Dark Dimension, 14th April @Decadance Bar

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 14, 2012
Posted in: Events, Japanese. Leave a Comment

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..

Smiling Corpse

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 14, 2012
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Releases, UK. Leave a Comment

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.

Pearsall – Rampage Turbo 10

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 11, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. 8 comments

Right then, here we go – I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so as well as bits and pieces from my trip I’ll be posting up some of the other great stuff that’s been going on for the past month.

First up is Pearsall’s incredible tribute to FINRG, timed to coincide with the 10 year anniversary. Being a vinyl-only man, Pearsall has done a wonderful job of mixing up the old anthems with some less well-known classics, and I’d go as far as to say the opening sequence of 6 or 7 tunes is one of the best I’ve ever heard in a freeform mix. I’m often banging on to anyone that’ll listen that we DJs in the freeform scene should really step up a level to match some of the stuff going on in other genres, but here’s a set that could easily go toe-to-toe with anything I’ve heard for a long while.

It would impossible to maintain the level of that first section (especially for 2 hours), but the rest of the set is still excellent, with some lovely transitions through the sounds of Nomic, Pain on Creation anf Re-form, as well as another surge at the end with Superstition and Man Eaten. A worthy successor to E-NRG’s seminal Welcome to FINRG mix, then, and a must-listen if you haven’t already.

Here’s the tracklist, but check Pearsall’s original post for the download link and all sorts of reminiscences from his own trip to Finland.

01. Carbon Based – Kraateri (Finrg)
02. The Mexican – The Land Of The Pharaohs (Carbon Based Remix) (Electrolysis)
03. Carbon Based – The Choice (Electrolysis)
04. Carbon Based & Nemes – Heaven N Hell (Electrolysis)
05. Proteus & Carbon Based – Heavy Fusion (Finrg)
06. DJ Proteus – Metal (Teflon Bullet)
07. Paocala – Starfall (Electronic)
08. Carbon Based & E-NRG – Illuminate (Electrolysis)
09. Carbon Based, E-NRG & Nemes – Prologue (Electrolysis)
10. DJ Rx – Hellfire (Finrg Hard)
11. Re-Form – Extremely Dangerous (RFU)
12. Nemes & Blender – Without Fear (Camel)
13. Alek Szahala – Dryad Machine (Finrg Hard)
14. Alek Szahala – Unicorn Grove (Electroplates)
15. DJ Rx – Killer Instinct (Finrg Hard)
16. Carbon Based – Underworld Species (Electroplates)
17. Carbon Based – Anger Ball (Nu Energy)
18. Pain On Creation – Mortality (Electronic)
19. Pain On Creation – Lush (Carbon Based Remix) (Finrg Hard)
20. DJ Proteus – Venla (Teflon Bullet)
21. Alek Szahala – Lumi (Nu Energy)
22. Re-Form – Schizophrenic (Electroplates)
23. Re-Form – Blackmailer (Hard NRG Mix) (Electronic)
24. Carbon Based – Fatal Flashback (Electronic)
25. Nomic & Pain On Creation – Make Me Real (Camel)
26. Alek Szahala – Invitation (Finrg Hard)
27. Nomic – You Have A Dream (Nu Energy)
28. Carbon Based – Ultimate Protection (Electronic)
29. DOK – Mental Ward (Carbon Based Remix) (Electroplates)
30. Carbon Based – Cyclone (Electronic)
31. Alek Szahala – Superstition (Electronic)
32. Alek Szahala – Man Eaten (Finrg Hard)

Destination Japan

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 7, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, UK. 7 comments

TYFTH is almost back! As much as I would have liked to do a few ustream sets, post about 10 Years of FINRG and everything else that’s happened, I’ve unexpectedly been without internet for almost all of my trip. As you can imagine, I’ve had to use any online time for planning and other practical stuff…

Tomorrow I’m heading back to Tokyo though, so in the next few days things will start moving here again. I’m writing from a hotel in Helsinki right now, and as the internet connection is pretty good I’ve taken the chance to upload videos from the various events I’ve found myself at during the last month or so. Of course there’ll be a long post on the way soon, but take a look at my YouTube channel if you’d rather cut straight to the interesting stuff.

We’ll be back in business next week then – for now here are a couple of photos of Helsinki in early March and the wonderful Portmeirion in Wales.

