Nov. 19: Silkie . Michael Red . Frame

As sub⎸division rolls up on its first birthday (details on that later!), we’re yet again blessed with another stellar lineup. Friday Nov. 19 sees another London founding legend roll through Victoria…

S I L K I E    [Deep Medi Musik, Anti-Social - London, UK]

Foundational dubstep vibes for sure.

Silkie is a dubstep producer/DJ from West London. He released his debut LP City Limits Vol. 1 in July 2009 on highly-reputable DEEP MEDi MUSIK, the label run by Mala of Digital Mystikz (one of original builders of the dubstep movement). Not to be taken lightly.

Silkie “Planet X” from City Limits Vol. 1

Silkie “Dam 4″ from Steppas’ Delight Compilation

Quoting the man himself, Silkie’s tunes are “for dancing, not headbanging”. Starting with the deep rooted sub-space of the DMZ continuum, Silkie has incorporated fringe elements & grafted his own unique space inside the dubstep lineage. Often grouped with Joker, Gemmy & Guido, Silkie wields elements of the synth-driven “purple” sound that has dominated dancefloors over the last 2 years. His sensual productions fill the crates of Mala, Coki, Skream, Joker & Peverelist, constantly receiving huge ups from London’s core dubstep community.

M I C H A E L   R E D   [Lighta! Sound, Low Indigo - Vancouver]

Not much needs to be said about this cat. Talking about foundational UK vibes with Silkie – one cannot comment on BC’s bass music scene without mentioning Grandaddy Lighta!, MRed. Dude has been at the fulcrum of all things bass in Vancouver for years, responsible for exposing dubstep on North American soil long before people knew what Rusko was. His set at sub⎸division is HUGELY anticipated.

F R A M E   [The Big Reds, Pacific Dubstep]

Our resident dub-pusher, Frame is not stranger to Victoria’s dub-obsessed masses. A dedicated roots-vibing selektah, Frame’s sets are seamlessly mixed platters of steady sub-pressure & irie-vibes. Respek.

future bass: Modeselektion Vol. 1

Gernot Bronsert & Sebastian Szary have been holding it down as true boundary smashers for a minute now. Their two full lengths, Hello Mom! & Happy Birthday, are healthy platters of sound design, sub-bass science, humour (an all-too-often missing factor from so much modern dance music) & undeniable dance-floor demons. Last year’s Moderat project with fellow art-tronic auteur Apparat turned many heads with it’s mixture of vocal-driven techno & deep dubstep. Needless to say, ahead of the game.

Modeselektor “VW Jetta” from Modeselektion Vol. 1

Mala “Explorer” from Modeselektion Vol. 1

Tadd Mullinix & Daniel Mateo “The Good Star” from Modeselektion Vol. 1

And…. even more so now, with Modeselektion Vol. 1, their personally curated compilation of some of bass-music’s most forward-thinking producers released via their own label Monkeytown. If you’ve at all been geeked on the 2step/UKFunky/techno hybrids that have been killing dancefloors this year, then you will salivate at this tracklisting. Most notable for us… the return of Dabrye’s proper-nomer alias, Tadd Mullinix! Wander over to Modeselektor’s shop to pick up vinyl/CD/WAV/mp3…

Siriusmo – Das Geheimnis
SBTRKT – The Unspoken
Feadz – The Assistant Manager
Tadd Mulinix & Daniel Meteo – The Good Star
Robag Wruhme – Bierholer
2562 – The Wind Up
eLan – Pussy Posse
Cosmin TRG – Space Station Love Affair
Shed – With Bag And Baggage
Apparat – King Of Clubs
Marcel Dettmann – Lyrate
Ikonika & Optimum – Hum
Modeselektor – VW Jetta
Ramadanman – Pitter
Mala – Explorer
Bok Bok – Say Stupid Things
Housemeister – Kristall
Cylob – Pepper Spray [Capsicum Edit]

sub⎹div q&a: Outsider

Within Victoria’s DJ circuit, the term “on fire” has never applied more to an artist. Outsider aka Jon Camilleri is rolling right now, coming off  legendary opening sets for Rusko, Dieselboy & Distance all within the last 5 weeks. One of Victoria’s dedicated drum & bass faithful, Outsider has quietly worked his way to the top of the 160+ bpm pile.

