2013 > 013 > 130

Vic Serotonin

Active member
Blackdown went all in this month, first with his 2012 roundup:

http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/blackdowns-2012-roundup.html

"This section was for me the real heart of 2012 and in truth it’s a flex I’d been long since feeling around for – check my remix of Bias & Gurley “Roll” which I did in 2010. This is because for someone who’d loved UK garage but loved it more when it became a bit darker (i.e. dubstep) it was a bit of a no-brainer that while UK funky was fun in that vibey way, people might want a darker take on it as an alternative – an alternative to both UK funky and to the dubstep that now was unlistenable – in the way that early dubstep was an alternate take on UK garage’s sonic balances. Now that neither dubstep, (ahem) post-dubstep or UK funky are providing huge returns, the darker alternative seems even more pertinent.

(Now I know all the critical arguments around this issue, indeed against this parallel path, but… I don’t care. In fact I do care, and enjoy that it’s divisive: you’re in it or you’re not. I really, really don’t buy the line that you should over-ride what your heart tells you just because someone else’s critical head tries to tell you. So I make absolutely no apologies for liking underground music with a sense of darkness and edge: it feels so unequivocally right to me in the way that tepid tech house or bait electro house remixes of Faithless sound so wrong, that everything else is pretty unimportant to me right now. This is where Dusk & I are going; this is our flex. If people want to tell me this is UK funky but worse they're missing the point of what I'm saying.)

This sound - this collection of sounds/producers/ideas - centered around 130bpm is THE most exciting space for me right now and has been all year. It’s getting ignored by large sections of the club going public – looking at the techno dominated end-of-year-charts – and yet it feels more cutting edge and has whiff of mutating danger and possibility (rather than predictability) about it. Anyway its tiny and it’s early days but Dusk and I are up to our necks in it right now, dealing with VIP versions and funneling dub after dub by a hungry new wave of producers through our Rinse FM show, many of who seem in part to hark back to the early Forward>> and Sidewinder times we lived through."

And then backed it up with the announcement of the 'This is How We Roll' comp on Keysound, which is pretty much a roll call of the up and coming producers working around 130 who have been getting aired on his Rinse show with Dusk:

http://www.factmag.com/2013/02/13/b...keysound-recordings-comp-this-is-how-we-roll/

Tracklist:

01. Visionist, Beneath & Wen ‘New Wave’
02. Beneath ‘PVO’
03. Samrai ‘Hear Me Now’
04. Visionist ‘Dangerous’
05. Wen ‘Commotion VIP’
06. Double Helix ‘LDN VIP’
07. Epoch ‘The Steppenwolf’
08. Dusk + Blackdown ft Farrah ‘Lonely Moon (Android Heartbreak drumz remix)’
09. Fresh Paul ‘Blaster’
10. Mumdance & Logos ‘In Reverse’
11. Gremino ‘Monster VIP’
12. Rabit ‘Satelite’
13. E.m.m.a. ‘Peridot’
14. Moleskin ‘Burst’

I tried to draw attention to some of this stuff in a post on the funky thread and responses were mixed. Although Blackdown emphasizes the 'darkside funky' connection, I think it's fair to say (and the rest of his 2012 roundup certainly indicates) that there's more to it than that, and that connections are being drawn with instrumental grimey/eski stuff, slowed down/weirded out percussive dubstep, and then the synthy flavours contributed by the likes of Emma and Fresh Paul. I agree with Blackdown that this stuff offers a clear and preferable alternative to that which is embodied under the rubric of UK Bass (AKA 'post-dubstep' as conservative return to house & techno). Given that the post-intelli-whatsit thread has surely reached the terminal beach (Skrillex doing Burial), this stuff deserves its own thread, because it sure as hell doesn't belong there.

I'll start by posting a few different resources compiling journalism, key mixes, tracks, radio podcasts etc. Curious to hear other suggestions/contributions, either for and against.
 
