Thanks to Liquid Djems (Atomic Drop / Liquid Records) and friends, Brighton has a two new alternating nights, Brighton Bass and Incognito. With the promise of regular glitch in the line up, and the specific lure of Nimbus and Kursa, plus a convenient 7th birthday party, I went down to check out the more psychedelic of the sister nights, the inaugural Incognito.
Both nights take place at Psycho Social, formerly the Ocean Rooms, providing three floors of multi-genre bass music. We got there just in time for Nimbus on the ground floor, playing a really danceable set that spanned bouncing glitch hop, funky dubwise and psychedelic mid-tempo breaks. Jae Nimbus is someone who seems to have an eternally sunny disposition, which really comes through in his music in feel good vibes and dance-abilty. By the end of the set the hazy purple ambiance was packed with smiling dancers. He's recently been signed by Liquid Records with a release due in May and a slot at Glade, one to watch out for this year!
I had to skip Slackbaba to see KURSA play upstairs in a back to back set with WonKay Records boss Bunkle. The top room of Pyschosocial is one of those mirrored, leather sofa affairs that seems like it was designed for champagne quaffing, chang chugging, R&B nights, rather than dirty bass; but somehow it seemed to fit rather well. As it turned out, they each played pretty much a full 30-45 minute set, with just one switch over in between. The first half of KURSA's set consisted of his crisp brand of neuro-hop - funking basslines and popping snares - which gradually accelerating into dubstep and some pretty heavy technical drum and bass. He's definitely mining a sound in a similar vein to Koan Sound, which seems a pretty good bet right now and with very tasty upcoming releases on Adapted Records and WonKay, he's another one to keep an eye on in 2012.
Bunkle closed the B2B with some nicely varied dubstep and dancehall bass before we rolled back downstairs for the empress of electro filth Mary Miss Fairy for a brilliantly broken set. Although I'm not really into psytrance these days, which was supposedly the main draw in the basement, if rooms 2 and 3 at your night are this good then you must be doing something right.
Liverpool label Skanky Panky Records have been leading the glitch hop charge in the North West for the last few years. Label co-founder William Breakspear will be hosting our next Glitch.fm Radio Show on Wednesday 7 March from 10pm-12am GMT (join the party in the chat room!).
Introduce yourself...
I’m William Breakspear - producer, DJ, and co-head of Skanky Panky Records.
How would you describe your particular style of glitch hop?
My sound is really varied. I take influences from Electronica, Nuskool breaks, Funk and DnB. Anything with a breakbeat really! Lots of people say I have a strong oldskool element to my sound and I’m happy about that ‘cos I love early 90s rave music!
You've been teasing us with the release of your debut album for a while. What can we expect from it?
When it arrives, you’ll be treated to a range of styles and vibes, all fitting into the William Breakspear sound. There’s everything from reggae tinged vocal tracks to pure instrumental glitch hop on there. I think it will surprise some, as there is stuff on there like nothing I’ve released before. Check out the clip:
What first turned you onto glitch hop? Any particular artists or tracks?
When I first met SixAM they were rocking Glitch Hop all over the Northwest of England. I couldn’t believe this sound, a fusion of pretty much everything I love about electronic music! One of the tracks they rinsed back then sticks in my head - Sub Swara & Juakali - The Balance. Absolutely merked the dance, but you can listen to it doing the washing up. Not much hits that life nerve for me these days!
We were lucky enough to work with Juakali on the last Memory9 single on Skanky Panky - great dude and fantastic vocalist.
How did Skanky Panky come about?
Myself and Buddha (SixAM) started jamming more and more in the studio and our productions began to get closer to the sound he was playing out. We started searching for outlets for our music to be released and couldn’t find anywhere in the UK that we felt was right for us. So we created Skanky Panky.
The releases seem to have, and to have helped define, quite a distinctive sound. How did you manage to pull together such a quality list of artists from around the world?
We were lucky enough to know a lot of the artists from previous projects. With some of them, (like Freddo & ASM or Mix n Blend) we found tracks of theirs that suited the sound. With others (like Jazz Mags or Eddy Crusher) they were inspired enough by what we’re doing to write something for the label.
With others like J.me.J, we approached them (often through Glitch Hop Forum), and they liked the vibe of the label and the other artists we were working with and jumped on board! It’s not rocket science, just hard work and dedication to the cause!
Where do you like to play the most?
I love playing festivals the most of any crowd. You just find that there are so many people discovering the music you’re playing for the first time and it can be beautiful. I bet even house DJs get that feeling! Can’t wait for the festival season to arrive this year, it’s very exciting times for the UK GH fam!
What's the craziest gig you've ever played?
