Ryddim93 - 'Lautrec' Selection

We asked our mate Bootie Jones, aka Ryddim93, the 19 year old behind some of the slickest UK-inspired footwork tracks of the year, to put together some tracks for us. What came out was some absolute diffusion staples: Machinedrum, Paisley Parks, Lone and LDFD, so needless to say, this guys got taste. And he's pretty fucking funny too.

   First up hows life in Monero Valley 

Very sad, if i played brostep I'd be getting laid hey i should be a brostep rapper really?

That bad? how does your shit usually go down? 

 I played for some coffee shop one time, it was insanely akward, lots of girls though. Everytime I tell I chick i make music, the first thing they say is "dubstep?"

What do you tell them you make? 

Magic music

Sick, describe the 'magic music' sound for us. 

Sexual regression combined with memories of listening to Sade and Crystal Waters in my moms car and lots of sexy synths.

How did you get into footwork?

I was jacking off to vids on Xvideo in between looking for music on youtube, and i found that album "rooms" by Machinedrum. Next thing u know im making songs at 160 bpm. It changed my life, so did internet pornography sadly. I'm makin' the change.

Do you think juke is going to become big in the future? 

Doubt it. its already huge underground wise. People allow their taste to be governed by whats on the radio i have no idea whats out right now mainstream stuff, lady gaygay? I don't consider myself juke though but the label is fine.

Wanna tell us about some of your other hobbies, philosophy, womanizing... gardening? 

I read lots of pointless articles on philosphy, they make me really depressed but ehhh its whatever. At times its really over the top. When it comes to women, I'm lost as fuck, comes with age I suppose.
Gardening is what i do for my grandma, shes a precious person. Sunflowers, roses, all that good shit, I hate dandelions though, those flowers are straight gay

 Can i ask you a philosophical question or will it be too depressing? What's the point of music?  

To feel. Life to me is rather drab without music. I'm rather romanticist in the way i think of life. To me music is an escape to higher feeling or emotion. Music affects everyone a certain way, its life. Expression of our soul in its purest form.. gods drug

How come you used a radio rip of carrot man? 

It was on my laptop, I ripped it from youtube from a guy who did a radio rip and the guy in the opening of the song has a sexy voice, no homo

 Any last words? 

 Ummm, I'm really amazed at how technology has allowed 19 year old college slackers like me to make whatever they want. And all the single ladiez should hit me up, im single, sexy, creative, and slightly crazy.

Japanese Juke and Footwork Compilation

Japanese Mutation Bootyism, the name really says it all, has released a whopping great compilation of Japanese footwork that boggles the mind in both its scale and diversity. I was aware of Japan's comparatively open embrace of juke music through Paisley Parks and his 'Pan Pacific Playa' label and Dj Fulltono's 'Bootytune' but this compilation is a revelation as to the shear vastness of the Japanese juke output which dwarfs every other 2nd wave Juke scene from Portland, Austin, the UK, Russia or anywhere else. Further more the Japanese style seems to be far less quick to abandon essential elements of footwork or incorporate other existing styles to keep it fresh and new, a rather annoying aspect of the aforementioned scenes. Instead, this compilation builds on the footwork idiom by deconstructing even further, the rhythmic tropes and ghetto samples that ultimately define the sound. Yet the overall impression one gets from the music isn't one of gangsta slums, projects, urban decay and despair but something more quint-essentially Japanese: kitsch and cartoonish, busy, wacky and overstimulating like the Tokyo high street. Dj Fulltono's 'peepbopeepbo' is a great example of this vibe, sounding like a Japanese counterpoint to someone like Dj Taye. While most track retain a Ghettotek sensibility the comp has its far more experimental moments, but they don't seem out of place on the comp and the comp wouldn't feel out of place on the Battleground. 'Ghetto Call' by rioqmt offers a very convincing synthesis between the sub-sonic brutality and textural experimentalism that seem to divide Chicago and international footwork. However, Klone7023's '1up' gets so rhythmically disorientating it practically abandons a time signature altogether. Ok, considering it is a remix of the MarioWorld theme it is hard to take seriously as avant-garde music, but you have to see it as part of the culture of aggressive kitsch in juke music that can get to the point of a joke at times, lets not forget Traxman's 'Let There Be Rockkkk'. I see the track as a very post-modern take on free-jazz where the composition of the samples is a quixotic expression of the artist and completely unrestrained by a musical narrative or even by a metronome. Regardless, the compilation has got enough of whatever you're looking for in juke, its is impressively creative and diverse and after listening you can't ignore the presence of this enormous and promising wave of footwork from the far east.

