Blu Mar Ten – Believe Me – New Single

Posted on July 13, 2009 by bobbykins
Believe Me

Blu Mar Ten - Believe Me - BMT 002

“Believe Me” is the second single from the forthcoming Blu Mar Ten all-drum-and-bass album.  This single follows the similar dual format as the last, with two tracks on the very limited edition vinyl 12″ with lovely artwork courtesy of ithinkitsnice, and a third bonus track available only as a download.

DJ support has been provided from some of the biggest names in the drum & bass scene: Marky, London Elektricity, Doc Scott, Teebee, Hype, Spectrasoul, Makoto, Apex, SPY, Craggz, DKay, Seba, Loxy, Ink, Lynx, Instra:mental, John B, ASC, Nerm & Dcode, Randomer and many others.

The title track “Believe Me” kicks off with swirling melodies and some no-nonsense punchy drums which wouldn’t sound out of place in the next Commix single , growing slowly before the bassline kicks in…. Some lovely Steve Reich-style chimes kick in shortly before the vocal from a long-deceased pop star appears, giving the track it’s title and a memorable hook.

The AA Site, “Made Of Air”, has the classic Blu Mar Ten sound, reminiscent of their highly-detailed work on the Everglades EP from a long time ago… The listener is immediately bombarded with tons & tons of sounds & textures from the very start. A dusty piano gives the track a real cinematic edge, and the general tone and atmosphere of the track really highlights the fact that these chaps have spent many years forging their own unique sound.

As per the last single, they decide to make the best track, “Overwhelm” a download-only exclusive. The track draws you from the very beginning with a beautiful keyboard line & crisp electronic drums, before a bassline reminiscent of their excellent “2046” rumbles it’s way into your subconscious.

A genuinely interesting single that further blurs the distinction between drum & bass & electronic music in it’s purest form. Well worth checking out.

The single “Believe Me” was released on 13th July 2009 and is available in physical or digital formats from the following outlets:

Juno Records
Beatport
Red Eye Records
Chemical Records
Itunes
Drum & Bass Arena

Visit the official Blu Mar Ten website:
http://www.blumarten.com

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Doc Scott – 31 Records – 2009 Part 5 – Drum and Bass Mix

Posted on July 11, 2009 by bobbykins
Doc Scott

Doc Scott

I can’t really recommend this mix highly enough, every track is absolutely superb – absolute proof of the fact that 2009 is proving to be a massive year for dnb….. Check it out!

Doc Scott – 2009 Part 5

1. D Bridge – Inner Disbelief [EXIT]
2. ASC – Starkwood [NON PLUS+]
3. System – El Sunrise [DIGITAL SOUNDBOY]
4. KDC – Selfless [NU DIRECTIONS]
5. SpectraSoul – Insignia [EXIT]
6. Mindmapper – Resurrection Hub [BROKEN AUDIO]
7. ASC – Porcelain [NON PLUS+]
8. Data – Dead Rising [???]
9. ASC & Method One – Deadlock [???]
10. Blu Mar Ten – Believe Me [BMT]
11. Survival – Sky [EXIT]
12. Jubei – Entrapment [METALHEADZ]
13. Bop – Ataraxia [MED SCHOOL]
14. Consequence – 11 Circles [EXIT]
15. Raiden – Roentgen [ARCHITECTURE]
16. Jynx – beating me (31 RECORDS)
17. Instra:Mental – Watching You [NON PLUS+]
18. Despot – Concert [N/A]

http://soundcloud.com/docscott31/02-doc-scott-2009-part-5

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Session 013 July 2009

Posted on July 8, 2009 by bobbykins

Session 013 July 2009

The number thirteen is considered unlucky-for-some. I’m using this superstitious nonsense as my excuse for not delivering the podcast last month. Sorry about that. Please don’t desert it. I’ve lots more great records to play that you probably haven’t heard before. Anyway, consider this a written apology to you, from me.

Anyway, now that we’ve kissed & made up, and agreed to remain friends, here is the tracklisting:

PHOENIX – IF I EVER FEEL BETTER
SLEEPY TOWN MANUFACTURE & UNIT 21 – MINOR BLUE
EARL GREY – MY SOUL’S ON ICE
JOHN MARTYN – GO DOWN EASY
LAMB – COTTON WOOL (FILA BRAZILIA REMIX)
ROBERT MANOS – MIXED UP
ARIL BRIKHA – GROOVE LA CHORD
JOHN MARTYN – DON’T WANT TO KNOW
FLOATING POINTS – K&G BEAT
PHOTEK – KANEI (VERSION)
APPALOOSA – UNPLUGGED (CHAOS & JULIA SET REMIX)
JODECI – FEENIN’ (LTJ BUKEM REMIX)
THE DETROIT EXPERIMENT – THINK TWICE
GIOM – I KNOW YOU WERE RIGHT (C-SOUL REMIX)

To download via the itunes podcast, click the image below; or alternatively, for a direct download link, click here


download this podcast via itunes

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Floating Points debut on Planet Mu

Posted on June 28, 2009 by bobbykins

Monday, July 6th 2009 sees the follow up to the now massive “Love Me Like This” by up & coming producer Floating Points. The new single, containing the tracks “J&W Beat” & “K&G Beat”, was first aired many months ago on the excellent Floating Points minimix for Mary Anne Hobbs, and are thankfully reaching the shops via Planet Mu.

