Smiling Corpse ‘Dead Happy’ Podcast Episode 13, 23rd November

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 21, 2013
Posted in: Events, Japanese, UK. 2 comments

It’s an enormous honour for me to announce that I’ll be appearing alongside Wyrm on this month’s Smiling Corpse podcast! Following the past couple of shows won’t be easy, but I’ve put as much time as possible into my set (hence the silence again here recently) and we’re sure to have an awesome second hour with Wyrm.

Now that the UK’s back on GMT it’s a bit easier to for us in Japan to catch the show as it goes out, so I’ll be up bright and early on Sunday to mingle in the Krafty chat. Hope to see everyone there!

Guld – Gestaltzerfall

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 21, 2013
Posted in: Japanese, Releases. 2 comments

The darkest track of the year? Guld has outdone himself with Gestaltzerfall, an incredibe piece of work that everyone has to check out. I haven’t heard this sort of aggression in an NRG/freeform tune for a long time, and it will actually be the (not-so) secret weapon in my upcoming set – see the next post for more on that.

Smiling Corpse ‘Dead Happy’ Podcast Episode 11 / Episode 12

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 15, 2013
Posted in: Canadian, Drum & Bass, Finnish, Goa / Psy, Japanese, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

Recently I caught up on all the recent Smiling Corpse podcasts – four sets of excellent quality that no Horser should miss out on.

Episode 11 features a really interesting, experimental set from Dyzphazia that very skilfully switches between different subgenres to make something very fresh. Making the most of the schranzy-style tracks to bring in new sections, this is one of the best Dyzphazia mixes for a while and a great set to check out if you’re in the mood for something different.

01) zkillbang3r – Loberta Ingrata (Original Mix) [Fiume Beat]
02) Sulima – On Mars (Original Mix) [Goamagnetic]
03) Hypix – Criminal [Sounds Diabolic]
04) Faradize – Psycho Therapy (Original Mix) [Goamagnetic]
05) Buchecha – Revolution (Original Mix) [Fiume Beat]
06) ETC – Helpless (2012 Remaster) [Phantasm Records]
07) zkillbang3r – La Huerfana [Sounds Diabolic]
08) Epyx & Cyrez ft. Jarno H – Continuum of the Ordeal [Watchtower]
09) Hellboy – The Nightmare Begins [Infractive Digital]
10) Alek Szahala – Unicorn Grove [Electroplates]
11) Qygen – Supersonic Speed 2013 [F/C Freeformatted Vol 2]
12) Einhander – Fourbeast [CDr]
13) Betwixt & Between – Tankobu Heso Tarou no Hourou (Proteus Remix) [Hardcore Tano*C]
14) Ayrx – Morokai (Le Dos-On Remix) [F/C Smiling Corpse]
15) Brothers In Techno & ASIN vs. Qygen – Arkhatek Temple (Dyzphazia Bootleg) [CDr]

Alchemiist’s set from the same podcast is exactly what I hoped for – twisty, solidly mixed and with plenty of older darkness. It’s not always easy to find freeform sets that go for all-out aggression, and with the sprinkling of promos livening things up this is a must-listen.

01) Pantera – By Demons Be Driven (Alchemiist & Decion Rework) [CDr]
02) Alchemiist – Terrible Times [Orrible Noize]
03) Horzi – Human Hater (Substanced Remix) [FiNRG]
04) Alek Száhala – Maruuk [FiNRG]
05) Endemic – Hurricane [Watchtower]
06) Substanced – Reptile Zoo [FiNRG]
07) Twisted Freq – Unleashed [Electronica Exposed]
08) Twisted Freq – Hanuman Visits Lanka [Electronica Exposed]
09) Twisted Freq & Cyrez – The Edge Of Extinction [Electronica Exposed]
10) Alchemiist – Neurotic [CDr]
11) Lost Soul feat. Dark Angel – Sacrifice (Endemic Remix) [Watchtower]
12) Substanced & Alchemiist – Skullcrush [FiNRG]

