Top 3 Tracks of 2015

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 1, 2016
Posted in: Japanese, Releases, Top Tens. 9 comments

Much delayed, but it’s once again time to join the good folk of the Japanese scene for a look back at the finest tunes of last year. Big thanks as always to everyone who took part, and I hope it’s interesting to see what has been catching the ears of producers and DJs in this corner of the freeform world.

Every year I love seeing as many of these lists as possible, so if you have your own idea of a Top 3 then feel free to post it down below for us to compare and contrast. My picks were especially tough, as in all honesty In Praise of Shadows would have totally dominated had it managed to appear in December…

Oh and as there were plenty of unfamiliar (at least to me) tracks in the lists this time, I’ve tried to add a preview/tune link to help out the clueless among us.

GULD (NRGetic Romancer)

1. GULD – Spirits of Saiyan (‘F’ the Reverse)

2. Alek Száhala – Dryad Machine (GULD remix)

3. Hatsune Miku – Senbonzakura (GULD remix)

 

Alabaster (Cradle to Grave)

1. Sharkey & Rikki Arkitech – Quadraphonics (2015 Stem Remaster)

2. Div_ne Inspiration – Show You The Way (CLSM remix)

3. Tom Parr – You’re Shining I’m Dying

 

Hyphen (Splash Energy/Relentless)

1. Transcend – Truth vs Fear

2. Zman & Ted-E – Hong Kong

3. Transcend & Hardform – Deliverance

 

Morita Yuuhei (Illegal Wave)

1. Aryx – Helix

2. James Xavier – Look To The Future

3. Yuki Kajiura – Mezame (Hyphen Bootleg)

 

Raqhow (CODEX/Freeform Bros)

1. Alek Száhala – Megatherium

2. Transcend – Eons

3. Epyx & Cyrez vs Tyranoid/Strongstream – What Lies Below

 

Asahi (Karma-業-)

1. Alek Száhala – The Last of the Mohicans

2. Technikal feat. Rob Tissera – Don’t Say Goodbye

3. Transcend – Mindglow

 

NONAKA+CHIN (Spreemo/Freeform Bros)

1. Douglas – The End of FM

2. Transcend – Eternity

3. Zman & Ted-E – Hong Kong

 

PlasmaDancer (TYFTH/FINRG/NRGetic Romancer)

1. Nomic – Human Race Pt II

2. Blender – Illogical

3. Seileen – Lamento della Sirena (GULD remix)

Remembering Studio Cube

Posted by PlasmaDancer on January 29, 2016
Posted in: Events, Japanese, Mixes. Leave a Comment

Sorry about the late start to the year – an especially busy/stressful January has meant that a few posts haven’t quite made it to the fully-written stage, but now things are calming down and the Top 3 Tracks of 2015 will be here in the next couple of days, along with a roundup of 2015 mixes. Lots of compilation stuff has been going on too, and the next week will be an important one. More on that soon then, but rest assured I’m doing my best.

In the meantime, let’s reach for one of TYFTH’s specialist subjects – misty-eyed nostalgic looks at bygone times. I’ve talked before about how much I miss Tokyo’s Studio Cube (home of NRGetic Romancer, Tokyo Hardcore Construction, and plenty of other harder/psychedelic events), and it only takes a quick YouTube rummage to find some examples that bring back lots of memories and atmosphere.

At the top of this post we Decchi doing his thing at THC, surrounded by plenty of the usual suspects. This video’s a brilliant example of what Cube was like during any big event, but happily Decchi himself and plenty of the other dancing crew here can still be spotted at harder events around Tokyo.

Next here’s another typical example of Cube’s atmosphere – Yumi and Soham with some coordinated glowing, during what sounds like one of Cogi’s sets.

Of course Cube was the home of Betwixt & Between, and a look back at the club wouldn’t be complete without him. Especially in the days of his hannya mask, stepping onto the main floor during one of Betwixt’s sets was like walking into another dimension. Here’s one of my old videos, taken from up on the balcony.

This THC preview starts with a nice guided tour of Studio Cube, as well as featuring some giants of the scene. From Betwixt to Lunch and Kanon, the lineups were always impressive – and a special mention of LALA, one of my favourite Tokyo DJs. He’s still active, and his mixcloud has some good examples of his oldskool gabber/hardcore sets.

Hard not to mention the classic NRGetic Romancer DVD in a post about Studio Cube, so here it is one more time.

Finally, Cube will of course be extra special to me as the place I played my first club set. Behold a fresh-faced me in 2008, on my debut at Hell’s Gate – note the awe-inspiring stage presence and the wipe of some nervous sweaty palms before the next transition.

