A busy week has delayed a couple of other posts, but the release of Smiling Corpse 2 definitely deserves to jump the queue. Long-awaited is a bit of an understatement here – it probably won’t be too long until this two CD compilation sells out. Congratulations to the SC crew for finally completing the release, and the tracklist is really one of the strongest we’ve seen for a few years.
Trek over to the rather sexy new Smiling Corpse site, where you can order the release for a mere five pounds.
Fortuna into Sylph – that’s what first caught my ear here, but Olly Addictive and Damo’s back to back set also has a fantastic tracklist that makes it well worth checking out.
The selection here is a top example of what can happen when DJs with a knowledge of the UK scene mix things up with their love for the Finnish/Japanese sound. There are lighter moments, but the darker stuff is never far away and the tracklist flows brilliantly without ever needing the transitions to do too much work. The sequence immediately following Fortuna – Sylph is a great example – a series of nicely selected tracks that do a fine job of keeping the atmosphere consistent and the quality level high.
Whether this was an every-other-track style of B2B or Olly and Damo took on one half each, the chaps deserve kudos for a very nice set, and one that should have something for everyone.
01) Milo – Kill You
02) Oli G – Cordelia
03) Shox – State of Mind
04) Grimsoul – Some More
05) Twisted Freq – Innocence
06) Asa & S1 – Cured
07) Stormtrooper – Adrenalin Rush
08) Transcend – The Purification
09) Human Resource – Dominator (Brisk & Ham Remix)
10) Ephexis – Intensify (Greg Peaks & Solution remix)
11) Skampy & Mayhem ft K Complex – Perverted Science
12) Transcend, Cyrax & Iggy – Jungle Hijynx
13) Nomic – Fortuna
14) Aryx – Sylph
15) MHX – Gray Death (Sky Dragon Remix)
16) Alchemiist – Empire
17) Ephexis – Mind Grinder
18) Pain On Creation – Adaptation
19) Ephexis – Quantum Fury
20) Shanty, Tazz & Dodgee – Law of Hardcore
21) Tazz & AMS – Gettin’ Dirty
22) Ruffage & Size – Demonic Rose
23) Le Dos-on – Mental Madness
24) Nomic – You Have A Dream
A quick look at the tracklist for Hellfury’s latest set made me wonder if it was quite my cup of tea, but after his fantastic Shin No Noir IX I was more than willing to give it a go. As expected there are fewer tracks that I really enjoy, but the quality is still very high – this time the unifying sounds are Le Dos-on’s trademark melodies and a more understated psy influence than in SNNIX. Look out for some ambitious mixes, one of my favourite Qygen tracks (Birth Within the Cosmic Storm) and a enjoyably ferocious finale.
I really like 7Sins’ taste in tracks, and here again we have a very solid, no-nonsense selection of melodic and filtery tunes. It’s fair to say that the set is more about the tracklist than the transitions, but the Hatral – Tormenting Flames connection is truly glorious and I’d love to hear more of the same in future mixes.
After Dyzphazia’s Smiling Corpse mix, here’s another set that shows how a creative DJ can wring some quality out of the modern(ish) drum and bass scene, while meshing it nicely with freeform. Cyberdyne Seba has quite a dnb pedigree – and the selections here are as good as you’d expect – but it’s the transitions that make this a set to pay attention to.
The first third is solid, warming up with that nice little sequence of Nightmare on Base – Take Me Away – Hawaiian Snow, before things go up a level as more freeform is introduced. There are a few ambitious connections here and there, but the standout section of the set has to be from Something Sick to Dream Invader Network – very smooth, there’s a nice, consistently dark atmosphere that then goes psychedelic with DIN. That mix from Love 2 Death is top class, and it’s just a shame that Qygen’s track doesn’t have the bassy power to makes things as seamless as you might like. Unfortunately Pure Evil clashes a little too much with DIN and is jarring after the previous smooth blend, but the final two tracks do at least keep things dark and aggressive.
Lots to like here then, and if you’re a drum and bass head you’ll be merrily carried along towards the best sections of the set, while freeform-only DJs/listeners will really enjoy the progression into the darker second half.
