Surgeon and Dubstep

Freakaholic

not just an addiction
From the most recent Boomkat newsletter:

"...belying Surgeon's current fixation with the darker end of the dubstep/breakstep spectrum".

I havent really heard anything about this, and a cursory google search doesnt really shed any light, neither does a search of this forum.

Was/Is Surgeon producing dubstep/breakstep? Or was it just in live performances? Any mixes to download?

Saw him do a techno set about 2 years ago, and it was one of the heaviest things Ive heard. One of Chicago's main techno heads (recently transplanted to Berlin) Gabriel Palomo was in charge of the show and managed to import more bass than Ive seen at a show that size, so his set was something else. Just ridiculously heavy and hard hitting.

So, does Surgeon take this heaviness into his dubstep? Is it good?
 

DigitalDjigit

Honky Tonk Woman
What do you mean double-time? Dubstep is at around 140bpm and so is the kind of techno Surgeon makes. That whole Birmingham sound that he and Regis/Female do always had this almost breakbeat thing going on. Really dark, menacing, gritty stuff. Dubstep would be a natural adittion to the mix.
 

monkeysblood

born to cry
he plays Vex'd and some other mu-related stuff

does he? surgeon is the shit. i musn't have heard any recent enough stuff.
have picked up some great mixes in the past ('old versus new' being a good example),
sometimes directly from his web page.

he's doing something at corsica studios soon i think.
 

mms

sometimes
there is a vexd mix forthcoming on the new whose hands are these 12"'s also a great autechre mix, i sent him grime 1 and 2 when i was at rephlex.

this is a fine record as you can hear grime hard techno mixed perfectly imo - even if it is more pulse x style.
http://www.juno.co.uk/artists/Anstam/
 

bassnation

the abyss
does he? surgeon is the shit. i musn't have heard any recent enough stuff.
have picked up some great mixes in the past ('old versus new' being a good example),
sometimes directly from his web page.

he's doing something at corsica studios soon i think.

hes a fucking brilliant dj. not as mindlessly hammering as you'd think before hearing him. i saw him at a party in london (name escapes me right now, jeez, must have been a good night) and he was cutting up dubstep, acid, electro and all kinds of pounding madness. hes one of those djs who clearly enjoys every minute of playing, which is totally infectious.
 

Immryr

Well-known member
i saw him about a year or so ago in newcastle. i was really bored by him. even though he was playing like whitehouse and lion vip by vex'd as well as techno stuff (both of which i love), i was left really, really bored by him. i did however, meet a girl from norway who knew burzum and fenriz from dark throne when she was younger. that was pretty funny.
 
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dubversion

Guest
Saw Surgeon at the Glade last year and he was absolutely blinding. In terms of musicality / skills he was probably the best techno(ish) DJ i've seen since Jeff Mills. Very eclectic, actually quite witty in his selections, good pace, hard as fuck sometimes.
 

viktorvaughn

Well-known member
Surgeon when i saw him was great!! Started off with some droning noise and built up a whole barrage of stuff. Heard 2 vex'd tunes i think which fitted in perfect. He was clearly loving it as well.
 
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dubversion

Guest
here's that Glade mix - http://www.sendspace.com/file/rbbguj

and here's the tracklisting..
Surgeon @ Glade Festival, England 14th July 2006
1:22:09
Rhythm & Sound - Poor People Must Work (Carl Craig Remix) Burial Mix
Surgeon - Klonk Pt.1 - Dynamic Tension
DJ C - Nuttin Attall - Death$ucker Records
The Bug - Politicians Version - Rephlex
AFX - Analord 8 - Rephlex
Vex'd - Angels - Planet Mu
Surgeon - Whose Bad Hands Are These? - Dynamic Tension
Galaxy 2 Galaxy - Journey Of The Dragons - UR
Surgeon - Klonk Pt.2 - Dynamic Tension
Monolake - Alaska (Surgeon remix) - Imbalance Computer Music
Mikey Dread - Saturday Night Style - Auralux Recordings
Unknown - UXB011
Polygon Window - Quoth - Warp
Jeff Mills - Very EP - Axis
The Bug - Killer Version - Rephlex
Vex'd - Pop Pop - Subtext
Makaton - Beauty Default - Rodz-Konez
Aphex Twin - Analogue Bubblebath 1 (Surgeon remake)
Surgeon - Baby Ride (edit) - Counterbalance
Timeblind - I Was No Mind - Missile
Surgeon - Floorshow Part I.3 - Counterbalance
Surgeon - Magneze - Downwards
British Murder Boys - Fist - Downwards
Kritical Audio Krup - Detroit Underground
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker - Warp
British Murder Boys - Don't Give Way To Fear - Counterbalance
Planetary Assault Systems - Take Back - Peacefrog
Vex'd Lion VIP - Planet Mu
Source Direct & Instra Mental - Yo Bitch - Demonic
Hiroaka Iizuka - Greenworld - Symbolism
Birdland - Acid Edit
DJ Spookie - What - Relief Records
Boxcutter - Skuff'd - Planet Mu
Cristian Vogel - (Don't) Take More (Jamie Lidell remix) - Tresor
DJ Urban - You Work It - International House Records
LFO - Simon From Sydney / Freeze (Surgeon remake)
Surgeon - Floorshow Part I.1 - Counterbalance
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express - EMI

