UK

The voting is now open for Hardcore Heaven’s Awards, with a few new categories that’ll give some very welcome exposure to the freeform scene. Apparently it’s the first year for freeform to have a category of its own (with DJs and producers all under consideration at once), while there are plenty of other sections that might interest the TYFTH crew. Some might bemoan the suggestion here that freeform is just a UK hardcore subgenre (lets not start that tedious debate, mind), but surely anything that brings in new listeners and draws attention to the talented and hard-working members of our scene is a Good Thing indeed.

The ‘Stage 2’ voting is open until 5th November, so there’s still plenty of time to register your picks.

 

Fantastic news from the Smiling Corpse crew – the first full CD compilation has now been released, and is available to buy from the SC site. For a mere £5.37 you can get hold of some of the best tunes of the year so far while helping to ensure there’ll be more releases to come in the future, making this an absolute must-buy. Massive congrats to SC for an awesome release, and of course for firmly supporting the deeper side of the scene.

Thanks to work I usually miss the Freeformaniacs shows, but earlier this month I was able to catch most of a lovely set from Olly Addictive and Wyrm. The first half has some very nice freeform selections, while the second half heads into big kick/gabber territory. This variety makes it well worth a listen, and at two hours long you’re really getting two sets for the price of one.

  1. Xombei – Thunderhead
  2. Audio X – Sugar
  3. Carbon Based & DJ Rx – Biomechanoid
  4. Grimsoul – Kadotettu Todellisuus
  5. Wyrm – Tendrils of Reality
  6. Dok & Dodgee – Inside
  7. Oli G & Invader – Living Hell
  8. Oli G & Jessica – Miasma
  9. Shanty vs. Epyx & Cyrez – Trippy Hippy
  10. Qygen – 60Hz Power Rave
  11. Penguin Conspiracy – Tripswitch
  12. Micken – Robot Captain
  13. Epyx & Cyrez – I C U
  14. Ophidian & Nosferatu – Psychiatric Ass
  15. Orifice – I’m Broken
  16. Scott Brown – Enemy
  17. Andy Freestyle – Warrior Sound
  18. Scott Majestik – Psycopathic Bitch
  19. AMS & Shanty – Hardcore Renegade
  20. Tazz & Shanty ft. MC Drew – The Definition of Freeform (Olly Addictive Remix)
  21. DJ Nitrous – Gangster Definition (Andy Freestyle Remix)
  22. Ephexis – Shunt
  23. Bartoch – This is Hardcore (Cyane Remix)
  24. Endymion & Nosferatu – Act of God
  25. Ophidian – End the Earth
  26. Endymion – Anger (Ophidian Remix)
  27. I:gor – Gimme Some More

The next tune on the TYFTH SoundCloud is Children, another of Rob.O.T.T’s impressive first efforts at producing freeform. The hint is in the title, but this is actually a bootleg remix of Robert Miles’ mid-nineties chart bothering trance track, freeformed up with some superb filtered sections during the intro/outro. Although it’s already up there quality-wise with a lot of Hybridize tracks, it was never completely finished (this is a ‘first draft’) and so didn’t get the release it deserved.

Yes indeed, this week’s announcement is the return of free tunes on TYFTH, after being cryogenically frozen for a year or so. I’m really happy that the account is alive again, but things have obviously changed a lot in the scene since it first started. These days there are plenty of labels doing a very professional job of releasing new music for free, and so my original ambitious plans have been scaled back – that particular Horse has long since bolted.

I reckon there’s still a place for tunes on TYFTH though, and from now on the SoundCloud will hopefully be performing two main roles. The first is to be a place for up-and-coming producers to get some extra publicity – the account already has quite a decent following, which now combines with infinite downloads and strength in numbers among all the other free tunes, making it a nice stepping stone to the ‘real’ labels for new artists. The second role is to make some older tracks available that otherwise would be forgotten, starting tonight with the excellent Whipped remix/mashup.

