Debugger is a new project from Richard Knight examining the hazy area between late night headphones and early morning dancefloors. Based somewhere in the middle of natural beauty and urban decay in the North of the UK, Debugger creates a hybrid sound of artificial soul with a skewed groove. Making inorganic sound sources seem natural and organic sound sources seem synthetic; the outcome is a concoction that is both deep and laced with absurdity.
Knight has been active with unusual sounds in and around Manchester for several years and can usually be found thrashing hard drives until they produce music. His techno influenced releases under his own name and pseudonyms have received support and airplay from John Tejada and Daniel Steinberg among others.
Cell Out lurk in the murk of that Solent Estuarine backwash. Tense breaks hold the lid on rave licks - padded mists provide audile sanctuary. Transcendance found in an Oblong Room; the dragons tail of an apocalyptic blowout.
Following Swayzak’s Gestures Of A Sycophant, the third release on Beatnik Boulevard sees the return of Appleblim after he launched the label in style with the Conch Shell Motives EP. This time the Berlin-based producer is working alongside long-time collaborator and fellow Bristol bassweight alumni Komon – the duo have turned out EPs for Aus Music and Apple Pips in the past, but this 12” represents the first new material from them since 2014.
The heads-down, meditative lilt of Appleblim & Komon’s Bristol past looms in the shadows on this EP, but it’s shot through with a steely, modernist dance floor bite and high-end sound design. Know Yourself pivots around crafty, 2-step kinked drums but there’s plenty of space afforded to atmospheric synth surges that plunge the track into a mood-altering headspace just to the left of the conventional dance floor.
In a more overt step away from the club, Enigmatic Light finds the pair exploring reduced, experimental approaches without discarding their penchant for heavy drum pressure. The sparse but booming kicks and bass stabs provide a powerful anchor to the swirling array of melodic matter coursing through the track, striking the perfect balance between structured arrangement and free-flowing sonics.
Stepping Out Of Yesterday closes the EP out with a beautiful, crooked reflection peppered with rich, chiming dub ripples, out of which a sprightly acid line emerges to affirm the electronica leanings of the track, and the EP as a whole. It’s a fitting end to a record that sees both producers striking out into exciting territory where the moody soundsystem pressure of their past can coexist with the shimmering, psychedelic production that comes so naturally to them.
Swayzak returns with Gestures of a Sycophant. After a back catalogue of severely epic proportions (The seminal album Snowboarding in Argentina for example), A legendary Fabric residency & Mix CD, and a relationship with Tresor that spawned epic gigs and an LP; not to have released a record since 2012 is nothing short of criminal. 2017 then sees Beatnik Boulevard deliver two long overdue tracks of those big room stylings that has become synonymous with the name Swayzak . Even as you succumb to the bass pressure, the oceans of detail and programming flourishes that only come with decades spent in those worldwide techno bunkers bring to mind the pedigree of this release. It was once declared that Swayzak is a Techno Dinosaur - looking back that seems a justified moniker to go with the guttural, brobdingnagian sounds of these compositions. Slow moving though the spawning may have been, the monster has once again awakened.
Looking back to the Beatnik Era on the South Coast of England.
Before package holidays and the rush to Benidorm, Beatniks ruled the seafronts and B&B’s of the Southern Beach Resorts. Beat Poets and Musicians pedalled alternative viewpoints & delivered fresh melodies to these waterfronts of escapism.
Marking another step forward in his sonic evolution, Appleblim inaugurates Beatnik Boulevard with a record that channels his roots in brooding bassweight club music into startling modern compositions. From his groundbreaking work on Skull Disco to various mutations of house, techno and electro explored via solo and collaborative releases for R&S, Aus Music and Tempa , this 12” finds the Berlin-based producer wielding fresh approaches to synthesis in a daring framework that finds physicality in music away from obvious rhythmic tropes.
A-side track “Conch Shell Motives” rides on undulating waves of atmospherics as icy textures and warm pads merge atop fragmented kick drum thuds and heavy-dread sub stabs. It’s an eerie situation, but not devoid of warmth in its threads of melodic delay ripples.
“Holistic Rider” is a meditative workout that sports the hallmarks of early UK electronica in its laconic broken beats. Amorphous synth shapes bend and contort around this understated percussion, the evocative metallic overtones of the sound design injecting a sense of alien intrigue into the mellow surroundings.
By way of contrast, “Glass Eye” feels far more immediate with its delicate chiming refrain and swooning chords, but still the sense of futuristic intrigue propels the track into exciting new pastures both for Appleblim and this promising new label.
DJ Support
Pearson Sound, Peverlist, Hodge, Wen, Slackk, Benjamin Damage, dOP, Zinc, DJ Octopus, Koast, Hannah Holland, Chris Coco, Otik, James Fox, Lee Jones, Danny Tenaglia, Komon, Photonz, Etch, Doc Scott, Bwana, Rob Da Bank, Heartthrob, Borai, October, Ivan Smagghe, Fink, Charles Webster, Piezo + more
