Kastle - Better Off Alone

The artist formerly known as B.Rich has set himself up for a promising year with this instant classic. Barrett "Kastle" Richards has taken on a dubbier sound with an almost housey edge to it.

It used to be that the UK had the monopoly on bass, but recently America, mainly the east coast, has started to take over. Artists such as Drop The Lime, AC Slater, Udachi and of course B.Rich stormed the scene with massive bass-heavy "choons" and "club-bangers".

Naturally, it seems appropriate to post a track featuring two of the biggest names in US bass: Kastle and Udachi. The original is a very mellow bassy piece reminiscent of Burial with a house twist. Now I have to warn you it does feature auto-tune. Luckily, it manages to pull it off by exercising some restraint and it does make it sound like it's underwater, which kinda fits.

Starkey adds a nice ravey horn-through-a-buzzsaw line to bang it up but it's Udachi's Funky mix that does it for me with the most awesome drum samples I've ever heard. Honestly, if you're not sure about Funky listen to this tune. A lot. Then listen to Willy Joy's Funky/soca mix or I'll slap your knees.

Under his B.Rich moniker it was more fast heavy bass drops and ghetto/hip-hop samples but with Kastle his productions have taken on a much dubbier, techy sound - lots of arpeggiated synths and handclaps. Definitely the beginning of big things for this chap.

Stand out tracks: Udachi Mix, Willy Joy Mix

Title: Better Off Alone (seclus026)
Artist: Kastle
Out now soon on Seclusiasis.

Download: Kastle - Better Off Alone (Udachi Remix)

New King Midas Sound 7" on Hyperdub

London natives King Midas Sound are to release their new single on Kode9,'s imprint Hyperdub. The release, which XLR8R described as "soulful and lovelorn", comes out on September 7. The b-side is the equally haunting b-side 'Frequencies'.


King Midas Sound is a dubstep project of Kevin "The Bug" Martin and London & Trinidad poet Roger Robinson featuring vocalist Hitomi. Having released their first 12" release 'Cool Out' and debut album 'Waiting For You' Hyperdub.

Under this guise Martin's music takes on a more Bristol-inspired sound as the ragga element takes a backseat. It's a more thoughtful endeavour and certainly one worth checking out for those lazy summer days in the park with cans of fizzy whatnot.

Why nobody cares about music anymore

I can't decide whether this is funny or depressing.

First release on new label Phuturelabs

Last week I told you about the new free Hostage EP. Today I bring news about the latest Alan Parley project (not to be confused with The Alan Parsons Project). His new guise Wira is a departure from the usual Hostage territory and is to be released via the brand new label Phuturelabs (brought to you by the guys behind Nerve Recordings).

This new persona has only really been described as an "elusive" producer from the UK, though with Alan Parley's picture on the Facebook page the mystery begins and ends there.

The A-side is a track called 'Vloeitjes'; a slow-paced, a low-frequency piece full of dramatic tension with an unexpected bounce for such dance music. The whole package will be available in glorious 320 from the Phuturelabs website on September 13. In the mean time you can grab another tune of his 'Animals' below.

Download: Wira - Animals

Download Hostage's new EP for free!

Our good friend in the north Alan "Hostage" Parley has put out another stonking EP on Nightshifters and it's absolutely free!

It's good to see him branching out from the sidechain electro/wobble templates and trying something a bit different. Here big Al bridges the gap between dubstep and funky with an incredibly wobbly drop and the trademark funky drum pattern.

Hostage - Roll from Nightshifters on Vimeo.

You should also totally check out the new look Nightshifters page. It's right sexy.

Download: Hostage - Roll EP [ZIP]

New LP from The Count & Sinden

On August 23 The Count & Sinden will be releasing a new LP on Domino. As such, the first single 'After Dark' (which features the Mystery Jets) has already been released.

The LP boasts a broad range of styles: from House to Bassline to Funky to Baltimore as well as the vocal talents of B'more star Rye Rye and Londoners Katy B and Bashy.

You can stream the whole thing at FACT magazine for 10 days from today and in the mean time you can download 'After Dark' below.

Download: The Count & Sinden - After Dark feat. Mystery Jets

KOTJ Radio | Episode 4: Dev79

Another exciting podcast comes to us from Philadelphia resident Gair "Dev79" Marking. Starkey and he control Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey with El Carnicero.

Dev79 has been bangin’ out the underground sounds for years. I first heard his music back in the days when he was producing harsh noise-influenced hip-hop and breaks on the Sonic Terror imprint. Today his music retains the hip-hop and glitch influences along with a new dub and heavy bass streak.

His recent remixes for Gobs The Zombie, Guttstar, Dmn Days are sure to raise his profile and jettison him into the stratosphere. I'm told he's currently working on a collaborative EP with Seattle producer Thrills (of Sub Philo Music/Thrills & Tony Rocky Horror fame) with a new EP out on Seclusiasis called 'Live N Die 4 The Street Bass', coming in September.