“J&W Beat” is a fast & lively track, with infectious bassline and expertly-crafted synth textures. The electronic drums are very well programmed, and the production has a air of pristine quality about it.

However, for me, personally, “K&G Beat” is the essential track on this release, with it’s pulsating synth arpeggios and massively loud, compressed pads, it’s really one that makes the old hairs stand on end, such a rarity for me these days, therefore making this release (for me), an absolutely essential purchase.

J&W Beat:
K&G Beat:

Links:
Release Info @ Planet Mu
Pre-Order at RedEye Records
Floating Points MySpace Page
Eglo Records Official Website

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Session 012 May 2009

Posted on May 3, 2009 by bobbykins

Session 012 May 2009

This is the twelfth episode of my podcast; It all seems to have gone rather quickly and part of me thinks I’ve included all my favourite records; the truth of the matter though is that there’s oodles of other great tracks lurking about in my shelves so I will probably carry on with this for the time being.

This month includes some great tracks from the likes of Sleepy Town Manufacture, Air, Blu Mar Ten, Carl Craig, and more.

1.) SLEEPY TOWN MANUFACTURE – NOT A BIG DEAL / GILBERT & GEORGE TALK ABOUT TEARS
2.)  JAMES DEVANE – 27-32
3.) FRANCESCO TRISTIANO – THE MELODY (C2 REMIX)
4.) UFO – ESPERANZA
5.) AIR – SOMEWHERE BETWEEN WAKING & SLEEPING
6.) BLU MAR TEN – IF I COULD TELL YOU
7.) SEBASTIEN TELLIER – LE DEMON PUPKIN / TELEVISION EDUCATIVE
8.) KOEN HOLTKAMP – HAUS UND SPIRALE IM REGAN
9.) INCOGNITO – OUT OF THE STORM (CARL CRAIG’S PLANET E SPECIAL MIX)
10.) SLEEPY TOWN MANUFACTURE – LIKE A WIND
11.) OAK – MONGOOSE
12.) SEBA – SPECIAL OPS
13.) DOVES – FRIDAY’S DUST

To download via the itunes podcast, click the image below; or alternatively, for a direct download link, click here


download this podcast via itunes

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Blu Mar Ten’s new single – Close / Above Words

Posted on April 6, 2009 by bobbykins
blumarten__sleevemockup_both

The single "Close"; Released today on vinyl or digital download.

So, the Camden trio have returned to their drum & bass roots; It’s fair to say that drum & bass has gone through a bit of a renaissance in recent months, and this release has been perfectly timed to compliment that….

Starting with “Close”, which wouldn’t sound out of place on Virus; it’s harsh, distorted, heavily processed pulp fiction / model 500 break slaps you pretty hard in the face, before the angry, growling bassline kicks in…designed specifically with the dancefloor in mind, and clearly working, with DJ support from the likes of  Marky, Ed Rush, Utah Jazz, Logistics, D Bridge, Instra:mental, Data, Ink, London Elektricity, Nerm & D-Kode, Annie Nightingale, Crissy Criss, Mosus, Furney, SPY, A Sides, Tom Middleton, ASC, Kubiks & Lomax, Marcus Intalex, John B, Alleycat, Big Bud and many others….

“Above Words” is classic, meloncholy bmt at their best; production standards at an all time high, and intricate electronic beat programming that wouldn’t sound out-of-place on the next Instra:Mental single; but the swirling melodies and ultra-clean reece bassline probably push them just that bit beyond other producers in the scene.

Finally, they decided to test the waters with the digital-only exclusive track, “If I could Tell You”.  Assumably considered the wildcard of the release,  beautiful pads and arpeggios kick the track off before the stabbing synth bassline hooks you straight in; Perfectly placed male vocals add a lot of emotion to the track, and half-stepping electronic drums, mixed with some expertly timed tablas really highlight the trio’s precise attention to detail. A truly original, fresh drum & bass track.

