Monday 31 October 2011

2nd Drop 016: 'Roomland' (Distal remix) 'Zumo' (Sully remix)

Photobucket

Photobucket

A. Gerry Read - Roomland (Distal remix)
AA. 23Hz & Numaestro - Zumo (Sully remix)

Sometime you can't keep a good remix down, and we certainly felt that with these two beastly versions by two very exciting producers of bass music.

First up is an exciting producer 2nd Drop have been talking to for over a year now, Atlanta's Distal has been making a lot of noise across the bass scene with releases on Tectonic and Grizzly. Alongside putting a vast array of music on his own Embassy Label. Inspired by Gerry's original, Distal has produced something truly brilliant. In stark contrast to the sublime Youandewan remix and Gerry Read's killer original, Distal grabs the key elements and transforms them into an awesome juke workout. Drawing on an arsenal of stunning original features, this hyperkinetic version is bursting with character, energy and colour.

Gerry Read - Roomland (Distal Remix) - CLIP by 2ndDropRecords

On the flip, we welcome back Sully, who first saw wax on 2nd Drop with the anthemic Give Me Up in mid 2008. As a big fan of 23hz & Numaestro's original, Sully asked to remix Zumo soon after it's release in early 2009. Failed hardrives and a quiet 2010 for the label sadly meant this remix with its shifting syncopated beat patterns and moody El-B-esque swing, was sat on. Until now. Beautifully placed to carry on the Sully sound after his critically acclaimed album on Keysound in September, this long overdue remix now gets the release it deserves.

23Hz & Numaestro - Zumo (Sully Remix) - CLIP by 2ndDropRecords


Co-incidently, the artist on both of the original releases was our mysterious Portugese illustrator and graffiti activist Uiu. So in the spirit of the release we asked him to remix both the original illustrations to create a new version for this release. The featured art ensued. Slightly bonkers, but amazing! http://uiu-uiu.com/

Impluse Dubstep: Abyssal, DjRum, Berlin.



Catch our very own DjRum in Berlin, Germany.
Thursday 10th November, 11:59pm-06am

Markgrafendamm 24c; Friedrichshain; 10245 Berlin

3 € before 01:00 am -> 5 € thereafter


DJ RUM (2nd Drop, UK)
FONIK (Music Manifesto / EDJ, UK)
Turrican (Urban Poetry / Abyssal)
Visuals by Sensationalist


View the event here:
http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?303746

Thursday 27 October 2011

2nd Drop Records showcase at 'From Disco To Disco'

Catch the 2nd Drop Records residents, Markle, Martial and Acronym showcasing the label's sound at From Disco To Disco, Reading on 12th November 9:00pm-3:00am. Free entry!
View the facebook link here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=232008000191330

Photobucket

Photobucket

2nd Drop Records performing at DIN, Corsica Studios, 8th December

2nd Drop Records performing at DIN, Corsica Studios, 8th December

Photobucket

Room 1: Bristol Takeover
Pinch
Gemmy
Kahn (Hosted by M.I.K)
Kowton

Room 2: Get Some
Simbad
Kashmir Kid
Crypt
2nd Drop Records
Ouzo Beats

Corsica Studios
08.12.11
10pm - 3am

Buy Tickets: http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?303851
All profits go to Mind Charity: http://www.mind.org.uk/

DIN is proud to be able to host some of the city’s most promising and exciting artists for their first party. Tectonic head-honcho Pinch leads the line-up in the main room off the back of some stellar releases on labels such as Swamp 81, Planet Mu and his own Tectonic Records. A pillar of the electronic music scene in Bristol he fuses deep bass vibrations of dub reggae with modern day dubstep.

Joker’s cohort Gemmy has released on labels like Planet Mu, Punch Drunk and his recently formed W.OW. (World Of Wonders) imprint. With his timeless synth-led productions he has made his mark on the dubstep scene with tracks like ‘Supligen’, ‘Back To The Future’ and ‘Rainbow Road’. Known as part of the ‘purple trinity’ alongside Joker and Guido his playful melodies and stern basslines allow his signature style to flourish.

