Aleph Conjures Lo-Fi Bass Music on Vol. 1

Without having the thrill of listening to ALEPH before, one would be excused for overlooking his overtly unassuming new EP, Vol. 1, released through the wonderful Renraku Global Media. One would be robbed of a visceral pleasure. Take a pinch of time today to digest this one, which has all the space-age, low-end blitzkrieg sound loved so universally, revisioned in a spectrum and soundscape that is often reserved for the more hip-hop oriented genres of electronic music and production.

With so many chasing the cleanest, most manicured dirty sound, a fundamentally lo-fi bass music is difficult to conceptualize. ALEPH presents this music - dirty distorted sharp bass beats coated in lo-fi texture - with startling originality on Vol. 1. After a few tunes one begins to hear how Vol. 1, titled with such inaugural flourish, could indeed be a start for something great. Burnished basslines, asymmetrical sound synthesis, and dusted percussion dominate the EP, but not without a touch of hair-splitting nuance in musicality.

Dive deep into the record and one will bring back to the surface a special sort of tango between brutal neck-breakers, swampy face-melters, and a dash of downtempo fluidity. Two tracks serve as avatars of this one-off stylization of what are otherwise a set of straightforward but disparate genres; “Solomon”, and “Scintillations”. “Solomon” unleashes a firestorm of gritty sub lines, flared up with carefully placed punches in the higher octaves to bring that veritable “glitch”, satisfying the listeners’ want for a-rhythmic, laser beam syntax. “Scintillations” thrives in it’s own wake as the counterpoint to the entire EP. It’s the most melodious effort on the collection, eschewing crunchy subs and freaky mid-range synthesis for a more scaled-down approach. The careful drum programming, coupled with distinctly distorted pad melodies, screams to be rendered in the highest fidelity possible, but that would be the antithesis of this track, and of what appears as the entire ethos of the EP.

It is specifically the dust and dirt that so many would rather wash away that add full flavor and flow to Vol. 1, summoning images of rainy, city alleyways littered with half-glittering tin tchotchkes clattering together in a breeze. Certainly the release demands multiple run-throughs to hone in on the eclectic sound design choices. Fortunately, you can take as much time as you need - until Volume 2, of course.

FOLLOW Aleph:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   

Pete Satürn Releases Mystifying Ritual Grass EP with Instigate Recordings

Pete Satürn hails from somewhere between Rhea and Hyperion. Floating among these mighty moons of the mystic planet Saturn, the artist must have absorbed and reflected upon the elemental admixture of solar sound known as the “music of the spheres.” He’s channeled this into his two-track Ritual Grass EP and his INSTiFREE010 track "Parallel Vision," coming courtesy of Instigate Recordings out of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

Instigate Recordings focuses on heavy basslines and hard-hitting beats while maintaining mood and texture. That sweet spot’s not easy to locate, and we commend any collective that tries to do so in earnest. Ritual Grass plies depth and atmosphere primarily, but not at the expense of a good vibratory rhythm. Mr. Saturn uses resonance and reverberation to establish an ambience across all three cuts that is nothing if not interplanetary, starting with the whispering solar wind on “Parallel Vision." 

Pete’s percussion is steady, strong, and helps to stabilize songs that are difficult to pin down in the absence of any big time bass or synthesizers. Each track, particularly “Ritual Grass", floats back and forth through space tethered to the Earth by a thin but sturdy rope of kicks, a smattering of hand drums, and a consistent hi-hat and ride cymbal. Common hallmarks of dubstep do appear on the EP, like the Rastaman horn samples and chopped beat on “Dawnlight Riddim", but they’re not overindulged or used to excess. It’s an engaging dubstep journey but not a wild one, meditative but not dark, and unique in its power to ebb and calm the passions of the listener instead of riling them up. 

On the heels of the atmospheric Ritual Grass EP and it's companion freebie, perhaps Instigate Recordings is gearing up to nudge the needle back in the direction of heavy beats and big basslines. You’ll have to stay chooned to find out. 

