Forthcoming on Night Slugs

A few previews have appeared in the last few days of forthcoming releases from the resurgent Night Slugs label. Although we haven't heard from the label for a while, these previews indicate that they are back with a fucking vengeance. First, Jam City is set to release his debut LP, Classical Curves, on May 28th. Today we have some previews from the forthcoming record, which showcase the producer's extreme talent in creating futuristic, genre-defying dancefloor destroyers. First is 'Her', a kind of vogue meets industrial pounder, only offset by funked-out, high-saturation organ. Also leaked is 'How We Relate To The Body', complete with massive, screaming synths, Jam City's typically stuttered kick patterns and, every now and then, the euphoric injection of a few piano chords. Also available is the lead single, 'The Courts', which we have previewed previously and comes together with a fantastic video. The story goes that Jam City was employed to develop his invention of chrome 'body extensions' (which he can be seen to be wearing) by a famous fashion house. It turned out that the project was overlooked by a Big Brother-esque aero-space company and was shut down before completion. I think it makes perfect sense that this music was created in this environment - it retains all the elements of the highly postmodern, robotic and technologic world that we may inherit. Last year, Girl Unit killed us here at Diffusion (as it did everyone else) with 'Wut'. On May 7, he returns with the 'Club Rez' EP. We start things off with 'Club Rez', which maintains ideas that made 'Wut' so effective: rib-cage shaking subs, peak-inducing, dirty as hell synths and big fat drops all over the place. Only this time, a mellow, stargazing acid line swirls over the top, adding to what is essentially the perfect banger a kind of understated and subdued vibe. Also appearing on the Club Rez EP will be 'Cake Boss', a metallic monster, 808 laden, brutally repetitive, and only ever subtley tweaked. Night Slugs has been pushing a highly idiosyncratic aesthetic since its inception, and these releases should not only exemplify this aesthetic, but provide DJs worldwide with absolute fire.

DJ Earl - Above and Beyond

By now I think everyone who is familiar with Earl's music knows what to expect from a release of his and true to form his 'Above and Beyond' LP delivers. The 21 year old producer is simultaneously one of the coldest footworkers in the game and somewhow one of the most soulful. This human/machine dichotomy is elegantly provoked through the album's 11 tracks and shows much more finesse than Earl's self-titled EP early this year. Earl represents that kind of purism that makes the Ghettotekz so obsessively listenable, and the album features some of your most quint-essential Ghettotek sounds: jazz, funk, cold gangsta vocals and face melting saw-wave sirens. 'Studio 73 Pt. 2' the opening track is a classic example of that saw-wave drone that while sounding extremely cold and unhuman carries a lot of emotional weight and is exacerbated by the attritional effect of the repetition. The same can be said for 'Feelin' Myself' with is brutal minimalism and cutting vocal sample or 'TroniKStringz' with it air of utter despair. Yet the albums finest moments are found on the more friendly soul/funk side of things, 'Eyes to the Sky' and 'C'mon Back' have that hyped up yet laid back groviness and are both absolute joys to listen to. This album is definitely not going to blow any minds as it's typical of both the style and the quality that Earl is synonymous with, but then again, you can't fault an album thats this well-constructed and enjoyable.

Alantic Vol. 2 - Astro Nautico Compilation

Another future-fantastic comp filled with some of out favourite Soundcloud personalities. The second installment of 'Atlantics' out now for free on the Austro Nautico netlabel, is a deliciously bright and playful collection of avant-garde beats and soundscapes from a very broad range of influences, post-hip-hop rollers, sampledelic experiments and even a tinge of juke. Like so many other equivalent comps, Austro Nautico are very grandiose in their aesthetic vision and attempt to "generally change the game" through their unique futuristic sound. The label that started with Obey City, Paul Jones and Kuhn (who contributed some of the tastier jams on the comp) now find themselves "unexpectedly surrounded by a whole community" of artists to become a "communal space for cross-all-borders creative interaction". But this kind of wide-eyed creative utopianism is part and parcel of all netlabel communities but the end results are too often worn down by the repetitiveness of the aesthetic themes and so cluttered with bells and whistles that one becomes desensitised to the original grandiose vision. 'Alantics' however, stays fresh and intriguing throughout its 41 track duration and is painstakingly well put together and, above all, fun. Also, not one fucking winding in sight. From moments of impossibly bright euphoria like Dreams's 'OooO' to fat dirty rollers like Kuhn's 'Child's Play', to footwork pressure from Dj Pyramid, and our mate Chits, to stuff that defies classification like Bauuer's 'My Head', I am at a loss. Overall Astro Nautico bring us a projection of the future in an unpretentious (though thoroughly idealistic) and enjoyable way, with its many unexpected twists and turns, amusing interludes and not to mention a pretty killer line-up, its a compilation that mimics the appeal of an album and doesn't lose itself in a fog of windingy, pseudo-progressive, piffle.

