Doubly great news here - Tokyo will soon have a brand-new NRG and freeform event, and I’ll be there for the first installment to play a guest set! Organised by TYFTH regular and tireless freeform evangelist raqhow, CODEX is set to start in fine style, with a lineup that brings together the very best of Japan’s current freeform scene.

The resident DJs alone would make for a quality event - raqhow himself is joined by NONAKA+CHIN and Le Dos-on, meaning Japanese, Finnish and UK sounds should be nicely covered. As for the guest DJs, the most eye-catching addition has to be Alabaster, making his long-awaited return to the Tokyo scene, while harder scene stalwart Azsa will also be playing a freeform set. Azsa has a history of excellent freeform mixes, and I’m really looking forward to hearing what he comes up with.

Finally I was asked to play as a ‘Special Guest DJ’, a massive honour that I’m really grateful for. Looks like some more sleepless nights ahead as I think about what to bring to the event - it’s really exciting to be playing to a Japanese crowd again after the last two big gigs in Finland and the UK.

More info as and when, but take a look at the lineup and some extra info on the tweetvite page, where you can also check out a larger version of MC Obie’s spectacular flyer art. Oh, and I’ll be playing another set in the near future too, so stay tuned for another announcement..

Two new free releases here courtesy of E&C and Watchtower, a very nice surprise after the launch of Two Against the Void. Risk Addiction 2 might be the headliner here, a great rework of the classic original that manages to squeeze in some harder sections alongside the energetic melodies, going in a different direction to Substanced’s still-awesome remix.

Psychotropic is a fantastic left-field track, sounding unlike anything else we’ve heard from the duo for a long time. It raises all sorts of possibilities for use in a slower set - I can already imagine it working brilliantly in a Tyranoid mix, for example.

I got back from London yesterday afternoon, so it’s about time to settle into the Horse’s saddle and resume normal service. Let’s start with something I really should have found time for before I left - the pre-Munted! spectacular on Krafty Radio from a couple of weeks ago.

I had the honour of starting off the two-hour set, and decided to pillage an unfinished Alek Szahala-only mix I had been planning as a Facebook page gift, combining it with a couple of older mixes that long-time Ustream listeners might remember. In a token effort to be more up-to-date I replaced the old Ustream stalwart of Aurora with Polaris, a nicely uplifting way to end my section and which Midas did a brilliant job of running with. Sorry about the overly-long use of Comet Catcher by the way - originally it was supposed to mix from The Purification but that would have meant overshooting my time limit, sadly ruling out my first use of a UK tune for about 5 years.

Anyway, I’m quite happy with the atmosphere in my set, and with a superb final section from Pearsall that’s very heavy on the Japanese tracks, the two hours have a nicely consistent feel while still showing off the distinctive style of each DJ. Look out too for some amazing variety from Midas and Aryx’s brand new The Golden Chariot.

PlasmaDancer  

01. Alek Szahala - Comet Catcher  
02. Alek Szahala - Pink Magic  
03. Suge - Terrible Oneness  
04. Alek Szahala - Solar Hive  
05. Carbon Based & Nemes - Heaven n’ Hell (Alek Szahala Remix)  
06. Alabaster - Acid Maker  
07. Pain on Creation & DJ Rx - Super Sonic  
08. Aryx - Polaris  

Midas  

09. Substanced & J-Mx - Flawless Victory  
10. Substanced - Signal Lost (Endemic Remix)  
11. Substanced - Seismic Activity (Transcend Remix)  
12. A.B. & Amplitude - Thinking Machine (Douglas Remix)  
13. CLSM - Wicked MC feat. MC Sharkey  
14. Cube::Hard - Hold The Beat  
15. Cube::Hard v CLSM - See You On The Other Side  

Aryx  

16. Aryx - Polaris  
17. Aryx - Celestia  
18. Aryx - Aurora  
19. Aryx - Sylph  
20. Aryx - The Golden Chariot (Unfinished)  
21. Substanced - The End of All Things (Aryx Remix)  

Pearsall  

22. Qygen - Silicon Skies ft Leo Hartley  
23. Dani Delirio - Neo Tokyo  
24. Guld - Castle In The Sky Remix  
25. Substanced - Damage Point  
26. Nomic - Rift  
27. Le Dos-On - Marionette  
28. Penguin Conspiracy - Reality Distortion Field  
29. A.B. & Nick 235 - Future’s Past Feat. Rhona  
30. Le Dos-On - Yksisarvinen  
31. Epyx & Cyrez - Sound Of The Golden Clarion (Le Dos-On Remix)  

Munted! in London was absolutely fantastic by the way - some superb sets and great people made for a top quality night. Some photos and video will hopefully surface at some point, so stay tuned for a proper look back in the nearish future.

Here’s that post I’ve been trying to find the time for - an inspired contribution to the Freeformaniacs show that’s hands down the best freeform set I’ve heard this year. It’s clear right from the start how much effort Cuedy put into this mix, and it flows brilliantly through a lovely selection of TYFTH-friendly melodic freeform and some fantastic, creative connections. For the first time in a long time I found myself enjoying the transitions themselves (very rare, but the way it should be, surely) and really being drawn into the set’s atmosphere. Just when I thought the set might be fading away, the Morokai - Quantum Epiphany combination energises the finale in fine style, while the earlier Chaos Maker - Leadbeater is another real standout.

