Tuesday 30 July 2013

Free Download: Benton - The Free EP: Vol. 2


Following the success of an immaculate debut album, Benton - a producer with whom we've enjoyed a long history - is drawing the silver lining from his computer packing up by giving away a series of free EPs. The first dropped through FatKidOnFire, and we present the second to download here exclusively.

More of a mini-album than an EP, Benton's got his full arsenal on show here: 'The One They Fear' marries subweight with a haunting, dusklight top line; 'Evening Departure' drifts through ambient beginnings into an intense Amen workout; 'Facedown!' is the sort of rowdy, angular stomper that defined Benton's early appearances on N-Type's Rinse shows; 'Dun Spark Da Philly' is pure dancefloor decadence, with pounding Roland drums skirted by a drunken synthline; and the best is saved for last as his take on Hackman's 'Close' elevates the summer anthem to a new level, we can see this one soundtracking a few late night beach parties over on the Croatian coast come September...


Download: Benton - The Free EP: Vol. 2 [.zip]


Download: Benton - The One They Fear

Download: Benton - Evening Departure

Download: Benton - Facedown!

Download: Benton - Dun Spark Da Philly

Download: Hackman - Close (Benton Remix)



W.



Sunday 28 July 2013

Featuring: Wen


Ever since 'Takin Over' dropped in midway through Etch's Hedmuk Exclusive Mix, Wen has been firmly on the "to-feature" list. Someone else with their ear in was Blackdown, who stirred things up by asking 'what's all the commotion about?' Those in the know, of course, already knew - and that the track referred to was to fill out 12 inches of wax a few months later on the Keysound imprint came as no surprise. This, for many, was the first introduction to the abrupt rhythms, guttural space and stretched synths of the young producer from Margate. And a successful introduction it proved to be. Since then - and by then, we mean since the 'Commotion EP' sold out entirely - Wen's tunes have been picked up and rinsed by everyone from Kahn, Akkord, Elijah & Skilliam, My Nu Leng and, of course, the interlinked collection of producers who have spent the last year and half bouncing off each other and providing us with some of the most forward-thinking music the UK underground has to offer. Producers like Facta, Sepia, UnderclassThrenody and Etch have featured heavily across Hedmuk's pages and work within context of the UK's rich underground heritage - and with the releases mounting, it may not be long before they're commanding their own shared shelf in the record stores that have been at the heart of that heritage.

Hedmuk: To introduce those who might not already know, how would you describe your sound?

Wen: Dark and kind of violent, I guess - there are moments of cold emptiness interrupted with bright bursts of energy, there's a sense of urgency in the rolling versus stop/start pace of it and lots of contrast in the palette of sounds.

H: Your beats are minimal in the sense of leaving a lot of pregnant space, in the same way in which a lot of early grime instrumentals were very stripped back, and yet they don't seem to be as inviting to an MC: do you ever find yourself writing beats with an MC in mind? Is working directly with an MC something you'd be interested in doing, perhaps in the future? 

W: I make my beats to hold their own on the dancefloor, it's never really been about making instrumentals for vocalists. They are sparse for the sake of being spacious and giving the rhythm some silent groove, not really to be filled with vocals. It's fun to chop vocals in like verses ([see] Patwah, Lo-Fidelity), but I prefer the impact of occasional lyrics - something to hold onto while the drums and bass roll out. So that's probably why they aren't inviting. Most of the time when I use vocals it's of a moment I enjoyed in a set, so I do write with that particular MC in mind, but I'm just trying to catch their vibe and energy, accentuate it a bit and take it further my way. I’d love to have the opportunity to work directly with an MC though for sure, it would be a completely different way of making music

H: And how does it feel to hear the likes of Wiley, Riko, Scratchy and God's Gift riding your beats on radio?

W: Yeah that was something else; it felt like a massive accomplishment, something I aspired to do when I started to make music and still will, it's not something that’s ticked off the list by any means. If I'm honest I kind of lost hope of that aspiration when the freestyle radio shows slipped away - Logan's show and Westwoods short lived 1Xtra Grime slot, they were the major ones I listened to potentially send instrumentals to. I sent stuff to a couple of blogs, Hyperfrank used one for an intro to a Griminal freestyle once, which was a bit of a tease, so it was great to finally hear some MC’s over my tune.



H: Your debut 12” on Keysound was one of the label’s biggest to date; how did you get involved with the label? Do you feel that working alongside a label which has a deep-rooted sense of influence and musical narratives with regards UK-based electronic music has helped with giving you a certain fixity and confidence when it comes to producing and pushing your own take on the underground electronic music of the last decade or so?

