Transcend has long been my favourite artist active in the UK freeform scene, even if the always-long breakdowns and trancier elements have done just enough to keep his tracks away from my own sets. This sample pack from Stamina is genuinely exciting then, as it gives artists and fumbling also-rans alike the chance to put their own spin on some of Transcend’s trademark sounds. Both demos have some brilliant sounding stuff, and the £23 asking price sounds very fair indeed for what I hope will become a long running series.
Releases
Part of the reason for all this silence is me desperately scrabbling around behind the scenes, of course, but truth be told there hasn’t been an awful lot that’s caught my eye in the last few weeks. The release of SOLIDCORE IX is pretty noteworthy though, as it features Chemical Infusion, a very promising track from Hyphen.
The compilation was actually released today and might be worth seeking out, but reflecting the strength of the hardcore scene in Japan right now there isn’t too much else of use for the freeform crowd.
As a footnote, In Praise of Shadows took another big step forwards a day or two ago, and we’re on the brink of placing the order with the CD manufacturers. If I get myself organised there might be some other announcements later today…
I know, it’s already April and still no release – but it’s pretty good news once again as the ‘to-do’ list gets shorter by the week. A couple of days ago I received the mastered version of the CD2 mix, as well as the final master of one track that underwent some tweaks to boost the feeling of speed. I’m really happy with both, and now that the admin rabbit-hole of the liner notes has been dealt with too, we’re back with only the design work to be finished up.
Some fun stuff I’ll be doing in the meantime is deciding where the track markings should be placed in the mixed set, and chopping up the unmixed track preview clips that’ll go online before too long. The plan is to get both jobs finished before the end of the weekend, and then be poised to throw all the necessary at the CD production folk as soon as the graphics are ready.
We’re definitely not far off now…
It’s always nice to see DJs in the freeform scene take the step up to production, and this time it’s Shimotsukei who has braved the divide with a fine debut tune. Working with hardcore producer Archari, his first track is a remix of a past Pokemon movie theme, but has more than enough elements to make it something distinct.
An understandable stumbling block for a lot of new producers (especially these days) is the inability to sound ‘authentic’ enough, or match the production levels of the established crew. The Guardian’s Song has little trouble here though, and to my ears has a little bit of the Hyphens about the acid and percussion. Plus of course the main theme is brilliantly chosen – even if the sample use is ever so slightly overkill in the main break it easily ticks all the boxes for the melancholy junkies in the audience.
What a great starting point then, and hopefully it’s an inspiration to others on TYFTH to take up the DAW and make a mark on the scene.
PRKL! Trax is another new label that should be well worth following, especially if your taste in tunes drops into the hard house bpm range. Decion features with Alchemiist on the first EP’s Cop Orgy, while a very heavy hardcore track from Waily has me excited about what other harder/faster tracks might be in store.
Now this is worth keeping an eye on – Hellfury is at the helm of a project that looks even further back than In Praise of Shadows for inspiration. N.E.E.M. will focus on the 90s trancecore sound, keeping the melodic, energetic feel and updating it for the current freeform scene.
The two previews so far sound excellent, and given Hellfury’s taste in tunes I think we can be confident that the rest will keep standards high. I can’t wait to hear more, and as I moved away from hardcore circa ’97 I’m expecting to be educated in what I missed. A set combining the releases on this compilation with tracks from trancecore’s heyday is a pretty exciting thought.
Ok, some good and slightly-less good news in this update – you might have noticed that things have been rather quiet around here recently, but I have been diligently plugging away behind the scenes whenever I’ve had the chance.
There’s a bit of a silver lining to the recent slow down though, as an artist got in touch with another track submission a couple of weeks ago. It’s a superb tune and a very worthy addition that I’m more than happy to find room for. In fact I’ve decided to do things Alabaster-style with CD 2, and so now the mix will be followed by two unmixed tracks. Both are remixes of a couple of classics, and nice counterpoints to the 10 unmixed tunes on CD 1.
You might remember that the graphic design was causing some delays last month, but there has since been some logo action and it’s now going through a few tweaks to decide the final version. Instead I’m to blame for the delay this month, as finalising the mix tracklist has taken longer than expected, obviously delaying the mountain of text that our beleaguered designer will somehow fit onto the digipack.
The tracklist is now 95% decided, but my schedule has meant that practice runs have been very hard to make room for this week. I’m quite happy with it, but would love to squeeze in a couple of different artists before the final recording. Label diversity’s not a problem though, with 7 or 8 represented at the last count, and releases ranging from 2004 to 2015.
The next steps, then, are to get the mix recorded (this week or next), sort out the final version of the liner notes/tracklist, and get both to the designer asap. After that we’re ready for production, so previews and incessant promotion aren’t far away. Thanks for your patience, and of course feel free to get in touch with any questions in the meantime.
