Releases

ikaruga_nex – Abyss

Posted by PlasmaDancer on August 16, 2014
Posted in: Japanese, Releases. 1 comment

Most will have seen this by now, but if for some reason you’re not a regular visitor to SoundCloud, ikaruga_nex’s latest free download is essential listening. Abyss is another tune that shows how he is really making strides with his own style of freeform – it’s fair to say that ikaruga’s coming up with some of the most creative music in the scene right now.

Once again there are a few melodies that strike me as just that bit too happy, but the structure is superb – that climactic sequence is brilliantly put together. The intro/outro are very nicely set up for DJ use, so hopefully we’ll be seeing Abyss in some near-future sets.

E-Mantra – Between Two Worlds: The Boatman

Posted by PlasmaDancer on August 13, 2014
Posted in: Goa / Psy, Releases. 1 comment

E-Mantra? Shouldn’t this be filed in the long-neglected Goa Chill Out Corner?

Actually no, this one is indirectly freeform-related – you might remember me talking about my search for alternatives to drum and bass sections or (heaven forbid) dubstep-style breakdowns when adding variety to a mix. While we’ve seen recently that the former certainly works well in the right set, what I’ve been looking for is something that’ll complement (or even deepen) the atmosphere of other tracks while providing a change of pace.

I’d suggest E-Mantra’s wonderful take on dark ambient as one option, as it’s not hard to find elements that atmospherically match with the darker/more melancholy strands of freeform. We’re clearly heading into dangerous territory here though, as it’d be all too easy to misjudge how much dismal, drumless atmosphere will actually add something to the set – the drums in BTW:TB make things a bit easier, but at last month’s CODEX I gambled on also using a large-ish section of the preceding darkness. I followed it up with a classic (and very hard) freeform tune, but maybe I’ll talk more about that in the eventual look back at CODEX itself. It was a farly successful little experiment, but I’ll be continuing to think about other ways to switch things up and (hopefully) make my sets a bit more interesting and coherent.

The track itself appears on The Hermit’s Sanctuary, E-Mantra’s excellent album that was released last year by Altar Records. There are plenty of darker tracks to experiment with, but it’s also highly recommended if you’re simply after some extremely deep, downtempo listening.

Alek Szahala – Bermuda Square

Posted by PlasmaDancer on August 5, 2014
Posted in: Finnish, Releases. 1 comment

It’s always nice to see the results from each year’s Assembly demo event in Finland, and this time both Alek Szahala and Byproduct had some very nice material on show. Alek’s Bermuda Square was ranked third in the ‘dance’ category, and is an uplifting trancey track that threatens to drift into Paocala territory without ever becoming too melancholy. The little fill before the main drop (from 1.26) was probably my favourite moment – after a fairly conventional breakdown it’s a lovely touch that not many artists could come up with.

It’s definitely worth checking out the Assembly Archive site for more entries, where you’ll also find Galatian March, an impressive downtempo track from Paokala and Underwater Things, a wonderfully melodic tune from Byproduct.

Freeformatted EP007

Posted by PlasmaDancer on August 4, 2014
Posted in: Japanese, Releases, UK, USA. Leave a Comment

Another new EP from Freeformatted then, this time with a bit more of a consistent sound and some fascinating inclusions. Guld’s brilliant Gozenzeuna is still my favourite, but Exemia’s Psyperactive shows loads of promise, and I hope we’ll be hearing more of this style in the future. Le Dos-on and Evolutionize’s tracks are up to their usual standards and of course are well worth checking out if you’re in need of a melodic freeform fix.

An essential release, Freeformatted is really showing what a smaller online label can achieve with some bold artist choices and careful curation of tunes.

Icon & R. Cena – Inner Universe

Posted by PlasmaDancer on July 16, 2014
Posted in: Goa / Psy, Japanese, Releases. 1 comment

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..

Proteus on Bandcamp

Posted by PlasmaDancer on July 9, 2014
Posted in: Finnish, Releases. Leave a Comment

This year hasn’t been a great one so far for genuinely dark freeform/NRG, so Proteus’ move into Bandcamp has come at the perfect time. As well as some classics that everyone surely owns by now, there are newer tracks like the superb Freedom and even some previously unreleased material. It looks as though Proteus will be adding new tracks ‘regularly’ – be sure to keep an eye on this project.

Alek Szahala – Wraithverge

Posted by PlasmaDancer on July 9, 2014
Posted in: Finnish, Releases. Leave a Comment

I’ve had a couple of posts in mind for over a week now, but what with CODEX and various other things there haven’t been many spare moments. Here’s the delayed first one then, to celebrate a very welcome release for Alek Szahala’s Wraithverge. Downtempo bpm or not, this is an excellent slice of darkness that everyone should check out – just don’t forget to spare a thought for all the chickens who died to bring you this one.

Spirit Wolf – Evergreen

Posted by PlasmaDancer on June 11, 2014
Posted in: Releases, USA. Leave a Comment

Spirit Wolf’s impressive recent remix of Celestia has a little bit too much UK flavour for me to easily use in a set, but his short-but-sweet Evergreen is another tune that certainly deserves a TYFTH shout.

Keeping the UK-style enormous kick and bass, there’s a very strong Alek Szahala influence here in both the beautiful breakdown and main melody that mark this out as a quality track. Also nice to hear a tune that doesn’t outstay its welcome – the three and a half minute playtime flies by, but feels just about right, even if that’d keep most DJs busier than they’d like to be mid-set.

Like Celestia, Evergreen is a free download on Sprit Wolf’s soundcloud.

Freeformatted EP005

Posted by PlasmaDancer on June 3, 2014
Posted in: Japanese, Releases, UK. 2 comments

Another brilliant EP here from Freeformatted, once again doing a fine job representing the Japanese side of things. This release is an interesting mix though, with harder-than-normal Disruptor from Transcend and Cyrax joined by some retro-themed Fuck Around from Invader and Morita yuuhei’s latest, Forced Worship.

My favourite has to be ikaruga_nex’s Sink, a top quality effort with a very strong Betwixt & Between influence – although in classic ikaruga style the post-breakdown melody threatens to become a little too J-Core, his talent for filtering and ear for darker, aggressive sections take it back into my kind of territory, really living up to the promise of the first half. All being well I’ll fit this one into the next CODEX setlist, and the other tracks will likely be getting plenty of play from DJs across the spectrum.