TWO MIXES

I have a feeling that service will be even more intermittent than usual round here for a while, so here's some mixage to keep you going...

First up, here's a mix from Bristol's Adam Kidkut, who runs the Immerse label. Recorded back in July, and recently featured on Artofbeats Radio, it's "a good representation of what I listen to, the direction Immerse is going and what people can expect from the radio show Diccon (aka Thinking) and I run on Passion Radio".

Kidkut - Artofbeats Mix

Wedge - Overfiend (Gatekeeper refix) - Reduction (forthcoming)
Djunya - Brahman Dub - Immerse (forthcoming)
Borg - Kisses of Fire - Immerse (forthcoming)
Peverelist - Roll with the Punches - Dub
Kuma - Lost in Translation - Immerse (forthcoming)
Migrant - No Name - Dub
Shackleton - Blood On Your Hands - Skull Disco
23hz & Numaestro - El Rif - Dub
Ramadanman - Rosetta - Dub
Mala - Lean Forward - DMZ
2562 - Resistance Dub - Dub
Skream - Losing Control - Tempa
Distance - Delight - Planet Mu
The Cinematic Orchestra - Reel Life - Ninja Tunes
Gatekeeper - Let Go - Punch Drunk
Trg - Ghetto Romance - Dub
Kuma - Dawn Stepped Outside - Immerse (forthcoming)
Burial - Forgive - Hyperdub
Boards of Canada - You Could Feel The Sky - Warp Music

-------------------------------------

I was stuck at home looking after the kids last night, so couldn't reach Highroad's Skull Disco special (I sent along my Doppelganger instead!). After I'd put the little darlings to bed I thought I'd cheer myself up with a bit of mixing. Actually, I mix most nights, but usually just for fun and practice. It's a great way to unwind and de-stress, just losing myself in the beats. Minimal techno's particularly good for that. Sometimes I might record onto cassette just to listen to in the car, but last night I thought I'd leave Audacity running and see if anything good happened. So here's a half hour of spontaneous techno jamming...

Gutter's Techno Jam

Andy Stott - Made Your Point (Modern Love)
Blunt - City Rain (Soultek's Emotive Restructure) (Dpress)
David Hausdorf - Untitled (Styrax Leaves)
Convextion - Grey Sky Warm Car (Down Low)
CH-Signal Laboratories - Hypnotica Scale 1 (Sandwell District)
Siobhan Donaghy - Don't Give It Up (Carl Craig Dub) (Parlophone)
Tadeo - Reflection Nebula 056n (Apnea)
Daniel Stefanik - Growth (Statik)

Some new stuff in there like Andy Stott's latest offering but also a few bits I've had lying around for ages like that Carl Craig remix of Soibhan Donaghy (yes, that fit lass who used to be in Sugerbabes - straying dangerously close to the mainstream here, but trust me Carl's dub is a fucking trip). The mix starts out deep 'n dubby, then briefly goes all melodic and 'Detroity' care of Convextion (who's been bringing hours of pleasure into my life this year) then getting deeply fucking minimal and ending up with some abstract shit from Daniel Stefanik, who I'm hoping to witness in action this weekend at the Four:Twenty/H.E.N.C.H bash (which is apparently gonna be a regular bi-monthly event - fantastic! - a club where I can freely wander from a techno room to a dubstep one sounds like my idea of a perfect night out).

This mix is pretty typical of the sort of thing I do for private/personal pleasure: unplanned, relying on intuition and a bit of luck, always striving for the risky looong transition between tracks, resulting in some sublime moments as well as a few dodgy bits where the beats start to drift, etc. This is just a small selection from the tunes I've been buying this year, but can't be bothered to write about. I mean, what is there to write about them? It's about the feeling...you either get it or you don't. Words literally fail me. I shall endeavour to record and share little mixes like this a bit more regularly in future, just to try and express where I'm at these days.

SKWEEEZE ME PLEEEZE ME

Oh those crazy Scandinavians. I accidentally discovered this shit whilst idly surfing the web a couple of weeks ago. 'Skweee' is a sort of hybrid electro/hip hop/grime sound that been bubbling on the Swedish and Finnish underground for a while, centered around two record labels - Flogsta Danshall (Sweden) and Harmönia (Finland). I really like it. Maybe its because I've been listening to so much 'deep/sophisticated' music this past year, but I find Skweee's naively melodic hooks and clunky robo-funk beats really refreshing. You gotta love all those cute 7" singles too. I don't want to make a big deal about it, but for anyone curious to find out more, there's a Dissensus thread, or if you're really serious, get on board at the Nation Of Skweee forum/resource.

WOOFAH

I'm a bit late on this one, but for anyone who might not have heard, issue #1 of Woofah magazine is now available. This is the brainchild of John Eden & Paul Meme, fellow bloggers who've been in my links bar from day one. Bloggers producing printed material? Believe it. I'm all about oldskool formats, its just that there's very little on the magazine racks that interests me these days. But this little A5 b&w reggae-grime-dubstep publication hits the spot, featuring interviews and reviews written by a bunch of cool people, several of whom cut their teeth in the blog world. Highlights include Paul STN's interview with Pinch, Matt B's interview with Iration Steppas' Mark Iration (which includes some fascinating reflections on Mark's time in Ital Rockers, during the whole Northern Bleep 'n Bass period), and Dan Hancox talking to Skepta (discussing among other things the origins and impact of that "Stageshow Rhythm" - as featured in my Blogariddim mix).

