TYFTH has been in stasis for a couple of weeks, but we’re back in business now. I’ll try to catch up on a few of the things I’ve missed lately with posts today and tomorrow, because on Friday I’m running away to Hong Kong for a few days.
Just to get things going (and to get me used to writing again), here’s a quick Chill Out Corner.
First track is an anthem, make no mistake – LTJ Bukem’s Horizons. Just listening to it again now, and can’t believe how fresh it still sounds after 15 years.
Matt England – Psiosis by FINRG Recordings
Along with new tracks from Substanced and Rob.O.T.T, there are two more releases from Matt England on FINRG. Psiosis in particular is a very nice track, with a strong Rx influence – just listen to the bassline and a few of the filtered synths – it’s great to hear someone so obviously going for a ‘Finnish style’ sound and getting this close. Even if the breakdown doesn’t quite live up to the rest of the track, it keeps the atmosphere going nicely, and thankfully stays well away from the typical UK sound.
The other track, Decelerate, is a bit more experimental, with guitar, more Rx style synth work and a breaks/dubstep section in the breakdown. With the right tracks surrounding it, I can imagine this one working really well in a club set, the structure is perfect for a live crowd.
Most people will have heard this before, but a while ago I came across Perappyyhe Part II on YouTube, and can’t resist posting it up. Made under Alek Szahala’s early moniker, Apofish, it’s still a really nice track, and made me go back and check out some of his other earlier tunes (like his excellent 1997 Ravemix).
What really interests me is that Alek was using FastTracker 2 for his producing back then, which is what really got me into music making, too (we’re almost the same age, I think). Knowing what goes into making a tracked tune, and considering how long ago he put them together, it’s hard not to be really impressed. Somehow he was coming up with stuff in the late 90s that already showed signs of the Alek Szahala sound – just listen to some of the melodies and the flow of the tunes…
Next week sees the first of this year’s Hell’s Gate vs Trance Enough events, which I was talking about with Zio at the end of last year. Turns out that neither of us are on the lineup this time, but it’s looking like a good one, with KA-NA, Minagi and AEMI all playing.
Just a quick shout for this event too – yesterday’s Eclipse was in very-far-from-clubland Asakusa, and featured AEMI again. The styles weren’t too hard for this one, but the interesting thing was that all four headlining DJs were girls. Sexism is an ever-present over here, so it’s definitely nice to see the underground scene doing things differently.
Almost time for the next ever free, again at Shibuya’s Chelsea Hotel. From what I hear, the last one was a very nice event, and a lot of the Romancer crew went along. This time the lineup is looking great, with Kanon, Lunch, Wild Party, Sisen, Tetra and more. See how many you can name in the photo sequence up the top there.
First of all, sorry for the slow updates this week – I’m a bit overwhelmed by real life at the moment, so I’ve had to pause most of the music stuff I’ve been working on. If I’ve missed anything recently, feel free to let me know via email/messenger/whatever, and I’ll get things back up to speed ASAP. Also, I’m probably not allowed to say too much, but keep an eye on FINRG for the next few days, a really nice (but slower) track is now locked and loaded…
Anyway, the topic of this post – X-TREME Hard, the label/event behind the annual ‘Day of Hardcore’ has just freshened up the site, and is definitely worth a browse. One of the main reasons would be for the ‘Party Photos’, but I’ve been having trouble opening the pages (otherwise there would be one at the top of this post).
Last Friday DJ X Lab 4 was playing at FURY (Helsinki), and here are some highlights from his set. Looks like it was another excellent one – not sure I’ll ever get tired of hearing the new version of Requiem..but does anyone know what the last track is from 6.10?
All these YouTube videos are a bit tough for the site to handle, so click below for Proteus’ set – well worth checking out as always.
A bit quiet this week, so here’s some info on an unusual event that I’ll be going to if I can find the time from somewhere. 合奏みだれ天国 roughly translates as ‘Disordered concert heaven’, and so as you might guess it’s a pretty eclectic lineup. Aural Vampire are one of the bands, but the main reason I’ll be trying to make it is to catch the guest Live PA from Swedish chip musician Covox. If you haven’t heard his stuff before, it ranges from very danceable tunes to melancholy ballad-style affairs – all with glorious Game Boy chip sounds. Below are a couple of examples – first his relentlessly happy Summer Fruit Dance Party, followed by his remix of Japanese artist Blasterhead’s classic Killbots.
Carbon Based – Ancestor by FINRG Recordings
A few of the FINRG releases I mentioned last week are starting to arrive now, as well as the slightly (!) delayed Ancestor, from Carbon Based. It’s still a great track and mixes quite easily into a lot of different tunes, so it should be a useful one for the DJs out there.
Other tunes include a new (I think) drum and bass/breakbeat tune from The Sauna Boys and a couple of unreleased Pain on Creation edits. The Fatal Error edit of Lush is an interesting one – it’s 180bpm (instead of the original 170), but is missing the ‘main’ melody from the breakdown onwards. The crazy synths sound amazing at this faster bpm though…
As usual, the FINRG SoundCloud is the place to find these tracks.
There haven’t been too many tracks added lately, but following up from Phaedra here’s another killer from three of Hybridize’s finest. Epyx, Cyrez and Fea’s untitled track became an absolute anthem when I played at Hell’s Gate, and was the opening tune for my first ever set there. Believe it or not I had it pitched up to about 172bpm, and I’ll never forget the reaction of the crowd when the kick came in…of course the hard trance style melodies sound great at the original 160, too.
Cyrez came up with a ‘Hell’s Gate edit’ especially for the first event, but this newer version has a few extra bits and pieces in the main breakdown. If anyone was at the FINRG 512 event, it was part of the Hybridize set – that’s the quality of tune we have here. Extra massive thanks go to Epyx, Cyrez and Fea – hope everyone enjoys it.