Chinese

You know a TYFTH Live roundup is late when the next installment’s already happened, but there’s plenty I’ve wanted to say about this one for a while. As the most melodic set I’ve played for years there was a lot I was trying out to make it a bit more TYFTH-friendly, so let’s have a little look back at how it went.

Of course one of the big goals of the set was to bring some more attention to the Chinese scene. After a few years of really top-quality releases it was probably overdue, but it was the release of show-stopping compilation Thoughost that really convinced me to give it a go. It’s so refreshing to see a new scene’s artists take on melodic freeform in a way that isn’t just chasing the sounds of Transcend, Substanced et al – something the Japanese scene fell into for a long while. Anyway, while I’m no expert on the melodic side of things I did my best to highlight some of the strongest tracks I’ve happened across so far, while still aiming for a smooth set that rewards a few listens.

Thanks to Thoughost I had a few tracks in mind right from the start, but it was Joulez’s beautiful Initiate the Massacre that really got the inspiration going. That intro is just superb, and I wanted to focus on the first half of the track before the atmosphere switches up. Although it took a heck of a lot of work to find the right track for that first transition, I couldn’t be happier with the way Helix slowly takes over. I really had to restrain myself not to overdo the transition, mind, and for a while was practicing a version where Initiate the Massacre came back in for a while. One of those times when less is more, I think.

One of the great things about putting the set together was the chance to use some favourite melodic tracks that I haven’t been able to fit in anywhere else – Meteorite is the first of those, as well as Into the Light, while jumping forwards a little the Phoenix Down – Invoker combo is one I’ve been sitting on since last year.

The first ‘new tracks’ transition is an example of something I worked hard on in the set, as I wanted to have more control over when and where the notoriously long melodic breakdowns would appear in the set. To help me with that I used quite a few breakdown sections as intros, or tried to time the previous track to finish halfway through a breakdown. That’s a nice way to keep the energy up (as with Universe Outsiderz into Garnet), but there’s also beautiful harmony potential aplenty when you mix melodies and strings/pads between the tracks (see 沉​渊​低​语 (Whispers of Looming Shadows) into Dagor Dagorath). Into the Light and Now Or Never is similar, but here a combination of melodies and vocals. I don’t even like the vocals that much (it’s the Morita filters that get me), but the tracks work so well together that I couldn’t resist. The fact that I’ve known about the Attitude Problem transition for a long time helped too, and set things up for a more authentically TYFTH darker section.

Recall is another example of ‘shortening’ the breakdown, but in this part I was also trying to demo how effective a melodic track can be as a contrast in a darker sounding section. It took a lot of experimenting before I happened upon the combo with Access to your Soul, and that crossover point at the final part of Recall’s breakdown makes the change in atmosphere a lot more subtle than I would have expected.

I Think We Can Go To The Moon turned out to be the perfect intro for Whispers, so I repurposed a section of the Betwixt & Between tribute to help get through that section. I might have done some key locking/adjusting the first time around though, as something certainly sounds a bit off in this version. Either way, it gets us into the final section of the set, which I’m very happy with. The brilliantly-titled Lonely Ray is slightly shoehorned in at the end, but a beautiful track to finish on.

This was one of the most enjoyable sets to put together for a while, thanks largely to the inspiration of hearing new Chinese sounds, taking me right back to the early days of mixing Japanese freeform with FINRG. If this mix does a similar job of bringing more attention to the Chinese scene, then that’s mission accomplished. For now, at least – I’ve already got some darker Chinese tracks in mind for the long-in-the-works FINRG set.

What with all the recent melodic freeform releases on TYFTH and the unusually upbeat Live 012, this excellent set by Lyricals~ is nicely timed. There’s plenty on the tracklist that wouldn’t typically get a mention here, but one of the set’s most impressive points is how it keeps a fine balance between the light and dark(er) with some consistently interesting mixing. Although it appears that Lyricals~ has only been mixing for a couple of years, this mix is an easy recommend for just about any Horser (and far, far more advanced than I was at a similar point).

