Big Up Podcast

Chances are you don’t know who Arno Lemons is. But if you trust our instinct, people gonna start talking very soon. Still not able to grow a full mustache, Arno is already big in the game in Antwerp, Belgium with his night Anti Matter. He is able to regularly show off his selection and mixing skills at his own night, but for the rest of the world we have asked Arno to mix his favorite tracks at the moment, and he came back with an hour-long gem featuring Boddika, Joy O., Mosca, Dusky, Whitesquare, Manaré and many more. Ladies and Gentlemen. This is Arno Lemons.

It’s a very rare occasion (only happened once in our lifetime) when we invite musicians for a Big Up Podcast session for the second time. But when we heard Pixelord’s new Supaplex EP, it was out of the question that we needed this man on the buttons again. And there you have him. Right now. Just press play and you’ll hear Russian juke (!), emotive digitalism and half-stepping bass riddims. Add a couple of unreleased Pixelord dubs and you get a perfect recipe for a brand new Big Up mix. Let’s go!

What do we know about Intager? California-born. Texas-based. Has dope press shot. Sick DJ. The latter you can crosscheck by listening to his brand new mix for Big Up. And you might also discover Intager’s producing skills on his stand out track “UNO” at the 51st minute. But don’t be quick to fast-forward, there are plenty of goodies spread through the mix, including Scuba, Julio Bashmore, Jon Convex, George Fitzgerald, Doc Daneeka, Pariah, Jacques Green, Ikonika and more… Allstar line-up. Stellar mix.

Put your hands up in the air if you’re in the mood for some good music right now. Actually nevermind, we're not going to make you do it. Just sit back, pour a cup of your favorite beverage, and enjoy the sounds of brand new Big Up Podcast, mixed for you by Decibel Festival bossman - Sean Horton a.k.a. Nordic Soul. Claiming this the "most eclectic" mix he's ever done, Nordic Soul delivers one and a half hours of various genres, sounds, and styles from producers all united by the fact that they'll be performing at Seattle's Decibel Festival this year.

It’s a rare and unique occasion when we receive a mix of all-original material, and when it happens we don’t think twice about publishing it. Especially when it comes to Mite’s all-original material. Prepare to hear a whole lot more from and about this Atlanta-based Embassy Recordings artist, just as his (collaborative with Ewalk) brand new EP Body Tap drops via B.YRSLF. Obviously man’s got a lot more tricks up his sleeve. Keep watch.

Some of the deepest and heaviest original dubstep tracks that we've heard in a while are now documented on the newest Big Up Podcast episode mixed by J:Kenzo. And when we say heavy, we mean none of that bro-it's-all-about-the-drop nonsense, we mean roaring, industrial, and rich bass in a true J:Kenzo style. If you remember standing by the subwoofer in a dark room of roughly 20 people, all eyes down, head-bobing to then new sound of dubstep - you will definitely enjoy the mix J:kenzo cooked up for you.

With upcoming releases on numerous respected labels, like Med School, Space Cadets, and Auxiliary, including "Why Don’t You” set to kick off the re-birth of Apollo records, we felt it’s a perfect moment to ask our favorite Mancunian – Joe Synkro – to contribute to Big Up Podcast with a mix. And as he always has done in the past, he exceeded our expectations, delivering one of the deepest, most meditative, thoughtful, and of course bass-heavy mixes we’ve ever heard. It is also one of the hardest mixes to describe with words, and we’re getting pretty emotional every time we try, so the best we can really do, is provide you with the download link and a play button. You do the rest.

Today we’ve got a brand new mix for you by the one and only DJ Madd. Hungarian-born, now England-based former drum and bass DJ, now dark bass guru and Dubstep Awards 2012 nominee for the Best Producer, Peter Simon just debuted with his new album The Real and The Shadow which explores the depths of dark dubstep and dives into garage, jungle, and other cross-genre explorations. This one is definitely for the heads.

Drew and Al - formally Alberto Hernandez (Enoe) and Andrew Siedenburg (Eightsix) - long-time friends and fellow New Yorkers - produce together under the name of Background Sound. Their Close EP released on Join The Dots imprint moved many hearts and people have been asking for more ever since. Well, here they are giving you 45 minutes of original and mostly unreleased material mixed into a beautiful ride, a background sound to your journey through space and time. Don't mean to get all poetic on you, but damn, these guys deserve it.

There is a story about a man who has courage to explore the mistery of unknown and limitless Universe. At the beginning of his journey he stays in darkness somewhere in the outer space, afraid of his every step forth. But when he realises the adventure that is waiting for him, he feels no fear anymore and his imagination starts to paint colourful landscapes. Put your headphones on, lay down on the floor and take your own space trip with music of: The RAah Project, Alex Patchwork, Lung, Krts, Kwala, Blue Daisy, Memotone, 1000names, Kowton, Robag Wruhme, Volor Flex, Pixelord, Arkist, Dojo, Sina., Guerre, Robot Koch, John LaMonica and Daisuke Tanabe. What are the colors of darkness that you’ve just discovered? Enjoy...