It should be clear already, but the account absolutely isn’t meant as a competitor to any of the other free labels out there, rather as a ‘training ground’ before making the step up to better things/an archive for older material. That doesn’t mean the tracks won’t be worth listening to, as I’ll be aiming to keep the standard high, even if it’ll be significantly lowered by any of my own tunes that end up there.

Many thanks to Tyranoid & Strongstream for starting us off again with Whipped, a slightly edited mashup with the Substanced remix from many years ago. I have a few other tracks that were originally submitted back when the account went into hibernation, so there’ll be one or two of them going online every day or so next week. After that it’ll be dependent on submissions, so do feel free to get in touch if you think you might have something that fits the rambling description above.

The SADE Tour is now underway, and the first event was held last weekend at Senssi Lahti. I would have given anything to be there, especially as Nomic was one of the headliners. Unfortunately he was finishing things on the second stage rather than taking his rightful place on the main floor, but still it’s great to see him back among the big events. Other highlights on the second stage were Decion, Brothers In Techno and a particularly animated Substanced. There are snippets of every DJ in the video below.

Over on the main stage, the SADE all-stars look to have done the business, and thanks to saunatonttu78 we’ve got a nice 23 minute video from the set. Also fantastic to see Tyranoid & Strongstream playing – they were probably the perfect fit for this event, as were Heathen and Rx with their NRG set.

Surely everyone’s heard this set by now, but anyone who somehow missed it is in for a real treat. Substanced and Aryx are two artists who’ve really come into their own over the past year, and the guys’ tracks work fantastically well together, maybe even better than I expected.

There’s a great flow to the tracklist too (including some great new material), and it must have done all sorts of damage when heard live. Thank the gods that this is a clean recording though, without the MC who was apparently present during the set – how an MC could add anything of value to a freeform set is absolutely beyond me, but particularly when the tracks are as emotional and aggressive as these. I’d imagine the last thing most people need is a ‘host’ telling them when to dance, and if it was a case of the MC rhyming over the tunes…well, no comment.

Anyway, congratulations to both Substanced and Aryx on an excellent set – it was Aryx’s first gig abroad, but more are sure to follow if he keeps up the momentum that has placed him in the front rank of producers these days.

Thanks to Chip we’re finally able to get our hands on two more sets from last month’s Munted! Monthly! Midas went a bit Duracell bunny at the end of the night, playing an epic 3 hour session of freeform, hardcore and more, but sadly the recording didn’t manage to capture it all.

Instead, sit back and enjoy Chip/Dyzphazia and Nomic, a fitting end to what has been a brilliant series of events. The M!M! shows have done a superb job of bringing together freeform fans from across the world, and giving freeformers the chance to exchange a bit of banter while hearing DJs they might not otherwise have listened to has been a real highlight of the project, I reckon.

Of course, M!M! has also played a massive part in promoting Finnish and Japanese sounds, leading to releases and bookings for more than a few of the artists featured. As we often say, it’s just a case of exposing listeners to our kind of freeform – but it has obviously taken a massive amount of work by both Chip and Midas, who deserve massive kudos (and perhaps some kind of engraved horse trophy) for all their efforts behind the scenes.

Anyway, the mixes – download them all here, and the tracklistings are:

Dyzphazia

1) Config Sys Project – Superbeast [CDr]

2) Wyrm – Can’t You See It [Electrode]

3) Qygen – Neon Circuitboards [Ruffbeatz]

4) Carbon Based – Dark Side [FiNRG]

5) Penguin Conspiracy – Tripswitch [Electrode]

6) Transcend & Dyzphazia – Tormenting Flames [f/c Relentless Digital]

7) Blender & Fantazia – Oh My God [Camel]

8 ) Grimsoul – Jaan Hautaamat (Oli G Remix) [Camel]

9) Carbon Based & Nemes – Heaven & Hell (Alek Szahala Remix) [Electronica Exposed]

10) Betwixt & Between – Reincarnation [Khaotic Dimension]