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Vic Serotonin

Active member
Rory Gibb's latest Hypersecific column touches on the 130 thing too:

"The aesthetic - epitomised last year by people like Beneath and Visionist - is anchored at that tantalisingly (frustratingly) brief moment in around 2008 when dubstep, grime and funky were blurring together into moody, broken hybrids that kept the essence of all three parent genres intact. Dusk & Blackdown aren't bothering themselves too much with attempting to categorise quite where this music actually fits into the continuum it's derived from, aside from a shared tempo of around 130bpm or thereabouts."

http://thequietus.com/articles/1138...sic-review-levon-vincent-metasplice-bandshell

If you scroll down to the bottom he covers Emma's music, and then makes a comparison between the 2012 Keysound podcast (http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/rinse-fm-keysound-christmas-2012-special.html) and the Hyperdub showcase on MAH's show in '08 with Zomby, Darkstar and Ikonika. I'm with him on this, but I'd cite the Blackdown x Beneath x Wen x Visionst showcase on Rinse earlier in 2012 as well, particularly for the sheer brilliance of the 'New Wave' stitch-up:

http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/rinse-august-blackdown-v-beneath-v-wen.html

 
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Vic Serotonin

Active member
Key Mixes:

Grievous Angel - Pure Rollage (from the man's blog: http://blog.grievousangel.net/)

"OK. Here’s a mix of fresh, deep dub 130. Basically my tribute to Beneath. This is pure rollage. Obviously the Beneath stuff is the best dub in the world right now but there’s lots of good bits in this mix. I particularly like the blend of City Cycle and Send, and the blend of Waterfalls and the Vibe is so Right. This goes off live. The Ramadanman refix is very special, David played this out quite a bit. No-one’s got that."

Beneath – Wip – unreleased
Beneath – Lost – unreleased
Beneath – Name Droppin’ – unreleased
Cooly G – Dis Boy – Dub Organiser
Beneath – Send – No Symbols 001
Mala – City Cycle – Tectonic
Beneath – Seduction – No Symbols 002
Grievous Angel – Torn Apart – Devotional Dubz Erzulie04
Simpleton – Weh Dem Hear – Grievous Angel Remix – unreleased
Beneath – Rough – No Symbols 02
Grievous Angel – Kleer – Forefront
Rubi Dan Vs Grievous Angel – BadBoyz – Unreleased
DJ Ma1 – Waterfalls
Chrissy Murderbot – Vibe Is So Right (Atki2 Remix) – Planet Mu
Ramadanman – Blimey (Grievous Angel Refix) – Unreleased (and never coming out!)
Beneath – No Limit – Unreleased

http://www.grievousangel.net/GAMixes/Grievous_Angel_Pure_Rollage_2012.mp3

Grievous' Future Garage mix is probably also worth mentioning, particularly for the inclusion of the likes of Wen, Etch, Sully, and J-One.

J-One & Etch – Sounds – Unreleased 2012
Etch – Aquamarine – Unreleased 2012
Dem 2 – Holding – 2011
Wen – Medusa – Unreleased 2012
Wen – Swingin – Unreleased 2012
Sully – Your Love – Keysound Recordings LDN026 – 2011
Grievous Angel – FU – Forthcoming Devotional Dubz 2013
Wen – Takin’ Over – Unreleased 2012
Wen – Spark It – forthcoming Keysound 2013
Grievous Angel Vs Ashanti – Still On It Refix – Unreleased 2012
Etch – See Me On The Road – Unreleased 2012
Wen – Walk the Walk – Unreleased 2012
Naphta – Jungle Republic (Grievous Angel remix) – Unreleased 2012
Etch – Take Me – Unreleased 2012
Etch – Pulse – Unreleased 2012
Artek – And Then – Grievous Angel Remix – Unreleased 2012
Wen – Wind it Up – Unreleased 2012

http://blog.grievousangel.net/future-garage-mix-violume-10

Beneath - FACT 328

Tracklist:
Mella Dee – Oath
Hagan – The Music
Beneath – Hush
Beneath – Lost
Hagan – Tribal Steppin
Beneath – Seduction (No Symbols)
Smoove Kriminal – Occurence
Hagan – Afro Dub
Beneath – Serve
Beneath – Sum
Mellow Bee – The Hutner (Current)
Beneath – One Blings
Beneath – Still Hurts (No Symbols)
Beneath – Levels
Grevious Angel – Kleer (Forefront)
Batu – 105.6
Beneath – Wip
Beneath – United Minds
Balistiq Beats & Jamakabi – Concrete Jungle – Beneath’s 350 Remix (Keysound)

