March 27, 2010

News - Mutek 2010

"Kicking off its second decade as one the globe's premier showcases for cutting-edge electronic music and digital creativity, MUTEK is proud to announce its first confirmed performers for its highly anticipated 11th edition. This year, the influential Montreal institution runs from June 2nd to June 6th, kickstarting Montreal's summer festival season with a program featuring over 100 Canadian and International artists"

Actress
Ben Frost
Brandt Brauer Frick
Carl Michael Von H
Dave Aju

DEMDIKE STARE
Dixon
DJ Koze
Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts
Henrik Schwarz
Ikonika
King Midas Sound
Marson Jules

Matias Aguayo
Matmos
Moritz von Oswald Trio
Nicolas Jaar
Pépé Bradock
Rebolledo

Shed
Theo Parrish
Tim Hecker
Vladislav Delay

..More TBC

Even though this is a festival happening the otherside of the globe I thought I'd still give this a mention as I think its a very important part of todays underground electronic music scene. Especially with their newish Micro_Mutek that we've been closely following here in Barcelona, I wouldn't be surprised if they started a festival here in the next couple of years and they are testing the water with their quarterly parties. With a line-up as good as they always have though, I welcome them across. A battle between them and Sonar to hold their titles as showcasing the most cutting-edge artists can only be a good thing and should be a major catalyst in bringing alot more amazing music to our beautiful city!

March 24, 2010

Artist Tip - Peverelist



"I fucking love techno but I'm almost scared to say that... it depends on your interpretation of what techno represents.. but if your interpretation of techno is futurist electronic music, then thats certainly something that I identify with" Peverelist

Peverelist FACT mix  by  bambambcn

I think we all knew, maybe ever since Shackleton's first tracks, that it was only a matter of time until dubstep became the new breeding ground for techno. Well.. any genre that experiments with rhythms, patterns, sound design, while taking the best influences from all music that came before it, techno was always going to become a major part of. And just to be clear, as techno is one of the most misunderstood and misused words I know, I refer to techno as (quoting the late Covert Records as they worded it so perfectly) ¨electronically advanced underground music¨


So, Bambam's endless pursuit for exciting, creative music has lead us to an artist that goes by the name of Peverelist. This new techno, in its dubstep guise, is definitely starting to push that mood of techno that we all love. Ive spoken before, briefly on here, about the music that I have to admit, above all, has to be the most exciting for me. There are some artists making that music at the moment and Peverelist seems to be at the head of his game. This is music that exists for me at the exact crossover point where experimental meets dance-floor. These tracks belong to no genre and can be described as nothing less than art! This music creates life changing moments in sets, people spend their whole lives dedicated to the emotional excitement from this music. This feeling I like to call the "crack" feeling, when your head is blown away but your body cannot stop moving. So you can imagine how excited I was when I started noticing, within the dubstep world, more of this music emerging.


The first time I saw Peverelist was last year in Barcelona at the Bam Festival and was such a pleasure hearing such good music here, (I have to say it; it was so refreshing after hearing such bad music here in Barcelona, especially the dubstep). So the mix at the top of this post is a very recent mix Peverelist has done for Factmag. It really is a glimpse of the future.. enjoy... (Please dont listen to it quiet)

March 14, 2010

Scuba vs SCB mix



Again Scuba makes his way back on to bambam and again he has been a busy man! Featured on bambam earlier as our artist Making a Ripple, he really HAS been... The first half of this mix for RA is as his Scuba alias with his own Bass-Centric Experimentalism and then half way he flips to SCB (his more techno/house project which Im the most excited about!!) Excited enough to be booking my flights on the 26th May to hear him play as SCB in Watergate, Berlin!!


 
Scuba vs SCB RA Podcast  by  bambambcn


I also want to mention the quarterly label parties Scuba is now putting on called Horst Flush on the KILLASAN sound-system. The first party had the lineup of SCB, Headhunter, Sigha. I didnt make it to this but I heard some really good things from a close friend who said Sigha (another really talented rising artist within the hotflush family) absolutely killed it! From what I've read the next one should be in May..

Also a really interesting insight from the man himself talking very openly and honestly about his album, drum and bass and his attitude towards producing music..

Read (also below, a free dnb track called Process Part 195 by Scuba) Thanks Scuba!



