Mixes

Cyberyne Seba – From the Outer End of the Wormhole With Love

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 4, 2013
Posted in: Canadian, Drum & Bass, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

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)

Smiling Corpse ‘Dead Happy’ Podcast Episode 13, now online

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 2, 2013
Posted in: Canadian, Drum & Bass, Events, Finnish, Goa / Psy, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 1 comment

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]

Download here

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]

Download here

Dyzphazia – Freeformaniacs Round 11

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 27, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

My increasingly geriatric Hell’s Gate rework is mixing with the elite here, in what has to be my favourite Dyzphazia set for a long time and a treat for all fans of filtery freeform. Tracks 1-5 work brilliantly together, establishing a dark atmosphere that then leads into some top quality combinations – check out Darkside into Outbreak as an example, a nicely ambitious mix that had me enjoying Rx’s remix a lot more than I usually do. The whole set flows very well though, finishing with Le Dos-on’s Morokai remix. Upcoming on Smiling Corpse, Le Dos-on has excelled himself with a glorious breakdown that recalls the very best of Japanese and Finnish freeform.

Well done to Dyzphazia for an awesome effort – this one comes very highly recommended.

1) Epyx & Cyrez Vs. Substanced – Expedition Bloodbath [Electronica Exposed]
2) Alek Szahala – Voices of Babylon [FiNRG]
3) Zio – Hell’s Gate (Plasmadancer Remix) [TYFTH]
4) ThermalForce – Al Megiddo [Khaotic Dimension]
5) Alchemiist – Empire [FiNRG]
6) Carbon Based – Darkside [FiNRG]
7) Endemic vs. Solution – Outbreak (DJ Rx Remix) [NuEnergy]
8 ) Epyx & Cyrez – Blackest Night (Endemic Remix) [Watchtower]
9) Kors-K – Tubular Bells [Nukleuz]
10) Le Dos-On – A (Cyrez Remix) [Splash Energy]
11) Substanced Vs. Transcend Vs. Horzi – Eons of Anxious Hater (Substanced Mashup) [CDr]
12) Hommarju – Verzweiflung [Relentless Digital]
13) Aryx – Morokai (Le Dos-On Remix) [F/C Smiling Corpse]

Nomic – Freeformaniacs Round 10

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 23, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes. 1 comment

Freeformaniacs Round 10 – Nomic (Guest Mix) (20/06/2013) by Freeformaniacs on Mixcloud

Nomic’s spectacular session on the Freeformaniacs show was actually recorded back in June, but somehow I’ve only recently discovered it. Maybe I confused it with the Smiling Corpse show? Whatever the reason for my dimwittery at the time, this set’s a real treat and might even be the best Nomic mix I’ve heard so far.

The selection is fantastic, and showcases Nomic’s recent cleaner and (by his own admission), properly mastered style, heavy on the energy and danceable melodies. It’s brilliant to see that the trademark melancholy sections are still there though and it’s only when I heard all these new tracks mixed together that I properly appreciated how effective the evolution in his style has been.

Also great to hear some quality connections that do a lot for the overall flow – Nomic has obviously done his best to combine little 2-3 track sections that work well together, giving the set plenty of re-listen value. Most will surely have checked it out long ago, but anyone else needs to get on the case asap.

  1. Nomic – Intro
  2. Nomic & Pain on Creation – Make Me Real
  3. Nomic – Rule Breaker
  4. Nomic – Black Lotus
  5. Nomic – Human Race Pt. II
  6. Liberty – Tomorrow (Nomic remix)
  7. Nomic – Innocence
  8. Nomic – Suicide Machine
  9. Nomic – Unreal
  10. Nomic – Rift
  11. Marilyn Manson – This is the New Shit (Nomic Bootleg)

Smiling Corpse ‘Dead Happy’ Podcast Episode 11 / Episode 12

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 15, 2013
Posted in: Canadian, Drum & Bass, Finnish, Goa / Psy, Japanese, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

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

Check out all the sets here

Son of Sam @SINISTRY, 26th October 2013

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 9, 2013
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

I’m obviously no use as a news source right now, but the endless commutes and post-work gazing into space is at least giving me a chance to catch up on some excellent sets. I have a few to post up now, so let’s begin with Son of Sam’s Sinistry selection of melodic/twisted tracks.

That opening rock-solid mix between Reborn and Polaris had me immediately convinced, but using Starfall as the set’s centrepiece is just fantastic – it remains one of my all-time favourite Alek tunes. The mix into Air shows that a lot of thought went into this mix, and there’s a great flow here. It might be a bit of a freeform cliche these days to finish a set with gabber, but when it works this well, why not?

Overall this was a brilliant set and a really nice surprise – with the one like BEEZEE also dropping some trademark sounds, Sinistry might just have been the best UK event ever for ‘intelligent freeform’. With Aryx and myself trying to do the same at Munted! (a much-delayed look back at that will be coming one of these days), there’s real hope that deeper sounds will play a much bigger role in the scene’s development.

