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Well, I just about managed my deadline, recording a first version of the non-freeform set earlier this week. It’s full of tricky connections though, and another try’s definitely needed. I’m still not sure what to do with the final version – it’s actually a set of 1994-1996 intelligent drum and bass, but the mixing’s turned out to be a combination of my current freeform style and other transitions that let the tunes roll a bit more.

I’ve enjoyed playing through it in practice though, and I’ve managed to fit in some all-time favourites, which was one of the main missions. Anyway, for now I’ve decided to play it live on ustream this weekend – if you remember the good old days of drum and bass, or just fancy an hour or so of deeper tunes, it’d be great to see you.

Here’s that ‘something extra’ I mentioned last week – as the next freeform set won’t be for a while, I thought this might be better than nothing, and it’ll also give the Munted! crew the chance for a nice look back. Having said that, this was originally meant for personal listening only, as it’s so short and I’ve already used Tout est Bien and Self Extortion in goodness knows how many other sets.

The rest of the Munted! set has already been carved up for use in other online mixes, but I’ve always enjoyed this section and decided to record it for nostalgia’s sake. To improve things I probably should have started from Caballo’s breakdown – brilliant tune though it still is, it plays for a lot longer than anything else here. Anyway, in my pre-set notes (more on those another day, maybe) I’d settled on a ‘pacy, dark and melancholy’ sequence around this point, and so tried to use Human Race as the melancholy bridge between the two harder sides. After the two long breakdowns of Human Race and Self Extortion I wanted an anthem that would grab any of the crowd left behind by that atmospheric section, and thankfully the second half of Lush worked a treat. If I remember rightly, next came the psychedelic madness of Neon Circuit Boards – Gravity’s Rainbow

Oh, it’s also worth mentioning that the TYFTH SoundCloud is alive again (this is another not-really-for-FINRG mix), which means that the previous (unmixed) tracks are downloadable. Do make sure to check them out if you haven’t already, some brilliant tunes have been in hibernation there.

 

Fans of Finnish/Japanese sounds have ASAHI to thank for this re-recording of his CODEX set, plus one or two additions to take it up to a full hour. One addition is Glacial – great to see how well it still stands up to other tracks, but the whole set is heavy on nostalgic, emotional freeform. Quality selection from ASAHI once again, I’m already looking forward to his next effort.

Incidentally, thanks to raqhow I now have a live recording of my CODEX set, and a couple of little slips and wonky levels aside it doesn’t sound too bad. It’s definitely not FINRG SoundCloud-worthy, but I’ll be sure to either put it online somewhere next week or do a ustream replay when time allows.

A little bit late with this recommendation, but anyone who hasn’t yet checked out Proteus and Dyzphazia’s SCDH podcast should definitely do so.

Something a little bit different from your standard freeform set, Proteus’ hour in particular is another great example of how to ease casual listeners into the freeform sound. I’d usually run a mile from the initial bpm, but with Proteus at the helm you’re pretty much guranteed a DJing lesson that’s worth taking in. So it proves here, with some ‘normal club’-friendly hard trance (?) and industrial leading into the Substanced-styled finale.

Recently I’ve been ranting to anyone who’ll listen about how depressing I find the drum and bass/dubstep sounds that seem to be infesting every other freeform track these days (actually my CODEX set last weekend was an attempted reaction to that). Perfect timing from Dyzphazia then, with this heavily dnb-infused set showing how to incorporate it into a quality hour of tunes. Crucially there’s plenty more going here though, with some psy-style sounds and darker tracks holding things together – the standout is surely Guld’s upcoming Gozenzeuna. I won’t pretend to be a fan of the stuff in between the darkness, but Dyzphazia has done a great job of forging an identity for the set and I can imagine it sparking off all kinds of inspiration among other DJs.

A unique and really interesting SC then, while the next one (this weekend) features Olly Addictive and Arkitech.

