Etherwood getting Annie Mac Exclusive shows you how far he’s come. Not only is he one of the best in the world in liquid, but his composition & piano work continues to soar as he takes Europe by storm. This track has a little bit of a Rudimental vibe to it, but considering how much I love the two of them, I certainly ain’t complaining. This is definitely the bread & butter of the liquid drum & bass world. Fast but soft, potent, yet, seemingly light, Etherwood executes perfectly as always Zara Kershaw comes in to add soul to the mix to great effect. It’s definitely a must listen while you’re at the gym, grinding through work, driving, or even just jamming out in your underwear. Med School & Etherwood deliver as always.
Tag Archives: drum & bass
Midnight Music: Cartoon – Made Me Feel (ft. Kristel Aaslaid) [Liquid Drum & Bass]
To celebrate getting through Monday, here’s some of that boom bap tish that will put a smile on your face. Kristel Aaslaid lays down some sultry and funky vocals over some uptempo liquid which does work. The music video for this is my favorite genre of YouTube video” Humans being Awesome on planet Earth.” The stunt videos, juxtaposed with crazy good HD drone footage from around the world makes for a thrill ride that’s almost softened by the music. The footage, done by Team Blacksheep, deserves as much kudos as the track. The artist hails from Tallinn, so remind me to get out to some parties in Eastern Europe. The tune is out May 18th, but you can listen to the whole track here. I am probably just going to keep posting the hotness Liquicity drops, because it’s all stupendous. Just FYI. Put this track on as you’re powering down tonight. Monday is over, the hard part has passed.
Midnight Music: Rudimental – Never Let You Go [Soulful Drum & Bass]
Rudimental is back and all is right with the world. The soulful, triumphant feel that the world fell in love with is back. The rollicking good time that hits up 45sec in is the signature sound that if they keep making, I’ll keep hyping. To know what the potential of this music is and not see it in wider American release kills me. This is the sound of a generation and we’re all better off for them being so good & well received we’re getting a 2nd album. If you’re like me, that album is already getting you hyped. The full album should be out this summer and if it’s anything like Home, we’re in for a treat. Live drum work, great vocals, throbbing bass & quality production, what more could you ask for in your drum & bass? Oh right, live trumpet! Because Rudimental does that 😀
Mix Of The Week: Memories by Liquicity, Mixed by Maduk
Too many Drum & Bass artists to name on this week’s Mix. Maduk of Liquicity fame has served up a fantastic trip down memory lane for us liquid fantatics. There’s a lot to love here, with tracks from Stan SB, Feint, Rameses B & like a dozen other artists. This is to celebrate their new compilation “Memories.” A good idea, as this allows them to get all of your (and my) favorite tracks from years of listening in one place. 30 of the best liquid tracks in years, and the compilation comes with a big 76min mix as well. The preview mix that’s posted here is just a taste to whet the appetite and honestly, it does exactly that. Tracks I’ve not heard in years, and others I’ve never heard, flow smoothly together as Maduk does work getting the word out about this compilation. So I want to give them money for it all. Which, you should do as well.
Midnight Music: Etherwood – You’ll Always Be A Part Of Me
I am so happy Etherwood has done this. Not only is this a delightful re-imaging of what drum & bass can sound like, but woo dude vocals! Etherwood has carved out a stupendous home for himself and if you don’t know why, tracks like this show it off. This kind of soothing style of d&b is my Wyld Stallions music. This is what I think we’ll all listen to in elevators and all day every day once we reach the future peace society that we only see in fiction. What I’m saying is, Drum & Bass makes peace. I’m going to make sure you know about Etherwood’s releases, so get used to it being all up in this piece. (via The Awesome YouTube Channel of Med School)
Optical, Loadstar & Delta Heavy Give Slake A Rowdy Night To Remember.
