock

It started with Sub Focus.

I wish I could claim to be more old skool than that, but for me, it was all about Sub Focus, or more specifically, his 2005 Breezeblock mix. Then came High Contrast's 2007 Essential Mix. Then a few of the old State of Mind Next Level Shows, ripped from Auckland's 95bFM. Until hearing these mixes, my only D&B experience had been the mighty Black Sun Empire, a wee bit of NOISIA, and some Roni Size tracks that accidentally broke through to the mainstream.

These were the mixes that got me hooked. I can't even remember how these things came into my life, or who set me onto them. I'd imagine they came from a mate's CDRs or a USB stick or something.

It wasn't long after hearing the High Contrast Essential Mix that I downloaded "Now More Than Ever", by Logistics. Since then, I've been a D&B head, and never been able to look back. I've bought more or less every new Hospital CD, a whole stack of Spearhead stuff, and a bunch of other producers’ stuff. I can't stop buying drum and bass, and I can't stop going to D&B nights, whether its Hospital, Spearhead, Ram, Renegade Hardware, Shogun, Lifted, Viper, Med School or whatever.

I've seen Logistics DJ live so many times, it borders on stalking.

Over the last four years, I have spent most of my money either attending D&B gigs, or buying new releases, and file sharing, most often via the internet is totally to blame for this.

I consume vast amounts of drum and bass music. Some of it paid for, some of it downloaded, some of it live, but I know I wouldn't have got nearly so messed up on this stuff if it hadn't been the for the internet, that huge pipe pumping beats and news and gig dates directly into my brain, and this is what scares me.

The politicians and business groups behind the 2010 Digital Economy Act claim that the bill is necessary to protect the future of the creative industries in Britain, but really it will do quite the opposite. Time was when kids would find out about new music from John Peel, publications like NME, or just by getting out there and spreading the word. Over the last decade, the internet has crashed onto the scene, and the entertainment industries have (in some cases wilfully) remained one step behind. The net is now the most important tool for promoting and distributing content, and yet the Digital Economy Act threatens to turn back the clock to 1997. The DE Bill, far from protecting Britain’s digital future, seems more like Ned Ludd kicking his way into a server farm with a sledgehammer and smashing the place up.

I'm not whinging about the DE Bill because I’m worried about not being able to watch new episodes of Lost or South Park. I like buying music. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to know that I’m supporting the artists who produce the music I love, and whenever I buy a new Logistics release, he can buy some more hats. For me, the internet has opened up a whole world of music and experiences that I may never have discovered without it, and it scares me that other people could be denied these opportunities because of internet censorship and the government bending over backwards to meet the demands of a bald man with a yacht.

Censorship and cutting off peoples’ internet connections can only harm Britain and leave us floundering behind the rest of the world. The country needs a Digital Economy bill, but one that promotes the nation’s digital future and looks forward, rather than tries to provide life support for an industry whose consumer base has moved on without it apparently noticing.

http://www.openrightsgroup.org/