Durban - Trippin

Durban is the newest member of the almighty Ghettoteknitianz crew. It is a fascinating decision from labelheads Spinn and Rashad, as Durban would appear the first addition pursuing the much darker, more ambient aspects of footwork (think slava and howse). I think its fantastic that the genre's oldest and greatest are embracing a new wave of producers. Some indication of this has emerged before - Rashad's support of the Night SLugs label, his remixes of 'Footcrab' and Becoming Real amongst many others. Nonetheless, to actually induct one of these artists into Teklife is something different altogether. In 'Trippin' we have a slow burner, lusciously fitted with thick, gooey bangs, a lazy melody and only the most lovely, echo-laden vocal accompaniments - in vibe, this song shares many features with Zomby's ultra-dank Hyperdub EPs. This is paranoid juke, the bangs not used to move the feet but to disorientate and destabilise. Shad and Spinn don't seem to be satisfied with just inventing this genre, they want to harvest and preserve its future as well.

Hesk - K + I've Been Looking

Hesk occupies the same kind of space that DJ Clap does in footwork. It's those big, lush, happy bangers. It's footwork stripped of most of its ghetto-isms and its lo-fi aesthetic. This may offend some people's purist sensibilities, but that's just not how we function at Diffusion. Hesk is undeniably fun, as best seen in 'I've Been Looking', with its chipmunk vocals, L.A.-beat inspired chops, and big, booming bangs. On 'K', Hesk takes a more dramatic approach - breathy vocals instead of ecstatic bits and pieces, more of a throb than a bang, a fullness compared to most of juke's tinny timbres - which works just as well.

∑NRON HUBB∆RD - She All Like

Enron delivers to us this phat, phunky, booty-slamming jam. This is stanky toe-jam to get low to. An irresistible boom-bap, a lush bassline, emotional synths - it has all the workings of the kind of song you want to slow dance to at your formal. It is also a massive departure for this producer, who was once firmly situated in the trappy, jukey, wingdinged sounds of the sinefield and #slimepunk movements. Enron is opening up his lighter side to the world, casting his UV radiance overall those that care to listen.

Andrea - Work in the Middle (Legit Bootleg)

Legit participates in what seems to be a highly fertile music scene from Texas. A wave of producers (Myrryrs, LDFD et al) are rising up from trap foundations into the magical and mysterious ether. Ergo the choir synth opening the tune, all swagger and bounce underneath, until an incredibly well restrained, beautifully melodious little anti-drop. Here we have the inner workings of hip-hop smothered with the post-dubstep stylings of warm, shakey synths and vocal chops (in the best way possible, I promise). It really is audibly well put together and thought out, and meticulously executed. Big tings coming out of the big state!

Midland - Placement (Lone Remix)

Lone is one of the modern masters of the banger. His new album didn't quite hit the spot, it was torn between his previous work (the incredible likes of Cloud 909 and All Those Weird Things) and where he seems to be heading now. This remix sees him firmly landed, taking many ideas from his previous work - the intricate, syncopated drum patterns, walking bass lines, warm synth lines - and stripping them down until the bare wood of a deep house jam remains. With a 7 minute playing time, subtle and sustained tweakage, as well as a fine knack for arrangement, this could be mistaken for a modern Four Tet song, only with that completely idiosyncratic sound that Lone brings to every one of his productions. One for a long, stoned bus trip.

