Various - Hyperdub 10.2

Hyperdub: 2014

Look, I get all that post-dub-juke-bash-grim-skee-ap stuff is what folks hip to every tiny permutation of UK garage were digging. I mean, it must have been a significant development if Hypderdub was gonna' dedicated a double-CD opening salvo to it. And while there were enough tracks among those thirty-plus that a few got my attention or had my head twitchin' for a mild nod, much of it just passed me by as same ol', same ol', no matter who was chopping and screwing with the hi-hats and snares. It's music that makes better sense when out at a shitty London venue or abandoned Chicago warehouse, where the ketamine is floating through the air like particulates of ashen snow. That is what all those early dubstep parties were like, right? I wouldn't know, I never went to any, not even in British Columbia when the likes of Skream and Rusko were becoming big names here.

Just because it wasn't to my taste doesn't mean it was to no one's taste, and it was popular enough that many indie rags were forced to dedicate detailed write-ups about why this new 'yoot' movement was Very Important to UK's underground dance scene. It's not what attracted me to Hyperdub though, so if the review of Hyperdub 10.1 seems lacking, well, that's your reason. Now, let's move onto the stuff I'm more interested in: the dubby funk 'n soul music of Hyperdub 10.2!

That's right, the post-clubbing, depressive soul of Burial, or the urban grit soul of King Midas Sound, where R&B is taken through the UK underground wringer of lonely nights spent at coffee shops and fish friars before returning to squalid flats barely paid for by a dwindling dole, the unmistakable croon of a lovely lady still echoing in your ears over a cheap, choppy beat. Something like that, I think.

That's the vibe I get from these tracks. Burial's Shell Of Light, DVA's Solid with Zaki Ibrahim and Metrodome, Terror Danjah's You Make Me Feel with Meleka, Fhloston Paradigm's Never Defeated with Rachel Claudio, Morgan Zarate's Sticks & Stones with Eska and Ghostface Killah. Wait, Ghostface is here? Man, them UK grime dudes sure do love 'em some Ghostface. Don't blame 'em, Tony Stark basically bullet-proof no matter where he ends up (UK garage, Eastcoast rap, horrorcore stories, 30 Rock cameos).

And it's weird, because normally I'm not that hype to R&B either. I appreciate its influence and its contributions and all that rot, but generally speaking, I get my musical soul-food from other sources. This Hyperdub stuff though, it hits me at just the right angle, just gritty and askew enough, where the cheap, scattershot production keeps it leagues away from the slick polish of the industrious mainstream material. It's rhythm and blues as the terms should be interpreted, with bare beats and human murk. Still, it's not like I'm actively seeking such music either, Hyperdub 10.2 sating most of that itch until the next King Midas Sound record comes out.

Various - Hyperdub 10.1

Hyperdub: 2014

It's hard to undersell just how Very Important of a label Hyperdub turned out. Even if you excise the Burial factor, it's been home to many producers that helped steer the course of UK garage into ever stranger and weirder future incarnations. Acts like Kode9 (founder), Space Ape, Zomby, The Bug, Mala, Flowdan, Kyle Hall, Inga Copeland, Darkstar, Ikonika, and loads more have made their home on Hyperdub at one point or another. While I can't say I've messed with many of them over the years, I cannot deny the label's earned a pedigree in tapping unique artists that have caught my ear more often than not. Considering the UK garage scene at large is filled with redundant, generic, cheap-ass half-step beats and gimmicky bass noises, that's no mean feat.

I've long considered diving deeper into the Hyperdub discography than whatever Burial and The Bug have released, and while there are a number of Very Recommended records, I wondered whether there was an easier way, a handier way, a box-settier way. Why, hello there, Tenth Anniversary four-volume, six CD collection celebrating the label, how you doin'? Of course, even this set is a little old now, Hyperdub coming upon their fifteenth anniversary in short order. I don't doubt for a second they won't celebrate that, having done a little roll-out of their fifth birthday too, when all they had to their name were some critically hailed works from Kode9 and Burial.

Things really started rolling from there though, hence a quadrupling of material for this box-set. And kicking things off for Hyperdub 10.1 is nothing less than a double-CD of material, with all the familiar Hyperdub names, and then some. DJ Taye! Cooly G! Ill Blu! Mark Pritchard! (!!) Terror Danjah! LV! DJ Rashad! Too many more to name-drop!

