Releases

In Praise of Shadows – Update 2

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 18, 2015
Posted in: Events, Japanese, Mixes, Releases. 1 comment

The original schedule has taken a little bit of a hit, so I thought it time for an update to let you know what’s going on. With so many people/companies involved it was inevitable that some admin issues would rear their heads, and so it’s proved this month – nothing major at all, but things haven’t progressed quite as quickly as I would have hoped.

Most importantly the tracks are almost definitely at the ‘final product’ stage of mastering, so no problems there. The delays have mainly been in the design department, but they’re mostly sorted and should mean a more ‘official’ presence on SoundCloud and all the usual social media suspects before the end of the month. Although the CD2 mix was close to complete at the start of December, I decided to use the limbo-time to look into licensing some other bits and pieces that would comfortably get the set up to the hour mark, and I’m continuing to tinker with it while everything else settles into place.

Still coming along very nicely though, and next month remains a very realistic goal for production. Look out for the next update, where we’ll hopefully be taking a first look at the label logo.

Qygen – Kaoru Kimura no Densetsu (Tribute to Betwixt & Between) [Alt. Version]

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 12, 2015
Posted in: Japanese, Mixes, Releases, USA. Leave a Comment

There’s a case to be made (and someone made it to me the other day) that Qygen is the most melodically advanced producer in freeform these days, and his tribute to Betwixt & Between is another one of those tracks that rewards repeated listening. Qygen has just added an alternative version to his SoundCloud – not a massive difference, but the second half’s ‘heavy’ kick is really effective.

On the subject of Qygen, a belated shout to Hellfury for the fine work he did on the recent(ish) Smiling Corpse and Freeformatted promo set. I finally checked it out a couple of weeks ago, and the mixing is top drawer – always hard to work with a restrictive tracklist and still avoid some clangs, but this one is very smooth. Obviously it’s well worth checking out for new material from Exemia and some previews of Evolutionize’s very promising album, but also some incredible stuff from Qygen’s work on the Blue Revolver OST. Some of the finest freeform of the year, no doubt.

Hyphen – Large Hadron Collider

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 9, 2015
Posted in: Japanese, Releases. Leave a Comment

Quick mention of a tune I should have posted about back in September – as always Hyphen is producing at a frightening rate, but it’s been especially brilliant to hear the return of his melodic melancholy in amongst all the other styles.

Large Hadron Collider has to be one of my recent favourites, ticking all the boxes of power, speed and emotion. The breakdown doesn’t really match the rest of the tune in my opinion, but that explosive drop is likely one of the best you’ll hear all year. Add in the glorious lead and this a very impressive tune indeed, and one I’ve definitely heard getting some play from the man himself at CODEX this year.

The track was a free release by Japanese net label Unisphere, as part of the Afterfire EP, and can be found here.

In Praise of Shadows – Update 1

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 23, 2015
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, Releases. 3 comments

It’s already been a while since the big announcement, so it’s maybe time for an update on what’s been going on this month.

The bad news is that a release next month was predictably ambitious, and so January 2016 is now the target. Though the tracks have been mastered, graphic design and production of the CDs is going to take a fair while, and it’s sure to be another big step into the unkown as I prepare to start taking orders. I’m not brave enough to set a firm date yet, then, but towards end of January sounds doable at the moment.

Another reason I’m busy right now is that there’ll actually be a second CD in the first release, mixed by yours truly. Aiming high again, the other inspiration for the project was one of my all-time favourite albums, the original Logical Progression from Good Looking Records. The first CD (or cassette, in my case) was an unmixed compilation of forward-thinking tunes, while the second featured a mix by Bukem himself, an amazing set that showed what a journey an hour of intelligent jungle could be.

The mixed CD will (hopefully) do something similar, then, as in my opinion a selection of tracks in isolation only tells half the story of a genre like freeform. It will also be a show of solidarity with all the other labels that have supported the scene and our sound over the years, and so for a while now I’ve been busy licensing tracks for use in the mix. The tracklist is almost decided, and I think it’ll be pretty representative of some of our favourite artists and labels over the years. Of course it’s also supposed to serve as an intro to the genre for those who might be just joining in.

Rest easy though, as I wouldn’t dream of expecting people to pay for one of my sets – I’ll absorbing the cost of the CD, and so essentially the eventual price will be for CD 1 alone. Plus I’m working in Japanese yen, and the continuing collapse of the economy here likely means a very reasonable price for most other countries.

My job over the next couple of weeks is to get the set finished, and if the art has been finished up by then we’ll be almost set for production. Please feel free to give me a shout if you have any questions or opinions, and I’ll let you know how it’s all looking in another week or so.

Freeform Will Never Die

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 23, 2015
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, Releases, Swedish, UK, USA. 1 comment

There’s something great going on at Freeform Will Never Die’s SoundCloud right now – a collecting together of a huge number of free releases from the labels that make up the scene, curating the best ones and making them handily available in one place.

The FINRG list of 25 tracks shows a really good ear for our kind of sound, and in fact even TYFTH was recently added to the collection. If you somehow missed out on our free tracks then be sure to take a look, and I’d wager there’ll be a few other free tunes on other labels that went under your radar until now.