Probably like 10 years back, in my Nuskool Breaks days when I used to go to the south of Spain a lot. Man the kids there are nuts! Their parties don’t start till 1am so they are always found in the car park after the rave, dancing round their cars. Party animals! Happy blurry memories of those days, but not much left of the specifics if you know what I mean!
What's your favourite track at the moment?
K+lab has just done a couple of remixes for Skanky Panky of some Sedge Warbler tracks. His Paranormal Ox Man remix is something I just can’t stop listening to! The fusion of the crazy vocal by Disco with Caleb’s crazy bass sounds and switches just destroy me and every dance! It’s out 1st of May - check out the whole EP here:
Who's inspiring you at the moment?
So many people across the board inspire me. I’m a big fan of Nice Up! records, Shepdog always seems to be bringing something fresh to the midtempo bass music crowd. I’m a big fan of people who can fuse new production with classic vibes, so I’m really into the 140bpm jungle sound at the moment - Sub Slayers are so hot right now, and Yoof is smashing it for me! In the Glitch Hop scene, Koan Sound, K+Lab, Vent, iBenji all doing wonders for me. I could go on all day haha!
Who are you looking out for in 2012?
The french crew Mc2 are really doing it for me at the moment. They have a really unique sound which is the biggest draw for me. Check out their soundcloud - a few killer free downloads on there! Can’t wait to see what they have in store for 2012!
Where can we see you playing next and over the summer?
I’ve got a few gigs TBC but can’t give details yet! I’m playing at the Skanky Panky Records taveover of the Meteor Stage at Glade Festival this summer. Big up to the Uppercut crew for organising that - it’s like a who’s who of the UK Glitch Hop scene! You can catch me once a month on www.glitch.fm as part of the UK Glitch Hop show. Keep an eye on the William Breakspear artistdata page for up to date info!
http://artistdata.sonicbids.com/william-breakspear
What have you got lined up for your first show on Glitch FM?
The first show will include some fantastic exclusive guest mixes from my partner in crime at Skanky Panky Records - SixAM and another from Terrorbyte - the head honcho of the Beta Birmingham crew. There will be plenty of Skanky Panky exclusive tracks from myself and our other artists, plus some cool features like my reminiscipackage - looking back at influential IDM from the 90s. Well worth a tune in 22:00 GMT Wednesday the 7th of March 2012.
One last thing, I would just like to say; massive thanks to Chris / Morbidly Obese Midget for getting the UKGH blog and Glitch FM show off the ground, and creating some extra solidarity in the UK scene - bare props bro!
Ahead of his first radio show for UK Glitch Hop on Glitch.FM, we caught up with bare-knuckle-crunk fighter Your Niece. Tune into Glitch.fm tonight from 10pm-12am GMT (party in the chat room!) or listen again at soundcloud.com/ukglitchhop
Introduce yourself...
My name is Rhys Clarke, better known by my DJ moniker Your Niece.
How would you describe your particular style of glitch hop?
I like the edgy more aggressive crunk influenced stuff. I guess you could say tunes with a bit of swagger. I use a lot of acapellas in my sets to thread different styles like dnb, electro and dubstep together. Before I'd ever heard of glitch-hop I was a sucker for any kind of rapping over dance tracks.
What first turned you onto crunk and glitch hop? Any particular artists or tracks?
In 2007 my friend came back from Burning Man talking about this thing 'glitch-hop'. He mentioned the the names Bassnectar and the Glitch Mob. As soon as I heard West Coast Rocks I knew that was the sound I wanted to play.
What's the scene like where you are?
I've been playing glitch-hop for about 4 years now and I'm really surprised how new it still is to a lot of people in the UK. There are now some really good labels dedicated to the sound and you can definitely hear it's influence bleeding into other styles whether people know it came from glitch-hop or not. We've just started a night called 'Uppercut' which will be one of the first glitch-hop specific nights in London so watch this space.
Where do you like to play the most?
I'd have to say at the Secret Garden Party Festival. I've played there for the past 6 years and I've grown with the festival, each year getting to play to a bigger crowd. The set I got to play before Bassnectar last year was pretty career-defining.
What's the craziest gig you've ever played?
Secret Garden Party put on a big Valentines Ball in this huge swanky venue (a boutique hotel in Brixton). They opened up the whole place including some bedrooms at the back and gave me a huge sound system and the keys to the master bedroom. I'd just started playing glitch-hop out so it was really exciting seeing the look on people's faces when an edIT tune dropped. It got totally out of hand, the 4-poster bed got flattened, the plasma tv smashed and their was an orgy in the hot-tub. Just like a rap music video!
What's your favourite track at the moment?