Seasoned Grime commentator Simon Hampson contributes an intriguing look at some of the freshest new talent to emerge (nice to see a bit of focus on the producers for a change) whilst Eden and Meme trawl through the latest mixtapes with the rabid enthusiasm of the newly converted. Droid and Paul Autonomic turn-in some solid reviews, whilst Howard Slater single-handedly kicks-off the Shackleton backlash. Ouch!

There's plenty of humour too, with a strip cartoon by Woebot and an hilarious piece of grime fiction by Martin C (no, not that Martin C, apparently) that had me laughing like a drain. Photo contributions from, among others, my old mucker Jack Rampling and the lovely Georgina Cook. My only complaints would be that the text is sometimes hard to read when overlaid on images and that there's maybe a wee bit too much unused page space - nearly a third of the rather meagre dubstep reviews page is blank space! (No doubt they'll have no shortage of things to write about when all the review material starts flowing into John's PO Box, or failing that get Doppleganger to draw some of his cool cartoons!) But these are very minor gripes in what is a very impressive debut issue. Order yours today - I can personally vouch for the speedy delivery. Big-up all concerned!

GUTTER BREAKZ RECORD!

Jesus, I just heard from Droid that my Blogariddim has had 10,164 downloads so far. "Probably the fastest accumulation of downloads we've had in such a short space of time", so he tells me. I suspect it may have had a late push after Blackdown linked it in his latest Pitchfork column (thanks for that, Martin - shucks, I didn't know you still cared). Thanks also to all the other bloggers and forum users who linked and spread the word. Incidentally, some of those Echospace twelves are back in stock at Boomkat, for anyone still trying to hunt them down...

BLOGARIDDIMS 26/HESSLE AUDIO

The latest Blogariddim comes from Ben UFO - "This Is The News" is a pretty darned crucial selection that surveys the perimeters of dubstep innovation (with a few backwards glances along the way). This is where the shit is heading. Nice to see the Bristol crew represented too. I gave Ben some early exposure over two years ago when I hosted his intriguingly forward-thinking "Snap Crackle & Pop" D'n'B mix, and since then he's immersed himself in the dubstep scene, to the extent that he's now co-running a label called Hessle Audio with Ramadanman and Pangaea. I picked-up the first release, a superlative dark 2-Step outing by TRG, a few weeks ago. Then just this week Ramadanman sent me a cd-r with a few forthcoming tunes on, which I'm listening to right now. More on that another time, but this is definitely a label to watch!

DJ/rupture & Andy Moor

with Agaskodo Teliverek + V.i. + DJ Gutterbreakz

at The Cube Cinema

(Thu 11th Oct 2007 / 8pm / £5 adv)

A combustible encounter between turntablist DJ /rupture (Tigerbeat 6) and guitarist Andy Moor (from cult band The Ex), plus inspired support from two more acts.

Rupture is a favourite in Bristol, ever since he tore up Venn '05 with a perfectly pitched and headily eclectic DJ set. Andy Moor is a member of legendary band The Ex (Touch & Go). From their anarcho-punk birth in 1979, they've tirelessly explored a melting-pot of styles: noise, rock, jazz, and African and European folk. Performing together, this promises to be an electrifying face-off between Rupture's transglobal beat-science, and Moor's muscular guitar style. Be warned!

Support from high-octane Hungarian duo Agaskodo Teliverek (which means "the rearing stallions" in Hungarian). They call their unique, mashed-up style of guitar-based music "Psycho Goulash", combining Dick Dale-esque guitar riffage with manic electronic beats. Odd, fun, and very wrong.

Plus V.i., a future primitivist for whom machine static and buzz are integral. Within his music there is a sense of Richie Hawtin's dedicated vision, Kraftwerk's dis/utopia and Pan Sonic's harnessing of a powerful instrument. Deeply pure and emotive. (more info)

This looks like a whole bunch of fun. I've been asked to provide DJ support throughout the evening, spinning tunes in-between the live acts (probably playing to an empty room whilst everyone dashes outside for a quick smoke) and then in the bar area afterwards. I think I'll go for an eclectic mix, with the usual dubstep, grime and techno, but maybe a bit of electro, ambient, jungle, dub, industrial, lo-fi and whatever else I can squeeze into my record bag. Thanks to Mark for the invite and also to Ralph for hooking us up. Looks like a top night...hoping to see a few local headz down there...?

MORE H.E.N.C.H GOODNESS...

A couple of invites arrived in my Facebook account today. The H.E.N.C.H family's monthly showcase at The Tube Bar, Bristol is on Thursday 20th September, with the mighty N-Type headlining. Haven't seen him for ages, so I'm quite tempted to go hang-out there.

But - whoa! - what's all this...?

