Just about to start a completely improvised ustream session, so feel free to stop by. Aside from a couple of requested tracks I don’t have a clue what I’ll be playing yet, but they might be on the more melodic/Hybridize side of things.
Events
A very special Christmas edition of the Freeformaniacs show is almost here, with 12 DJs playing one massive set. The full lineup is looking awesome, and it all starts from 9am (GMT) on Krafty Radio. Best of luck to everyone involved – I’ll still be at work though, so hopefully the recording will eventually make an appearance.
I made a mistake when working out which days I’m free this week, and it turns out that I’ll still be in Tokyo tomorrow evening too. As I don’t have work the following day, that might be a better choice to play a few tunes. Sorry for the last minute change, but the 22nd will hopefully still work for those who made the track requests!
I’m not sure I’ve recovered from the last two gigs yet, but as things are relatively calm this week there’s just time for a quick pre-Christmas ustream session. I’ve actually had a few tune requests, so those will definitely be going in, as well as a few that I couldn’t quite fit in to the Munted! set. I’m also planning on trying out some tracks from the fantastically promising Le Dos-on (see the next post), so there might be some interesting sounds to make up for the no-frills mixing.
Now that the excellent first edition of Munted! Monthly! has been and gone, I’ve finally had time to check Alek Szahala’s recent HBC set. As expected, it’s top quality, and the new material is a wonderful return to the darker side of Alek’s production.
Enuma Elish is a fantastic track, with a repetitive-yet-addictive main riff and an aggressive feel that really recalls classics like Maruuk, while it’s also great finally hear both Macuahuitl and the beautiful Dawnstar in a set. By all accounts Alek devastated the Krafty chatroom, and it bodes very well indeed for his set next March.
01. Alek Szahala – Macuahuitl
02. Alek Szahala – Ziggurat
03. Alek Szahala – Astraia
04. Alek Szahala – Sunray
05. Alek Szahala – Dryad Machine
04. Alek Szahala – Deimos
06. Alek Szahala – Voices of Babylon
07. Alek Szahala – Enuma Elish
08. Alek Szahala – Maruuk
09. Alek Szahala – Iron Squid
10. Alek Szahala – Dawnstar (2008 Remastered)
11. Mark Seibert – Erana’s Peace (Alek Szahala Remake)
The timetable for Munted! is now up, and I’ll be finishing the night off with my set. If anything it looks like I’ll have to leave out a lot of great tunes, but I’m tentatively happy with how things are coming together so far…
(All times are GMT, of course)
22-23 Douglas
23-00 Midas
00-01 Dyzphazia
01-02 PlasmaDancer
Announced earlier this week, Alek Szahala will play a set this evening on the Hard Beats Collective Show! Word is that there’ll be some new material to hear, but even if not chances to catch Alek’s Live PAs are few and far between, making it a must listen. It all starts at 10pm (GMT) on Krafty Radio – thanks to the time difference I’ll already be at work in Yokohama, so hopefully it’ll be recorded.
Preparation for Munted! Monthly! is slowly coming together, and so far I’ve been trying to put together a set reminiscent of Yamanote and the Monogatari mixes. Still plenty of work to do, but it’ll be starting at 175bpm with a few nice surprises, I hope…
An interesting competition’s just starting up over at the Freeform Forum, for one DJ to win a slot on the Freeformaniacs radio show. This would be a nice opportunity for some of the Horsers here to give their sound a wider audience, so head over to the forum for more info.
Members of the Freeform Forum will have seen this announcement already – Dyzphazia (our man Chip) and Midas are setting up Munted! Monthly!, a freeform-only show on Krafty Radio, and I’m honoured to have been invited to play a guest set on the first edition. DJ Douglas of Hard Beats Collective is the other guest, making an impressive four hours’ worth of full-on freeform.
This is a fantastic opportunity to get freeform even more exposure, and the ‘global’ angle of the DJ selections should result in the Krafty crew hearing some artists/styles for the first time. I usually like to take a few years to pick tunes for a set, but I’ll be doing my best to choose some must-listen Japanese tunes amongst the new releases/promos. Thanks a million to Chip and Midas for a very rare chance to show what the Tokyo scene is all about.
Hopefully there’ll be a good TYFTH contingent listening on the 17th – it all starts at 10pm GMT on Krafty Radio.
Only a few days before Destroyed High, and I’m currently going without sleep to try and decide which tunes might work at such a mixed-genre event. In the meantime, profiles of each of the DJs have been added to the Destroyed High site, and while it’s really one for the Japanese crew, there’s enough sprinkling of English to get the gist of everyone’s style, at least. The main floor is probably going to work out nicely, with DJ HELL’s hard house, hardcore/gabber from 490, dark psy from Sh1nmei, various flavours of hard dance from Dairin, and NRG-to-freeform from me.