Redlight

 
Had a little scout of the net this morning looking for a few new mixes to please my ears with, and was most pleased to find that the latest Fact Mag podcast has been mixed by one of Bristols finest, Redlight, the producer formerly known as Clipz.

I was fan of Clipz way back in 2003 when he released the amazing 'Showtime' Ep on Emcee Recordings which contained the amazing 'Cuban Links', and then on from his early releases on Full Cycle where throughout 2003 and 2004 he released some of the biggest Drum n Bass tunes of the time.

 I always thought in the years that followed Clipz got a lot of over the top criticism from some camps. Granted, I wasn't too big a fan at some of his later productions under the Clipz moniker, but some of the level of abuse on forums aimed at him was absurd, especially when considering some of the bona fida classics he had made in the genre, including the much overlooked and forgotten 'Saigon Killa' (no clips up on Youtube unfortunately!), and the tune I have posted below he released under his Humanoid guise entitled 'Tibetan Mist', which was a huge huge anthem a few years back in the North West of the UK (although strangely never really got played much round the rest of the country) after being released on New Line Recordings back in 2004.

Back to 2010 though, and the Clipz name is gone to be replaced by the new name Redlight, and with the name change came a huge change in genres too. Like DJ Zinc before him, Redlight has had no problem in settling in with the Dubstep/UK Funky/Whatever its called this week fraternity, and is already starting to amass a nice collection of bangers under his name, including the quite literally stupid 'Stupid', released a couple of weeks back on Digital Soundboy, a tune which has provoked confused but elated bass faces every time I have dropped it.

Redlights mix for Fact Mag is chock full of exclusives, unreleased bits and exclusive Redlight specials of some major tunes from the past few months, and also includes the ridiculously big 'MDMA', which I am sure is well on its way to becoming something of an anthem. If you have been a fan of Clipz in the past, or even a hater, and you don't know what he is up to now, get onto this right away, as in short, he is fucking KILLING IT.

Redlight - Fact Mag Podcast (Mediafire)

1. Redlight – Wat

2. Breakage ft. Newham Generals – Hard (Redlight Special)

3. Doc Daneeka – Deadly Rhythm

4. Redlight – Stupid

5. Redlight ft. Roses Gabor – Stupid Vox Special

6. Rude Kid – Jack Daniels

7. Zinc ft. Ms Dynamite – Wile Out (Redlight Special)

8. Benga – 1 & Only 1

9. D1 – Pitcher

10. Tempa T – Boy Off The Ting (Redlight Peace & Love Mix)

11. Redlight – MDMA

12. Rusko ft. Redlight – Scarewear

13. J2K ft Roses Gabor – Don’t Let Go

14. Redlight ft. Dynamite MC

15. Redlight ft. Dread MC, Omi & Serocee – Stay With U (Redlight V.I.P)

16. Roska – Squark

17. Redlight – Dubplate Slosher

18. Ramadanman – Glut

19. Redlight – Roller Xpress

20. Roses Gabor – Love Sick

21. Champion – Lighter

22. Redlight – Vibe Ride

23. MJ Cole – Thekla Riddim

24. Musha Man – Keep Up

Juke

So, yet another strange genre name has emerged in the past few months, with a sound developing from the streets of Chicago (the original birthplace of that little known genre named House Music) which goes by the name of 'Juke'.

By all accounts, Juke isn't anything particulary new and has been around and happening for a good few years now over the pond, but it has now started to gain a lot more attention since the release of the anthemic Addison Groove track 'Footcrab', which was released last month on Loefah's incredible Swamp81 label.



Addison Groove is an alias of the well known 'Dubstep' (if you can put what he does under that term) producer Headhunter, who thanks to a huge number of amazingly high quality releases over the last few years has become a major name in bass driven music circles, and is someone who has been heavily championing the Juke sound, playing a set of Juke in a a packed room 2 of Fabric recently, showing his love of the scene through a mix that was uploaded last December which you can download below. and of course producing his own take on the sound in the aforementioned release.

Headhunter - Juke Mix 2009 (Mediafire)

So what exactly does Juke sound like? The only way I can think of describing it is as a bastardized high tempo (you can mix Drum n Bass into some of it) version of Baltimore Booty Techno, with a big emphasis on pitching up and pitching down vocal samples, along with obvious influences from both Dubstep, Breaks, Hip Hop and Garage.

To be honest, its pretty fucking mental, and the early detractors of the sound immediately point out its very low production standards, which can not be overlooked, and some tracks do sound like they have been put together in 5 minutes in Music 2000 on the Playstation 1, a attribute that adds to the charm of the music for me though, as its obviously not a genre that takes itself super seriously, and seems more focused on getting a party started than pleasing those technical minded chin stroking types.

The genre seemingly has its very own dance craze going on in Chicago, with a whole host of videos on Youtube showing gangs having super paced dance off's and battles with each other in communtiy centres and halls, an example of which you can see below.

Probably the best mix I have found on the internet to introduce people to the sound is by a guy named Bare Bones, who is obviously highly clued up about the genre, a fact proven by the tunes he has included on this mix which are apparently like Juke gold dust. Its definitely not a mix for the deep music loving chin scratchers out there and does contain A LOT of silliness!

