SHAKEDOWN DRUM & BASS

Chicago native and Shakedown favorite Stunna has launched a blog offshoot of his popular Greenroom radio show.

Greenroom Radio on Bassdrive

Bookmark it right next to your Shakedown bookmark as a source of top D&B info.

Click the banner below for maximum Stunnage in blog form.

Stunna's Greenroom

Sinistarr, Stunna and Submorphics represent three of the biggest names in drum and bass production in North America.  They are at the forefront of their respective styles and still maintain a strong connection to their roots in dance music via their hometowns of Detroit and Chicago.

Sinistarr

Detroit native Sinistarr, a DJ since 2003, is the producer behind a number of breakthrough cuts on labels such as Creative Source, Metalheadz and Hospital. He starting making beats in 2005 and says his biggest release to date has been “Black Diamonds” on Hospital, which “the entire Metalheadz camp was playing it at one point,” he says. His favorite release, “Detroit Diesel,” was finished in less than three hours because “I was feeling it so much,” he says.

He now splits his time between work, making music and traveling to DJ.  Sinistarr says he burns the midnight oil and has plans for several EPs and an album over the next few years.  His main goal is to spread the sound of Detroit through drum and bass via his music.  On his links with Detroit’s famed dance music scene: “I could go on all day about the connections; it’s basically a direct representation of what goes on here — whether it’s house or techno — and from that influence it’s interpreted in my music. Labels like Matrix, Underground Resistance, and Detroit Techno Militia all represent that.”

Stunna originally hails from Evanston, Illinois, and he is now based in Chicago. He’s been making music since he was around 6 years old and has been playing keyboards in bands since he was 13 years old after being introduced to synthesizers in music class.

Stunna spent most of the early 2000s touring the U.S. as a member of a jazz/funk band. From there, he dove into production of drum and bass tracks and begin to sign with labels while getting his footing as a DJ with local and national gigs.  He now works as solo and collaborative artist on numerous global Drum and Bass labels while touring regularly and maintaining a weekly show on the Bassdrive Internet radio show “The Greenroom.”

He plans to maintain his musical push forward with solo musical creations, collaborations and remixes. Stunna says his largest tune to date is “Back in Time” on Paradox’s Outsider Music imprint: “Had a lot of great feedback on this track from a lot of names that I respect and look up to in the scene, so it’s been nothing short of an amazing experience,” Stunna says.

Stunna

He cites Chicago jazz legend Herbie Hancock as one of the key figures in his own personal musical evolution. Even though he feels the pull of jazz, he connects with Chicago’s legendary house music scene as a session player/co-writer on many house tracks and remixes for worldwide labels and well-known artists. “You can’t escape the house living in the Chicago area,” he says.

Submorphics, aka Greg Axelrad, is the transplant of the group.  He now lives in the Humbolt Park neighboorhood of Chicago after moving there two years ago from Detroit. He has played piano since age 6, and by age 11 he had started playing guitar as well. After playing in a band until the 11th grade, he swapped instruments for a MPC2000 and Roland JP8000. “This was the late 90s, and I was making mostly downtempo/trip hop,  IDM-y stuff and bad attempts at house,” he says.

Submorphics

By 2001 he started DJing and eventually gave up house music for drum and bass. By 2003, he dubbed himself Submorphics, and Greg began discovering how to sample old soul  and jazz  and incorporating it into his increasingly tight drum and bass productions. He locked himself in his Humboldt Park apartment and worked on a variety of music along with drum and bass.    “I’ve got some stuff in slower tempos — 100 bpm, 135 bpm, etc. Also, I’ve just worked with a couple of vocalists — Detroit underground hip hop MC SelfSays and Christina Tamayo, a southside Chicago vocal talent — which I want to pursue much more in the future.”

Submorphics is responsible for some big tunes including “Miles Ahead” on Spearhead and his recent pair of remixes for Atlantic Connection’s exclusive Westbay label. However, he says his favorite productions are yet to be released and that he has some major tunes in the pipeline along with a European tour in the near future.  He says his connection to the music of both Chicago and Detroit can be found in his close relationship with the used record stores in both cities where he can often be found digging for the next sample for his next heavy cut.

words: C Gilbert  edit: Guilt

March 17

Breakbeat Science Bookings & Chicagodnb.com present:
The Return of Shakedown D&B

Feat. Subsonik

Alongside Chicago's Top DJs

SUBSONIK – Beta Recordings / Subsonik Sound

Alongside Chicago’s top selectors:
Radiata
Stunna
Lamebrane
Midway
Subverb

Hosted by Phantom 45

With special guest Entro on the m.i.c.

Neo
2350 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 528-2622

10 PM – 4PM
Free before 11 PM
$5 after 11 PM
21+

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

facebook event page

www.subsoniksoundrecordings.com
www.chicagodnb.com
www.shakedowndnb.com
www.adapteraudio.com
www.bbsbookings.com
www.neonightclub.com

Chicago based drum & bass label Adapter Audio have made their first single available as a digital download.  More info here: www.adapteraudio.com

The single is by New Englanders Brandon Miles and Tricky Pat.  The tunes on this release are quite unique and have had play from some pretty big names in the d&b world.