As each volume of this box-set focuses on a specific genre or style of music, you bet the first would feature that dubstep action. Or, post-dubstep, I guess – whatever it was folks tried to label the Hyperdub sound (certainly not bland wub-wub). There's also, according to Lord Discogs: Bassline, Grime, Techno, UK Garage, Abstract, and Juke. What, no Trap? Sure sounds like a lot of rat-a-tat-tat hi-hats and snares among these two CDs. Right, trap wasn't really a UK thing, but they had a whole bunch of other names for ghetto beats.

And that's the sense I get from these twenty-three, two-to-four minute tracks, where drums kits, acid boxes and samples are chopped and screwed in such scattershot fashion, it feels like you're hearing music made by the slummiest of musicians too broke to afford any proper production or studio time. Y'know, real music, like punk rock, unfettered and uncut from the soul, technical limitations be damned. Or something.

I dunno. Sometimes I feel journalists made this stuff seem more important because of that supposed authenticity than any actual musical merit. Wouldn't be the first time that happened, especially in UK-Land.

ACE TRACKS: July 2018

Another month, another review quota quite short of what I was able to crank out even a year ago. What's up with that, eh? Well, aside from having a mini-break for the Basscoast music festival, I figure two factors have hit me in such a way I never anticipated. For one, the fact is a lot of my current reviews are of material that is relatively fresh and new to my years. When I was mostly going through my older CDs, I already had many thoughts and criticisms built in by many years of replay – even the ones I didn't replay often still gave me talking points about why they ended up as duds in my music collection. That makes cranking out a review of it exceedingly easy, 75% of it practically already formed inside my brain matter. Aside from a few older items though, most of what I'm covering now doesn't have that long gestating benefit, creating something of a crunch on my cranium. Having an extra day to make sure my thoughts aren't some slapdash hot-take is practically required now, which unfortunately does reduce my output clip a little. So it goes.

The other reason there's a little lag these days is due to it being unbearably muggy this summer, my prime writing hours (usually early evening) all but null and void. Fortunately, that 2am time-slot seems to work out in a pinch, if I've overslept an evening nap. Best way to get past the gruelling setting-sun heat in this west-facing apartment of mine. Wasn't such an issue in summer's past, is what I'm saying.

Yeah yeah, bunch a' belly-aching here. Can I help it if I set myself up for a standard that I can't always maintain? In any event, here's the ACE TRACKS of July 2018.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Mick Chillage - Harmonic Connections
Tipper - The Critical Path
Tomita - The Firebird
Porya Hatami & Lee Anthony Norris - Every Day Feels Like A New Drug

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 8%
Most “WTF?” Track: that one Andrew Heath track? No, of course not, it's still the ever-lasting Oak Ridge Boys.

This seems short, even for a month like this one. It's got the usual stuff you probably expect out of these playlists as of late: a little ambient, a little techno, a little house, a lot of stuff that sounds like the '80s. Shame no Tomita made it in, though. That would have given this playlist some unexpected pep.

Various - Hits Of The 80's

Sony Music Select: 1993

It was the start of the '90s, and one thing was clear as day: CDs were the dominate medium of music consumption. People liked them for their portability and higher fidelity. Stores liked them for their ease of display and storage. And labels sure as Hell loved 'em for the insane mark-up they got, cheaply produced and sold for $20 a pop, not to mention that whole 'buying music you already had on a newer format' aspect. Them labels though, they weren't all greedy all the time. They knew they had a pile of music in their archives they already made max bank off of many years past, but were still favourites to many. Meanwhile, there remained a significant chunk of the populace who'd buy a CD of familiar music if the price was right. These consumers weren't the sort to scour record shops looking for the radio hits, but should they spot a collection for cheap in a discount bin by the grocery store check-out, well, what harm th'ar be in a $10 impulse buy, eh?

