A real unreleased classic here, from way back when the FINRG sound was properly establishing itself. Proper old-school Rx from around 2005-2006, I’ve loved Duel of the Fates ever since I heard it in an old Kuruption promo set and couldn’t resist posting this set-rip.
Unfortunately it’s another of those tracks that has completely disappeared, so we’ll just have to hope that someone in the scene will come forward with a copy at some stage.
A lot of J-Core/Tano*C listeners are probably aware by now of monolithic fan-game franchise Touhou Project, but it seems that not so many in the freeform scene know that a lot Betwixt & Between’s recent(ish) anthems are also remixes from the series.
Taber’s set from last year is a nice introduction to the extremely talented ZUN’s tunes, as well as being a fun 40 minutes of Japanese hardcore. Seeing as all the tunes are game remixes, this won’t be for everyone, but there’s an excellent Betwixt & Between section in the middle that the freeform crew should enjoy (including From the Abyss, but no Zusammengehorigkeit or Point of No Return, which also qualify).
Sorry for the brief absence, I went into stasis over the weekend to try and be productive, DJ and production-wise. Sadly it didn’t work at all, so now it’s about time to catch up on the massive crop of mixes that have appeared recently.
First up we have Dyzphazia and Cuedy’s excellent Complexity of Dreams, a really nice mix of freeform and breakbeat hardcore. One of the reasons I stopped bothering too much with BBHC is that most of it seems to sound like modern drum & bass with a few trancier melodies (rather than oldskool hardcore with nice production/a focus on the breakbeats, which is what I hoped it would become). Anyway, Dyzphazia and Cuedy have done a great job of sticking with the style, showing what the newer tunes can sound like when mixed intelligently with some nice freeform selections.
That opening half from Mood Music to Concorde flows especially nicely, but the whole set is a top quality listen and in terms of mixing/selection has to be one of the best I’ve heard for a long while. It’s great to hear a few tracks from Ponder, Reese and Strifell, three of my favourite producers in this genre – one of my resolutions this year is to start mixing intelligent drum & bass again, but maybe I should take another look at BBHC, too.
Devastate – Mood Music (Oli G Remix)
Alek Szahala – Mermaid
Ponder – Calling (See The Light) (Click Remix)
Uplift & Stargazer vs. Reese & Cloudskipper – Substance
Lukozade – Concorde
Creative Synergy – Beware Of My Trance (Ponder Remix)
Bit of a transition week so far – I’ve upgraded a lot of my gear, and so there’s a lot of new stuff to learn at TYFTH Towers. That includes a brand new Mac, so bear with me while I work out how to use everything.
Anyway, here’s another mini-mix from Nrgray, this time serving as a nice preview to the annual Top 3 post (which will be on the way asap). Here Nrgray has picked his top 5 tunes from the past year and mixed them into a nice little set. The opening The Brain Controls Pain into Aphrodite is a particularly nice connection…one of those times when intentionally limiting your track choice makes you come up with some interesting ideas. Actually the whole set flows well, with some very solid mixing.
