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)

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.

Artist Tip: A Made Up Sound (2562)

Firstly I want to clarify that this is not your typical biographical article I'm writing about here, this is more specifically about one of Dave Huismans' alias pseudonym's called 'A Made Up Sound'. If you have been following Dubstep over the last few years you may be aware of a rising star in the scene called 2562, which is the most famous alias of the mastermind that is Huisman. With two widely aclaimed albums under his belt as 2562, both exploring the realms between Dubstep, Post-Garage, House, Grime, Funky and more, Huisman has created a special mood which is amoung a small list of current producers who can rightly claim to have carved themselves. However parallel to this, he has also been very busy creating and releasing a string of releases under his lesser known but arguably more intriguing guise 'A Made Up Sound'. 

Right, lets cut the bullshit fancy writing here, 'A Made Up Sound' is big. I've been following him since his first release on 'SubSolo' and every EP and track with his name on released after 'and before' this has been pretty much, a buy on site purchase. With AMUS he adds an extra depth to House and Techno that seems to have been lacking for me, for quite some time. The tracks are raw and funky, rhythmically adventurous but still stay true to the dance floor which is perfect for any forward thinking DJ's to weave in and out of. Even in a home listening environment his tracks have enough finesse and creative twists and turns to keep you interested from start to finish. But as with most of this kind of music, it really is on a big sound-system, where the music takes on a life of it's own....you really do need to hear the sub-base in these tracks LOUD! 

With AMUS it's a little bit like what I mentioned in the Scuba article. With 2562 you seem to get the Techno elements fused into Dubstep, but with AMUS you get the Dubstep Elements fused into House and Techno. Which ever way round you look at it, and however you see it, give Mr Huisman some love and go and buy some of his music!

Below is a selection of my favorite tracks by 'A Made Up Sound' to get you started.

This does exactly what it says on the tin....Bounce, and plenty of it.

Absolutely love the acid line in this and the groove just keeps on developing throughout. Pure sickness with a touch of cheek.

Leaning towards more of a technoid Dubstep tip, this has rising synths which remind me in a more subtle way of Joy Orbison and has one of those special moods which if dropped at the right point can create magical moments.

This one is purely about the big sound-system. An almost rave sounding track with a raw groove and sub-base which will sound like its ripping through your chest (in a good way) on the right sound-system.

On a much deeper tip, this is one for the early morning meditators. A slice of highly hypnotic Dub Techno fused Dubstep.

Artist Tip - Shed aka Wax, EQD, STP, Deuce (with Dettman)

"Shed's numerous 12"s for his own Soloaction imprint, and a succession of tracks on Styrax Leaves, Delsin, Ostgut Ton, alongside a number of anonymous club tools for Hardwax, have become the purest source of Berlin engineered Detroit techno available" - Boomkat


The track above, The Lower Upside down, is one of my favorites off Shed's amazing album Shedding the Past from 2008 and is perfect example of the ambience and beauty that Shed can create in his music. Heres a link to here the whole album.. Shed - Shedding The Past

Being one of the staff at Berlin's famous record store hardwax, Shed has always had a close relationship with electronic music and has been releasing music since 2004. Its in the last two years though, where I think he has really raised the standard.

I had the pleasure of seeing him play at the Hardwax 20th Anniversary party in Berlin and judging from that, it seems he has a lot more amazing music coming for us also.. Not only that but two big tracks of the night for me were both sides of his Wax 20002 release.. which was a big reminder that this guy knows exactly what he is doing and also how much his music comes to life on a big system! Heres one of the tracks..