March 07, 2010

Artist Tip: Joy Orbison


Every once in a while a producer comes along who stands out like a bright shining beacon amongst the endless waves of bleak, grey, un-inspiring and un-memorable dancefloor tracks that get released in abundance every day online. This may sound like quite a cynical and generalised comment, and to some extent, it is. But, even though I often like the whole 'functional tool - the sums are bigger than their parts' approach to DJ'ing, I really have been scratching my head for quite some time over the last few years, asking myself; whether it be in clubs or even at home listening to sets etc...."when was the last time I heard an anthem?". You must know, one of those hairs on the back of neck, everyone unites in the club anthems.

Well let me explain a little bit about the guy behind one of those rare anthems..The story to the rise of the 22 year old producer and DJ from Croydon 'Joy Orbison' really began when Ben Ufo, the DJ and label boss of Hessle Audio (in my opinion one of the most forward thinking Bass music labels at the moment), ended one of his consistantly amazing recorded promo sets with the now number 1 track of 2009 (as voted by Fact Magazine) 'Hyph Mngo'. Ben Ufo is another guy I will talk about soon on here, but for now let's get back to some Joy.

Anyway this was the one track which stood out by a mile and had all Ben's fellow crew asking for copies within days of it dropping. With other big guns like Scuba, Appleblim and Peverelist all dropping this track left right and centre, it didnt take long to reach super hype status and reach the airwaves of all the major electronic music radio shows and online music mags. And it didn't take long for Scuba to snap this up on his label 'Hotflush', which then released it later in the year.

I must admit, when I first heard this track last year, I was quite reluctant to like it, because I really do hate hype. I even heard it dropped by Peverlist at the Bam festival here in Barcelona last year and even though it was an amazing set and the track really did sound big on that system, I was still quite wary of getting into it, just because it was being hyped so much. 

However as with most major anthems, sooner or later they grab you, and it really does get to a point where you just can't deny that this is just a massive massive track which really does provoke an amazing reaction on any dancefloor. What I love about this track, is that it really does transcend genre boundaries. You've had everyone from the house heads, techno boffs, garage boys and dubstep massive playing it, as it really doesn't quite sit perfectly in any of those fields, it's just very high quality, amazing dance music.

Right then, enough about Hyph Mngo, lets move onto the real end of the producer, because as we all know, lots of people in the past have had huge anthems, but have failed to live up to the hype after. I've been very interested in the progress of Mr Orbison since and have made it a priority to check out his new releases. And guess what....the guy is on it! He really has shown his production finesse with his follow up tracks. his latest release on the AUS label is an absolute gem of an EP which I seriously recommend you check out. The title track definitely has a more subtle feel to it than Hyph, but again the use of his snyths to create those warm textures and also the slickness and bounciness of his beat programming is again of the highest order. On a big system this will make even the most cynical of chinstrokers dance. However for me personally, its the B-side which really shines here. It has a more experimental approach to it's beat programming and track structure but it twists and turns like nothing I have heard in quite some time. Going from futuristic spaced out vibes, to deep house moods and back again all in the space of minutes, and a phat bass stab just to tickle the stomach along the way.

Again, as with most of the BamBam tips on here, I've posted a selection of my favourite Joy Orbison tracks for you to check out. And if this is something your feeling, I strongly recommend you purchase these tracks and be sure to keep an ear to the ground for some of his future works, because I've heard a few more future releases recently and they are taking it another step up. He's also playing at Sonar this year so if your about for the festival, again I can't recommend enough that you check him out!



The BIG one.....not much needs to be said about this, other than if your not familiar with this track yet, then turn this up loud, because it really is something special. The way the synths rise and dip throughout the track, the melody shift in the second half and of course, those beats!



An amazingly deep, sexy and slick version of the already massive track by Four Tet, 'Love Cry'. I heard Four Tet drop this in Barcelona a while back and it really did sound so crisp and sweet whilst loud, and it really does show the current sonic range that he has on offer at the moment.



Perhaps my favourite track by him at the moment. I just love the contrast between the futuristic spaced out elements and the classic deep house vocal's and vibe throughout the track. Definitely on a more experimental tip, but still highly danceable.



The more subtle, refined answer to Hyph Mngo, but hey this doesn't need to be a massive anthem, this is just high quality, highly emotive and danceable music from the man. Again, the synths are beautiful and the rhythms are so bouncy and danceable, amazing stuff.

March 01, 2010

News: Mount Kimbie liveset


Following on from the Making A Ripple article we had last month, we have a liveset for you.. Mount Kimbie recorded live from the RMBA session at Manchester's Deaf Institute in January. Full of experimental rhythms that lend themselves to the fringes of dubstep, wonky and hiphop but that ooze so much emotion, that with the echoing ambient soundscapes, this will take you to an entirely different place..!! Enjoy...