OK I've been light on the blog lately, I've got a new job which I actually have to try to do which is good for my general wellbeing but means my blogging duties have taken a hit. I couldn't let this one pass without a quick post though, Generation Bass' first long player is out today and it's one I've been chomping at the bit to get hold of for a looong time. Filled with futuristic theatricality, Lord Cry Cry combines dubstep sensibility with jazz experimentation and blues growl and sticks the lot through a sinister circus filter. Oh and the hallmark of all truly great music: it reminds me of Monkey Island (specifically, Dance of the Moores. Makes me think of the final battle with LeChuck at the end of MI2. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you don't know good music). But actually words can't do it justice (at least not ones I can think of at this time of night) so just check it out (and buy it, obviously):

Lord Cry Cry - Live at the C.P.U. by djumb

Out this week, the latest installment in the Generation Bass moombah EP series, this time from Balkan electro kings Shazalakazoo. Balkan music is a natural bedfellow for Moombahton - Balkan club tunes have been hovering around 100bpm dembow territory for years. Shazalakazoo are the perfect guys to push the combination forward - as a pair they've been at the forefront of electronic Balkan music for the last 5 years or so, without relying on the same tired old brass samples, and of course on his own Neki Stranac, one half of Shazalakazoo, is one of the biggest names in the Moombahton scene.

With this EP Shazalakazoo bring us 4 solid original moombalkan bangers. Title track Bang! deftly twists Balkan brass into Dutch pitchbending, and is probably the stand out tune of the set. Balkan sounds aren't all that's thrown into the Moombah mix here though; MC Gi lends some Baile Funk style vocals to Danca Do Facao, whilst Neki's Tune follows a more straight up Moombahton template. Rojo Rubi, with vocals from MishMish, sticks fairly close to a pre-Moombah Balkan sound - this is basically vintage Shazalakazoo, with a few extra synth stabs & pitch bends thrown in - an excellent vehicle to take you from the Balkans to Moombahland.

On remix duties: SaBBo puts Danca Do Facao through his Deepaton filter (grab this one below) and Bert On Beats pitches Bang! up into Kuduro territory to fairly devastating effect.

Check it out:

Shazalakazoo - Bang! Bang! EP Teaser (Mixed by Neki Stranac) - OUT NOW by djumb

BUY IT!

Bang! Bang! at Juno
Bang! Bang! at Beatport
Bang! Bang! at iTunes

Grab the SaBBo remix free: Danca Do Facao (SaBBo remix)

Man, I've been sleeping on this, time sure does fly... Out this week, SaBBo's new EP. Once again Generation Bass taking things next level. This EP truly delivers on the promise of the title - some serious deepness here. Opener 'Rubbin they Tits' has drums which don't hit hard but brush over you in a delicious afterhours manner, and when the Dutch synth comes in its altogether subtler than we have come to expect from the genre. Stand out tune for me is I'm Ready with it's Kraftwerkesque arp and Dutch bleeps which strongly recall Firepower. It's these deeper explorations which are starting to fill out the genre into something that feels like it's going somewhere, now the groundwork has been laid down by the big, dancefloor destroying tunes & re-edits.

Check out the minimix of the whole release:

Deepaton mini-mix - SaBBo - OUT NOW!!!! on Generation Bass by djumb

BUY IT!

Juno
Beatport

So excited about this album, coming soon from Generation Bass. I first found this guy about a year ago whilst searching for sea shanties on Soundcloud (as you do. Or at least, as I do - you do as well, right?) and was blown away, it's so rare to find something that's literally like nothing else. There aren't enough adjectives / genres / references to describe what he does (I called him the Tom Waits of dubstep which covers quite a few bases but there's so much more to it than that) so you're just gonna have to check out this lil teaser for now...

Lord Cry Cry - Live at the C.P.U. Album [LONG VERSION]Promo coming soon on Generation Bass by djumb

It's gonna be massive!!

To celebrate the site reaching 2 million visitors, Generation Bass has put together an enormous monster of a compilation, released in three parts over the last few days, featuring tracks from global bass heavyweights Bert on Beats, Bandish Projekt, Shazalakazoo, Celt Islam, the list goes on... plus a tune from me! I'm genuinely humbled both to be on this comp among such outstanding artists and to be involved in generationbass.com at all, it's kind of scary to think how many eyes must have read my words over there.

For the tracklist & downloads, head over there!