Bare Bones - Juke Big Mix 2010 (Sendspace)

DJ Rashad - In Da Club Before Eleven o'clock

DJ Clent - Baby Come On

DJ Pillsbury - Bartender (Juke remix)

DJ Clent - Whip It

DJ Spinn - Freekin' You

DJ Lil Red - Sexual Healing

DJ Lil Red - Bang Bang

DJ Nate - Call Me when You're Sober

DJ Lil Red - Bang Bang

DJ Pillsbury - Ice Cream Juke

DJ Rashad - Fuk Me In My Face

Leatherface - Requiem

DJ Pillsbury - Shooting Star

DJ Clent - Clent's CPU

DJ Remi - Tired Boy

Kill Frenzy - Show You

Kill Frenzy - Lick My Clit

DJ Ty - Erk Jerk Twerk

DJ Hilti - Like A Fuckin' Superstar

Kill Frenzy - Just Breathe

DJ Nate - Always & Forever

Mister Ries - Poke Her Face

DJ Clent - Hi Jinks

Wiley - Tweet Riddim (The Bird Tune)

DJ Clent - I'm Falling

DJ Hilti - Down My Ass

DJ Clent - Moments With Clent

DJ Spinn - Box Me In

Mister Ries - Sugar (Kill Frenzy remix)

DJ Spinn - Blessing

DJ Spinn - Bounce Back

DJ Spinn - Feelin' You

DJ Clent & Dj Rashad - Move Back

DJ Nate - Detro (from Heat Squad) Anthem

DJ Pillsbury - Get Up (Juke remix)

Mister Ries - Psycho

DJ Nate & DJ Lil Red - Get Yo Bangs Up

DJ Nate - Maybe Sum Day

DJ Spinn - Bust Down

DJ Rashad - Itz Not Rite

DJ Rashad - Drop Juke Out

Kill Frenzy - We Belong Together

DJ Spinn - I Love You

This sound will no doubt be a little bit too crazy for some, and I admit I certainly cant see Juke becoming a major worldwide scene with an impact like that previous Chicago export House music had on the world, but its definitely an interesting development and turn off in the hardcore continuum, and if its influence helps rub off on producers and helps inspire them to make tracks like 'Footcrab' and this little beauty below by a producer name Distal, then long may it continue.

DISTAL - Boss of the South by Distal

Roska Roska Roska....

This week saw the release of one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the year, as Roska, one of the most talked about and hyped up producers of the past 12 months released his debut album on Rinse.

Make no mistake, Roska is one of the most exciting talents in the UK Dance Music scene at present, and is seen as somewhat of a godfather of the UK Funky scene whilst also retaining close links with both Dubstep and straight up House, and after a bombardment of incredible releases and remixes the past few months has seen his star rise and rise, culminating in the release of his debut self titled album.

I have to be totally honest and admit that some of the vocal tracks on the album I am not a major fan of, although this is down to personal preference as I am never really a fan of tracks with 'smooth' female vocals. The production value on these tracks however are still very high and I can see the tracks working on the dance floor, especially with the females.

For me, its Roska's instrumentals which excite me the most, and I think that he is in a different league when it comes to the percussion elements of his tracks, and I can't express in words how much I love the track below entitled 'Squark'.

With the release of the album and all the subsequent press he is receiving Roska's schedule is manic at the moment with US tours, festival appearances, his weekly radio show on Rinse and much more all keeping him remarkably busy, and his rise to fame shows no sign of slowing down.

To introduce you to Roska's sound and what he is all about there is a mix below to download taken from the Disko 404 podcast, packed full of his own productions, remixes and more.

Roska - Disko 404 Podcast (Mediafire)

1. D-Malice - Visions - Roska Special
2. Roska - In Your Handbag - Fingaprint Remix
3. Deadboy - If You Want Me
4. Roska - Feeline VIP
5. Zinc - Music Makers
6. Roska ft Nikki - Energy
7. Altered Natives - Rass Out
8. Sticky & Paleface - Open Your Eyes (Roska Loves Congos Mix)
9. Roska - Time Stamp
10. DVA - Nasty Nasty Nasty (Roska Remix)
11. L-Vis 1990 - Zahonda
12. Untold - Just For You (Roska Remix)

Plus as a little bonus treat, here's a Roska remix of Naughty - Quicktime which was recently given away in the build up to the massive FWD + Rinse night taking place at Matter at the end of April.

Naughty - Quicktime (Roska Remix) (Mediafire)

Goli & Ashburner

One city that seems to be incredibly lively at the moment is Nottingham, with a plethora of nights taking place every weekend including the ludricous Detonate, and there seems to have been a big emergence of local Nottingham producers the past year or so too, 2 of whom have stood out for me, namely a couple of producers called Goli & Ashburner.

I have been a long time supporter of Ashburner's tracks over the past couple of years and have been lucky enough to have received most of his unreleased work, and all his tunes have proved to be absolutely deadly in the clubs, and at one point towards the end of 2009 after he sent me around 14 tracks in 2 months, I found a huge chunk of my sets were ending up 50% his tunes!

A great thing about Goli & Ashburner is their ability to seemingly be able to switch from style to style, so whereas one tune may be a face melting wobbler of epic proportions, their next track may be that little bit deeper and much more subtle, make comparisons yourself from the tracks below.

Goli & Ashburner - One by Goli & Ashburner
Goli & Ashburner - i9 by Goli & Ashburner

Their obvious production talents have brought them a whole lot of attention the past few months, and with a wildly hectic gig schedule they are now racing up and down the country most weekends tearing it up wherever they go, and with a huge pile of unreleased tracks still yet to see the light of day except amongst a lucky few, I reckon these two have a blindingly bright future ahead of them.

I am going to be speaking to the young reprobates very soon about doing this blog an exclusive mix, so in the meantime enjoy the very special treat below, Ashburner's remix of the massive Tempa T anthem 'Next Hype', probably the biggest tune I played in any club ANYWHERE last year and one of the most sought after tunes of 2009.

Tempa T - Next Hype (Ashburner Remix)