Clue - Interview

I've never really been fan of drum and bass, but the genre seems to be slowly growing on me the more I have been exposed to it. I have become especially fond of the rising liquid drum and bass sector, with it's calmer atmosphere and increased instrumental layers, a genre which Hospital Records and artists such as Alix Perez, High Contrast and London Elektricity have been pushing for a few years now.

A new artist in particular on the liquid scene has really impressed me with his material. I first found out about Clue after seeing him DJ a few times at Beats and Bass nights in Exeter, and his sets at the Cavern really impressed me so I decided to look up his soundcloud page. I was delighted to find some of his great production work, which recently really seems to be taking off. My favourite of his tracks is the brilliant 'Free Falling', with its great chord and beat arrangements, lovely distorted vocals and of course the great drop at the 1.33 mark. It's this sort of brilliant production that has led to radio play on BBC Radio 1 XTRA by Crissy Criss for consecutive weeks, as well as supporting High Contrast and praise from Spor. These are tracks your really going to want to hear, and I'm sure his name will be one we'll be seeing a lot more of in the future. You can check out his work by clicking here.

I got in touch with Clue and he kindly agreed to an interview, which you can now read blow.

Interview:

Hi. Firstly, could you please introduce yourself and tell you a little bit about what you do?

"Hey, I'm Olie Keogh. I'm a liquid music producer and drum and bass DJ hailing originally form buckinghamshire but now at Exeter university."

How did you first get into music production?

"I firstly got into music production when i was about 17 making crap electro pop tunes on my laptop! (see peter on the bear on itunes for more details haha) but then got serious about production last December at Christmas time, when I started making liquid drum and bass. under the alias 'Clue'."

You also DJ for Beats and Bass in Exeter. Are you sets generally drum and bass orientated, and do you enjoy this as much as production?

"My sets are usually drum and bass orientated, but that's not to say that I don't mix any other genre's. When supporting High Contrast I did a dubstep step because the promoter was keen for it last minute, which is fine by me. I'm keen to mix anything with a breakbeat really- cant get enough of that."

Who are your greatest musical influences?

"My greatest musical influences would have to start with the hospital records vibes, London Elektricity High Contrast danny byrd and Logistics being the heavy weights that set me on my way- that got me into everything. I remember it was form the first time I heard kiss kiss bang bang from high contrast I was totally hooked on drum and bass, as well as DJ hypes drum and bass arena (not that I listen to a lot of Hype's mixes anymore really!). As I got more into drum and bass I discovered the deeper more chilled vibes as well as harder jungle vibes to- Commix, Mutt, and as more recently Netsky having a massive influence on the music I create. The reason I love liquid so much is that it is a blanket term to describe anything with western musical influences on drum and bass, from chilled out jazz samples and piano samples to big melodic basslines and huge sidechained synths."

What artists/tracks are you into at the minute?

"Atists I'm feeling at the moment- Netsky and Camo & Krooked are notably smashing the scene at the moment. Netsky bringing a vibe that has never been brought before (arguably takign liquid into a 'nu skool' vibe with harder more energetic drums. Fred V & Grafix are friends of mine hailing form Exeter who are also two artists to look out for in the coming years, these boys are getting huge attention within this new genre which I pride myself to be a part of. As well as this, a new guy to the scene, Dave Owen, is making incredible chilled out melodies with old hip hop samples and blues pianos and double bass- incredible stuff- check out still waters or feeling kinda blue. Also through to the minimal side of drum and bass Alix Perez and Rockwell are incredible inspiration for a lot of budding producers right now. Alix Perez is fusing gorgeous melodic styles and also making some really dark minimal stuff which is really great for the scene. Rockwell also has crushed the idea of what a breakbeat even is; listening to his music makes you really question drum and bass as a genre! mental stuff. Check out underpass or bon structure. There is also blu mar ten who are making incredible drum and bass at the moment- check out the natural history LP."

Congratulations on becoming President of Beats and Bass for the coming year. Are you looking forward to it, and what are you looking to bring to the nights in the cavern?

"Thanks a lot mate. Of course I'm looking forward to it, its going to be sick! I personally want to bring more rotation on DJ's, more student accessibility over the well established scene with the locals (therefore focusing more with trying to get the uni student even more involved). I hope to achieve this by getting ties with Xpression to get more people involved. We are also constantly trying to scout out new talent! We've got a hell of a lot ofgreat DJ's leaving and its really important to us that we bring forth the new talent to set the high standards for the future."

What are your hopes for the future?