Hits Of The 80's was probably such a buy from it's former owner. Ooh, look, there's The Warrior. There's Bangles. There's Hooters. Recognizable songs, but the local rock radio doesn't play them anymore – too busy pumping out newer jams like Pearl Jam, or Unbelievable, or Pump Up The Jam. As I've said before, it was almost instantaneous in how the '90s music industry rejected anything that sounded like the decade prior, but that didn't mean fans of synth-pop, new wave, and glam metal went away either. Offering quick 'n cheap compilation CDs filled with this stuff was a sure-fire method of squeezing a few more drips of finely ground coin from those left wanting in the era of Spin Doctors.

That said, at ten tracks long, Hits Of The 80's feels skint, even for the cheap-o compilation market. What, couldn't squeeze two extra tunes on here, Sony? It's not like you're left wanting for selections in your archives. And how did they go about choosing which songs got included here anyway? The only thing I can say unites these tracks into any sort of theme is when I listen to it, I think, “Yep, those were hits in the '80s.”

So you get some classic, girl-fronted new wave music like Patti Smyth's The Warrior, Bangles' In Your Room, and 'Til Tuesday's Voices Carry (fun fact: for the longest time, I thought the chorus was “it's so scary”). That strange '80s fad of updating rockabilly is also present, in Cheap Trick's Don't Be Cruel and Adam Ant's Goody Two Shoes. A good ol' power ballad in Warrant's Heaven shows up, while something smoother in Gloria Estefan's Words Get In The Way reminds us there was soul in the '80s too. Oh, and Toto's Africa is on here, which would have made a fun talking point two years ago, before the song was inexplicably and annoyingly memed to death. Damn millennials.

Mick Chillage - Harmonic Connections

...txt: 2018

Oh, this is my first 2018 review. Well, anything from the current crop of ambient techno contingent had just as much of a shot as the dark ambient guys. With such limited CD runs, one must jump on new material the moment it's announced, lest missing out and resorting to digital (or worse, inflated second-hand market, the scabs). And Mr. Chillage, he always has an album or two in the works for labels curating this stuff (..txt, Carpse Sonum, Databloem), so odds were even greater it'd be him with the honour of breaking my 2018 Reviews cherry (what a strange honour). And if you think July is super-late for a First 2018 Review, might I remind y'all that it took until September of 2014 for me to review a new item of that year. Word up, Oliver Lieb's Inside Voices!

Of course, with as high a work-rate as Mick's, I've grown a little picky about what I get from him. I think I've had my fill of his chilly ambient, but he's adapted himself to other fields within the downtempo market, even inching into modern classical's domain recently. Ooh, might he end up on Dronarivm at this rate? That Between The Endless Silence album looks like it could have fit there.

But nay, what I'm mostly intrigued by is his trips into the realm of techno, something I honestly haven't heard him do often. Ambient techno, sure, itself that strange hybrid that sounds like neither ambient nor techno in their purest sense, but is better than calling it 'intelligent dance music'. Not contemporary stuff either, taking on elements of glitch and whatnot, but something a little more Warp, y'know, when the Detroit influences were affecting UK producers.

And Harmonic Connections does offer that, at least half the time. There's still ambient on offer too, though it's of an older vintage, reaching back as far as the '70s. Even the track titles feel retro, opener Beyond The Infinite almost cliche these days (because who hasn't ever been inspired by the Star Gate sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey?). Tune's pleasant enough though. Harmonic Space, meanwhile, casually lulls about with spritely synth tones and burbling acid, while Infinite Acid goes deeper and weirder with its pads and acid work, feeding us some proper Berlin-School vibes.

As for the 'techno' jams, hoo boy, will your Artificial Intelligence triggers ever be flaring. Telepathy's got the easy-peasy electro groove going for it as a gentle melody from the Ralf Hildenbeutel book rides along it. Art Of Symmetry is about as classic Aphex Twin as one can go without losing yourself in Richard D. James' madness. Room 303 threads that line where chill techno ends and classic trance begins, while the final run of tracks does early Warp alum Autechre and The Black Dog right. Not that I'm fingering Mick Chillage as ripping them off or anything. Sounding like classic Warp at this late stage can only be treated as homage.

