Sven Laux – Mud Up, Mud Down

Deep House & Techno, House, IDM, TechHouse, Techno & Detroit // By: simiolioliocloseAuthor: simioliolio Email: simon@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (40) // 08/03/2013 // No Comments

This chirpy little number is about as tight as glitchy microhouse can possibly get.

Mud Up, a sweating leather bag of broken paper clips, leaking from the bottom. Squelchy and mischievous. Clicky and clattering, yet soft and bouncy. From a distance, I would guess that it was Akufen, especially the barely audible vocal cuts, enveloped right down to barely a microscopic transient. Intricate, quirky, and intense, with the hihats clambering all over each other, fighting for groove supremacy.

Mud Down, a little darker, perhaps a seething duffle bag of drawing pins. The groove on this track is immense. Skitting and swaying like a cornered fox. It is the sound that 39 atoms make when you get a mic close enough. I like the subtly evolving textures, and the kick drum is so sick. Well, all of the sounds in this release are beautifully clear and edgy. I love the very occasional arrival of the bit crushed snare.

Mud Down (The Coffee Boy ft. Vocal Matador Remix), starts weakly, but finds its feet very well. The offbeat hihat compliments  Sven’s two original tracks; the 808/909 type hihat (and the claps) stick out as a little generic when compared to the original, which incorporates such a finely tuned individuality. Only for a minute or two, as the track builds very wonderfully indeed, and before long had my head moving, quite violently in fact. The crowd samples are crazy; I can’t wait to play this in a club…

Mud Down (Tone Def’s Mud Down and Out Mix), back to the space-glitches, starting with a metronomic hihat. Initially the bass part which arrives is not to my liking; at first, the pentatonic / ‘blues scale’ seems a little out of place as a remix for a track which dives so far into the sonic world and leaves average musicality behind. Perhaps this was the idea, forming some sort of balance. However, the drop in the middle came with a moment of clarity. There is something rather admirable about that weak bassline, which I only noticed when it had gone. As it comes charging back in (very expertly I might add), I was shocked at how much I missed it.

Microhouse? Is it even a genre?! It still perplexes me how this music can possibly fit into music society. Too minimal for a successful club night. Too mind-numbing for an evening listen. Too subtle for casual headphone listening. Too hectic to relax to. Yet there is something quite fantastic about it. Would you agree?

Sven Laux – Mud Up

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Rykard – Rhythm Phoenix [ded034]

Ambient & Experimental, Downbeat & Downtempo, Electronika, House // By: AshcloseAuthor: Ash Email: ash@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (5) // 20/08/2012 // 4 Comments

I guess the purpose of Netaudio is to step outside of a corporate, profit-centred model. UK Netlabel Dedpop has moved beyond this concept of free digital media and started to release it’s artists on cassette tape as well as providing download codes for new releases. The purpose of this, it seems, is an attempt to breathe life back into that forgotten ritual of discovering new music and physically holding it in your hands; the commitment of waiting for something rather than click, play, forget.

Myself and fellow Netlabelism author Simon (aka BitBasic) have both released albums on this quirky label and I think it’s fair to say that we are in good company. Rykard released his latest full-length album Rhythm Phoenix on August 11th and it is pretty sweet!

80′s inspired synths and reverberated 808′s paint high-gloss pictures of androids on Miami beaches, with Delorians gliding between metallic palm trees and retro Martians clad in shell suits chatting up women with 3 breasts apiece. This is pure spacetronica without the tackiness and perfect for a summer-time release.

Album opener ‘Shelter Cove’ is also the title track of a bonus EP available exclusively to those who purchase this album on cassette. It is an optimistic and vibrant track with an addictive hook that could have easily slipped off Wagon Christ’s ‘Sorry I Made You Lush’. ‘Love Shock’ drives the album on with growling bass and a backwards piano before enjoying a memorable yet short reprise that typifies the subtle use female vocal samples and breathy strings in the style of classic ambient house music. The shimmering vocal layers of ‘Lady Of The Lake’ drift off to a sublime, textured outro that flickers and crackles like angelic radio static. The cacophonous swirling of ‘Danger Sex’ with it’s orgasmic groans, stinks of that Flying lotus flavour circa Los Angeles but with intermittent flurries of dreamy synth. Album highlight for this reviewer is the penultimate ‘Neon Drive’ which could easily accompany College & Electric Youth on the credits to cult film of a similar title ‘Drive’, famous for its 80′s inspired soundtrack.

This is a strong album with consistent, if not at times, monotonous sonic motifs. It delivers neatly arranged layers of synthesized texture as well as tight melodic hooks and text-book production trickery.

Stream Rykard’s album on Dedpop’s Soundcloud or purchase it from the website.

Rykard – Rhythm Phoenix by dedpop

fu_mou – Green Night Parade [ALTM-020]

Ambient & Experimental, Electronika, House, IDM // By: GarrettcloseAuthor: Garrett Email: garrett@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (8) // 05/08/2012 // No Comments

fu_mou is an upcoming beat-producer from Tokyo, Japan and hails from a label called Altema Records, which hosts a wide range of similar artists who are bridging the divide between mainstream J-Pop sounds, and the DIY aesthetic of computer-based electronic beat producers.

Unlike the current LA beat scene and it’s producers, who can be characterized by their hazy, lucid vibes and a leaning towards creating atmosphere rather than upbeat pop melodies, fu_mou utilizes both sides of the musical spectrum, and in doing this, he creates a unique sound that would struggle to be defined by both Eastern and Western audiences. fu_mou’s music is typically heartrending and nostalgic, yet overwhelming joyous. The inclusion of convulsing vocal samples and Nintendo-esque synth melodies bring out a sound that is distinctly Japanese, yet obviously influenced by Western sounds.

The first half of his EP, Green Night Parade, is especially spastic and is much more welcoming to Western audiences who are not necessarily welcoming to the “safer” sounds that J-Pop typically has to offer. With songs clocking in at less than 3 minutes long each, the sound is completely raw and undecipherable in the catchiest of ways. fu_mou’s eclectic use of sampling and rearranging is perfectly introduced here with his rendition of ‘とぎすまそう2‘ by the highly obscure Japanese group, Lantern Parade.

While the second half of Green Night Parade strays off into safer territory, focusing on more straightforward, structured house rhythms and J-pop influence, the ear for experimentation and precise subtlety still shines. fu_mou even offers his interpretation of the Kirby’s Dream Land classic, ‘Green Greens’ (re-titled as the title track, ‘Green Night Parade’). Of course with fu_mou, an interpretation isn’t quite just a reimagining as it is a complete makeover that would throw off even those who are familiar with the original source.

Whether it is testing the limits of glitchy, un-quantized beats uncharacteristically clashing with pop melody or settling for breezy house tunes that recall the most nostalgic of summer vacations, fu_mou manages to create an album that is completely seamless and doesn’t ever stray from its intentions. Green Night Parade is an uplifting and unique twist on the otherwise spaced-out rhythms that most have come to associate with beat-producers today. [GY]

fu_mou – change the parade

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