FOLLOW Pete Saturn:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook

Mettakin - Oneironautic

Freshly minted through Street Ritual, Mettakin just dropped off the latest entheogenic pressure cooker: It’s gritty in the basslines, squishy in the midrange, and melty in the melodies and harmonies. Pulsing with complimentary frequencies and accompanied by a deliberate haphazard regard for conventional music theory, Oneironautic is the next benchmark in overtly particular sound design.

The EP is a juiced-up beat smoothie, begging to be sipped and slurped by anyone who feels the need to rearrange their sensory perception and attitude about the current direction of broken beat music. Every composition is a glitch fondue, with textures and musical turnarounds spilling over the edge of a hardy core comprised entirely of an almost mischievous understanding and use of rhythm and arrangement in conventional songwriting. Currently available for download on Street Ritual’s website, be sure to donate some dollars & cents and grab a copy of Oneironautic to breathe some fresh air into your head-holes. If you like what you hear and want to fill your ears with a simulacrum of bass-tasters, you can subscribe to Street Ritual’s catalog for 5$ a month, which will provide access to all currently released material, as well as all future releases.

FOLLOW Mettakin:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Bandcamp

LSN Offers Atypical Dubstep EP "Control Vol. 1"

The title of the first cut from LSN's Control EP Pt. 1 says it all - “Creative”. This is not your grandpappy’s dubstep. The arrangements on this three-track release are atypical and thought-provoking, with a sound design that's both raw and razor sharp - ultimately, it's mental. Tension slowly builds from the moment the first track begins, culminating in an unrestrained explosion of bass and drum at the conclusion of the EP. 

The snarling bassline on “Creative” must be heard to be believed; wide and engulfing but with distinct contours. Fortunately, acute compression still allows the drums to have their day in the mix among all the bass. As this alien frequency kicks in, Control EP Pt. 1 initiates a hostile takeover of your mind and senses.

Perhaps with a hint of irony, the middle track is titled “Formulas”. Anything but formulaic, the song features a visceral and exceedingly physical low-end beneath a pattern of percussion that is sonically crisp and clear, yet violent in its approach. 

These aggressive drums give no quarter, rolling right into to ”Mofockas”. The cut begins as a masterpiece of minimalism, a shrill and sandy synthesizer serving as the only distraction from the tribal dance between kick and snare. The arrangement becomes more involved as distorted vocal samples and competing melodic flourishes are introduced. The conclusion is simply vicious, and one-ups with ease much of the filthy futuristic sound design coming out of the States these days.

LSN has offered several tracks on the ambitious underground London imprint UpriseAudio before Control EP Pt. 1. The label has catapulted to the forefront of underground dubstep since its conception in 2012, in no small way thanks LSN and other creative composers akin to him. We can’t help but stay chooned for the second installment of Control.

Control EP Vol. 1 releases 2017-09-18, but you can pre-order from Beatport here

FOLLOW LSN:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp

Jade Cicada Speaks Ahead of 'Lights Out' Show in Brooklyn

On Friday, August 4th, Jade Cicada, Detox Unit, Keota, and Shadow Tricks take over the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY, for Lights Out NYC 003 - Jade Cicada, brought to you by Good Looks Collective.  Thus far, each LightsOut has  strived to amplify levels of excitement and engagement amongst concert goers, and has consistently brought a much needed, refreshing vibe to the electronic music collective in and around NYC. 

We had the opportunity to query Skyler Golden, the man behind the arthropod, a bit about his thoughts on pushing his musical endeavors forward. We also sat down with Blake Oakes - Skyler’s manager and the creative mind behind the LightsOut series.

JADE CICADA - Q & A

Hey Skyler, thanks for the opportunity to pick your brain a little bit. We’ve got a few questions to ask to get a better perspective on the Jade Cicada project:

The Rust: What other mediums of art interest you? Do you practice any art form other than music?