Probably 'Glass Bong' by Stagga and Monky, two producers from Wales, which, incidentally is where I'm originally from.
Who's inspiring you at the moment?
I'm loving some the stuff that the German label Robox Neotech is putting out. Experimental but still retaining the danceable hip-hop energy.
Who are you looking out for in 2012?
The guy that features in my first show Shamanic Technology has been working like a madman in the studio and has piles of fresh stuff he'll be unleashing which is sure to cause an impact. He's already getting recognition stateside picking up sets at Burning Man this year. Beat3 are another name to watch closely, they've got an imminent release on the Muti label and some exciting sounding collaborations in the pipeline.
Where can we expect to see you playing next and over the summer?
It's always busy with festival bookings over summer. Glade and Secret Garden Party I'm particularly excited about as I'm helping program a new venue that will be tying in with the 'Uppercut' night we've just started in London. I'm headlining Uppercut's Bare Knuckle Bass on 10 March vs. Head of State and alongside Sweet Jesus, Atomic Drop, Beat3 and SixAM.
What have you got lined up for your first show on Glitch FM?
I've got an all-originals guest mix from Shamanic Technology and getting excited about the line-up for Uppercut's area at Glade festival which is utterly ridiculous.
Catch Your Niece on Glitch.FM from 10pm-12am GMT Wednesday 29 February 2012. For an archive of UK Glitch Hop on Glitch.FM go to soundcloud.com/ukglitchhop
So first things first, we've now got our first ever weekly show on Glitch FM! Huge thanks to everyone who tuned in for the Morbidly Obese Midget DJ set and Zen Death Squad interview on Wednesday. Here at last is the (rescued) recording on our new Soundcloud account where we'll archive all the shows in future. Tune in this Wednesday 10-12pm for Your Niece!
Akira Kiteshi's album should be out anytime now. Check out this interview he's just done for BBC Introducing in Scotland complete with some 'radiophonic dolphin crunk'-style album previews
Following the strength of the DJ sets we had last month, I'm going to start pulling out a 'mixtape of the month' in every round up form now. Last month Orangudan clinched from some tough competition, but this month it has to be to DJ Primer for this epic mid-tempo journey. The mixing and tune progression are spot on, especially the middle hour, and there's a lot of fresh tunes in there and plenty of Skanky Panky action.
Talking of Skanky Panky, they've got all guns blazing at the moment. While we all wait for Breakspear's album to drop they've been busy teasing us with the Sedge Warbler remixes, including some tasty arrangements from Cut La Roc and label boss SixAM
Even if you're not mad keen on that Jiffster track, do check out some of the Liverpudlian's own tunes on Soundcloud. They seem to span quite a nice range of mostly more down-tempo electronica. This one is the most glitch hop of the lot, but comes from quite a fresh angle at the same time
And lastly here's a clip of Breakspear's lastest remix to keep your mouth watering. He's going to be taking the Glitch FM show on Wednesday 3 March
Leaving the Skanky ones well alone now, but keeping it 'oop North, Wolfie Razzmatazz produced one of my favourite mash ups of last summer - Opiuo vs. swing violinist Stuff Smith. This set gives you a full hour of the best glitch and swing from the likes of JFB, JPod, Vent and Dutty Moonshine
Another purveyor of fine bass and swing mash-ups is Barely Legit aka DJ Dodgy Style from Exeter, who's released 'Organic Clown High' as a free download this month
Picking up the funk, Pistol Shrimp from Bristol has his first EP, 'Kaleidoscope', coming out through L.A. label Prime Dub sometime soon. This is the third track he's previewed from it and my favourite so far. 80s synth-wave glitch hop gets my vote. If you've not done so before, go search for BBC Wildlife videos of Pistol Shrimps
Also from Bristol, I've been really loving this Beat Dweebs Valentine's freebie since it went up
Your Niece is going to be featuring a guest mix from Shamanic Technology on his upcoming show. He's recently uploaded a bunch of tunes from an forthcoming release called 'The Inexplicable Something'
That most prolific of mildew affected spiritualists, Mouldy Soul's been previewing more laid back tasty treats...
If you'd like to be included in future round-ups, add your tunes and mixes to the UK Glitch Hop Soundcloud Group or post them to Facewaste. If you want to hear your tunes on Glitch.FM email your dubs to: uk glitch hop at g mail dot com!
And lastly, if you've been missing out on the romance this month, this is for you!
Big news! The first UK Glitch Hop show on Glitch FM will be broadcast 10-12pm GMT on Wednesday 22 February 2012. Here's an interview with the first of our DJs to take a slot Chris the Morbidly Obese Midget. The other Djs confirmed are Your Niece, Colony Productions, Skanky Panky Records and Mouldy Soul.