Artist Tip - UK Bass Maverick - Shackleton

Co-founder of the legendary Skull Disco label (RIP), Shackleton has more recently made the 'all so familiar' migration to Berlin after deciding to put the highly successful Skull Disco to rest. I actually arrived a little late on the Shackleton wave, as it wasn't until his famous musical rendezvous with Ricardo Villalobos that I woke up to his unique sound. To cut a long story short, Shackleton and the other half of Skull DIsco 'Appleblim' saw Ricardo play one of his mind bending sets at Bestival (Isle of White) and having heard him drop his now famous track 'Blood on my Hands' a few times earlier in the year they were interested in getting their faces known. Both kitted out in Skull Disco t-shirts, they soon got his attention and after the show, had chance to hand him over the track to remix, which he gladly obliged to and free of charge! This kind of thing really does show the genuine side of Ricardo and his quest for new sounds. Anyway he returned with his amazing trippy 'Apocolipse Now' remix and in turn dropped it to devasating effect at places like Fabric, which raised Shackleton's profile to to the next level.

This in my opinion was a pivotal point in raising awareness in the Berlin Techno camp of the futuristic sounds coming out of  the UK Bass scene over the last few years.

Right then, let's get down to the music. For those who aren't aware of Shackleton, think of Dubstep for a second, and then completely throw that out the window. Aside from the structure revolving around the base and perhaps in his earlier work (the tempo), it bares little resemblance to anything other than 'Shackleton' music. From his first Live performances playing just his own tracks on vinyl, he has taken the 'Ableton Live' route. From what I hear, it was due to the fact his music is so percussive it was actually a bit of a ball ache having to beatmatch all the time. Well regarless of the reasons, he really has utilzed the power of Ableton Live to create highly hypnotic primal sets which as mentioned on 'MusosGuide.com'..."Seem to be built vertically with layer upon layer of tribal patterns and washes of static feedback, with individual components stacked upon each other and then elaborately peeled away to the bare bones. The overall effect is reminiscent less of any concept of 'dubstep' than of some mutant, devolved strain of techno, stripped to its very core and innately tied to the ritualistic connotations of the 'dance'.

Described as 'Interesting bass music' by many, and with his current home residing in Berlin, it seems fitting that the legandary Perlon label asked him to release his latest work, called 'Three EPS'. This EP grows on me more and more with each listen. There just seems to be so much depth and texture within the sparse razer sharp rhythms and sub base that it always evokes that 'one more listen' aspect. Perhaps with his music having that certain uneasy vibe, it provokes that little bit of human nature in all of us, which is the curiosity to just look around the corner that 'one more time' and just try to understand that 'little bit' more.

The last time I saw him play was at Stealth in Nottingham back in 2008 and it still sits among the top Live sets ive ever seen. The mood he created was so primal, hypnotic and tense, by the end it really had sucked in my mind. After his set it actually took me and few others a good half hour to adjust back to some sort of normal conversation.

Check below for a review and link of his latest EP and also a stream of his mix on BBC's Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental Show. We will be keeping an eye on his musical development over in Berlin and will post any links to up and coming EP's or interesting gigs, so watch this space!

Shackleton - MAH MIX September 2009

SHACKLETON

THREE EPS
(PERLON)

Three EPs combines the cutting edge of electronic music with a ritualistic intensity operating at the level of the unconscious; in this purely "shamanic" sense it's part of a lineage that includes voodoo tribes, Burroughs/Gysin, Psychic TV. It makes you feel anxious, it hurts your ears, it changes your physiology. It's a trip. If you're looking for music to DJ out or to brighten up your commute, then look elsewhere. You can't "use" this record - it uses you, it's uncompromising, and it doesn't meet you in the middle. It's a record to be loved, but also to be feared." [Kiran Sande]

Artist Tip - The Many Shades of Stephan Laubner...

One of the most unknown prolific producers in the business. Here is a selection on Boomkat's excellent 14tracks site which will show you a vast array of his beautifully crafted electronic expressions ranging from headfuck ambient to lush deep house and techno. One of my all time favorite producers and a true master in his own right....Seminal!

On a party tip check the track 'Something is Raw' by his STL Alias. Pure Cheek! On another note, an example of the beauty of the 14 track selections....even if you know a fair bit about everything, there's always something new you'll discover. I never knew about one of his ambient alias' called 'Lunatik Soundsystem'. Turns out to be beautiful stuff...

Anyway check out the link below and give this guy some love..

Stephan Loubner - Somethings Out There