1. Dylan – Intoxication (Outbreak Records)
2. Audio X – Hyväksyminen (Audio Reanimation Digital)
3. Le Dos-On – Mental Madness (2012 Regenerate) (free DL no longer available)
4. The Acolyte – Mind Control (Electronica Exposed)
5. Tom U4EA & James F – Nightmare On Base (Electronic Recordings)
6. Concord Dawn – Take Me Away (Commercial Suicide)
7. Crossfire – Hawaiian Snow (Crossfire Recordings)
8. Substanced – Jinpachi (Rebuild Music)
9. Vyral XIII – Librium (free DL no longer available)
10. Qygen – Kimura Kaoru No Densetsu (Tribute To Betwixt & Between) (Smiling Corpse)
11. Paul B & Subwave – Something Sick (DSCI4)
12. Cyrax & Transcend – Disruptor 2014 (Freeformatted -> free DL: Freeformatted – Transcend-cyrax-disruptor-2014 )
13. The Machinist & Rika – Love 2 Death (Electronica Exposed)
14. Qygen – Dream Invader Network (Smiling Corpse)
15. Re-Form – Pure Evil (Electronica Exposed)
16. Morita yuuhei – You (All) Have Eaten You (Freeformatted -> free DL: Freeformatted – Morita-yuuhei-you-all-have-eaten-you-ffmep004)
The site’s still got a few issues (sorry if I’ve missed any comments recently), but I’ve decided to try a few posts before I head off to Manila this weekend.
First then is a welcome return to TYFTH for Beezee and Alderz in yet another Freeformaniacs set. The selection in this one is really impressive, sounding very fresh with some surprising choices and lesser-played anthems that have obviously been well-considered. Most pleasing is the way the atmosphere shifts through the set, gradually darkening after that uplifting opening. Showing what a great combo the boys are becoming, this is a high quality set that deserves plenty of listens.
Another quick post, this time to announce that my Smiling Corpse set is now up on the FINRG SoundCloud – hopefully this’ll introduce a few more people to the newer tunes on the tracklist, as well as give a little extra exposure to Smiling Corpse. Wyrm’s set is also on SoundCloud, and you can find it here.
I’m doing my best to catch up on stuff these days, so next from the archives we have a wonderful set from Cyberdyne Seba. I get the impression from the SoundCloud comments that most Horsers have been on the case with this one for a good while, but anyone else who enjoys high-energy freeform with plenty of filters definitely needs to check this set out.
Reminiscent of an Alderz/Beezee set, this one doesn’t let up for a moment and gets the balance of melodies and nastiness just about spot on. Watch out too for some fantastic, energetic mixing – Surendrajit into Lush is a very ambitious combo that crashes through in fine style, but there are plenty of other nice selections and a perfectly timed use of Vyral XIII’s Auracite that deserves an honourable mention.
I obviously need to give a special thanks to Seba for the extensive use of the TYFTH SoundCloud, it’s great to see how well the tunes fit into a set of this standard, and equally nice to see DJs putting the tracks to good use – that’s the point of this little project, after all.
1. +12V – Read/Write (Free DL: www.happyhardcore.com/forums/topic.a…TOPIC_ID=60229)
2. Transcend – Spirit Of Hades (Stamina Slam)
3. Substanced – Damage Point (Relentless Digital)
4. Rob O.T.T. – New Direction (Free DL: soundcloud.com/thank-you-for-the-horse/rob-o-t-t-new-direction)
5. Vyral XIII – Auracite (2013 Edit) (Free DL: www.vyral13.bandcamp.com)
6. Substanced – Colombia (Free DL: soundcloud.com/thank-you-for-the-horse/substanced-colombia)
7. Invader & Nightforce – Auferstehung (Full Circle DJs Remix) (Free DL: soundcloud.com/invaderben/auferstehung-fullcircledjs-remix)
8. Bewtixt & Between – Surendrajit (2011 Refix)(Free DL no longer available?)
9. Pain On Creation – Lush (Epyx & Cyrez Remix) (Free DL: soundcloud.com/finrg-recordings/pain-on-creation-lush-epyx)
10. Twisted Freq – All 4 You (Free DL: soundcloud.com/thank-you-for-the-horse/twisted-freq-fall-4-you)
11. Betwixt & Between – Phaedra (Free DL: soundcloud.com/thank-you-for-the-horse/betwixt-between-phaedra)
12. Tazz vs. Solar State – Rhythm Flows (Electronic Recordings)
13. Olly Addictive – PH Machine (3form Records)
14. A.M.S. – Overload (Free DL no longer available)
Many thanks to everyone who tuned into last month’s Smiling Corpse podcast, and equally hearty thanks to Wyrm and the SC crew for the invitation to play – as always I’m hugely grateful for the support. The entire show has just been added to the Dead Happy archive, so let’s take the chance to look back at the two sets.
