Haarpynooyeer

It's unspeakably hot. You can't go outside, you can't even leave the shelter of the air conditioned living room. When I tried to go for a shower I almost axed myself on the sink after slipping in a pool of my own foot sweat. Fortunately being stuck indoors is an excuse to listen to new tunes all day whilst the missus ventures forth into the outside world in search of employment. Don't hate me this is what's known as gradual acclimatisation. Anyway I hope you're sitting comfortably and ready for some heavy new beats for a brand new year, which by all appearances promises to be a good one. After a long Internet drought we're back in the game and I've been all "fatty in a cake shop" for the last couple of days, so to get the ball rolling here are a few sparkling gems of musical freshness for you all to enjoy.

Debruit has been turning heads for a little while now, but until he released his new EP Spatio Temporel I was yet to be wholly taken with his sound. These four new tracks are a stunning combination of playful manipulation and wholesome bass, standing alone in their ability to make you chuckle uncontrollably, shake your head in disbelief and bounce like a possessed kangaroo all within the same bar. Cleverly looped and cut samples, cheeky vocal led drops and splashes of furious wobble all combine to produce some of the freshest beats this year so far, not that the year is barely five minutes old yet, but I figure they'll stand the test of time with ease.

I've already mentioned Shlohmo in recent months but a rerelease of his Shlohmoshun EP deserves an extra shout. Complete with remixes from artistes de jour, Tokimonsta, Devonwho, Fulgeance and Low Limit this repackage boasts some tighter mastering, two new tracks and a few nice tweaks to the original tracks which only serves to enhance their lush, subtly affecting atmospherics. Teeth is the standout of the new tracks, bringing static crackle and pin prick percussion before dropping a tearout bassline that could probably shear off your ears if played loud enough. My pick of the guest spots is the Devonwho remix of 7am, compressing the original sounds into squashed bleeps and tight edits before unleashing tribal drums that roll the tune through to a satisfying close.

A special mention must go out to Loops Haunt for his début release (that underground cassette promo aside) Impact OmniHammer b/w Joplin. Since their original airing on various promo mixes these two brain tenderising beats have evolved yet further from their already impressive roots and I for one am overjoyed that I too can now drop two of my favourite tunes at a cost of less than £2. Hold tight for Loops Haunt madness in this coming week with his Rubber Sun Grenade EP dropping on Fortified Audio. If you haven't checked this startling talent out yet please grab his Promo Mixes (1 & 2) and Electronic Explorations showcase from earlier last year and brace yourself for some sonic mischief of the highest order.

Finally a brief word on a slept on album from last year that friends recently brought to my attention; Medschool newcomer, Bop's first offering to the world of ephemeral Drum and Bass. Clear Your Mind is vaguely reminiscent of Instramental and Consequence, but elements of glitch and IDM shine through the wash of atmospherics, drawing more appropriate comparisons to artists like Shlohmo or Kelpe. Haunting, melancholic synths are perforated by laser guided, needle sharp, bit crushed percussion, incredibly unpredictable in the sparsity or cluster of it's arrangement. The resulting composition is a beautifully spacious work of individuality sprinkled with just the right amount of glitch to keep things bubbling along nicely. All in all a well worthy addition to anyone's collection and another much needed boost in credibility for the DnB scene.

Enough chatter for now, night has fallen and it's just about cool enough to go lie down without sweating a small lake into the mattress. No time to relax though for now is the hour of the mosquito onslaught. Subtropical life isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Festive Shit: Part 2

Have you seen all the fucking lights? When did December become an excuse for massive energy consumption? They're everywhere, lit up like a neon birthday cake, draining the power grid, owners grinning proudly in the local newspaper. I don't remember this happening on such a wide scale in the past but times they are changing it seems and I suppose polar bears are just going to have to deal with it. Apologies if this all sounds somewhat cantankerous, but its difficult to maintain a sense of what's right when you're wilting in 35 degrees, 100 percent humidity and fluorescent Santa keeps waving at you from the neighbour's roof. Anyway, in a bid to avoid being sucked into the crass consumer circus that's marauding around outside my door I've battened down the hatches and fired up the headphones for a spot of music appreciation.