Episode 12 keeps things dark with a great set from Olly Addictive that introduces some variety around the basic TYFTH-friendly sound. I often think that mixing other tunes with Alek Szahala tracks is a very risky business, as very little else can match his unique atmosphere and it ends up feeling like a waste (eg. my Lucky Lotus set – Let the Funeral Begin works a treat, but Last Glimmer of Hope cancels out Sunray’s atmosphere and things head off in a different, lighter direction). Anyway, Olly puts the lie to all that with a blinder of a connection, moving straight from Pastor Skinstrom into Solar Hive. Brilliant stuff, and the rest of the set is melodic but twisted, and definitely recommended.

01) Unnatural Selection & Cik – Day of Judgement (Ophidian Remix) [Industrial Strength]
02) Carbon Based – Painkiller [Electroplates]
03) Epyx & Cyrez – Unohdetut 2011 [Electrode]
04) Shanty – Cerebral Cortex (Wyrm Remix) [Electrode]
05) Transcend – Eons [F/C Watchtower]
06) Qygen & Olly Addictive – Vapaamuoto [F/C Smiling Corpse]
07) The Sauna Boys – Pastor Skinstrom [FiNRG]
08) Alek Száhala – Solar Hive [FiNRG]
09) Alchemiist – Empire [FiNRG]
10) Evolutionize – Pain [F/C Freeformatted Vol.2]
11) Transcend & Neptune – The Spirit Molecule [F/C Strictly for the Purist]
12) AC Slater – Overdose [Kaotik]
13) Tommyknocker – Twist [Traxtorm Records]

Finally we have a headline set from Alek Szahala that is hopefully getting the listeners it deserves. The tracklist alone is fantastic, with a few oldies alongside the wonderful Succubus, Raingun and Mageslayer, but this one also deserves special attention for the mixing style. Maybe the most complex Alek set I’ve heard so far, there’s plenty of mixing before the traditional outro section and a couple of tunes that leap straight into the breakdown, keeping even hardcore Alek fans guessing until the end. A top quality hour then, and the perfect warm up for Alek’s 10th Anniversary set in Helsinki tonight.

01) Alek Száhala – Intro
02) Alek Száhala – Succubus [CDr]
03) Alek Száhala – Deimos [FiNRG]
04) Alek Száhala – Supriya [FiNRG]
05) Alek Száhala – Astraia [ReBuild Music]
06) Alek Száhala – Dryad Machine [FiNRG]
07) Alek Száhala – Aurinko [CDr]
08) Alek Száhala – Alanamra (Arkitech Remix) [Nu Energy]
09) Alek Száhala – Iron Squid [FiNRG]
10) Alek Száhala – Maruuk [FiNRG]
11) Alek Száhala – Railgun [CDr]
12) Alek Száhala – Mageslayer [FiNRG]
13) Alek Száhala – Barber’s Adagio for Strings [FiNRG]
14) Alek Száhala – Vengeance
15) Alek Száhala – Anmitzcuacah

Check out all the sets here

Son of Sam @SINISTRY, 26th October 2013

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 9, 2013
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

I’m obviously no use as a news source right now, but the endless commutes and post-work gazing into space is at least giving me a chance to catch up on some excellent sets. I have a few to post up now, so let’s begin with Son of Sam’s Sinistry selection of melodic/twisted tracks.

That opening rock-solid mix between Reborn and Polaris had me immediately convinced, but using Starfall as the set’s centrepiece is just fantastic – it remains one of my all-time favourite Alek tunes. The mix into Air shows that a lot of thought went into this mix, and there’s a great flow here. It might be a bit of a freeform cliche these days to finish a set with gabber, but when it works this well, why not?

Overall this was a brilliant set and a really nice surprise – with the one like BEEZEE also dropping some trademark sounds, Sinistry might just have been the best UK event ever for ‘intelligent freeform’. With Aryx and myself trying to do the same at Munted! (a much-delayed look back at that will be coming one of these days), there’s real hope that deeper sounds will play a much bigger role in the scene’s development.

