Distinct Motive

Continuing to show support for the resurgence of the deep dub/140 sound, it would be criminal to not mention Ontario’s very own, Distinct Motive. The name might ring some bells if you’ve been following Deep, Dark, & Dangerous over the last half-decade, but that’s just scratching the surface of this project. His recent two-track EP on Bandcamp, Number 5, captures everything we love about 140 and Distinct Motive. From tasteful sampling, crisp sound design, and inventive songwriting, this recent release is a guaranteed welcomed addition to anyone’s library. 

Beyond recent releases, Distinct Motive is someone you do NOT want to miss if he’s rolling through your corner of the world. Usually always accompanied by an equally talented lineup, Distinct Motive has recently been part of Deep, Dark, & Dangerous’s Atlanta takeover with names like Truth and Pushloop. It seems like only the beginning for the man in question, but in truth, the Distinct Motive project’s current position is a product of 10 years of sticking to your guns and pushing sounds that are important to you. Eventually, people will listen.
-VL

DJ Jackum

Tracing information about DJ Jackum was not exactly a friendly task, but in the end, it was time well spent. Given the total lack of links on his SoundCloud and Spotify profiles, I feel obliged to thank The 3000 Network’s team for putting me on the right track with this article. Based in West Yorkshire, DJ Jackum is a self-described “party garage” producer (a tag I love) whom I discovered in late 2022 through his eponymous EP Party Garage, released by the prolific GS Dubs imprint. The festive and dancing soul of the EP, a quirk it has in common with pretty much all his releases, quickly turned it into one of my favorite UKG projects in a while. Bootleg or originals makes no difference, so far there has been no room for slow dances in Jackum’s discography. Every track is a showcase of pure funk goodness, a heap of bumpy basslines, pushing grooves, and clever samples. ‘Party Garage Disco Anthem’ and ‘Proper Knees Up’ are my recommendations to get familiar with Dj Jackum, but if you’re looking to pimp your blowout playlists or DJ USBs, there’s much more to discover. Also, be sure to stop by his Instagram profile where he’s all but elusive and enigmatic.
-AA

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Kinoteki

Kinoteki first landed on my radar at the start of the year when I randomly stumbled upon his incredible Dawn of the Final Hour album, released via Tabula Rasa Records. Spanning eleven tracks and almost 55 minutes, the album was one of the most captivating start-to-finish listening experiences that I had experienced in a long time. Take ‘Third Strike’ for example, which itself runs well over six minutes, building slowly and weaving through complex soundscapes in a way that hooks your attention for its entirety. I have since explored much of Kinoteki’s discography (highly recommend Silence Kills with Kelbin) and have never been disappointed. The New York-based artist has a mere 850 followers on SoundCloud at the time of writing, but don’t let these numbers fool you – he’s the real deal. Kinoteki doesn’t only make long, introspective burners, either. You can tell the artist is having fun with his art through light-hearted bootlegs of tracks such as ‘Rumble’ and more recently, ‘U Just R.’ Kinoteki is one to watch. Don’t sleep.
-SC

RWB

With UK sounds taking over in North America (see 140 and garage) it’s only right that we highlight one of the UK’s nastiest bass producers out: RWB. The multi-genre producer embodies an array of sounds that have become synonymous with the UK ranging from grime to garage, 140, drum & bass, and beyond. His SoundCloud is a goldmine of masterful dark bass music released in just over a year. A number of killer grime flips caught my original attention with ‘Donny Don Flip,’ ‘Ice Rink,’ and ‘Man I Wear’ all ringing off. In the mood for some moody DnB? ‘Lost Intamacy’ is a sultry and shadowy romp that will have you thirsting for more. Bending Drill and 140 together his most recent release ‘Frozen Time’ is a pensive and ice-cold banger.  If you want that raw, gritty UK shit, RWB is the plug.
-C

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1474159240″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

SAGE

With the wave scene continuing to grow every day, artists such as SAGE are pushing the environment forward in the best direction. Putting in major work each day to bring listeners unexplainable journeys to the future. His discography of work contains some of the most powerful and eclectic wave pieces to date. From gorgeous hardwave compositions to some wild phonk with a ton of attitude throughout, he’s truly showcasing his versatile production skills through each release.

One of his most recent singles, ‘Arcane’ is a massive collaboration with Aekae. Bringing in what makes this style truly remarkable and enticing. Time-shattering drums, euphoric melodies throughout, and a vision for the future, this is easily one of his best releases to date. Both styles intertwining with one another is simply astounding and jaw-dropping. The atmosphere will just take your breath away.

His newest release, ‘Delirious’ contains a dark and sinister force within. Perfect for those late-night drives no matter what environment you’re in. The vocal he uses works perfectly with his production. Carrying your attention every second with its chill and vibrant personality. Completely immersing the listener! And not to mention a complete switch-up in rhythm at the end. Creating a whole new emotion to add a whole other layer to the overall piece. So make sure to keep an eye on him. We’re excited to hear more from him!
– JD

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1524248434″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

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Written by Alessio, Colin, John, Steph & Victor.