Brandon Miles / Tricky Pat

Mist Born (clip) – Brandon Miles & Tricky Pat – Available now @ Digital-tunes.net by ADAPTER AUDIO

KLUTE

News has leaked via dogs on acid.com of Klute’s impending album.  He’s calling the album Music for Prophet and it’s expected May 2010 via vinyl lp, compact disc and digital download.

This leak was confirmed by his North American booking agent BBS Bookings.  There is expected to be bonus material on the cd and download to feature unreleased techno songs by Klute.  If the bonus materiel on previous Klute albums is any indication this should prove a juicy treat for fans.

From DOA:

KLUTE presents ‘MUSIC FOR PROPHET’ album tour
album release : May 2010 (single and album promos in April)
formats: Triple vinyl, cd, digital download package incl. dnb + techno bonus material
tour period : February until Summer 2 010

PHACE & MISANTHROP

FROM DEEP SPACE

NEOSIGNAL

FEB 2010

It’s clear from the opening drones of Channel Free, the lead track from Phace & Misanthrop’s new long player, “From Deep Space,” that the album is going to the conceptual edge of modern dance music but it also embodies a wealth of Germany music making  tradition.

In Phace & Misanthrop’s capable hands, the wild breakbeats of modern drum & bass take on the relentless pulse of their Kruatrock forefathers. They show how it’s possible to make hard as nails beats and tearing hi-tech synths into a groove that is funky as hell. Basslines hark back to the hard techno-funk of the finest moments of Bad Company and Ed Rush & Optical. Snippets of dialogue float in and out of the mix, punctuating the cinematic interludes that break up the tracks.

Most of the albums tracks (10 on LP, 14 on CD) are produced by either Phace or Misanthrop, with some collaborations, but it remains nonetheless cohesive. Many of the songs are devastating dance floor workouts with an ear for a chunky rhythms and synths. Highlights include “Expectation Hurts.” With a name like that, you would expect a song about regrets, but Phace treats us to much more than that.  He gives us the feel of an airline ride gone wrong.

“You Keep on Talking” — another Phace solo jam, takes the kind of bass line that destroyed dance floors when drum and bass was at the peak in 2000-2001 and unleashes it against spastic breakbeats, eerie atmospherics and tight contemporary production.

Misanthrop’s two solo drum and bass tunes (“Orbit” and “Going Down Slow”) are the heavier ones on the LP.  Both start deceptively calm and then unleash a torrent of breakbeat chaos only to sputter into exquisitely designed sonic breakdowns before the breaks return to finish off.

Throughout the album are moments of indulgent experimentation. Misanthrop goes into a 140 BPM dubstep work out called “Shadow,” which with its dark vibe and grinding lead wouldn’t be out of place on a Vex’d or Distance album. Phace’s take on electro house with “Generation For Sale” is not unlike Daft Punk or Justice, with its tight funky production.

The willingness to experiment on “From Deep Space” helps it avoid the risk of many garden variety drum-and-bass long players that tend to be a collection of singles with no message or purpose. There is an emotional content here that comes through in the high-speed drum work and moody basslines. Be warned: The album goes by fast and has so many subtle twists and turns that it demands repeated listening. “From Deep Space” finds contemporary German dance music producers getting in touch with the sorts of unique tones, textures and rhythms which have been popping up in some for on albums from Can to Carl Craig for the last 40 years.

Be sure to catch the new NEOSIGNAL PODCAST for the very latest mix from Phace and Misanthrop.  They happen to also be very accomplished djs so it’s worth the download if you dig their musical style.

http://www.myspace.com/phacepunks

http://www.myspace.com/misanthrop25

http://www.myspace.com/neosignalaudio

Gridlok has released his January 2010 tour dates in support of his recent concept album Void.
Jan 6th Minneapolis
Jan 7th NYC
Jan 8th Philadelphia
Jan 9th Milwaukee
Jan 11th Ann Arbor
Jan 12th Indianapolis
Jan 13th Portland

Project Fifty-One Records
in association with BBS Bookings is proud to present:
Gridlok – “Void Tour” – Winter 2010

About Gridlok:

