Downtempo Canada » Brokenbeat

A Brief Exploration of Aphex Twin & Squarepusher

Dewey dB — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 02:55:55 +0000

Hello, and thank you all for your continued support of my music blog. I’m glad that many people frequent it because I really love sharing music with everyone in my life. One of the questions I get asked on a consistant basis is to recommend some “good” Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) and Squarepusher (Thomas Jenkinson) songs. I would like to take a moment to emphasize the point that this is by no means an exhaustive journey into either of these creative geniuses. Rather these six songs I have selected, three from each artist, are meant as a sampling of a few of my favourite songs by each artist. If you know of similar songs by these artists, we would love to hear about it, just leave a comment! Without any further rambling lets begin:
Aphex Twin – Girl/Boy Song sample taken from his 1996 LP “Richard D. James”
Squarepusher – Port Rhombus taken from his 1996 EP “Port Rhombus”
Aphex Twin – Flim sample taken from his 1997 LP “Come to Daddy”
Aphex Twin – Window Licker sample taken from his 1999 EP “Windowlicker”
Squarepusher – My Red Hot Car taken from his 2001 LP “Go Plastic”
Squarepusher – Do You Know Squarepusher taken from his 2002 LP “Do You Know Squarepusher”

Honourable mention also go to the following songs, which are also very good, but I am not comfortable posting that many “sample” songs on here, so look them up, and buy the cd’s/lp’s to support these guys!
Squarepusher – Iambic 5 Poetry (Budakhan Mindphone EP, 1999)
Squarepusher – Iambic 9 Poetry (Ultravisitor LP, 2004)
Squarepusher – Come on my selector (Big Loada EP, 1997)
Aphex Twin – Vordhosbn (DrukQs LP, 2001)
Aphex Twin – Avril 15th (DrukQs LP, 2001)
Aphex Twin – Mt Saint Michel Mix St. Michaels Mount (DrukQs LP, 2001)

Aphilas – Instrumentally Ill EP (Merck)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 06:01:35 +0000

Something a bit different from Merck, the debut 7-track EP from latest signing Aphilas displaying an organic, multi-layered knack with instrumental hip hop and clever samples – all softly destined for the downtempo. Opening cut ‘Lifelong Fiction’ is gorgeous – the beats skipping effortlessly around a melange of strings, flutes, clarinets, the odd mandolin and loose vocal caresses – lovely cinematic styles painted blue. “That’s Just What It’s For” and “Collective Memory Loss” are much more Machine Drum induced, complete with more cut-ups and spannered arrangements, but head for the magnificent “Dubbed Coil of Smoke” on the flip for a smokey display of tight beats and midnight sparkling Rhodes keys, slightly reminiscent of Dj Shadow’s best, but with a different set of rules at its disposal. Very limited as per usual, some copies coming on purple/grey marble effect vinyl. Lovely.
Download for free from archive.org!

Manual – Until Tomorrow (Morr Music)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 06:00:26 +0000

Denmark’s Jonas Munk, aka Manual, first came to our attention with his mesmerising EP for the excellent Hobby Industries label. This debut Album for the increasingly devestating Morr Music label is sure to become regarded as a bit of a classic before too long…..there seems to be a bit of a buzz about this LP……people talking. Where Manual differs from the idm fraternity is with his accoustic front. The spine that runs through almost every track accross the 9 gems on offer is an organic one…..melodica, guitars, Piano. The beats and percussive arrangements come as a definite afterburn…..almost an afterthought. Comparisons are hard to conjur up with any degree of precision, but think of Kim Hiorthoy, Boards, Mum. In fact, the overwhelming essence of this LP is in its immaculate musicianship and songwriting displays…warm, but not sickly….melancholy…but uplifting. Recognisable, but new. Essential.

Ratatat – Ratatat (XLRecordings)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:59:54 +0000

Ratatat’s founders, Mike “Snake” Stroud and Evan ”E*Vax” Mast, have been making music out of a Crown Heights apartment in Brooklyn since 2001, their unique sound born of a combined love of Jay-Z, The Rolling Stones, Timbaland and Beethoven. Mike is one of New York’s best guitarists and has spent his time touring the world with Ben Kweller and Dashboard Confessional. Evan has been producing music as E*vax for the past few years, releasing most of his output on Audio Dregs Records the label run by him and his brother E*Rock. Now back in their bedroom studio the pair have made a sing-along record, just without words. While dance music is trying to re-invent itself and rock is returning to it’s roots, Ratatat seem to make a happy mess in both fields.