"My hopes for the future? As of last week my goals for the end of year were to get one of my songs promoted on liquicity, which I achieved which has had about 18,000 views, with the other being a vinyl release, which as a result I believe will be happening soon too - I got contacted recently by Dubplate records. It should be a double A side - Homesick by me being backed by tomekn burning. So I just want to keep up the good attention, etc. as well as the radio plays with crissy criss on 1xtra!"

I would just like to say a huge thanks to Olie for the interview. I will be keeping you informed on the promising producer's future work, with the vinyl release being a really exciting prospect in the near future.

Martyn - 'Miniluv'

Dutch producer Martyn's latest release is one I've been anticipating greatly for the past few months, with the track 'Miniluv' standing out greatly in both his Fabriclive 50 Promo mix as well as in a recent mix by xxxy. The past couple of weeks have been a fruitful time for the electronic/dubstep world, with releases from Sepalcure, Pearson Sound, Shlohmo, James Blake and now Martyn.

'Miniluv', released on the Ostgut Ton label, is a lovely track, and once again exhibits Martyn's penchant for combining dubstep and techno styles. The track hits at 130bpm and contains a wonderfully constructed breakbeat. The sub-bass fits neatly underneath the brilliantly arranged synths that dominate the track early on. The track then turns halfway through, with a warm and soft theme slowly fading in to become the overriding sound, which for me is without doubt the highlight of the track. It is such a simple construction, but yet so effective in what it does.

The track is part of a release (Berghain 04 - Part I) which itself is the first of three samplers showcasing some of the exclusive new tracks from Ben Klock's forthcoming Berghain o4 Mix. Also featuring on this first release is Berlin based dub-techno artist Roman Lindau with the track 'Keppa'. Look out for Klock's mix which should be released in the next couple of months, judging by these tracks it should be a very interesting listen. You can purchase this release now at numerous places online, including itunes, boomkat, juno or chemical records. You can listen to the track now by clicking here.

Adidas Top Ten Hi - New Designs

The Adidas Top Ten Hi is a classic trainer design, especially in it original release colourway of white, red and navy, which was first presented in the late 1970's. Originally designed as a basketball trainer, the Top Ten Hi soon became one of the leading fashionable streetwear trainers, and has done so now in its many variations for over 30 years. The concept of the Top Ten is based around the designing of the trainers for the Top Ten players in basketball, which in the late 1970's included Doug Collins, Kevin Grevey, Marques Johnson, Adrian Dantley, Bob Lainer, Bobby Jones, Billy Knight, Sidney Wicks, Mitch Kupchak and Kermit Washington.

Adidas Originals have designed two new styles of Top Ten Hi's, both of which can be seen in the pictures below. I have been very impressed with what I have seen, with the more simple approach to the design proving effective and in keeping with the heritage of the design of the Top Ten. The trainers are made up of a mix of a leather, suede and denim canvas, with the additional element of hiker style laces. The use of browns, greys and blacks perfectly accompanies the design of the trainer, giving it a smarter and more reserved look than has previously been released. The trainers are due for release at the beginning of July, so keep your eyes peeled in your nearest independent trainer stores, with Size? and Adidas Originals flagship stores probably being the most likely places to find these items.

New Adidas Originals Top Ten Hi's:

Pearson Sound - 'Down With You/Higher'

The second release of the day which I have been anticipating since details of the project surfaced in February, is Pearson Sounds new EP 'Down With You/Higher' for the new sector of Darkestral Recordings, Darkestral Galaxicos. Pearson Sound, 21 year old David Kennedy who also produces under the alias Ramadanman, is a growing figure in the experimental/future dubstep world, and is one of the leading artists pushing boundaries with numerous releases in recent times. In the last few months alone he has released the 'Ramadanman' EP, 'Glut/Tempest' EP as well as the collaboration project with Midland ('Your Words Matter'). His work as Pearson Sound is probably his best, with his first two EP's 'WAD/PLSN' and 'Gambetta' providing evidence of his brilliant arrangements of repetitive and interesting percussion over a heavy bass and occasional distorted vocals.

The new 'Down With You/Higher' EP is a vinyl release only. 'Down With You' is a fantastic track, in particular my favourite of the two. It's very emotive and laidback, slightly more mature than his previous work as Pearson Sound, with the tracks settling around 90bpm unlike the 140bpm of tracks such as 'Gambetta'. The track is comprised of a soft bass, with intrinsically arranged percussion placed over the top in order to compliment the sound, with soulful calls of 'Down With You' completing calm and laidback track. 'Higher' is a lot less dreamlike with its ratchet rhythm, although it is downtempo, and yet still retains a relaxed feeling with the whispered vocals and soft chords.