On Friday the 29th, H.E.N.C.H host room 2 at a big Four:Twenty Recordings night at Timbuk 2. Oh my fucking days. Headlining the mainroom is Daniel Stefanik, who's astonishingly congealed dubby-techno "Starless" EP has been a regular on my turntable recently, but combine that with sets from Bristol's finest - Appleblim, Peverelist, Komanazmuk and Wedge - and you've got an unmissable night: the so-say Dubstep-Techno alliance made flesh. I'm there. Absolutely no fucking doubt. Miss this at your peril, bredrin...

And as if that wasn't enough excitement on a Tuesday morning, an advance cd-r of the new Boxcutter album arrived through my letterbox too. Happy days!

ECHOSPACE ADDENDUM

For anyone suitably switched-on by my Blogariddim podcast, there's a tasty interview with Rod Modell and Steve Hitchell just published over at Textura. It's a fascinating document of their respective backgrounds, ideologies and working methods that I think backs-up much of my own observations, particularly the way that Hitchell brings a structural element to the agenda. I didn't really mention much about the use of analogue synths and signal-processors, but here they make their commitment to the older technology implicit. As anyone who remembers my final 'Guttertech' post from last year will know, I basically ran into a brick wall with software studios, so I can totally empathise with their need to keep the electronics 'organic'. Essential reading!

Incidentally, I discovered the interview via Infinitestatmachine, a new blog collective, barely a month old but already spitting out plenty of informed/opinionated posts on house, techno, vinyl vs. digital and all the other stuff I like to read about. Bookmark now!

RAVE ON

Just back from another brief family holiday to find a couple of hot flyers in my inbox. This Friday (7th September) Ruffnek Diskotek celebrates it's second birthday in fine style with a headlining set from the original dubplate don Hatcha, along with the incomparable Monkey Steak. Looks like fun! All happening at The Croft on Stokes Croft, Bristol from 9pm-4am.

















Then later in the month, Highroad returns with a Skull Disco special featuring Appleblim, Shackleton and Gatekeeper, at Cosies in Bristol on the 22nd. They even got Zeke (who designs all the Skull Disco sleeves) to create the flyer too! This looks awesome, though it also clashes with Under_Score's big rave at the Blue Mountain with Baby Ford headlining! But this might all be academic for me anyway, as Mrs. Gutter is already booked for a big hen weekend in Brighton with her girlie mates, leaving me in charge of the kiddies. Frankly, I'm not optimistic that I'll find an all-night babysitter. Shit happens...

BLOGARIDDIMS 25: ECHOSPACE ODYSSEY / TOWARDS INFINITY

The soon-to-be-legendary Blogariddims podcast begins it's second season, and it has fallen upon me to kick things off with my second contribution to the series, in the week that this blog enters it's fifth year of existence. My first Blogariddim was a patchwork of oldskool influences, so this time I wanted to focus on contemporary sounds - especially as I haven't recorded any substantial mixes of new material this year! The only styles of music in the current climate of which I can claim to have any working knowledge are dubstep and techno, and my initial idea was to attempt a fluid, wide-ranging mix that weaved between the two, joining the dots as I saw them, expanding and refining some of the ideas from my 'Post-Natal Oppression' mix from last year, as well as being a sort of continuation from Paul Autonomic's Blogariddim 24. But with time against me I went for the easier option and simply split the podcast in two, with each half focusing on a very specific area of interest. Both parts were recorded separately last month, then pasted together afterwards. All the mixing was performed live with my trusty Stanton turntables, Numark DJ mixer and Axis CD-decks (see pic below), recorded direct to hard disc with no post-production other than the looped fade-outs at the end of each section, plus adding the standard Blogariddims 'jingle' and a brief vocal ident at the start.

BLOGARIDDIMS 25 (58:07, 79.8 MB)

To subscribe to this podcast, past this URL into the subscription field of your media software (ie, iTunes). Alternatively, download the mix directly here.

PART 1: ECHOSPACE ODYSSEY

Deepchord - Vantage Isle (Convextion Mix) (Echospace [Detroit])
Deepchord presents Echospace - Sunset (Modern Love)
Substance & Vainqueur - Reverberation (Scion Versions)
Quantec - Longwinded Edit (Echocord)
Marko Furstenberg - Falling Leaves (A.R.T.less)
Blunt - City Rain (cv313's Reduction) (Dpress)
cv313 - Dimensional (Echospace [Detroit])
Deepchord - Untitled (Hierophant)
Claude Vonstroke - Who's Afraid Of Detroit? (Deepchord Remix) (Echospace [Detroit])
Deepchord presents Echospace - Empyrean (Modern Love)

There can be little doubt that, from an innovatory angle, Electronic Dance Music is currently stuck in one of it's occasional fallow periods, with no radically new options on the agenda. Although 'stasis' might be too strong a term, then certainly it is a time of Consolidation: to paraphrase Simon Reynolds, the delicate balance between Rootical and Futuroid is firmly tipped towards the former. Bar the odd maverick sound-chemist (For techno see Villalobos, for dubstep check Shackleton) dance music is slowly eating itself, gorging on it's past glories. So what're you gonna do? Sit around moaning because you're not getting your regular 'Shock of the New' fix? Start listening to barely-listenable transmissions from the experimental fringes or, god forbid, the Arctic Monkeys instead? Me, I'm perfectly happy with the situation right now. It's given me a bit of breathing space to really delve back into much-loved sound worlds that I'd left behind years ago.

