Shop: Hedmuk Tee #002

New in for the summer, and in time for those of you who will be heading out to festivals in warmer and drier climes, the latest Hedmuk tee comes with a fresh design and, as always, in a very-limited number.

Head over to the Hedmuk store to get hold of one of the few:


http://hedmuk.bigcartel.com/product/hedmuk-tee-002


Shipping is free within the UK, and available worldwide at a small additional cost.

.Preacha.

Competition: Win tickets to see Hatcha, Benga, Youngsta, Distance, Chef, N-Type and more at Croydub @ Black Sheep Bar, Croydon

Croydon is now well known as 'the place where it all started'; whilst the likes of Plastic People and 3rd Base are acknowledged for their pivotal roles in the development of the early dubstep sound, Big Apple Records' place in the history of dubstep is now firmly established and this is largely due to the presence of a certain DJ Hatcha.

Croydub events, held at the Black Sheep Bar in Croydon, have always been about remembering the roots of the sound and each lineup is, and has been, a testament to that. For this new phase in the Croydub story, then, it seems fitting that Hatcha - whose influence on dubstep is largely unmatched - should take the helm in inviting a group of DJs and producers who have all helped shape the sound in their own individual ways, and many of whom were there when it all began.

To be in with a chance of winning two tickets to this event, simply send your answer to the following question to hedmuk@gmail.com with the subject 'Croydub Competition':

What was the very first release on the Big Apple Records label?

The competition will close on July 14th, a winner will be chosen at random by an independent third party and then notified by email and announced on the Hedmuk Facebook Page and Twitter.

For more information on the event, including how to find the venue and buy tickets, click here.

.Preacha.

Review: Biome & Demon - Incubus / Symmetry [MUV002]

The second vinyl release from the ever-consistent Macabre Unit imprint comes from label staple, and arguably one of the best producers to emerge from the UK in recent years, Biome working in collaboration with the man behind the M.U.D/M.U.V movement, Demon.

Lead track 'Incubus' is a beat with a split personality, almost nodding its head to its origins in the imaginations of two separate producers. Gliding in on airy atmospherics, an emotive Eastern vocal sample and a lead synth-line that would be just as at home atop a trance anthem; the groove is easy and euphoric. A little under two minutes in, however, and a gunshot crack marks the point at which the tune is stripped down to its raw elemental state: sub-bass rolls, a rising mid-range bassline and ear-splitting snare snaps.

On the flipside is 'Symmetry', and again there is that sense of a tune of two parts; yet here the distance between the elements is far narrower, and even the listener most familiar with the work of both Biome and Demon individually would have difficulty discerning each individual influence on the track. This is a collaboration in the finest sense of the word, in which each artist mirrors and then completes the other's input to create, as wordplay would have it, a unique sense of symmetry. Where vocal samples reverberate outward, there is a taut snare tugging the groove back into line; while the kick drums establish a straight, stomping rhythm, hi-hats and slapped toms drive on at their own pace. Not unlike the eight-bar grime with which Demon entered the music scene, 'Symmetry' chops and changes as it progresses; but it does so without the predictable, looping format that determined that style of grime's short life-span, instead it instils Biome's core idea of taking the listener on a journey. And it is fitting that at this point, in the moment at which the tune achieves its real sense of togetherness, that the two producers' separate influences can be picked apart from each other.


Biome & Demon - Incubus


Biome & Demon - Symmetry


Vinyl release date: 16/07/12
Digital release date: 06/08/12


.Preacha.

Free Download: RDG - Ancient Dungeon

One of Denmark's finest musical exports, RDG is a producer currently sitting on a bank of unreleased dubs which, over the last couple of years, have been picked up by labels such as All Out Dubstep, Boka and Biscuit Factory. Not content with that, he also makes up half of the production outfit ROOT and co-runs the Surfase Records imprint.

On this one, which has been let out for free to mark his thousandth follower on Facebook, RDG employs an organic, early-Cluekid style bassline and a stepping rhythm with an enigmatic flute to complete the groove.


Download: RDG - Ancient Dungeon [WAV]
Download: RDG - Ancient Dungeon [320kbps mp3]



.Preacha.

Free Download: Taiko - Bode

A tune that's been receiving regular rotation on the Hedmuk Rood FM show, 'Bode' by exciting up-and-comer Taiko has today been given out for free by the guys over at Deep Heads. Boosted along on a powerful sub, the synth stabs cut through the atmosphere on this one to give it a lurching pace that is almost a nod to the garage mutations that birthed grime.

'Bode' is available to stream/download from the player below:




.Preacha.

Competition: Win tickets to see Riz MC, dBridge, Zed Bias, Biome and more at Hit&Run @ Corsica Studios, London.

After five years of legendary parties in Manchester, which have hosted many of today's biggest hitters' debut appearances in the rainy city, and a room 3 takeover at Fabric, the Youngsta- and Mala-certified Hit&Run crew are taking charge of Corsica Studios for their first solo venture in the capital. Headlining duties on the night will be taken on by three long-time friends and associates of the night, each bringing their own original styles to the dance: Riz MC - a familiar face from cult films such as Four Lions and, more recently, Ill Manors - with his fuming social commentaries; Exit Records boss, pioneering minimal drum & bass producer, and insistent boundary-pusher, dBridge; and UK garage don, cum-dubstep 'inventor', cum-Swamp 81 protege Zed Bias.

To add to this, the night will be hosting something of a showcase of Manchester talent; as a night known for a breaking rising talent, it seems fitting that Hit&Run should bring with them Skittles, Biome and Chimpo: three artists who have all been making major waves over the last year, and who all cut their performing teeth at Hit&Run. For more information on the night simply head over here, to the Facebook event page.

For the chance to win a pair of guestlist tickets to see all of this, and for a taste of that inimitable Hit&Run style, simply send your answer to the following question to hedmuk@gmail.com with the subject 'Hit&Run Competition', and your full name for the guestlist:

What is the catalogue number for Zed Bias's 'Stubborn Phase EP', released on Swamp 81 in December of last year?

The competition will close on July 5th, on which date a winner will be chosen by an independent third party and both announced on the Hedmuk Facebook Page and informed via email.

.Preacha.

Free Download: Busy Signal & Mavado - Badman Place (Widowmaker Remix)

Coming with suggestions of a UK funky workout for the infamous Jamaican acapella, Widowmaker's version rolls in on skippy rim-shots, crashes and flattened kicks; the soundsystem siren and reverberated vocal soon invites a deeper, lurching movement however, and as the first verse is set on its way the tune tips its hat to the raw subject and swing of the original bashment recording. This, more so than Coki's or, before that, Smut's reworking, has a definite sense of the dancehall roots from which it comes and adds to this the weight and space of dubstep.

Having turned heads with his tight productions over the last year, Widowmaker's long-awaited Wheel & Deal debut is due for release on the 2nd of July featuring 'Tunneling Wurm', 'Forgotten Ruin' and 'Exile', and is now available for pre-order from the W&D Surus store.


Download: Busy Signal & Mavado - Badman Place (Widowmaker Remix) [WAV]
Download: Busy Signal & Mavado - Badman Place (Widowmaker Remix) [320kbps mp3]



.Preacha.