You know when you go out to a show and the supporting band, that you've never heard of, is actually much better than the headliner. And you're blown away. And you just can't believe that you've been missing out on this talent... Well, you might have the same feeling when you take a listen to Seekae. Maybe it's for the fact that the trio is from Sydney, and their fame travels slow across the ocean, but we were completely in awe with their +DOME album, that took everything we knew about IDM, hip-hop, indie pop and post-rock, threw it all away and renamed it into "ghetto ambient." Whatever you call it, it sounds fucking nice. And chill. And we can't get enough. So we asked Seekae to put together a Big Up Podcast for us. But mainly for you. Enjoy.

The second piece of music fro you today is on entirely different vibe. Silent Dust – a talented duo from UK – previously known as Hobzee and Zyon Base in the dnb scene – now produce these beautiful arrangements of texturized dubstep, sonic base, and sound perfect for a film noir, what’s with all the cinematic vocals and dark imagery. They are releasing their self-titled album end of this month, and have graciously agreed to share the preview of the album material, including the very first song created for the album: Marlow. We’ll cut with the words now, it’s all about this music, preferably in the dark.

We present to you – the galaxy beat girl, the outer-music-space traveller, the mind-and-genres-bender – Tinker. 8-bit, skwee, wonky, otherstep, future bass, broken beat, and good ol’ hip hop – all made their way into this 30-minue mix from the lady who “rarely plays the song that you can sing along to.” Although you WILL find yourself chanting “there’s a name for people like me” somewhere in the middle of the mix. And it will be a good thing.

We have come to the 50th episode of our podcast series, and this time we prepared something very special. All-original material from our favorite Bristolean producer - Phaeleh. Stunning melodies, soothing subbass, and piercing emotiveness fill the whole 50 minutes of Phaeleh production mixed into a beautiful soundscape. You do need a powerful sub for this one. And maybe a loved one by your side.

A couple of months ago we've mentioned the talented Southamptoner with a wonderful sound - Gang Colours - who was readying his debut EP In your Gut Like A Knife for GIles Peterson's label - Brownswood. Straight away we received lots of positive feedback and today we are excited to bring you this exclusive mix from Gang Colours, which is bound to touch many music lovers. Seriously, it's like he got into our "most played" and "watch these kids" playlists and pulled 10 top tunes to mix. Enjoy.

Monki is so badass, she should be given an award! This 19-year-old plays a weekly show on the infamous RInse FM, deejays Fabric, Plastic People, YOYO, and owns a collection of Air Max shoes. Backed by Bok Bok, Annie Mac and the Rinse fam, Lucy "Monki" Monkimon stands strong on their level. But we won't do no name-dropping, we'll let Monki drop the freshest beats and the heaviest basslines. Damn... this girl! Serious big ups!

The newest signing to Modeselektor’s imprint Monkeytown Records – Californian beat maker eLan – has impressed us from the get-go with a very elaborate release Bleep Bloop Brrrrmmp. His on-point future hip hop beats, so often compared to those of Dilla, combined with eLan-style glowing synths immediately speak “talent” and “quality.” They also scream “gimme that!” and “whoa, what the bleep IS this?!” We present you the new installment of Big Up Podcast, mixed by eLan. Expect bleeps, bloops, brrrrmmps, and of course booms!

He needs no introduction. 21 years deep into the bass game, Marcus Intalex is recognized by millions of music fans in cross-over genres for deejaying, promoting events, radio shows, and running two essential record labels. Having been this busy, his first solo album is only being released now 21 years in, and it’s appropriately entitled 21. We have asked Marcus to create a mix of some of his favorite beats at the moment, and he came through with vibes. If you expect jungle or drum and bass, we are pleased to say: not this time, baby. Instead, breath in and dive deep…

Back in the very distant February of 2009 when Big Up was a small few-months-old baby and New Zealand’s back-then-trio Truth were somewhat of a teenager bubbling up in the dubstep genre, the two parties combined and released the Big Up Podcast mix #4 which has become one of the most downloaded Big Up mixes. Over the course of the following couple years, while Truth (now duo) have grown into the dons of the deep heavy bass, we invited them to play our show in SF, published an extensive feature on the Truth sound, and even ate a whole grilled chicken together in one seating. Yes, we go way back(forward). This excellent mix we present to you today consists 90% of their original material and is indeed the true face of Truth

Siberian-born, Moscow-based Alexey Devyanin is one hell of a Pixelord. Having spent years of his life writing experimental music as Gultskra Artikler, Alexey got himself a Playstation and started pixelording around with hip-hop, 8-bit, and dub. As a result, numerous releases on Error Broadcast, lots of gigs in the beat scene events, and the brand new "Puzzles" EP out on Seattle-based label Car Crash Set. Boy, you make the eastern bloc proud. Keep it up!