http://www.factmag.com/2012/05/07/fact-mix-328-beneath/

Wen - Sonic Router Mix #147

Horsepower Productions – Rain [Tempa]
Wen – In [unreleased]
Balistiq Beats ft. Jamakabi – Concrete Jungle (Yardman Riddim) (Beneath remix) [Forthcoming Keysound]
My Nu Leng – Run [unreleased]
Epoch – Bodywash [unreleased]
EOMAC – That Boy [Hsuan]
J-One – Sacred [unreleased]
My Nu Leng – The Grid [Forthcoming 877]
Visionist – Control This [Forthcoming Signal Life]
Wen – Nightcrawler [unreleased]
Epoch – The Steppenwolf [unreleased]
J-One – The Truth [unreleased]
Blackdown – R In Zero G [Keysound]
Wen vs Epoch – Hydraulics (Epoch Bass Mix ft. Joshua Idehen) [Egyptian Avenue]

http://www.sonicrouter.com/2012/11/sr-mix-147-wen-egyptian-avenue/

Threnody - HEDMUCK Exclusive Mix

Etch – Right Foot FWD [Dub]
Epoch – The Steppenwolf [Dub]
Name_Pending – Mindf__k [Dub]
Underclass – Ecko [Dub]
Wen – Walk Tha Walk [Dub]
Wen & Epoch – Hydraulics (Epoch Bass Mix feat. Joshua Idehen) [Egyptian Avenue Dub]
Wen & Epoch – Hydraulics [Egyptian Avenue Dub]
Underclass – Klang [Dub]
Threnody – Subminimal [Dub]
Blackdown & Dusk – High Road [Keysound]
Etch & J-One – Sounds [Dub]
Underclass – Banana Boat [Dub]
Loefah - Bombay Squad [Rephlex]
Side9000 – THX Riddim [Dub]
Threnody – Synchronic [Dub]
Wen – Swingin' [Dub]
Jon E Cash – Spanish [Black Ops]
Etch – See Me On The Road [Dub]
Threnody – Depth [Dub]

http://hedmuk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/featuring-threnody.html
 
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yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
It's all I've been listening to the last days/weeks, that last Dusk & Blackdown was so great, the E.M.M.A. tune in there is mental.
 

tom lea

Well-known member
while there's obviously something in the water right now, with ppl bored of the 4x4/stabby house bassline/au seve-core monotony that's become default in a lot of london clubs/radio and making stuff that's more do with grime, ukg, dubstep and bassline, i think trying to reduce it to tempo is a bit silly.

for example (and i know it sounds a bit smarmy to bring it up, as i already sent martin an email to correct him in the week) in that blog post, he was talking about samename's 'okishima island' as an example of this 130 stuff, when it's actually 140. likewise rabit, his next single is 120bpm or something.

there's a lot of exciting people about right now - wen, beneath, rabit, samename, bloom, mella dee, logos, samrai, compa, visionist, walter ego, slackk of course - that have more to do than grime and dubstep than copying kerri chandler or whoever, but as many of them favour 140bpm as 130, and the links to grime and dubstep are more to do with aesthetic than tempo.

e.g. logos' 'kowloon' and samename's lucid remix:


similar sound palette, whacked-out evil sub-zero grime tunes, coming from producers who (i presume) take inspiration from a lot of the same stuff. one's 130-ish and one's 140, but don't tell me they're not part of the same thing.
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
Well maybe though these things need factors that create a sense of focus & belonging, otherwise you get the "there's no foci" malaise everyone has complained about since 09.
 

Elijah

Butterz

This is nice.

Would prob play more of this stuff if people sent it to me.

I wanna hear stuff with new sounds though rather than just relying on tempo as point of difference.

Kinda reminds me of the early days of Butterz. Clearly a group of people that are good / could be great producers just one tune away from causing a storm, no reason why that can't happen.
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
I wanna hear stuff with new sounds though rather than just relying on tempo as point of difference.