The vinyl is also really nicely designed. To celebrate it as the first release on the Darkestral Galaxicos line, the release has been limited to 500 copies of 12" orange vinyl. The sleeve has an extra layer of varnish in the darker logos. It has also been specially printed on reverse card with pantone colour and spot varnish. So as well as the great tracks, you can be assured you buying an aesthetically pleasing vinyl too. The best places to get the vinyl will be Chemical Records and Juno, as well as Boomkat.

Sepalcure - 'Love Pressure' EP

I'm very excited about the start of the World Cup and all, however, there are two things I'm anticipating more eagerly today, that in my world will no doubt outshone a finals lacking the best footballer in the World (FOOTBALLER, NOT PLAYER). The absence of a certain Juan Roman Riquelme has already killed a part of the World Cup for myself, being my favourite footballer and one of the most technically gifted of his generation, a type of old fashioned playmaker that is sadly fading away in today's more power/speed orientated game. He ran the show in 2006, and it wasn't until he was substituted against Germany in the quarter finals that the German's equalised and took the tie on penalties. The video I will provide the link to shows his technical excellence, and if there's another footballer who can under the conditions of a world cup qualifier score two relatively identical free-kicks within the space of 10 minutes then please let me know who this incredible player is. Click here to view the video, excuse the shocking American commentary, which is nowhere near worthy of gracing such a great of our era. Unfortunately, with Maradona's exclusion of Riquelme, in my opinion Argentina's key and most important player, we'll be stuck watching painfully average footballer's like James Milner and Jonas Gutierrez. So, let's move on to the more exciting prospects of today.

After weeks of hearing tracks from the 'Love Pressure' EP on various sites and Mary Anne Hobbs late night show, Sepalcure's debut work has finally been released on the forward thinking Hotflush label. Sepalcure are a recently formed duo based in New York comprised of Praveen Sharma (of Praveen and Benoit, an ambient electronic outfit) and Travis Stewart (who also makes great glitch-hop under the alias Machinedrum). Their sound clearly shows a union of their love for bass music as well as 90's house/soul acapealla's, creating ultimately what they have termed 'Lovestep'.

The 'Love Pressure' EP is an unbelievable debut for the duo. The 4 track EP includes 'Love Pressure', 'The Warning', 'Every Day Of My Life' and 'Down'. The EP is generally a mix of dubstep, house and Detroit techno chords with 2-step beats and soulful chopped-up vocals. This results in a group of tracks with emotional depth that are yet designed for the dancefloor, more than at home playing alongside the likes of Joy Orbison, Pangaea, James Blake, Mount Kimbie and Martyn.

You can listen to the tracks now at Sepalcure's soundcloud page which is www.soundcloud.com/sepalcure. The tracks have been released on vinyl and mp3, and the places I would recommend if you wish to buy it are Chemical Records (www.chemical-records.co.uk/) and Juno (www.juno.co.uk/). This is a must buy if you're a fan of future dubstep/post-dubstep/dub-house (label it what you want, it's so good).

Tropics Interview

It's been a couple of months that I've now been following the works of young producer Tropics, after I luckily discovered his work on myspace. One of his earlier tracks, 'Melorr', instantly caught my attention, with its slow drum beat, brilliantly arranged synths and percussion and the wonderfully looped vocals almost therapeutically chanting the word "happy". The sound he creates is so unique as well, it was something which stood out as it was very experimental, a sound I had never really heard before, shown in the fact the only artist I could even draw the slightest comparison with is Boards Of Canada, which is a good direction to be moving in for any artist.

Tropics also has a new album which will be released in the near future on the excellent Planet Mu label, which releases some of the best material from the experimental artists working within the electronic genre (e.g. FaltyDL, Boxcutter, Brackles, Floating Points, Shortstuff etc...). This is an album I'm really anticipating to be a big release, especially after hearing a couple of new tracks over the past few days which could potentially feature on the album. The first of these is 'Swallow', which is actually quite dark and has a really atmospheric buzz to it, with distorted vocals fluently making there way in and out of the track. It's a nice progressive track, and if this is the sort of line the album will follow then we're in for a treat. My favourite of his new stuff is without doubt 'Broken 1-2', which is really well produced. The track is quite dark, yet uplifting in its own way, with the 7 minute track acting almost as a journey. The beat is really well constructed, a perfect IDM track in my opinion, one that is both suited to the dancefloor and for listening pleasure in the comfort of your headphones. You must check these great tracks out, and you can do so by visiting his soundcloud page at http://soundcloud.com/tropics. You can also visit his myspace page by clicking here.