Introduce yourself...
I'm Chris the Morbidly Obese Midget. I've been lazily
blogging about glitch hop at Musical Mana and playing out since 2008. I've also been pulling UK Glitch Hop together in the
last few months. I work in cultural PR during day, sometimes get roped
into organising fire shows and always wanted to be a music journalist,
but never got around to it.
How would you describe your particular style of glitch hop?
As a cache-all I'd say 'fat funk'. Chunky, bouncy tunes with a good groove
to them and nice tweaks and beeps for the old synapses. I like to mix
things up a bit as well, from dubstep and future garage to glitch hop,
rolling mid tempo funk and knees up d'n'b.
What first turned you onto crunk and glitch hop?
I used to spend a lot of time listening to psychedelic dub in the chill out
rooms at parties like IDSpiral, then around 2006/7 started noticing this
glitcher sound played by people like Tipper, Bluetech and Nalepa.
Summer 2007 Interchill released the Devil in the Detail compilation and
Muti Music released Clipping Paths. I really loved Ooah's early stuff,
so found the rest of The Glitch Mob and discovered people like Mim0Sa
and ill.gates via Muti, which led me to Bassnectar and other labels. The
first person I heard playing a proper crunk set in the UK was Your
Niece blowing up the master bedroom at the Secret Garden Party's Winter
Ball in about 2009. He's going to be taking next week's show.
What's the scene like where you are? You used to get the occasional artist playing Glade, like Bassnectar,
Nalepa, Spoonbill. The Secret Gardeners spend a lot of time at Burning
Man so they always have glitch there too, if you know where to look.
Bassnectar and The Glitch Mob both played d'n'b club nights last year.
Then I think regionally there are lots of crews plugging away, Skanky
Panky in Liverpool, Dephicit and Barely Legit in the South West, Colony Productions
and various other artists in London. I guess the UK has a strong tradition of
spawning influential labels and genres - Warp, Ninja Tune, the d'n'b culture, breaks, electro
swing and then the whole dubstep thing - so it's an exciting place to be. It's interesting to see a lot of dubstep artists moving into glitchier territory recently and I think this summer will be a big one for UK Glitch Hop.
Bassnectar plays Secret Garden Party
What's the craziest gig you've ever played? Probably Burning Night Paris last year. Like the London Decompressions
and Burning Man itself, they really know how to put on a party. The decor, costumes and performances are amazing. Besides,
I can now say I've Dj-ed at the Moulin Rouge!!
What's your favourite track at the moment? I'm really in love with just about the whole of ill.esha's Reverie and I
can't get Mouldy Soul's ODB remix out my head since I made it my
girlfriend's ringtone.
Who's inspiring you at the moment? Parker from Bristol is the kind of DJ I really admire - versatile,
multi-genre and fun. I've also been really inspired by all the UK
artists I've been in touch with since starting this UK glitch hop
project. It's good to get together!
Who are you looking out for in 2012? Mouldy Soul is on fire, watch out for his show in a few weeks. Debut albums from William Breakspear and Akira
Kiteshi coming out soon. DCarls and Koan Sound were game changers last year with Pistol
Shrimp and the Beat Dweebs also producing a really funky bass, so
looking forward to seeing where they go. Zen Death Squad have been
developing their sound for a new EP which I can't wait to hear. I've
probably forgotten a load of others.
Where can we expect to see you playing next / over the summer? I'm open to offers! Will definitely be at Secret Garden Party and Glade,
plus hoping to find more glitch out at Boom this year. I haven't been
since 2006, but all the West Coast psychedelic artists from The Do Lab
are there, so the glitch can't be far behind.
What have you got lined up for your first show on Glitch FM? All of the above, plus an interview with Zen Death Squad about touring in the US, the new EP and triangle condoms.
2012 has kicked off to a strong start for UK Glitch. Here's what I've gorged myself on this month
The Tunes Mouldy Soul's released yet another kwality EP, this time through BroKen Records
The man with the stagnant spirit has also reworked Hedflux and Neurodriver's psy breaks banger Energy Vibration into an off-kilter mechanical squelch-fest for the Broken Robot remix competition.
The last I heard from KURSA was dubstep tune that showed a lot of potential but was a bit too jump up. Further investigation reveals that the man actually has more funk than that. Bonnibelle is a badass mid-tempo lazer bass blaster to be released very soon through those purveyors of quality free music from the psychedelic underground, Wonkay Records. Grab the Hackney test track below, while you wait.