with loops from - Regis - White Stains - Downwards
Unspecified Enemies - Multi Ordinal Tracking Unit - Counterattack
Female - Angel Plague - Downwards
Oscar Mulero - CV Is Dead - Warmup
Regis - Get On Your Knees - Downwards
The Amen Break
 

UFO over easy

online mahjong
It is interesting, but considering Vex'd don't really have an awful lot in common sonically with most of the dubstep scene anyway, I wouldn't read too much into this :)
 
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psherburne

Well-known member
that glade mix expired already - any chance of a re-up? really curious to hear that. just ordered his new doublepack from hardwax, can't wait to hear how it sounds.
 

mms

sometimes
its funny watching everyone trying to link up techno and dubstep or whatever, why is no one looking for the linx between james yorkston and dubstep or jamie woon and dubstep?
 

UFO over easy

online mahjong
its funny watching everyone trying to link up techno and dubstep or whatever, why is no one looking for the linx between james yorkston and dubstep or jamie woon and dubstep?

Jamie Woon's a south londoner (I think) and matey with quite a lot of big-ish dubstep producers, and James Yorkston is on Domino, home of Junior Boys who are matey with Kode 9. Simple commission business in both cases presumably. Dance music dudes have been doing remixes for single B sides forever. Surgeon playing dubstep and bish-bash-bosh angryman techno in the same set, whilst hardly strange, is more interesting :)
 

mms

sometimes
Jamie Woon's a south londoner (I think) and matey with quite a lot of big-ish dubstep producers, and James Yorkston is on Domino, home of Junior Boys who are matey with Kode 9. Simple commission business in both cases presumably. Dance music dudes have been doing remixes for single B sides forever. Surgeon playing dubstep and bish-bash-bosh angryman techno in the same set, whilst hardly strange, is more interesting :)

not really, you assume about jamie woon i reckon and kode 9 didn't have to remix james yorkston, domino didn't have to ask him to do it , whilst surgeon is reknowned as a very good open minded dj of electronix of a certain speed, have heard coil and bogdan raczynski and whitehouse in his sets, finding good electronix is what he does.

A great deal of time is spent on this forum willing the potential of dubstep to cross with techno, which isn't so much an experiment as the inevitable desires of a certain type of crowd being fulfilled. Why is it less interesting that two dubstep artists have recorded with people who are more or less folk singers, certainly not people who have that same electronic futurism as both techno and dubstep from time to time show.
 
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UFO over easy

online mahjong
not really, you assume about jamie woon i reckon

no no, I've been told by a lot of people.. check his myspace top friends for proof :)

mms said:
and kode 9 didn't have to remix james yorkston, domino didn't have to ask him to do it whilst surgeon is reknowned as a very good open minded dj of electronix of a certain speed, have heard coil and bogdan raczynski and whitehouse in his sets.

That's a good point though. I still reckon it's more just a reflection of how fashionable dubstep is at the moment in certain circles.. it's all a bit Nathan Barley, people trying to outcool each other and such. This might be cynical but dubstep's also a rapidly growing market - the massive variety of electronic music dudes from across the whole spectrum remixing Junior Boys seems to make sense when you consider the crossover appeal of the band themselves. It's just common sense for Domino to try and capitalise on that.. you're right that Kode 9 didn't necessarily have to remix James Yorkston, but a pay cheque's a pay cheque, and it's difficult enough to make a living doing music without refusing remix commissions.

mms said:
A great deal of time is spent on this forum willing the potential of dubstep to cross with techno, which isn't so much an experiment as the inevitable desires of a certain type of crowd being fulfilled.

I think that's true to a certain extent but not totally fair. There is a lot of 140 music being made with a big basic channel/chain reaction/r&s influence, although most of it's being made by relative outsiders - peveralist, appleblim, pinch and the rest of the bristol lot for example. The Surgeon thing is just a loose connection to all that I guess. Superficially interesting but, given the track choices, doesn't really have a lot to do with dubstep or even the rest of the techno-dubstep crossover ting.

Although (sigh) having said that, some of Hatcha's sets have been bordering on hard, fast techno recently. Bleh.
 
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