The Oak Ridge Boys - Gospel Hits

Sony BMG Music: 2005

Greetings, Past Peoples. It's been a while, at least from your perspective, that I, Sykonee Of The Year 2073, have graced this region of your 'inter net'. It's been a while for me as well, hopping the various timelines, seeing what events may come and how things may have turned different if things had just gone a little stranger. For instances, did you know there's a time-line where the German Nazis won World War 2 with a little item called the Heisenberg Device? You do? And they made a TV series out of that? Oh, well, that's arctic and all, but you all figured it just fictional, whereas I've seen the reality of it. Or the alternate reality. Sure t'was not mine, and t'is not yours, though whether my reality becomes your reality remains a mystery, don't it. I've noticed a few minor instances of differences of what I knew and where you are, but very little to suggest The Great Divide isn't still on course. No, fret not, the Atomic Brotherhood will carry you through it, saving us from all that unsavoury retrograde Murican business. They look out for their own kind, they do.

Of course and correctly, I'm back here to bring tidings of that indomitable musical force that at least provides our disparate cultures with some common ground of clay, the everlastingness that is The Oak Ridge Boys. We in the Cascadian realm admire them for their contributions to atomic resourcefulness, while those others adore their Jesus, Godly, and Murican themes, reinforcing their beliefs to an almost fanatical degree. It's strange how two cultures can find such different, opposing embracings of enjoyment from the same musical source. You folks in your times could learn a thing about that. Might even prevent what's to come, if you think what I live in isn't to your likening. Haha, just coming with the jokes there; my future is ordained.

So here we are again, with Another Oak Ridge Boys Gospel collection. It's astonishing just how many of these are on the market, isn't it? All with different degrees of quality, content, and presentation. I've been handed a couple impressive ones, a few redundant ones, but this one, this one is a big ol' lie.

Unlike so many other of their gospel collections, this one had some major-proper support from one of the big record companies of old, Sony BMG (eventual subsidiary of Disney-ZTE). The Oakies weren't signed with Sony BMG (eventual subsidiary of Disney-ZTE), but they had gotten a little surged patriotic love in rallying Muricans together in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. What better opportunity, then, than dusting off some rights-held recordings for the quick bucker compilation market?

Thus, even though the cover adorns The Oak Bridge Boys as they were in 2005, everything within is music recorded in the early Nauty Seventies, including when Lil' William Wynn was tenor. Deceived us, Sony BMG (eventual subsidary of Disney-ZTE) has! Should have just shown another church.

Beatbox Machinery - Glam Nights

Werkstatt Recordings: 2017

I've talked a lot about Werkstatt Recordings since stumbling upon them nearly two years ago (holy cow!). I've talked a bunch about ultra-obscure acts that hardly anyone could have a care for, but Werkstatt cared enough to give them a little promotional shove into the big, scary world of the music industry. I've even talked to some length about specific artists and their contributions to the Werkstatt legacy, diving into their myriad releases and projects with the label and abroad. And yet, I've barely mentioned much of Werkstatt founder, Toxic Razor (I still don't know what his real name is ...I think he prefers it that way). Obviously dropped his name in passing, as you're wont to do when discussing projects he's been a part of with Kriistal Ann, but actually taking in an album of his own music? Crazy to think it's taken twelve releases from the label for me to get there. Lucky number thirteen for Mr. Razor, eh? Also, has it really only been a dozen reviews for this label thus far? Huh, sure feels like more at this point.

Far as I can tell though, Beatbox Machinery is his solo project. He has occasional drop-ins from Ms. Ann and others for a little vocal and synth support, but the musical direction primarily comes from his brain matter. And as befitting a muse with an ear for the retro, all the music is performed with vintage analogue gear, so that unpolished vibe you hear is intentional, yo'. The early Beatbox Machinery singles and albums leaned heavier into industrial and techno's realm, releasing digital singles at a ridiculous clip – how'd this guy ever find the time to run a label too?

It wasn't long before synthwave started gaining popularity, and Mr. Razor shifted gears to reflect that sound, seemingly capping another endless run of singles with a fifty-one track, triple-LP effort in A Synth Trilogy. Man, after all that, no wonder he and Kriistal decided to strip things down to a simpler sound as Paradox Obscur. He must have been feeling that synth-pop itch again though, as he's brought the Beatbox Machinery alias back for his first new album in two years. Hey, given the rate of output, twenty-four months is a heck of a gap for any Toxic Razor project!