Friends

Apologies for the lull in posting of late. Oscar and I are still reeling off the release of R.I.P., which is just unbelievable. Anyway, new toons coming yr way very soon.

LHF - Keepers of the Light

I have been a fan of LHF for a long time and only now do I understand why. The mysterious London collective (Aman Ra, Double Helix, No Fixed Abode, Low Density Matter and more) released the first 'Keepers of the Light' volume back in 2009 and back then I couldn't (try as I might) get Tobias to like them as I did. The individual efforts of the artists always failed to impress. What I realise now is that we both saw LHF as a group of auteurs who produced their own musical products for the combined benefit of the group when in fact I had been getting off on the grand ebb and flow of the mix all along, the kind of meta-narrative created by the interweaving of samples and loops and the broader aesthetic picture of the LHF vision. 

The fact is, me and Tobias are too fucking young to have come from a pirate radio background and between us we know relatively little about UK bass. But LHF's charm comes from their intimate pirate routes: their anonymity, the ephemerality of the tunes (requiring an enormous amount of dedication to keep up with), not to mention the rasta-isms, movie samples or the dubstep grooves that hit with the malevolence of a cartoon super-villain. LHF were and are interesting because they are an antidote to the canonical approval and musical homogeny of the record labels on one side and the internets commodification of micro-trendiness on the other. Instead, LHF pump out vibes in a way that seems removed from the usual media circles and hence puristic and primal which is why this album is such a joy. 

The group are, according to legend, sitting on an inordinately large mass of tracks, so you imagine that their 120 minute LP would contain a few gems, and it does, several actually. Amen Ra's 'Candy Rain' stands out as a beautifully bright but restrained masterpiece at the albums third track, with its extravagant synth flares and post-dub bass line it exemplifies the kind of musical uninhibition that I had once loved about James Blake (but let's not go there). The murkier, more dubstep savvy vibes of the album's first third reach a peak at Double Helix's 'Supreme Architecture' pushing the atmospherics to a giddying high before charging into a kind of evil Bollywood breakbeat. The middle of the LP takes a decided turn however to the headdier, slower, experimental tracks: Amen Ra's 'Simple Things', 'Low Maintenance'  and No Fixed Abode's 'Stranglands' all of which pivot on a certain tone or sound at near brutal intensity and slowly release their rhythmic gratification. The final part of the album elucidates the kind of ambiguous world-step vibes that usually fall in Amen Ra's domain but best come to light on Double Helix's 'Inferno' or the bonus track 'Sonoluminescence', with their exotic Middle Eastern, Indian and African influences. 

LHF are in a whole different universe, as Amen Ra has stated "We want to create our own world or system" and its for this exact reason that my review of this album is so outrageously biased. I certainly can't judge them alongside any other approximate artists because I am too far enmeshed in the LHF universe. I am not entirely convinced that this album would impress many people who weren't previously fans. In fact, many tracks are simply edits of tracks from the previous 'Keepers' works and much like the mixes themselves the enjoyment comes from the integration of certain familiar sounds and samples. No Fixed Abode's 'Sunset', for instance, opens with a sample from Exhale London's 'Somuchtogive' only reversed. Obviously this kind of pirate-esque fandom would be lost on new listeners but its the repetition and the rewiring of these little vibes and sonic hooks that make the LHF universe so enthralling. From a fan's perspective at least, this album is a fantastic showcase of one of Britain's most intriguing groups in a format that gives their work a certain space for immersive and repeated listening. However, the tracks on their own do not amount to more than the sum of their parts to a listener unfamiliar with the expansive meta-narrative from which the tracks are mosiac'd. 