Destination Finland

Posted by PlasmaDancer on March 1, 2012
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Swedish, UK. 14 comments

This will be the last post before I head off to Helsinki tomorrow – sorry I haven’t been able to post as much as I would have liked this past week, but predictably I underestimated how much time it would take to plan a set as well as my month-long trip. I’ll be posting again from Finland/the UK, but until then, big thanks to everyone for their Hybridize track suggestions, and I hope to bump into a few Horsers this weekend!

Substanced – FINRG X Mix

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 28, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

In case you haven’t heard it yet, here’s Substanced’s fabulous Anniversary set – the perfect warm up for this weekend, and now with added tracklist.

  1. Dave 202 & Dumonde – Singularity (Substanced Remix)
  2. Transcend – For The Reaper
  3. Lukozade – Concorde
  4. Nomic & Pain On Creation – Make Me Real
  5. Substanced – Geneva Part II
  6. RAF – Evilution
  7. Devastate – Mood Music (Oli G Remix)
  8. Substanced – The End Of All Things (Aryx Remix)
  9. Substanced – Exodus
  10. Carbon Based – Anger Ball
  11. Endemic – Loki
  12. Substanced – Stockholm Syndrome
  13. Lost Soul – The Answer
  14. Alek Szahala – Man Eaten

Alderz – Harder Than Hitler

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 28, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 2 comments

Just time for a couple of posts tonight – first of all is a long-awaited next mix from Alderz! Just a glance at the tracklist shows this is well worth a listen, a great combination of old and new.

  1. Alek Szahala – Sunray
  2. Betwixt & Between – The Wander of Hesotarou Tankobu
  3. Substanced & Grimsoul – Harder Than You Think
  4. Carbon Based & DJ Rx – Titor Quantum Theory
  5. Lab 4 – Requiem (DJ X’s Heart of Darkness remix)
  6. Substanced – El Orfanato
  7. Grimsoul – Moment of Wonder
  8. E-NRG & Carbon Based – Jerk Awake
  9. Alek Szahala – Solar Hive
  10. Betwixt & Between – Zusammengehorigkeit
  11. Rank 1 – Airwave (Betwixt & Between bootleg remix)
  12. Aryx – Chaldea
  13. Alek Szahala – Last of the Mohicans

Well done to Aldz on a great set. Incidentally, make sure to keep an eye on Pearsall’s Sonic Rampage, as there’s a very exciting all-vinyl FINRG Anniversary set on the way!

Experience! Vol.3, 18th February

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 26, 2012
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 1 comment

Last weekend I managed to head along to Experience!, and even remembered to take a few videos. It was an excellent event that gives me hope that there might be a future for freeform at Tokyo hardcore events after all, especially with producers of the quality of the outstanding Le Dos-on and up-and-coming DJs like raqhow and Nrgray.

It was great to meet both raq and Le Dos-on (as well as ikaruga) for the first time, and their b2b set was just phenomenal. Le Dos-on’s production is coming on at an amazing rate, and his newest material is sounding like a powerful mix of FINRG, Hybridize and Betwixt & Between. Raqhow also came up with some quality selections – the combination of an artist playing his own stuff while a DJ responds with tracks from around the scene was amazingly effective, I’d love to see that happen more often. Here are the two videos from their set, click below for a quick look at what else was going on.

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The return of the Saunaboys

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 26, 2012
Posted in: Events, Finnish. 4 comments

Topping even the last post, here’s what might be ultimate promovideo for next weekend – the Saunaboys are back in a new and even madder adventure, with oscar-worthy perfomances from many of the crew. An absolute must-view then, even if the Finnish dialogue might be a bit of a mystery.

TYFTH is back (again)

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 25, 2012
Posted in: Events, Finnish. 4 comments

That was nice timing, wasn’t it? I don’t have a clue what happened to TYFTH this time (and nor does the resident tech guru), but we’re back with exactly one week to go until the 10th Anniversary event.

I’m afraid it’ll have to be TYFTH Turbo Edition this weekend, as lots of stuff has happened but I don’t have much time to post about it. Hopefully we’ll be up to date in a couple of days, and there should be some new posts next week before I leave for Finland (on Thursday).

Before I get back to mix practice, here’s Alek Szahala’s suitably mad contribution to the promotion push – support FINRG or the Swedes take over! Though if we’re talking Heathen and Labraska, I’m not sure many would complain…