DJ Midas – The Szahala Way

Posted by PlasmaDancer on October 8, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

There aren’t as many Alek Szahala-only sets kicking around as you’d expect, so this 80 minute mix from Midas was a very pleasant surprise. The tracklist is an especially interesting one that sets off from an unusual starting point, runs through some darker classics, and ends on some faster darker classics.

You could hardly ask for better, and that unusual opening (starting with Lagash 2012) features some really brilliant transitions – Astraia and Avalanche were made for each other at this bpm, and Heaven & Hell is a great choice. Very nice to see Noitavasara in there (a tune I’ve been trying to use for the past year or so), while Hydra is yet another excellent, surprising selection. After the bpm has crept up this high, then why not finish with the traditional Xochitlan?

This set came to soon for any chance of Enuma Elish, but that aside, a quality tracklist and rock-solid mixing in typical Midas style make it very highly recommended.

DJ Danny Stokes – Insane Nuttiness

Posted by PlasmaDancer on October 4, 2016
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

An interesting take on the dark/melancholy formula here, in a set from DJ Danny Stokes. Recorded a few years ago, the set is anchored around a few heavily pitched up Lab 4 tracks – this might be a deal breaker for some, but it’s this and the surprising combo of Nu-Energy with darker tracks that are the noteable elements here.

Although personally I could do without tracks like Kevin Energy’s remix of Lumi, it’s tracklists like these that show the potential of coaxing more UK freeform-centric DJs towards the FINRG, EE, Kreatrix and (wait for it) TYFTH side of things. As an example, CLSM’s Revolution remix works brilliantly here as a link between Lab 4, with Adaption making perfect sense as a follow-up.

It’s thought-provoking stuff, before the second half of the set switches into a nicely mixed selection of old favourites. I have my own thoughts on how the TYFTH flavour of NRG and freeform can reach wider audiences, but sets like these (and Thumpa’s, obviously) show a another possible, optimistic attack vector on the less grimdark corners of the freeform world.

The art of Gabriel Wigren

Posted by PlasmaDancer on October 4, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Releases, Swedish. Leave a Comment

I mentioned this here and there last week, but I’d like to give Gabriel Wigren’s work another hat tip on TYFTH itself. He’s of course the artist behind In Praise of Shadows’ cover art, which should be reason enough for you to check out the rest of his portfolio posthaste.

The end result speaks for itself, but regardless lets do some speaking – the whole process was never less than incredibly professional, and with only my concept for the album and a few representative tracks (this was back in 2014, so before any of the In Praise of Shadows tracks were ready) Gabriel did an unbelievable job of visualising it all.

Whether you’re in the market for a commission yourself or just want to enjoy some dark, beautiful atmospheres, Gabriel’s devianart is very special indeed, and couldn’t come more highly recommended.

Yoko Kanno – Inner Universe (Hyphen Bootleg)

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 25, 2016
Posted in: Japanese, Releases. Leave a Comment

After Icon’s freeformish remix of Inner Universe I was hopeful that we’d hear some other versions that could fit more smoothly into a set – Hyphen has taken on the challenge, and come up with a very fine track that definitely lives up to expectations. There’s no overwheming the vocal with freeform elements here, but the pace is excellent and even with the acid lines and filters the production is somehow just as crisp as always. Definitely worth mentioning that the track is a free download from Hyphen’s SoundCloud, so there’s no excuse not to check this one out asap.

Shimotsukei vs PlasmaDancer – Lucky Lotus Online Music Festival 6, 26th June 2016

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 19, 2016
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, USA. 4 comments

Slightly belated notice of a new(ish) set from me and Shimotsukei that went online recently and was part of Lucky Lotus 6 back in June. We decided to make things more interesting than the usual ‘one half each’ setup and try a more aunthentic back to back, alternating every few tracks. It all came together far easier than I was expecting, and there are a fair number of rarer/unreleased tunes amongst the classics.

Big thanks of course to Lucky Lotus and Shimotsukei for such a nice opportunity to take on something different, and I hope we’ll have a chance to give this another try in the future. Tracklist is below, and the set is downloadable on the FINRG SoundCloud.