In the latter half of 2006, whilst taking an extended break from blogging, I crawled back under my rock and re-ignited a love affair with an old flame called Techno music, and a big part of that involved the dubbed-out sonorities of the Hardwax axis - the Berlin-based affiliation of artists and labels revolving around Basic Channel/Rhythm & Sound/Maurizio, etc. It could easily be argued that this particular branch reached some sort of zenith back in the late '90s. The scene's central figures, Moritz Von Oswold and Mark Ernestus, are now focusing their awesome production techniques on a purist form of roots reggae, and the momentum of Chain Reaction, the label created to showcase new artists in the field, evaporated several years earlier. But then, as 2006 began to draw to a close, I noticed some new material appearing from Chain Reaction veterans Substance & Vainqueur, on their new Scion Versions imprint, that seemed to be picking-up from exactly where I'd left them in the late '90s. And then I noticed some new activity from Deepchord, Rod Modell's Detroit-based dub-techno project...

In truth, I was familiar with Deepchord in name only. Modell's earlier phase of serious activity occurred in the first half of this decade, at a time when I had almost completely drifted away from all branches of Techno. Researching his earlier work is a difficult task as practically all of it is out of print and very difficult to find, at any price - it's situations like this where the self-help economy of file sharing networks really comes into it's own! But having finally connected with Deepchord, it was love at first sight (or should I say sound) for me and, judging by the recent deluge of new material, it would seem that I'm not the only one who's ready to embrace Modell's gloriously single-minded, dub-fixated vision.

The purpose of 'Echospace Odyssey' is to explore the new work of Modell, Substance & Vainqueur and a couple of other similar artists who've come to my attention. This particular style of music has been gradually appearing in other people's mixes in recent months, though usually only in small doses, either as atmospheric opening sequence or brief gear-changing interlude. But I wanted to get into a really deep, sustained groove, to feel the music as a slowly evolving landscape of undiluted soft-focus dubcentricity (I could've stretched it out for the entire hour, but I had other loyalties to honour). I make no claim that there's anything particularly new or original here - whatever subtle increments of progression occur are all built on a tried and tested blueprint that was developed over a decade ago. And it's probably fair to say that it's a bit lacking in rhythmic invention, still clinging to the rigid pulse of kick drum on fours with the hi-hat offbeat (although the Detroit guys manage to inject a little more swing into their loops than the Europeans) but it's almost as if the beats, and most of the other arrangements, are simply frameworks on which to hang the studio fx processing; they're mechanisms for fabricating synthetic ghosts. This is the sound of pure dub process - the reverb is the star of the show, the echo is the lead instrument. Texture takes precedence over structure. It might not be new, but its interesting that myself and others are finding this sound fresh again so soon. The old 'Twenty Year Rule' of cyclic revivalism has been halved. Dub Techno should be as deeply unfashionable as Big Beat, yet it continues to quietly draw-in new converts.

Surely the most prestigeous record label to emerge this year is Echospace [detroit], a joint venture between Rod Modell and Steve 'Soultek' Hitchell. Each release comes in strictly limited vinyl format only, sheathed in clear plastic sleeves, with additional collector-fetish touches like mixed-colour vinyl and 7" bonus discs. This combined with the inflated retail prices demands a certain level of commitment from the fans. You gotta pay the price, and pay it now, if you want ownership of an original edition. And if the scarcity of older Deepchord releases is any indication, it's unlikely you'll get another chance later on. My mix opens with a track from the first release - the 'Vantage Isle' EP. Convextion is Gerard Hanson, a shadowy figure in the US techno scene, who's devastatingly distressed reshape of Deepchord's original sets a high-watermark in crushed, crackling, static-charged cinematics. Elsewhere you'll hear passages from the next two releases: 'Dimensional Space' by Modell is his guise as cv313, and also his cryptic drifting remix of Claude Vonstroke's "Who's Afraid Of Detroit?". It's most unfortunate that the mix doesn't feature anything from the latest release, a stunning double remix EP of Model 500's "Starlight". I knew it was imminent, but with the deadline for submission rapidly approaching I had to press on without it. But at least it arrived in time for the photo shoot (see above, right). It's doubly annoying for me, as "Starlight" originally appeared on Deep Space (R&S, 1995), the Model 500 album from which "Milky Way" on my first Blogariddim was lifted, and it would've been nice to have at least one small thread of commonality between the two podcasts. Incidentally, "Starlight" (along with most of the other tracks on Deep Space) was originally recorded in Berlin, with Moritz Von Oswold engineering - yet another inspired example of the ongoing Detroit/Berlin dialogue that has periodically nourished both cities over the years.

