Review: A/T/O/S - A/T/O/S [MEDiLP009]

We're welcoming another new scribe to these pages today, as well as (probably quite belatedly) a scoring system to accompany all the reviews you'll find on the site in future. As is to be expected, our standards are high and any release scoring within spitting distance of a five-out-of-five is one you'll kick yourself for missing out on.

Words: Alex Terry

A/T/O/S’ (A Taste of Struggle) first appearance came early on in 2013 by way of a self-titled single on the ever-adored Deep Medi Musik imprint. A low-slung, melancholic release pinching together aspects of trip- hop, R&B and dubstep, remixes from Skream and Commodo, and a video directed by Simon Mannaerts ear-marked the project of Amos & Truenoys as one to wait patiently and excitedly for. One year on, after confused anticipation, a couple of live performances and little to no information about the outfit surfacing online, A/T/O/S have announced their debut full length release.

Noticeably split between two different tempos - circling around the 140 and 100bpm marks - the album, on the one hand, seemingly pays homage to much of the Deep Medi back catalogue while markedly prying into regions previously unexplored by the dubstep label. Regardless of whether this was an intentional split, A/T/O/S present a debut album that oozes an undeniable 90's Bristolian demeanour while continually carving their own brand of dusky, leftfield R&B inflected with broken hip-hop: drunk drum patterns stumble spaciously over Moogs and Rhodes, lead by charmingly hesitant vocals.

Stand out tracks include 'Projects' bearing glistening synths that sound suspiciously sampled from 'Anti War Dub' - perhaps another appreciative nod towards influence - and 'Cosmos': a sunken, downtempo number that bears the qualities of the kind of industrial pop characterised recently by artists such as Grimes, and that benefits indefinitely from feeling submerged in cold bath water, washing off the saccharin edge and being stripped back into unnervingly few elements.

It is clear why the label seem to have been keen to lock the duo away while an album fell into place; quite simply, 'A/T/O/S' is one of the best debuts from any UK underground bass music act in a good number of years. Quite a statement, though one that becomes self-evident and difficult to dispute. Rich in emotion, confidently diverse production which retains strong continuity from track to track and an even stronger sense of A/T/O/S’ ownership over a sonic aesthetic and a bleak, sultry song writing ability.

A/T/O/S are undoubtedly special in that they have produced a stunning and unique debut album, and while they may not have spent the run up to its release gaining any noticeable momentum [Ed. - read: "shallow hype"], they have maintained an enthusiastic audience of label followers who are, let's face it, not outwardly interested in what they have to offer. To their credit, they have strung along the adjectives “dark” and “weighty” to encapsulate everything organic and timeless about the typical dancefloor-orientated MEDi release, while retaining them in what is absolutely a real listeners' album.

As for Deep Medi, who have a tendency to throw the occasional curveball - acts like Old Apparatus and Mark Pritchard being among the most notable - this is really the first vocal-lead act on the roster and it is difficult to imagine them not proving hugely successful in ways that bands such as Submotion Orchestra have proven of late. With that in mind, the prospect of further similar homegrown projects from the label would certainly be something to get excited about for 2014 and beyond.

A/T/O/S - A/T/O/S [MEDiLP009] will be released on the 3rd of March 2014 on 3x10" vinyl and in digital formats, and is available to pre-order from the Deep Medi Surus store now.

Review: Congi - Tidal Fragments LP

Words: Silas Howison-Waughray

In the last couple of years, the Chord Marauders have captured the attention of the underground dubstep scene with their melodic and soulful take on a sound that has been through countless reincarnations and reinventions. Congi’s debut LP ‘Tidal Fragments’ on the developing imprint is exemplary of the Marauders' ethos.

With a number of impressive releases and tracks already under their belts, Congi have acquired a substantial following in recent years and 'Tidal Fragments' eloquently highlights their exceptional capabilities at every level of production. The LP opens with ‘Clouds’, a mysterious, swung and sample-based quasi-soundscape that sets the tone for the rest of the album. From then on in the LP moves seamlessly between rolling percussive tracks like ‘LOTP’ to melancholic, stripped back head-nodders like ‘Attenuation’ - the latter providing one of the album's real highlights.

Aspects of the album are heavily reminiscent of illustrious days past but the forward-thinking vision of Congi stamps a unique picture across the LP and pushes their sound in a new and exciting direction. There are a number of collaborations with eminent CM teammates, Geode, B9 and Jafu. Geode’s contribution to ‘Flow One’ is obvious, with his signature dark sound scattered across an addictive drum beat, ominous melodic intervals and subs. The album sits roughly around 140bpm with two really interesting exceptions, ‘Spoken Word’ and ‘Transparent’, which draw attention to Congi’s as yet largely-unexhibited versatility.