[PD]
01. Tyranoid vs Strongstream – Spice／Epice
02. Epyx & Cyrez – Game Over (Tyranoid/Strongstream Remix)
03. Epilim – Rapid Fire
[Shimotsukei]
04. Carbon Based & DJ Rx – Reptile
05. Pain On Creation & Fea – Unconsciousness
06. Epyx & Cyrez vs Fea – Untitled 4 Evah (Unfinished edit)
[PD]
07. Nomic – Neptune
08. Alabaster – Galaxy
09. Re-form – Cyanide
[Shimotsukei]
10. Epyx & Cyrez – Neverlasting
11. Le Dos-on – Rising Sun
12. Proteus – Venla
[PD]
13. DJ RX – Hellfire
14. A+D+A+M Lab4 – Psychopath
15. GULD – Hannya 2
16. VICE TEK HEAVY INDUSTRY – 3M3SIS
[Shimotsukei]
17. Betwixt & Between – Matsukin (Remix)
18. Nomic – Mutantit

In Praise of Shadows: Update 10

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 15, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Releases. 3 comments

Just realised that I gave a post-release update on Facebook but not here – mainly it’s to thank everyone for the support so far, and to let you know what’s been going on in the days since.

The release at CODEX was a big success, and from the first few minutes the online store went live there have been orders from all over the world. The FB announcement was to let people know that I made the first round of deliveries on Monday and Tuesday, but since then there have been plenty more and they’ll probably be sent out tomorrow.

Really heartfelt thanks to everyone for supporting and promoting the release, it gives me hope that there’s still an audience for our music and the potential for growth is definitely there. I’m hoping to get on the case with advertising more widely in other scenes, and there might need to be some alternative ways to buy the album for people in Japan, so stay tuned for that.

As an aside, I forgot how bad I am at packing anything, so apologies in advance for some over-enthusiastic efforts that might require a chainsaw to get through…

TYFTH: In Praise of Shadows, 10th September

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 8, 2016
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, Releases. 3 comments

In Praise of Shadows finally has a release date, and it’s the day after tomorrow – you will be able to order the compilation on Saturday, or head along to CODEX where you’ll be able to pick up a copy on the day. Orders placed online will be sent out asap – probably the following day, depending on the response.

The compilation will cost a fairly standard 1500 yen, but some good news is that postage will be free (or absorbed within the cost of the CD, whichever way you want to look at it) and will take 6-8 days to most countries via airmail. I’ll have a simple guide to the ordering process over on the Music page, but of course feel free to drop me a message if you have any questions. The online store side of things is another expedition into uncharted territory, but I’ll be doing my best to make things as smooth as possible.

I’ll be promoting the release in all the usual places, but as time always seems to be short these days some word-spreading from the Horsers would also be really appreciated. How about thoughts on music sites etc. that might be interested in reviewing the album? I have a couple of places in mind, but I’m open to suggestions.

Apologies again for the silence here lately, but it was for a good cause – and hopefully things will pick up again after this weekend.

In Praise of Shadows – Update 9

Posted by PlasmaDancer on August 18, 2016
Posted in: Japanese, Releases. Leave a Comment

[Apologies for a shameless timesaving copy/paste from the TYFTH Facebook page]

Bad news with a silver lining, this time:

Earlier this week In Praise of Shadows arrived in seemingly finished form, and the release date was all set to be announced. Unfortunately a small but incredibly important mistake was made during the manufacturing process and there was no option but to put another round of CDs into production. This is happening as we speak – although the hoped-for release on the 20th won’t be possible, there is still a fair chance that the album will appear this month.

In the midst of it all there was at least time for a preview photo. Here you can see more of the album’s wraparound cover art by Gabriel Wigren, plus Sellekhanks’ work on the logo and design.

More info very soon, and thanks as always for the patience and support.

CODEX EP1

Posted by PlasmaDancer on August 16, 2016
Posted in: Events, Japanese, Releases. 3 comments

This year is turning into a vintage one for freeform releases, and now we can add the soon-to-appear CODEX EP courtesy of Raqhow and the CODEX crew. The release was a nice surprise for me too, so I’ll be looking forward to each preview as much as anyone – Hyphen’s Ignition is the first, and bodes very well indeed. Keep an eye on Raqhow’s SoundCloud for more until the release at CODEX7.