I’d say movies/tv shows and video games (the soundtracks and sound effects) interest me the most. I’m intrigued by all forms of art but those are definitely the ones I gravitate to for inspiration. I was never really one to be inspired by a piece of still art or anything, but I think it would be something worth trying out some time. I have a ton of respect and admiration for illustrators and graphic designers because I’m pretty useless in that category haha. Guys like Beeple and FuniLab and Kilian Eng are a few examples of still art artists that I really admire. I mess around with illustrator and photoshop from time to time (that’s how I made my logo and font) but that’s more of a hobby.

The Rust: What are some non-musical influences that have shaped your musical direction + musical career?

I mean, I think every life experience you have ends up being an influence in one way or another. The loved ones I’ve lost are a huge influence for example. The hardships I’ve endured and the happiest moments of my life are influences. Byte Evaders is an anagram for “Best Day Ever,” and I made that the day after I opened for one of my favorite all time producers, Tipper. On the other side, I made the song Lost Again in memory of my Father who passed away which is an anagram for “Nostalgia.”

The Rust: What kind of capabilities would you like to program into your live sets in the future? Do you have a particular vision for how you would like to present/perform your music?

I’m relatively inexperienced when it comes to live performance. I’ve only been doing this about two years and I’ve only done about 50 shows. Right now I’m just trying to get really good at constructing great sets. I think I’m getting better at it and like to think each show I do is better than the last. In terms of the future, I’m planning on incorporating stem mixing to some degree in my sets, and possibly even controlling my own visuals. These things take a lot of time, especially on top of trying to produce new music, so don’t expect to see any of that soon, but it’s definitely a goal of mine.

The Rust: Are there particular styles/soundscapes you would like to pursue musically other than your current direction?

It’s not a popular one, but I love ambient music. Tipper’s sunrise set at his festival in Suwannee was my favorite set of the weekend and I’d love to explore that style of music more. I’d love to see my peers explore that style more as well. I think we all need a break from slamming kicks and snares from time to time and just focus on the atmosphere and textures possible in more mellow music. The only problem is that the average listener falls asleep to this stuff and nobody dances to it haha. It’s definitely an underappreciated artform that has so much room for experimentation and development. I’d also love to mess with some more “IDM” style stuff, but damn that drum programming can be such a pain haha.

The Rust: Do you have a concept in mind for a full Jade Cicada Production? Anything you might be particular towards in curating the best rendition of a Jade Cicada concert?

Not really a concept, just some ideas. The thing I care most about now is playing shows with good speakers (Funktion One, Hennessey Sound Design, Danley Sound Labs, etc), and playing venues that are acoustically treated properly. Sound is everything to me, and I want my listeners to hear my music the same way I hear it in my studio. I think the obvious things like some dedicated notable live projection visual artists would be great. I love Amon Tobin’s ISAM 2.0 stage setup. Something like that might be really cool but if/when that happens is questionable. I think what we did in Atlanta was a good starting point in terms of visual mapping, projection, and stage construction, but a solidified concept is a little ways down the road.

BLAKE OAKES - Q & A

Blake, thanks for taking the time to chat with us and give us some insight on the Lights Out concept. We've got a few questions for you:

The Rust: So, can you tell us a little bit about the idea behind Lights Out, and what inspired it?

The inspiration to the concept of LightsOut i guess was inspired by the whole UK dubstep “basement vibe” in the mid to late 2000s. Packed rooms, A lot of dancing bodies, and big Sound Systems. At that time digital culture was not so present. So taking phones away was not really “something” that grabs your attention. In the end that’s what that concept derives from - we want your full attention and attendance. I think adding this aspect really allows you to disconnect and actually BE PRESENT at the event. Shout out to Yondr.

The Rust: Do you have intentions to bring this concept to other locations (cities, states), provided there is enough interest?

