Another track I missed from last month is a real treat – a freeform remix of the anthemic Concorde from Byproduct. As much as I love his production and style I’ve often hoped that some harder tracks would make an appearance too, and this doesn’t disappoint at all. Currently the tune’s without a download link – I haven’t heard anything either way, so maybe the good folk at FINRG will see sense and add one soon.

edit: Thanks to Bern and Alderz for pointing out that it’s downloadable from Byproduct’s site right now.

Thanks to Amini I heard Stockholm Syndrome while in Tampere, and it’s great to see that Smiling Corpse has snared it for release. Incredible production once again, and J-Mx was talking the other day about the lovely breakdown (even if I could do without the vocal again, truth be told).

A brilliant track then, and speaking of Amini his excellent Guitarian is also set for release on SC, as well as the really interesting Thunderhead by Xombei. Very encouraging that some more experimental sounds are appearing with the big-hitters, the first release is already looking essential.

Plenty of interesting stuff appearing at the moment, but let’s start with a recent free track from UK artist Transcend. This one was released by Watchtower a month or so back and has to be one of my favourite Transcend tracks so far, with some lovely filtering, no trance melodies and a genuinely darker/rough section in the second half.

What a shame about the vocal sample that covers up an otherwise utterly awesome choral breakdown – without that I’d be really keen to play it out ASAP, but it’s still a great track that could find a place in a variety of sets. It doesn’t seem to be up on the Watchtower site just yet, but facebook folk can find it by following this link.

Thanks to Kohaku there are some nice videos up from last weekend’s Dark Dimension – luckily, as I made a total mess of preparation, with jetlag knocking me out just before I was going to leave. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so disappointed to miss an event, as this one had pretty much everything I’m into these days. As long as the next one’s a Saturday I’ll be there no matter what…

Anyway, it looks like there was some pretty rough stuff from DJs like DAHLIA and P.R.D (as the video up top shows), while ASAHI made my day by playing TYFTH tune Sound & Fury. Check out the Dark Dimension channel for some other clips of goth scene regular Wakana and the rest of the lineup.

Something I’ve been meaning to check out for a while is the Munted! Monthly! blog/website, but I finally got around to it while catching part of last Saturday’s show. It looks like Dyzphazia/Chip’s doing a fine job on the updates so far, and there’ll soon be MM5 links for the non-facebook crew. The other sets are also archived there, including the very interesting MM4 (which is top of my ‘to listen’ list at the moment).

Now it’s Beezee’s turn to demonstrate the power of the Horse with his set for Pearsall’s Sonicrampage. From the moment this set kicks in there’s no mistaking the Beezee selection, with classic FINRG filters from beginning to end – not that I’m complaining. In between are trancier sounds with tunes like I’ll Bring the Storm, Nephila and Moment of Wonder (excellent use of I’ll Bring the Storm’s long intro, by the way), and even a bit of Lab 4 in the nastier, more experimental section towards the end.

Pearsall has even included a great interview with the man himself – we’ve mentioned this before, but it’s always nice to hear a DJ talk at length about his/her own mixing style, influences etc. Hopefully this and his recent Freeformaniacs sets will give Beez a bit more exposure and the chance of showing off his style in a few more mixes here and there.

1. Pain On Creation – Pain control
2. Grimsoul – I’ll Bring the Storm
3. DJ RX – Frozen Flame
4. Epilim – Plasma
5. Alek Szahala – Pink Magic
6. Substanced – Geneva pt 2
7. Furyan – Galaxias Glaciere
8. Grimsoul – Moment Of Wonder
9. Ephexis, RX, Carbon Based – Decimator
10. Ephexis – Elements
11. Endemic – Hurricane
12. Substanced – Shadows Of Tomorrow
13. Aryx – Nephila
14. Grimsoul – Bad Boy
15. Lab 4 – Uprising
16. Betwixt + Between – Phase 6
17 Epyx + Cyrez – Polar Energy
18. Substanced + Alchemist – Skullcrush

Thanks to Alderz for pointing me in the direction of his most recent set, excellently titled Heavy Hearted. It has to be one of his best mixes for quite a while, with a very nice selection of darker tunes and some inspired oldies. I really liked the use of Ziggurat from the halfway point – as nice a track as it is, the intro does drag on a bit, and this way the set starts off with plenty of energy.

Other good selections include Galaxias Glaciere (which I’ve been playing a lot in practice recently, too) and the amazing Entangled to finish things off. Plus points too for the Dragon Form Skullcrush mix, really rough and effective, that one. Many will have heard this set already, but if you haven’t the less common choices, quality mixing and general nastiness really make it a good one to check out.

Remember your favourite tunes from last year? Well four months late, here’s a roundup of what the Japanese crew were listening to in 2011. Once again, the number of DJs playing freeform has fallen, but at least we’ve seen some new faces like raqhow and Le Dos-on (who’ll make his Top 3 debut this year, I suppose), while the selections here show that the remaining DJs are pushing some really quality sounds. Dust off memories of yesteryear, and feel free to throw in your own choices at the end of the post.

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There’s a much-delayed post lined up, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow as I’m off to my first Dark Dimension this evening. Organised by NRGetic Romancer regular Kohaku, I’ve already mentioned DD and its excellent combination of dark/gothic atmosphere and harder DJs, but haven’t been able to attend until tonight. This’ll be a treat then, especially with Asahi hopefully providing a bit of NRG alongside PRD, Wakana, Selia and the rest of a very promising lineup.

I’ve been trying to get to one of Hiroyuki Takahashi’s live painting sessions for a long time, and it just so happens that he’ll be doing a show during tonight’s event. All being well there’ll be plenty of photos as well as video come tomorrow..

One of the biggest developments since I’ve been away has been the start of another new label, Smiling Corpse. Following on from Watchtower, this is another new project that aims to support the darker, deeper side of freeform, but this time with free CD releases.

I’ve been lucky enough to hear a few of the upcoming tracks, as well as some work in progress stuff while I was in Finland, and it’s looking like SC is really hitting its stride right from the first release. Coaxing Twisted Freq/Kreatrix out of retirement is obviously a good start, but there’s also an amazing new Alchemiist track, Qygen’s wonderful Earth Shine and plenty more.

Thanks to the SC crew for including TYFTH is the links section – there’ll be more news here as the first album takes shape.