The D&B kids didn’t waste any time. RAM Records was here to shake the foundations of Slake and the rumbling could already be felt as I waited for my id to be checked. Even before midnight, kids that were expecting it to be some kind of joke party walked past us, leaving. The bridge & tunnel crowd was making its way out as the army junglists, ravers & the rest of a delightfully motley crew settled in for a long night of dope beats. Dali, Alex English & Cameron Kush had started the night properly, and now the crowd was antsy in its pantsy for the trio of RAM Records wizards to get into it. First up, Optical (yes, that Optical). Once again, the crowd was sweaty & rioting before 1 AM. I know I bang on about this with the parties I go to, but it’s only because the parties I attend that don’t earn a review, can’t manage to do this. While any producer can get the crowd hyped by lining up 3 prep cooks & having talent at 1:30 AM, it’s exponentially harder to get the kids flying around an hour earlier. Optical pushed amazing tracks that rolled off perfectly. The set could’ve been nestled into the World of Drum & Bass party last week & no one would’ve noticed. To give you a feeling of how good Optical is at this, here’s a mix he did to celebrate his label, Virus Recordings, turning 15. That’s right, this guy’s got a label that’s almost older than Bieber, to put this live show in context. 
When Optical handed it off, Loadstar wasted no time in getting to work. The set was a masterful selection of some of the hardest neurofunky, almost dubby fast/slow tunes I’ve heard on this side of the pond. The Intergalactic that was dropped about halfway through his set was perfect, played in NYC, where there’s a park named after one of the Beastie Boys. The kids went wild for this, but what caught my attention a little after that set was how they were dancing. Throughout each of the sets, the people were dancing with…each other. Not just staring at the stage like mindless zombies, but dancing with their friends & random people they met at on the floor! At some point towards the end of the set, the kids started “Getting Low” to the lyrical work in one of the tracks he was mixing. And, it caught on. You couldn’t see it from the stage, but you had the whole back end of the dance floor actually getting almost to the ground during the build. Then when the break drops, dozens of kids jumped up in the air and probably got massive head rushes while giving the producers agita. It’s like that wedding dance thing, except at a party you actually wanted to go to.
Finally, Delta Heavy had arrived. This was an act I wanted to see as much as Metrik (which started out the #marchdnbmadness). This track is why: And yes, he played it live. The crowd had been singing along to tracks off & on all night, but the support for this one took the cake. You know that moment where you recognize a track but the rest of the crowd has no idea what they’re in for? Nothing of the sort happened here. The first riff from the song caused a surge in the crowd, as they all knew what was coming next. As he spun into it and the chorus hit, the entire room sung along. Can you imagine? D&B heads acting like they’re at Z100’s Jingle Ball because they were just THAT happy to be experiencing this? I really hope someone recorded this set, because there was a bunch of melodic dubstep & a touch of future house that melded with the hard d&B. 3 AM and the dancefloor was as thick as it was at 1AM. But then they did something no one expected, and the night went from amazing to something none of us were prepared for.
That’s right, that’s 3 headliners spinning b2b2b. To stress, the 3 talented selectros just threw their USB sticks onto the decks and went to work. It was the last night of their tour & they hadn’t had a crowd still moving this late, so they went to town. I’m not sure how to describe what we saw. Three of the best at what they do taking time to mix into & between some of the hardest, heaviest tracks in the genre right now. This last hour was something special, something I can’t even communicate if you weren’t there. It’s something a dedicated fan experiences every once and a while. Spontaneous collaboration, no ego, and a whole lot of bass that smacked around the crowd. The crowd that wouldn’t even leave when they brought the lights up at 4 AM. This was one of those nights that you’re not entirely sure happened, but are left different. I now expect more from every drum & bass show I will ever go to in the future because of the way I was spoiled by Friday. This is Terry Gotham, see you on the dance floor.
(Photos by Sarah Vale Photography)
Album Of The Week: Perfect Getaway by Flexstyle
Flexstyle continues in his quest to make enough amazing music such that I can replace my entire soundscape with stuff that makes it sound like I’m in a game from the Mega Man X series. And I love him for it. This album was something I mentioned a while back, but I hadn’t had time to sit down and give it the nerdy listen it deserves. The entire album is freaking gorgeous, but my notes on my favorites from it The Chilloniq mix of Neck Deep is a sprawling, ambitious remix project that wildly succeeds. The future bass & breakbeat fusion not only works, but needs to be a new genre. But of course, if you’ve been playing the home game, you know I think Flexstyle’s created more than 1 new genre of music by now. Stand With Me has a great little synthy retro feel to it. The vocal work is definitely a highlight here, especially if it means he comes out of his shell & sings more.
