Fabric drafting in Martyn to mix the landmark fiftieth Fabric mix was a landmark all by itself - almost entirely given over to house and techno, the presence of a bass DJ in the series’ roster was a vindication of the increasing relevance of dubstep-borne music. It also served as official confirmation that the lines typically dividing relatively traditional, ‘serious’ house and techno sounds from the extrovert products of the post-rave explosion were becoming ever harder to define. Fabric 50 remained undeniably true to his roots in highly percussive bass music, with Zomby’s airhorn-waving house fusions sitting seamlessly alongside brand new material of the same ilk from Roska, Kode9 and Joy Orbison. But it still managed to effectively join the gaps between both worlds – mixing soulful broken beat courtesy of Maddslinky and Altered Natives into Zomby’s mindbending ‘Little Miss Naughty’, and placing the cavernous Berlin atmosphere of Ben Klock’s ‘Is This Insanity’ remix alongside Actress’ mournful view of London’s streets.
Arriving a couple of weeks after Fabric 50’s release, this pair of remix 12”s treads similar ground, allowing a diverse set of producers to tear apart the already impressive source material into a genreless blur of colour and shape. On the first plate, Zomby’s rework of ‘Hear Me’ twists the original’s plea into a pained and desperate cry for help. Superimposed over one of his most straightforward and danceable beats yet - all descending bass and loose-limbed Africanised percussion - it manages to create and sustain a mournful and melancholy party energy. A bit of a paradox on paper, but its shamanic nature brings to mind tribal funeral rites – as much a celebration of life as a recognition of death, and one imbued with that three am sense of immortality that draws a second into sensory eternity.
Both Ben Klock and Redshape draw out the latent techno influences scattered throughout Great Lengths. Redshape’s ‘Seventy Four’ reimagines the original as a hypnotic seven-minute sprawl, its metronomic backing building in stages over a circular central theme that unfolds to absorb the entire mix before receding. Even better is Ben Klock’s remix of ‘Is This Insanity’, Spaceape’s chill musings sounding more darkly prophetic than usual over an appropriately minimalist techno pulse. In true Klock style, it’s hard to imagine this sounding quite right anywhere other than a pitch-black Berlin warehouse – but as with much of his and Marcel Dettmann’s material, that evocative nature is a large part of its appeal.
As an appropriate closer, Illum Sphere’s remix of ‘Brilliant Orange’ is simply gorgeous – drowned in a tropical storm of vinyl fuzz, its humid pulses of minor key synth take on a strangely physical quality that resonates like voice through water. A little reminiscent of Nosaj Thing’s Drift or Clubroot’s self-titled debut, it seems to prioritise atmosphere over compositional progression – a welcome development after the techno-centric sounds that came before.
Hessle Audio is ten! Well, sort of – the official release today of Pangaea’s self-titled EP marks the label’s tenth 12” release, coinciding in a bittersweet twist with their final Ruffage Session on Sub FM. It’s fair to say that Ben UFO, Ramadanman and Pangaea can take a fair amount of responsiblity for shaping the current health of bass music – both in their DJ sets and through Hessle Audio’s release roster. Over the past two and a half years they’ve put out a host of material that didn’t so much predict the future of dubstep as help to remould it entirely, from Martyn’s anthemic ‘Broken Heart’ remix and Pangaea’s gorgeous, wracked ‘Router’ to the slithering pseudo-grime of Untold’s ‘Anaconda’.
The trio marked the final ever Ruffage Session with a four hour celebratory special, managing to fit in an impressive array of new dubs, classics and some archive anomalies. It’s available to download here. In celebration/commiseration mode, they’ve also made available an archive of their ten favourite shows through Sonic Router. Particular mention should go to the Appleblim and Bok Bok sessions, both of which are among the most rinsed radio shows I’ve got on a packed-to-capacity hard drive.
Below are five of the best from the label's first ten...
Not being ones for reporting news lightly, yesterday's revelation that we can expect Ikonika's debut album to drop on Hyperdub on April 6th is going to have to be the exception that proves the rule. Everything she's released thus far has been compulsively brilliant, and the sound quality of her productions has been on a steady increase, from the warped mindfuck of debut 'Please' to the crystalline synth auras of recent B-side 'Fish'. Her DJ sets have also been steadily growing in stature, gradually expanding to become vibrant bursts of pure energy that manage to incorporate elements of dubstep, house, funky and garage without remaining anything for too long.