I also get the sense that tireless work-rate leaves his discography lacking in some quality control. Eight tracks make up Glam Nights, all doing the synthwave, synth-pop, outrun, post-electroclash (!?) thing. The guest vocalists are fun - Occams Laser's turn on Fast Cars, Palm Trees & Hot Ladies reminds me Sexor-era Tiga , and it's almost bizarre hearing Kriistal Ann singing such a peppy tune in Love Is Gone. This production though... I get Toxic Razor likes keeping things real and authentic, as though he's in a synthwave garage band. Everything's so mushed though, I have difficulty getting into much here. Give me that stripped-down Paradox Obscur stuff instead, mate.

Kevin Yost - Fundamentals (The Best Of The Early Years)

i! Records: 2010/2015

I didn't take much away from David Alvarado's contribution to the United DJs Of America series (or 'west coast grooves'), but it did remind me that Kevin Yost and Peter Funk had more tunes to their names than the deep house classic Dreams Of You. And that got me digging a little deeper, revealing that the two – and especially Kevin Yost – have had quite a busy career to this day! And wouldn't you know it, there's a Bandcamp with their stuff. With their music! And their CDs! Oh my!

Damn though, I've a lot of catching up to do. I'd best start at the beginning, and as luck (fate) ordained, Kevin Yost has a twelve-tracker called Fundamentals (The Best Of The Early Years). It was first released in 2010 as a DJ mix CD, but by the powers of digital music, all the original tracks were made available in their unmixed version too. So, I gets myself full versions of Dreams Of You, Another World, Stronger Love and Round Bout Midnight (nine minutes of deep house bliss!), but the DJ mix too, and a CD? There's gotta' be a catch. What's the catch? Oh, I get just the CD, no original digipak included. Well, it has been a while since Fundamentals first came out, so maybe the complete package sold out long ago. And it's not like I haven't received things from Werkstatt that came in little more than a plastic slip-case.

Ah, wait, I should probably fill in a few more details of exactly who Kevin Yost is. I mean, you may know Dreams Of You, but Peter Funk kinda' earned most of the glory of that collaboration (thanks, Mark Farina's Frisco Disco tracklist!). In reality though, Mr. Yost has by far been the more active producer between the two collaborators. He's released at least six solo albums (maybe more, if Lord Discogs isn't being accurate with me – it happens), not to mention numerous other collaborations with folks other than Funk, names like Horace James, Guy Monk, Howard Burns, Danny Walls... you know, jazz guys.

Yeah, if there's anything Yost has built his reputation on, it's infusing right-proper jazz vibes into the deep house template, himself or guest musicians laying out a little extended solo time as a bumpin', groovin' rhythm chugs along in support. Of course, he wasn't the first, nor the only house producer to do this, but he has such a distinct style, you can always tell when it's one of his tunes when it comes on.

And that's the basic gist of what to expect from Fundamentals. Smooth 'n groovin' deep house vibe, with assorted jazzy solos in support (saxophone, organ, flute, guitar, xylophone, probably others). Maybe there's a vocal loop thrown in, but not much else. Nothing else is needed, so why complicate things? With a dozen cuts capturing Mr. Yost's first half-decade of successful singles, Fundamentals is as tidy a primer in his sound as you'll ever find.

Alphaxone & Dronny Darko - Forsaken

Cryo Chamber: 2017

I thought this would be it. After many, many, many months, almost seven deep into our current calendar year, I'd finally (finally!) get out my first review of a 2018 release. I mean, there's precedent for it, my last couple years of critic-blogging establishing a pattern of sorts. Lollygagging on the current stuff, but not that Cryo Chamber hit, oh no. They're almost always first out the gate, since they're a label I keep most up-to-date on, with albums released at such a steady clip you're never left wanting for material. Odds have always been in their favour that they get the FIRST glory, and wouldn't you know it, this particular release features two artists that have even been part of those pole positions, Dronny Darko and Alphaxone. Can you blame me for having it stuck in my head that this collaboration album between them was a 2018 release then, and would be my first review of a release in this year? But nay, that is not the case at all, Forsaken rather coming out mid-2017, and it's only now that I've actually gotten around to it. Damn it, though, I could have sworn it was a Dronny Darko album that would do the deed, and something regarding 'cryo' at that. I'm forgetting something...

