Evolution has left us with some weird junk code over the years; goosebumps which mimic the rising fur of angered animals, ears that some of us can still wiggle, and the perplexingly useless yawn. While it may not be linked directly to the continuation of the human species, being able to sense when the atmosphere in a room changes is one that, inexplicable as it may be, many of us claim to possess. Pinning down the feeling isn’t easy – ask performance artist Marina Abramovic and a local reiki practicioner, and you’ll get two very different answers what affects the energy of a space. Ask a Hardwax employee, and the word “vibes” will likely find its way into the answer.
Desire will release a second single from the Chilean producer’s debut Treillis LP with remixes from two UK artists.
Up to this point, the Some Truths project from Ralph Cumbers has been confined to a limited run of self-released cassettes via his Magic + Dreams imprint, and some choice live performances that allow the artist largely known as Bass Clef to demonstrate his knack for impulsive control of modular synthesisers. As is evident in his other live sets, Cumbers is an artist adept at working hardware like a virtuoso player, moving beyond the rigidity of electronics to work whatever setup he’s on like a living, breathing instrument unique to that performance and most likely unplayable to anyone else. Such is the appeal when it comes to modular set ups as well, so geared they are towards live improvisation that it’s hard to picture them behaving as you wish in a more controlled studio environment.
Oli Warwick descends on the Stokes Croft lab of Tom Bugs, the man behind BugBrand’s array of modular synths and sound devices, which count Bass Clef and Omar S as fans.
The wonderfully titled Some Friends I Lost To Bedlam, Others I Abandoned There is due early next month.
Last year’s cassette release on Magic + Dreams gets pressed to wax courtesy of Luke Younger’s label.
New material from Bass Clef, Beneath, Black Sites amongst the next few months releases from PAN.
As a self-released cassette and digital offering, Ralph Cumbers latest outpouring of machine love under his Bass Clef title might run the risk of getting overlooked, which would be a great shame for some of the most vital music he has yielded in his recent spell of analogue concerns. Alongside a release under his more abstract Some Truths alias, Cumbers’ Magic + Dreams label is the engine behind this latest set of reel-bound jams, which of course lends the man complete artistic freedom to indulge his muse. At this point in time his muse appears to be modular synthesis and the potential within the myriad of boxes and wires that make up the equipment, as was evident on the Reeling & Skullways LP that neatly predates this particular release. That album surfaced on Punch Drunk and so it’s hard to imagine there were too many creative constraints to interfere with the process, but still the appeal of limited releases such as this is that the pressure of expectation and scrutiny is lifted, atleast to some extent.
Stanley Kubrick and Daft Punk inspire the Steven McInerney directed video for Bass Clef’s “Stenaline Metranil Solar Flare”.
Peverelist’s label are readying a 12″ containing remixes of Bass Clef’s “Stenaline Metranil Solar Flare”.
The task of whittling down our shortlist of favourite albums this year felt more arduous than ever; the past 12 months have seen a glut of formidable long players released, and the strength of this list is reflected by those LPs that didn’t make the cut. Our final selections were based a few important questions, most pertinently, ‘had we heard anything like this before?’ If the answer was yes, chances are it didn’t make it. The 20 long players showcased below are, in our opinion, utterly unique, crammed with enough ideas and flair to make them worthy of revisitation for years to come.
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At this point in time the notion of house music in the fallout from dubstep’s megaton blast is a tenuous one, as slews of producers defer from their allegiance to 140 and turn out variable results in 4/4 grooves. Undoubtedly some wonderful music has resulted, fusing heavier bass with more rigid rhythmic constructions, but of course hype and trend dictate that a lot of disposable offerings will make their way through as well.
Bristol based electronica artist Minotaur Shock has a new album out this week, and Hackney’s resident modular wizard Bass Clef has produced a remix to mark the occasion.
Hackney based Bristolian Bass Clef will drop his first solo material since his excellent Reeling Skullways album with the 14th release on West Country house hub Idle Hands.
Gulp, it’s happening again. Ralph Cumbers, better known as Bass Clef, has long been associated with the dubstep scene since its inception, and now he’s releasing an album of analogue 4/4 music. It’s a familiar tale that has been uttered plenty over the last year or so, with good and bad results. In the case of Bass Clef, it’s never exactly straight-forward. Even as he made his name on a rousing live set that fused dubstep weight with analogue tinkerings and in-yer-face trombone action, his output never sat quite in the same rivet that his club-ready contemporaries inhabited. There’s always been something a little more avant-garde about the Bass Clef way that employs the means of dance music, but uses them as a reference point upon which to express deeper, more esoteric ideas.
Bristol based label Punch Drunk have just announced details of the forthcoming album. entitled Reeling Skullways, from London-via-Bristol producer Bass Clef.