Spor – Anachronic [Sotto Voce]

New music from Spor is a fairly rare treat these days, with the main focus of Jon Gooch’s time being his lower-tempo Feed Me alias, but what he lacks in quantity he certainly makes up for in quality. Anachronic lands four years after the Black Eyed EP and five years on from the Caligo LP, but if you’re looking for detailed, cerebral neuro that still packs enough punch for the dancefloor this will certainly scratch that itch.

In Rixa opens the EP with a Ghost In The Shell-esque intro before crashing into a helter-skelter of heavy hitting percussion and roaring basslines, maintaining that chaos until the final minute when the track drops into a more conventional rolling breakbeat. Beam Cannon picks up that energy, keeping things simmering along nicely with call and response patterns jumping between funk bass hits, synth growls and melodic flourishes.

Title track Anachronic brings a rock aesthetic to the table; snatches of distorted guitar intermingle with weighty drums and some characteristically twisted bassline modulations for possibly our favourite track from the EP. Things then take a left-turn for Your Mind is Water, which channels old Photek records into a deep and ominous journey through sub pressure and intricate drum programming.

Turning that energy back up to eleven for the finishing salvo, Cohesion provides the most obviously dancefloor-focused track, with a hooky bassline riff and pounding drum line. Finally Count My Blessings heads off into full pop & bass anthem territory with a vocal led number reminiscent of some of Pendulum’s later output. This one will probably prove divisive; certainly in danger of stepping over the line into outright cheese, it is nonetheless a very well-constructed tune.

Whatever your thoughts on Jon’s rock-star aspirations on the closing track, this is another varied and interesting release from one of the finest producers in the scene. Who knows when we’ll get more, but fingers crossed it won’t be another four years. Check out the tracks below, and hit this link to grab the EP on vinyl or digital from your favourite outlet. We’d also thoroughly recommend checking out Spor’s mix for UKF Hyper Vision, which features a number of tracks from the EP alongside some lives modular jams and as-yet unreleased material.

Top 10 Albums of 2015

2015 has been another strong year for the D&B LP in what seems to be a growing trend for more established artists to explore their sound across a full length record rather than just churning out singles. As the year draws to a close, here’s our run down of the then best albums we’ve heard this year. In no particular order… Continue reading

Spor – Caligo [Sotto Voce]

The wait is over; amid a frenzy of hype, Spor’s debut LP (and return to the scene) was leaked last week. The man himself was prepared, bringing the official release via BitTorrent forward from the original March date to drop just a few hours after the leak.

So hype and drama surrounding the release aside, is it actually any good? Speaking as a long-time fan of the producer, I have to say that it is; while some of the grit of early productions like Dreadnought and Three Faces is lost in the ultra-precise engineering, there’s still plenty to enjoy here. Much of the album is taken up with neurofunk heavy hitters; Always Right Never LeftBlueroomFull Colour and The Hole Where Your House Was will all be doing the damage on the dancefloor, and the build-ups and breakdowns still manage to get plenty of musicality into the compositions.

Elsewhere Spor explores a variety of styles; the hyper-neuro-pop of If You Cry, the epic vibes of Tasha Baxter voiced As I Need You and some lower tempo outings on Like Clockwork and Our Space. For me the album’s only real “miss” is the tedious rock crossover Empire, but fans of Hadouken might disagree here.

You can stream the whole album via Soundcloud below, and it’s available on a free/pay what you like basis via BitTorrent. We also learnt via Spor’s recent Reddit AMA that the album will be getting a vinyl release via Spor’s own Sotto Voce imprint, so watch out for that dropping sometime soon. If you’re craving more Spor check out his recent mix for Friction’s show on Radio 1, and look out for his UK tour hitting your town starting with Nottingham tonight!

Ten Years of Vision Recordings

Noisia’s Vision Recordings imprint is among the pack of esteemed D&B labels celebrating its 10th anniversary, and to mark the occasion they’ve remastered a host of top tracks from the Vision back catalogue which they’ll be releasing on CD, USB stick and digital download alongside two new tracks exclusive to the compilation (both of which you can preview below).

For the merchandise-hungry there are also bundles available featuring a 10 years of Vision t-shirt and a rather tasty (if somewhat expensive) 12″ artwork book featuring full size, full colour artwork from every single release on the label. Head over to the Noisia store to pick up one of the bundles now, or cop it from your favourite digital outlet.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ws8eUTGgsw]

 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXriboWgHDY]

Classic Track: Spor – Stoppit

Spor’s recent return to the D&B scene via a prodigy remix and his impending (and long promised) LP has prompted much reminiscence on his past glories, so we felt a Classic Track post was only fitting! Back when Lifted Music was riding high and Spor was a mainstay of the scene, Stoppit rocked clubs across the world with it’s minimal yet effective neurofunk stylings. Stopping short of the tearout madness of some other Spor material, there’s still more than enough punch from the drums and the instantly recognisable squelchy bassline to move a floor. Check it out below and hit up the Lifted store for a copy!

10 Years of Shogun Audio

Friction’s Shogun Audio are celebrating 10 years in style with a massive bundle of new tunes. The 10 Years compilation features brand new beats alongside remixes of some Shogun classics, and comes in a beautiful six piece vinyl box set.

Dancefloor tech is well represented among the new tracks with beats from Icicle & Prolix, Friction, Joe Ford and Fourward all bringing the hard and nasty vibes. There’s also rolling liquid from LSB and Technimatic, a new genre bender from Rockwell and something a little unusual from Spectrasoul in the form of Ben. On the remix front, Spor’s anthemic Aztec gets a pretty hyperactive rework from Calyx & Teebee, Aliz Perez and Spectrasoul get the liquid refix treatment from Calibre and Etherwood respectively, and Fourward turn in a chunky new mix of Dark Days. Last but by no means least, Total Science & S.P.Y bring us a new VIP of another back catalogue fave – 2010’s Gangsta.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, the set also includes a poster, stickers, 3 CDs and a DVD; the CDs provide the new tracks in digital form, a selection of classics from the Shogun back catalogue and a fresh mix from Friction, while the DVD features a 10 Years documentary. There are only 500 copies of the full bundle available so head over to the Shogun Audio store pronto if you want to bag one, or save your wallet and grab the CD or digital package.

Classic Track: Spor – Dreadnought

Before Lifted Music and before the height of his fame, one of Spor’s first big breaks came on the Tactics EP for Renegade Hardware in 2005. The lead track from that EP, Dreadnought, still packs just as much of a punch nearly a decade on. The robotic FX and monstrous warped basslines give the tune both character and energy, and the detail in the production is incredible. Every element of the tune sits perfectly, and the result is a dancefloor weapon complete with a cheeky tempo drop for a breakbeat breakdown.

Dreadnought was a taste of what was to come from a producer who’s presence in the scene is very much missed since his departure to lower tempos under his Feed Me alias. Check out the tune below and relive the past glory.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHNI3JPlyrI]

In The Mix…Esion

Automate head honcho Esion gets on the 1s and 2s to deliver a stomping 75 minute mix of wall to wall neurofunk bangers. The tracklist speaks for itself really with beasting tracks from the likes of Prolix, Black Sun Empire, Break, The Upbeats, Noisia, Spor and Ed Rush to name just a few. Check it out below and grab yourself a free download in 320!