Khaliphonic

Release Date - 26th October 2018

Known for a broad swath of genre-obliterating club tracks on crucial labels including Critical, Exit, and 50Weapons, Sam Binga approached us earlier this year with a radically different kind of project, a collaboration with Welfare, true junglist and label boss at D&B bastion Rua Sound. The result of their team-up is Conamara Fieldworks. Its unique inspiration and patient process are best described by the duo themselves:

"In early November 2016, we set off through the bleakness of an Irish November into the wilderness that is Conamara, County Galway, Ireland, with about half an idea of what we wanted to do. Our friend Laney had been kind enough to allow us the use of a 300 year old cottage overlooking the sea, itself belonging to her family through generations which she was bit by bit restoring to its former glory. The isolation was perfect - very little in the way of creature comforts, no network coverage, but plenty of turf for the stove and Guinness for the belly.

Our routine for the next few days consisted of trudging the length of the rugged coastline in search of interesting sounds we could potentially process into usable elements for some kind of dub/dub techno-inspired composition...This took us inside tidal caves and abandoned ruins, across sheep fields, up and down mountains and winding country lanes, in and out of the odd pub, under upturned boats and (carefully) across huge washes of seaweed-covered shoreline. Using our handheld recorder (shouts Danny Scrilla for the lend) we assembled a palette of varied noises, constantly battling with the peaking and distortion created by the incessant Atlantic gusts.

Each evening, following some intense huddling around the stove and vital Irish home cuisine and stout, we'd examine and dissect what we had collected that day, sometimes discovering the most interesting material firmly planted in the background of the soundscapes. A certain amount of (but not too much) processing later we had the bones of a few short loops of each sound which made some kind of musical sense when played alongside each other.

Binga suggested staying true to the craft and keeping the rawness to the foreground by attempting to develop the loops into full compositions via live desk mixing, arrangement and effects. We said our goodbyes to Conamara and a month or two later said our hellos to the Dubkasm shedio. Following a crash course from the dynamic duo, we set to work for the day, learning as we went along and enjoying to the full the unpredictability, intuition and sheer vibes a dubbing session can bring, particularly in a studio kitted out with some fine analogue gear which undoubtedly helped us to keep that damp, saturated feeling that Conamara had sown."

The resulting collection of music speaks for itself, and does so in its own language. It is meditative, deeply textural, and richly saturated, with awesome sound design, generous bass weight, and dubwise finesse. Referencing ambient, concrete, and dub techno while never letting any genre dictate its path, Conamara Fieldworks is a deeply rewarding and intensely involving listen. A restrained yet transporting remix from the one Ossia completes the set.

a1. Sam Binga & Welfare - Trá na Feadóige

a2. Sam Binga & Welfare - Muirbhigh (Ossia Remix)

b1. Sam Binga & Welfare - Cloch Na Rón

b2. Sam Binga & Welfare - Iorras Beag

b3. Sam Binga & Welfare - Muirbhigh

Sam Binga & Welfare - Conamara Fieldworks

Khaliphonic

£12.91 (£15.49 Inc VAT)

Strategy - Dub Mind Paradigm LP

Khaliphonic

£14.15 (£16.98 Inc VAT)

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Various Artists - Sounds from the Well: Collection 1

Khaliphonic

£12.99 (£15.59 Inc VAT)

Released 29th January 2016

ZamZam 19, Alter Echo & E3’s “Nubian Dub” backed with “Warning Dub” was an underground hit that sold out its run of 600 copies almost instantly, and has been in constant demand ever since. It is consistently named as many completists’ top ZamZam release. Championed by selectors as diverse as The Bug, J:Kenzo, Alpha Steppa and Joe Nice, both tunes developed lives of their own, spawning remixes that we are now extremely proud to release as a pair of limited 10”s: Khaliphonic 05 (Nubian Dub Remixes) and 06 (Warning Dub Remixes).

Egoless’ live dubbing of the tunes in his sets early last year morphed into heavyweight remixes of both cuts. His Nubian version is a funkdafied 140-affair with added clave, cyborg saxophone flavor, retooled low-end and a strangely uplifting mood animated by his unique sense of spatial dynamics and movement. ZamZam veteran DJ Madd brings the 85 bpm slow-jungle rockers vibrations with his signature 808 depth drops, spacious synths and tuned tablas anchoring the original atmospherics in a completely different and unexpected riddim matrix.

Microphone commando Rider Shafique introduces Ishan Sound’s refix, which began life as a special for Ishan, Alter Echo, and E3, but demanded a wider release. A militant steppers of the highest order, a haunting melody floats above the pounding kick and galloping percussion while machine-gun snares cut through the miasmic swirling textures. Egoless’ Warning remix seemingly pitches the entire original tune up an octave to make room for the monstrous, swollen, lurching bass, kick & claps that has become a swaggering anthem that demands multiple reloads wherever he performs it.

Raising the visual aesthetic bar once again, in-house design & print master Polygon Press blesses each 10” with a striking, complementary geometric construction, teasing 2 and 3D in and out of each other in a captivatingly original style. Screen printed by hand on heavy chip board jackets.  Design + Print by Polygon Press. Mastered & cut by Lewis at Stardelta, Devon, UK.

