Kryptic Minds Fabric Mix

feature-timoutYears ago my friend Tom Dicicco, who was an upcoming producer then and now a regular guest at Berghain, told me about Kryptic Minds. “They are reeeeealy good”, he said, with a knowing nod, as if he knew they were going to be that big as they are now.

With a heritage of dark, soundfocused and complex drum’n’bass they formed a whole genre of dub heavy, reduced and dense dubstep. The niche of dubstep I really love. They are part of the widespread DMZ crew, releasing on their very own Osiris Records and have a worldwide followership who love their “fearsome sub bass assaults that lead listeners into an edgy otherworld”. Their slow and focused tracks produce an energy which is highly hypnotic and infectious and to me they have been very influential in my own dubstep voyage since 2006. I was especially blown away by their performance at Outlook festival together with Youngsta. It was just so massive and overwhelming.

Now they released a mix as a part of the famous Fabric series. Check it out as it subtly driving forward and roomfilling. The better your soundsystem the more the bass will come to life.

Picture from the Osiris page

Electronic music scene in South Africa

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House Music is big in South Africa. Resident Advisor shows a video portrait of the scene in Johannesburg, interviewing producers, DJs, party organizers, showing the impact music can have in a society. Watch Real Scenes: Johannesburg

I like the vibe in this video and to take a look at a to me so far unknown area. And I like the political dimension of it: “In a city still rife with poverty, house music can offer a way out. For our latest Real Scenes film we journeyed to Johannesburg and its outer lying townships, meeting the DJs, producers, promoters and record labels who are central to its story.”

Answer Code Request Podcast

I have been with this guy for almost ten years now. Patrick has always been a good friend and musical companion, I first blogged about him in 2004 when we played together in Baden Baden. Today is a special day because he has finally come as far as to release a mix on one of the worlds most important dj podcasts, Resident Advisor. This is truly amazing and I am very happy and proud.

I followed his way ever since his artistic name was “Patrique” and while his style developed from a deep and groovy house to a more complex, dubby and heavy techno, able to fill big rooms. His current musical project is “Answer Code Request” which represents mature, dubby and spacious electronic music with several releases on Marcel Dettmann Records.

As Patrick Gräser he is a resident in Berghain and Panorama Bar, Berlin and plays at Fabric, London, Amsterdam, Moscow and many other major clubs in Europe. There is only one more step for the next years: Put up a massive live show and play the big festivals and international clubs!

Listen to this atmospheric mix with a really smart story and a diverse selection, nevertheless very consequent and flawlessly mixed. It’s dubby, it’s noisy, it’s soft, it’s harsh, it’s techno, it’s dub, it’s bass, it’s step, it’s pop, it’s like a rollercoaster ride, a really essential mix which captures what Patrick does so well: keep a tension the whole night through.

My “Massiv e Sharif” dubstep mixtape

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I recorded this mixtape a while ago, inspired by my stay at Outlook festival. It’s called “Massive e Sharif”. Massive as in big and voluminous, living bass lines and Sharif as in noble protectors of the tribe for elegant grooves and sophisticated rhythms. Enjoy.

Tracklist:

Badman VIP – Kryptic Minds
Blackout – Jack Sparrow
Kingfisher – RSD
Good Music – Bombaman
Sidewinder – Killawatt
Sweat – Untold
Booyant – Distal
The Raven – Biome
Avalanche – Photek
Deep Tech – Icicle
False Flag – Moving Ninja, Pinch

Music history in gifs

What a great selection of historical moments in music history. Here is Tupac in prison while being number one in the charts:

“1995. Tupac releases his most sensitive record, Me Against the World. Subsequently he becomes the first artist to have a record reach number one on the charts while serving a prison sentence. Also, he wrote a screenplay and got married while imprisoned.”

See many many more gifs about music history here.

MR-808: When digital goes analog and back

How cool is that?! Here is a “real” drum machine inspired by the legendary TR-808. A “drum robot” which consists of a complete drum set built in a big box, with each instrument being triggered by Midi. So, what started to be the first digital drum becomes analog and goes back in the digital loop. Hard to understand? Watch this video.

MR-808 – mechanic drum robot from Sonic Robots on Vimeo.

Moritz Simon Geist who built this says “… we are the first ones to transfer the electronic sounds of the most influential electronic drum computer TR-808 into the real world and make it highly playable for a musician! The idea behind the installation is to highlight the origin of the sounds in a way no conventional media of electronic music production is usually able to… We mainly used motors and solenoids as actuators, which are triggered by a power electronic device and an Arduino. The musical control is realized with MIDI, the latency and the lighting control system are implemented in MAX / MSP.”

Find out more about the background and its nerdy technical features

But that’s not all! There is also a band, “Science Fiction Children” who sound a bit like The Rapture or Bodi Bill, check out their hit “Rise of the toys”

Rise of the Toys – Science Fiction Children from david campesino on Vimeo.