I’m not sure we’ll ever see these sorts of atmospheres again, but R-Lounge is forging a decent harder-event reputation these days alongside the other Tokyo staples. I’ll try to get back into the habit of taking video, so we have more memories to bask in a few years from now…

PlasmaDancer – Dark Alternative

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 31, 2015
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, Releases, Top Tens. 1 comment

Right then, some apologies are in order – the traditional ‘Top 3 Tracks’ is on its way, but what with one thing and another I haven’t given those involved anywhere near enough time to make their choices. It’ll be coming asap then, along with my Top 3 mixes (I have a couple I want to check out before I make my final choice).

The next apology is In Praise of Shadows related – I’m now all too understanding of the Watchtower crew and their perpetually delayed third release (out now though, of course). The design side is taking far longer than expected, and the lack of logo means 2015 won’t be ending with the triumphant ‘real announcement’ I had in mind. On the positive side, pretty much all aspects of the release are in the works or already complete, and it’ll just need a few weeks of concerted effort for the compilation to reach its final state.

In the meantime there has been a nice development on the licensing front, meaning that a bootleg track will be appearing on the mixed CD as a fully licensed tune. Wish I could say more, but there’ll be more on that and some CD1 track previews next month.

As a little expression of thanks for the support over the past year, then, I’ve decided to upload a promo set I put together last year at the request of an event in Asia. It was enough to get me a booking, but Bureaucratic Sod’s Law struck – a delayed Japanese visa renewal meant I was unable to leave the country on that very weekend.

Anyway, the set is intentionally a very short one, to show how NRG and slowed-down freeform could easily find a home at Industrial or Goth events. Among my own sets it has been one of my most-played for a while now, possibly thanks to the presence of a few tunes I don’t often get the chance to hear/use. More apologies in advance for the pitched-down Alek tracks, but personally I think they fit in quite nicely as a more demented finale (which in hindsight I could/should have used to bump up the bpm).

The tracklist looks like this:

01. Beati Mortui – Let the Funeral Begin (Proteus remix)
02. Lab 4 – Requiem (Metatron Hard mix)
03. Epyx & Cyrez – Risk Addiction (Substanced remix)
04. Hase – Brionac
05. Lab 4 – Hellboy
06. Inugami, Lunch, Betwixt & Between – Reverend Recital
07. Alek Szahala – Maruuk
08. Alek Szahala – Voices of Babylon

Finally, special thanks to everyone for the huge support this year. It’s been pretty special to see the response to the label news so far, and I think we can safely say that 2016 is going to be an exciting one for TYFTH. Happy New Year to all, and I’ll be back with a vengeance next month.

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.

Solvynt – Freeformaniacs Round 20

Posted by PlasmaDancer on November 30, 2015
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, Swedish. 4 comments

It turns out that Orphic’s excellent Freeformaniacs set was actually my second favourite of round 20 – a belated listen to Solvynt’s hour of NRG and freeform quickly sent it to the top of this batch of sets.

Frankly if you’re reading TYFTH (and you are), then this is sure to be a hugely enjoyable listen with many of our favourite tunes alongside some new and surprising tunes. Credit to Solvynt for doing a fine job with the atmosphere – consistently dark with enough variation and melody to keep things interesting. The mixing itself ranges from solid to really exciting (no clashing keys here, crucially), and my personal favourite was that quality switch from Desolated Dreams to Inquisition. The old faithful of Maruuk to Voices of Babylon is also in there, one I’ve used many a time myself.

This being Solvynt, you be right to expect some rare or unusual tracks, and to his huge credit they’re nicely incorporated into the set. The great use of This Moment as an intro sets this off in the right way, but listen out too for Guld’s LUCID and especially Nomic’s brand new Personal Hater.

Tracklist-wise, I don’t think I’ve seen a set so close to my own tastes for a long time, and I expect a lot of Horsers will feel the same way. Very highly recommended.

00. Anomic – This Moment [Unreleased]
01. HASE – 法界 [Khaotic Dimension]
02. DJ MANIK – LUCID (GULD remix) [Nrgetic Romancer]
03. Betwixt & Between – Self Extortion [Unreleased]
04. Epyx & Cyrez meets Heathen – All of Us [E&C Self-Released]
05. Nomic – Desolated Dreams [Unreleased]
06. Nemes & Blender – Inquisition (Blender remix) [Unreleased]
07. Alek Szahala – Maruuk [Finrg]
08. Alek Szahala – Voices of Babylon [Finrg]
09. Pain on Creation & Fea – Unconsciousness [Electronica Exposed]
11. Twisted Freq – Horsehead [Electronica Exposed]
12. Nomic – Personal Hater(preview) [Unreleased]

 

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.