LTJ Bukem @Dance Paradise, Ultimate Dance Experience 6 (1994)

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 16, 2013
Posted in: Drum & Bass, Events, Mixes, UK. 1 comment

I’m having a break from all-out freeform listening right now, so indulge me while we check out another wonderful Bukem set from the archives. Recorded live at Dance Paradise in (I think) 1994, this is right up there with his seminal Rebirth mix of 1996 as an example of structuring a set, creating new atmospheres inside the mix connections, and just flat-out technical excellence.

Bukem runs through a huge number of my all-time favourites here, and absolutely nails the contrast between deep, futuristic melancholy and aggressive amens that made 94-96 the era for intelligent drum and bass. Check out the final moments of the Drift to the Centre – The Western transition, as the drums stop and the ‘Drift…to the centre’ vocal plays over PFM’s trademark intro – just one example of the winning combination of Photek (in his various guises) and PFM that forms the backbone of the set. Another favourite moment might be Heavy Vibes into Horizons, a genuinely beautiful mix that sums up why Bukem is my main DJing inspiration.

In a perfect world Bukem’s older mixes would be required listening for anyone wondering how to incorporate deeper sounds into a high-bpm club set – get past the MCs (easier said than done, I know) and see what you think.

Pearsall – Rampage Turbo 15

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 15, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 2 comments

‘Two hours of new freeform mixed by Pearsall’ should be enough for any Horser to hit the download button, and once again this is a top quality set from the man himself. As always, checking out Pearsall’s original Sonicrampage post will explain all, but this is a set made up of recent digital releases, covering everything from FINRG to UK freeform via Le Dos-on and Qygen. The tunes don’t stick around for long before the next comes mixing in, making this a pacy, breathless couple of hours that focuses almost totally on TYFTH-friendly sounds. You could make a case that the set has fewer inspired connections than Rampage Turbo 10, but it makes up for that with excellent selection and structure (including Amini’s Lost Elegy – much obliged!).

Great stuff then – here’s hoping that Pearsall continues to explore more of the newer releases in future sets.

01. DJ Rx – Code Of Silence (Le Dos-On Remix) (Finrg)  
02. Alek Szahala – Deimos (Finrg)  
03. Aryx – Sylph (ReBuild Music)  
04. Yuki Kajiura – Memaze (Nomic Bootleg Remix) (Unreleased)  
05. Proteus – Get Fire! (Watchtower)  
06. Qygen – Temporal Temple (Watchtwower)  
07. Wyrm – Can’t You See It? (Electrode)  
08. Lost Soul – Twisted Dream (Watchtower)  
09. Amini – Guitarian (Smiling Corpse)  
10. Substanced – Crank Cleopatra 2012 (Finrg)  
11. Endemic – Hurricane (Watchtower)  
12. Aryx – Chaldea (DJ Fury Remix) (ReBuild Music)  
13. Epyx & Cyrez – Prelude (Penguin Conspiracy Remix) (Electrode)  
14. Substanced & Alchemiist – Permission To Die (Finrg)  
15. Douglas & Remane – Disorder (A.B.’s London Techno Remix) (Stamina)  
16. Transcend – The Calling (ReBuild Music)  
17. Transcend & Dyzphazia – Tormenting Flames (Relentless)  
18. Ionosphere – PYLAAM (Electrode)  
19. Lost Soul – Sacrifice Feat. Dark Angel (Endemic Remix) (Watchtower)  
20. Penguin Conspiracy – Tripswitch (Electrode)  
21. Substanced – Ghost Of The Future (Watchtwower)  
22. Substanced – Stockholm Syndrome (Smiling Corpse)  
23. Substanced – Shadows Of Tomorrow (Finrg)  
24. Amini – Lost Elegy (Thank You For The Horse)  
25. Nomad – Lose It (Transcend Remix) (ReBuild Music)  
26. A.B. – Escapia (Stamina)  
27. Eryk Orpheus – Benodihydrochloridebenzylex (Eryk Orpheus)  
28. Le Dos-On – Flame  
29. Alchemiist – Fate (Finrg)  
30. Le Dos-On – Unelma (Relentless)  
31. Substanced – Reptile Zoo (Finrg)  
32. Aran – Taranis (Qygen Bootleg) (Qygen)     

raqhow – IZANAMI

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 12, 2013
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes. Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since we featured a raqhow mix on TYFTH, but I’m more than happy to give this excellent set a shout. This is one of those rare things, a ‘dark freeform’ set that actually lives up to the name, with some quality atmosphere and raqhow’s usual solid mixing. The set gets into its stride from Metaphysical Redemption, and the sequence all the way through to Fking Pirates is very nicely done. Everyone’s probably familiar with the tunes here, but Izanami still gets a big recommend.   

1.Epyx & Cyrez – Why 
2.Substanced & Grimsoul – Harder Than U Think 
3.Nightforce – Metaphysical Redemption 
4.Twisted Freq – Death From Above 
5.Micken – Change The Past 
6.Micken – The Channeler 
7.Substanced – Acid World 
8.Alchemiist – Anthrax Injection 
9.Amini – Fking Pirates 
10.Nightforce – Symphony For The Devil (The Virus Escaped) 
11.Betwixt & Between – Inexistenz 

Smiling Corpse Dead Happy Podcast 005, 9th March @10pm GMT

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 9, 2013
Posted in: Events, Japanese, UK. 4 comments

As usual, just in time to give the next installment of the Smiling Corpse podcast a mention. It all takes place tonight (GMT), with Dyzphazia hosting and none other than ikaruga_nex marking his entry into the Smiling Corpse collective with a debut set.

