Northern Mystikz

paul.meme on:
dead flesh propelled by a wholly artificial electricity
a Mystikal experience in Sheffield last night...


Paul says: For what Digital Mystikz share with both the Abyssinians and Shaka is that to go see them play is to experience spiritual healing. In my opinion, the Mystikz and Shaka in particular are not just fucking around when they drop relentlessly hard, pounding, one-note bass skankers; it’s not just some metallic testosterone work-out; they’re deliberately putting you in a different spiritual place. It’s like there is SOMETHING LIVING IN THE MUSIC, something really good and strong and powerful.

Dubstep is doing something very special right now and I don’t know how long the beauty of the current scene will last – two years? Three? Forever? – but if you have any opportunity at all to go and experience it, you should seize it.


I did. And it was one of the most profound(ly inspiring, physical, emotional) musical experiences I've ever had. I'll be coming back for more as soon as possible. And, from the sounds of it, May's Kode 9 show in TO could just be the first in a series of big events put together by the sub:trac crew. These are exciting times and I haven't cared this much about music for over a decade. Catch it while you can.

If you haven't already heard Paul's 'Dubstep Sufferah' mix you should track it down. (Write up here. Audio at Barefiles - make sure to read his commentary before listening) Like me, Paul spends weeks finely editing his tracks and meshing them together using Ableton Live. The difference is that his decades of immersion in UK sound system culture contribute a dubwise sensibility to his mix that I could only hope to approximate.

Spring Forward >>

And (quite belatedly) if you didn't catch my recent mix for Riddim.ca's first birthday (which I had to take down after doing 50GB in five days!) you can now grab it at Barefiles thanks to Deapoh. The write up is still up at Gutterbreakz.

Nick: Funnily enough, the mix begins with Shackleton's "Naked", a track that Paul had actually cut on dubplate. The fact that he then fed this eminently mixable platter into a digital multitrack has a strangely perverse logic about it.

That's it right there, dematerialisation of the dubplate...

Reload:
Autonomic Computing

Shackleton - Naked (dubplate / Skull Disco)
Headhunter - New Dawn (cd-r)
Wedge - Overfiend (cd-r)
Loefah - Root (DMZ)
Headhunter - Hidden Agenda (cd-r)
Distance - Taipan (Boka)
Loefah - The Goat Stare (DMZ)
Distance - Fallen (Boka)
Scuba - Timba (Scuba/crack bong chop)
Distance - Empire (Hotflush/spectral mash)
Chunky Bizzle - Tools Too Big (white/edit)
Appleblim - Cheat I (Skull Disco)
Loefah & Skream - 28 Grams (Tectonic/edit)
Skream - Request Line (Tempa)
Request Line Outro Refux
Shackleton - Stalker (Mordant)
Hidden Agenda - Fish Eggs (Reinforced)
Digital Mystikz - Neverland (DMZ)
Burial - South London Borroughs (Hyperdub)
Kode 9 + Benny Ill - Fat Larry's Skank (Tempa)
Coki - Mood Dub (DMZ/edit)
Appleblim - Girder (Skull Disco/edit)
Macabre Unit - Tensor Jam (Terrorhythm)
Dizzee - Go (white/edit)
Skream - I (Tempa/dubsetter edit)
Distance - Saints and Sinners (Boka)
Loefah - Truly Dread (Tempa)
Jason Mundo - I Stand Rasta (cd-r/edit)
Kode 9 + Space Ape - Kingstown (Hyperdub)
Distance - Dark Crystal (Boka/edit)
Shackleton - Blood On My Hands (cd-r/edit / Skull Disco)