100% interested. Right now I am really focused on Atlanta & New York and getting the concept nailed down. but in the near future - Most definitely, yes.

The Rust: Is this the full iteration of your concept currently, or do you have further ideas you’d like to implement to the experience as the opportunity presents itself?

I think there are plenty ways to build on the LightsOut concept. Creating a real vibe in the room is something i want to work on. I do not think it has to be completely blacked out either so there are plenty of ideas to really get that across. I’ve got plenty more to work on.

The Rust: Do you feel there are particular styles and directions of music that the Lights Out concept works best with? What other artists/styles of music would you like to be able to showcase through this medium in the future?

Absolutely, I think doing the Jade Cicada LightsOut really kinda shows that the concept can be represented by multiple styles.  In the end, that’s what the concept is derived from. A focus on sound. I think the music just has to be really dope, and sound even better on a really dope Sound System.

--

If you’re worried about the fidelity of the sound, ease yourself to the tune of a full Hennessy sound system; a veritable beast, capable of projecting all frequency ranges with top of the line clarity and ferocity. If you’re worried about the “no cellphone policy”, also relax; the entire experience is designed to help immerse and integrate the listener fully, removing all distractions so as to maximize your aural sensitivity. Make sure to hit up the venue as early as can be, as Keota, Shadow Tricks, and Detox unit are slated to bring their own killer tastes to the table and help curate an excellent party, top to bottom. To everyone making the trek this weekend: I’ll see you in there.

Purchase tickets to LightsOut here.

FOLLOW JADE CICADA:   Web   /   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Bandcamp  

Soulacybin - Slug Cuddles

When someone says the word “crisp”, what do you picture? Greasy potato chips? Delicious bacon? A cool, autumn afternoon? Maybe even the texture of freshly washed bed sheets? What if I told you that there was a platonically perfect form of crisp, via Soulacybin? If you misread that as a psychoactive compound, you’d be forgiven for the simple mistake, considering the aural work of Soulacybin literally breathes psychedelia. As an artist who has consistently evolved over the course of every release, Slug Cuddles absolutely follows suit with a bevy of instrumental interplay, carefully placed tonal dissonance, organically developed percussion lines, and a certain swagger that merges the head-nod with a head high. The album is a veritable display of how glitch-hop and it’s psybient cousin have developed over the last 5 or so years to grow from a dance-floor friendly, breakbeat bonanza to an intelligently designed and meticulously developed I.V. drip of brain-swelling music.

Coming right out of the gate swinging, and maneuvering with footwork not seen since the dawn of the 1920’s speak-easy, “Shrums” is the diplomatic middle ground between the pulsing bass lines that have been spearheaded by our favorite glitch artists for years on end, and the structural progression of psydub and it’s trance-related varieties. No wild builds, no buck wild drops. In their place is an exploratory dive right onto the dance floor with a rhythmic scheme that carries you from start to finish; a dance instructor that forgoes rule books and conventions and opts instead to let your body’s movements speak for itself.

“Dangatang” is all about that certain sway, leading with percussion reminiscent of drum kernels popping in the microwave. The movements of the disembodied guitar samples over an augmented scale introduce a subtle eastern feel that eschews the convention of a spiritual undertone, and gradually raises the level of abject aggression and adrenaline bursting out of the mix. The synth work evolves throughout to become a snake-tailed lay-line, folding you in and out of tonality and rhythm until you’re womping and warping harder than a thin piece of sheet metal.

The album wraps up with a track called “Empathogenetic”, and it sticks out as an emerald in a sea of sapphires. Using tasteful fills and breaks to bridge the development of the song, you’re constantly introduced and reintroduced to a plethora of plucks, jabs, stabs, slashes, and splashes of crunchy bass tones and sharp, round-topped synthesizers dancing back and forth in the soundscape like a super-concentrated fluid; it’s viscous and slippery and its main objective is to twist you inside out until you look like simple torus.

