Big Up Podcast

Popping up relatively early in 2014, the Bristol label Wisdom Teeth debuted with the excellent split single by label boss Facta and the grime wunderkind Wen and has slowly absorbed the skip and slink of garage, road-toughened grime, the stoic stridency of warehouse techno, and the heaving sub-weight that dubstep had left in its wake. With a roster including friends like Acre and Hodge, and an upcoming third release which features label boss K-LONE and Etch, all portents and signs point to a bright future for the young label. I had a chance to sit and chat with both Facta and K-LONE about the killer artwork, the playful yin and yang of what makes a “Wisdom Teeth” track, and what the future holds for the label. K-LONE even threw in a dope mix running the gambit: from glassy-eyed ambient to lavender dubstep to pitch black mongrel musik.

The producer, sound designer and writer from Norfolk, UK, that we’ve been raving about since we’ve heard his forthcoming EP Filas And Undercuts, Luke Sanger has put together an hour-long mix of his choice cuts for a dance floor. Unreleased and forthcoming jungle, hardcore, rave and everything in between, this listening requires your junglist shoes, loud system and preferably an ample space to dance. Ladies and gentlemen, This. Is. Luke’s Anger.

Yung Filo – the way we lovingly refer to the Dutch producer FilosofischeStilte, because we can barely pronounce his name – is up to no good with recent badass releases on Lowriders, upcoming EP on Noah’s Ark, and his new TR-8 in the studio. We picked his brain about philosophy, drug abuse and his producer name to find out that he learnt to mix over Facebook chat, is working on a full-length album, and can never decide what to eat for lunch.

Man like Etch provides the heat for Big Up’s 100th mix installment. The Brighton based jungle revivalist has left a sizable impression on the scene with several acclaimed releases across both Soundman Chronicles and Keysound Recordings, inspiring countless youths along the way. I sat down with the man himself to discuss his forthcoming label, future collaborations and Final Fantasy.

Holding down the Deutsch dubstep movement since 2006, Orson has done much to earn the reputation as Germany’s 140 ambassador. Between releasing vinyl on his Version imprint and throwing nights with the Swamp81 crew, the man himself found time to sit down with us and discuss snowy nights and Stella Sessions. Don’t sleep on the mix, which will bring you straight back 2 FWD>>

Today should go into our personal history as “Pure Niceness” day. It is truly so, because the Paris-based exploding producer Moresounds made you an hour-long mix, which is a live dub of 100% his own original productions, lots of which will never be released. Wow. Twenty tracks, all Moresounds’ alchemy, this tracklist has more questions marks than any other mix we know, but even more various genre elements like dub, jungle, footwork, hip hop, trap… If that’s not Pure Niceness, we don’t know what is.

One of the most enigmatic and authentic Italian labels we know – Gang Of Ducks – or how they call themselves rather humbly G.O.D. – released yet another conceptual album today: No (The Relative Effect of Explication) by XIII.Hand-crafted packaging with black vinyl and screen-printed chrome sleeve is limited to 300, understandably so, because this music is for the chosen few. It becomes evident upon listening to the mix which XIII put together for us. He describes it as a “mix between most recent tracks and cult pieces, which have shaped my musical taste, creating a cross cut journey from psychedelia to punk and all the way to more cybernetic and ambient sides. Everything takes place alternating between emotions connected to the dance floor and more techno-oriented hypnotic moods, with a few tracks from my debut album.” Before you hit play, we suggest that you should open your mind and “push… breathe…”

I think it was some time around late 2008 the first time I heard about Dylan Richards (back when he was producing music under the moniker of King Cannibal). Upon first listen to his productions I found myself reconnecting with the nostalgia of my teen years when I first discovered drum and bass labels like Metalheadz and Moving Shadow (we’re talking early noughties here). After catching Dylan on his US tour back in 2009 he slipped backed under my radar… Then in 2013 I stumbled upon his new project House of Black Lanterns after hearing a remix off of the Truth and Loss EP. Under the HOBL moniker Dylan’s production has continued to evolve. So I was really excited when I had the chance to sit down and pick his brain about a few things like his latest release The Smack EP, his production style and his new modular techno set up.

We have recently introduced you to Touchy Subject – the London based producer and visual artist – whose excellent Ded Line EP just dropped on his own Medallion Sounds imprint. We couldn’t get enough of his quirky, yet smooth and fat sounds, so naturally we invited him to contribute to our Big Up Mix series. Touchy Subject came back with a 40-minute hurricane of LA beats, experimental hip hop, footwork, glitchy breaks, future everything and a healthy dose of humor.