11) Oli G – Jasmin (Helikaon vs Ephexis Camelrape Remix) [Camel]

12) Olly Addictive & TTE – The Difference Engine [Electrode]

Nomic

1.  Yuki Kajiura – Mezame (bootleg)

2.  Nomic – Chaos Maker

3.  Nomic – Black Lotus

4.  Nomic – Extinguish

5.  Fen Project – Mad Man

6.  Nomic – Bad Dream

7.  Nomic – Rift

8.  Nomic – Innocence

9.  Nomic – Suicide Machine

10. Nomic – You Have a Dream

11. Nomic – Holocaust

12. Nomic – Unique Mind (Horzi Remix)

Here are two more sets in the spectacular Munted! series, from FINRG man Grimsoul and Munted!’s own Midas. It’s been a long long time since the last Grimsoul set, which means a nice mix of classics and newer material. Look out for Pyromaniac Firefighter, and also Sorceresses, an interesting track with a beautiful intro (from Skyrim or something similar, isn’t it?). I actually played it at NRGetic Romancer last year, where it bemused Cogi but got a quality reaction from the crowd.

1. Substanced – Shadows of tomorrow (Grimsoul remix)
2. Grimsoul – Pyromaniac firefighter
3. Grimsoul – Jään hautaamat 2012
4. Grimsoul & Pain on creation – Fury theme
5. Grimsoul – Enchanted mind
6. Substanced & Grimsoul – Harder than you think
7. Grimsoul – I’ll bring the storm
8. Grimsoul – Kadotettu todellisuus
9. Grimsoul – Sorceresses

Midas’ set is packed with the sort of variety you’d expect from him, heavy on the Transcend and Substanced with a nice spot of Qygen at the end. As his mammoth set from last month’s Munted! Monthly! wasn’t recorded (see the next post), this is a nice way to make up for it.

  1. A.B & Solution – Naneater (hu intro mix)
  2. Nu Foundation – Le gra go deo
  3. Douglas feat Rhona – FM22012
  4. Amini – Guitaran
  5. Nick235 & Midas – Crystal ocean
  6. Transcend & dyzphazia – tormenting flames
  7. nomad – lose it (transcend remix)
  8. aryx – chaldea (dj fury remix)
  9. Substanced – Crank cleopatra
  10. Substanced & J-Mx – flawless victory
  11. Substanced – Reptile Zoo]
  12. Endemic – Whispers (Arkitech remix)
  13. Lost Soul – Aliens in Pyjamas
  14. Sustanced – Exodus
  15. Transcend – Lament configuration
  16. Transcend – Upwards
  17. Transcend & Greg Peaks – Cosmic
  18. Aryx – Sylph
  19. Substanced & ALchemiist – Skullcrush
  20. Aryx – Chaldea
  21. Qygen – L.E.D. Galazy
  22. Qygen – Psyberwarfare
  23. Ben Atomgrinder – Burning moth

I’m a bit behind with my mix-listening at the moment, but a few days ago I finally had the chance to check out J-Mx’s Munted! Monthly! set. This is a really nice mix, an interesting combination of Japanese tunes (leaning towards the J-Core side of things) with Substanced and UK tracks – the nicely consistent sound throughout shows that there’s some quality selection going on here. If you’re after an uplifting set with an edge, then this’ll do the job very nicely.

Download (kuuntele) here, via Klubitus.

  1. Dj Noriken – Apogee
  2. Substanced & J-Mx – Flawless Victory
  3. Alabaster – Acid Maker
  4. Substanced – Ghost Of The Future
  5. Lv.4 – Buster Launcher
  6. Aryx & Substanced – Untitled
  7. Lv.4 – Aestivalis
  8. Lost Soul feat. Dark Angel – Sacrifice (Endemic remix)
  9. Substanced – Stockholm Syndrome
  10. Substanced – The End Of All Things (Aryx remix)
  11. Kevin Energy – Veti Levu
  12. Lv.4 – Ill (2011 Remix)