This week saw the latest release of London based label Night Slugs. The four-track EP, Dreama, from American producer Kingdom could barely have come from any other label following a year that has made Night Slugs inseparable from this UK underground house sound. The EP blends the house, synth and grime beats you might expect from another of the label’s producers, Bok Bok, with a definite US hip-hop feel; giving the label, what should be, yet another big release for 2011.
You can stream one of the four tracks ‘Let You No’ here, and buy the EP, digital or vinyl, from iTunes or Boomkat.
Night Slugs co-founder has recently announced news on his debut LP coming out on PMR Records, September 26th. The 15 track release features collaborations with producers such as Julio Bashmore, Para One and Javeon McCarthy.
1. Vague Flashes feat. Corey Black
2. Forever You feat. Javeon McCarthy
3. The Beach
4. I Feel It
5. Play It Cool feat. Samantha Lim
6. Shy Light feat. Para One & Teki Latex
7. Cruisin’
8. Feel The Void feat. Para One & Teki Latex
9. Illusions
10. Tonight
11. Here With You feat. Para One & Teki Latex
12. Lost In Love feat. Javeon McCarthy
13. True Romance
14. One More Day feat. Javeon McCarthy & Julio Bashmore
15. Neon Dreams
I was sceptical about this remix as I’m such a big fan of the original, but House legend Claude Vonstroke has brought in some serious vibes here without doing any injustice to the original mix. Listen to it here in a rip from the Night Slugs show on Rinse FM:
What a great start to the week finding this compilation, available for free download, damn! You can thank me later.
Truancy compilation one features tracks from both upcoming and established artists, with music from different corners of the globe. Personal highlights for me are the tracks by Helsinki-based Teeth (we all know that sexy track ‘Shawty’ forthcoming release on Oneman’s 502 recordings), Night Slugs badman NGUZUNGUZU, the aforementioned Melé, and Brey‘s offering of a tribal hyphy track that Zomby wishes he made. Props go to Brenmar though, nothing beats an Ashanti sample for me!
Download it here, and any money you donate goes to the Lybia & Region Appeal.
This one is on the more techy side of things but a pretty exciting EP none the less! Alex from Surefire sent this over with a little info on these guys. If you don’t know these names, Surefire Sound’s third release features three up-and-coming producers from two points on the map: Distal and Mayhem hailing from Atlanta, Georgia and HxdB from Vancouver, Canada.
Leading off the release is Michael Rathbun a.k.a. Distal, a producer in the next wave of bass music producers and founding member of Atlanta Dubstep, a collective that has been introducing dubstep’s top artists to the southeast United States since 2007. Through their events and newly founded label Embassy Recordings, Distal has established his own dynamic that integrates dubstep with Chicago’s juke sounds, and has started to make quite an impression on the global scene with a release on Soul Jazz’s Future Bass compilation, as well as Amsterdam’s Tube 10 Recordings, among others.
Collaborating on the A side is Severine Erickson, a.k.a. HxdB (short for Hexadecibel). Channeling his creative energies from his own pocket of North America, HxdB has been a hardworking DJ, producer, and promoter of the more sophisticated angles of bass music. With several 12” releases to his name on labels such as Mindset and Echodub, and plenty more coming in the new year, he is ready to make his mark on this release alongside Distal with “Typewriter Tune”. Its’ potent assault of shuffling beats and funk-infused pitch-warped synths was so well-received by their DJ mates that they amped up the energy into a VIP version with support from the likes of Bok Bok (Night Slugs, London), Ben UFO (Hessle Audio), Appleblim (Skull Disco), Dave Q (Dub War, NYC), XI (Orca) and Sepalcure (Hotflush).
Working with Distal on the flipside is Anthony Rotella a.k.a. Mayhem, a long-time stalwart of the Atlanta scene coming from the drum & bass arena. Mayhem has had recent dubstep releases on San Francisco’s Argon Records and Amsterdam’s Subway Recordings. On “Frozen Barnacles”, they deliver a high-energy, yet heady half-stepper with warm filtered synths and dub-wise horns.
In my opinion ‘Typewriter Tune VIP‘ is the standout here and worth the purchase for this track alone! Solid stuff stuff from an ever emerging and evolving US scene. Last year there were a lot of releases stateside but I think they are beginning to find a sound and draw influences from the music which is so big out there already. Juke (Footwork) was a prime example of this last year and I’m sure the limitless talent in the US will get stronger by the year. London, and the UK in general, is still leading the way, just don’t be surprised to see the rest of the world catch up in a big way, very soon.
EASY, with only a few days to go it is time to unleash some music! Simbad has dropped a little mix, exclusive to GET SOME, and kindly let us interview him in the build up to Saturday nights rave, can’t wait! So have a read and have a listen, then get yourself down to Gramaphone and enjoy the party!