W: It feels right to be a part of Keysound, there's a lot of energy and a sense of focus within the crew. I got hooked on the label when I heard 'The Bits (feat. Trim)', it was one of those edgier instrumentals that Trim's known for but was actually accessible and had a path to follow (in contrast to Brain / T-Spark / Jerzey etc. who you didn't hear of, aside from on his mixtapes). I started checking Dusk + Blackdown on Rinse and eventually sent them some music. I think as a label it’s always been really quick to expose new sounds and make sure what it's doing is innovative. And that process feels continual, I find that important, it’s reassuring to know I can do my thing; I'm not expected to make tracks like the ones we did with the EP, it's more “cool, that was fun... let’s keep the momentum going".

H: In recent interviews with Threnody and Underclass, we touched on the idea of hybridity: in the mixture of influence, sound components and tropes or styles of music. Is this something that you can relate to in terms of your own music, and its apparent refusal to fit any preconceived or notional genre? 

W: I think that’s interesting, and I agree with the hybrid influences in my own music, but that’s probably as far as I consider it. I just draw from styles I like and found some space in 130 to try to do my own thing, the main reason I started to make beats at that tempo was 'cause I was listening to the Keysound Rinse show. I held that as a catalyst that I wanted to be a part of - through 2011 and particularly towards the end of that year there was something really exciting building, I wanted to be involved in that movement. I could never predict what they were going to play but I knew it was going to be cutting edge. I wasn't intentionally refusing to fit in with dubstep or grime, I was just addicted to this alien sound I discovered on their show.

H: Is this hybridity something that you see reflected in the 'cluster', as Blackdown himself puts it, of producers currently peddling this darker take on 130bpm music?

W: You can narrow it down to 'hybrid' but I feel it's quite dismissive, there's a lot more than a two-fold hybridity going on with us lot; if that was the case I'm sure a genre name would have been coined by us to label it and call it our own. We share a gravity, which is, in my opinion, UK underground music, LDN, no doubt it's the origin everyone draws considerable influence from. Blackdown talked about this idea of satellites before, it's the sickest image, every producer being a satellite, worldwide. It's important there are other styles and clusters in this thing, I kind of feel I need the colourful synths/rolling funky/zero rhythm grime/4 to the floor energy/swung 2-step/warm (and cold) jungle nods. All these sounds compliment each other and give me something to draw influence from, the scene's so healthy at the moment - "these are fine times".



H: You’ve since followed the Keysound release up with a vinyl-only 12" on Baitface’s Badimup; how important is it to you to be releasing your music on a physical format?

W: It's even more important than I thought it would be. I did two digital releases before the debut 12"; once that dropped and I held the full artwork record it completely changed the way I wanted to see my music being out there and represented. The first one with Epoch felt real 'cause he cut a few dubplates of it, so I did get my own physical copy. I'm not against digital by any means, just strongly prefer the idea of people buying my music in a tangible format. I felt really proud when I saw the record in shops, friends sending me photos of them buying it etc. I didn't feel that way when I saw my music up on a website for instant download - maybe a little bit at the time, but in hindsight it didn't compare at all. It's funny actually, I was more excited when my EP got leaked: despite it being annoying that someone we trusted had shared it, it was a compliment at the same time. Growing up hounding the grime forums for Rapidshare links, you know the hot music gets uploaded quick, so I'm quietly grateful. Anyway, yeah, the 'Swingin' vinyl: I felt I needed to balance out the physical/digital with the Badimup record, I'm glad Baitface was supportive of doing vinyl only. There was no process in choosing the tracks, I just sent him those two and they clicked with him instantly. In fact I thought the decision was kind of brash a couple of months later, it was a situation where there was such a big impulse connection between my music and Baitface it left me feeling it shouldn't have been so smooth, the whole thing was a natural process; even when he mentioned about 180g it felt like it would have been rude not to.

H: Bootlegs and versions have always been a big part of grime, and your ‘Strings Hoe’ refix has caught the attention of some of grime’s biggest DJs: how does it feel to be picked up on by the likes of Elijah, Skilliam, Score 5 and Logan Sama?

W: Yeah my favourite Dizzee instrumental. It was always a bit of a gamble doing that bootleg, but it seems to get nothing but love. Glad I finally have that connection to some of the grime DJs, particularly the Butterz guys I love what they're about.



