Archive for January, 2014

Vinyl Retention: Presk

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

Every Wednesday, Sardi lets us know what’s tickling his eardrums in the world of electronic music…

Direct from Amsterdam via London & Berlin, the latest release by Presk is bound to satisfy your appetite for head noddin’ dance floor goodness.

The Saluki EP on the Ten Thousand Yen imprint comprises four brilliant, yet distinctly different tracks from the Dutch producer, showcasing his production flare within the Techno genre.

The title track is easily the standout with an extremely catchy and bouncy synth bass line guaranteed to make you move. The rest of the EP is rounded out by more traditional Techno stylings in the form of ‘MOD1’ and ‘Rais’ and the UK Garage influenced shuffle of ‘Vigor’.

All in all, a great EP.

If you like what you hear, be sure to tune in to RTRFM’s Full Frequency between 3pm & 5pm, as Sardi and Dart explore the latest beats and bass from around the globe.

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Anger Management: Gridlink

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

We check in with all things heavy on RTRFM’s Critical Mass show.

The ‘Grindcore Ninja Commando Team’ version 2.0 are calling it a day. Their swansong however is not a whimper, but a bang of the highest order: taking everything that made their first two albums so great plus adding a few surprises, Gridlink have made an album that will sit next to Discordance Axis’ 2000 opus The Inalienable Dreamless as grindcore perfection.

Longhena has a slight melancholy to the (often complex and intense) riffs, evidenced in the first single ‘Ketsui’ and the lush instrumental interlude of ‘Thirst Watcher’. Guitarist Takafumi Matsubara gives a performance that is so intense, original and creative that it makes you wonder what his next “guitar adventure” will be. It’s almost as if he laying down a gauntlet to other bands: “follow that, because I can’t.”

Jon Chang gives an amazing vocal performance, shredding his larynx for your pleasure with his surreal lyrics based mainly around video games and anime. No lame, faux politics and slogans here.

At a shade under 22 minutes, Longhena is double the length of the band’s previous efforts and the perfect length for multiple repeat listens.

Follow that thrash cowboys!

Critical Mass is 9pm every Wednesday on RTR FM 92.1

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Built To Spill Cover Dylan

Monday, January 27th, 2014

Tribute records are pretty hit and miss. At best, they can bring together a diverse range of artists to pay homage to a great act. At worst, they’re cynical record label grabs for cash with little to no thought going into actually creating a record that can highlight the depth of the artist being honoured.

Bob Dylan in the ‘80s is out in late March, and it’ll be interesting to see which way this falls. The fact that the producers have picked a less-than-stellar era of Dylan’s output is encouraging, as it suggests there are purer motives than a baby-boomer-cash-in. The fact that they’ve included Built To Spill is just plain awesome.

Check out the BTS cover of “Jokerman”, below.

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Vinyl Retention: “Underground Sonics”

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

Every Wednesday, Sardi lets us know what’s tickling his eardrums in the world of electronic music…

2014 marks the 12th year of Critical Music’s existence as one of the leading labels within the D&B community. To celebrate and launch the year with a bang, they’ve released another spectacular compilation full of exclusive, never released cuts, hand picked by label boss Kasra.

Just shy of 20 tracks, Underground Sonics features an amazing selection of tunes from a plethora of the scene’s leading artists including The Upbeats, Noisia, Enei, Dub Phizix, Ivy Lab,Phace and so many more.

It does an amazing job of representing modern day Drum & Bass in all its different guises, from the melodic textures of Ivy Lab’s ‘Baby Grey’ all the way through to the technoid rumblings of Phace’s ‘The Setup’.

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to, it would be the minimal sounds of ‘The Clock Ticks’ by Dub Phizix, which does a splendid job of introducing you to the album.

If you like what you hear, be sure to tune in to RTRFM’s Full Frequency between 3pm & 5pm, as Sardi and Dart explore the latest beats and bass from around the globe.

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