(Guld, Petteri Carbon Based, Laz Re-form, Your Correspondent, COGI)
What better way to promote yourself before a big event than by not updating your own site for a month and a half?
How I wish that it’s an exaggeration, but I’ve been so ridiculously busy since April that the choice has been between food, sleep and Munted prep, with absolutely no time for anything else. Ah, I tell a lie - my two evenings off were very pleasant, spent first with Byproduct and then with Petteri Carbon Based and one half of Re-form while they visited Japan/Tokyo. It was brilliant to see everyone a year after that trip to Finland, but since then it’s been hardcore event prep all the way. Still a fair amount to do, but I’m making progress and just about on schedule considering 6-day workweeks and endless commutes.
Needless to say, there won’t be too many posts until early next month, but there will of course be Munted info as and when, as well a couple of other things I’ve been desperate to mention for a couple of weeks. Sorry about the disappearance, and hope you’ll bear with me while I get through the rest of May. What I’d give for an army of little Horsers (Foals?) to update the site in my absence.
Oh, continuing the ‘promote yourself by doing nothing’ theme, it seems that people have discovered the PlasmaDancer Facebook page I semi-set up last year and then promptly forgot about. Four or five intrepid freeform warriors actually found it months ago, and so I was working on a little 30 minute mix as a thank you to them - then Munted happened and I ended up using parts of the Thank You set for my segment on Freeformaniacs (coming a week tomorrow, if I’m not mistaken).
Anyway, I’m massively thankful to those early adopters, as well as the freeform folk who have been ‘liking’ it over the past couple of days. This place will always take priority, but I’ve just finished the basic setting up and will be able to add some bits and pieces there if/when I have the chance. The more Horsers the better of course, so feel free to check out the complete lack of content via this link.
Back to mixing for now - I’ll be sure to make some time for the next post asap!
TYFTH is back in business again after a week off, starting with an upcoming Krafty Radio appearance courtesy of Freeformaniacs! I’ll be alongside Aryx, Midas and Douglas for a non-stop, two-hour warmup event that’ll hopefully get everyone in the mood for the following month’s Munted! spectacular in London.
Stay tuned for more info, but in the meantime check out the rest of a very exciting looking Freeformaniacs schedule for April/May that features plenty of familiar faces:
4th April - Pearsall (Electronica Exposed Special) / Beezee
11th April - Jerome / A.R.D
18th April - Substanced / Piumaki
25th April - Girdler Synthetic (Two-hour Special)
2nd May - Thumpa / Midas
9th May - Cuedy / Pulse
16th May - Olly Addictive / JKub
23rd May - Triex / Stray
30th May - Munted! Takeover (Aryx vs Douglas vs PlasmaDancer vs Midas)
Yet more mixes for everyone, this time courtesy of the ever-prolific Midas. The first is episode 21 of his excellent Freeform 101 series, and concentrates entirely on Electronica Exposed’s back catalogue. A glance at the tracklist shows that we’re in classy freeform territory here - the first half is very heavy on the Alek Szahala tracks, but also includes some classic Pain on Creation and Mental Ward, one of my favourite Carbon Based tunes. The second half is a Lost Soul special, so there’s plenty for both the UK and Finnish crew here. Very nicely mixed, as you’d expect, this is highly recommended.
Alek Szahala - Tigris
DOK - Mental ward (carbon Based remix)
Tazz, Shanty and Dodgee - Eidetiker
Pain on Creation - Shine
Alek Szahala - Timiquizqueh
Pain on Creation - Religionx
Alek Szahala - Unicorn Grove
Shanty, Tazz and Devestate - DDR
Lost Soul - Adversaries (insane version)
Lost Soul - Come and get it
Lost Soul - Ragnarok
Lost Soul - Daemons
Lost Soul - Artificial Universe
Midas also recently put together a set to mark 600 likes on the Munted! Facebook page. This one is more Nu-Energy slanted, including a few of the older tracks I used to play around with in the distant past, while the final section has plenty of Finnish melodies, albeit in remixed form.
K-Complex - Mindwinder 06 (original mix)
Dj Energy - Acid Dawn
Kevin Energy - Crescendo’s of ecstasy (K-Complex remix)
Dave Elizyum - No limit (Arkitech remix)
Kevin Energy - waves of desire (Mark Ashley & K-Complex remix)
Eryk Orpheus - PVC
Mark Ashley & K-complex - Atomic orbital
Cube::Hard - Hold the beat (original mix)
Cube::hard vs clsm - see you on the other side
Visionary - Taste the funk (cube::hard remix)
Kevin energy, K-Complex & sharkey - Anna (cube::hard remix)
K-Complex feat Scarlett Belle - Chennai
Alek Szahala - Alanamra (Arkitech remix)
Carbon Based - Cyclone
Carbon based - Anger Ball (kevin energy remix)
Alek Szahala - Lumi (kevin energy remix)
Lost soul feat Dark Angel - Taking Over me
Kevin Energy & K-Complex - filling me with desire (endemic remix)
I’m having a break from all-out freeform listening right now, so indulge me while we check out another wonderful Bukem set from the archives. Recorded live at Dance Paradise in (I think) 1994, this is right up there with his seminal Rebirth mix of 1996 as an example of structuring a set, creating new atmospheres inside the mix connections, and just flat-out technical excellence.