Kotj Radio Episode 4: Dev79 by Kickoutthejam on Mixcloud

Tracklist:

01. BD1982 - Trails (Gunhead Remix)
02. Siyoung - Kill Whitey
03. Scratcha DVA - New World Order
04. Dev79 - Live N Die 4 The Street Bass (Harlsedon Riddim)
05. Kanji Kinetic - Thrill Seeka
06. Guttstar - Bomb Blast (Dev79 Remix)
07. Chelley - Text Message (SonicC Remix)
08. CRST - The Bells (Girl Unit Remix)
09. Hybu - How To Look Primative
10. Skinny Friedman - Hundred Dollar Salad (Sammy Bananas Remix)
11. The Constellations - Setback (Starkey Remix)
12. Shawty Lo - Say Yeah
13. Starkey - Death Beams
14. Om Unit - Searching (EAN Remix)
15. +Verb - Puddleglum
16. DJ Prime Cuts - Rubber Banned
17. NastyNasty - Dead Star
18. Max Echo - Noshy Riddim
19. Dev79 - In Grain We Trust (Thrills & Tony Rocky Horror Remix)
20. Kaiser - Tasty Lazers (Dev79 & Thrills Remix)
21. Supra1 - Still Believe (Royce Rolls Edit)
22. Kastle - I Know

http://www.myspace.com/dev79
http://www.seclusiasis.com/
http://www.slitjockey.com/

Download: KOTJ Radio Episode 4: Dev79

New Kanji Kinetic EP 'Thrill Seeka'

Kanji Kinetic has released an EP on Chrissy Murderbot's label Sleazetone. The release promises to be the biggest for the label so far, with remixes coming from Krazy Fiesta (of Trunkfunk/Turboweekend fame) and upcoming bass or, to coin a wanky term, "post-garage" superstar Kingdom (Night Slugs, Fool’s Gold, Mad Decent, Acéphale).

Here's what Sleazetone had to say about it:

"We here at Sleazetone are really hyped about this one—an EP from one of the biggest names in forward-thinking bass music right now, Kanji Kinetic. He's released work on labels like Rag & Bone, Trouble & Bass, Senseless, Tigerbeat6, and Coin Op, to name a few. Now he’s bringing a new take on his distinctive Bassline/Dubstep/Funky/Rave fusion to Sleazetone.

'Thrill Seeka' is a huge party tune on a UK Funky tip with some cheeky samples to keep things lively. 'Griefer' is classic Kanji—punishing bassline house with really crisp percussion and genius drum edits, while 'Scatter' is mind-melting Dubstep drumwork mayhem. Completely next level ish, FOR SERIOUS."

Kanji Kinetic - "Thrill Seeka" EP by sleazetone

Sketches @ The Tyne Bar - 13/08/10

There's another Sketches party tonight at the Tyne Bar. Not only is it the last Sketches party at the Tyne, it's also the last ever club night at the Tyne now the local idiots have learned to use phones.

Anyway, I'm reliably informed they will be moving to another club in October so it won't be the end of Sketches and it promises to be a spiffy night with the usual musical shenanigans and the return of the art walls in which anyone and everyone can draw penises or 'LOL' on them or whatever it is the young people do with paint these days.

Music and whatnot will be provided by:

Shim
Capo Ultra
Edmondson
Veshch
Spalec

Plus super secret special guest/s (maybe)

Friday 13th August
The Tyne
18.30 - 23.00
Free Entry

Join the Facebook group.

New Sound Pellegrino compilation on Scion A/V

Scion A/V and Sound Pellegrino have put together a lovely little compilation album 'Straight From The Spring'. The new compilation features efforts from Para One, Renaissance Man, Momma's Boy, and Bart B More & Harvard Bass.

Download: Scion A/V presents Sound Pellegrino [ZIP]

New free Terror Danjah LP to download!

Terror Danjah, the lovely bugger, has decided to kick off August with another free release. It's hardly been a week since 'Shock To The System' was released, and now the legendary grime MC has lined up 'Hardstrumentals', featuring 29 instrumental tracks from his unreleased repertoire.

Download: Terror Danjah - Hardstrumentals [ZIP]
Download: Terror Danjah - Shock To The System [ZIP]

Jimmy2times Jimmy2times is gonna get the papers get the papers.

Nightshifters always brings out the best in people it seems. Take this for example: a re-edit of DJ Donna Summer’s “Fighter” with an acapella from Gucci Mane by Brooklyn’s own Jimmy2times.

And that is an awesome name for a DJ.

Download: DJ Donna Summer - Fighter (Jimmy2times Re-Edit)

Sketches @ The Tyne Bar - 06/08/10

My genuinely good friend Alec "Spalec" Wilkinson informs me there will be another Sketches party this Friday at The Tyne Bar and the best part is it's free!

Shim
Capo Ultra
Spalec feat. MC Drop Dead Fred
Veshch
Edmondson

06/08/10 6-11pm