Most people will already have seen this long video from the recent Harder.fi event, but the Japanese crew should appreciate J-Mx and Xelfer playing Awakening in the middle. Looks like it was a nice event, with all sorts of genres getting some play time.
Finnish
Anyone into the Re-form brand of freeform (that’ll be everyone, surely) will like this – a mid-production video of Laz at work on the upcoming track Decade. Personally I’m not a fan of the dubstep-style bass wobbling that’s popular at the moment (as I’m a dinosaur and can’t let go of the 90s sub), but the tune itself is sounding excellent, with some really good melodies.
Anyway, it’s both very cool and educational to see the track under construction like this, and also good that Re-form are still working on new material. Back to reality after this post though, as I’m going to spend a bit of time on a newish track I’ve been messing around with…very little chance of it turning into anything playable, but you never know.
Substanced is on a production roll right now, including this upcoming tune (set for Hybridize, it looks like), set for release on Hard Underground Music. It’s pretty common that Substanced nails the intro/outro to tunes, but this one is especially nasty, with some real weight to those synths. Post-breakdown it’s a nice catchy melody too, albeit not as evil as you’d expect for something called The Grim Reaper. A quality tune then, definitely one I want to hear through a big PA.
Some fairly recent news was the addition of Sweden’s Heathen to the FINRG crew! It’s been a long while since we’ve had some ‘new blood’, but Heathen’s really been putting in the hours with his DJing and production lately. Add in the fact that you won’t find a nicer guy in the scene, and it all makes perfect sense. Big congratulations to him – let’s hope there are some more tasty tracks/collabs in the works that match the standard of All of Us.
One of the great things about the early days of hardcore was the way that DJs used happy/dark tunes in the same set, and here’s a really good effort by Meke to do an up-to-date version of the same thing. A glance at the tracklist will tell you a lot about what’s going on here, but Meke covers a million and one genres in 70 minutes or so, from industrial to uplifting hardcore, via twisty-synth freeform and drum and bass. The sheer variety means that you might come across sections that aren’t to your taste – but it’s always interesting to hear a set doing something a bit different with freeform tunes, and it might give the other DJs out there a few new ideas.
00. Cyber Raver Intro (Horzi & Meke)
01. Tactical Sekt – Devil’s Work
02. Siva Six – Line In…Line Down
03. Twisted Freq – Horsehead
04. Euphony & TST – Release The Pressure
05. PCX & DRK SOL – Slammin Da Funk
06. Fretman & Alek F – Fire
07. Smartyz – Beat Me
08. Ultraviolence – Diamonds
09. Phosphor – Shakedown
10. Blood Stain Child – Peacemaker
11. Oli G & Jessica – Miasma
12. Arkitech – Dehumanise 2007
13. Horzi vs Meke – Hardcore Minion
14. Synthwulf – Syndrome of Sanctimony
15. Ultraviolence – Separation (CC Mix)
Substanced – Aquarius (Amini Remix)(Clip) by DJ-Amini
Amini’s making big strides with his production lately, and his newest tunes are really deserving of a listen. The first is a remix of Substanced’s popular tune from last year, Aquarius, and Amini’s done a great job so far of giving this version its own sound. As well as some edits to the main theme, I love that bassline with the filtered intro melodies.
Amini’s other tune is an original track called It’s a Phau. Once again, the intro/outro is really nice, with a pretty dark feel, while the melodies are energetic and definitely have a strong Sam One influence. A nice touch is the little sequence from 4.10 onwards, a really effective way of breaking up the main part of the track.
Thanks to Meke for the heads up on this excellently edited video, which was actually completed the best part of a year ago but is still well worth a look. The video itself was to promote the FORCE event, while the backing track (by Horzi and Meke) was released by FINRG and can be found here. I remember hearing the tune back when it was first completed – the classic Horzi filtered synths combined with the original’s fairly happy piano/melodies make for a nice contrast, and would surely work well in a UK-styled set.
Alchemiist – Parasite by Alchemiist
Alchemiist’s Parasite has been under construction for a while now, and it’s showing the benefits with some really top quality ideas. The first half does everything you’d expect – nasty synths with a nice pace to them, but the breakdown is close to something very special indeed, with its eerie atmosphere and melodies over the breakbeats. One of Alchemiist’s finest, no doubt.
AT recently uploaded some 30-second clips from last month’s Destroyed High, including this one of Merchen Diver playing Pain on Creation’s Mortality. The rest of the set included a lot of UK-style hardcore, but KA-NA took over at a couple of points to throw in Alek Szahala’s Lagash and Firecloud.
Take a look at Destroyed High’s YouTube account for clips from the other DJs (except AT himself, sadly).
Epyx & Cyrez – Risk Addiction (Substanced Remix) by Substanced / Subi
Thanks to illness and various other calamities I’ve been out of action for the last week or so, but now it’s about time to get things going again with a whistle-stop tour of what’s happened since the last post. Some of the biggest news has to be Substanced’s upcoming remix of the classic Risk Addiction – this does a brilliant job of injecting some pace into the original tune, and has to be one of the most promising ‘dark’ tunes so far this year.