Traxman - Da Mind of Traxman

We've been sitting on this record for a while at Diffusion. The first full Mu release from a Tek legend and co-founder demands, perhaps, a closer listen than most. And rightly so - it is a record which exemplifies (almost) every single aspect of juke that we love (back to that almost in a sec). You'll find all of juke's divergent components communicated in a masterful, considered, and beautiful manner. We kick off with the gorgeous new-age chimes of 'Footworkin on Air, its squirming synth rising and falling, its deranged percussion instantly indicating what sort of record this might be. Upon multiple listens this track has revealed itself a standout and one of my favourites on the album, pertinent is the intense creativity and finesse that Traxman beholds.

Traxman - Footworkin On Air
Following is the soul-sampledelia of 'Itz Crack', full of stop and start horn blasts, a creeping double-bass and the refrain "itz crack," which is true in a meta sense - it is crack.  Traxman continues to explore the blunt gangsta-isms of his genre ('Callin All Freaks') and the brutal electronics of fellow footworkers like Earl and T-Why ('Slip Fall' and 'Sound Filed', which may constitute the weakest tracks on the album). 'Let There Be Rockkk' could be confused for a joke if it weren't so fucking awesome, while the soul-drenched perfection of tracks like 'I Need Some Money', 'Rock You','I Must Deadly Killer' and 'Work Me 2011' show that when it comes to funked out horn samples, Traxman may even beat Spinn and Nate at their own game. On 'Chillll', a mellow, jazzy sample morphs into a magnificent, vibing roller - a swirling theme intricately intertwined with a cathartically penetrative sax note. Then comes the frantic diva-slicing of 'Setbacks' and the incredible, airy, thumping 'The Comeback 2011'.
 The album peaks incredibly late with 'Conq Dat Bitch', which may just supersede Jabba's 'Werks' as my favourite track of the year. 'Conq Dat Bitch' contains a magical, glassy, exquisite sample, some of the heaviest snares and chops on the album, a deliciously brazen vocal sample, which amalgamates in a transporting track that is absolutely bursting with breathtaking vibe, an extraordinary passion. Traxman - Conq Dat Bitch What appears before you, then, is an incredible album. However (here's the almost I referred to earlier), I worry that, as an album, it may circumscribe some essential parts of this genre. I have the same worry that Simon Reynolds did for his beloved ardkore - that it may slip into a reversion to "auteur-stars, concept albums and long-term careers." I worry, but, then again, it doesn't bother me at all because this album is simply too good. Furthermore, a full length from Traxman, one of juke's foremost veterans, on Planet Mu, a label that has established itself as the main propagator of the scene to the wider world, will necessarily involve some 'intelligent' affectation as Mu has essentially become the juke canon. That said, for all its conceptual grandeur and hi-fi production Traxman never once takes his eyes off the battle-ground which is why we implore you to get this record whether you are a long-time footwork listener or a newcomer to the genre - it is easily the best juke album, the best album of the year thus far (although we await R.I.P. with excited ears) and, I'm willing to say, the best juke release period.

Falty DL - Mean Streets 2

The woody percussive swing that we've all come to love about Falty comes into focus on these three crystal clear productions for a new Ep on Swamp81. While 'Mean Streets Part 1' saw Falty dip into the latin brass, even salsa-esque swing, 'Part 2' exports the vibes to a more ambiguous exotic African landscape reminiscent of Fourt Tet's worldly groove. The rattling polyrhythms skittle over loungy chords occasionally joined by a four to the floor pulse bringing the track back to its garagey foundations. As Brian Eno once said 'Computer nerds are people who don't have enough Africa in them' and by that definition Falty is a very cool guy. His undeniable steeze is perhaps best displayed on 'Laid Back' the counterpoint to Part 1's 'Hard' and indeed, if that was hard, this is certainly laid back. The track surges on the sort of effortless sonic intuition that only Falty possesses. Its glistening vocals and crispy jazz edge make it a luxurious and mellifluous jam, to accompany a quietly masterful release from our main man Falty DL.