I could sit here and tell you the story of every track on the album, but that would be a disservice. You owe it to yourself to take a good hour out of your day, find a good sound system, and have a lackadaisical afternoon curated by a top-notch producer, and an album that sets a gold standard for intelligent design within electronic music. If you’re feeling eager and ready to get down with Soulacybin and the best of the rest, then get yourself ready to take a trek to Oregon in August for the Oregon Global Eclipse Festival. Soulacybin plays during the late night on that Friday, and is sure to fill your time masterfully, bringing up the vibe of the celebration at hand.

FOLLOW Soulacybin:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Bandcamp

K.L.O. - X EP & Y EP

K.L.O. slaps. It’s as simple as that. They've only been producing music together for a few years, but when they get in the lab together they wreak havoc, and destruction is imminent. Each contributing producer has an eclectic catalogue and a stylistic range to be reckoned with. Where the three of them overlap is K.L.O. - an outrageous, festering filth-ridden locomotive barreling through unchartered glitch hop territory.  An audio mean mug, every damn time. Throw it on and look at the faces around you. Never a dull moment with Kursa, Lone Drum & Osmetic.

And it doesn’t stop there… These cats don’t only put asses in seats, they get ‘em gyrating too. These beats take control and get them limbs on linguine while synapses samba in that dome of yours.

Just over a year after their debut release as a trio, Acid Scratch, the gang delivers yet again, with not one, but two EPs: X & Y. What’s interesting about these projects (outside of their earth-shattering sound design, succinct sampling, and toothsome grooves), is that they’re going to be released simultaneously on two labels - SLUG WIFE & Colony Productions, respectively.

SLUG WIFE is a newly launched label headed by Kursa and Seppa (the featured artist on the EP released on his label, “X”). There hasn’t been much released through SLUG WIFE just yet, but the first three releases have been of a superb caliber. The artists featured on the label are adepts of UK Glitch Hop, a niché genre that has shown exponential growth and backing in the US over the past year. “X” is right at home at SLUG WIFE with its rambunctious energy and Hip-Hop influence. There’s a certain attitude that comes with Hip Hop culture, and “X” manages to channel that properly, while also using samples only as a compliment, not a focus. Adding Seppa along for the ride also brings a gooey, wretched discharge of chunky slime to the table. You can actually hear the tar pits of repulsiveness bubbling in “Throw a Wobbla.” The sample is exceedingly on point, as I don’t think anyone could have been prepared for a hefty helping of K.L.O - let alone a full plate of seconds… which brings us to “Y.”

“Y” is set to release on Colony - the brainchild of one Mike Wallis, aka Osmetic, and has been consistently releasing quality music for over 15 years. It’s only right that these three would be right at home on Colony. “Y” takes a slightly different approach to the K.L.O. sound by highlighting the more low-key aspects of the group’s style. Now, don’t get me wrong, “Y” is still bangin’ in every sense of the word - the beats knock and the energy is still palpable. The instantly recognizable difference between “X” and “Y” is the magnitude of viciousness. “Y” has a chiller, more laid-back vibe and beckons for knee-swinging and hip swaying reminiscent of the Drunken Master’s Zui Quan styles. Don’t mistake the cool, calm and collected demeanor for a lack of temperament - the nefarious triumvirate still tears it up on “Y,” but the auditory onslaught is slightly more strategic and calculated. Lone Drum's scratching is also given a bit more space to shine. Where “X” provides listeners with an excellent collection of high energy neckbreakers, “Y” breathes new life into the sonic realm of head nod. Both EPs showcase the group’s prowess in innovative sound design and the chemistry is undeniable. 

Keep your ears open for an upcoming US tour with both K.L.O. & Seppa, and make sure to check them out at Tipper’s 4321 Event August 17-21 at Astral Valley in French Village, MO

Purchase “X” here      Purchase “Y” here

FOLLOW K.L.O.:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook

- Wyler