DZA - Surrender EP サレンダ

Lush, cosmic and as extravagantly imaginative as the mind of a kindergardener, DZA is back with a new EP on his own 'How2Make' imprint. To an avid follower of Sasha Dza many of these these tracks won't be new to them, but to anyone else this EP is a compendium of insanely large party anthems that deviate from the hazier more LA inspired tracks he is more usually associated with (see DZA Dog Mixtape). While i used to see DZA as the Russian Flying Lotus this EP reforms him to become the Russian Hudson Mohawke, stepping over to the ecstatic chords and sugary synths camp of banger-making. In fact you could draw several parallels to HudMo's monumental 'Satin Panthers EP' of last year. 'Finger Snaps' has the kind of sinister trap step and head-banging appeal as HudMo's 'Cbat', 'Hurricane Kick' has the same pounding brass stabs and power driven kick-snare gait as 'Thunder Bay', while 'Chasing You' has the hand-in-the-air ecstatic release as the equivalent 'Thank You' and all of the other tracks wouldn't be out of place on any release by HudMo's partner in crime: Rustie. But, all overblown comparisons aside, DZA can still be relied on for injecting his own brand of quirkiness and uninhibited creativity into his music. The EP is rife with the little cute soundbites, whimsical flourishes and fantasical textures that give his music such distinct personality. This is unquestionable a very large release right here.

T4RIK - Wurld Wyde

A very ethereal curiosity from T4RIK, a weird internet-famous producer from (I believe) Portland. World Wyde jams out with Arabic riffs and strings processed into very unforgiving, midi sounds, you could even confuse it for 'Fatima Al Qidiri'. The elevating synths eventually give way to a thundering break-down of footwork bangs and jungle breaks providing the perfect crash-landing down to earth and proving itself one of the most unlikely tracks to get your body moving.

✞ENNI$R✡DM∆N - Eat Gold EP

The slimiest dude on tha internetz Tennis Rodman, just dropped a little EP for Earmilk a quasi-spiritual, sampledelic ode to the computer-aged zeitgeist. Rodman's tunes capture the mind-numbing, out of body thrill of browsing the net with the appropriate ironic detachment and troll ethic it deserves. Not that the idea of encapsulating the insanity of internet culture in music form is a new one, need I mention the likes of Oneohtrix Point Never or James Ferraro, but Tennis Rodman achieves this in a way that is both deadly serious and ridiculous, and to be honest a lot of fun. For that matter, have a lot of fun playing 'spot the sample' over the course of his lush, 4 track, warped-out, trap-rolling EP which you can DL here.

Salva & Grenier - Wake The Dead / Forest Floor

H3R3

Dj Chap - Hungry Happy Sleepy

One of the most interesting juke EPs of this year, Dj Chap brings an absurdist celestial touch to the otherwise very ghettotek-faithful sounds. The Denver producer is new to the game however his beats are pastiched from a very diverse and unexpected palette of samples that evoke an otherworldly atmosphere but one governed by the mechanical precision of footworks rimshots, bangs and snares. Perhaps 'Accordion', best sums up the EPs vibe, employing the free-associative, almost surreal juxtaposition of samples, the track is a push and pull between the lumbering accordion sample and the insistent rhythmic pressure wherein a voice chatters at supernatural speed about overdosing on weed. 'Loser's Final' is another standout that again tries to compress a very expansive and cinematic sample into an uncomfortably small, demanding footwork meter with the effect of a stoner trying to philosophise about the universe while being rhythmically jabbed by a small robot. 'Lift Me Up' is the real jam on this Ep however, I cant get past the pitch-shifted divas, or the ardcore breaks especially when combined with the temporal deliciousness of some very fine bangs.