The album will be preceded by an advance 12", 'The Idiot' (a clip of which is posted below). Dostoevsky fan perhaps - although given that her recent Planet Mu debut was titled 'Smuck', it's possible she just doesn't tolerate fools lightly. Either way, expect Contact, Love, Want, Have to be as essential as they come.
Oft-overlooked Scottish dubstep head Gravious has just made his most recent podcast available for download from his website. It brings together a host of his newest productions, several of which are signed for vinyl release this year, and ranges from echo-drenched melody to moody, alien soundscaping. First to emerge on wax is his brooding remix of Erik XVI, out now (or very soon) on Highpoint Lowlife, which takes the staggered 'wonky' flex of Zomby's earlier tracks and fires it into orbit. In a good way, naturally.
It's pretty safe to say that Digital Mystik Mala's contribution to electronic music over the past five years cannot be understated. Of the Croydon duo/trio (depending on who you chat to) his music is the most inscrutable, infused with a curious sense of place-and-timelessness that sets him apart from co-conspirators Loefah and Coki. Tracks like 'Forgive', 'Anti-War Dub' and 'Level Nine' are as warm and soulful as they are futuristic, sounding as though they could as easily have been unearthed from a hidden archive of fifty-year-old tapes as made yesterday in a modern studio.
He's the guest on Gilles Peterson's latest downloadable podcast, chatting about his origins and production, playing some of his new tracks and a set of his current favourites. The result is probably the most rewarding hour I've spent listening to music for a long time, veering from the almost unbearable emotional weight of his own 'Education' to Steve Reich's 'New York Counterpoint', via classic dub and some new tracks from the Deep Medi label roster. Surely the internet's greatest achievement so far is in making gems like this freely available.
Yes, the man's no longer Final Fantasy, but there's a strangely appropriate side to Owen Pallett's decision to go without pseudonym. His new album Heartland is a fuller and more complete artistic experience than ever before, hugely enriched by the presence of an orchestra under his control but with his perverse sense of humour left intact. It's a marvelous collection of songs as well as a coherent listen in its own right, and will likely leave a similar impact on the rest of 2010 as Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion did on 2009.
"Happily, what hasn’t been lost is the deliciously voyeuristic slant to his lyrics. A sense of detachment from the subject, which on He Poos Clouds took the form of a computer game in which he controlled his object of desire, is more alive than ever in Owen’s self-imposed status as a deity. As ever, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that hidden beneath the surreal sheen of his wordplay lurks a cheeky album length innuendo. As if track titles like ‘Lewis Takes His Shirt Off’ weren’t enough, he throws the gauntlet down pretty clearly on ‘The Great Elsewhere’ when he invites the protagonist to “Wrestle, let’s wrestle / You can pin me to anything”. This God doesn’t just love, although he clearly does – he lusts. And better, he’s in control. Hardly the purest of role models then, but one with an impressive command of implied sexuality."
The esteemed and excellent Sonic Router blog (to which I am an occasional contributor) reaches the grand old age of one next month, and to celebrate they've put together one hell of a line-up to take over the second room of Bristol's Dissident night. It's at Lakota on the 6th February, and the Sonic Router room will be glaced with the fluorescent stylings of the Blunted Robots Brackles and Shortstuff, Jack Sparrow's ultra-percussive dubstep and a dose of purple from Gemmy - as well as Kelly Twins, Reecha and SR's own MLR. The third room boasts a similarly impressive roster, hosted by Rooted Records' Idle Hands label - with Peverelist, October, Kowton and Atki2.
Fabric drafting in Martyn to mix the landmark fiftieth Fabric mix was a landmark all by itself - almost entirely given over to house and techno, the presence of a bass DJ in the series’ roster was a vindication of the increasing relevance of dubstep-borne music. It also served as official confirmation that the lines typically dividing relatively traditional, ‘serious’ house and techno sounds from the extrovert products of the post-rave explosion were becoming ever harder to define. Fabric 50 remained undeniably true to his roots in highly percussive bass music, with Zomby’s airhorn-waving house fusions sitting seamlessly alongside brand new material of the same ilk from Roska, Kode9 and Joy Orbison. But it still managed to effectively join the gaps between both worlds – mixing soulful broken beat courtesy of Maddslinky and Altered Natives into Zomby’s mindbending ‘Little Miss Naughty’, and placing the cavernous Berlin atmosphere of Ben Klock’s ‘Is This Insanity’ remix alongside Actress’ mournful view of London’s streets. 
