GUTTERPEOPLE: TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE GLOBAL ELECTRONIC UNDERCLASSES

A little while back I put myself forward as a sort of 'talent scout', inviting unsigned/unknown artists to send me some shit which I could feature at the blog. I still like the idea that a blog could have the potential to break a new act, plus it gives me the opportunity to pay-out some respect to the people who check-in regularly at Gutterbreakz. Right now I'm more interested in what some anonymous kid huddled over a laptop is coming-up with, rather than just following the established names. I wasn't sure if this invite would lead to a deluge of demos or a mere trickle....turned out to be the latter. I've linked to some interesting stuff in the past few weeks, but today I wanted to focus on a couple of people who don't have any kind of web presence yet.

Firstly, here's Jannik Juhl who, under the alias Giedo Primo, has been recording and performing for about seven years, using an all-hardware setup that includes The Electron SID-station ("using the C64 sound chip, by far the most important part of my sound"), Roland TR-909 & 626 rhythm composers, Juno 60 and JX3P synths, Waldorf Pulse and, more recently, MAM ADX1 (for drum sounds) and Red Sounds "Dark Star". Sequencing duties are handled by a Yamaha RM1X. "I never use a computer" says Jannik, "and rarely any samples. Not that I have anything against completely computer made, sample based music, I just like a lot of separate machines around me. Everything is recorded live in one-takes, and as a result the tracks often get longer than they should be. I have something like 15-20 hours of recorded material on mini discs. Sometimes I play live, and then it really is live. Sometimes this is solo, sometimes in duo projects".

Jannik sent me a cd-r full of his own brand of improvised sound, characterised by filthy, unsyncopated 909 beats, waves of cold synth textures aligned with almost playful melodic riffs. Some tracks are upbeat floor-fillers for non-existent clubs whilst others are half-speed dirges that worm their way into my system like viral infections. "I suppose my stuff could be described as a mixture of analogue hardcore, computer game music and... I don't know... experimental electronics, I guess. Not always that experimental. And never truly "abstract", as I'm far too fond of riffs, grooves and melodies".

I believe this is the first time I've experienced the sound of Danish electronica and was intrigued by Dannik's description of the cultural climate in his country...

"I'm from Odense in Denmark, a city with almost no scene for electronic music (although the somewhat known idyllitronica artist Manual is from Odense too), and as a result I've had little contact with most rave, techno and electronica trends. I used to arrange gabber nights in the mid-nineties. To some degree I belong to an odd analogue tradition in Danish techno - from hardcore/acid acts like Zekt and Senical to rave-prankster Bjørn Svin, all making their music live with hardware synths and sequencers."

It's my pleasure to host one of Jannik's tracks, a recent number called "Den Fortabte". Check it out! Jannik is thinking about trying to get a record deal, but isn't too sure who'd be interested in his style. If you have any advice, opinions etc, e-mail him!

Next up, meet Khalil who's been listening to "nothing but Grime" after getting switched-on here at Gutterbreakz....

" I'm an underground basement nobody producer myself... I usually stick to making hiphop tracks for my compatriots in the ghettos of Montreal to rap on in french or english ....but since getting into the Grime, I've been really working on some hard grime tracks... there's just something so fuckin' exciting about this genre of music, that when I make a beat I get this big fuckin' stupid grin on my face and start like hopping around the room screamin "bun u blud,I take ur chayn" and other such madness..."

Khalil has been following my recent 'Guttertech' adventure with interest, as he explains, "I was surprised when you started workin' with Fruityloops as that's what I've been using for quite a long time now...but I was just startin' to make grime beats as you were so it was kinda parallel progress in that sense...."

For Grime productions, Khalil uses the name Roi Masters. He's put a couple of his tunes up at Geocities for you to hear. First check "Grimetings" for some tasty skeletal future beatz, then brace yourself for "Future Is Grime" which features fierce, overdriven drum hits and relentless squarewave riffs. I like Khalil's beats - they kick my ass and make me realise I need to work harder on my riddims! The Montreal-Grime scene starts here - I'd love to hear some of Khalil's shit with maybe French-speaking MCs rhyming ovhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=28509712er the top. Khalil agrees, adding "What I'd really love is to get some grimey emcees to spit a few bars on some of my stuff - that's who its meant for...I'd work with anyone over the internet".

All you aspiring MCs should E-mail Khalil now!

GUTTERPEOPLE #2: THE BREAKCORE/MASH-UP CONTINGENT

This jolly lookin' chap is Adam Moore, better known (?) as Minikomi. "I'm from Australia, doing some plant & pest science research at the mo', but for the past 2/3 years I've been trying to do some breakcore stuff, first on Buzz Tracker, now on Renoise. I'm heavily influenced by hip-house, Nintendo, party music and endless imaginative manipulations of the Amen/Gabber variety. Got some more tunes on Micromusic.net, got some stuff coming out on Heresmycard Records later this year and I also do some collaborative stuff with a guy called CDR from Japan under the name Doujinshi".

For an insight into the world of Minikomi, Adam cordially invites you to check out his mix, available to download here. As you will see from the tracklist, it's a mixture of his own inventions and delightfully distorted R'n'B hits that will fit nicely onto a cd-r if you fancy it. Party on, dude...

Next, it's just a short hop to the wilds of New Zealand, where you'll find this demented looking creature that calls itself Thinkmonkey (but it's parents call it Daniel). This poor, lonely, endangered species may become extinct if it doesn't find a mate soon. I'll let the primate explain further: "My name is Thinkmonkey because I needed a name. I am from New Zealand which is a Pacific Island. There is no scene for demented idm / amentalist / superjungle / breakcore / acid-laced/chin-stroking in this part of the world. I like demented idm / amentalist / superjungle / breakcore /acid-laced/ chin-stroking music. I also like artists who show more than one side of their personality. It is great to see playful and aggressive sounds coming from the same artists. Musicians aren't as one dimensional as I suspect large labels make them sound in most cases.

In the future I hope to start a 'conceptual piece' on a 1970's horror film and my first LP "The great New Zealand breakcore album" which I have a million ideas for, all of which involve distorting and abusing our wonderful nation and and its culture. Maybe it will be suitable as a demo. I have a tribute track for Shitmat that is half done but it's shit. I am up for collaborations and remixes if anyone's interested. At the moment I make music around my job basically because I enjoy it.

My gear includes a computer with Cubase and Cool Edit, a bass guitar/amp/a few pedals + a couple of other guitars and a twisted sense of humour. The guitars don't get much use nowadays. Renoise Tracker has got me interested and I have had a bit of a bash in that lately.

The track I made for Gutterbreakz might make you nod your head. I threw something together that is influenced by some of the great music I have found out about because of this blog (aw, shucks - Ed).

If you can't get enough I have recently erected a site with a couple of samples of tracks I'm working/stalled on".

Lastly, let's briefly return to the chillier climes of the Northern Hemisphere with a tune from fellow Brit Josh Bramall (no picture supplied), who doesn't have much to say about himself other than the fact that "I'm a student in London who's studying philosophy, and should be studying not messing around with making tunes! ". Josh's main thing is for bootleg/mash-ups, grafting rap and R'n'B vocals onto glitchy fuckbeats, which can produce some entertaining results, as on this cheeky little number, which Squarepusher fans may find oddly familiar....

Bring on the Gutter-technicians!!!