It’s fair to say that the freeform scene in Tokyo has been on life support during 2011, but one of the bright points has been the chance for both me and AT to introduce the sound to some darker, very open-minded crowds. Here’s a short clip from AT’s set at November’s Dark Dimension, an awesome event that I hope grows as time goes on. Dancing to Nomic’s Black Lotus are three ravers in full Takuya Angel gear – Takuya himself also played a set during the event.
B. R. K.- evil against evil by B. R. K.
After his recent releases on FINRG, BRK is back in the mixing game with a nice set that shows us what to expect from his FINRG B2B with Heathen. Starting off with a great intro, Evil Against Evil runs through a lot of the classics of the past few years, plus some excellent tunes from Tommy Pulse and a nice collab between Phil York and Dark by Design that I haven’t heard before. A bit of a surprise not to see any of BRK’s own tracks in here, but for anyone into the Lab 4 / Android Lime sound this is a must listen.
- Intro
- DJ-X Lab4 – Ephedrine
- Android Lime – Sex and Violence
- Fausto & Tommy Pulse – Melancholika
- Android Lime-robot noize ( DJ-X Lab4 rmx )
- Tommy Pulse – Messiah ( Resurrection mix )
- Lab4-Requiem ( Heart of Darkness 2009 )
- Psycho Keaton – Hellnight ( Android Lime rmx )
- Lab4 – Groove Overdrive
- Phil York vs Dark By Design-Disarray
- Aikon – Dream On ( Schwarzende rmx )
- The Engineer and Hellraiser – Legion “For We Are Many” ( God is not here with us mix )
A real treat for those who haven’t been following the Freeform Forum, the Freeformaniacs Christmas Special is now online and is an excellent way to spend a couple of hours. The concept was for 12 DJs to mix for 10 minutes each, creating one mammoth set that covers just about every angle of the freeform scene. It’s actually a brilliant way to hear a few different styles of tune, as even if they’re not your thing, just hang in there for 10 minutes and there’ll be a different flavour of freeform to check out.
All in all, a really great project and clearly very well coordinated – massive congratulations to Stray and everyone else involved.
(Shameless copy/paste from the forum follows)
Tracklist:
Triex
Qygen- Dough Djinn Corps [F/C RuffBeatz]
Qygen – 721 [F/C RuffBeatz]
Qygen – Vast [F/C RuffBeatz]
DJ Triex – Shinsengumi [RuffBeatz]
Stray
Transcend – Carol of the bells
Lost Soul – Dungeon
Spiritual Tazer – Brain Slushie
RAF – Eviloution
Pulse
Firefly – Equinox “Pulse Remix” [Audio Weaponry 010B]
Denile vs Pulse – Twisted Minds [Vacuum Music 027]
Jerv and Hoj – Funky Shit “Pulse Remix”[Vacuum Music 011B]
Midas
peaks & pinnacle vs douglas – Gliese beat
andy dee – solas en lae (douglas remix)
transcend – mind glow
Dyzphazia
Blokhe4d feat Dieselboy – Get Back
Luna-C – The War (Sc@r Remix)
Betwixt & Between – Zusammengehorigkeit
J-MX
1. 月夢 ~ Tsuku-Yume (M-Project Mix)
2. Substanced & J-Mx – Flawless Victory (Radio edit)
3. Norther – Nothing (Horzi remix)
Red Heaven
Freestyle – Replicant
Orifice – I’m Broken
Olly Addictive
Kaos & Ethos – Technorocker
Olly Addictive & TTE – Dogs of War
J-Kub
Mr Manni – Bow For The Master (J-Kub Remix) // (Medley: Paocala – Sunfire)
J-Kub – Helios // (Medley: Impact & Nomad – Utopia)
Endemic
Endemic – Hurricane
Endemic – My Immortal – Free download – http://watchtowerrecords.co.uk/
Transcend – Zero-G Fire – Free download – http://watchtowerrecords.co.uk/
Aryx
Carbon Based – Cyclone
Aryx – Solar Flare [Watchtower Records]
Aryx – Nephila [ReBuild Music]
Beezee
Substanced & Horzi – Superior Pressure
RAF – Evilution
Pants and Corset – Malice In Wonderland (Eufion Remix)
RAF World (Journey to Silius – Stage 3 Disorder remix) by _Disorder_
Everyone should be familiar with excellent schranz/NRG duo RAF, but many thanks once again to Meke for pointing me in the direction of offshoot project Disorder. There’s some amazing stuff there, ranging from chiptune to freeform, but it was this fantastic Journey to Silius – Stage 3 remix that caught my eye. Nasty synths and chiptune melodies together? That’s essentially my idea of heaven, so after Alek Szahala and Byproduct’s past sets, it’s great to hear such a full-on freeform version here.
PlasmaDancer – Munted! Monthly! Episode 1, 17th December 2011 by FINRG Recordings
It seems as though a few people have been good enough to check out this set already, which went online a day or so ago. I genuinely couldn’t have wished for a better reaction from the Krafty chatroom crew on the night, and since then there’s been some really nice feedback from those who missed it first time around. I’ve actually had a couple of questions in the past from Horsers who wanted to know how I construct my sets, so permit me if I may to talk a little a lot about the thinking behind this one.
Fraki & Neutron vs Shox – B1 – Silent by David Shox
Thanks to Meke for letting me know about Spanish Makina producer Shox, who has recently been introducing freeform sounds into some of his productions. After checking the David Shox SoundCloud I particularly liked Silent, a tune with some nice filtered hoovers and weighty percussion. Be warned that some of the other tunes might be painful if you’re not into the cheesier side of hardcore, but Silent alone definitely makes this a project to keep an eye on.
Yesterday saw the launch of Watchtower, a brand new label with a philosophy on the scene that almost exactly matches TYFTH. Run by Endemic, the label will be aiming to bring deeper, darker, more melancholy freeform to a wider audience, and the upcoming first release is a promising step in that direction.
As well as tunes from UK stalwarts like Lost Soul and Douglas, there are excellent tracks from Aryx (Solar Flare) and Proteus (Get Fire!), while it’s awesome to see Qygen finally recognised by a label. Some of the tunes this time around are heavier on the wobbly basses than I like to play, but overall there’s some really high quality material here and it should prove to be a nice gateway into the deeper sound for some freeform listeners.
Keep an eye on the Watchtower site for more info – preorders are already available for the first release.
Just about to start a completely improvised ustream session, so feel free to stop by. Aside from a couple of requested tracks I don’t have a clue what I’ll be playing yet, but they might be on the more melodic/Hybridize side of things.
A very special Christmas edition of the Freeformaniacs show is almost here, with 12 DJs playing one massive set. The full lineup is looking awesome, and it all starts from 9am (GMT) on Krafty Radio. Best of luck to everyone involved – I’ll still be at work though, so hopefully the recording will eventually make an appearance.
Substanced & Alchemiist – Skullcrush by FINRG Recordings
I recently heard that this tune was under construction, and the preview more than lives up to all expectations. Mixing Substanced’s production and melodies with Alchemiist’s nastiness, this tune has just about everything, including a ferocious DnB section that really adds a lot to the track. Then it’s back to the aggressive filters – what a great tune, and comfortably one of my favourites on the album so far.