Alek Szahala live on the HBC Show, tonight @10pm (GMT)

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 15, 2011
Posted in: Events, Finnish, UK. 6 comments

Announced earlier this week, Alek Szahala will play a set this evening on the Hard Beats Collective Show! Word is that there’ll be some new material to hear, but even if not chances to catch Alek’s Live PAs are few and far between, making it a must listen. It all starts at 10pm (GMT) on Krafty Radio – thanks to the time difference I’ll already be at work in Yokohama, so hopefully it’ll be recorded.

Preparation for Munted! Monthly! is slowly coming together, and so far I’ve been trying to put together a set reminiscent of Yamanote and the Monogatari mixes. Still plenty of work to do, but it’ll be starting at 175bpm with a few nice surprises, I hope…

Proteus – Get Fire!

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 15, 2011
Posted in: Finnish, Releases, UK. Leave a Comment

Proteus – Get Fire! preview by Proteus Official

Almost a week since the last post, and as luck would have it quite a lot has happened lately. First of all, here’s what must be one of the tunes of the year – Proteus’ Get Fire! This is a truly fabulous track that brings back memories of old FINRG releases, while still keeping that modern Proteus feel. Check out the oldskool Carbon Based-style sounds towards the end of the preview…It’s already scheduled for release on Watchtower, the excellent new label that will be launching very soon. Stay tuned for more info!

Munted! Monthly!, 17th December @Krafty Radio

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 7, 2011
Posted in: Events, Japanese, UK. 9 comments

Members of the Freeform Forum will have seen this announcement already – Dyzphazia (our man Chip) and Midas are setting up Munted! Monthly!, a freeform-only show on Krafty Radio, and I’m honoured to have been invited to play a guest set on the first edition. DJ Douglas of Hard Beats Collective is the other guest, making an impressive four hours’ worth of full-on freeform.

This is a fantastic opportunity to get freeform even more exposure, and the ‘global’ angle of the DJ selections should result in the Krafty crew hearing some artists/styles for the first time. I usually like to take a few years to pick tunes for a set, but I’ll be doing my best to choose some must-listen Japanese tunes amongst the new releases/promos. Thanks a million to Chip and Midas for a very rare chance to show what the Tokyo scene is all about.

Hopefully there’ll be a good TYFTH contingent listening on the 17th – it all starts at 10pm GMT on Krafty Radio.

Destroyed High – DJ Profiles

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 7, 2011
Posted in: Events, Japanese. Leave a Comment

Only a few days before Destroyed High, and I’m currently going without sleep to try and decide which tunes might work at such a mixed-genre event. In the meantime, profiles of each of the DJs have been added to the Destroyed High site, and while it’s really one for the Japanese crew, there’s enough sprinkling of English to get the gist of everyone’s style, at least. The main floor is probably going to work out nicely, with DJ HELL’s hard house, hardcore/gabber from 490, dark psy from Sh1nmei, various flavours of hard dance from Dairin, and NRG-to-freeform from me.

raqhow – All of Japan Freeform

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 7, 2011
Posted in: Japanese, Mixes. 2 comments

All_of_JAPAN_Freeform (Unfinished) by raqhow

More from raqhow, this time a Japan-only set with a few classics alongside some less familiar freeform tracks. It’s the first time for me to hear tracks by the very promising Le Dos-on, while Sea Rapture has a nicely melodic breakdown. Great work from raqhow to give these artists a chance to be heard, and his mixing is also improving with every set – there are some very nice connections that do a good job of breaking the intro/outro pattern here.

1,Betwixt & Between – Awakening
2,DJ Noriken – Lucia
3,XampaNoiD – blue tripper
4,Rolling Contact (Amane) – Sea Rapture
5,Le Dos-on – Epatoivo – rwk-
6,Betwixt & Between – Surendrajit(2011 refix)
7,Le Dos-on – Stance

experience! vol.2.5 live @Shibuya Acid Panda

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 5, 2011
Posted in: Events, Japanese. 1 comment

I don’t have much time for posts tonight, but here’s something I couldn’t let pass – regular Horser raqhow’s experience event is having a 2.5 edition this evening, and it’s currently streaming live! Sadly raqhow himself isn’t playing, so there might not be much/any freeform on show, but for the J-Core crowd it’s already looking like a fun event, and well worth checking out.

BEEZEE – MINOTAUR

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 2, 2011
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 6 comments

BEEZEE – MINOTAUR by BEEZEE

Time for another energetic freeform session from Mr B, covering just about every angle of the scene. The first half will please the melodic crew, while the second half (from Operation Stardust) takes a welcome turn for the twisted with Unholy Word, Surendrajit and a nice contrast in Nephila.

The more familiar tunes haven’t shown up in recent sets, so even without many elaborate connections Minotaur makes for a really enjoyable hour or so – I’m sure I’ve said this before about Beezee’s sets, but this would a great one to hear in a club setting.

1. Grimsoul – Jaan Hautaamat (Oli G Remix)
2. Trancend – Mindglow
3. DJ RX – Code Of Silence (Sam One Remix)
4. Alabaster – Fluorite
5. Lost Soul – Tentacles Of Love
6. Andy Dee – Solas An Lae
7. Nightforce & Substanced – Operation Stardust
8. Alek Szahala – Unholy World
9. Betwixt & Between – Surendrajit (2011 Refix)
10. Aryx – Nephila
11. DJ Noriken – Moonlight Cluster

Substanced & JNKS – Seismic Activity (Transcend remix)

Posted by PlasmaDancer on December 2, 2011
Posted in: Finnish, Releases, UK. Leave a Comment

Substanced & Jnks – Seismic Activity (Transcend Remix) by FINRG Recordings

Transcend’s upcoming remix of Seismic Activity is actually the first in a series of remixes for Substanced’s album, When the World Collapses. This is a perfect choice for a UK-style remix, and Transcend has done a great job making the most of that catchy main melody.

Stay alert for more previews – there are some potentially amazing tracks under construction.