Pain on Creation & E-NRG – Storm (Substanced Remix) by FINRG Recordings
What a surprise this was – a new Substanced remix of the PoC classic, Storm. It’s probably fair to say that this version has lost the grittiness of the original, but there’s some typically Substanced-standard synth work to make up for it (especially in the second half), as well as more of that recently-perfected kick.
Alek Szahala – Xochitlán by FINRG Recordings
FINRG has been very busy with the new additions (including one of my current favourites, Liberator) but for obvious reasons Xochitlán is the one I’m highlighting this time around. Still as powerful as ever, with a real tear-jerker of an intro and a killer climax, it’s hard to believe Alek came up with this one in 2005…
Epilim is generally acknowledged to be one of the real founders of the Finnish sound, though Proteus’ sets are about the only place to hear his material. Brilliant work from mixu, then, who has unearthed a couple of unreleased tracks. The first (which thanks to Jiipez, we now know is titled Trip 3) is a slow burner with some really nice trancy melodies and a fantastic second half, while the second (Plasma) sounds like it could have influenced everything from Cyclone to Maruuk with its post-breakdown hoovers. Almost goes without saying, but both are essential listens for anyone with the slightest interest in the origins of our scene.
Since the original post, mixu has uploaded a third tune with a lovely, chilled breakdown. Does anyone have any idea what this one’s called?
Following up the very promising Ephexor and Gladiator, Heathen also has an Epyx & Cyrez remix forthcoming on FINRG. This preview doesn’t give too much away, but it’s nice to hear such pacy drums in an E&C track, while the synths are really sounding top class.
In other news, today I finished the set I’ve been working on. Putting it together in two weeks might have cost me my sanity, but I’m pretty happy with the end result – watch this space!
That means that getting a forum up and running is top of the ‘to do’ list again, as well as finishing at least one of the tunes I’ve got lying around here.
Amini – Eupraxia (Unmixed) by DJ-Amini
It’s great to see Amini keeping up the pace with his production – following his recent trance tune Electric is a proper 175bpm freeform effort called Eupraxia. Once again showing the influence of Sam One, Horzi and Substanced, this is a very good tune with some nice creative touches. If you’re going to go down the ‘huge breakdown’ route you have to make sure it’s a good one, and here Amini’s managed it nicely with a vaguely tech-dance (?) section followed by some hyper-trancy melodies. Honourable mentions to the bassline and general mixdown too, very impressive stuff.
Awa (Unfinished & Lost Forever version) [100K DL´s edition] by FINRG Recordings
Something of a milestone for FINRG recently, reaching a total of 100,000 downloads since it became a free label. To mark the event, Nomic has released the latest (2009?) version of Awa, a very versatile tune if you’re in the mood for some long mixing, and plenty of nice melodies for the home listeners too.
There are some real gems on pocketpool1000’s (aka mixu) YouTube channel these days, and here’s an absolutely brilliant oldie from Nomic. I think I’ve heard most of his back catalogue, but this mix of 90s breakbeats, happy hardcore stabs and Nomic-style freeform is new to me.
Substanced – The World Collapses – Album Previews by Substanced / Subi
Substanced’s upcoming album is on the horizon, and now we’re starting to see some amazing stuff in preview form. The intro section’s kick, bass and filters took me right back to the good old days of Pain on Creation, and there’s acid, drum and bass, all sorts going on elsewhere.
If the material on here matches up to Geneva Part II, this is going to be one of the most important releases this year, no question.
It’s great to see Betwixt & Between producing again – there’s now a new track preview up of Tout est Bien, a filter heavy mix of his recent styles. Check out the first half of the tune, pretty masterful stuff as it builds into the main section, while there’s something nicely retro-sounding about that kick. Oldskool filters in the breakdown plus modern Betwixt melodies do the damage in the second half.
Alek Száhala – Ziggurat by FINRG Recordings
FINRG is building up some real momentum again, and following up Guld’s Concept of Love remix we now have a brand new freeform release from Alek Szahala. Everyone’ll be familiar with Ziggurat from the Mayhem 2011 set, but there’s no unfinished edit business going on here, it’s now updated with an incredible new section from 4.12 onwards. This one nicely balances the melodies with the rougher stuff, and will no doubt be getting some serious play from any right-minded DJ for the rest of this year.