The Oasis remix is big, and reinforces the idea that this dude has the composition & remix chops to stand outside of the convention world. Solar Eclipse keeps that rambling vibe going with a plucky, uptempo melody that would probably be good for speed run practice. Revolution is a dope little jam that speaks to a developing sense of authentic signature sound, so again, more please! Perfect Getaway brings in some turnt up guitars and is totally the title track of the album for a reason.
Summer Silence pulls the energy down a bit and gives us a nice little ambient tune that makes me think of Kyoto. Which is weird as I’ve never been to Japan. Fluid Motion ends up being some fun liquid drum & bass, which y’all know I’m a fan of, so frankly, the 5min the track weighs in at isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. Which is why he follows it up with some buzzsaw-infused D&B that sounds quite a bit harder than the previous track. Boh Boh indeed.
The rest of the album is a sweet little collection of originals, heavy guest featuring & a couple more remixes that are totally worth your time. Any time Flexstyle remixes Ben Briggs, sit up in your chair & pay attention please, as his Methods remix could get dropped at a side stage at Ultra today and I wouldn’t even blink. A super positive bompin electro track, plus a couple more for your trouble. AND A FREE BONUS PRIZE FOR YOU!
Bonus Mix! The more Flexstyle plays out live, the more I need to hear him. This is one of my favorite mixes of 2015 so far. Playful, bomping ridiculous vgm beats that I could dance to forever. At some point I’m going to be cool enough to throw my own convention party and if it gets him doing more vocal work, I’ll shout it from the rooftops. The build is no slouch either, and I can’t wait for him to team up with Rameses B or get a release signed to Monstercat.
Midnight Music: The Prodigy – Wild Frontier (Wilkinson Remix)
The remix game is just heating up when it comes to The Prodigy’s new album. The Day Is My Enemy is going to spawn a gigantic wave of bomb-ass remixes and this first volley is no exception. Wilkinson bursts out of the gate with this massive release on RAM Records. This is one of those tunes that you just kind of want to flip your hood up and get down with your bad self. It brings out some of the heart inside the amazing Wild Frontier track and adds a fresh dollop of big bass d&b on top of it. Get it now that it’s live on Beatport as well. If you’re into spinning D&B, this track is going to be a must-have this summer. Once The Prodigy starts to get into full swing, these kinds of reworkings are going to be worth their weight in gold. He who remixes best, will win. Now if we could only get The Prodigy to play somewhere on this side of the pond in 2015.
Earworm Of The Month: Si Genaro – When The Last Bird Flies – CLSM Remix [Massive Drum & Bass]
This has been on repeat since I found it at the beginning of March. I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever heard a drum & bass track with this kind of lead time & warning-less drop before. CLSM has been in the scene for a minute now, but I couldn’t recognize the original track or the vocalist. This Si Genaro remix is exquisite and deserves to be nominated for the “Best Amen Break Usage” award. Hey Drum & Bass Awards, if that’s not one yet, get on the stick. It doesn’t seem like it’ll be worth giving it the time that it needs to get where it’s going, but trust me on this one. If there’s any song you need to get to the halfway point on, it’s this one. Especially if you got a flat tire, found out your girl is cheating, or your boss asked you to come in this weekend. Drum & Bass Rising.
Attend: Delta Heavy, Loadstar & Optical @ Slake ft. Armanni Reign
We had Hospitality, we’re getting Crissy Criss & now, to round out #marchdnbmadness, Slake is closing it out with RAM Records. That’s right, Delta Heavy, Loadstar & Optical are showing up. I am so pleased that attention is being paid to Drum & Bass and I’m hoping this shows producers here in NYC that these shows can sell. Crowds show up ensure that these artsts get booked again & that the old stereotypes of the d&b crowd being a rough night on the bar go out with the night’s profits. Slake will get rowdy so get tickets here for this D&B extravaganza. Continue reading
Terry Gotham 