The post Focus Five: Volume 63 appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

This month, my guest is a true bootleg master, someone who dares to lurk in the depths of the web, looking for forgotten gems and who is not afraid to drop an Ariana Grande and Aphex Twin mash-up in the middle of a set. I’m talking about Ramon Pang of course. I’m pretty sure he needs no introduction, but just in case,  he’s a left-field dance producer based in LA, self-proclaimed “lover and documentarian of all things trap music and 90s intelligent dance music” and, I’d like to add, the most hardcore Four Tet fan you’ll ever meet. He co-heads Tabula Rasa Records, a record company and a community that you need to know if you’re into “braindance” or IDM if you want to call it (preorder their new compilation here). You can also catch him sharing tons of interesting stuff on his Twitter, pretty much any day of the week. I was definitely expecting a more obscure selection from Ramon but these dancefloor-oriented picks left me utterly satisfied. Fun fact: there was a one-in-a-million chance and it still happened, originally we both included Falldren’s bootleg in our selection.

Flosstradamus – Total Recall (Falldren Flipped) 

The original is so nostalgic for me. I was in a Siscord voice chat with Falldren a year ago and offhandedly said that someone needs to flip ‘Total Recall’ into hardwave and it would be a mainstage hit. He whipped this up in 2-3 hours and published it without thinking too hard about it. But, six months later, I was there live when RL Grime dropped it at Porter Robinson’s Second Sky Fest and when Skeler dropped it as his LA debut at Brownies & Lemonade. That’s every bootlegger’s dream. It’s so deserved – it’s a tidal wave of a track.
– RP

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1256366017″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

SBU – Deep Love

To match the majestic vibes of ‘Total Recall’ I needed to bring up a banger of the same magnitude. Staying in wave territories, the choice was easy. Freshly released just a month ago, SBU’s brutal flip of Calvin Harris and Disciple’s ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ has caused quite a turmoil within the scene. In particular, I heard it literally destroyed Pantheon‘s dancefloor back in December. In case you’re a nerd like me, the pre-drop vocals are from a breakout monologue included in the movie ‘Closer’.
– A

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1465291654″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Skrillex, Fred again.. & Flowdan – Rumble (Kinoteki Footwork Jungle Edit)

The crew at Tabula Rasa Records are very good at blurring the line between cheekiness and sincerity. When the Rumble bootleg craze was going on, Kinoteki came out the gate with this beautiful Lone/Machinedrum-inspired melodic flip. I don’t know how serious they were when making this, but it doesn’t really matter – the way it rollercoasters is hypnotizing. I play it live a lot.
– RP

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1416668467″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

deadmau5 – strobe (dossyx edit w/ charlie)

Talking about bootleg crazes, Strobe is another masterpiece that received its massive dose of remixes, both official and unofficial. While I despise pretty much every version I run into so far, I have to say dossyx and Charlie have nailed the task. The mood couldn’t be more different than the original, but in the end the bouncy and crispy groove match very well the iconic melody. Kawaii bounce is probably the most fitting term to label this edit, will camoufly agree?
– A

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1439869684″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

O’Flynn – Cardi Tool 

I’ve loved O’Flynn’s blissful breaks and percussion-driven house on Ninja Tune before, and had no idea he had a Cardi B remix. Good internet friend from the Four Tet fan discord (I own the server, obviously) shared this one day and it was an instant save. In my sets, it’s such a cheat code: 1) super blendable 2) super effective in my deeper underground sets, and 3) a real driver in my more mainstream-leaning ones.
– RP

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAXfXvNgHd0]

SoSick (KH version)

This one has been sitting on my PC for so long that I completely forgot how it got here.  All I remember is that at a certain point (2018 or 2019 probably) Four Tet went wild on SoundCloud dropping a ton of unreleased material altogether. Why? I’ve no idea. I could do some research on my own, but since I have a living Four Tet-encyclopedia as the guest of this episode I thought it was more fun to ask him directly. Would you mind tweeting more info about this edit Ramon? Anyway, this is the perfect bootleg for those situations when the audience wants to sing along to some well know lyrics but you want to dance along to some classy groove.
– A

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8mt9H6gWGM]

Overmono – So U Kno (Villager Mix)

Villager turned Overmono’s biggest anthem into a bass-fueled monster. Like the ‘Cardi Tool’ one, it’s been effective in every set I’ve played it in. I think it really fits my modus operandi – I love tracks that take the best parts of traditional club-ready house/techno, then fuse it with energetic, traditional ‘EDM’ sounds in a restrained way. I think that translates into my music always.
– RP

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Chris Lake & Green Velvet – Deceiver (Gaszia Edit)

It’s not that I DJ very often, but I swear that even I was getting tired of playing ‘Deceiver’. The original is a killer tune, nothing bad to say, but after rinsing it dozens of times I was desperately looking for an alternative version. I then turned to SoundCloud where I surprisingly found this edit by the one and only Gaszia. Way better than Chris Lake’s VIP.
– A

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1192229569″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

TWRK – Living Room (Tielsie Remix)

Bit of a fringe pick here… this flip is almost 10 years old but it’s still one of my all-time favorites. On one hand, it sounds like a product of its time (2014), especially the clean 808 and the stereotypical trap/footwork drums. Listen to the original and then compare it to this flip’s take on its main melody… the way it’s chopped is so skillful and virtuosic.
– RP 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOfEB1kWyho]

Kanye West vs. Lucio Battisti – Love Lockdown (Nastro Rosa Edit)

This is one of my most secret guilty pleasures. I’m warning you, explaining it in words it won’t make any sense: it’s a mash-up between Kanye’s quintessential ‘Love Lockdown’ vocals and the instrumental of ‘Nastro Rosa’, a song by Lucio Battisti, one of the most beloved Italian singer-songwriter and composer of the 1970s. Genious idea, perfect realization, immaculate vibes.

Kanye West vs. Lucio Battisti – Love Lockdown (Nastro Rosa Edit) by Dee Jay Park

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