Louis Blaise - Love and Gwalla (Phillip D. Kick Remix)

Phillip D Kick (Om Unit, half of Dream Continuum) makes a welcome return with his frantic mix of jungle and juke. As we have come to expect, Kick delivers a werking, restrained jam. We start with a viciously fuzzed-out synth blare and a cascade of 808s with the occasional gangsta vocal injection. It all drops out and a bongo break evolves into the jukified-jungle beat that Kick is famous foor - the temperature rising - before those brutal synths join the party again. Phillip D. Kick seems to be constantly improving his skills at combining a variety of genres, and this is a perfect example of that.

Ryddim 93 - In Touch

Here, Ryddim 93 switches his usual ambient juke sounds for something more grounded in house. The twitchiness of juke remains, but a steady, pulsating 4-to-tha-floor grounds the skittering percussion in a head-nodding groove. Warm synths smother the tune, rising throughout, before the addition of congas and a series of looped sound morsels - drum fills, diva vocal licks, bass notes. It's always good to see a bedroom producer explore sounds alien to their former material; Ryddim has explored and returned with a rich harvest.

Nikes - Switch My Style

Some hot 'Footrap' from 'Nikes' one of an increasing number of experimental ghetto acts coming out of Austin. This remix has pretty much got everything, from the jumpy toms to the 808 cowbell, the trap breakdown and passages of head-swimming atmospherics. Keen to here more of dat low swinging Austin sound

Sweatson Klank - Always You

Tom Wilson, formerly  known as 'Take', an influential player in the LA beat scene, has now adopted the Sweatson Klank moniker for a new EP coming out on Project Mooncircle. The rise of these West Coast beatmakers (Flying Lotus, Shlomo, et al) has help forged the post-hip-hop musical landscape of the 21st century where now, this brand of wonky soul and lo-fi bass has become one of the most internationally established styles around. Project Mooncircle itself, with it's Finest Ego compilations, details the extent of this sampledelic hip-hop epoch featuring artists from Australia, to Japan, to Russia, and all over Europe and America. In this light it is very difficult to distinguish oneself from the plagues of musical flotsam in this field but Sweatson Klank's work stands out in terms of taste. 'Always You' finds a perfect groove, stepping up the tempo and incoporating a footwork-esque rimshots and rhythmic vocal stabs that invoke the styling of the french 'High Powered Boys'. The plunging bass and brightly reverberated vocal ethereality brings a very genuine benevolent feel and is a welcome change to the usual Project Mooncircle releases which are too often glutted with ideas and obvious in its need to impress.

STYLSS - ¿THA FCK? (April Fools Compilation)

The new Portland netlabel 'STYLSS' have unleashed their free April Fool's compilation on the world, showcasing some of Soundcloud's most intriguing bedroom producers. What can I say, after the Sinewave comp, and the Seapunk and Icepunk volumes, this kind of internet sample-socialism is a fairly familiar formula but ¿THA FCK? fills a very interesting and so far underrated niche in the landscape of modern computer music. Perhaps the 'Sine Field' guys already cover this ground though not as comprehensively, in fact Nick Logistik and Poor Sport from the Sine Wave comp make an appearance. The compilation fills in the vacuum created by death of witch-haus wherein the coldly quantized rollers have been recontextualised in a murkier, more absurd soundscape made up by trap-fills and fat bass riffs. At 34 tracks the groups aesthetic vision is fully mapped out across almost every sonic terrain from chiptune influences to witch haus, new age synth lines to trippy internet sampledelica but all kept within a deep-south-style, trap rollin' framework. This compilation and, not to mention every other massive netlabel based compilation that has come out recently, is surely representative of a widespread musical movement and one that would logically fit into a post-modern age. Firstly, the fact that all the tunes are pay-optional is indicative of the free market of ideas that the enormous soundcloud community shares, and furthermore the shear abundance of the music render any notions of the auteur almost redundant. Instead netlabels like STYLSS work like little businesses, pumping out their particular brand of mass-produced, computer-aged goodness. That is not undermine the quality of this music, almost all of which shows a large amount of creativity and finesse, however i can't help but hear the disappointing tinge of musicians trying too hard to assert their stylistic legitimacy in a world over-saturated with amateur beatmakers.