Tuesday 26 October 2010

Trap Magazine/Baobinga/Lorn/Guido

Its been a hectic last few months, got a few really good projects on the go and plenty of stuff coming to fruition.

Trap Magazine

This is where you will find a veritable multitude of interviews, features, pictures, artwork and reviews from the world of bass music culture and fashion. Its free and available all over the UK as of now check it out online here:

http://issuu.com/trapmagazine/docs/issue001




http://www.trapmagazine.co.uk/


Here's the last few reviews I had published in Atmosphere Magazine;

Baobinga Riddem Team E.P




Mancunian bass taste maker Baobinga serves up lashings of Soca vibes and bashy beats with vocals from some of the U.K's toughest mic men. Lead track 'Wine up' is a summer party skanker featuring Killa Benz (Rodney P) in fine style, with sharp lyrics and a catchy hook sure to get the dance floor bubbling. Rubi Dan steps up on 'Raggipahop' a dark deep dancehall workout, hypnotic synths and smacking drums locked tight to the pounding bass. DnB legend Spyda adds his vocal talents on 'Chriss like HD' inviting everyone to come to his party, backed by a driving bashment riddem laden with crispy synths. French bashment don Poirier (Ninja tunes) drops a storming remix sure to fire up de dance.



http://soundcloud.com/steak-house-records

http://baobinga.com/

LORN Nothing Else




The only member of Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder camp to not be an LA native speaks volumes for the young beatsmith, from 'the middle of nowhere in Illinois' the quality and intensity of his music could only find a home with the most forward thinking collective in US hip hop.

A bouncing organ riff bounds in like early 90's Prodigy , leading into 'None an Island' with its deep bass and neck snapping beats, the textured soundscapes weave around and intensify as the track rolls up. Haunting strings break into the regimenatry march of 'army of fear' reminisant of Portishead on crack with its wailing theramin, pounding bass and crashing cymbals. Brutal and unrelenting the album pounds the senses with a soundtrack of intense noise and glitch set to a tough raw backbeat. The heart stopping sizzling bass and synths in 'Void I' and 'Void II' with its space in between leave you a brief respite before the dark journey continues and the melodies sing out the mellon collie.

As with a lot of the modern crop of wonked hip hop the tracks are quite brief, but dont leave you feeling sold short as the mood is so stark often 2 minutes odd is all you need to get the picture LORN is painting. The catchy melody riding a wash the arpeggio in 'Glass & SIlver' possibly the lightest moment on the album, still cant lift the mood to anywhere near happiness more an uneasy relief to the darkness of the rest of the album.
'Cherry Moon' bursts in with an orchestral movement of epic proportions, the lazy groove bumping along punctuated by the rippling bass giving the track a really unsettling feel. Final track 'What's the use' fuses gutter bass and shuffling broken beats with searing square waves smothered by hammond organ. With the only vocals on the album, suitably layered and lost in reverb LORN ask's'What's the Use'you can feel the mans pain laid bare in these tracks, hopefully he can find some peace now this music is unleashed on the world.



http://www.brainfeedersite.com/

http://www.myspace.com/lornnn

Guido Anidea



Since dropping the seminal 'Orchestral Lab' on Punch Drunk in early 2009 Guido has rapidly risen out of the rich Bristol musical tapestry to join the ranks of the leading lights in bass music. Harnesing influences from garage, hiphop and grime with soundsytem sensibilites Anidea is seeping with melodies, grinding beats and sub bass. Lead track 'Anidea' sets the mood with its almost trip hop feel reminiscant of Tricky and Knightmares on Wax, the lush textures and timbres blend in unison as the central riff switches from synths, keys and guitars, backed by horns and flurries of arppegiation.

'Orchestral Lab' never looses its freshness and translates even better in digital form, the sheer musicality and depth of the arrangment never fail to shine as the different musical elements seemlessly wrap round each other, cracked on by the drums and searching bass.The anthemic 'cat in the window', fuses plucked strings with phasing synth lines and horns. Relentless bassline, kicks and faceslapping claps roll into an uplifting and intoxicating sonic landscape. 'Mad sax' smacks in on an epic g funk soul groove, the smooth sax lines only letting up for the odd breath and vocal touches.
The reworked 'Way you make me Feel' Featuring Bristol soul queen Yolanda is taken into a new dimension, the attention to detail and muscianship shine through transforming the deep instramental track into an intense driving love song. The dub fueled swagger of 'Tango' recently vocaled by the talents of Central Spillz, with its infectious bassline , piano skanks and neck snapping beats has been causing damadge on dancefloors for a while now and gets a welcome inclusion on the vinyl version to.

Like all the best albums the final secret track is untitled its a deep journey into synthesis thats both sublime and epic, kept rolling by the steppa dub bassline, perfectly augmented by the sharp kicks, claps and percussion. Guido has crafted his own niche in the dubstep world, with his unique sound fusing symphonic grime, krunk drums and dub heavy bass. Anidea firmly engrains this ethos binding a futuristic vision, rooted in now.





http://www.myspace.com/punchdrunkrecords


http://www.myspace.com/guidoproductions





I will endeavour to update this blog on a more regular basis, any comments on any content appreciated :)

D