  1. jD-KiD – Reborn [Re-Born Beats]
  2. Aryx – Polaris [Watchtower]
  3. jD-KiD & Javi DJ – Purnima [B-Form Beats]
  4. Alek Szahala – Deimos [FINRG]
  5. Le Dos-On – Obsidian [Relentless Digital]
  6. Paocala – Starfall [Electronica Exposed]
  7. Le Dos-On – Air [Relentless Digital]
  8. Substanced – Ghost of the Future [Watchtower]
  9. jD-KiD & DJ Corr – Carinae [ReBuild Music]
  10. Korsakoff – Pink Noise [Cloud 9 Dance]
  11. Dyprax – Murder & Crime [MoH]
  12. AniMe – Cracks [Traxstorm]

Alderz – pheNOMIC

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 27, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

Finally a chance to give Alderz’ ode to Nomic a quick shout – a shorter mix here, but as you’d expect it’s really worth checking out. Alderz has been rummaging through the promo drawer for this one, yet avoided the fatal error of throwing unreleased tunes into a set willy-nilly – there’s a great structure to the set, with the added bonus of some less well-known tunes alongside the classics. Wonderful to hear Awa again, and Holocaust is a great choice from Nomic’s massive list of ‘set finishing’ aggressive tracks.

PlasmaDancer – Lucky Lotus Online Electronic Music Festival 3

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 26, 2013
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 3 comments

PlasmaDancer – Lucky Lotus, August 2013 by Plasmadancer on Mixcloud

I’ve had a couple more requests to put my Lucky Lotus set online, so here it is! The artists/DJs on the FINRG SoundCloud are pretty self policing these days in terms of what goes up there, and as in this case I don’t think the set is anywhere near the quality we should expect from FINRG I’ve dusted off Mixcloud instead. That’s not to say I was disappointed with what I came up with, mind, just it was always intended to be a one-off event-style set that showed off a few styles, not one for repeated listens.

Anyway, I was a bit unsure about where to pitch this one, but decided to go for some melodic sounds to start with (Beati Mortui aside) and then hit listeners with some harder, darker tracks. It got a pretty good response at the time, and I heard people picking out certain parts of the set that appealed to them, which is really what I was aiming for – if it inspired non-freeform fans to seek out some new tunes, then mission accomplished.

Have a listen and see what you think – apologies in advance for Face the Destiny – Neurotic and Toybox – Human Hater, those are the kind of lazy transitions I hate, though the rest of the set has a few old favourite connections from Ustream and Romancer.

Nrgray – Into the Darkness

Posted by PlasmaDancer on August 22, 2013
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 2 comments

The first set for a while from Nrgray is a nice 30 minute showcase of darker, melodic tracks. The big attraction here is obviously the Altered States version of Moving Flare, a beautiful tune that brings back lots of memories, but the set properly gets into its stride with Innocence into Morokai, nicely anchoring that all-important middle section of the mix.

1. ThermalForce – Moving Flare (Altered States) (CDR)
2. Transcend – Mindglow (Rebuild Music)
3. Nomic – Innocence (CDR)
4. Aryx – Morokai (Smiling Corpse)
5. Substanced & Alchemiist – Skullcrush (Transcend & Dyzphazia remix) (F/C FINRG Recordings)
6. Ikaruga_nex – Dodomeki (F/C Smiling Corpse)

Dyzphazia – Lucky Lotus 3

Posted by PlasmaDancer on August 22, 2013
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 3 comments

Been quite busy this week, and too occupied with Codex prep to check out all the mixes that have appeared recently. Here are a couple though, and I’ll catch up on the rest asap – there’re some really tasty sets floating around at the moment.

First up is Dyzphazia’s Lucky Lotus set, a really interesting hour that eases into the freeform after a slower start. I went for a similar ‘rookie friendly’ start, but here the lower bpm works especially well, then moving up through the gears and eventually finishing with Hydra. Lots of newer stuff on show throughout, but for me the standout moment of the set was definitely the Skullcrush – Anthrax Injection combo, a really nice mix of melodies and nastiness that flows very well. A shame it doesn’t continue in the same vein a little longer, but you won’t find a bad tune in the tracklist, that’s for sure (though Pink Magic doesn’t actually seem to be in there..?).

  1. Marilyn Manson – Resident Evil Main Theme (J-Gear Bootleg) [CDr]
  2. Wyrm & Surtr – Tesseract [Electrode]
  3. Cosmic Gate – Back to Earth (Alchemiist Bootleg) [CDr]
  4. Alek Szahala – Lagash (Original Mix) [CDr]
  5. Betwixt & Between – East of Eden [CDr]
  6. Substanced & Alchemiist – Skullcrush (Transcend & Dyzphazia Remix) [F/C FiNRG]
  7. Alchemiist – Anthrax Injection [Smiling Corpse]
  8. Epyx & Cyrez – Unohdetut 2011 [Electrode]
  9. Yuki Kajiura – Mezame (Nomic Bootleg) [CDr]
  10. Proteus & Kevin Energy – London Helsinki Underground (Proteus Warcry Remix) [NuEnergy]
  11. Qygen – gXX-XeY-XQn 2010 [CDr]
  12. Alek Szahala – Pink Magic [FiNRG]
  13. Betwixt & Between – Hydra (Long Edit) [Hardcore Tano*C]