On a first listen the opening really caught my ear, as Ziki_7’s Ultra Spark is teased in with some nice cuts away from Kokomochi’s Beryl. The eventual switch over is abrupt, but that’s where the teasing does its job, the repetition of those earlier cuts doing a good job to keep things sounding more consistent. It’s soon obvious why Ultra Spark was chosen, as the transition into Nirotiy’s 沉渊低语 (Whispers of Looming Shadows) is top class and one of the best in the whole set. It’s such a hard track to mix out of though (as I learned recently), making the less smooth switch into Abandoned Metropolis understandable. I’m imagining the idea here was to sacrifice a bit of smoothness to keep up a similar atmosphere, which it does well, before starting a wonderful sequence from here to Hommarju’s Zusammengehorigkeit remix. Extra credit should be given for the looping of Zusammengehorigkeit while mixing in over (deep breath…) Large-scale Cryogenic Gravitational Wave Telescope.

That fantastic sequence comes to an end at Origami Hearts, but only just and that’s because I’m being extra picky – it’s one of those transitions that is so close to lining up perfectly that it’s hard not to use it. In most sets this would be one of the highlight transitions, but it falls ever so slightly short of the level that Lyricals~ is obviously aiming for here. Still, top marks for creativity and a moment in the set I enjoyed a lot.

Meanwhile, Lucius into Sunray is as good as you’re going to hear anywhere this year, superbly navigating the chasm between melodic UK/Japanese-style freeform and Alek’s unique atmospheres. More looping extends the transition, and the cut into Sunray is perfectly timed. I still await the day when we see a freeform mix with transitions of this quality from start to finish, but the switch into Neptune is a very worthy follow-up. A complex, lengthy transition, it’s another very good example of how to amoothly shift the atmosphere of a set. The introduction of Back Heaven is really impressive too – sudden in some ways (it would work a treat in a club environment), there’s actually a lot going on here, and the return of Neptune’s melody is a lovely combination of mixing styles that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

From this point the selection leans more into melodic freeform, buiding to a pacy, uplifting finale. Hommarju’s excellent Fall of Icarus had me half-expecting that things would carry on that style for longer  (maybe with some ikaruga_nex, that kind of thing), but the switch into less filtery melodies is well-handled, especially from Calamity Drive into I.S.O.L.D.E. There’s a lovely touch of melancholy with Betwixt’s So Sweet Bitter Days, an extremely hard to mix track that I haven’t heard handled as well anywhere else. sustain stumbles in a little bit at the end, but I’d put that down to the brave use of So Sweet and the fact that it’s the last track – I’ve also been know to shoehorn in a transition at the end that isn’t as smooth as the others. It’s also a fine, uplifting climax that ends the set well, totally justifying its selection.

All of which is a lengthy way of saying that this set comes very highly recommended. While obviously not as dark as TYFTH’s In Praise of Shadows ideal, this set touches on some of those atmospheres in a new way, with some superb, considered mixing that’ll only get better as Lyricals~ becomes more experienced. Give it a try, I’ll be interested to hear what other Horsers make of this unusual, inspiring combination of new styles and some of our old favourites.

One of the other big releases recently was a lot less conventional than Ephemanent, showing what a good state the scene is in these days – at least in terms of new tracks being produced. Escape the Time is more on the freeform fringes, what with the very strong psy/hi-tech influences, but it’s definitely worth a TYFTH mention as one of the most diverse EPs there’s been for a while.

While the first two tracks are probably the furthest from freeform, I really enjoy the progression of Impending Flux and the goa-esque melodies that appear in the second half. This is one that really could find a good home in a darker, psychedelic set. Depths of Phantasmagoria starts as my favourite track on the EP, but slightly loses steam by heading in a less goa direction from the breakdown onwards. Following that is the excellent new version of Cinder Glade, then more quality Nirotiy, this time with a remix of Elk Cloner.