I contacted tropics a few days ago, and he kindly agreed to give an interview, which you can all find below.

Interview:

Hi. Firstly, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into producing?

"My name is Chris and I produce electronic music. I'm 22 and first got into making music when I was about 15. My older brother introduced me to a lot of records as I was growing up in the 90's such as Chemical Brothers, Leftfield and when I wasn't listening to this it was mostly 80's stuff I was mesmerized by, pretty much everything from the pop to post-punk. When I reached college I started to take my production a bit more seriously and began producing 80's influenced jams on keyboards/synths. I guess its been one progressive development from there to get to the sound I am now."

How would you describe the style/sound of the music you produce?

"The sound and style I produce now depends on what I'm feeling, sometimes I want to produce the darkest, most atmospheric track I possibly can, with heavy reverb on industrial noises. This kind of sound I heard hints of in electronic music when I was younger and have always been inspired by it. I like music to not always come from an instrument, especially drums which is why I'll record hits from any items I like the sound of, even if its literally pots and pans. Its usually more crisp and sweet for the ears. However, other times I'll like to make something very mellow, yet uplifting but always trying to keep depth and some sort of atmosphere."

How is work on your album coming along?

"I've just finished university for the summer so I'll be spending a lot of time on my first album which is to be released on Planet Mu. I've made a lot of tracks this year, a few of which I would like for the album, one or two are fairly old though so I may revisit them."

Where do you take your musical influences from, and who are your favourite artists/tracks at the minute?

"At the moment I take influence from all sorts, but I'm into band music mainly. Right now I'm liking experimental artists such as These New Puritans and Bear In Heaven (who I was lucky enough to remix a couple of months ago)."

"Caribou's new record has been on repeat, along with Onra 'Long Distance'. If I can give a track right now it'd be Onra - High Hopes, perfect summer track."

What are your hopes/plans for the rest of the year? Where do you see yourself in the future?

"For the rest of the year, get my album out there, hopefully people will like it and I can get some gigs. I like traveling, and especially when it's music orientated. I've never been able to do this enough so once the album's out I think I'll focus on that. I've also been working on a project, quite similar to Tropics with two friends, but using more live instruments, so that's been pretty interesting. In the future I'd like to produce music for film."


I would like to say a massive thanks to Chris for the interview. This is a man I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from, so make sure you look out for him in the near future. The new album is one I cannot wait to hear, I have a feeling its going to be great, and I will be keeping you updated on its release as well and any other works Tropics produces.

Second Son SS10

Second Son is a London-based clothing brand. which has been creating tight, original graphics to emerge as one of the leading brands in exclusive European streetwear since 2005. Previous collections from the brand have highlighted the graphic nature of their clothing, as well as their penchant for Oxford shirts as well as crewneck jumpers. The new Summer/Spring 2010 line follows this laid out tradition, and produces some really nice pieces, as can be seen in the pictures below.

The graphic design of this season's t-shirts, as well as the regular/slim-fit tee have been the most impressive element of the brands design for me. I really like the grpahics design of the Apex t-shirt, as well as the irony behind the graphics of the I Love Being Cool tee which would suit me down to the ground. I'm also a big fan of the brands crewnecks, with a nice simple regular fit that sits just right, and of course featuring the awesome apex graphic. This is probably the highlight of the collection for me. For this collection Second Son have remade their regular jean in indigo denim with a yellow selvedge. The jean is a nice regular, straight cut fit, and the right back pocket features a two-tone classic Second Son stormcloud embroidery to complete this nice denim addition to the collection.

You can view the collection online and also purchase items at http://www.second-son.com/. Places/online stores in the UK which stock the items are Ran shop, Chemical Records, Supra and Urban Industry.

Second Son SS10 Collection:

Regular Selvedge Jean

Apex Sweatshirt Black

Apex Sweatshirt Grey

Apex Tee Grey

Apex Tee White

I Love Being Cool Tee Grey

I Love Being Cool Tee White

I'm A Square Tee Black

I'm A Square Tee White

Loser Trophy Tee Black

Loser Trophy Tee Purple

Loser Trophy Tee White

Nash Money Collab - Cross Stitch Tee Black

Nash Money Collab - Cross Stitch White

Oxford Shirt Blue

Pocket Tee White

Polka Dot Tee Black