Strictly limited to 800 copies each – No repress – No digital

a. Alter Echo & E3 - Warning Dub (Ishan Sound Special)

b. Alter Echo & E3 - Warning Dub (Egoless Remix)

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Alter Echo & E3 - Warning Dub (Ishan Sound Special & Egoless Remix)

Khaliphonic

£7.49 (£8.99 Inc VAT)

Released 29th January 2016

ZamZam 19, Alter Echo & E3’s “Nubian Dub” backed with “Warning Dub” was an underground hit that sold out its run of 600 copies almost instantly, and has been in constant demand ever since. It is consistently named as many completists’ top ZamZam release. Championed by selectors as diverse as The Bug, J:Kenzo, Alpha Steppa and Joe Nice, both tunes developed lives of their own, spawning remixes that we are now extremely proud to release as a pair of limited 10”s: Khaliphonic 05 (Nubian Dub Remixes) and 06 (Warning Dub Remixes).

Egoless’ live dubbing of the tunes in his sets early last year morphed into heavyweight remixes of both cuts. His Nubian version is a funkdafied 140-affair with added clave, cyborg saxophone flavor, retooled low-end and a strangely uplifting mood animated by his unique sense of spatial dynamics and movement. ZamZam veteran DJ Madd brings the 85 bpm slow-jungle rockers vibrations with his signature 808 depth drops, spacious synths and tuned tablas anchoring the original atmospherics in a completely different and unexpected riddim matrix.

Microphone commando Rider Shafique introduces Ishan Sound’s refix, which began life as a special for Ishan, Alter Echo, and E3, but demanded a wider release. A militant steppers of the highest order, a haunting melody floats above the pounding kick and galloping percussion while machine-gun snares cut through the miasmic swirling textures. Egoless’ Warning remix seemingly pitches the entire original tune up an octave to make room for the monstrous, swollen, lurching bass, kick & claps that has become a swaggering anthem that demands multiple reloads wherever he performs it.

Raising the visual aesthetic bar once again, in-house design & print master Polygon Press blesses each 10” with a striking, complementary geometric construction, teasing 2 and 3D in and out of each other in a captivatingly original style. Screen printed by hand on heavy chip board jackets.  Design + Print by Polygon Press. Mastered & cut by Lewis at Stardelta, Devon, UK.

Strictly limited to 800 copies each – No repress – No digital

a. Alter Echo & E3 - Nubian Dub (Egoless Remix)

b. Alter Echo & E3 - Nubian Dub (DJ Madd Remix)

Sold Out

Alter Echo & E3 - Nubian Dub (Egoless & DJ Madd Remixes)

Khaliphonic

£7.49 (£8.99 Inc VAT)

Summer of 2014 at Reconstrvct, Brooklyn NY - Ishan Sound was pummeling the capacity crowd with hi-powered steppers, cut after cut on beautiful acetate. Suddenly a huge sonic space opened up with a tune that was like a blast of cool air through the suffocatingly hot room… ZamZam’s E3 was instantly captivated by the track, and knew we had to have it… but first we had to find out what it was!

The tune that had the crowd heaving and rocking in delight was Peaman’s “War” - a legendary dubplate by a mysterious producer, controlled by only a few including Ishan, Kahn and Bristol’s DJ Dad. Massively warm sub-bass, uncompromisingly sparse one drop riddim, sublime horns and pads, and masterful control of reverbs define this understated killer. Powerful in its restraint and minimalism, War touches all the right marks in the frequency spectrum, making it an unforgettable hit with every sound system it’s flexed on.

Khaliphonic 04 offers up the original tune alongside three versions on 12” vinyl. “Horns of War,” an extended saxophone version excursion featuring James Morton soloing on the horn offers up pure, sparkling dubwise jazz like none we’ve ever heard. Two remixes by Bristol producer Rhumius on the B side bring War into steppers territory with a more insistent kick drum and oh-so-sweet fuller horn melodics.

Peaman shares the story of Horns of War’s first play this summer in Bristol, and Babylon’s reaction:

"Every year since we’ve been building our soundsystem, me and my sound system crew, ‘Heathen’ have managed to run at St Pauls Carnival and 2015 was no exception despite the event's official cancellation. We got a last-minute spot with a half stack, playing in the courtyard at legendary Bristol Soundman Froggy’s Birthday party on Argyle Road. We put the boxes outside and ran cable all the way down through the garden and into the basement of the house, so far away we could not hear the rig. It was a mid sized event and most of our crowd were old school Bristol Roots scene so we were all buzzing and we ran the sound louuuud!

A couple of hours in, I pulled out my newly mixed version, 'Horns of War', and played it out for the first time. I quickly made my way up through the garden and out into the courtyard. We had drawn a nice crowd and when the bass rolled in, everyone started to step heavy, the stack was pushing War like I’d never heard it and I was feeling sweet! We got about half way through the tune when five of Babylon’s finest strolled into the courtyard, requesting a wheel up with no second play. The nerve. After some failed mass negotiation, the police threatened to take the sound and we had to pack down. In spite of the party being cut short, the day had been a success: we turned up, tuned up and my version was the last thing the police heard before leaving!"

Mastered and cut at wide 33 rpm for maximum bass warmth by Lewis at Stardelta, Devon UK. Limited to 600 copies for the world, no digital, no repress. Design & screen print by Polygon Press.

a1. Peaman - War