ever since his first release for cultured london label 2nd drop, djrum has been someone i’ve had to keep an eye on.
teshno
'in germany, they can't say 'techno,' they say 'teshno'' ~ seth troxler [march 2008]
djrum ~ seven lies on 2nd drop
s.e.f ~ autonomy ep on switched on records
s.e.f is the switched on records label boss who has only recently gotten into production.
lukid ~ lonely at the top on werkdiscs
like singles on his own glum rather than the seductive sugary sweetness of his previous three records, lukid’s fourth full length, lonely at the top, is not an easy listen.
altered natives ~ tenement yard vol 3 on eye 4 eye recordings
plenty of people can imbue their music with a certain charm or character, but how many can actually lace up their beats with a real sense of their own distinct and real life personality?
artifact ~ worn on local action
for a while there, it seemed that people were so hell bent on dissociating themselves with dubstep that they were producing any old shit with an irregular beat pattern and calling it fresh.
compilations of the year ~ 2011
i included compilations in my top 20 albums list last year. that was lazy. given that it’s been a vintage year for the (ever dying, apparently) things, i thought i’d do a separate list this year. first couple are firm favourites and after that it’s pretty hard to decide.
zomby ~ nothing on 4ad
on nothing, the mysterious zomby touches on some of the same occult digital eeriness that characterised his excellent recent full length dedication. interspersing those brittle, haunting garage sounds here, though, are some straight up breakbeats from a dusty old rave vault which all in all make for a seven track ep almost as compelling as the aforementioned full length itself.
sneaker social club lowdown and poster competition
if you’re a fan of modern house and techno, there’s a good chance you’ve danced – or better purchased – a record which has graced the hands of this man. jamie russell aka cedric maison co-runs hypercolour, losing suki, glass table and now, on his own, has launched sneaker social club.
interview ~ gerry read
there was some excitement at teshno towers (my living room) when i first heard a gerry reed record. it was only his latest (i missed earlier efforts on dark arx, but get the lowdown, here) though his next one on 2nd drop is just as appealing: it’s a tight, rolling number that recalls burial and four tet and comes backed with an equally impressive remix from fellow young gun, youandewan, on october 3rd…
interview ~ george fitzgerald
here comes something which i originally did for djmag, august 2011
the last few years have been as experimentally freewheeling as any in the history of electronic music: they’ve made for endless struggles between emerging (specifically bass related) producers and have proved a punishing time for dusty old genre boundaries.
youandewan – youandme / zeal on disfigured dubz
it’s not hard to work out what this leeds based, on-the-brink producer has been listening to. but that’s not to say that’s all you can hear, because whilst his almost inverse arrangements (as if what should be dark is light, and vice versa) bare all the ghostly hallmarks of burial, they come with firmer beats and a more inherent sense of optimism in place of the aforementioned’s crushing isolation.
first cut ‘youandme (on my mind)’ – which featured on the inaugural teshcast – is the most out-going of the two. through the ambient noise of a crowded room (see, already it’s more social than anything burial made) it comes on strong with a punchy kick, throbbing sub and clatter of stirring hi-hats. a brushed-steel xylophone melody marks out the breakdown and peppers the backdrop, before a fresh kick’s youthful energy busts out its 2-step intentions once again and the whole thing finally melts to nothing as quickly as it appeared: job done; no fussin. ‘zeal’ meanwhile, on the flip, is a subdued soup of fulsome wood-block strikes, grubby hits and muddied beats. they skulk along, knocking against each other gently patting out a rhythm, whilst a delayed female vocal adds another vital layer. frankly, it would be haunting if it weren’t for the ethereal synth colours and harmonies which float like warm currents in the distance.
with assured, diverse cuts on lesser spotted labels like this one of skream’s and local imprint magicbag, it’s surely only a matter of time before youandewan is taken into the fold by a hessle audio or r&s type outlet. with such backing would surely come the confidence to get even more loose, and given the distant of this, largely garage, ep from his last fine dub techno outing, that’s a great prospect.