The BPM Continuum – March-April 2020

Published on 2020-06-01 00:00:00 by Aurélien

As much as I’d love not to start with the obligatory topic that the entire world’s been focusing on in the past two months, I’m compelled to by the effects on our ecosystem. It just wouldn’t be right to write a feature on forward-thinking electronic music and the way bass music moves and not mention the effects of worldwide lockdowns on these scenes. The economic and social impact of the Covid-19 crisis, with the actual risk of industry-scale collapse, has already been much discussed. The implications are even wider though – with the lack of events, club music in general has lost its primary point the point that gives it it’s name and, often, it’s purpose. This rings particularly true in the case of bass music: productions are frequently designed in the functional aim to sound efficient on a club system. What happens to the music when you lose this context?Artists who send me tracks do not reflect the whole scene, but judging from the music I’ve been sent in the last two months, the music becomes weird, innovative and often fascinating. I’ve been receiving some of the strangest dubs I’ve ever had, tunes that try less club-effective percussive patterns, abstract textures and more. This may only be the beginning; I’m definitely looking forward to see these tracks finding labels in the next few months and more new material developing. Besides the sounds themselves, the lockdowns also brought these scenes to their politically-committed roots – something that’s definitely to welcome if you ask me. Compilations aiming to raise funds for organisations have been multiplying. I would recommend checking out Panel Audio’s Inside Hour, which ranges from future garage to dubstep, and whose profits will go towards the NHS, or a couple of comps from the French scene raising money against ill-housing – the Quarantine Sonic Squad compilation gathers 47 tracks for a fiver, from noise to UK Funky, grime to techno, while Egregore came up with an equally excellent pay-what-you-want 24-tracker.It is hard to evaluate the impact of the situation on releases that came out in the last couple of months – most of these were actually written and planned way before lockdowns began. Still, there was lots of creativity to be found in recent releases. I’ll start off with some of the most innovative I’ve heard. DLGHT’s Dans le doute, out on his own imprint ABRI CATALOG, brings together bass, ambient, IDM and breaks in freeform tunes that seem to follow their own path, carving their own, emotionally-loaded style. J-Shadow is a regular in this chronicle, just as Simply Deep is. Their encounter, which takes the form of Modulator EP, just had to feature in here, especially seeing as it is one of the finest examples of J-Shadow’s unique take on grime, breaks, hardcore and more – spacial synths, ever-evolving structures, refined breaks and retro-futuristic atmospheres. Italian producer xr/spool: came up with a remarkable tape on Comic Sans Records – with heavy use of breaks, the artist transcends the notions of style and BPM and offers intricate sound design, menacing tones and passionating tunes for the entire duration of its two sides. Another release I’d like to mention on that tip is NFEREE’s Visions 013 EP, out through Kornarion, which leans closer to noise, slow techno and ambient with incredible results.The 130BPM axis remained just as active as it’s been in the past year, if not more. There’s been a wealth of releases treading new ways in the hybrid path connecting techno, breaks, grime, dubstep and more – and actually ranging all the way from 120 to 140BPM. I really enjoyed the first various by newborn imprint Draconian Audio – Lineage gathers four tracks going from techno to dubstep, it sounds really promising for what’s still to come from this camp. Check out PAS1’s “Crofters Dub” for a fine example of that well-infused mixture of sounds. The usual players in this game also turned out with interesting new tricks. Jelly Bean Farm delivered a killer new EP from Rnbws, with major rave and breaks influences. Another trailblazing label, Glome Sound, offered us new music from the ever-too rare Milanese duo Ltd Colours. Hypho and Xakra’s Manuka Records also gave us an insight into the sounds of one of the most promising producers at the moment, Kahter, with the hypnotic Metanoia EP. Closer to UK Garage, British duo Earthnut published one of Southpoint’s most absorbing recent releases – have a listen to the fractured 2-step swing of “Estrella Breath” for a fine example. One last release on that tip – Dusk + Blackdown’s done a great wealth for 130 all over the last decade, and remain at the forefront with Rollagelive vol 1, a mix of dubs and recent releases wandering through the whole spectrum of 130BPM bass music, which you can get now through Keysound.Raising the tempo now – there was also plenty of inventiveness to be found around 140BPM. I was really impressed with Barrett’s new EP for Instigate Recordings: ranging from the breaks and garage-infused “MK15” to an esoteric collab with Pharma, it is definitely worth all your attention. Another interesting take on dubstep came from Wetman’s debut release on the ever-reliable eatmybeat – dubstep, dub, breaks gathering in percussive workouts that can turn out heavy or trippy. I also have to mention Bassin Records’ newest EP, which marks a new step from the Belgian imprint – their first physical release in the form of a limited dub plate. Music-wise, the split unites two of the most renowned 140bpm producers hailing from Belgium, 11th Hour and Zygos, and assembles four solid tracks – “Sodesko” is an absolute anthem and probably one of the finest dubstep tracks you’ll hear all year.

I’ll close up this edition with some more-breaks orientated releases. Denham Audio and Borai have been pioneers of the breakbeat wave that’s been knowing new highs over the last year or so, and their common Club Glow label has been a reliable source of breaks crossing the space between 120 and 170BPM. Their latest tape does just the same, paying homage to Tokyo hero Naoki who sadly passed away recently, through gathering some of the finest breaks providers – Sully, Etch, LMajor, Thugwidow – as well as promising newcomers – Skin Teeth’s contribution really stands out. On a similar vein, Gablonkers inaugural release offers successful blends of electro, jungle, acid, techno and breaks from the likes of FLX, Cloud Current or Repeat Eater. Sterlo is a producer that really caught my attention through a sound that sticks grime, garage or dark funky together. “Reset” and “Rollin Up”, which came out in the form of a self-released Bandcamp two-tracker, showcase the more hardcore- / electro-orientated side of his productions – “Reset” in particular will fill your breakbeat cravings. One last release for this edition: Slippery Sounds first compilation offers just that, breaks and syncopation from innes.av, KRSLD or label founder SSSLIP. It is filled with great tunes and connects footwork, garage, hardcore and more.

Written by Aurélien