  1. jD-KiD – Reborn [Re-Born Beats]
  2. Aryx – Polaris [Watchtower]
  3. jD-KiD & Javi DJ – Purnima [B-Form Beats]
  4. Alek Szahala – Deimos [FINRG]
  5. Le Dos-On – Obsidian [Relentless Digital]
  6. Paocala – Starfall [Electronica Exposed]
  7. Le Dos-On – Air [Relentless Digital]
  8. Substanced – Ghost of the Future [Watchtower]
  9. jD-KiD & DJ Corr – Carinae [ReBuild Music]
  10. Korsakoff – Pink Noise [Cloud 9 Dance]
  11. Dyprax – Murder & Crime [MoH]
  12. AniMe – Cracks [Traxstorm]

BRK – Genesis

Posted by PlasmaDancer on October 12, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Italian, Releases, Swedish. Leave a Comment

NRG fans should probably mark October 23rd in their diaries, as that’s when BRK’s first full-length album will finally be touching down. Thanks to the man himself I’ve got hold of it a little early – it’s a really quality collection of tracks that definitely confirms the progress he’s made over the past year.

The album starts off with the title track Genesis, an utterly fantastic 3 minutes of dark atmosphere. It might be odd to choose an intro as my favourite track, but it’s a brilliant piece of work and a very worthy start to the album. The meat of the tracklist is of course Lab 4-influenced NRG, given some really nice extra touches with the collabs later on. Standouts for me might be the FINRG-released Rome Will Burn Down, the pounding intro to Pitch Black and the lovely filters of Saint Evil, but there’s also some welcome variety with the piano sequence in Something I Can’t Do and the vocals of Love’s a Bitch.

Great to see Heathen involved in trademark style on Everything Dies, before the album closes with a couple of minutes of downtempo, melancholy piano. Minimal but atmospheric, it’s a nice way to end things and actually clocks around 80bpm, raising the possibility of some interesting mixes in an NRG set.

This is essential stuff for any NRG fan, then, and a big achievement by BRK after all his hard work. Be sure to support a real trooper of our scene by checking this out in a couple of weeks time.

Alabaster – Failytale

Posted by PlasmaDancer on October 10, 2013
Posted in: Japanese, Releases. 4 comments

I’m battling to keep TYFTH updated through another busy spell, but bear with me – I’m actually hard at work on stuff behind the scenes and there’ll be a couple of longer posts tomorrow. Regardless, the track-making return of Alabaster is massive news by itself, and Failytale doesn’t disappoint with some really interesting melodies and a quality breakdown. This version is sounding a lot more polished than the tune he played at CODEX, an excellent follow-up to Fluorite .

Qygen – Supersonic Speed 2013

Posted by PlasmaDancer on October 3, 2013
Posted in: Goa / Psy, Releases. 3 comments

The upcoming Freeformatted Vol. 2 is definitely a release to keep an eye on, with this reworked version of a 2009 Qygen track one of the best inclusions. If you’re after high bpm melancholy then Supersonic Speed fits the bill, moving from piano melodies to full on energy as the tune progresses. Another quality track from one of 2013’s standout artists.

Alderz – pheNOMIC

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 27, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

Finally a chance to give Alderz’ ode to Nomic a quick shout – a shorter mix here, but as you’d expect it’s really worth checking out. Alderz has been rummaging through the promo drawer for this one, yet avoided the fatal error of throwing unreleased tunes into a set willy-nilly – there’s a great structure to the set, with the added bonus of some less well-known tunes alongside the classics. Wonderful to hear Awa again, and Holocaust is a great choice from Nomic’s massive list of ‘set finishing’ aggressive tracks.

Alchemiist – Empire

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 27, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Releases. 1 comment

Marking 200 likes on his Facebook page, Alchemiist has released a new tune via FINRG that happens to be one of the best I’ve heard for a long while. As nasty as you’d expect, this one has a little more of the atmopshere of his darker NRG tracks than usual, which is definitely no bad thing. An absolute must-download, but be sure to also ‘like’ his fan page if you haven’t already.