It Takes a Nation of 2 Million to Hold Us Back - Vol 1 - I'm on this one! Also features Bert on Beats, Bandish Projekt, Diamond Bass & load more
It Takes a Nation of 2 Million to Hold Us Back - Vol 2 - Celt Islam, Sabbo, Liquid Stranger, etc etc...
It Takes a Nation of 2 Million to Hold Us Back - Vol 3 - Shazalakazoo, GoldRush, Kush Arora....

New release from Generation Bass is out today, an EP of Epic / Romantic / Bass from Goldrush...

GoldRush, absorbed in the current resonant energies and profound experience of dancing to/through/within/above/beyond bass heavy music, is on a humble quest to create and deliver music that inspires Romanticism through Dubstep influenced composition. GoldRush is sweating through molten sound and clarifying reflective intention in hopes to one day bring you what you want : the Gold.

I'm actually not quite sure what that means. But the tunes speak for themselves, bringing extra layers of beauty and complexity to some heavy dubsteppin' bass music... incredible stuff which manages to not just juxtapose beautiful melody with dubstep filth, but actually sometimes create that beauty from the filth. Check the promo mini mix:

GoldRush Love Hz Minimix (EP forthcoming on Generation Bass Feb 14th, 2011) by GoldRush

The EP is released today at Beatport: GoldRush - Love Hz go grab it!!

Out on Monday, the latest release on Generation Bass Digital sees Israel's Sabbo take on the sound of Chicago, with a really dark, atmospheric take on Footwork (not to mention well-produced and polished - it's so hard to get hold of footwork tunes at high enough quality to play out).

Middle Eastern born, producer of many trades - SABBO - is responsible for the next release from the award winning Generation Bass camp. He has worked with Mad Decent, Soulico, dancehall stars like Turbulence and Lisa Dainjah and has also been producing many charted productions in various genres in his own country.

FREAKTION EP.

This EP draws heavily on the Chicago Foot Work sound, giving it an extra boost in top notch production and bass but also sees Sabbo leaning more towards a UK angle in the Juke/FootWork history. He blends the genre into a mix of hyperactive dancefloor filler and bass heavy globalism. From Chi town via the unlikely detour of Tel Aviv, Israel and relying on classic sampling techniques and the trusted 808 boom, this EP is a Foot Work classic in the making.

Check out the EP in minimix form, & grab a free remix of the Count & Sinden's Addicted to You below

Freaktion EP(minimix)-soon on Generation Bass by Sabbo

Buy the EP from Monday over at Juno Sabbo - Freaktion EP

I stumbled across this guy in the course of my Soundcloud rummagings a couple of months back and was hyped to post some of his stuff here, but DJ UMB spotted me commenting and asked me to keep it on the down low, since Generation Bass were planning on releasing it and were still finalising whatever it is you need to finalize in these situations. Listen: you don't argue with UMB. So I've been patiently waiting... but now it's been announced on GB I think it's safe to share here too.

So the release is forthcoming on Generation Bass but is still firmly under wraps... so check this mix which gives you an idea of where he's coming from - and also is just a fantastic example of doing something really interesting with a mix - there's big dubstep bangers on there but this isn't like any dubstep mix you've ever heard, throwing jazz, blues, classical into the mix, creating tension with discordance and clashing styles and tempos. If this guy lives up to his current promise, then we really are gonna have a dubstep Tom Waits on our hands...

Its About When it Came Out. Lord Cry Cry live at Transmediale 10 by Lord Cry Cry

Today is a momentous day: I'm now officially a blogger over at the legendary Generation Bass where I'll be posting some of the finest mixtapes to be found on the internet every couple of weeks. Today I posted mixes from OctaPush, djmq and DJ Delay... Check it!

So I was over in Tilburg at the weekend playing at / checking out Incubate courtesy of the mighty Generation Bass. Had a completely awesome time and saw / heard some completely awesome stuff so I thought I'd share some of it...

This is going to be a long one, so check it out after the jump there's gonna be:

Les Trucs, The Drip Dry Man, DJ UMB, Bomb Squad, DMDN, Hyetal, Boogie Dave, The Puddle Parade & Studio Menagerie!! Oh: Also R Kelly

Side note: could people stop using myspace please? I hate linking to myspace since I never follow those links myself because I'm guaranteed a horrible experience (as ubu.com says 'It's ugly, crowded, filled with ads, blares music at you, and nine times out of ten, crashes our browser.') SOUNDCLOUD PLEASE GUYS