Finnish

Midas – Freeformaniacs Round 21

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 7, 2016
Posted in: Drum & Bass, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK, USA. Leave a Comment

It’s a bit of an injustice that Midas hasn’t had more mentions on TYFTH, as he’s been doing a brilliant job over the years of sneaking Finnish and Japanese sounds into his sets, both online and around the UK. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the UK freeform crew have Midas to thank for their first exposure to FINRG.

You won’t often hear Wizbit and Alek Szahala in the same mix, but Midas was on top form for his recent-ish Freeformaniacs set, deftly negotiating his way from nutty breakbeat hardcore to some classics of the darker side. I’ve been known to dabble in breakbeat hardcore myself, and it’s hard to resist some of these throwbacks to the amen-heavy mid-nineties, especially when mixed this well. Some teeth-gritting might be needed through the tracks that start sounding a bit too nu-skool, but we’re soon into some of the best of current UK freeform, including Transcend’s excellent Candyman remix.

Midas has often pushed the Hybridize era nasty-but-melodic sound, and here it works as a nice bridge into the darker final section. Morokai, Fluorite, Icy Clouds, Alchemiist’s Pain remix – you really couldn’t ask for a much better selection if you’re looking to introduce folk to our side of things. Quite the journey of a set, and one that’d easily grace the peak time of many a UK event, I reckon.

Hellfury – Freeformaniacs Round 22

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 30, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

It’s very encouraging to see Hellfury’s continued support for the emotional side of freeform – the first half of his recent Freeformaniacs set is loaded with impressively mixed, long-break heavy tracks and downtempo interludes. The overall atmosphere ticks just about every box for me in terms of what quality freeform needs to be – thoughtful, melancholy, but also aggressive when the time is right.

The interludes here take it to an extreme, however, and it got me wondering what sort of a crowd would go for this in a live environment. I’m convinced there’s a club audience for this kind of break-heavy play style, but maybe somewhere other than the hardcore scene…thoughts for another time maybe, but it’s a very promising direction and I’d love to see Hellfury and others develop it further. Being picky I’d suggest that half-speed downtempo tracks that blend smoothly with the freeform would take it to the next level, but Hellfury’s selections here are a quality start.

The second half of the set is perhaps a nod to the upcoming N.E.M.M. compilation, with far older trancecore/freeform tracks mixed impressively into some newer material from Qygen. The combination works really well, and the energetic shift in tone from the first half opens up the set to even more potential listeners.

Quite the demonstration of how diverse a single set can be, then, and very highly recommended.

Cuedy – Freeformaniacs Round 21

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 18, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK, USA. Leave a Comment

Label shenanigans are maybe one instrument too many for the TYFTH one-man band, but the past month has seen a lot of quality mixes and I’ll be highlighting a few when I have the chance.

First up is Cuedy’s recent Freeformaniacs set – an hour of standard-issue TYFTH-friendly tracks (which is a very good thing), punctuated by two or three really nice transitions and a couple of tracklist surprises.

Obvious shouts to Cuedy for starting with Betwixt & Between’s Eternal[l]y, followed by a really good connection in Alchemiist’s Pain remix. The rest of the set alternates between nastier filters and melodic interludes, and I was glad to see that classic tracks were given special attention in terms of transitions – we’ve all been listening to them for so long now, they really should. Eryk Orpheus’ Pyjama Sonata was a nice follow up to Supriya, while Alabaster’s Flamberge was the big surprise of the set. It was the final connection that really got me though, as the slightly chaotic blend of filtered riffs from Xerosis to Super Sonic shows off the older FINRG sound at its finest.

Top 3 Mixes of 2015

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 9, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, Top Tens, UK, USA. 3 comments

I’ve done plenty of mix listening over the past couple of months to catch up with what was an excellent year of sets in 2015. Some strong releases have kept a lot of sets fresh, but there have also been some quality older selections and an overall higher level of mix transitions than we’ve seen for a couple of years. Here, then, are my favourite three.

3. Alek Szahala – Live @ CODEX5, Tokyo 2015

This was a special set for all sorts of reasons, but even putting to one side Alek’s return to Tokyo this is a wonderful hour that showcases a lot of different styles through more than a decades’ worth of tracks. There are some surprises thanks to a few unusual connections, while the contrast between the darker and lighter sides of Alek’s sound is very nicely put together.