I think people are missing what's going on here.

It's not tempo as some key differentiator, it's using tempo as the least limiting factor of commonality amongst a bunch of diverse but creative people.

If we said "hey all this stuff is dark" then it's immediately excluded all the people making bright, grimey or colourful stuff. If we said "it's all percussive and rolling" it excludes those making halfstep or more spacious stuff. and so on and so on.

So it's not that tempo is some exciting factor, its just a useful non-constrictive factor of commonality so creative sounds can be empowered but also not be so dispersed as to be basically unconnected.

now yeah, to an extent tom's right, there's good people at 110, 140 and so on - and our 2 hour club sets can go from 120 -> 160bpm, but taken as a whole there's far more creativity for what we're interested in from 125-135, so that's where we're enjoying playing.
 

Esp

Well-known member
I think people are missing what's going on here.

It's not tempo as some key differentiator, it's using tempo as the least limiting factor of commonality amongst a bunch of diverse but creative people.

If we said "hey all this stuff is dark" then it's immediately excluded all the people making bright, grimey or colourful stuff. If we said "it's all percussive and rolling" it excludes those making halfstep or more spacious stuff. and so on and so on.

So it's not that tempo is some exciting factor, its just a useful non-constrictive factor of commonality so creative sounds can be empowered but also not be so dispersed as to be basically unconnected.

now yeah, to an extent tom's right, there's good people at 110, 140 and so on - and our 2 hour club sets can go from 120 -> 160bpm, but taken as a whole there's far more creativity for what we're interested in from 125-135, so that's where we're enjoying playing.

Cant you (or someone) just give it a name? Using a tempo as a name for a genuine 'thing' is constrictive or at best confusing.
 

trilliam

Well-known member
why does it need a name

constant branding ppl so eager to look for the next big thing

killing it prematurely

even tryna tag this all as "130" is abit wtf seeing as a man has already said it fluctuates between this and that.

if u wanna lump this all under one label

then put it on a record label or better yet a group of em
 

whytea

Well-known member
yeah it's not a tempo but it definitely is a thing

sick quote

Although I am partial to a bit of the "au-seve" style house (not my words) mentioned in this thread, but I would agree this (music referred to in thread) is definitely the most exciting at the moment

The new Wen release on Keysound is fucking wicked
 

jimitheexploder

Well-known member
All this stuff is wicked. Dusk & Blackdown's show has been top quality on this tip.

I'd love to hear more from Martin Kemp he's insane on that 130-ish tip. The last 12" on Frijsfo was killer and he'd been quiet for some time before that and I think he fits in well with this loose kinda sound.

There is a fine line sometimes between some of Visionists stuff and a lot of Addison Groove's early bits and some of his pretenders at times espesh with earlier Visionist records but he's really coming into his own of late and expanding on that. But its kinda close at times, it aint far off Mickey Pearce stuff either. People like Boxwork and Dark Sky play close to the edge of that too on this kinda tip too but sometimes a killer track comes out of that so its all good.

Hope it all keeps expanding because right now its tough to do a mix on this vibe without sounding like you're just ripping off Dusk & Blackdown and playing a Keysound record every other track haha.
 

tom lea

Well-known member
then put it on a record label or better yet a group of em
think a group of em is gonna emerge in the next year/year and a half. coyote, glacial sound, egyptian avenue, lost codes, oil gang, keysound obviously, i've heard some of the stuff that a few of these have coming up and altho they're all different it seems to come from a place that appeals to me and that i can identify with far more than a lot of the labels that are big right now. i feel like they have far more to do with what my label puts out than say, pmr does.

it's nice too cos as the whole uk bass thing or whatever you wanna call it got bigger, it became more fractured and a lot of the dialogue between labels/artists that was there in 2010 broke down. whereas there seems to be a bit more dialogue between this group of labels right now, and a common set of values that appeal to them, even if they are releasing stuff in different styles/tempo. i think i'd rather it not get a name tagged to it, really.
 
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Sectionfive

bandwagon house
The presence of junglist dna that started to be diluted elsewhere after 2009ish. More Photek then Kerri.

Or more broadly that sound that distinguished 'London' from house.
 
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