Kahn is a relative newcomer to the scene, having already released on Punch Drunk he sits on the fence between dubstep and garage both sonically and rhythmically. Kowton (or Narcossist as some may know him) has been in a rich vein of form as of late with tracks like the acid influenced ‘Drunk On A Sunday’ showcasing his ability to make music than leans further towards house but with the rough edges that we’ve become accustomed to hearing from Kowton.

Room Two is hosted by the blog, party and label - Get Some. After writing about and promoting events in around the UK bass music scene for the last 2 years they have now started their label of the same name. They have chosen house and broken beat impresario Simbad to headline Room Two. Known for his diverse selection which ranges from house to UK funky and beyond, look out for his collaboration on Cooly G’s upcoming EP on Hyperdub entitled ‘Landscapes’. Joining Simbad on the night will be Kashmir Kid, Get Some signee Crypt with his vivacious basslines and garage influence, 2nd Drop Records and resident, Ouzo Beats, who will be playing tantalizing mix of garage, house and dubstep.

All proceeds from the night will be going to Mind, England’s leading mental healthy charity.

Sunday 16 October 2011

DjRUM interviewed by iD Magazine























Read the original interview here

DjRUM - vinyl mix for i-D by i-D

Text: Milly McMahon
Photography: Oliver Clasper

Describing his explorative, electronic sound as “cinematic, atmospheric music on the edge of techno, dubstep, and hip-hop” DjRUM is the fast-rising, super-sampling, disc spinner, who Mary Anne Hobbs and Gilles Peterson tip for big t’ings…

Transcending genre, BPM and all other kinds of musical typifications, DjRUM is the ground-breaking talent, breaking mixes unlike anyone else on the scene. Boldly going where many DJs don’t, RUM explores garage, techno, reggae, funk and dub, in every set he lays down, all in the name of his unequivocal love of music. Embracing every fast-moving, break beat he self-produces, Rum, real name Felix Manuel, first began making his own music ten years ago. Then more interested in jazz, Felix’s signature sound has developed and evolved organically over the past decade, as he pushed forward, continually piecing together his unique, lo-fi samplers. Recently putting out his first release via British label, 2nd Drop Records (also home to Ramadanman) his EP Mountains was received with significant acclaim, earning him serious time on underground airwaves. Working away on Ableton, this bearded, bedroom DJ prefers to not use synths, instead favouring bass to keep his feel all the more filmic and immersive. Making it up as he goes along, Felix has his fingers in a lot of pies; currently grafting in the studio, he is also collaborating with singer/songwriter Shad[]wb[]x, as well working on his own debut album.

Backed by the taste-making likes of Mary Anne Hobbs and Gilles Peterson, this boy has a bright future ahead and he ain’t even begun to bare his best stuff. Felix got i-D online in the mood for some Friday fun, letting loose with the steeze, jam and funk, vinyl style. Fancy a splash of RUM? Don’t mind if we do!

Click here to see our i-DJ series in full.

http://soundcloud.com/djrum


Friday 7 October 2011

DjRUM on Sonic Router

Our very own DjRUM is featured on the amazing Sonic Router website.


Read the interview below or visit the Sonic Router website here:

http://www.sonicrouter.com/2011/10/sr-mix-102-djrum-2nd-drop/

DjRUM's recent suite of music released by 2nd Drop Records stood out to us for a number of reasons. Given that there’s a certain propensity within electronic dance music for stylistic shifts, bittersweet vocal chopping and super tweaked, soundsystem ready cleanliness, Rum’s three part ‘Mountains’ odyssey should stick out like a sore thumb – but it doesn’t, it caresses most categories with ease. His music is deep, layered as much with restraint as it is palpable sound, but it kicks low, hitting your gut in a similar way to the work of a lot of his peers.

“I work almost exclusively with audio samples so my music has quite an organic, non-synthetic sound to it,” he tells me, as we begin our conversation discussing his processes. “I don’t just sample from records though, I also record myself playing instruments and even singing; although you probably can’t notice it, it’s very heavily processed.”