2. Dyzphazia – Hardcore Summer Bash 2015

Despite the new releases this year one of my favourite sets was this primer in older FINRG, delivered by Dyzphazia. Very solid mixing lets the tracks speak for themselves, and the selection of aggressive filtered tracks is nicely broken up with some classic, melancholy melodies. If you know someone who has yet to get into freeform, then pointing them towards this set would be a sensible first step.

1. Solvynt – Lucky Lotus Online Electronic Music Festival 5

Solvynt’s set is another one that lets most of the tracks play out to their full length, but the eventual transitions are often something very special indeed. The track selection is pure TYFTH, and even if the second half can’t quite maintain the levels of the first, the flow of the set is superb as it builds to the Stance – Taranis finale. Definitely my favourite set of the year, and the good news is that Solvynt is back on the Lucky Lotus lineup for this year’s event (more on that soon).

Honourable mentions:

Olly Addictive & Akumie, Shimotsukei, Orphic, Alchemiist

 

Alchemiist – Highwind

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 8, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Releases. Leave a Comment

Time for one of those posts about something you really should have checked out by now – Alchemiist has given FINRG’s SoundCloud a boost with Highwind, a new freeform track that celebrates 400 likes on his Facebook page.

The first thing to note is the production quality, with the track sounding very crisp and weighty and some superb leads that speak to all kinds of influences. There are elements of Alek Szahala, Pain on Creation, and Substanced here, but Alchemiist has made sure that his own vicious, melodic freeform stays at the forefront. Definitely one of those tracks that shows how FINRG can keep its distinctive sound while matching the production levels of a very UK-centric modern scene.

PlasmaDancer – Dark Alternative

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 31, 2015
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, Releases, Top Tens. 1 comment

Right then, some apologies are in order – the traditional ‘Top 3 Tracks’ is on its way, but what with one thing and another I haven’t given those involved anywhere near enough time to make their choices. It’ll be coming asap then, along with my Top 3 mixes (I have a couple I want to check out before I make my final choice).

The next apology is In Praise of Shadows related – I’m now all too understanding of the Watchtower crew and their perpetually delayed third release (out now though, of course). The design side is taking far longer than expected, and the lack of logo means 2015 won’t be ending with the triumphant ‘real announcement’ I had in mind. On the positive side, pretty much all aspects of the release are in the works or already complete, and it’ll just need a few weeks of concerted effort for the compilation to reach its final state.

In the meantime there has been a nice development on the licensing front, meaning that a bootleg track will be appearing on the mixed CD as a fully licensed tune. Wish I could say more, but there’ll be more on that and some CD1 track previews next month.

As a little expression of thanks for the support over the past year, then, I’ve decided to upload a promo set I put together last year at the request of an event in Asia. It was enough to get me a booking, but Bureaucratic Sod’s Law struck – a delayed Japanese visa renewal meant I was unable to leave the country on that very weekend.

Anyway, the set is intentionally a very short one, to show how NRG and slowed-down freeform could easily find a home at Industrial or Goth events. Among my own sets it has been one of my most-played for a while now, possibly thanks to the presence of a few tunes I don’t often get the chance to hear/use. More apologies in advance for the pitched-down Alek tracks, but personally I think they fit in quite nicely as a more demented finale (which in hindsight I could/should have used to bump up the bpm).

The tracklist looks like this:

01. Beati Mortui – Let the Funeral Begin (Proteus remix)
02. Lab 4 – Requiem (Metatron Hard mix)
03. Epyx & Cyrez – Risk Addiction (Substanced remix)
04. Hase – Brionac
05. Lab 4 – Hellboy
06. Inugami, Lunch, Betwixt & Between – Reverend Recital
07. Alek Szahala – Maruuk
08. Alek Szahala – Voices of Babylon

Finally, special thanks to everyone for the huge support this year. It’s been pretty special to see the response to the label news so far, and I think we can safely say that 2016 is going to be an exciting one for TYFTH. Happy New Year to all, and I’ll be back with a vengeance next month.

Solvynt – Freeformaniacs Round 20

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 30, 2015
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, Swedish. 4 comments

It turns out that Orphic’s excellent Freeformaniacs set was actually my second favourite of round 20 – a belated listen to Solvynt’s hour of NRG and freeform quickly sent it to the top of this batch of sets.