H: As your music begins to attract more and more attention, do you feel a greater pressure to deliver or do you see it as an opportunity to push at your own creative boundaries?

W: It's all positive to be honest, pressure is good for me, I welcome it. I probably feel more pressure from the way my friends are getting exposure to be honest, not really in a seriously competitive way but there's this whole one-up ethos going on amidst the entire family moving forward. I'm just having fun with it right now, enjoying 2013 so far.

H: Tell us a little about how you went about putting together the mix you've done for us.

W: It's a collection of music I feel has been influential on me lately, lots of producers included who are new on my radar and others who I'm always listening to.

H: Finally, what do the coming months hold for Wen: are there any forthcomings or anything else in the pipeline that you'd like to put the word out on?

W: There will be new Wen records out before 2013 is over. Doing a small tour of Australia at the end of August, gonna finally link Epoch out there - he's just moved to Melbourne - and Arctic too, hopefully be the grounds of some new collab projects. Also come join our bi-monthly Sunday Keysound Sessions at The Waiting Room, London - the E.M.M.A album launch was special.


Download: Wen - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix


Tracklist:

Skepta - Mastermind [Boy Better Know]
Walton - Haze [Dub]
Self Evident - Calgary [South Fork Sound]
My Nu Leng - Waltaknocks VIP [Dub]
Arka - Innamorta [Dub]
Akkord - Compound [Houndstooth]
Neana - Bow Kat [Dub]
Elmono - Shadows on the Moon [Cold Recordings]
Dizzee Rascal - Strings Hoe (Wen Refix) [Dub]
Luthor - STL [Dub]
Elsewhere - The Espers [Mindset]
Wen - Persian [Dub]
E.m.m.a - Nostrum (feat. Sully) [Forthcoming Keysound]
Facta - Hieroglyph [Dub]
>>> President T - Heard What I Said [Adamantium Music]
J-One - Ask Me [Dub]
LAS - Liketha [Forthcoming Signal Life]
Etch - Rise [Soundman Chronicles]
Teeth - Black Thigh Snakes [Forthcoming Signal Life]
K-Lone - Crunch [Dub]
>>> Lil Nasty - Firework [Rock N Rolla II]
Mickey Freeze - Carbon [Dub]
Kahn & Neek - Thief In The Law [Bandulu]
Dot Rotten - Give Me The Money [Ghetto Platinum Productions]
Epoch - The Steppenwolf (Gantz Remix) [Dub]




W.

Review: Commodo - Space Cash [MEDI071]


If there's one thing that can be called certain in the UK's underground today, it's that when Commodo turns his hand over no one really knows what they're about to see but they know they're going to be impressed. Commodo writes songs: simple build-drop-breakdown-drop-fade structures are nowhere to be seen, and the constant rhythmic and melodic switches that drive each track forward are the basis of that intrigue that keeps the listener drawing for his releases.

'Long-awaited' probably doesn't do this release justice; lead track, '$pace Cash', opens in field recordings and scattered drums - an eery top line drifting into eternity - before being sucked into the moodiest bassline this side of 2012. It's difficult to describe this riff without using the word 'swagger'. The flipside sees the West Yorkshireman take the tempo down a few notches, whilst still maintaining his definitive sample-based approach to heavily-syncopated swing. 'Straight Reptilian' bounces, plays with the idea of a 4x4 beat and then decides that it can be much more interesting than that; 'Wish', meanwhile, is the sort of three and a half minutes that Zomby, or his fans at least, probably wishes he could still make, and manages to employ an 808 without it sounding like something that's been done before.

It's refreshing to see Deep Medi supporting these more boundary-pushing endeavours, and the recent punt taken on Swindle's debut LP might suggest a willingness to convert more of their single artists into full-length producers - there aren't many producers who can truly pull of an album, but we'd happily put money on Commodo being one of them.



Commodo - Space Cash [MEDI071] will be released on July 29th and is available to pre-order now.

W.

Saturday 27 July 2013

Free Download: Dark0 - Zero


One of the very first artists to feature on Hedmuk, a zipped-up email from Dark0 is always bound to impress - whether on the sort of 'HYLI' girly-garage flex that had (if you'd believe it) the Boiler Room crowd two-stepping, the quick switches of 'Violate', or bending bootlegs over backwards and giving a track a whole new feel, as in 'Dnt Phone Me'.