Bukem runs through a huge number of my all-time favourites here, and absolutely nails the contrast between deep, futuristic melancholy and aggressive amens that made 94-96 the era for intelligent drum and bass. Check out the final moments of the Drift to the Centre - The Western transition, as the drums stop and the ‘Drift…to the centre’ vocal plays over PFM’s trademark intro - just one example of the winning combination of Photek (in his various guises) and PFM that forms the backbone of the set. Another favourite moment might be Heavy Vibes into Horizons, a genuinely beautiful mix that sums up why Bukem is my main DJing inspiration.
In a perfect world Bukem’s older mixes would be required listening for anyone wondering how to incorporate deeper sounds into a high-bpm club set - get past the MCs (easier said than done, I know) and see what you think.
‘Two hours of new freeform mixed by Pearsall’ should be enough for any Horser to hit the download button, and once again this is a top quality set from the man himself. As always, checking out Pearsall’s original Sonicrampage post will explain all, but this is a set made up of recent digital releases, covering everything from FINRG to UK freeform via Le Dos-on and Qygen. The tunes don’t stick around for long before the next comes mixing in, making this a pacy, breathless couple of hours that focuses almost totally on TYFTH-friendly sounds. You could make a case that the set has fewer inspired connections than Rampage Turbo 10, but it makes up for that with excellent selection and structure (including Amini’s Lost Elegy - much obliged!).
Great stuff then - here’s hoping that Pearsall continues to explore more of the newer releases in future sets.
01. DJ Rx - Code Of Silence (Le Dos-On Remix) (Finrg) 02. Alek Szahala - Deimos (Finrg) 03. Aryx - Sylph (ReBuild Music) 04. Yuki Kajiura - Memaze (Nomic Bootleg Remix) (Unreleased) 05. Proteus - Get Fire! (Watchtower) 06. Qygen - Temporal Temple (Watchtwower) 07. Wyrm - Can’t You See It? (Electrode) 08. Lost Soul - Twisted Dream (Watchtower) 09. Amini - Guitarian (Smiling Corpse) 10. Substanced - Crank Cleopatra 2012 (Finrg) 11. Endemic - Hurricane (Watchtower) 12. Aryx - Chaldea (DJ Fury Remix) (ReBuild Music) 13. Epyx & Cyrez - Prelude (Penguin Conspiracy Remix) (Electrode) 14. Substanced & Alchemiist - Permission To Die (Finrg) 15. Douglas & Remane - Disorder (A.B.’s London Techno Remix) (Stamina) 16. Transcend - The Calling (ReBuild Music) 17. Transcend & Dyzphazia - Tormenting Flames (Relentless) 18. Ionosphere - PYLAAM (Electrode) 19. Lost Soul - Sacrifice Feat. Dark Angel (Endemic Remix) (Watchtower) 20. Penguin Conspiracy - Tripswitch (Electrode) 21. Substanced - Ghost Of The Future (Watchtwower) 22. Substanced - Stockholm Syndrome (Smiling Corpse) 23. Substanced - Shadows Of Tomorrow (Finrg) 24. Amini - Lost Elegy (Thank You For The Horse) 25. Nomad - Lose It (Transcend Remix) (ReBuild Music) 26. A.B. - Escapia (Stamina) 27. Eryk Orpheus - Benodihydrochloridebenzylex (Eryk Orpheus) 28. Le Dos-On - Flame 29. Alchemiist - Fate (Finrg) 30. Le Dos-On - Unelma (Relentless) 31. Substanced - Reptile Zoo (Finrg) 32. Aran - Taranis (Qygen Bootleg) (Qygen)
As usual, just in time to give the next installment of the Smiling Corpse podcast a mention. It all takes place tonight (GMT), with Dyzphazia hosting and none other than ikaruga_nex marking his entry into the Smiling Corpse collective with a debut set.
It’s really one to look forward to, but unfortunately I probably won’t be around for the live broadcast - tonight I’m heading off to Studio Cube for the first time in a year or so, to see K.U.R.O. play an old-school Goa set.