Anyhow, I got this album because how could I resist a pairing of these two? Alphaxone has built a career on crafting droning soundscapes leading you into alternate dimensions (or space), while Dronny Darko crafts droning soundscapes for when you're already in these alternate dimensions (or space). It's a match made in heaven-Hell (or whatever that labyrinth cenobite realm is), and I couldn't wait to hear what weird, strange, twisted, perverted, conceptual head-space these two would take me. Fiery towers in washed-out graylands? Deep explorations of quantum realms where only Event Horizon madness dwells? Ooh, such tantalizing, very fantasizing!

But nay, we instead get something... conventional? Like, Forsaken does have a definite narrative, but it isn't anything specific, at least to the degree 'Xone & Dron' have done before. The track titles are mostly broad, generalized moments of an inward journey - Immersion, Enter The Gates, Dissolution Of Thought, Approaching, etc. - but there's no indication of where are why this journey is taking place. The assorted imagery in the CD package also shows pictures of foggy city-lines and sail masts, which gets my 'dark ambient boats' triggers all a'twitter, but still doesn't clue me in any further exactly what's forsaken here. And speaking of the CD, why do the tracks have fades between them? It's clear this album is a continuous mix, but the fades makes it sound like we're taking a commercial break between tracks. I can only assume this was an oversight.

All that nitpicking aside though, the music (such as it is) perfectly captures Alphaxone and Darko's droning strengths, involving you in a weird journey of discordant tones and strange sounds. I just wish I knew exactly where I was going.

Gridlock - Formless

Hymen Records: 2003

Man, talk about a coincidence, two straight album requests featuring breaks cribbed from the IDM camps! Though as this isn't a Patreon request, I can't give a specific shout-out to the requester. Sorry, Philoi. (wait...)

More to the point, this was requested as a bit of book-keeping from the TranceCritic days, an item covered by one of the website's other writers that could use a dusting off for our current clime's. Thing is, I don't recall this crossing our path, nor do I have a back-up of said supposed review. Granted, I don't have every item we published, and this one could have possibly slipped through the cracks, but I'm fairly certain if something this obscure had made it into the TC archives (and my back-ups), I'd have remembered it.

Back to the coincidence, Gridlock wasn't an actual breaks act like Tipper. Rather, they hail from the industrial camps, early adopters of the aggrotech scene (aka: when industrial discovered big-beat ...kinda'). Basically, a lot of noisy beats, angry shouting, with occasional moments of respite in dark ambient dirges. As time went on though, to two Mikes behind the project (Cadoo and Wells) drifted away from the industrial abrasiveness, their music becoming something more common among the IDM camps. They still kept the glitchy, harsh rhythms, but you could find that among breakcore or drill n' bass anyway. What pulled their music into a completely different scene, however, was just how nicely melodic it had all come, none of the menace and macabre of industrial remaining.

Formless was their final album, and serves as a nice capper of their transition from their bleak, early work. The beats are still all crunchy and glitchy and noisy, but so often coupled with charming melodies and pleasing ambient timbre that you almost forget there's a mechanical racket going on in support. What's nice about these beats is they never overwhelm the songcraft, over-indulging with fancy effects to the detriment of whatever musical ideas Gridlock performs. While this is hardly a new idea in the realms of IDM, I haven't heard it done quite the way Gridlock does here. Mind, it's not like I've gone super deep-diving into the realms of IDM, and there are still plenty of moments that have me thinking mid-'90s Aphex Twin (because it always comes back to him in this scene, doesn't it?). For the most part though, Gridlock have found a lane for themselves, and ride it with skill and finesse.

In fact, they stick to that lane so diligently, it kinda' hampers the overall album. Formless is fifteen tracks long, some short interstitial doodles, others breaching the nine-minute mark. Most, however, hover around four-to-six minutes, and while they all sound fine, there's also a noticeable lack of sonic variety too. Industrial beats, ambient techno melodies, and that's about it for the duration. I'm never bored by what I hear, but I cannot deny the mind drifting a little towards album end too. Annoying when the grey matter does that.