Moth Equals

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Killian

Searching through unsigned artists often throws up surprising results and one welcome surprise was that of young UK based producer, Moth Equals. With 10 years+ production under his belt he’s beginning to carve a sound for himself, evident on not one but two long players he’s made available for music fans. With a variety of stlyes on offer throughout these two albums, Moth Equals and his ‘ghost’ have taken influence from DJ Krush, Massive Attack and Thievery Corporation amongst others and used them to fuel the trip-hop melodies that carry you from start to finish on each LP. A very exciting producer and we’re eager to see him link up with a turntablist he keenly searches for future collaborations. Take in both ‘Dreamcoat’ and ‘The Fall And Rise’, they are a fantastic reflection of one mans creative output.

Both albums available on a name your price basis but do the right thing and bung this guy some ca$h 🙂

Moth Equals

Free Beats

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Killian

An absolute bagful of free tracks this week hand picked by the Bot searching deep to bring you some, well, deep tracks. Dig it.

First up is a track from young producer Panda with a riddim beyond his years. ‘Fate’ crafts deep vibes around a classic movie sample. Love this

Next theres a double header from the mighty Quantum Soul starting with the roots vibes on ‘Karnak’

Before a collaboration with FatKidOnFire sees ‘Reminisce’ get a release and we’re doubly happy as this track could have been lost for eons

Moving on theres Numbernin6 with an awesome track in ‘Four’ which is presented in all its raw glory. Loving this track

Following up these beauties we have Geode with ‘Transfix’ made available by the Deep Heads crew. A lush track. Smooth as you like

Some badman junglist vibes from the Hi Fidel Cartel with ‘How Far’. One to make you skank around the room. Or in your car. You get the idea!

Then we have a deep house remix of the awesome Submotion Orchestra. Opta Block takes control and remixes ‘Blindspot’.

This download made available exclusively by Groovement which you can find here.

Wiley was never one for resting on his laurels and judging from the continuous stream of free downloads cropping up on his twitter account that is not about to change any time soon. He also gives plenty of opportunity to young up and coming talent – Priceless is the 16 year old producer behind ‘Crystal Clear’, a massive free download which cropped up on www.grimeforum.com and sb.tv recently.

Priceless has just released the ‘Team Priceless EP’, a selection of 8 Grime flavoured instrumentals (which includes the instrumental from the track above) for MC’s to use as they wish – provided they credit the producer. Grab it here.

Thanks to Grant Brydon of sb.tv for putting us on to this next freebie. Another fresh young producer making waves on the London scene is Distinction – And this Usher refix is his most recent in a run of free tracks. Fantastic sounds here – Those who caught him down at Fabric recently will surely not have been disappointed.

Djinn – Outlook 2012 Mix

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Killian

Yeah we’re not there this year either which sucks but in the meantime, stream / download Manchesters own Djinn selecting exclusively for DRS Virus radio. Captures the vibe perfectly of what you can expect from her sets over there this year. Thats right, sets, plural. Lucky sods. Some of Djinns own productions in here alongside some dubs and forthcoming releases and the vibe is deep throughout. Get involved.

eleven8 – Alone
Indigo – Primal
Nanobyte – Ironore
Kryptic Minds – Rule of Language
Razor Rekta – Airborne
Zomby – Liquid Dancehall
Djinn – Something You Know
Thelem – Elemental Fears
Djinn – Deadbeat [tease]
Myrkur – Dancing In The Dark
Quantum Soul – Evocation
The Dub Mechz- Talking To The Gods
Vex’d – Fire
Toasty – The Knowledge

http://www.virus.ch/

Free To Download

Posted on August 18, 2012 by 1nejack

In the gratis section this fortnight we have a heavy sack of loot for you to plunder. Support the artists where you can by liking and following their pages and maybe telling all your friends how great they are.

Starting off with this surging emotional future garage track from Kiro Rox we know we’ve struck gold already.

A few tracks into the mix and we’re in to a stunningly funky Maribou remix of Submotion Orchestra‘s track ‘Blindspot’. Stupendously good sounds.

From there we are hitting you square in the face with more freeness from Detz. This one is called ‘August’ and comes as part of a great ongoing series of free tunes based on calendar months. Click buy for the download.

Next is an apparently unfinished track from Inxect. To be honest, I can’t hear anything that needs changing. This is perfectly dark and eerie.

Next it’s Revilo with a sizzling track off the Disturbing Noise compilation which is available entirely for free if you just go and like their facebook page.

Finally Dublin based bass workers Your Local Vicar drop ‘The Grey Area’ in preparation for their forthcoming Rapture EP coming out on the Phantom Hertz label.

ECID – Swagger Wagon

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Killian

Anyone who listens to the Robot Bodypop show knows we always like to throw in something completely different. Persuing Bandcamp led me to ECID and it was immediately apprent this was what I was looking for. ‘Swagger Wagon’ is a 6 track freebie with 3 vocal tracks and then the same 3 instrumentals. The title track featuring Derrill Pounds & Leif sits somewhere between several bass heavy genres. Coupled with a vocal with that wraps around the sounds and doesnt for one moment take a back seat to the music, it gives this production a ridiculously gritty feel. ‘The Future Is Free’ & ‘Tomorrows Astronaut’ features guests David Mars and AWOL respectively. This has been on rotation in the car for days. Free as well. Unless you want to bung them some $.

The Minneapolis based producer & MC dropped this in 2011 in anticipation for his LP ‘Werewolf Hologram’. His sound can not be contained and in his own words:

“Ecid is the voice to kick a hipster to.”