A native of Toronto, Outsider has been repping DnB for a minute on the West Coast, having played alongside TC, 16Bit, Aphrodite & Benny Page among others. In the club, he is a surgeon in the mix, clipping along flawlessly from track to storming track, able to blend ol’ skool amen-laden flavours with modern envelope pushers like the Shogun Audio team. We sat down with this titan to have a yakkety yak…

Give us the quick Outsider 101…

I’ve been DJing roughly 8 years. I started out playing old school hip-hop. Playing records at the time was more of a novelty, all I really wanted to do was make some scratch sounds & look good doing it. A year or so later, I got into the broken beat & underground sound (DnB, Old School Jungle, Techno, Breaks) – that became my platform with Drum & Bass being my main focus.

Who are some of your early influences?

Andy C, Ed Rush & Optical, Mystical Influence & Sniper, TeeBee. I can pretty much credit these artists for shaping my future.

Moving from TO to Vic must have been a big shift for you – TO’s DnB scene must have been a lot more vibrant than Victoria’s?

Toronto has always been known for its 24/7 music scene, multiple world wide headliners & huge venues hosting many rooms. Ya no big deal, I’ll take a small venue with intimate vibes any day over that. I love Victoria’s music scene, the local artists have inspired me in many ways I could never imagine.

Despite having dedicated diehard supporters like yourself, D&B is a genre that has come in & out of fashion over the last decade – do you think that all the new emerging bass music is revitalizing the genre in a way?

Drum & Bass has a ton of variety and depth. The emerging of half step, minimal, deep & intelligent sounds over the last few years are really helping me & many people stay interested in the complexity Drum & Bass can and has offered. The direction of these sub genres is definetly revitalizing and refreshing the genre.

Dubstep and Drum & Bass really seem to be patting each other on the back lately – how do you feel about the crossover between the 2 sounds?

Both genres are currently really helping each other to grow & get people involved with both sounds. The merge between the genres is getting stronger daily, it’s very apparent in the music & the multi genre events taking place as of late. Overall, the music rivalry is becoming thinner by the minute and that is a step in the right direction, especially for the younger audiences without the knowledge of both sounds.

Who are some contemporary DnB producers who you’re feeling at the moment?

Alex Perez, Break, Breakage, D Bridge, Grimm, Icicle, Logistics, Mutt, Noisia, Rockwell, Rythmicon, Spor, S.P.Y, The Insiders. Producers who have been a staple in the music industry for many years , but are always evolving & innovating will always get my vote. The sounds from [these] producers are always modern, current, and futuristic.

Closing thoughts?

Since landing in Victoria in early 2009 I have been blessed with many good opportunities, contacts, shows & love, I’ll like to concentrate on those things. More local artists, producer and promoter support. I find Victoria’s talent out-shines most of the international acts that have been coming to town as of late. Don’t believe the hype, believe the future.

DL: Autechre remixed by Pixelord

The last few months, our attention keeps getting drawn to the frigid wastelands of Russia & its surrounding zones. There is a crazy swell of future funk coming from Soviet soil & Pixelord is at the helm alongside a slew of producers released on the fantastic Error Broadcast label. His Lucid Freaks & Love Is EPs have been populating Longshanks’ sets for a minute now & it’s no surprise that Pixelord manages to undertake what many would consider a silly feat: remixing Autechre.

Autechre’s two releases in 2010 – Oversteps & Move Of Ten - each play like kin to one another. Oversteps‘ ambient scapes are complimented brilliantly by the rigid rhythmic structures that fill Move Of Ten. Along with their own remix of The Bug’s “Skeng”, Autechre have had a banner year. Their pursuit of new sounds is restless & admirable to say the least.

Pixelord’s take on Oversteps‘ “see on see” crunkifies spiraling melodies into 6/8 loping funk – weird from a distance but hella dope once your neck wraps around the rhythm. DL below.

co-workers slain

Obvs this is all over the web already but… seriously. Unbelievably ill visuals.

