It’s been great to see Lab 4 playing events once again, and this ageha booking is pretty exciting news for anyone in or near Tokyo in September. The much-missed velfarre closed before my time in Tokyo, but there should be a big crowd of nostalgic old-timers in attendance for what would be my first visit to ageha.
Japanese
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.
Some advance warning here that Guld and I will be playing together in September, for the ever-quality Freeformaniacs show. Really looking forward to see how the tracklist turns out for this one – as always the set will be broadcast on happyhardcore.com and then downloadable later.
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.
Inner Universe is a big current favourite of ASAHI’s, and it’s thanks to him that I discovered this one – an almost-awesome tune that now has me hoping for a genuine freeform version. Typically for Stand Alone Complex, the original track is full of hipster-friendly ‘foreign vocals’ (Russian and English, this time), but the melodies are wonderful and tailor made for melancholy sets.
This remix works well, but toning down the J-Core and handing production duties to one of the FINRG crew would be a pretty exciting prospect..
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.
Thanks to Alderz I recently heard another Betwixt & Between tribute/remix from last year, this time taking on the rather underplayed Tindaros. 3R2’s remix is clearly more of a UK Hardcore-style effort, but crucially keeps a lot of the post-breakdown atmosphere.
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.
Looking for a new, creative set that does a little more than you’re used to? Hellfury’s Shin No Noir is definitely worth a listen then, a fine hour of dark, thoughtful freeform that really does a heroic job of showing what the genre can currently do.
The 7-minute opening of downtempo psy shows that we’re in for something out of the ordinary, followed by TYFYH’s own Across the Ancient Universe and then into some more conventional freeform. That uncurrent of psy/goacore never quite goes away though, and is another sign of a very well-constructed set. Some connections work better than others (Zusammengehorigkeit – Guardian Spirit and Inner Universe – Simulate are especially nice) but from start to finish there’s no faulting Hellfury’s commitment to a deep, emotional atmosphere. This is the kind of set we should see more of, and so Smiling Corpse also deserve plenty of credit for featuring it on the recent Dead Happy Podcast.
01. Memphidos – Touch the Universe [Sonic Loom]
02. Qygen – Across the Ancient Universe [Thank You For The Horse]
03. Betwixt & Between – Zusammengehörigkeit [ALiCE’S EMOTiON]
04. Blender & Nomic – Guardian Spirit [CDR/Unreleased]
05. Betwixt & Between – Matter of Fact [PREget Music]
06. Icon feat. R.Cena – Inner Universe [Exit Tunes]
07. DJ Sash – Simulate (Nightforce 4-Beat Remix) [CDR/Unreleased]
08. Metropolis feat. Martina – Liquid Nights [New Essential Platinum]
09. Nomic – Chaos Maker [Selfreleased / Nomic Soundcloud Page]
10. Pain On Creation & Nomic – Make me Real [FINRG]
11. Anon – Memaze (Remix) [CDR/Unreleased]
12. Qygen feat. Leo Hartley – Mediterranean Summer [Rebuild Music]
13. Alek Szahala – Xochitln [FINRG]