It’s been nearly four years since Gridlok’s debut album “Break the System” solidified his dynamic sound into the vanguards of Drum and Bass. Considered one of the best producers in the genre, Gridlok’s music disturbs and excites dance floors across the globe. Since his start in 1999, he has released tracks with some of the most respected labels in Drum and Bass, including RAM, Shogun Audio, C.I.A., Violence Recordings, and Renegade Hardware. His studio prowess has found him doing remix work for some of the brightest stars in electronic music such as Sasha, Josh Wink, Ed Rush & Optical, Mampi Swift, and Pop Will Eat Itself. An artist not only limited to consistently releasing chart-topping dance singles, Gridlok’s other noteworthy accomplishments include his work with Konami for their massive “Dance Dance Revolution” franchise, and his Grammy-nominated collaboration with AK1200 “Autopsy”, which was up for Best Electronic Album in 2008. Throughout all of this, Gridlok has maintained a relentless touring schedule taking him everywhere from Russia to Australia, delivering a vibe that is undeniable to all those that dare to strap in for the ride. Now it is time for the latest chapter in this prolific artist’s journey…

About the Album “Void”:

The Void represents the artist at his most isolated and extreme. The Void is a place to go to explore the ideas and sounds that obsess the cultish world of the modern electronic music producer. This album is a cinematic journey into a zone where the reality of the 21st century clashes with the ways of the past to form an alternate universe of pure technological Drum & Bass. Inside the Void clichés of contemporary D&B are turned on their heads and the artificial gravity of the beats and bass pulls the listener into a black hole at the center of the speaker, never to return.

About Project Fifty-One:

Initially conceived as a sinister plot against all things mundane and unchallenging, Project Fifty-One provides worldwide access to music designed to rock dancefloors and synapses with equal ferocity. P51’s focus is presenting Drum n’ Bass that is unafraid to shatter boundaries and create musical situations unavailable from any other label. From its beginnings as an outlet for Gridlok’s more esoteric material, the label has evolved into an underground powerhouse distributed by ST Holdings and featuring world renowned artists such as Dom & Roland, Hive, Rymetyme, Optiv, the Upbeats, Silver, Echo, AK1200, and Gridlok himself.

About The Tour:

Gridlok is back on tour in North America for the first time since locking himself away months ago to put the finishing touches on his next masterpiece “Void”. Lock a date with a true heavyweight American D&B producer just as his newest long player drops. For more info and sound clips hit up: http://www.myspace.com/gridlokp51

Get in touch asap, these dates are likely to go fast!

For info on this tour contact: chris[at]bbsbookings.com

Links:
www.myspace.com/gridlokp51

www.projectfiftyone.com

www.bbsbookings.com – for North and South American tour info

Next up with an exclusive mix for ShakedownDnB.com is Tricky Pat.

Coming straight out of Burlington, Pat (along with production partner Brandon Miles!) is one of the most exciting new producers the world of Drum & Bass has seen in a while.

Their music takes the “Half-Step” sound, established by Amit, further out into the terrain of hard techno and electro.

Grinding synths with stutter-funk breaks drive their rhythms into whole new territories and avoid the often self referential rut that modern Drum & Bass rarely strays from.

Already finding their way into sets by Amit and Raiden (as well as the Hospital Records Podcast), their tunes are sure to feature in the sets of cutting edge djs everywhere soon.

We caught up with Tricky Pat and got this mix which features a few of their productions, some upfront dubs and some of the classics that influenced the music Pat & Brandon make now. Enjoy.

Tricky Pat – Shakedown Mix #6 by Shakedowndnb

TRICKY PAT

SHAKEDOWN MIX #6

http://www.myspace.com/djtrickypat

Source Direct – Stone Killer – Metalheadz

ASC – The Lair – Dub

Mako – Less Rest – Dub

Brandon Miles & Tricky Pat – Twitcher – Culture Assault Dub

2 Cities – Concrete Vein – Commercial Suicide

Stratus – Bounce – Dub

Temper D – Mousetrap – Dub

Brandon Miles & Tricky Pat – Pip Squeak – Dub

Data – Dominion – Free Release

Sunchase – Eyes – Dub

Teebee & K – Droids – Audio Couture

Codex – Don’t – Dub

Gridlok & Mayhem – Meant 2 Be – Project 51

Keaton featuring Usual Suspects – Once Again – Renegade Hardware

Derreck & Squelch – Arbiter Tribunal – Temper D Productions Dub

Loxy, Raiden & Khanage – In The Face Of Adversity – Offkey Dub

Brandon Miles & Tricky Pat – Things Long Lost – Dub

June Miller & Syntex – Sleep – Dub

Marstman – Trueschool Drumkit Wonder – Med School

Mefjus – Fugly Habits – Internet Recordings

Kemal – Submerge – Timeless Recordings

Generic – Sharkboy – Dub

Brandon Miles & Tricky Pat – Cold Sweat – Dub

Commercial Suicide Recordings announced today that Klute will be taking time off from the preparation of his as yet untitled new album to do a short tour of America in September. His agent has confirmed dates in NYC, Milwaukee and Montreal “with several others to be announced”. We thought it was noteworthy that this tour is called “Thank You America” in light of the public relations disaster which ensued after outcry from within the American heartland following the last tour which was called “Fuck You America”. His North American management had no comment other than to note that the new name will hopefully put an end to the death threats. We’ll post the dates as soon as we have them.