It’s really one to look forward to, but unfortunately I probably won’t be around for the live broadcast – tonight I’m heading off to Studio Cube for the first time in a year or so, to see K.U.R.O. play an old-school Goa set.

Top 3 tracks of 2012

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 7, 2013
Posted in: Events, Japanese, Top Tens. 15 comments

Much delayed, but it’s finally time for our annual roundup of the Japanese scene’s favourite tunes. As usual, it’s a mix of tunes released in 2012 and other tracks that DJs found themselves playing a lot, but hopefully it’s just interesting for everyone to see what sounds were most popular here.

Sadly the Japanese NRG/freeform scene is very quiet this year, and has so far been totally ignored by other hardcore events (just check the lineup for this year’s Tokyo ‘Hard’ Groove Session for proof). Hopefully things will pick up again as the year progresses – one of the great things about last year was the emergence of a few new DJs, from raqhow and Nrgray gaining more experience at Experience!, to ikaruga_nex’s switch to freeform and Mii’s debut in the darker scene. Alabaster wasn’t very active last year and so isn’t part of this year’s roundup, but hopefully he’ll be back on his game to contribute next time.

Massive thanks as always to everyone for taking the time to choose, and it’d be interesting to hear everyone else’s picks, if you can remember back that far.

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New Epyx & Cyrez site

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 7, 2013
Posted in: Events, Finnish. 3 comments

The deadly duo have recently started up a new site to tie in with their album release and some massive gigs, including a chance for producers to remix their Two Against the Void track, Sound of the Golden Clarion. The remix competition runs until May, with the grand prize of a digital Watchtower release. As one of my favourite tunes on the album, I’m really looking forward to what everyone comes up with.

The rest of the site is looking very smooth, and the news section will definitely be worth keeping an eye on in the months ahead. A final tip of the hat to the guys for the TYFTH mention in the Bio section!

Horzi – Face The Destiny

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 7, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Releases. 1 comment

It’s been a long time since the last Horzi track, so the news this week that he’s planning to release a batch of new material should please many. First up is Face The Destiny, a great track that brings back memories of the older Hybridize sound along with quality modern production. Great use of the melancholy vocal and what sounds like a Betwixt & Between influence make this a top quality tune.

Mysterave presents IMAGINE: Aryx vs Alek Szahala

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 3, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. 2 comments

This one jumped to the head of my mix-listening queue recently for obvious reasons, and thankfully Mysterave has come up with the goods again – this is a planned-with-care set that does both Aryx and Alek justice. The mix mainly concentrates on the lighter side of their sound, and it’s actually the first time for me to hear tunes like Aryx’s lovely rework of Dawnstar and Alek’s Lagash 2012. With other new tracks like Deimos and Celestia, it’s a set with a very fresh feel, before finishing with some welcome darkness in the ever-anthemic Man Eaten and Desagoon Juniper.

Connection of the set for me has to be from Unicorn Grove to The End of All Things, a superb transition that could even have overlapped a little more without any problems, and that echo of UG‘s melody that you hear in TEoAT‘s first mini-break is just wonderful. Top, top work there.

An excellent set then, and maybe the first in a series…?

  1. Alek Szahala – Dawnstar (Aryx remix)
  2. Alek Szahala – Astraia
  3. Aryx – Celestia
  4. Alek Szahala – Deimos
  5. Aryx – Aurora
  6. Alek Szahala – Tigris
  7. Aryx – Nephila
  8. Alek Szahala – Unicorn Grove
  9. Substanced – End of All Things (Aryx remix)
  10. Alek Szahala – Lagash 2012
  11. Aryx – Chaldea
  12. Alek Szahala – Man Eaten
  13. Alek Szahala – Desagoon Juniper 

Download here

Epyx & Cyrez – New Era DJ Mix

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 3, 2013
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Mixes. Leave a Comment

I’ve already seen some photos from this weekend’s FINRG & FUTURISTICS in Tampere, and at the time of writing you’ve still got a chance to download Epyx & Cyrez’s mix to tie in with the event.

This is one of those rare sets that I haven’t listened to all the way through before posting, but from my quick check of the connections it was sounding fantastic – heavy on the NRG and a transition from Alek Szahala’s Mageslayer that’s really top level. Grab it while you can!

Tyranoid – Hardform

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 26, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. 2 comments

Quite busy at the moment, but in between I’m slowly working through some of the excellent sets that have appeared over the past couple of weeks, starting with Tyranoid’s Hardform.

This might be one of his most impressive sets so far, with a very strong theme running all the way through and a great mix of old and new. Really interesting to see some UK freeform in there – it’s thankfully not overdone and gives a nice melodic edge to the set, eventually leading into the classic Battle of Dawn. It’s also a lesson in how to set the scene with some slower tracks, then matching them in atmosphere with some well-selected freeform. Very highly recommended, then.

01 Lowroller – No Longer Human 
02 SAM – Halluzinogen 
03 Tiifa – Pleasure 
04 Wragg & Log:One vs Iain Cross – Run For Cover 
05 A+D+A+M+ Lab4 & The DiabloTraxx Collective – Infernal Desire (Psycho Surgery Remix) 
06 Epyx & Cyrez – Game Over (Tyranoid/Strongstream Remix) 
07 Lost Soul – The Answer 
08 Douglas – Jonestown 
09 Substanced & Alchemiist – Permission To Die (Original/Tornadoz Remix Mashup) 
10 Tyranoid/Strongstream – Deepcore (unfinished edit) 
11 Tyranoid/Strongstream – You Need Another Drink (Cyrez Remix) 
12 Lost Soul – Human Being 
13 Epyx & Cyrez – Crossfire 
14 Blender & Nomic – Battle Of Dawn 
15 Apollo 440 – Stealth Overture