Cyrez – The Brain Controls Pain
Substanced – Aphrodite
Alchemiist – Radiation
Proteus & Kevin Energy – London Helsinki Underground (Proteus ‘Warcry’ remix)
Only a few weeks to go until the launch of Substanced’s solo album, and what a project it’s turning out to be. With the mix of genres and artists there really is something for everyone, as a look at the just-released tracklist shows:
CD1: ORIGINAL SIDE
01. Subi – When The World Collapses Intro
02. Substanced – Geneva Part II
03. Subi – Antidote
04. Substanced – Exploder
05. Substanced – Reptile Zoo
06. Substanced & J-Mx – Flawless Victory
07. Substanced – Shadows of Tomorrow
08. Substanced – Evolution
09. Substanced – There Are No Happy Endings
10. Substanced – The End of All Things
11. Substanced & Alchemiist – Skullcrush
12. Subi – Futu-Drum-A
CD2: REMIX SIDE
01. Substanced & Grimsoul – System Failure (Carbon Based Remix)
02. Substanced – Shadows of Tomorrow (Grimsoul Remix)
03. Substanced – Aquarius (Amini Remix)
04. Substanced & Grimsoul – Signal Lost (Endemic Remix)
05. Substanced – Apocalypse (Cyrez Remix)
06. Substanced – Geneva Part II (Proteus Remix)
07. Substanced – The Infection (RAF Remix)
08. Substanced – Crank Cleopatra (Epyx Remix)
09. Substanced – Geneva Part II (Alchemiist Remix)
10. Substanced & Jnks – Seismic Activity (Transcend Remix)
11. Sam One & Substanced vs. Horzi – Lionheart (A.B’s Varaslähtö Remix)
12. Substanced – Shadows of Tomorrow (D.A.T Remix)
13. Substanced – The End Of All Things (Aryx Remix)
14. Substanced – Evolution (Douglas Remix)
Le Dos-on has just released a short ‘radio edit’ of Sena, an upcoming tune with a strong Alek Szahala influence. There’s also a hint of Horzi in the structure and sound of some synths, and with just a little more power the full version could be a really excellent release.
It’s always nice to see someone getting into Japanese freeform for the first time, and the latest convert is DJ Midas, who played at last month’s Munted! Monthly! He’s obviously got hold of the classic Khaotic Dimension (definitely the best place to start), and has combined that with a couple of TYFTH tracks. Have to say, I’m pleased/amazed how well the Hell’s Gate remix stands up to Moving Flare, that connection has never even crossed my mind – thanks to Midas for giving it a try.
Anyway, this set is a nice trip down memory lane, into the darker tunes that we don’t hear enough of these days. By all accounts it sounds like my Munted! set has sparked off a bit more UK interest in the Japanese scene, which is great news. Stay tuned in 2012, there might be some more activity release-wise, too…
1. Thermalforce – Moving flare
2. Zio – Hells Gate (Afagddu Remix)
3. Betwixt & Between – Phaedra
4. Betwixt & Between – Reincarnation
5. Betwixt & Between – Discord
6. Betwixt & Between – Phase 6
Hopefully everyone will have a great 2012, and it’ll be a kinder year to Japan, too. Musically, 2011 was really interesting, as I got the chance to play some wonderful gigs, meet a lot of nice folk from a few different scenes, and introduce new audiences to our music. This year’s already looking pretty special, with the launch of Watchtower and FINRG’s 10th Anniversary, which will be the event to end all events – hard to believe that exactly two months from now I’ll be arriving in Helsinki.
Massive, properly heartfelt thanks to everyone for supporting me and TYFTH itself for the past year – I had to put things on autopilot a couple of times, but I really appreciate all the input from everyone here, and the contact I’ve had from Horsers away from the site. It’s awesome that at least some people seem to think of this as their freeform ‘home’ these days, and I’ll be doing my best to make it a more comfortable/interesting place to hang out. Obviously that includes the forum – later this month I’ll have more time on my hands (as will the resident TYFTH tech Jedi), so that’s genuinely still on the way.
Sorry to start things with an ambient dnb track, but this one has a bit of a New Year vibe to it – little did I know when I bought Earth back in ’96 that 16 years later I’d be in Tokyo, head-nodding away to this at 4am on a New Year morning.
After a request from one of the Tokyo crew, Heathen’s Ephexor Anthemand Gladiatorhave now been changed from the low quality versions to nice new wavs, making them more than playable in hard dance/NRG sets.
I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time, but now there are links for just about all the tracks from the TYFTH SoundCloud that have reached the download limit. Hopefully the Rob.O.T.T tunes will be reupped before long, too. It’s a long and frustrating tale as to why that account is still on pause, but who knows, things might change early next year…
For the time being, be sure to grab any tunes you missed first time around!
Finally, here’s the much-delayed Hell’s Gate remix – it’s the 2011 version, with the ‘coward’s way out’ easy-to-mix outro: http://www.mediafire.com/?334dbvbxlwvq4p0