To be honest, every track on this LP is worth a mention and it’s truly difficult to fault. With this release in tow the Chord Marauders will undoubtedly continue to develop and expand.

Congi - Tidal Fragments will be released on limited edition CD from the Chord Marauders website on Friday the 14th 2014, with the main digital release following on the 28th.

Silas has written for Gottwood, Urban Nerds, Mavrik, and MisDigest, is one half (guess which) Silas & Snare Surgeon, and a resident DJ for the Leeds-based Brotherhood Soundsystem.

Competition: Win a copy of Akkord's debut LP, plus 2x guestlist for the album launch party @ Project 13, Manchester

One of this year's standout releases, and from two of the UK's most exciting musical minds, Akkord's debut long-player is the sort of record you might play to someone trying to write off electronic music as mere button pushing. Forward-facing, progressive, original, genre-defying, interesting and - an adjective not often seen alongside those descriptions - genuinely danceable, Indigo and Synkro, along with the likes of Troy Gunner and Biome, who also feature on the album, have delivered on the huge promise of their early limited-press releases. Recent mixes for Resident Advisor and Boiler Room, meanwhile, have seen the duo applying their years of experience behind the decks.

To celebrate the release, Project 13 will be hosting the official album launch party in the basement of Manchester's 2022NQ.  Support comes from fellow Mancunians Biome and Acre, as well as Edmondson - a recent signing to Indigo's own Electromagnetic Fields imprint.

We've linked up with the guys at P13 to offer the chance to win 2 spots on the guestlist for the launch party, as well as a copy of the album in the format of your choice. To enter, simply head over to the Hedmuk Facebook Page and publicly share and like this image. The competition will close at 5pm on Thursday the 5th of December, a winner will then be selected at random by an independent third party and announced via Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on the party, including how to purchase advance tickets, head over the the Facebook event page here.

The album is also available to purchase from the Houndstooth store now.


W.

Review: Guido - Moods Of Future Joy

Guido's 'Anidea' was, and remains as, one of the most accomplished long players to come out of the UK - nevermind just the dubstep scene - in recent times. It stretched the melodic possibilities of the 140 template and achieved that rare thing of providing an engaging home listen as well as, with tracks like 'Mad Sax' and 'Beautiful Complication', a strong dancefloor edge. Such then, after a three year interlude of sorts, is the pressure to deliver on what has become a long-awaited follow-up effort.

Keeping it Bristol, with a shift from Peverelist's Punch Drunk to Pinch's Tectonic imprint, 'Moods of Future Joy' is unmistakably a second album: keen to retain the popular traits of an impressive debut ('Midnight Savannah' even contains a thinly-veiled nod to the 'Mad Sax' hook, trailed out on piano) yet aware of the need to press on and progress; "if it ain't broke, then make something just as good to compare it to", if you will. The keys work, a continuously fascinating fusion of classical and jazz training, is all present and correct and will be welcomed by fans of Swindle, and the synth arrangements are as varied and delightful as ever; however where Guido continues to succeed where Swindle is not always as strong is in the aforementioned straddling of living room and dancefloor: 'NRG', in the context of the album, is a natural peak rising between 'Jupiter' and 'Afrika Pt. 2', and yet works just as well rolled out at 1am on a full Funktion-One.

As such, the highlights here are those which exemplify an already-proven talent: 'Same Road', 'Letting Go', 'NRG' and 'Jupiter' are enough to remind you why you pre-ordered the album in the first place, whilst the likes of 'Squeaky Jungle' hint at possible new directions and the nosing in of previously uninvestigated influences. Though very good - and a must for anyone interested in any way in the melodic potential of electronic music, emphasis on music - this isn't an album as accomplished as 'Anidea'; but then a second album rarely is: we can't wait to hear the third.

Guido - Moods Of Future Joy will be released on Monday the 4th of November 2013, and is available to pre-order now. The album is also available to stream in full over at FACT.

W.

Competition: Win tickets to see Submotion Orchestra @ Hit&Run and a copy of the 'Finest Hour' LP

Next week sees the amazing Submotion Orchestra embarking on a month-long tour of the UK, including dates in London, Sheffield, Leeds, Brighton, Bristol and Exeter. First stop, though, is arguably city-of-the-moment for UK bass music: Manchester, and long-running clubnight Hit&Run. In anticipation of this show, and the tour itself, we caught up with Taz, who plays keys in the band, to ask him a few questions about Submotion and their forthcoming live shows.