Adding to this sudden flurry of activity, Modell and Hitchell have also struck a deal with the Modern Love imprint (an offshoot of the Boomkat emporium) resulting in "The Coldest Season", a series of four EPs showcasing work recorded in the Winter months of 2005-2007 (see image, left). The quality is extremely high throughout, and really highlights the inspired coupling of their respective talents, with Hitchell adding an extra dimension of searing texturology, like shafts of light arcing across Modell's resolutely myopic shadow-realm, and a subtle structural undercurrent, that allows the tracks to develop a bit more. Two examples are presented in my mix, the first being "Sunset" from Part 3, which displays Echospace at their most melodically seductive - the rich, almost sickly-sweet chord progression bringing to mind the melt-in-the-mouth vistas of Global Communication. At the end comes "Empyrean", from Part.2, which to my ears is possibly the finest single piece in the Echospace catalogue to date, propelled by a ridiculously weighty yet highly melodic bassline that skips playfully across the rhythmic grain, as though reggae legend Aston 'Family Man' Barrett had dropped by the studio to lay down one of his trademark tunefully effervescent bass runs. Factor in the impressionistic lashings of Hammond-like chord timbre and the results are simply stunning. The series is available in MP3 dowload form at the Boomkat netshop and has also been collected on CD, so no excuses people - get buying!

The mix is bolstered by a couple of other stray Echospace releases - an untitled Deepchord 10" on white vinyl from Heirophant Records, plus the cv313 reshape of Blunt's "City Rain" - along with a small selection from related European artists: Substance and Vainqueur continue to set a high level of excellence with their second Scion release, "Reverberation/Reverberate", carrying the torch for the original Berlin sound. Then there's "Longwinded edit" (love the self-depreciating title!) from the b-side of Quantec's 'Subsurface Structure' EP. I know nothing about this artist, and have yet to explore the back-catalogue of the Danish label Echocord, though as it's name suggests, it has been quietly releasing dub-infused techno (including a couple of Rod Modell EPs) for a number of years. Lastly there's a track from Marko Furstenburg's impressive 'Surphased EP' that clearly displays the Basic Channel influence, though moving into slightly harder, darker territory. No doubt there are others mining similar seams of inspiration - indeed I've recently started exploring some of the material coming out on labels like Styrax Leaves and Statik, but I'll save those for another mix later in the year...

PART 2: TOWARDS INFINITY

Wedge - Overfiend (Gatekeeper Remix) (Reduction)
Gatekeeper - Tense Past (Punch Drunk)
? - ? (cd-r)
Pinch - Deserted Island (cd-r)
Jakes - Mars Dub (cd-r)
Martin Buttrich - Well Done (Headhunter Remix) (Four:Twenty)
Skepta - Stage Show Rhythm (Adamantium)
Peverelist - Infinity Is Now (cd-r)

Further fueling the idea that dance music is in a period of consolidation, two of the most promising paths for dubstep's escape from the quagmire of wobbly halfstep orthodoxy both involve gene-splicing with older forms: 2 step garage and techno. In Bristol, the emphasis is currently (though by no means exclusively) on the latter, with producers like Appleblim, Peverelist and Headhunter making some of the biggest waves internationally. For the second half of my mix, I've tried to showcase new music from the Bristolian vanguard that justifies the hype, along with a couple of older rarities, so it's cd-r and test pressing biznizz all the way. But even so it didn't work out quite how I'd planned, as some artists simply aren't quite ready to allow their latest work to be used.

Part 2 begins with a track from the first release from Reduction Records, a new Bristol imprint run by Diccon Jeffries (aka DJ Thinking), featuring Sub FM and H.E.N.C.H-affiliate Wedge's first outing on wax with "Overfiend", a track which I've had on cd-r for ages - in fact I played it at Dubloaded in March last year! I've selected the flip-side, a stunningly reduced remix from Gatekeeper that seethes with nocturnal urban menace. This one should be in the shops very soon. Staying with the Gatekeeper vibe, the mix segues into his "Tense Past", which has just been released on Peverelist's Punch Drunk imprint, along with "Let Go". This one completely blew me away with it's dazzling echo-drenched chord patterns, hyperactive electro-step beats and immaculately crafted arrangements. Even though I take the piss out of his hairstyle at every opportunity, I really think that Gatekeeper is one of the most exciting new producers to emerge from the local scene in recent times, and hopefully this release will open a lot of doors for him.

From there, the mix coagulates into 'the mystery track', a collaboration between two local producers that's so secretive that even I'm not 100% certain who they both are (99.9% sure, though!). This untitled track, clocking in at nearly nine minutes, blew my mind to hell and back when I first heard it (see previous over-excited blog post) and sets a new standard for extended minimal atmospherics within the framework of dubstep. This is a real scorching hot exclusive - remember where you heard it first, kids...

