Midas – Freeformaniacs Round 21

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 7, 2016
Posted in: Drum & Bass, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK, USA. Leave a Comment

It’s a bit of an injustice that Midas hasn’t had more mentions on TYFTH, as he’s been doing a brilliant job over the years of sneaking Finnish and Japanese sounds into his sets, both online and around the UK. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the UK freeform crew have Midas to thank for their first exposure to FINRG.

You won’t often hear Wizbit and Alek Szahala in the same mix, but Midas was on top form for his recent-ish Freeformaniacs set, deftly negotiating his way from nutty breakbeat hardcore to some classics of the darker side. I’ve been known to dabble in breakbeat hardcore myself, and it’s hard to resist some of these throwbacks to the amen-heavy mid-nineties, especially when mixed this well. Some teeth-gritting might be needed through the tracks that start sounding a bit too nu-skool, but we’re soon into some of the best of current UK freeform, including Transcend’s excellent Candyman remix.

Midas has often pushed the Hybridize era nasty-but-melodic sound, and here it works as a nice bridge into the darker final section. Morokai, Fluorite, Icy Clouds, Alchemiist’s Pain remix – you really couldn’t ask for a much better selection if you’re looking to introduce folk to our side of things. Quite the journey of a set, and one that’d easily grace the peak time of many a UK event, I reckon.

ALIAS A.K.A. – DJ Mix 048 – 48 Hours

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 30, 2016
Posted in: Drum & Bass, Mixes, UK. 3 comments

Let’s go non-freeform for the next in the long list of sets I’ve been checking out recently – Alias A.K.A.’s mammoth look back at late-90s intelligent drum and bass.

That 1997-1999 era was when the intelligent sound started heading along the road to oblivion though, and by 2000 the melancholy and deeper melodies had mostly been abandoned in favour of faster, less complex drums and endless sweeping pads. I felt at the time that this was a real last hurrah for the subgenre, and Alias has picked out every single one of my favourites in an excellently mixed set.

Coincidentally the other day I listened again to one of Bukem’s finest mixes from this era (Progression Sessions), which obviously had an influence on Alias’ tracklist, but there are also plenty of well selected jazzy tracks amongst the spacey tunes. The opening combo of The Rhyme Goes On and Do What You Gotta Do sets the standard, and the rest of the set does a fine job of living up to it. Occasional clashing pads aside, there are some brilliant connections in here –  Mind Games followed by Planetary Funk Alert is a worthy centrepiece for the set.

A lot of the freeform crew might already have been listening to early NRG and trancecore by this stage, but this is essential listening for anyone with an interest in deeper dance music, especially if you missed these tunes at the time.

Hellfury – Freeformaniacs Round 22

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 30, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

It’s very encouraging to see Hellfury’s continued support for the emotional side of freeform – the first half of his recent Freeformaniacs set is loaded with impressively mixed, long-break heavy tracks and downtempo interludes. The overall atmosphere ticks just about every box for me in terms of what quality freeform needs to be – thoughtful, melancholy, but also aggressive when the time is right.

The interludes here take it to an extreme, however, and it got me wondering what sort of a crowd would go for this in a live environment. I’m convinced there’s a club audience for this kind of break-heavy play style, but maybe somewhere other than the hardcore scene…thoughts for another time maybe, but it’s a very promising direction and I’d love to see Hellfury and others develop it further. Being picky I’d suggest that half-speed downtempo tracks that blend smoothly with the freeform would take it to the next level, but Hellfury’s selections here are a quality start.

The second half of the set is perhaps a nod to the upcoming N.E.M.M. compilation, with far older trancecore/freeform tracks mixed impressively into some newer material from Qygen. The combination works really well, and the energetic shift in tone from the first half opens up the set to even more potential listeners.

Quite the demonstration of how diverse a single set can be, then, and very highly recommended.

Cuedy – Freeformaniacs Round 21

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 18, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK, USA. Leave a Comment

Label shenanigans are maybe one instrument too many for the TYFTH one-man band, but the past month has seen a lot of quality mixes and I’ll be highlighting a few when I have the chance.

First up is Cuedy’s recent Freeformaniacs set – an hour of standard-issue TYFTH-friendly tracks (which is a very good thing), punctuated by two or three really nice transitions and a couple of tracklist surprises.

Obvious shouts to Cuedy for starting with Betwixt & Between’s Eternal[l]y, followed by a really good connection in Alchemiist’s Pain remix. The rest of the set alternates between nastier filters and melodic interludes, and I was glad to see that classic tracks were given special attention in terms of transitions – we’ve all been listening to them for so long now, they really should. Eryk Orpheus’ Pyjama Sonata was a nice follow up to Supriya, while Alabaster’s Flamberge was the big surprise of the set. It was the final connection that really got me though, as the slightly chaotic blend of filtered riffs from Xerosis to Super Sonic shows off the older FINRG sound at its finest.

Shimotsukei & Archari – The Guardian’s Song (Remix)

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 4, 2016
Posted in: Releases, UK, USA. Leave a Comment

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.

N.E.M.M. – Nostalgic. Euphoric. Melodic. Music.

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 22, 2016
Posted in: Releases, UK. 3 comments

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.

In Praise of Shadows – Update 3

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 16, 2016
Posted in: Japanese, Mixes, Releases. 4 comments

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.

Top 3 Mixes of 2015

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 9, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, Top Tens, UK, USA. 3 comments

I’ve done plenty of mix listening over the past couple of months to catch up with what was an excellent year of sets in 2015. Some strong releases have kept a lot of sets fresh, but there have also been some quality older selections and an overall higher level of mix transitions than we’ve seen for a couple of years. Here, then, are my favourite three.

3. Alek Szahala – Live @ CODEX5, Tokyo 2015

This was a special set for all sorts of reasons, but even putting to one side Alek’s return to Tokyo this is a wonderful hour that showcases a lot of different styles through more than a decades’ worth of tracks. There are some surprises thanks to a few unusual connections, while the contrast between the darker and lighter sides of Alek’s sound is very nicely put together.

2. Dyzphazia – Hardcore Summer Bash 2015

Despite the new releases this year one of my favourite sets was this primer in older FINRG, delivered by Dyzphazia. Very solid mixing lets the tracks speak for themselves, and the selection of aggressive filtered tracks is nicely broken up with some classic, melancholy melodies. If you know someone who has yet to get into freeform, then pointing them towards this set would be a sensible first step.

1. Solvynt – Lucky Lotus Online Electronic Music Festival 5

Solvynt’s set is another one that lets most of the tracks play out to their full length, but the eventual transitions are often something very special indeed. The track selection is pure TYFTH, and even if the second half can’t quite maintain the levels of the first, the flow of the set is superb as it builds to the Stance – Taranis finale. Definitely my favourite set of the year, and the good news is that Solvynt is back on the Lucky Lotus lineup for this year’s event (more on that soon).

Honourable mentions:

Olly Addictive & Akumie, Shimotsukei, Orphic, Alchemiist

 

Alchemiist – Highwind

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 8, 2016
Posted in: Finnish, Releases. Leave a Comment

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.