PEACE&OUZO
GET SOME INTERVIEW SIMBAD Who are you and what do you do? I make msuic & dj, have used many aliases when released in the past but im trying to stick just to Simbad deze days…
Where are you currently based? Mainly in London but spending 1/3 of every year in da US
When did you first get involved with music and what were you doing? As a teenager I picked up the saxophone and started playin in bands and got heavily into jazz & funk then moved to Paris in the mid-90′s where i was putting on Jungle & DNB nites with a crew, finally moved to London when i was 19 to pursue my dreams… Had to do many shitty jobs while playing with musicians on the side but got to do loads of session work in studios, mainly house & garage. Then met another french fella called Fred McQuinn and we started our own studio and label (we were releasing under Marathon Men) , thats when i really got into the whole production & record collecting (was workin in some record shops in Soho @ that time too)…
How has the music industry changed since you first got involved? In your opinion, has the online revolution has a positive effect on what you do and the music industry? Well back in da days we would press a 12” and live of it for months easily (as music was selling well in general) and everything was much more ‘physical’ or hand on hand, whether in da studio regarding the gear (hardware equipement like compressors, mixing desk, reverb units etc…) , record releases or carryin crates of vinyl to your gigs you know ? The whole digital revolution had some positive effects regarding freedom of expression & exposure via non-physical mediums but the whole game has changed tremendously, not only money-wise but also substantially…
Like nowadays i feel the information behind a tune or an album has been lost, no more credits attached to it too much and the sound resolution in quality has somehow diminished and we’re getting used to it !! It seems that there’s a lack of knowledge in certain areas and that kinda bothers me coz its as if technology has made our brains regress instead of progressing, we almost leave the computer to do all the thinking and thats fucked up in my humble opinion… I mean its amazing what we can do now with computers just digitally in creativity and all that, but its important to know also what we’re worth just as simple human beings and how we relate to our context in different ways… Hahaha not that i wanna sound patronizing but you know what im sayin ???
Do you find there to be a prejudice against DJ’s who use MP3′s and is software like Ableton Live bridging the gap? Mmmh not really, i mean again its a question of taste and creativity really… You can have the best tunes and not connect with an audience, wether its coz you’re playin’ low resolution mp3′s via your laptop (so the frequency spectrum of the music is totally diminished therefore we can’t feel it through the sound-system) or coz you just dont pay attention to the vibe and just look at your screen all nite LOL but naaaaaaah you can really exploit that digital side of playing in a positive way… Its about energy and emotions & fun @ the end of the day right? (and BASS hahaha)
Personally I still prefer vinyls and cds for the physical touch and the randomness of human error opposed to a robotic flawless pattern of a software… But thats me yo !!! Loads of my fellow dj friends do really great things with Serato and Ableton and i do admire them, somehow its all about being original and being yourself… The way you do it isnt too much of an issue no more… Just spread da love yooooo
What can we expect form Simbad in 2010? Few singles about to come out on a few labels (Defected, 2nd Drop and a few others TBC) and still loads of remixes (Simbad Remixes VOL 2 due any minute on Key Rec.), gotta mix down some collabs projects too (with Cooly G, Deetron, Von D, Fred P, Karizma , Son Of Kick etc…) and more travelling i guess… The Donn T album that i produced in Philly in 2008 has just come out (she’s Questlove sister) and im still rapping up this booogie / funk project featuring some dope singers in the states for a respected label from LA… Also finishing a compilation for Brownswood Rec. with exclusive material from various peeps, quite exciting actually !
If your career in music was to end tomorrow, what would you do instead? Good question haha ! I pretty much live day by day and find it a blessing to survive doing what i love so i dont think about it too much… Maybe i would retire to the Himalayas and become a buddhist monk LOL
Who should we be watching in 2010? What you eat LOL !!! Musically ?? A singer from South Africa called Brian Temba, a french producer named Klimaax, the next Stereotyp album all gone juke style, some Mark Pritchard newness that is out of this world, guys like ID & Baobinga, Airhead, Midland, Trilogy or DNB cat Steve Lynx makin sick beats … The next Disiz & Grems album (the 2 best french rappers) … Labels like Night Slugs, Deep Teknologi, Record Breakin’, Numbers plus all your favourite producers and bands haha
And finally, please complete the following sentence… GET SOME… love (let’s)
TRACKLIST 1: Earl Flint – People Hold On (CBS)
2: Mike Dunn – Prey (CDR)
3: Kink – E79 (Ovum)
4: Izzi Dunn – Nothing But Love (Bugz In The Attic Dub) (CDR)
5: Doc Daneeka – Hold On (Ramp)
6: Simbad – Pilgrimage (CDR)
7: Dubbel Dutch – Throwback (Palms Out)
8: Ave Blast – Glow In The Dark (CDR)
9: Mj Cole – Thekla Riddim (Prolific)
10: Africa Hitech – Do You Really Wanna Fight (CDR)
11: Midland – Play The Game (CDR)
12: LD Vs Cluekid – Jay’s Reese (Ringo)
13: Plan B – Prayin (Breakage Remix) (CDR)
14: Aquadrop – Hyper (Eight FX) (Edit) (CDR)
15: Unknown – Chatte Pa La (Edit) (White)
MAJORLY FEELING THIS, BIG RIDDEM!!!!!!!!! I think that the Dub is the best version but the vocal on this version by Shadz is a bubbler for sure, check it out!
The new Lil Silva release is an EP I can’t get enough of right now. I am a huge fan of Night Slugs and what BokBok and the boys have been doing over the last couple of years. With every release they drop I have a listen and can’t decide what it is I like about them, I put the tracks out of sight for a week and then revisit them just to be absolutely blown away! The new Lil Silva EP was no different, I didn’t get it immediately but ‘Gold To Get’ and ‘Pulse vs Flex’ are massive tunes and the full six tracks that are on ”Night Skanker’ are all worth a listen. BIG MIX, BIG RELEASE, these guys are taking over! Have a little listen to the tracks below and get out and buy a copy!!!!
I wasn’t at Sonar this weekend, but I’ve been hearing a lot of good reports about this year’s festival. I’ve heard a few people mention Girl Unit‘s track ‘Wut’ as one of those memorable, multi-rewindable tracks that stuck out from the crowd. Night Slugs have to release this track, it’d be wrong for them not to, but they’re pretty tight lipped on when it’s going to be. For now just listen to the track on youtube. Over and over and over…