Teebs.12th.Daedelus.GLK.Longshanks recap

Fantastic Friday night with the Low End Theory crew at Sugar with our own Longshanks. Another great example of the wild diversity available to those willing to give all this new bass music a go.

Gaslamp Killer returned to Vic after his amazing Victoria debut at Rifflandia last month, as did 12th Planet, who ripped up VEMF this past summer. Both played amazing sets, 12th heavy on the razor basslines & GLK heavy on, well everything – Ethiopian funk, Aphex, HudMo… again, mindblowing.

Daedelus’ live set is something to behold. Rocking the monome with his own custom Max programming, dude is the ultimate megamixer. Fusing 3 tunes together through most of the mix, his sound is unique & party-inducing. It’s kinda like trainspotting the entire time, except the train is traveling at a furious velocity. And if there is a nicer gentleman on the live circuit atm, we dare you to try to find him – a pleasure watching this cat throw down.

Teebs. What can we say? Dude is kinda slept on. He just released his proper debut on FlyLo’s Brainfeeder imprint. Ardour is a sprawling, swirling marriage of psychedelia & beats, a perfect fit on Lotus’ label. A quiet cat, Teebs live was a treat to say the least. Rocking a minimal setup with a Roland 404, his set mixed his own tunes with some edited vamps. Boards Of Canada & Dibiase popped up, but it was dope hearing someone with the constitution to drop juicy dollops of ambience amidst the aqueous crunk.

Much love & respect out to the Magical Properties/Low End theory crew.

Low End Theory with Longshanks this Friday

The Low End Theory crew rolls into town this Friday: Teebs, 12th Planet (who KILLLLED it at VEMF this year, remember?), Gaslamp Killer (heee’s baaack!) & Daedelus all promise an evening of intense next level beats, along with our resident crunk-pusher Longshanks who’ll no doubt be hucking the type of wonked-out bass he repped on our latest podcast that is burning up the sub⎹div podcast counters.

FACEBOOK EVENT HERE

Those curious about Daedelus live clock the vid above – live, he’s heavily regarded as the heavyweight contender in LA behind FlyLo. That machine he’s rocking is called a monome & it is fucking coooool. DL Daedelus’ set @ Illum Sphere’s Hoya.Hoya night for a taste of the madness.

download Daedelus live set @ HoyaHoya

‘Fly Russia’ compilation on Error Broadcast

We’ve been hawking the Error Broadcast label for a minute – they’ve unleashed a handful of stellar releases in the post-hop boogie realm. Documenting the swelling scene of cold-war crunk emanating from Soviet soil, Fly Russia collects all the current players in the scene; Pixelord, Dza, 813, OL & more feature on this healthy portion of wonked, melancholy-inflected beats. Available for a free 192mp3 DL from their site, we encourage you to wander over to Error Broadcast’s bandcamp for the hi-quality audio.

Pixelord “Cheese Freak” from Fly Russia

SPKRBRZR curating Catalog Gallery in Vancity

The homie Speakerbruiser Rob aka Megasoid has a new baby to be proud of – Catalog Gallery is located at 100-56 Powell St. in the gastown area of Vancouver. Their goal?

“Catalog’s mandate is to program theme-driven shows that highlight Vancouver’s creative community & place place it firmly in the global conversation of art…”

Nice. The gallery opened its doors with Postulate Dimentia - a collection of renaissance-inspired oilstick on large-wood-canvasses & some limited edition prints from The Dark.

If you’re around, pop in & check it.

The Dark’s ‘Postulate Dementia’ exhibition. The show is a collection of renaissance-inspired oilstick on large-wood-canvasses and some limited edition prints that we feel marks a new era in work by The Dark.

Jus Wan ‘Miles Away’

A little bitter-sweet on this one – San Fran bass-pusher Jus Wan has just announced that he’s packing it in musically. Along with DJG, Jus Wan has fought the good fight on the West Coast, pursuing the sonics that enrich the dub/step/techno axiom. In particular, “Action Potential”, his debut 12″ on Appleblim’s Apple Pips imprint, is a tasty 2step/techno gem.

Sonic Router posted a quick interview with the man – sayonara.

download Jus Wan Miles Away