Although this might not be an EP you’ll have on repeat given how unusual most of the tracks are, there are some brilliant ideas in here and it deserves support. There’s a lot of mixing potential here too, so there’ll very likely be a future TYFTH set appearance for at least a couple of these.

With a big list of posts on the to-do list, let’s get going with one of the more obvious ones. Or is it that obvious, given that it’s on the lighter side? Either way, Ephemanent from Chinese label Thoughost is as good a compilation of melodic freeform as you’ll find anywhere this year, even with plenty of it around at the moment.

Overall it shows a strong Japanese/UK influence with breakbeats, pianos, and breakdowns long enough to take a little nap before the drop – but this is high quality stuff, and many of the melodies are a step above what we tend to hear these days. I used quite a few in my TYFTH Live set (more on that pretty soon) and while they are some of the strongest on the compilation there are some more typical TYFTH tracks tucked away in here too. The favourite for me is probably MiYAjY’s Nightmare Trigger, an aggressive track that builds into a quality atmosphere, partly thanks to those nicely gritty filters. Joulez’s Bezerk is also a highlight, with a Betwixt feel to the structure and melodies.

Elsewhere it’s more of what you’d expect, with two great contributions from Nirotiy to finish things off. Perhaps not a gold star TYFTH recommendation – only a few of the tracks would be contenders for me in a ‘normal’ TYFTH set – but if you’re looking for a break from the dark side and want to build up your collection of modern melodic freeform, this is definitely the place to start.

Some will have heard this pretty spectacular acid freeform track when it appeared on Nirotiy’s SoundCloud recently. Following up one of the best ever remixes of an Alek track isn’t easy, but Ray of Oblivion makes a fine job of it, keeping the Alek influence but sounding much more experimental than Iron Squid.

What you might not have noticed was its release on the huge compilation of harder Chinese sounds The Silent Xosmos -United and Unbound –. While the compilation itself is far too all over the place to get a TYFTH gold star, Irish Kappa’s Fabulous Action and Valtrax’s Recall are two quality freeform tracks on the melodic side. Have a browse through the rest of the album for everything from hardstyle to makina – if you have a Shimo-level range of listening/mixing tastes then this could be the album for you.

Isn’t it nice to see all these new mixed sets alongside the newer track releases? Here’s another from the growing Chinese scene, and once again the focus is on oldies – which totally makes sense, what with many discovering the genre for the first time. RebalLance describes this set as a practice, and while it probably shouldn’t be top of your to-listen pile if you’re overly familiar with the tracks, the middle section in particular has some fantastic moments.

A shame, then, that the weakest transition of the whole set is right at the start, with the interesting combo of Absence and Why not really working out. The lopsided use of the tracks also hurts the opening, as Why plays out for a full 5 minutes or so after the quick transition. Stick with it though, to be rewarded with a lovely sequence through Tankobu and Extremely Dangerous, and a nice navigation into Fairytale. From there it’s into the strongest section of the set, the next four or five tracks linking excellently.

Although I’m not totally convinced by Iron Bottom Sound as a follow up to Cyclone, the transition into the Lush reveals the thinking behind that one. After that there’s a ferocious finale of anthems – al Megiddo into Nue Messiah takes me way back, while Man Eaten into Mohicans is a superb way to finish things.

Give this one a try then, is my advice – a couple of surprise selections and that brilliant main sequence make it well worth a listen.

It’s no secret that I’ve been pushing for more carefully constructed freeform sets since the very early days – ten years(!) or so ago we had a fine crop of DJs who worked wonders with what was being released, but mixes of that quality have been pretty thin on the ground lately. Asukarai Matsuri to the rescue, then, with a set of older tracks that instantly belongs among the all-time greats.