Give FWND a SoundCloud follow as well, this kind of dedication deserves plenty of support.

Epyx & Cyrez meets Heathen – The Whisper

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 8, 2015
Posted in: Finnish, Releases, Swedish. Leave a Comment

The archived Epyx & Cyrez material continued the other day with the release of The Whisper on FINRG. Another collab with Heathen, this one doesn’t match the amazing All of Us but definitely has its moments – the post-break melodies are classic E&C with some of the industrial heaviness Heathen was working on back then, and I love the little Re-form-esque stabs in the outro. It had me wishing for a few more filters, but otherwise a very solid tune for those 160bpm+ sets.

[TYFTH001] Announcing TYFTH – In Praise of Shadows

Posted by PlasmaDancer on October 23, 2015
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Releases. 23 comments

It’s been a struggle to keep this (fairly) quiet until now, but it’s finally time to announce TYFTH’s new direction – while the site will continue to be a welcoming place for fans of darker, deeper NRG and freeform (and will hopefully do a better job of that in the months to come), 2015 is the year that TYFTH finally steps up and becomes a fully-fledged label, supporting the scene in the way I always hoped it might.

While a cluster of newer labels have been doing a fine job of carrying the torch since FINRG’s lower profile in the scene, the number of artists producing twisted, melancholy and darker material has definitely dropped. It really feels like time, then, for TYFTH to become what I think is a label that’ll do its bit to help reinvigorate the sound we love.

The basic TYFTH mission statement is to bring back the dark, beautiful, otherworldly sounds that made me fall in love with NRG and freeform all those years ago, but with modern production that does the artists’ ideas justice. Albums like Khaotic Dimension and FINRG’s Hakkapeliitta were the reasons that many of us got into the scene, and TYFTH will be aiming high and using them for inspiration.

The first release on TYFTH will be an ‘invitation only’ CD compilation titled In Praise of Shadows, featuring 11 Finnish and Japanese tracks. All but two (carefully selected tracks) have been specially commissioned for the album. The artists have done a fabulous job of rising to the challenge, with plenty commenting how enjoyable it has been to ’travel back in time’ to revisit the atmosphere of years past. Massive thanks to everyone for buying into the concept of the label – I couldn’t have wished for a better response.

At this stage things are actually more advanced that you might expect – all the tracks for TYFTH’s first release have been submitted, and mastering is underway. The first track is an awesome return to production by Proteus – Monochrome is a dark, aggressive mix of industrial and NRG, and will start the compilation at 150bpm. Check it out right now on Proteus’ SoundCloud, and keep an ear on the TYFTH SoundCloud for previews of others over the next month or two.

The other tracks run through all the sounds you’d expect of TYFTH, with everything from angry filtered NRG to melancholy freeform via some dark, unusual detours. The list of artists involved is honestly as good as you’ll see anywhere – I can’t wait to share the full lineup.

Finally for now, a quick word on CD vs digital. I’m 100% with Smiling Corpse and their appreciation for the physical product, and TYFTH will be releasing albums with art, design and presentation that matches the quality of the music. The commissioned cover art is complete and utterly fantastic, doing full justice to the atmosphere (and title) of the compilation. ‘In Praise of Shadows’ will hopefully have a physical as well as musical presence that puts the Finnish/Japanese sounds back where they deserve to be – at the forefront of the scene.

It goes without saying that I’ll be keeping everyone informed on here as things develop, and if things go to plan (which, as I’ve already discovered, they rarely do), the first release will be ready around the end of this year/early 2016. November will tell me a lot about that, one way or the other, and you’ll all be the first to know.

I hope the TYFTH crew are as excited about this as I am – we’ve always had a brilliant group of people here, and your feedback/constructive opinions are 100% welcome. Without everyone’s support here and elsewhere over the years, this (possibly mad) project wouldn’t have gone past the daydream stage, but I’m very glad it has.

Plenty more still to announce, so updates will be coming soon.

Seileen – Lamento della Sirena (GULD remix) / Alek Szahala – Dryad Machine (GULD remix)

Posted by PlasmaDancer on October 3, 2015
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Goa / Psy, Japanese, Releases. 4 comments

Dark Dimension’s compilation will be released tonight, but some very nicely presented previews of all the tracks are up now on YouTube. TYFTH interest probably centres on Guld’s remixes – great to hear the tidied-up version of Lamento della Sirena, while his NRG version of Dryad Machine works really well, complete with Genshi Kurage-style chiptune interlude.

There’s a lot of other interesting stuff up there (especially if you’re a dark psy fan), so the other videos are very worth checking out. If I make it to the event tonight I’ll try to get some decent video – it has been a while, and definitely something I should do more often.

Aryx – Port of Adia

Posted by PlasmaDancer on September 23, 2015
Posted in: Releases, UK. 4 comments

Following Alek Szahala and Alchemiist’s tracks we have another reason to consider the UK-centric Freeform Family album with Aryx’s Port of Adia. Any release that includes new Aryx material deserves some support – we desperately need more tracks of this depth and quality.