Edit – Crying Over Pros For No Reason (Planet Mu)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:59:17 +0000

Edward Ma from Los Angeles is edIT. “Ed Ma’s first album as edIT features tracks that have been painstakingly sequenced, hiphop that takes glitchiness to the extreme. The style of the album takes cues from Prefuse 73, but taken to another level. Yet it is not really the tricky programming that really pops out at you – it’s the soulfulness and smoothness with which each track is glued together from extremely small snippets of sound. The opener features an electric piano first noodling then exploding into a shower of digital particles, it’s all put together with the ear of an expert artist. Guitars peek around the edge of many of the pieces, and there is homage to both underground beats and more g-oriented swissbeatz styles going on. Perhaps the album’s only shortcoming is its relentless pace of all things digital and beautiful, that can be almost too much to bear. Crying over pros for no reason is emotional, instrumental hiphop at its finest – looking forward with its digital edge but also beating with a warm analog heart.”

Nobody – And Everything Else (Plug Research)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:55:58 +0000

This album finds Nobody (aka Elvin Estela) in transition and in regression, building on psychedelic themes apparent in his last album, yet revisiting his hip-hop roots as heard on hisdebut Soulmates (2000, Ubiquity Records). Nobody once again teams upwith Mystic Chords of Memory (Chris Gunst of Beachwood Sparks and JenCohen of the Aisler’s Set) and Farmer Dave Scher (Beachwood Sparks) who delivered the standout track on Pacific Drift, a beat heavy cover of theMonkees’ “Porpoise Song.” This time, they jump 30 years to cover one ofNobody’s favorite 90’s anthems, The Flaming Lips’ “What is the Light?“

Deceptikon Live from Oregon & More Web Tracks (Merck)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:55:15 +0000

I just stumbled upon a great live set recorded by Percussion Lab: “we are proud to feature this live set by M3rck recording artist, Deceptikon. His blend of raw hip hop with smooth instrumental loops has been keeping us here at Percussion Lab entertained for the past week. Zack Wright aka Deceptikon has been making electronic music for quite a few years, and signed with Merck Records (based out of Miami, Florida) in 2002. His debut 12″ release, “Lost Subject,” went out of print only four months after it was released. His first full-length album, also titled “Lost Subject”, was released on Merck in May of this year. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Deceptikon has played many shows in Oregon, Washington, and New York City over the last few years “
Download the mix from here!
Also If you’re a big Deceptikon fan, you should note that he’s also got a few new tracks out floating on the internet:
Deceptikon – Cut & Revision A short sample from a comp on Refinery Records
Deceptikon – Defenestration (beta) Beat of the Week on Complex Players Club
Deceptikon – Ashes of Shanghai unreleased bonus mp3 on Merck.

Clark – Throttle Furniture (Warp)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:53:39 +0000

This new ep from the artist formerly known as Chris Clark, is going to be seriously on point, as always! Mr. Clark is well known in the experimental electronic music scene as being one of the godfathers of the genre. His first EP, Clarence Park was an intense journey through his twisted interpretation of electronic music, with serveral tracks that were so powerful and emotional I had them on winamp repeat for well over a week. With his first double lp, Empty the Bones of You, his style drifted somewhat to the more minimalistic/ambient style of electronica, but still very cutting edge and Warp worthy! His second EP, Ceramics is the Bomb continued along the same style of minimal nasty broken beats truely only worthy of a true electronic fiend.
His third EP, Throttle Furniture, is a sneak preview from warp records of the direction clark will be taking with his newest and second full length album, as well as some of the material he will be showcasing on his upcomming UK tour with 65 days of Static starting on the 25th of February. Unfortunately the only song on this EP that will be on his forthcomming album is Herr Bar, and we haven’t been able to get our filthy little fingers on that one yet, ’cause the EP isn’t out till Feb 20th, but we do have a very special treat for all our dedicated readers, a downtempo.ca exclusive, Clark – Frau Wav which has an incredibly catchy wonky plastic disco style to it. Download
Of course you can also pre-order the the EP from WarpMart