Hiding away down in deepest darkest Brizzzzol have been The Beat Dweebs, who profess to making music that makes you go 'Uuuuuhhh...' S'gotta hella lotta funk. Works for me.
Pistol Shrimp's got an EP coming out on Prime DUB and it's all about this track. It's like Bobby Tank having a bubble bath with Koan Sound. Love it.
Another nice release from Brighton's Donky Pitch, this time in the shape of man like Boss Kite
On the even more off-kilter Brainfeeder style side of things, Illum Sphere from Manchester gets airtime from a lot of Low End Theory residents. This went up on his Soundcloud just before the New Year, with a release expected soon
New one for me this month, downtempo glitch schizznit from Drowzy Beats in Brighton. This is exactly what you need to put on after a hectic day at work. Kick back and enjoy!
And lastly some guy called Rat posted this to the UK Glitch Hop Facebook page, which sounds kinda nice.
The mixtapes My find for the month has been Jae Nimbus. I went to Elixir of Life for NYE, but had enough if the party after Slackbaba and Shpongle. I wished I stayed becuase two days later Nimbus posted this mix onto UK Glitch Hop. Mostly self produced tunes, it bodes very well for his first release through Broken Records. Keep an eye out for him playing in Brighton and further afield. Even better, book him to play your party!
Automaton's uploaded this DJ set from Beta Birmingham's Anty Riot Squad album launch party on 22nd December 2011 @ The End, Birmingham. Got lots of big classic tunes in there along with some heavy fresh ones.
Track Listing: 1. Mouldy Soul - Whine and Shine [Colony] 2. Pretty Lights - Still Night [Pretty Lights Music] 3. Prefuse 73 - Choking You [Warp] 4. Mimosa - Another Day [Beatport] 5. Sedge Warbler - Octopus Lover [Skanky Panky] 6. Modeselektor - Dark Side Of The Sun (feat. Puppetmastaz) [Bpitch Control] 7. eDIT - Artsy (feat. The Grouch) [Alpha Pup] 8. Figgy - Dr Gonzo [Soundcloud] 9. Bassnectar - The Sound [Amorphous] 10. Dj Shadow - Walkie Talkie (Spanky Panky Allstars Mix) [Skanky Panky] 11. Tipper - Covered In Lobsters [Tippermusic] 12. Koan Sound - Max Out [Screwloose] 13. Enya - Boadicea (Vespers Remix) [Vespers]
For fans of mid-tempo and variety, you can't do much better than Orangudan's Kneee Deep in Glitch. It's a brilliantly mixed journey through glitch funk, techno, hip hop and breaks. Beware the monkeys.
Pink Lady - Feed Me Feeding Time - Mouldy Soul Talking Smack - K+Lab Come N Get It - J.Me.J Tom Cosm - Bubble Butt - Tom Cosm Gameboy - Mr. Bill vs Black Samurai Night Of The Living Kebab - Messy Mass & Baba Gnohm Assbref - Skeetaz Majoram - Mr. Bill Talk Box (Original Mix) - KOAN Sound Android Porn - Kraddy Ahi Haka (Original Mix) - K+Lab Cyber Dojo Lazer Training - Zen Death Squad Blackjack - Samples Falling Into The Mine - Mad Zach Glitch Villain - Mad Zach Simmer Gently - Blunt Instrument Skurry - Skeetaz Mashington - Mad Zach & R2 The Specialist What If Jimi Was A Monster - Mouldy Soul Covered In Lobsters - Tipper
Agent Smith cut his teeth playing funky breaks and has the turntable scratch skills to boot. He's now applied his skills to the world of funky mid-tempo glitch with some extremely ear pleasing results. More like this please!
Track list- Talk Box- Koan Sound What if Jimmy is a monster- Moldy Soul Creamy Taco- Opiou Yippy cheese face- Moldy Soul One Sure Curative- Slack Baba The light we bring- Love and Light Robo boty- Opiou Global declaration- Omega Freeze dried cellophane- Ali Berger Busted Up- Staunch Slappy cans- Opiou and Mollusk How we do- J Pod Lunatics- Vent Rae! Good thymes- Opiou Social know how- JFB
More psychedelic leaning wobble from Rama Oood. I'm glad to see the downtempo rooms at psy parties are continuing to be the havens of glitchy squelch that they always should be. Just need to get rid of that other room now.
If all that wasn't enough, here's one last set from Dj Prokogy who's been in touch via Soundcloud. Keep up the good work in spreading that glitch love y'all!
That's it for now. If I can find the time I'll be doing a round up of the year in the next few days. If you want to be considered for inclusion, post your tunes and mixes in our Facebook community and Soundcloud group.
We're hoping to have a Glitch.FM show in the New Year - watch this space!