No time for further comment (and forgive the possibly confusing copy/paste tracklist down below), but hopefully the scene will give this excellent set the praise it deserves - creative, thoughtful and a proper inspiration.

1. Explosive Tendencies Penguin Conspiracy [Freeform Exposed 2/Electrode] 
2. Sound Of The Golden Clarion Epyx & Cyrez [Two Against The Void/Watchtower Records] 
3. The Gatekeeper Eryk Orpheus & Flip [Freeformania/Rebuild Music] 
4. Dilapidated Ikaruga_Nex [Subaru Shu ~Subaru no Tama~/Hukagyaku Hardcore] 
5. 28 Day Later Audio Warfare & Audio Impulse [Free Release/ Soundcloud] 
6. Chaos Maker Nomic [Free Release/ Soundcloud] 
7. Leadbeater Alchemiist & J-Mx [TYFH][Free Release/ Soundcloud] 
8. Sadness & Sorrow (Epyx & Cyrez Remix) Nightforce [Electronic Exclusives 11: Plundered Vaults/Electronica Exposed] 
9. Yabarekabare Suge [Freeformania/Rebuild Music] 
10. Verzweiflung Hommarju [Relentless Digital][Subaru Shu ~Subaru no Tama~/Hukagyaku Hardcore] 
11. Human Hater Horzi [FiNRG][Free Release/ Soundcloud] 
12. Sarcomite Alabaster [Hardcore Syndrome 3/Hardcore Tano*C] 
13. Morokai Aryx [Smiling Corpse CD1/Smiling Corpse] 
14. Quantium Epiphany Qygen [Freeform Exposed 2/Electrode] 
15. Ja Tri Fu Le Dos-On [核-Core-/Solidbox Records] 

(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!

Another very welcome return as ConfigSys Project shows the first of his comeback tracks. The CFS formula works as well as ever here, and as usual in his psy-influenced tracks it’s the final section where everything truly kicks off. Great to see him back, as he really does bring something a little different to the NRG scene.

More amazing stuff from Einhander, this time a remix of Permission to Die and what might be his fastest tune so far. This is about as NRG as freeform can sound, with his trademark rough and ready synths and thumping kick. Definitely up there with Le Dos-on’s version as the best remix so far.

I probably didn’t talk enough at the time about what an influence Horzi was having on DJs and artists in Tokyo, but two or three years ago you were almost guaranteed to hear his tunes in any freeform event, while new producers like Le Dos-on and ikaruga_nex regularly cite him as an inspiration. Great to see some new material from the man himself then, and as it’s all to easy to miss something in the avalanche of free tunes that is the FINRG SoundCloud, it’s surely worth linking them all here.

Human Hater is a track well-known to most people these days, but those melodies are as good as ever and the style is something a bit different that can fit into all kinds of sets. Face the Destiny is a brilliant tune that maybe sets a new standard for his productions, both technically and in terms of atmosphere. Might there be a bit of Japanese influence in this one? Whatever it is, the melancholy of the breakdown and the energy of the drop make this a real highlight. Finally comes Over My Soul, a more experimental tune that breaks away from the drum and bass opening with a superb guitar-led breakdown and some awesome pacy synths in the second half.

Last Saturday there was a flicker of life from the Tokyo darker scene, and for once I was organised enough to make it to two clubs on the same night. First stop was Operation Karma, back in Tokyo (Roppongi, unfortunately) after a 3-year absence and a few events in Kawasaki.

Sadly the days of Karma being the hard-but-more-melodic counterpoint to NRGetic Romancer and Tokyo Hardcore Construction seem to have gone, as most DJs have abandoned freeform/NRG or dropped out of the hardcore scene altogether, but thankfully ASAHI was there to represent our kind of sound and I mainly headed along for his set. It turned out to be a superb hour of tunes that started with Private Demon and progressed up through the bpms to finish with Aryx’s Aurora. There’s a strong Guld influence to ASAHI’s sets, but I love the way he’s introduced some of the industrial/dark electro sounds we’ve heard at events like Dark Dimension. With terrible timing I stopped my video [see above] during BRK’s The Nobodies, just as he was about to mix into a great track from Grendel - unexpected, but I reckon it was the connection of the set and did wonders for the atmosphere.

Unfortunately ASAHI was timetabled to open the event, so the floor was very quiet until a few more of the Karma/Romancer crew arrived towards the end of the set. It was fantastic to see everyone though, and as we all settled into some dancing it made me realise how much I’ve missed having a healthy hardcore scene for the past couple of years. The music was taking a turn for the over-happy though, heavy on the anime samples and glass-shattering female vocals, so after sticking around for some of DAIRIN’s hard house I wandered over to Shinjuku and Decadance Bar.

Kohaku and the Dark Dimension crew have really done a fine job with this event, as now it has a large, eclectic following that rivals Tokyo Decadance but with far, far better music/atmosphere. Although there was no freeform this time, the timetabling is superb these days and seems to finish with a good couple of hours of very danceable industrial/dark psy, leaving it just late enough for the fans of the slower stuff to be willing to give it a go too. SHiN even sneaked in Hannya X during his dark psy set, and it went down a storm with everyone from the Romancer ravers to the goths.

The other highlight was finally catching one of Hiroyuki Takahashi’s live painting performances, which really lived up to expectations. Responding to the music and crowd as usual, his piece became darker and darker as the night went on - not the clearest photos in the world, but hopefully you can get an idea of the end result.

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)

6th June - Greg Peaks / Alderz