Slow jams are in order. Deep and melodic, soulful and colorful, we’ve got a mix just perfect to cure your winter blues. It was put together by Menik – somewhere in Cuckfield, West Sussex, UK – and features mostly unreleased music from the likes of Synkro, Arkist, Vaun, Occult and Menik himself. As the young producer describes it himself: “The mix is a kind of round up of records I’m feeling at the moment as well of a whole heap of tracks from myself, 98% of the tracks are unreleased created by my friends and I. Hope you enjoy! It is best served on an old school Boom Box walking through New England Wood, West Sussex, UK.”

Once in a while we hear something so different that no expansive vocabulary can describe in words. We can try, but all attempts will be discarded as insufficient, pretentious, or simply not good enough.That is exactly the case with anything that bears an Old Apparatus tag, be it a score for an obscure video material, a sonic witchcraft – Harem EP – on their own Sullen Tone label, a mind-bending live performance in a Brooklyn underground church, or a 48-minute gripping trippy ritual journey that Harem (one-fourth of Old Apparatus) recorded for us this month. So we give up, and let the music do its thing: namely, take us on this introspective cinematic journey through textures, with Harem as a visionary guide holding the sonic torch.

The youngest member of Deep Medi family, young Will Brown, aka Compa, strikes with enthusiasm and eloquence when it comes to talking about his musical journey. Co-running his own label WX/WL, preparing releases on a few influential labels, and embarking on his 8-dates North American Tour, Compa has lots going on. However, inspired by his recent show in Holland, Compa took time to make a mix for us, filled with unreleased dubs, 80% of his own production, yes, including “Alpha” VIP for those who know.

Today we'd like to offer you a survey. The following 52 minutes are designed to help you better understand your emotional response to drums and bass. If you are tempted to think long and hard about a certain way to keep still, or if you feel that there are too many unreleased dubs to keep up with, resist. The most accurate results come from making a snap judgment and letting your body go with the rhythm. To begin, click 'play'.

Sully, original rude boy selecta with an exceedingly polite demeanor, lifts a monstrous slab off the hardcore continuum and chisels out forty minutes of bass weight that’s equally physical, emotional, and cerebral for the 90th mix in our podcast series.

Recorded live in a Brooklyn warehouse back in April at Reconstrvct, this Commodo set has been kept top secret due to the amount of fire dubs the man shot at us that night. Until today. Finally the day has come, and you can stream/download/rewind/repeat.

Danny Scrilla is the name we’ve been hearing so much lately, whether it be associated with his recent stellar release on Rudimentary Records, or him being featured whooping four times on Om Unit’s upcoming Cosmic Bridge compilation, or through his entertaining /bordering with stand-up/ twitter account. Clearly there was a void to be filled, a void in our podcast series, the hole that Danny Scrilla covered up oh-so-very nicely with the mix we’re proud to share with you today.

East London duo Wallwork and RZR Tomasso and Ady for years stayed in the studio making beats for other people as ghost producers. Steadily getting tired of rock, hip-hop and other stuff for other people, they started making drum and bass together. Three/four years later (and some bpms slower) the two create some of the most exciting bass music in UK. Their forthcoming release 'Mad Techno Invasion' EP (out on Infinite Machineon July 14th) has a slightly confusing title, an amazing random cover artwork, and is a beast musically. Something's telling us these boys have lots of tricks up their sleeves.

Just in time for his ninth album release, which came out today via his own Anticon imprint, beatmaker Alias (Brendon Whitney of Portland, Maine) put together an all-original mix for us. Pitch Black Prism is “the first album that I’ve ever done using all software,” Alias says. “I used a Native Instruments Machine instead of MPC, because I was bored and wanted to switch it up and keep it interesting. At first, I felt like I had fucked up, because I didn’t know what I was doing and had to learn an entirely new process, but that was what made it fun.” The mix features only one (title) track from the brand new album, so consider it a bonus to your purchase of Pitch Black Prism.

Romanian elusive producer C L N K, aka Silviu Badea, aka Montgomery Clunk in the past, is definitely on that Fuck Hype tip. From the absence of press shots, media kits and cohesive interviews, to rawness of his real dirty production. Shining light on this sort of talent ain't easy, as you can imagine, but after some chasing we managed to gather a short Q/A and even an hour-long mix of all unreleased cuts from the man himself and his closest group of fellow producers. Real music (no hype). Enjoy.

Recorded live on March 29th, 2014 in a Brooklyn basement at Reconstrvct, this is badman Wen shutting down the sold-out dance. Much love to Wen and the whole Keysound clan for showing us that night what sound systems are made for. Shouts to the whole Reconstrvct family: True Nature, Joe Nice, and Tsunami Bass Sound. No track list, because there are too many question marks and dubs on this one.