We've also secured three tickets for Monday night's Hit&Run and two copies of the group's outstanding debut album, the aptly-titled 'Finest Hour', to give away, more details of which can be found below.

...

Hedmuk: To introduce the band, who is involved, what roles does each member play within the group and how would you describe the music that you make together?

Taz: Hello there. We've got Ruby Wood on vocals, Si 'Bobby' Beddoe on trumpet, myself Taz Modi on keyboards, Chris 'Fatty' Hargreaves on bass, Tommy Evans on drums, Danny T on percussion, and Ruckspin on FX and production. We're a dubstep-influenced band, but try to bring as many influences and sounds as possible to the group. We're all into a lot of different styles of music, and also enjoy mixing things up to see what happens, and all of that is part of the Submotion sound. People sometimes have difficulty trying to describe what the music sounds like, and that's OK with us - you don't need to pinpoint the style of any music in order to enjoy it.

H: The story behind your formation is an interesting one: can you tell us a bit about the initial York Minster gig came about?

T: The gig at York Minster was an experiment to mix contemporary dubstep with classical music, and in an amazing location. Only Tommy, Ruckspin and Fatty were involved in that and the results were pretty variable to be honest, but it got them all thinking about doing something further along those lines. They got some more people involved and we started to jam and experiment, and slowly it all started to come together. So it actually was more a catalyst for getting the group together, rather than our first actual project.

H: With a strong jazz element running through the band, to what extent do you feel that the freedom of expression commonly associated with the genre has lead to your unique amalgamation of traditional and more modern styles to achieve Submotion's unique sound?

T: To a large extent. We've found that audiences really respond to seeing a group of musicians play bass-heavy music, and doing it all live, and we've always tried to get the energy and excitement that comes from improvised music into what is actually quite a tightly structured set. You're only able to go so 'free' - it's a thin line between pushing the sound of what you're doing through improvisation, and just getting a bit self-indulgent; but hopefully we've managed to avoid doing that! We do want to try to use some of the expressive qualities of jazz to play the tunes a bit differently every time we gig, and I think audiences can pick up on that, and respond well to it.

H: You're often referred to, perhaps unfairly, as a 'dubstep band'; how far do you agree with this label? Do you find it constricting in terms of how you're able to promote yourself, or can it equally be beneficial?

T: Like I said before, we're happy to be related to dubstep, since that's where the roots of our rhythms and the space of the production come from, but there's a lot more in it [than that], and most people can see that. it's always constricting to label someone's music, but that's the nature of marketing these days whether you like it or not - people think they need something concrete to name something. Our way of getting over narrowing interpretations of it is just to play in as wide a variety of places as possible, to as wide an audience as possible - we've done grotty dubstep nights, jazz festivals, concert halls, outdoor festivals, all sorts of places - and we've managed to fit in OK at most of them. Part of that is due to the mixture of sounds in our style, but really most of it comes from the fact that audiences are a lot more happy to accept music that's not easy to categorise than marketing and advertising people give them credit for.

H: How do you approach a live show? Is it a case of following a strict setlist or something more freeform?

T: We do usually follow a pretty strict setlist to be honest. We always have a few tunes in reserve, and have been known to change things around quite quickly, but when we tour we do stick 90% to a pre-agreed setlist. But we try to interpret the tunes differently each time, so that people who see us multiple times can get something different from it. We also used to do a lot of fully improvised gigs, and still try to fit a few in whenever the chance comes up.

H: Finally, what are your plans for Submotion Orchestra once this tour is finished? Can we expect more releases, another album?

T: The second album is 70% finished at the moment, and it should be coming out in the latter part of the year. It should be pretty interesting - there'll be enough to please fans of the first album, but also some stuff that should surprise people a bit. We've also got a full summer of festivals lined up and another UK tour in october, so there won't be much rest for us...

...

To be in with a chance of winning free entry to Monday night's show (which will also gain you free entry to the afterparty hosted, once more, by Hit&Run) and a copy of 'Finest Hour' just email your answer to the following question, along with a valid postal address to which prizes may be sent, to hedmuk@gmail.com with the subject 'Submotion Competition':

On which label did Submotion Orchestra release their debut EP, the 'Submotion EP'?

The competition will close at 12 noon on Monday the 12th of February, at which point two names will be randomly selected by an independent third party to win entry to the show/afterparty along with a copy of the album, and a third will receive the runner-up prize of entry to the show/afterparty.

For more details on this Monday's event in Manchester, including how to get hold of tickets click here.

.Preacha.