Putting my mix together was traumatic to say the least, as I did my very best to strike the balance between using sections from recent club events and not ending up with a structureless Frankenstein’s monster of a set. Personally I think I fell into that trap with Episode 7 of Munted! Monthly, but this time I considered how to use pre-existing stuff much more carefully and am far happier with the end result. Having said that, a few days before the deadline I hacked out 6 (!) tracks and had a proper (if manic) rethink, as it clearly didn’t have enough melancholy or relisten value.
As always, a massive thanks to the artists and labels who provided tunes – these sets couldn’t happen at all without your help. This time I was sold on Gestaltzerfall as an intro track the moment I heard it, and either by DJing sixth sense or blind luck (I know which one’s more likely) Prelude was the first tune I tried as a mix. Happily, Prelude has been a backup connection for the Freedom – Rise – Dilapidated section for a good few months now, and that really inspired me for the rest of the set. Fatal Flashback and Afraid was a recent find, while I’ve been playing around with the Neon Circuitboards – Gravity’s Rainbow – Darkstar section since Munted! in London. After much back and forth, I finally decided on Helix – Mohicans as the finale after playing the preceding 50mins a few times in practice. There’s just enough nastiness to link them both to the rest of the set, before heading off into that magical, melancholy direction.
Of course the set’s far from perfect, but given my time restrictions these days I was really glad to see how some of the Krafty listeners enjoyed it on the night – it made all the hair-tearing and kickdrum-induced headaches worthwhile. By the way, a couple of the ‘CDR’ tracks here are headed for release (or at least, announcement of a release) very soon indeed, and will likely sound even nicer as here I used unmastered/older versions.
01) Guld – Gestaltzerfall [CDR]
02) Epyx & Cyrez – Prelude [Electronica Exposed]
03) Proteus – Freedom [CDR]
04) Thanatos – Rise (Render Regalia remix) [Allkore]
05) ikaruga_nex – Dilapidated [Fukyagaku Hardcore] / ikaruga_nex – Dilapidated 2013 [Freeformatted]
06) Carbon Based – Fatal Flashback [FINRG]
07) Nomic – Afraid [CDR]
08) Twisted Freq – Alien [Electronica Exposed]
09) Qygen – Neon Circuit Boards [CDR]
10) Betwixt & Between – Gravity’s Rainbow [Hardcore Tano*C]
11) Alek Szahala – Darkstar [Electronica Exposed]
12) Betwixt & Between – Ultra World 6 [CDR]
13) Blender & Nomic – Battle of Dawn [CDR]
14) Twisted Freq – Saturn Atmosfear [Volatile Digital]
15) Aryx – Helix [CDR]
16) Alek Szahala – Last of the Mohicans (Remix) [CDR]
Let’s not forget Wyrm’s fantastic second hour though – his set was full of unexpected twists, from hard techno to psy via plenty of unreleased SC material. After a timely Happy Birthday, Wyrm went heavy on the harder tracks (Rhythmic Tool being a standout for me), followed by some quality new freeform. I hadn’t heard Custom Built DJs’ Pneumatic or Qygen’s superb remix of Tendrils of Reality before, while it was lovely to hear Qygen’s tribute to Betwixt & Between – Kimura Kaoru no Densetsu – being used so effectively in a set. Add Dodomeki to the list and you really see the strength in depth of Smiling Corpse’s upcoming releases. Some typically nutty psy has also been very skilfully woven into the set, making this a genuine must-listen if you didn’t catch it at the time.
01) Flute Guy – Happy Birthday
02) Mechanical Brothers vs. Instigator – Frozen Hell [Cannibal Society]
03) Wyrm & Surtr – Tesseract [Electrode]
04) Greg Notill & Slugos – Rhythmic Tool [Cannibal Society]
05) Tyranoid & Strongstream – Stalingrad (Osmo Remix) [FiNRG]
06) Greg Notill – Conscient but Denied (Instigator Remix) [Kube Records]
07) Custom Built DJ’s – Pneumatic [F/C Smiling Corpse]
08) Anon – Manix#1 [F/C Buzzin’ Bootlegs]
09) Cosmic Lizard vs. Metahuman – K-Jah! [Lunatic Alien Records]
10) Ikaruga_Nex – Dodomeki [F/C Smiling Corpse]
11) Qygen – Kimura Kaoru no Densetsu [F/C Smiling Corpse]
12) Oxidaksi – White Weirdo [Cryptic Symmetry Records]
13) Substanced – Reptile Zoo [FiNRG]
14) Wyrm – Tendrils of Reality (Qygen Remix) [F/C Smiling Corpse]
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
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