If this is merely a taster of what the forthcoming all drum & bass album from BMT is going to sound like, then we are surely in for a treat; the vast amount of man hours that must have gone into writing these tracks are so obvious when you listen to a release like this; this is the sort of release that should make most rookie bedroom producers wonder what on earth they’re doing even trying to compete!!!…

Buy “Close” on vinyl from any of the following outlets:
Redeye
Chemical
Juno
Breakbeat Science

..or buy the 3-track digital release, from:
itunes
Digital Tunes
Juno Download
Beatport

Visit the official Blu Mar Ten website:
http://www.blumarten.com/

Listen to the EP in full, at last.fm:
http://www.last.fm/music/Blu+Mar+Ten/Close+EP+[128k]

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Session 011 April 2009

Posted on March 31, 2009 by bobbykins

robertgraff_session_011_april_2009

Ok, so here is the eleventh episode of my monthly podcast. This one kicks off with a bit of retro prog-rock from British mentalists Gong, before going into a much deeper, ambient vibe, with music from the likes of Bochum Welt,  Julien Neto, and Mark Pritchard. The mix concludes with two lovely drum & bass tracks; one newish effort from the mighty Seba & Paradox, and one bonafide classic dark jungle anthem from Inner Rhythm.

Have to give another special mention to Sleepy Town Manufacture, a superb artist from Russia, who’s back catalogue I am loving very much right now. Here’s a couple other posts I made about them: post1 / post2

Gong – Chandra
Alex Reece – Nu Era
Bochum Welt – MVS
Sleepy Town Manufacture – Lain: Say You Care
Bochum Welt – GTE
Mark Pritchard – ?
Sleepy Town Manufacture – Komnata
Julien Neto – Sketch
Basement Jaxx – If I Ever Recover
Poschek – Obscure-ish
Photek – Aura
Sleepy Town Manufacture – Latatoo
Alaska & Seba – Back From Eternity
Inner Rhythm – Carrie

Download

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Did I mention before, that Sleepy Town Manufacture are amazing?

Posted on March 29, 2009 by bobbykins
Sleepy Town Manufacture

Sleepy Town Manufacture

So, I’m still actively trawling through the vast Sleepy Town Manufacture back catalogue; You may have recalled from an earlier blog that STM are a collective from Russia, founded in 1999, who make really dreamy, gorgeous ambient music.

…and I mean that, too. I usually find most “ambient” stuff either too weird (99% of IDM), or quite simply boring. Which is precisely why I am so enthusiastic about STM; it’s so melodic, and just lovely, the quality of production in the music is first class; each track sounds so polished, full of emotion, and utterly personal.

The next Sessions Podcast (episode 11) will be available  on Wednesday; Sadly, it was finished before I discovered this STM track, from their album “Inspired By You”. It’s called “Not a Big Deal”, and I happen to believe that it’s truly great; Not a description I give to many songs either, however, I feel, in this instance, that it is fitting.

Find out more about Sleepy Town Manufacture via the following links:

http://www.stown.org/
http://www.myspace.com/sleepytownmanufacture

STM’s latest album, a collaboration with Unit21, is avaiable to listen to / purchase via Bandcamp:
http://stm-unit21.bandcamp.com/

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Music V2 Has Gone – Some Mixtapes May Be Unavailable…

Posted on March 29, 2009 by bobbykins

So, unfortunately, the excellent mixtape hosting website MusicV2 seems to have gone, for good. This is the statement posted on their homepage:

Musicv2 has always operated on a minimal or no profit basis and has been run as a “community project”. Over the last year revenues fell over 60% and the site began to steadily lose money. We tried everything we could from finding investors, setting up sponsorships and even going to the community to assist in this time. Unfortunately none of those things worked out and it simply became impossible to keep the site online.

I had 25 mixes uploaded to MusicV2, I am now in the process of re-hosting them at a website caled Postbocks. This is the new URL for my mixes:

http://robertgraff.postbocks.com/

Much like MusicV2, Postbocks allows both streaming and downloading of all mixtapes. Whether it will provide as much exposure as Music V2 did remains to be seen.

Please note that this doesn’t affect the itunes / podcast service. Hopefully by the end of this week, the mixtapes will be back online, via Postbocks.

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Floating Points – Love Me Like This – Out Now on 12″

Posted on March 26, 2009 by bobbykins
Love Me Like This

Love Me Like This

The next single from Floating Points is “Love Me Like This”, which you may well have heard in the February Edition of my podcast.

It’s a gorgeous piece of house music with very funky 80s samples cleverly intertwined with an infectious analogue bassline. Luckily for us, despite what he said on Gilles Peterson’s Radio 1 show a few weeks back, the 12″ includes the original mix with samples intact.

It’s available now from Juno Records, and quite possibly, numerous other record shops.

From what I’ve heard of FP’s forthcoming material, he’s definately one to watch out for in 2009.

Links
http://www.juno.co.uk/covers/348554-01-front.htm
http://www.myspace.com/floatingpoints
http://www.eglorecords.com/

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