I would've loved to slip-in a sneak preview from Pinch's long-anticipated debut album, but now is not the time. Instead, I thought I'd go back to the vaults to exhume one of his earlier unreleased pieces - in fact "Deserted Island" was the first dubstep-influenced track he ever wrote. Understandably it's a little tentative, perhaps even slightly under-produced, yet uncannily it seems to predict the shivery austere influence of minimal techno with its almost-but-not quite 4/4 pulse, sparse descending bassline and eerie background ambiance. Its unlikely that this track will ever be released, so I'm very pleased to showcase it here. Similarly, Jakes' "Mars Dub" is another forgotten early experiment that might never see release. Admittedly, I kinda passed over this one at the time in favour of his more martian halfstep tunes, but recently I was struck by its prescience - the sheer driving energy of its wonky pounding rhythm seems to tap right into the current mindset. Jakes is the only member of the H.E.N.C.H collective who's work has yet to be released, although that is all set to change very shortly!

As if to underline some of the vague talk of Bristol's increasing solidarity with German techno, Headhunter's remix of Hanover-based Martin Buttrich's "Well Done" is timely. But what's really surprising is just how rampantly technofied Headhunter's version is - bouncing along with a solid 4/4 beat and those cheeky little percussive drops that raise the energy levels, rather than stripping them away - after having previously established himself with such a refined variation of the halfstep sound. This one's in the shops now, but also look out for some Bristolian remixes of the mighty Pole, forthcoming on the Berlin-based ~scape label. Peverelist's remix of "Winkelstreben" leaves the original eating it's dust (I'd hoped to include it here, but didn't get clearance in time).

Skepta's "Stage Show Rhythm" is of course the wild card in the pack, an instrumental track from one of the most hotly-tipped MCs to emerge from London's still-burning Grime scene. I bought this 3-track test pressing purely on recommendation on my last visit to Rooted Records (thanks, Tom!), and was really knocked sideways when I played it back home by the lead track's feisty percussive intensity - perfect for sustaining the level of headlong rhythmic dynamism I was looking for at this stage of the mix. The only drawback being that it doesn't have a bassline, so all you lo-end addicts will have to hold tight for a few minutes!

The mix closes with another white-hot exclusive. Having already helped to solidify the tenuous Bristol-Berlin link with "The Grind" via his own Punch Drunk label, The Peverelist has concocted an absolutely stunning follow-up in the shape of "Infinity Is Now". Its a bit embarrassing for me to write such gushing praise for someone who I consider to be one of my closest, most long-standing associates in this new generation of Bristol-based producers (leading to accusations of favouritism?), but the fact is that Tom is creating the music of my fucking dreams right now. Featuring hypnotic waves of chattering synth droplets, layered with what sounds like a tuned 808 cowbell and a subliminally infectious undercurrent of subsonic pressure, "Infinity.." soars on a spiritually nourishing eight-and-a-half minute journey that's so sexy its practically orgasmic. In my view this tune really needs to be released right now to consolidate on what he's already achieved with just one release, but it probably won't hit the racks until early next year, more's the pity. The mix fades out tantalisingly at the breakdown, just as the heavenly sustained strings sweep into view. It might be a while before you get a chance to hear "Infinity.." in its full glory, but it'll be worth the wait.

Fade in hollow drone and typewriter sound effects, fade out and close. Good night and God bless...

HAUNTED APPARATUS

During a recent family holiday along the Somerset coast, I chanced upon the Washford Radio Museum, situated at the site of the old BBC Regional Transmission Station, which is still operational, though since upgrading to more compact modern equipment in the late '70s most of the building (a nice example of '30s Art Deco architecture) became surplus to requirements, so it's since been transformed into a family wildlife/adventure park, which was the reason I was there - trying to keep the kids entertained!

Get past the animal enclosures, aquarium, cafe, gift shop and kiddies play areas, and the Radio Museum is situated in a smallish inner-chamber nestled at the heart of the building. It is unattended, and during the time I spent wandering around it's cramped exhibits I didn't see a single other person, even though the rest of the site was respectably busy with other holidaymakers. Naturally, Mrs. Gutter and my children had no interest in accompanying me to the museum, preferring to stay outside enjoying the intermittent sunshine. I wouldn't have it any other way: they keep me anchored to the present where otherwise my mind would be perpetually lost in the past or wondering about the future. Ancient recordings of ballroom music piped softy around the room, adding to the odd sense of stepping into another world, or time.

Although many exhibits were nicely labeled and housed in glass display cabinets, many others were piled in seemingly disorganised heaps, as though who ever curates the museum had been overwhelmed by the task and simply gave up trying to organise it. As the museum's name suggests, there were plenty of old wooden or bakerlite-encased wireless radios on show, but it was the more arcane professional audio equipment that really intrigued me - unwieldy hunks of tin covered in knobs, switches and dials, who's original purpose wasn't always immediately obvious.

There were a few beautiful old reel-to-reel tape recorders on display, too. The sort of things that were undoubtedly used by the Radiophonic Workshop back in the '50s and '60s to create those incredible Music Concrete mini-masterpieces. In the hands of people like Delia Derbyshire or Brian Hodgson, these tape machines became early samplers.

Elsewhere, a selection of microphones (see above, top) ,a dusty mixing desk, some fucking huge valves and of course a gramophone...

Not forgetting piles of old issues of Wireless World and other technical magazines of the period, featuring enough design ideas to keep Ghostbox's Julian House inspired for several years...