ECID

Transmit Sessions Volume X – Actraiser

Posted on August 4, 2012 by 1nejack

The tenth instalment of our Transmit Series is brought to you by Bristol based producer Actraiser. Whilst this mix is focussing on the sounds of Juke and Footwork beats he has a huge arsenal of sound at his disposal. He has forthcoming releases on Cut, Offworld Recordings, Loose Squares, Gradient Audio and Square Harmony. He has also produced soundtracks for upcoming Indie games on the xbox indie channel and iOS. Naturally, he has a lot to say for himself, so we will let him speak..

Hi, my name is Rob and I produce as ActRaiser. I produce deep electronic music of many genres and tempos. Currently I am producing drum & bass, dubstep, and the 160 bpm music that you can hear in the mix showcased here.

I started speeding up some of my productions from 140 to 160 and thought it sounded quite cool, I then did some searching online and found out about the footwork / juke style music. At first I wasn’t really a fan but then it started growing on me, and once I discovered artists like Om Unit, Ital Tek, Kuedo, and Machinedrum I became much more enamoured with the style.

I wanted to have my own ‘ActRaiser’ stamp on it so did several tunes, a mixture of the deep Dubstep I usually make, Jungle and Electronica in general. I was also inspired by many excellent video game soundtracks, especially the chilling Max Payne 3 soundtrack by the band ‘Health’.

Nice to meet you Mr. Raiser. So, what’s your formula for sitting down and writing your music? What are the rituals you use to get you in the zone?

When producing I usually have an idea of genre or tempo and then just start playing around with drum samples and soft synths until something starts to gel, much of the time I end up finding something I like that was completely different from what I originally set out to do, but I have to just go with what I am feeling in that moment. I often have several tracks on the go at one time and work a little on each until something clicks and I get it done.

My productions are very varied as I love all forms of electronic music and find it impossible to stick to one style. Sometimes I think this could be a hinderence to building a name for myself, but I just have to do what I feel and can’t limit myself to one genre. One day i can be making deep drum & bass, the next a bouncy 130bpm house track or even a psytrance track for a video game.

I don’t really have rituals for producing, I just get in front of the computer and experiment. I do find taking breaks to absorb myself in retro and indie video games can help, or just going out for a walk and listening to random bits on my walkman while checking out the scenery.

Aside from bass music artists, which musicians from the wider world of music pique your interest? You have a very diverse style so we are keen to learn what inspires you..

Currently I am loving trip-hop and funk, from original 70’s recordings to modern funk / hip-hop by DJ Shadow / Cut Chemist / Mumbles / Bonobo etc I have a soft spot for cool car chase style funk music and have always enjoyed this style of music since I was young. You can’t beat a cool hip hop break and funk guitars! I often listen to ‘Amen Brother’ by ‘The Winstons’ to remind myself where Breaks and Drum & Bass came from. I also like the more dance floor modern take on funk by Featurecast and A Skillz, it’s great summer music! I experimented with this style a few years back when I released the ‘Like In The Deal’ LP on Freestyle Records. I am thinking of doing something similar in the near future.

I also love 8-bit soundtracks, whether modern chiptune music or original Commodore 64 music made on the amazing SID chip. Many soundtracks for new indie games (such as Fez, Swords and Sorcery, Shatter etc) are amazing and are a constant source of inspiration for me.

To be honest I can listen to anything and randomly be blown away by something then spend the next month listening to as much of it as possible before finding something else and repeating this process.

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing right now?

Playing games, reading, out walking, writing gibberish online, or trying to figure out a way to become rich making music (easier said than done). I am a bit of a nerd and collect old Nintendo NES games. I have a huge collection of retro games and still play the classics to try and beat high scores.I really enjoy reading books about people’s travels, meeting people and visited places off the usual tourist trail. I also love the work of Hunter S Thompson, so if you are familiar with his style you get a good idea of my outlook in life and the type of literature I enjoy.

Yep, we definitely get the idea! So, what’s the largest animal you could throw over a crossbar?

Funny you should ask, this is a personal hobby of mine, i should have mentioned it earlier. The animals I have successfully thrown over a crossbar include: a cat, two Ducks, a Rabbit, a zebra, a snow leopard (bitey), and a Mogwai (they don’t enjoy it).

And are we glad we asked! I think we may have a new champion in the animal hurling olympics!

The full mix as promised for free download:

Adam F – Circles (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
ActRaiser – Tropa Z
Omni Trio – Renegade Snares (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Dream Continuum – Set It
DJ Taktix – Hornz For 94 (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Krampfhaft – Carl Sagan The Man
Halp – Tic Tac Toe (Krampfhaft Remix)
Slick Shoota feat 5kin & Bone5 – Hit The Flow
Slick Shoota – Love You You You
Interface & Minus – Hardwork
Ital Tek – Gonga
Dream Continuum – Giv A Little Luv
ActRaiser – Lost In The Jungle
Wheez-ie – Desire
Plug – Feeling So Special
Roni Size & DJ Die – It’s A Jazz Thing (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Machinedrum – U Don’t Survive (Chrissy Murderbot Remix)
Remarc – R.I.P (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Om Unit – Vibrations (Machinedrum Remix)
Ital Tek – Pixel Haze
Om Unit – An Eternal Way
LTJ Bukem – Atlantis (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Admin – Pink Gloves (Slick Shoota Remix)
XLII – No Cure (EAN Remix)
Om Unit – Swimming Dragon (Ital Tek Remix)
Ital Tek – East District
LTJ Bukem – Horizons (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)

This is actually Volume 1 in a series focused on this particular style of Bass music – Volume 2 will be out next week – Keep your eyes on this page for the exclusive drop! In the meantime you can also check Actraiser‘s recent Dubstep mix, also a free DL.