Time for one of those posts about something you really should have checked out by now – Alchemiist has given FINRG’s SoundCloud a boost with Highwind, a new freeform track that celebrates 400 likes on his Facebook page.
The first thing to note is the production quality, with the track sounding very crisp and weighty and some superb leads that speak to all kinds of influences. There are elements of Alek Szahala, Pain on Creation, and Substanced here, but Alchemiist has made sure that his own vicious, melodic freeform stays at the forefront. Definitely one of those tracks that shows how FINRG can keep its distinctive sound while matching the production levels of a very UK-centric modern scene.
Much delayed, but it’s once again time to join the good folk of the Japanese scene for a look back at the finest tunes of last year. Big thanks as always to everyone who took part, and I hope it’s interesting to see what has been catching the ears of producers and DJs in this corner of the freeform world.
Every year I love seeing as many of these lists as possible, so if you have your own idea of a Top 3 then feel free to post it down below for us to compare and contrast. My picks were especially tough, as in all honesty In Praise of Shadows would have totally dominated had it managed to appear in December…
Oh and as there were plenty of unfamiliar (at least to me) tracks in the lists this time, I’ve tried to add a preview/tune link to help out the clueless among us.
GULD (NRGetic Romancer)
1. GULD – Spirits of Saiyan (‘F’ the Reverse)
2. Alek Száhala – Dryad Machine (GULD remix)
3. Hatsune Miku – Senbonzakura (GULD remix)
Alabaster (Cradle to Grave)
1. Sharkey & Rikki Arkitech – Quadraphonics (2015 Stem Remaster)
2. Div_ne Inspiration – Show You The Way (CLSM remix)
3. Tom Parr – You’re Shining I’m Dying
Hyphen (Splash Energy/Relentless)
3. Transcend & Hardform – Deliverance
Morita Yuuhei (Illegal Wave)
1. Aryx – Helix
2. James Xavier – Look To The Future
3. Yuki Kajiura – Mezame (Hyphen Bootleg)
Raqhow (CODEX/Freeform Bros)
3. Epyx & Cyrez vs Tyranoid/Strongstream – What Lies Below
Asahi (Karma-業-)
1. Alek Száhala – The Last of the Mohicans
2. Technikal feat. Rob Tissera – Don’t Say Goodbye
NONAKA+CHIN (Spreemo/Freeform Bros)
PlasmaDancer (TYFTH/FINRG/NRGetic Romancer)
Right then, some apologies are in order – the traditional ‘Top 3 Tracks’ is on its way, but what with one thing and another I haven’t given those involved anywhere near enough time to make their choices. It’ll be coming asap then, along with my Top 3 mixes (I have a couple I want to check out before I make my final choice).
The next apology is In Praise of Shadows related – I’m now all too understanding of the Watchtower crew and their perpetually delayed third release (out now though, of course). The design side is taking far longer than expected, and the lack of logo means 2015 won’t be ending with the triumphant ‘real announcement’ I had in mind. On the positive side, pretty much all aspects of the release are in the works or already complete, and it’ll just need a few weeks of concerted effort for the compilation to reach its final state.
In the meantime there has been a nice development on the licensing front, meaning that a bootleg track will be appearing on the mixed CD as a fully licensed tune. Wish I could say more, but there’ll be more on that and some CD1 track previews next month.
As a little expression of thanks for the support over the past year, then, I’ve decided to upload a promo set I put together last year at the request of an event in Asia. It was enough to get me a booking, but Bureaucratic Sod’s Law struck – a delayed Japanese visa renewal meant I was unable to leave the country on that very weekend.
Anyway, the set is intentionally a very short one, to show how NRG and slowed-down freeform could easily find a home at Industrial or Goth events. Among my own sets it has been one of my most-played for a while now, possibly thanks to the presence of a few tunes I don’t often get the chance to hear/use. More apologies in advance for the pitched-down Alek tracks, but personally I think they fit in quite nicely as a more demented finale (which in hindsight I could/should have used to bump up the bpm).
The tracklist looks like this:
01. Beati Mortui – Let the Funeral Begin (Proteus remix)
02. Lab 4 – Requiem (Metatron Hard mix)
03. Epyx & Cyrez – Risk Addiction (Substanced remix)
04. Hase – Brionac
05. Lab 4 – Hellboy
06. Inugami, Lunch, Betwixt & Between – Reverend Recital
07. Alek Szahala – Maruuk
08. Alek Szahala – Voices of Babylon
Finally, special thanks to everyone for the huge support this year. It’s been pretty special to see the response to the label news so far, and I think we can safely say that 2016 is going to be an exciting one for TYFTH. Happy New Year to all, and I’ll be back with a vengeance next month.