What a fantastic little place! There's a website with a bit more background info, for anyone who might be vaguely interested, although (like the museum itself) it doesn't appear to have been finished.

APPLEBLIM Vs. WEDGE ON SUB FM - PHOTO SPECIAL

Well I've been regularly listening to his Sub FM radio show for ages, but last night I finally got off my arse and made the ten minute car journey across Bristol to hang-out with DJ Wedge at his home (his bedroom, to be precise!), to soak up the vibes first-hand as his show streamed live across the world. Guest DJ for the evening was Appleblim, which seemed quite appropriate for the occasion, as it was he who first introduced me to Wedge way back when they were still living over in Bath, and was also his djing partner at that first public performance at one of the very early Dubloaded sessions. Appleblim brought an impeccable selection along, mixing-up the flavas despite having had most of his dubplates stolen recently (ouch! the financial loss alone almost brings tears to my eyes!) but I won't say much else about it because if you missed the show, you can download a recording of it here and experience it for yourself. And you can blame me for those bits where his mixing went a bit wonky, cos I kept putting him off with my inane background chatter. Apologies for that, bredrin. At least I provided the beers. Nice to see the Gatekeeper putting in a late appearance too (watch out for his remix of Wedge's 'Overfiend', forthcoming on new Bristol imprint Reduction, as reported by Kek - I got a test pressing in the post earlier this month and can attest to it's greatness). I took some pictures...

The stream is live-o!

Mic-Controller: Wedge gets evil

Deep concentration: Appleblim steps up...

Loefah test-pressing - forthcoming on Oris Jay's Texture label. Note turntable in serious need of a good dusting!

Appleblim mans the deckles, whilst Wedge checks the shout-box activity

Wicked dark 2 Step vibes from TRG. This is Appleblim's Transition dubplate, but apparently the full release is now in the shops. I shall procure a copy at the earliest opportunity!

CD-R exclusives scattered across Wedge's bedsheet

Wedge models the Mode Recordings cap, available from all good retailers. Possibly.

Gutter, Appleblim & Gatekeeper. Jesus, and I thought I needed a haircut!

--------------------------------

It's probably gonna be a bit quiet at this blog for a few weeks for three reasons: (1) The schools have just broken-up for summer so my parenting duties will significantly increase, thus drastically depleting my mental/physical energy levels, (2) I'll be taking the family away on holiday in early August and won't be online much, if at all (3) what little spare time I do have must be devoted to planning, mixing, recording and writing my second Blogariddim podcast, scheduled for this time next month. Frankly, I'm fucking panicking about the deadlines now, but hopefully it'll all come together in time. Fingers crossed....

? - '?'

Just been listening through a cd-r of new tunes from a certain local producer I know...awesome stuff, but then the final track is so fucking deep it dare not even speak it's name - listed simply as '?' by ?. The restless insectoid beats scuttle across a throbbing bass pulse as spine-chilling waves of texture reverberate across the void, occasionally crossing paths with flickering echos of a ghosted riff. Such depth, yet so much restraint. Almost painterly with it's impressionistic dabs of sound. And at 8 mins and 38 secs, it's visibily stretching the groove out, oozing beyond the standard 5-6 minute mark of most tracks I hear, and could quite easily seep past the 10 minute mark if allowed. Post-dubstep, post-Basic Channel, the next stage on (or perhaps next level down) from Appleblim's "Vansan". The future is here, and it's being made by one of my mates. I'm fucking stoked.

UNDER_SCORE AFTERMATH

Well the rest of the UK might be drowning in misery at the moment, but I had a lovely time at Under_Score last night. When I arrived a little before 10pm it was a bit quiet and I didn't recognise any familiar faces (though luckily I had the ever-reliable Doppleganger for company). Nevertheless, I instantly felt at home in the familiar surroundings of Cosies' tiny basement, with a soundtrack of lush dubby techno emanating from the speakers, which turned out to be the last ten minutes of Jim Petherwick's early set. Jim plays off vinyl, but also employs a loop sampler, which enables him to perform some neat little tricks on the fly, like energising Rhythm & Sounds' languidly gorgeous "We Been Troddin'" with a steady 4/4 kick, before mixing seamlessly into Deep Chord's "Empyrean", one of my favourite tracks from the recent 'Coldest Season' series on Modern Love.

Following Jim was another Under_Score resident, Placid, who kicked-off with some classic dubstep, like Pinch's "Qawwali" and Digital Mystikz "Lost City" (from the impossibly rare DMZ002 EP). I suddenly realised it's been ages since I heard those tracks in a club - you just wouldn't hear them at an actual dubstep night anymore. It was actually quite refreshing to hear djs simply playing great music without all the obsession with exclusivity that drives the dubstep economy. After Placid came Harry Glazebrook, peddling a nice line in funky minimalism with a bit of 2 Step garage thrown in for good measure, although when he tried playing a bit of Roll Deep he instantly cleared the floor - not the sort of response I usually equate with a Wiley production! After that came headliner Tom Ellis with a live laptop set showcasing his tight, fidgety minimal house sound, before Jim returned to the decks for a back-2-back session with Luke Malcher, cranking out a steady stream of top-drawer tunes from the likes of Sleeparchive, Redshape, Marcel Dettmann, T++ and a bit of Mala too.