The two 12”s that combine to form the Mountains EP fully embrace that strictly imposed production style; re-textured samples and static drenched drones crawl over each other behind an array of stringent drum work on the first plate, which is populated by ‘Undercoat’ and ‘Mountains (Part 1).’ Parts 2 & 3 of ‘Mountains’ come separately, backed by the more straight forward garage clip of ‘Turiya,’ but they take the baton from the first part’s strung samples, re-phrasing the intonations with a more trip hop rhythm that over eggs itself suddenly upping to a more hardcore stomp, bringing the gabber-esque kick drum expression to the brittle layers and metallic shards of delay.

“Mountains’ is obviously the lynchpin of the EP,” Rum explains. “The three separate parts were all written at the same time. As I make tunes I tend to generate a lot of material that lands on the cutting room floor as I experiment with different elements. During work on ‘Mountains (Part 1)’ it became clear that there was way more scope in what I was doing than just a 140bpm tune so I started putting together parts 2 and 3. ‘Undercoat’ was similar, although there I managed to keep all of my ideas within one track.”

It’s Rum’s wealth of ideas seem to be the main benefit of this EP. Across the ‘Mountains’ triumvirate he touches on rhythms and moods that it takes most producers an array of releases to touch on, and that’s undoubtedly something that his history as a core component of Yardcore can be thanked for. Being, as he is, relatively new to releasing his productions, one can assume that he’s been toiling away behind the scenes, finding his feet and sharpening his oft-tagged cinematic approach to music; but through Yardcore (a club night and radio show on Sub.fm that’s been going a long time now) it’s easy to trace the sounds that Rum exposed himself to, archiving a whole lot of everything…

“We did our first party back in 2006,” he recalls. “We had Ed DMX, Equinox and Boxcutter booked, but when Boxcutter missed his flight we called in a favor last minute and were lucky enough to get Jamie Vex’d instead. Wow, that takes me back… but it’s hard to say when I got into ‘dubstep.’ I remember a garage head mate of mine playing me ‘Fist of Fury’ by Horsepower back in 2001… is that dubstep? Maybe it’s 2-step… Anyway, I started hearing the word dubstep around 2005 I reckon. That year Monkey Steak’s ‘Grim Dubs,’ Burial’s South London Boroughs EP and the Rephlex Grime compilations got me really excited about that kind of music and I started getting properly into production like a year later. I’ve only ever been into dubstep as part of a balanced musical diet though…”

And that definitely shows in Rum’s music. There’s a carefully weighted balance between movement inspiring drum work and searing atmospherics, but the key to what really caught our ear was his evolutions and the sprawling nature of his composition. By rite ‘Mountains’ should be three separate tracks and as it stands he and 2nd Drop made the cut between the 140bpm aspect and the remaining beat experiments, but the panache with which Rum reaches these tangents really smacks of a hankering for prog music – not in the grandiose 30 minute sitar wigout way, but in the way it shifts slightly and constantly progresses.

“That’s definitely the intention,” he agrees when I finally let the ‘p’ word fall out. “I always found it interesting listening to music like DJ Shadow’s first few of albums – he sampled a lot of prog, but also took influence from the music’s composition. As he sampled the music to make hip hop he was putting it into a structure of his own, but those structures he created usually had an extended, evolving, progressive approach more akin to prog than to regular hip hop. I listen to a lot of jazz from that prog era, and I think it has had a similar influence on me…”

This notion of expansive and fluid structure is one that he explores further on his contribution to our ongoing mix series: “I did it in Ableton. It moves about quite a bit through different moods and genres. There’s reggae, techno, garage, dubstep, classical, funk, soul, hiphop, house… and it goes from quite an upbeat dancey vibe, through some really mellow spaciousness, into some really dark introspection, and ends with a round of applause. I’m pretty pleased with it actually. I think it sets the scene well for my own productions.”

Listen to the mix below: