The ever ascending London artist Distinction is back with another mighty composition, this time we are treated to a remix of Jesse Ware‘s track ‘Devotion’, which features on her Brit Award & Mercury Prize nominated debut album of the same name. Check the original to get a flavour:
The vibe of the refix is much heavier, with turbulent synths and a heavily side-chained bass swelling under a striking vocal loop.
You can grab this for free on Distinction‘s soundcloud.
Beat tapes are something im getting increasingly distracted by, not least because of the groove they are offering but because its good to hear influences on people making the beats.
Recently the ‘Soft Focus’ tape by Vanilla has been ever present. Again, its a bewilderment that a 27 track album can be offered up for free or on a name your price basis, especially when the beats have this much soul.
Its clear to hear the influences on UK producer Vanilla and rather point to that I’d like to point at this release that keeps the head bouncing and the inner groove going from start to finish.
Cut up beats alongside warm vocals and grooves conjure up a fantastic brew. Bag it and try to listen from start to finish without rewinding to play, at least, more than one track twice. No chance!
A personal favorite for starters is ‘A Chance’
Inspiring stuff. Grab it.
Once again, searching the web for some killer remixes and/ or productions, I was more than pleasantly surprised to stumble across a young producer from Charlotte, USA. Theres actually 6 pieces to pick up on his Bandcamp page but its this remix album I’ve fallen for.
Scottie Royal crafts Hip-Hop remixes that sit perfectly alongside the carefully selected vocals. I’ve had this on rotation in the car for the best part of a month and it still sounds fresh.
There’s an incredible amount of soul and funk on offer here and more than enough for you to realise that Scottie Royal is a proficient producer who clearly understands his music and his tools.
A personal favorite is the K-OS track, Burning Bridges.
Bag the whole lot and chuck him some monetary rewards because this guy is a badman.
artwork by Tad Carpenter
Easy! Back in the lab with the Robot seeking out some of the finest bass music out there. Theres all styles on there from deep Panda cut, rolling jungle vibes from Phil Tangent and ARP XP right through to the sounds of fellow Mancunians Qualmsound and Earl Grey. All of this is capped off with the mighty Pawcut and a new badman track from RDubz. Dig it! Stream or download the 320 from the link below
Dub – Panda
Too Much War – RSD
Beat Of The Drum (Throwing Snow RMX) – Happa
Omun – Qualmsound
Beneath – Stiver
Romero (Earl Grey RMX) – Floral
Restitution – Phil Tangent
Surrealism – ARP XP
Shadowlands – Lynx & Hellrazor
Soul Truth – Gerwin
Elegy – Pawcut
Too Much Expectation – RDubz
Whilst we have been busy tinkering with the back end of The Robot it’s been a minute since a we have had a Transmit mix gracing the home page. Now, thankfully, the wait is over. We have recieved an awesome blend from resident Mancunian Liquid Drum & Bass and sometimes Dubstep producer Dekoi. Featuring a myriad of vibes, the backbone of the mix is jazzy liquid DnB. Notable favourites in here from Grifta, Dramatic & dBaudio and Electrosoul System.
We also took time to put Dekoi in the interrogation room with our Robot. Here’s what he had to say;
What is Dekoi all about? What do you try to put across in your music, and what inspires you most?
Firstly i’d like to thank you for having me on Robot Bodypop and taking an interest in my music. Dekoi is all about the music! aha but seriously I’m not trying to convey any political messages or anything, just trying to make music that people can enjoy as well as having my personal progression and sense of constant improvement. I’d say what inspires me most is the music i listen to, not just dnb but jazz, soul, funk, ambient, house etcetera. I learn new things from every song I listen to and try and use them to make my music more original. But also hearing positive things about my music inspires me to keep at it, if I hadn’t had positive feedback from friends and family I would have given up a long time ago.
You’ve had releases on Echowide Music and Liquid Tones to date – What’s next? Any chance of an album?
I currently have another 2 tunes coming out on Echowide and a collab with Mayforms coming out on Promo audio. I often think i’d love to do an album but I also think i’d rather wait and release one in a couple years when I’m really getting somewhere with my music. I don’t want to release an album only to find in a months time that all the tunes need improving. (though I guess it’s always going be like that as a producer)
True! So what was the first piece of music you ever bought? How did your tastes develop to arrive at where you are now?
I wasn’t really into music until I was about 12, my mate gave me a Drum And Bass Arena CD mainly filled with jump up which I wasn’t quite into but when I heard High Contrast’s Eternal Optimist I knew DnB was the thing for me, so I went off and bought High Contrasts Confidential album. This lead me to checking out all the old Hospital mixes and their extensive back catalogue. I was disappointed with Hospital Records’ more recent releases because they lacked that soulful, jazzy vibe. I hadn’t realised there were modern producers making the stuff, and one day I stumbled upon Fokuz Recordings and the huge tree of similar liquid labels – I haven’t looked back since. I have started looking into many different genres in the past year, broadening my musical tastes and knowledge.
What’s the weirdest/most random sample or sound you have ever used in a tune?
I once made a tune using only guitar that i had recorded. I can’t play guitar but that didn’t really matter because it didn’t have any strings! I just recorded random percussive sounds with it and through a lot of experimentation I managed to make synths and bass lines out of it.
Skills! Who would you most like to collab with?
Aww man that’s too open a question and i’m too indecisive so heres a few: Dave Owen, Blue Motion, mSdoS, Eveson, Random Movement and Intelligent Manners are all at the top of the list – sorry, I can’t pick one!
What sort of music will we be listening to in ten years time?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… I just don’t know.
Ok, well that brings us to our final question. What’s the largest animal you could throw over a crossbar?
I wouldn’t dare throw any animal anywhere unless it was small enough to throw really far so I guess something like a mouse or a frog, but that’s just cruel ey?
Not sure if The Robot has ever considered the ethics of this question to be honest! Here we go..
C:\>STANDBY FOR TRANSMIT... C:\>RECEIVING TRANSMIT #XII C:\>CALLSIGN : DEKOI C:\>COMMENCE TRANSMIT
1. LTJ Bukem – Watercolours
2. The Peter Nice Trio – Harp Of Gold
3. Command Strange – Vanilla Dream
4. Well Being – Storms By Streetlight
5. Brother – Get To Know
6. Grifta – Tomorrow
7. Bachelors Of Science – Bounce
8. Silent Dust – 1959 (Calibre Remix)
9. Savage Rehab – Quiet Stars
10. Andy Sim – Palm Trees (Brother Remix)
11. Mutt – Womack
12. Mayforms – Get You Off My Mind
13. Electrosoul System – In The Morning
14. Dekoi – Your Love
15. Capsika – Ghost Orchid
16. Madmen & Poets – Reached Out
17. Well Being – Lend Me Your Troubles
18. Fracture & Survival – Tracks Of Time
19. Redeyes Feat Mutt – Sugar
20. Submorphics – Step In The Spot
21. Concept & Shneck – Bedford Avenue
22. Atlantic Connection – 1979
23. Mayforms – This Is Love Girl
24. Nookie – I Love The Way
25. Dramatic & dbAudio – Subtle Shaking
26. Well Being – When You’re Not Around
27. Intelligent Manners – Still
28. Mayforms – Get High
29. Random Movement – Waterlogged
30. Dekoi – Beautiful Life
31. Intelligent Manners – Close My Eyes
32. Dekoi – Thinking About Thinking
33. Arp XP Feat. Estel Luz – Closer (Stunna Remix)
34. Blue Motion – Fallen
35. Dominic Ridgeway & Displaced Paranormals – City Of Gods
36. Ink & Getz – Road Runner
37. Savage Rehab – Bloom
38. Teebee – Untitled Jazz
Now a giveaway from B-DEM records for you all to bag. You may remember we featured Mr. Beeb‘s Ambivalence EP on the blog back in August; ‘Metro’ is revisited by four different producers for B-DEM‘s first remix EP. The results are funky, fast and furious. Featuring Lojt, Clueless, Usurp and DJ Hex. Bag it!
Robot Bodypop 