Carbon Based and DJ Rx’s Titor Quantum Theory is the latest track to get a free release, and is a must download if you haven’t got it already. It’s a very nice mix of Rx and CB’s styles, with some nice filtered synths and a great melodic breakdown early on. Fond memories of this one for me, it was the second track of my debut Hell’s Gate set.
Download the wav (!) from FINRG’s SoundCloud
Last Sunday afternoon was Operation Karma, but I wasn’t able to get there in the end. A big shame after I missed the last one (I was in Taiwan), I really want this event to keep going as long as possible.
Anyway, here are a few videos of what we all missed – first is KA-NA playing her usual Alek Szahala (plus a couple of others) set. In this clip she’s playing Vengeance, followed by the underrated Firecloud, I haven’t heard that for a long time.
Here are the next two ‘releases’ for TYFTH’s Tracks section – Hangover Academy & Decion’s Technological Terror and Heathen’s Digital Destruction. Both are Hard NRG tunes and genuinely two of my recent favourites, so massive thanks to the guys for agreeing to release them.
Hangover Academy is a collab between Substanced and Alchemiist, which explains why the track sounds so pro – with Decion on board as well they’ve got the perfect team for making some nasty sounds. This one pitches up quite well, (I’ve been really close to using it for a few of my slower sets), and the breakdown/madness after it is top quality stuff.
Proteus included the Cyrez remix of Digital Destruction in his last top ten, and the original is also a great tune (especially considering it’s one of Heathen’s first NRG tracks), with quite a different feel. I really like the breakdown in this one too, the strings coming in over machine sounds is definitely nice and atmospheric.
Hope everyone enjoys them. Next on the list is some higher bpm freeform, so stay tuned…
Hopefully everyone caught Android Lime and Alek Szahala’s radio show last night? There were some amazing tracks from Alek Szahala, including his upcoming release, Astraia. On hearing it, I realised I knew the track already, but the breakdown is just something else – especially now I’m ‘producing’ myself, his melodies are genuinely awe-inspiring…
For anyone who missed the radio show, it was a fantastic set which went right the way through from hard NRG (including Android Lime’s new track, Sex and Violence), to some very high bpms at the end. I’ll let Android post up a tracklist if/when that’s ok, but one of the tracks in the middle was Betwixt & Between’s recently released Nemesis (included on Hardcore Syndrome 3 included on the Alice’s Emotion COLORS compilation – thanks to eirik for the correction).
He already played it at a couple of NRGetic Romancers, and it’s one of his best for a while – when I first heard the breakdown, I was thinking that the less skilled hardcore producers out there would have stopped at the first melody, others might have kept going with the second, but only the top level (Alek etc) can come up with that final melody as the drums come back in…that’s what takes it into ‘potential classic’ territory, I reckon.
edit: Thanks to Android Lime, here’s the full tracklist for the Radio set:
A few days ago Horzi completed his 2009 promo set, and it’s a real stormer. 100% his own production (plus collabs with Sam on and Substanced), it’s full of his very distinctive sound and deep breakdowns. The mixing is rock solid too, so if you haven’t already, make sure to check this one out right away.
Here’s a new mix from one of the regulars at TYFTH, Dyzphazia (aka Chip when he’s commenting here), and it’s very refreshing to hear a set that starts off at 175bpm. Opening with the classic Sunfire, this one is a really nice mix of old and new, just how it should be. He’s been quick off the mark to include Airwave, as well as Genshi Kurage and Hell’s Gate from TYFTH. Other nice selections include Alek’s Lagash and Pain on Creation’s Ironworks, making a set that’s well worth checking out.
On the constructive criticism side, personally I might have changed the order of a few tracks to get some smoother connections here and there – but Genshi Kurage>Iron Works>Unhola works especially well, and I was smiling like a fool while listening to the teasing in of Hell’s Gate over Icy Clouds.
The mix is now up on Dyzphazia’s SoundCloud – and I’d recommend his previous set too, a lot of my favourites are in there.
The flyer design for NRGetic Romancer is all finished (a bit small here, sorry), and confirms that it’ll be another DJ set from Full Circle DJs, rather than Live PA. The last one was a big hit, so definitely looking forward to that.
As it’s the Hannya release party, I’ll probably be using one of the new remixes in my set – should fit in with the style I’ll be going for this time.
Another classic has just been released on FINRG, Carbon Based’s Tuonela. This is definitely one of my favourite Carbon Based tunes, and the couple of times I’ve played it at NRGetic Romancer it really did the business – any fans of the older FINRG style will feel right at home with its nasty synths and trademark CB melody, finished off with the great vocal sample.
The latest bootleg release on Hybridize might be a bit of a surprise…it’s Betwixt & Between’s superb remix of Airwave! Although the tune has been around for over a year, it’s definitely been one of the anthems of 2009 here – without even getting a release. Now, finally, a newly mastered version is available on Hybridize. I really thought that this is the kind of tune that Hybridize does well – trance melodies and freeform bpm – and hopefully everyone else will agree. Plus it’ll get Betwixt/the Japanese scene a bit more exposure in Europe (and beyond, of course), which can only be a good thing. As usual, head over to the download page ASAP!
This wasn’t a hardcore/freeform event, but it’s always great to see Decchi in full flow. Here he’s glowsticking alongside Tora at last night’s Vinylize – for a moment I thought about going too, but the selection is just too slow for me…for higher bpms we have Operation Karma, coming up tomorrow afternoon.