After a quiet few months, there was finally more news on a long-promised mixtape. Collecting material from the last two years, and covering the full range of the Neasden producer's sonic palette, this is both an ideal introduction for the uninitiated and something to whet the appetites of the existing fans in the lead up to more releases later on in the year. And to add that little something extra, we've also snagged an exclusive grime instrumental - with a heavy nod to the dark sublow strain - to bring the total to 16 tracks.


Download: Dark0 - Zero


Tracklist:

1. HYLI (Grime Refix)
2. North West Nights
3. DNT PHONE ME
4. I KNW
5. Shinigami
6. Justice Riddim
7. Trapped Phase
8. Violate
9. WISE
10. MIDI Symphony

Bonus tracks:

11. GymGroup
12. UNTTLD
13. #3Titch
14. Killing Me (feat. Context)
15. Her

Hedmuk Exclusive Bonus:

Download: Dark0 - Bora



W.



Tuesday 2 July 2013

Free Download: D-Operation Drop - Dust


Despite the title, there's nothing dusty about this track: something brand new and as yet unheard from the crew from Cesena in Italy, dropped here as a free download after their rapid climb to the 2,000 follower mark on Soundcloud. Since first meeting in 2010 and realising a shared passion for music, D-Operation Drop have worked steadily at channelling this interest and, after turning to production and DJing, have this year seen their hard work paying off. Over the course of this year, they've caught the attention of some of the scene's biggest DJs, including Distance, Icicle, J:Kenzo and N-Type.

'Dust' manages a sense of restrained aggression - with taught mid-range interspersed with hard kicks and played off against cinematic pads - reminiscent of Distance's Chestplate imprint, and shows the Italians at their best: making music that sits as comfortably in late night bus journey headphones as it does on a dancefloor.


Download: D-Operation Drop - Dust [WAV]
Download: D-Operation Drop - Dust [320kbps mp3]



W.

Monday 1 July 2013

Competition: Win vinyl from Sully and Dub Mechz and 2x guestlist to the Methods launch night @ 512 Kingsland Road, Dalston


Not content with quietly turning the dubstep scene's collective head and scoring himself the second, hugely-anticipated release on V.I.V.E.K's System label, longtime friend of the blog, Karma, has decided to launch his own clubnight. Quiet though he is, we hit him up for a few words on the thinking behind the night and what people can expect from Methods in the future.

Hedmuk: Tell us a bit about the night: where did the idea come from, and what sort of sound and vibe are you going to be representing?

Karma: One of the ideas behind Methods is to showcase a variety of music that we're feeling; dubstep is our focus, though dub, garage, and grime are also high on our agenda. We want to avoid the night being just about the line-ups: sure it's important to have good established DJs and up-and-coming talent on the bill, but our resident DJs are solid and we're hoping that people will pay them as much attention as they do the headliners. We think there's a lack of homegrown nights in London right now with a communal feel, where people come because the vibe is right and not just because there's 5 big names on the bill playing in a club everyone's heard of. We want to keep it relatively underground.

H: How important do you think it is for the development of the scene to have outlets like this for up-and-comers to be able to showcase their music in a live setting?

K: I think it's very important. It can be very difficult for new artists to get their music heard, unless they have support from another DJ; often the only alternative is to use the internet, but things always get misinterpreted, or mislabeled, which can sometimes make people misjudge things in a way the creator never intended, which is very unfair. That's why it's a great opportunity to be able to play your music out live: the music comes straight from the artist to the listener, there's no bullshit between the two, and that allows the listener to make up their own mind. It's more honest.

H: Can you see the Methods nights becoming a regular fixture, or are the dates likely to be more sporadic?

K: Yeah, we'd like to make it a regular night - how regularly we're not sure, monthly or bi-monthly would be great but we're willing to see how this one goes first.

H: And can you give any hints as to who might be appearing at future events?

K: We have a few ideas, but we don't want to reveal anything just yet...

To support the launch of Methods - which features Keysound's inimitable Sully topping the bill along with Deep Medi favourites Dub Mechz and Karma himself, supported by the Methods residents - we're offering two places on the guestlist along with vinyl copies of 'Broken LFO' / 'Change of Direction' by Dub Mechz and Sully's 'Reminder' / 'Jackman's Rec' and 'Toffee Apple' from Frijsfo Beats. To be in with a chance simply head over to the Hedmuk Facebook Page and Like and share this photo.

The competition will close on the 5th of July, the day before the event, and a winner will be selected at random by an independent third party before being announced via Facebook and Twitter.

For full details on the event, including how to claim free entry, head over to the event page here.

W.

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