This one jumped to the head of my mix-listening queue recently for obvious reasons, and thankfully Mysterave has come up with the goods again - this is a planned-with-care set that does both Aryx and Alek justice. The mix mainly concentrates on the lighter side of their sound, and it’s actually the first time for me to hear tunes like Aryx’s lovely rework of Dawnstar and Alek’s Lagash 2012. With other new tracks like Deimos and Celestia, it’s a set with a very fresh feel, before finishing with some welcome darkness in the ever-anthemic Man Eaten and Desagoon Juniper.
Connection of the set for me has to be from Unicorn Grove to The End of All Things, a superb transition that could even have overlapped a little more without any problems, and that echo of UG’s melody that you hear in TEoAT’s first mini-break is just wonderful. Top, top work there.
An excellent set then, and maybe the first in a series…?
Quite busy at the moment, but in between I’m slowly working through some of the excellent sets that have appeared over the past couple of weeks, starting with Tyranoid’s Hardform.
This might be one of his most impressive sets so far, with a very strong theme running all the way through and a great mix of old and new. Really interesting to see some UK freeform in there - it’s thankfully not overdone and gives a nice melodic edge to the set, eventually leading into the classic Battle of Dawn. It’s also a lesson in how to set the scene with some slower tracks, then matching them in atmosphere with some well-selected freeform. Very highly recommended, then.
01 Lowroller - No Longer Human 02 SAM - Halluzinogen 03 Tiifa - Pleasure 04 Wragg & Log:One vs Iain Cross - Run For Cover 05 A+D+A+M+ Lab4 & The DiabloTraxx Collective - Infernal Desire (Psycho Surgery Remix) 06 Epyx & Cyrez - Game Over (Tyranoid/Strongstream Remix) 07 Lost Soul - The Answer 08 Douglas - Jonestown 09 Substanced & Alchemiist - Permission To Die (Original/Tornadoz Remix Mashup) 10 Tyranoid/Strongstream - Deepcore (unfinished edit) 11 Tyranoid/Strongstream - You Need Another Drink (Cyrez Remix) 12 Lost Soul - Human Being 13 Epyx & Cyrez - Crossfire 14 Blender & Nomic - Battle Of Dawn 15 Apollo 440 - Stealth Overture
We already know that Alchemiist sets are worth looking out for, and thankfully his recent Freeformaniacs appearance has kept up the standard. There’s a really nice atmosphere in this one, maybe best described as melodic dark freeform - any set with a lot of Alchemiist tunes is going to be pretty nasty, but this one does a good job of switching back to the slightly-lighter side to throw in some melodies. Excellent use of a couple of classic Kreatrix tracks gets the set an extra thumb up.
01. Substanced - Ghost Of The Future (Alchemiist Remix) 02. Transcend & Dyzphazia - Tormenting Flames (Original Mix) 03. Twisted Freq pres. Nightforce - The Ghost Of Jupiter 04. Substanced - Damage Point 05. Ephexis, DJ Rx & Carbon Based - Decimator 06. Alchemiist - Anthrax Injection 07. Alchemiist - Noise Of Thunder 08. Substanced & Alchemiist - Facemelt 09. Twisted Freq - Kreation 10. Endemic - Xen 11. Alchemiist - Neurotic
It’s been tough not to mention this until now, but in June I’ll be joining forces with the Munted! crew again for my first UK set! The event will be Munted’s first of the year, and I’m sure everyone will agree that the lineup’s looking pretty fantastic. Headlining is UK legend Sharkey, followed by UK freeform stalwart Douglas, but here at TYFTH we have to give special, massive kudos to the Munted! crew for supporting the deeper side of the freeform sound with the booking of Aryx and Endemic. Midas is also no stranger to our corner of the scene, while the UK crew are well catered for with Arkitech, A.B and Laith.
I’ll obviously be doing my very best to show what the darker, emotional side of freeform can do - it’s beyond exciting to have a chance to play to a UK crowd, but especially at a time when more labels, DJs and ravers are giving deeper sounds a chance. Hopefully Proteus at next month’s Sinistry will also convert more to the dark side, before we get going in June.
I’m hugely grateful to Munted! for supporting me and the Finnish/Japanese sound over the past year, and determined to repay them in London with as good a set as I can manage. It’ll also be awesome to see as many of the UK/Europe crew as possible on home soil, especially as Finland next month isn’t looking too likely (more on that another time). As an ex-resident of Battersea and Southfields I’m also looking forward to seeing south London for the first time in about 8 years.
There are plenty of exciting events over the next couple of months, but keep an eye on the Munted! event page in the meantime for travel/ticket info and all sorts of animal-based hijinks.