 

 

A quick post here, to give a few recent mixes a well-deserved mention:

Cuedy – Freeformaniacs Round 15

Some trademark melodic freeform here from Cuedy – it might not match his best efforts from last year, but stick with the whole set for some predictably great connections.

 

Nemes – Freeformaniacs Round 15

A welcome return for a veteran of the Finnish scene. Nemes’ set doesn’t always mesh the old and new too comfortably, but the fabulous first half makes this one very worth checking out.

7Sins – Electronic Kingdom mix

Anyone who misses the Galrav/Orfeus style of twisted, melancholy DJ set will surely enjoy the first half of 7Sins’ mix, though there’s lots to like in the melodic second half, too.

 

 

Another very nice set here, courtesy of Shimotsukei on his one year anniversary. With some nice connections and a quality selection throughout, this is one for recently-neglected fans of the ‘NRG into freeform’ style set, and anyone else in the mood for some aggression and melancholy.

I’d say the first half is the real standout, plenty of great NRG tracks with a few surprises (lovely connection from Four Beast to Brionac), before some classic Nomic and Betwixt & Between freeform. A bit of confusion between Chaos Maker and Matter of Fact mars things slightly, but this a well-considered, confident mix from Shimotsukei, especially after such a relatively short time in the genre.

Another brilliant EP here from Freeformatted, once again doing a fine job representing the Japanese side of things. This release is an interesting mix though, with harder-than-normal Disruptor from Transcend and Cyrax joined by some retro-themed Fuck Around from Invader and Morita yuuhei’s latest, Forced Worship.

My favourite has to be ikaruga_nex’s Sink, a top quality effort with a very strong Betwixt & Between influence – although in classic ikaruga style the post-breakdown melody threatens to become a little too J-Core, his talent for filtering and ear for darker, aggressive sections take it back into my kind of territory, really living up to the promise of the first half. All being well I’ll fit this one into the next CODEX setlist, and the other tracks will likely be getting plenty of play from DJs across the spectrum.

Along with Epyx & Cyrez’s retirement earlier this year, Aryx’s decision to stop freeform production has to be the biggest news of 2014 so far. While I’m sure we all wish him well as he heads off to pastures new, his absence will be another massive loss to the freeform.

Thank goodness for last year’s Munted! in London then, as I finally had the chance to play on the same lineup after out first meeting at 10 Years of FINRG. An unbiased observer* said that ours were the two best sets of the night, and it was an honour to be pushing our styles together in an unfamiliar outpost of the scene.

I say our styles – but while I’ve been neglecting production in order to diddle away the years on DJ sets, Aryx has done the hard work to go from a total rookie to one of the very finest freeform artists so far. His The End of All Things remix remains a stupendous track that transports me back to Lahti every time I hear it, but any artist would also kill to have tunes like Chaldea, Morokai, and Polaris on their CV.

Add in the fact that Aryx is one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet, and I’m sure I’m not the only one hoping that we’ll one day see him back in the scene. For now, let’s enjoy Byrgius, and look forward to his next (trance?) tracks in his new guise.

*aka my younger brother

 

Whistling in the wind a bit here, but I thought it’d be worth a look back over the past few months and select a few standout moments that normally would have made it onto TYFTH. Sorry about the bullet-point format, but hopefully that’s better than nothing –  if anyone’s still reading the site and feels like adding any major ommissions in the comments, that’d be most welcome.

Pearsall’s excellent look back at freeform in 2013

Quality tracks from Aryx, Nomic, Qygen and others in Rebuild’s final compilation release

Another wonderful Freeformaniacs set from Nomic

Guld plays The Superbeast at Dark Dimension / SUKE’s dark psy at Dark Dimension

Some of the finest releases so far this year, from Freeformatted

A gallery of photos from February’s 12 Years of FINRG

A quality Freeformaniacs set from Transcend

Some highlights from January’s CODEX

Qygen’s first artist album – successfully funded on indiegogo, to be released via Smiling Corpse