As a belligerent fan of drum and bass it's been a real pleasure to hear the material that the likes of D Bridge, Instramental and Bop have been contributing to the scene lately, for a while it seemed like there was no hope for the heavyweight champion of underground genres but a stripped down, atmospheric approach and plenty of dystopian soundscaping seems to have done the trick. All in good time too it seems, with D Bridge's impeccable latest offering The Gemini Principle still sending an icy shockwave around the globe, newcomer Consequence drops a more than suitable successor, Live For Never on the Exit Label. It soon becomes clear why D Bridge was so keen to release this debut LP from a relatively unknown artist, the similarities are instantly recognisable, but whilst they share a penchant for intelligent drum edits and otherworldly synths, it's clear that Consequence has drawn his influences from many and varied purveyors of dark and ambient music. In contrast yet in compliment to beats worthy of Photek, Instramental or Bukem are flourishes of Burialesque sampling and distortion at play amongst melodies and atmosphericss that could have been plucked from the mind of Vangelis or Eno. The whole album has the feel of the soundtrack to a movie set in a centuries distant, space borne adaptation of Tokyo, floating like a metal hive over the shattered remnants of a ruined Earth. Forgive me for being melodramatic but this really has to be heard to be fully appreciated, I haven't been this surprised by Drum and Bass since I first listened to Current Value, and in this case the shock and awe are inspired by truly affecting music rather than all out ear bashing.

I've also been somewhat caught unawares by Bass Clef's latest album, May the Bridges I Burn Light the Way, which takes the staccato 2-step of The Zamayatin Tapes and grafts it onto some crazy Soca drums and whistles before assaulting your ears like a mescaline powered favella soundsystem made entirely out of pieces of the M25. If you could imagine such a thing. To be entirely honest the enthusiasm and vigour of it all became a bit too much around halfway through the album but on the last couple of tracks this demented whirlwind of noise fades into utter serenity. Broken Love sounds like it came from another world entirely, softly building nostalgic strings over breathy, mechanical percussion before unleashing offbeat jazz drums, gently moaning voices on the wind and a melting brass band, then all of a sudden the midpoint of the track sees all this disappear into one of the loveliest tunes I've heard in some time, complete with subtly glitched drum edits and a damn fine horn section. Finally another unexpected gem, Halliwick, rounds off proceedings with marching beats accompanied by lush strings, rolling pulsating bass another fine Brass chorus. All of which sort of begs the question, why on earth haven't we heard more of this side of Bass Clef in the past and will we get more in future? Here's to hoping so, after the initial onslaught of tracks 1-7 it's just about the only thing keeping me from climbing the house next door with a bottle of Cachaca and a golf club.

But fear not, festive rage can also be averted in any of the following ways:

Getting hold of Tapes' E.P, Hissing Theatricals, which fires bursts of 8 bit sunshine up your face in the manner of a dub loving Atari in the throes of a fatal power surge.

Seeking out Loops Haunt's head mangling Electronic Explorations mix, an experience so unsettling that it will leave you sobbing with confusion as you struggle to rearrange your thoughts.

Or listening to Aardvarck's new Bloom 4 E.P. Possibly the most interesting approach to music at 140 bpm I've heard all year.

Enjoy yourselves over this most festive of seasons, I'm off for some more Cheesecake and G&T's on the Verandah, it certainly beats glaring at the miserable weather and drinking until I'm numb enough to venture outside. Happy Christmas!

Loops Haunt

In anticipation of his debut on Black Acre Records I’d like to call your attention to an artist named Loops Haunt (http://www.myspace.com/loopshaunt), a Dundee based Hip Hop/Glitch producer who makes the sort of music that your brain might generate on the periphery of a fever dream.

Despite some incredibly innovative production and a sound pallete that could make your hair fall out, Loops Haunt doesn’t appear to have received much exposure so far; the exceptions being a few tracks included in Slugabed, Rustie and Ebola’s recent mixes, and Huarache (which sounds like a giant foretelling the Apocalypse through the medium of a sky scraper high, steel stringed, double bass) being picked by Eprom for the heads up track on Mary Anne Hobbs’ experimental show.

Suffice to say I expect he’ll be making lots of noise over the next couple of months with Team Acre 002: Impact OmniHammer/Joplin (http://www.myspace.com/blackacrerecords) surfacing towards the end of October and an E.P on Fortified Audio following shortly after.

In the meantime here are three sets to whet your appetite:

Two mixes for Ballers Social Club:

Ballers Mix 1: http://www.divshare.com/download/7335741-e0e

Ballers Mix 2: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LGNCR86L

And an Exclusive Rhythm Incursions Mix, which can be found here: http://www.rhythm-incursions.com/2009/08/04/loops-haunt-mini-mix/