following a couple of recent posts about exciting new labels, here comes another…. schmorgasbord is an auspicious acetate project helmed by dj/producer and music writer oli warwick from his base in bristol. everyone knows the important role said city has played in dubstep’s development to date, but in fact the more erudite will know house and techno influences now loom ever larger. that these two efforts from bristol based producers october and ‘blim continue in that tradition, then, should come as no surprise.
that said, b-side ‘fountains of paradise’ actually sounds like asc or another one of the exit records/non plus crew at their most blissed-out. content on hanging in space and time, it’s about occult atmospheres, swirling synths and soft alien sounds all with but an occasional kick for anchorage. eventually cutting through the thick ambiance are meandering metallic hits that decay to nothing before appearing once again. there’s a sense of infinity to it all that has you believing sounds don’t start or stop but flow endlessly, almost as if the track had been playing a long time before you tuned in and will continue long after you leave: if the passing of deep time had a soundtrack, this would surely be it.
‘ny fizzzzz’ is more assertive thanks to its re-visioned chicago bump, but that’s not to say it becomes a narrow tool: it has the same sense of scale with little chord stabs appearing above; muffled analogue noises, drips and rips buried below and synthesised tones rising and falling like a warm tide. kinetic yet restrained and suggestive, its firm house music that gets schmorgasbord off to a very assured and classy start. (ps if you happen to live in bristol, make sure you check out the recently open record shop, idle hands, run by the people from the ever reliable label of the same name.)