With all the horror going on in Ukraine, you just feel like you want to help in some way, right? A lot of musicians feel the same way, and brought out albums where the profits will go to humanitarian efforts to support the people of Ukraine. So here are a few albums I came across in the last week, where you can get help out, and get some good beats in return.
A 136 track album filled with all styles of drum’n’bass, some dubstep and general bass music. Good stuff. Lots of big and smaller names in there, so something for everyone.
This collection is huge, and worth more than the asking price, if you know what I mean. ;)
Grey Meta also has a compilation album up with artists from all over. A mix of the faster, harder, alternative electronic music styles. Think hardcore, industrial techno and breakcore.
If you think all this stuff is way too hard, no worries, there’s also the complete other end of the spectrum, being ambient. If you need to chill from all the doomscrolling, Places for Peace might be just what you are looking for.
If you come across some good electronic music that donates proceeds to help Ukrainian people, feel free to share them in the comments.
It’s been a while since my last Bandcamp friday posts, so here’s some stuff I bought since then that is worth checking out, if you’re into the harder kind of electronic music.
Some beats I’ve been enjoying are First Light from Sleepnet and Enro from DJ Ride. These are on Vision, which is run by the lads from Noisia, so you know it’s going to be high quality. These too are a bit more on the experimental side of the beats spectrum, which is what makes them beautiful.
Let’s increase the speed a bit and enter the land of drum’n’bass.
The Words Below Remaster by DJ Hidden is a gem if you also like his previous album The Later After. I apparently missed this one in 2009, so I’m glad I spotted this remastered version. It’s DJ Hidden, so don’t expect him to stick to the strict rules of the genre. He’ll venture out into an ambient landscape or some hardcore pounding now and then, but it’s a fantastic ride to listen to. Good stuff from DJ Hidden, as always.
Also heavy on the drum’n’bass influence is Ronin’s second release on his own label, Ronin Audio 02. This is a lot more of a dancefloor oriented release, with 4 tracks ranging between hard drum’n’bass, darkstep and breakcore. I like the Obese remix, which jumps out as being slower beats track, still in the same dark vein. Obese is another moniker for Ronin’s more breaks oriented material.
Here’s another interesting one. Choose Death from Duran Duran Duran. This breakcore album is so heavy on the jungle influences, I’d almost call this a jungle album. There’s an FFF remix on it too, so that certainly takes it into nu-jungle territory (if that’s even a genre). There’s also a Ronin remix on there, you know, the one from the album above. I’m not sure about that album cover though. A hotdog?
Now we’re getting closer to the hard & heavy stuff, Detest has the Glamerous Cool Kids Stuff LP out on PRSPCT, which is filled with that hardcore banging beats we know him for. On this album he’s showing off his skills and influences (check out Oldschool Trash) by creating a varied set of bangers. Movie Junkie XXL bring a more beat-like oldskool electro-ish vibe in the middle of the album, before getting back to the hardcore industrial style Sleep Knowledge.
Now we’re talking industrial style music anyway, we can’t overlook Strange Arrival’s recent Anticitizen EP on PRSPCT. Eerie soundscapes combined with banging beats is what Strange Arrival stands for. If you like his style, also check out his earlier releases. Borderworlds on Love Hz has a more sci-fi feel to it. Plastic Death on Heresy takes an environmental view on the plastic in the ocean, and finally there’s plain industrial crossbreed darkness on the Imposter Syndrome EP on Genosha recordings.
To top it off, here’s some advanced beat-trickery I can only categorize as breakcore-fuck-yeah. Mechanical Paradox is an older release, but a beauty, by M.E.R.S. If I have to name some influences, I’d say Ruby My Dear for the melodies and Squarepusher for the beat mangling. Now we’re talking Ruby My Dear anyway, I missed his Phlegm release from 2019, apparently. It’s filled with more electronic sounding, atmospheric kind of breakcore goodness in his typical style. Love it. Somewhat in the same vein as the releases above, is the Morphic EP from Anorak on Greymeta. Analog synth sounds and advance, fast-paced beat fuckery is what you can expect here.
Here’s some things that have been sitting around in my inbox for too long. Time to get rid of them before the year ends and it starts becoming really embarrassing. :)
Synthamesk‘s Regression release on Kaometry records presents some very cinematic breakcore which makes me think of Venetian Snares’s “My Downfall” and “Rossz Csillag Allat Született” album. So basically that means you get some crazy chopped up breakbeats at hyper speed with some more chill classical instruments on top. Good stuff.
Another release I’ve been digging from the more drum’n’bass/jungle front, but still whack enough to be classified as somewhat breakcore is something from the Jigsore label. It’s the More Love EP from DJ L.A.B, featuring some classic chopped up jungle beats and heavy sine wave subs and ragga vocal bits. The choppage is pretty high level so it’s jungle for the advanced listener I guess. :) Also good stuff, so check it out.
Check out the Jigsore and Kaometry Soundcloud profiles if you’re wanting for more, cause there’s plenty.
Enjoy!
Checking some emails containing news beats and sounds lately I came across some nice finds. The brothers of Somatic Responses are pumping out electronic music albums like the things grow on trees judging from their bandcamp page. Some stuff is great, some stuff is less to my taste but it’s always on the edge, dark and breakcory and glitchy.
Their last album Obscure the Future however has nice, chill ambient tunes on it instead of the usual hectic beats and harsh sounds. So if you are looking for something more easy-going yet deliciously electronic, this might be just it. Perfect value for your money as you can name your own price for most of their albums. Nice.
Another great find comes from Kaometry records, pushing interesting and quality electronica/breakcore/drum’n’bass/experimental stuff for quite a while now. They publish across the full electronic spectrum (or at least the interesting more beat-driven part of it) so it’s worth checking out.
Came across this particular drum’n’bass gem in one of their more recent albums Méta-Féeries
They have some free downloads on their website (see downloads), a shop on bandcamp and a lot of streamable music on soundcloud.
Check em out if you’re up for some new beats.
Quite a while ago I got an email from Brian Albers over at Humorless productions with a link to a 2005 live set of Venetian Snares. I was planning to post it but I lost track of it really and ended up not doing that. Bummer.
So earlier this year I got another email from the man and apparently he has been quite busy recording tons of breakcore live sets from artists like Enduser, Abelcain, Autechre, Fanny, Xanopticon, I:Gor, Techdiff and many more (Autechre isn’t breakcore, I know, but see, he does other electronic music genres too). These aren’t shitty bootleg recordings btw. He combines the board feed with room mics and then remasters them for top-notch live-album like quality and stuff. Worth checking out alright.
So instead of just sitting on these links I’d rather have you lot feast on them too. Mixcloud sets are stream-able only of course, which is a bit of a pity, but the internet always finds ways around those kind of limitations…