The venue did get a bit busier over the course of the evening, and it was nice to see a pretty even male/female ratio (I'd had visions of it being a bit of a boy's club). In fact the crowd was getting quite hyped towards the end, in a mellow sorta way. A couple of familiar faces from the dubstep scene did eventually show-up - Tom 'Peverelist' and Mike 'Madboy' (the guy who made that 'Living Inside The Speaker' dubstep DVD). Mike in particular was having a whale of a time and I've never seen him so animated. For my part, having spent the past year listening to techno again in the solitary confines of my home, it was great to connect with this small band of like-minds. I guess I'd been put-off the idea of techno clubs because of some of the associations with mega-raves and pills, which is frankly a bit too wild for my tastes these days. But Under_Score had a nice intimate atmosphere and I didn't detect any obvious pill-head activity. In fact, it struck me that here was a little room full of all the people in Bristol who, like me, just enjoy minimal house/techno on it's own terms, without any reliance on chemical enhancement. It felt a bit like the early dubstep nights at Context and Ruffnek Discotek - a mini-communion of those 'in the know' which is a horribly elitist thing to say, but frankly I don't care. The important thing is, it feels like I've finally found a 'way in', an entry point to shared experience that's conducive to my way of life. Plus it was great to make a few new acquaintances like Jim, Duncan and Richard Carnage (of Tape blog infamy). Duncan has plenty of ideas for future Under-Scores, not least booking Baby Ford to headline the next one in September, which is great cos at least then I won't be the oldest person in the room for once.

Anyway, here's a few pics to finish with...

Jim Petherwick and Luke Malcher battling it out

Crowd scene, with Placid on the right

Harry Glazebrook keeping his shit funky

Feminine Pressure

Jim and Tom Ellis

Madboy in tha house

My (slightly truncated) thoughts on the new Deadbeat album are now up at Fact Magazine's online reviews section.

UNDER_SCORED

Absolutely cracking dub-techno mix from Jim Petherwick over at Tape blog. As the blog post explains, Jim is the resident techno don at the Under_Score night, possibly the only club here in Bristol dedicated to showcasing the best in minimal/dub house and techno. In the past year alone they've headlined such notable producers as Sleeparchive, Andy Stott and Claro Intellecto. I've been taking notice, but somehow never seem to be free on the night. Since my 'born again' conversion back to the cause, the only time I've heard techno in a club has been when I've played it at dubstep events (although I've also witnessed people like Appleblim and Headhunter dropping a few choice cuts in their sets) so I'm absolutely determined to reach this month's event at Cosies on the 21st (even though I know nothing about headliner Tom Ellis) to check the vibes, the beats and hopefully heap some praise on Jim and his cohorts for their unstinting dedication to the cause.

SUFFERATION!!

Volume 3 of Mr. Meme's 'Dubstep Sufferah' series is finally available to the general public! Interesting to see a bit of grime creeping in there (just when you all thought it was dead!), and nice to see some exclusive biz too, especially from Narcossist (aka Joe Cowton), who some might remember featured in several of my own mixes last year, plus a sliver of Bristol-H.E.N.C.H flava from Komanazmuk. A highly polished, conceptual set, as we always expect from Paul. Download and read the 'sleeve notes' at the Grevous Angel blog. Nice-up!!

PS. Check the interview Paul did for Blackdown, too...

RADIO BRISTOL

1) DJ Wedge - Sub FM - Tuesdays 10pm-12am

After taking a couple of months off to go traveling, DJ Wedge returned to Sub FM with his weekly dubstep session this week. I managed to catch most of the show, which also featured fellow H.E.N.C.H-ers Komanazmuk and Whiteboi spinning a relentless flow of exclusive material, culled from their rapidly expanding roster of Mode artists. At one point I heard Koman's "Shankstep" with the vocals from Various Production's "Hater" layered on top, which sounded spectacular. I'm not sure if that was an unofficial bootleg version, but it certainly hit the spot for me. Next week's show will have Appleblim and Gatekeeper guesting, so you know not to miss it. Speaking of which, watch out for Gatekeeper's "Let Go/Tense Past" forthcoming on Peverelist's Punch drunk imprint very soon. The flipside is the real killer tune for me, featuring some gorgeous dub-chord arrangements, clearly influenced by the Hardwax school, but propelled by a crucial electro-flavoured steppers' riddim. Yet another fabulous strand in the ever-developing web of influence between Bristol and Berlin this year. Big tune, big hair - 'nuff respect to tha Gatekeeper!!

2) Immerse Sessions - Passion FM - Wednesdays

Thinking and Kid Kut host the Immerse Sessions on Bristol's main pirate station, Passion FM. I'm not at liberty to publicly reveal the analogue frequency, but luckily the station has a live web stream here. The show will feature forthcoming releases from Immerse Records plus other exclusive material. The studio number is 07934 179 817 if you wanna give 'em a yell or request tunes. They're also actively looking for fresh content, so anyone with tunes, news or info should get in touch - radio@immerserecords.com.