Normally when I give a mix the spotlight around here I pick out a few highlight transitions, but the standard is so high for this one that it’s almost impossible to choose. Veterans will look at the tracklist and probably have something of an idea of what to expect – melancholy melodies with some pacy filters to keep the energy up – but I guarantee that some of the combinations will catch you by surprise. Old Proteus favourite El Orfanato used as a follow-up to Byrgius is one, The Last Breath into Geneva another.

It’s the overall atmosphere of the set that’s the biggest achievement for me though, as it finds and then explores the common ground between a pretty wide range of artists. From Nomic’s melancholy to Aryx’s uplifting sound, via Epyx and Cyrez or Substanced’s agressive synths, it really does make something new with these ingredients. Many freeform DJs (myself included) have struggled to handle that kind of variety in the past, but this is an almost perfect attempt. Deimos is the one track that doesn’t slot in as smoothly, but that’s a common problem when using Alek’s tracks and it’s back to business as usual with the excellent transition to Fairytale. The fine tradition of unpronounceable freeform track names continues here too, with Nirotiy’s impressive 沉渊低语 ending the set on a forward-looking note.

I can’t imagine I’ll be recommending many more sets as highly as this for the rest of year, so I urge you both to check it out and share it with any and all who might be interested

We already know that the Chinese scene has the best up-and-coming DJs in freeform, but this utterly great track from Nirotiy shows that they could have the production side covered soon, too. It takes a brave soul to remix one of Alek’s tracks, especially when done by ear with no midi files to lean on – Nirotiy has done a superb job of recreating Iron Squid’s psychedelic melodies, as well as referencing the original track with some wonderful, growling synths. Even the new approach to the structure hits the spot, while the breakdown feels fresh in this new setting. A textbook example on how to update an anthem, in other words, making it the first contender for track of the year.

The fresh take on the classics that we’re getting from the newer DJs has definitely been one of the highlights of the last year or so, chiefly from Asukarai Matsuri. This Alek tribute is as good as you’d expect and if (like me) it’s been a while since you heard a full set of his tracks it’ll be just the dose of inspiration you need to finish off the year.

Asukarai Matsuri does a fine job here of deciding when to keep things in key and when to work out another way through a transition, with the first three or four tracks being a good example. Dryad Machine is the (slightly abrupt?) cue for things to head in more melodic direction, with some excellent selection choices. The Lagash – Mohicans transition is superb, but the later Superstition – Man Eaten is even better and probably one of the best Alek combinations I’ve ever heard. Although I would have moved Caballo to earlier in the set to keep things as dark as possible, that’s really nitpicking what’s a high quality tracklist. The finale of Firecloud into Xochitlan is such a good combination of ferocity and depth, plus a last airing of the all-important sample, of course.

I’d rank this as the best Alek-only set I’ve heard so far (his own live PAs are in a different category, for me) and the thoughtful mixing makes it a must listen for veterans as much as newcomers.

Time for a belated look at another Asukarai Matsuri set, again a pretty fascinating look at how a talented newcomer to the scene approaches the NRG and freeform back catalogues. This is a great hour of freeform, and very recommended even if you’ve heard most of the tracks a million times before.

The track selection definitely reminds me of my own early days, with some of the all-time classic melodic tracks alongside more aggressive sections. Global Killer – Tuonela is a fine start, but it’s probably the next section where things step up a level. A darker atmosphere moves smoothly into Voices of Babylon, followed by a very impressive stretch of filtery melodic tracks. It obviously made my day to hear Hell’s Gate, especially as the transition into Morokai is one of the very best of the set. The finale is a classic dancefloor-friendly bpm increase, nicely done here with some Lost Soul and Nirotiy, before Hydra deepens things at the finish.

Overall another excellent set, and what it lacks in unified atmosphere from start to finish it makes up for in quality track selection. With literally a few hundred classic tracks yet to appear in his sets, I’m looking forward to AM’s next tribute to the golden age.