Frankly if you’re reading TYFTH (and you are), then this is sure to be a hugely enjoyable listen with many of our favourite tunes alongside some new and surprising tunes. Credit to Solvynt for doing a fine job with the atmosphere – consistently dark with enough variation and melody to keep things interesting. The mixing itself ranges from solid to really exciting (no clashing keys here, crucially), and my personal favourite was that quality switch from Desolated Dreams to Inquisition. The old faithful of Maruuk to Voices of Babylon is also in there, one I’ve used many a time myself.

This being Solvynt, you be right to expect some rare or unusual tracks, and to his huge credit they’re nicely incorporated into the set. The great use of This Moment as an intro sets this off in the right way, but listen out too for Guld’s LUCID and especially Nomic’s brand new Personal Hater.

Tracklist-wise, I don’t think I’ve seen a set so close to my own tastes for a long time, and I expect a lot of Horsers will feel the same way. Very highly recommended.

00. Anomic – This Moment [Unreleased]
01. HASE – 法界 [Khaotic Dimension]
02. DJ MANIK – LUCID (GULD remix) [Nrgetic Romancer]
03. Betwixt & Between – Self Extortion [Unreleased]
04. Epyx & Cyrez meets Heathen – All of Us [E&C Self-Released]
05. Nomic – Desolated Dreams [Unreleased]
06. Nemes & Blender – Inquisition (Blender remix) [Unreleased]
07. Alek Szahala – Maruuk [Finrg]
08. Alek Szahala – Voices of Babylon [Finrg]
09. Pain on Creation & Fea – Unconsciousness [Electronica Exposed]
11. Twisted Freq – Horsehead [Electronica Exposed]
12. Nomic – Personal Hater(preview) [Unreleased]

 

In Praise of Shadows – Update 1

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 23, 2015
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, Releases. 3 comments

It’s already been a while since the big announcement, so it’s maybe time for an update on what’s been going on this month.

The bad news is that a release next month was predictably ambitious, and so January 2016 is now the target. Though the tracks have been mastered, graphic design and production of the CDs is going to take a fair while, and it’s sure to be another big step into the unkown as I prepare to start taking orders. I’m not brave enough to set a firm date yet, then, but towards end of January sounds doable at the moment.

Another reason I’m busy right now is that there’ll actually be a second CD in the first release, mixed by yours truly. Aiming high again, the other inspiration for the project was one of my all-time favourite albums, the original Logical Progression from Good Looking Records. The first CD (or cassette, in my case) was an unmixed compilation of forward-thinking tunes, while the second featured a mix by Bukem himself, an amazing set that showed what a journey an hour of intelligent jungle could be.

The mixed CD will (hopefully) do something similar, then, as in my opinion a selection of tracks in isolation only tells half the story of a genre like freeform. It will also be a show of solidarity with all the other labels that have supported the scene and our sound over the years, and so for a while now I’ve been busy licensing tracks for use in the mix. The tracklist is almost decided, and I think it’ll be pretty representative of some of our favourite artists and labels over the years. Of course it’s also supposed to serve as an intro to the genre for those who might be just joining in.

Rest easy though, as I wouldn’t dream of expecting people to pay for one of my sets – I’ll absorbing the cost of the CD, and so essentially the eventual price will be for CD 1 alone. Plus I’m working in Japanese yen, and the continuing collapse of the economy here likely means a very reasonable price for most other countries.

My job over the next couple of weeks is to get the set finished, and if the art has been finished up by then we’ll be almost set for production. Please feel free to give me a shout if you have any questions or opinions, and I’ll let you know how it’s all looking in another week or so.

Freeform Will Never Die

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 23, 2015
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, Releases, Swedish, UK, USA. 1 comment

There’s something great going on at Freeform Will Never Die’s SoundCloud right now – a collecting together of a huge number of free releases from the labels that make up the scene, curating the best ones and making them handily available in one place.

The FINRG list of 25 tracks shows a really good ear for our kind of sound, and in fact even TYFTH was recently added to the collection. If you somehow missed out on our free tracks then be sure to take a look, and I’d wager there’ll be a few other free tunes on other labels that went under your radar until now.

Give FWND a SoundCloud follow as well, this kind of dedication deserves plenty of support.