THE INTEGRATED GRIME UNIT :: REEL BASS TOUR 2008

Words & Photos by ill-esha

——————————————————————————–

“LIKE A ROBOT HAVING SEX WITH MC HAMMER,” grins Bevan of the hype Vancouver-based duo Glitchy & Scratchy when I ask him how he would describe glitch hop to someone who’s never heard it before. I’m sitting in my East Van recording studio swapping samples with Bev and Shaun, two glitchy young men who have taken over Vancouver with their unique sound. “Some people call it laser bass, turbo crunk, or womp hop..” they describe. Although much of the current glitch-hop movement is based around San Francisco, Glitchy & Scratchy also credit UK act Tipper as an originator of the sound. “It’s kind of danceable downtempo taken to the same energy of a drum & bass track… like putting the fun back into hip hop.”

Back in the day, Bevvy Swift and Global were breaks and D&B DJs at local raves. “We were tired of such constant heavy walls of sound, at such high BPMs, and wanted to shift towards music that was more about leaving space,” Bevan recounts. Shaun agrees: “Playing stuff like Pendulum, but honing in on the half-time breakdowns.. Feeling like we needed to breathe more new life into our musical direction. We were writing D&B, but every track felt like it had already been done, so we took the elements of it that we liked and changed up the beats.”

The energy of these two DJs - also prolific producers and promoters - is infectious. After spending some time learning production, the two prowled the grounds of the Apex Festival in summer 2007, searching for any sign of the new sounds of artists they’d discovered. “At 3 am, we found a stage with these guys from Alberta – Jamie J and Application. We instantly connected, not having known there were any other locals into the Glitch Mob!! That was basically the start of [our crew], Integrated Grime Unit.”

After the original meeting, the four also added fellow artist/producer Frank Grimes to the roster; as well, they connected with Deepz, who recently played with Glitch Mob at the massive Shambhala festival. Following that was a chance encounter with Dewey dB, a Toronto native and devoted promoter of bass music. “It didn’t originally register that Adrian knew a lot about glitch hop,” explains Shaun, “but after we started talking more and trading music, I realized differently. Besides being able to communicate with computers – we call him Tech Support – he’s been passionately supporting music. Throwing events with Dubslingers, running three dubstep sites.. he’s a production prodigy as well, and all of his tunes are very detailed.”

Bev’s eyes light up as he describes the I.G.U.’s first party, December 2007: “Everyone that came out was really excited just to hear this music. Our friends that came had been listening to us talk about it for two years, and then we got to showcase it. About 200 people, and it was funny because the police came, but they ended up apologizing because they realized it was a fundraiser and we actually had the proper licenses. We’ve had 7 parties since.”
What was his favourite? “Zombies versus Robots, definitely. It was the biggest sweatbox party you’ve ever seen. Bringing you back to the 13-year-old raver days.. except this time the people are a little bit older, and know what’s up.”
Shaun: “It was so hot that people should have left, but nobody did. Everyone just kept dancing and getting hotter. Awesome!”

One of the trademarks of a Glitchy & Scratchy set is their assortment of original tunes. Using Logic 5.5 Platinum on a PC, they also name Native Instruments and Waves as some of their favourite plug-ins. But contrary to their prolific production of highly technical beats, the two laugh that they’re still not particularly computer-oriented. And how do you make these crazy sounds when you’re supposedly non-technical?
“If Jimi Hendrix learned to use a left-handed guitar, we can learn to use Logic 5.5 to make glitch-hop!” Bevan beams. Glitchy & Scratchy also collaborate with other producers like Tones and crewmates Dewey dB and Frank Grimes. There is talk of starting a label, which would include other talented locals deserving more exposure.

“Nobody else in our city is playing glitch-hop. Our intake of music is completely separate from others, because a lot of people simply don’t know about it yet.” And this is precisely what the Integrated Grime Unit hopes to remedy with their Western Canada tour. Until mid-December, Glitchy & Scratchy, Dewey dB and Deepz will be on the road in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan to promote their brand of MC Hammer robot sex. Currently with a calendar marked for everything between Cranbrook and Saskatoon, I ask the boys what your typical unsuspecting civilian should expect from a Glitchy & Scratchy party. They are quick to fire off comments totally in sync with what I’ve seen in their high-octane, hyperactive shows:
Bevan: “I just wanna get drunk with as many people as POSSIBLE!”
Shaun: “Do a whole lotta jumping off speakers and GETTING JIGGY WITH IT!”
But really?
Bevan: “Something that makes you react in ways you wouldn’t think.”
Shaun: “We don’t give a larbage about anything except making music and having a good time with our friends. I have the best time of my life every time I spin a set, and I’ve been told it’s infectious.”

I’ve definitely been caught by the Glitchy & Scratchy bug and so have many others, judging by the high downloads of the Glitchy, Scratchy & Dewey dB “Laserbass” mix. With achieving such quick success across the worlds of djing, promotion and music production, what kind of insight would they give other young artists on trying to launch their career?
Bevan: “Create your own dream. We throw our own parties, create the atmosphere we want to play in. Just worry about getting your tunes heard, not signed.”
Shaun: “Be prepared to put music above everything else in your life and never give up on the idea that you can make it. Focus on that feeling you get when you bring your tunes to people. DJing to me is like soaking the room with what I think is dope.”
“Making it is not a place where you get,” says Bevan, “It’s how you feel while you’re getting there.”

I hand back their hard drives. “Here you go. Tonal FX, Lazers, Cinematic, Funk, Soul, Timbaland and Neptunes Drums, Horns, and Arcade Riffs.” Last question.. which one is Glitchy and which one is Scratchy?

“Well,” says Shaun, “Wouldn’t you all like to know!!

Glitchy & Scratchy vs. Dewey dB - Laserbass Mix

Download

MYSPACES (with TOUR DATE LIST):
GLITCHY & SCRATCHY
DEWEY dB

FACEBOOK:
GLITCHY & SCRATCHY
INTEGRATED GRIME UNIT

TOUR DATE REQUESTS CONTACT: GLITCHYNSCRATCHY@HOTMAIL.COM
PRESS KIT: INTEGRATED GRIME UNIT PRESS KIT

Zombies Vs. Robots Video - WATCH ON FACEBOOK

Once upon a time I had a blog of my own I regularly maintained and updated with new content. That time was long ago. So after completely abandoning that blog I have decided I would just occasionally post my quarterly mixes here.

My fall mix starts off with a hand full of electro tracks, including what I consider to be this years electro anthem of the year, a remix of MGMT’s “Kids”. After that it features all kinds of new Indie rock from the likes of The Decemberists, Bloc Party, Land Of Talk, Stars, Tv On The Radio and a ton more.

Enjoy!

Download

Tracklist:

1)Kids - MGMT (Soulwax Remix)
2)Im Not Gonna Teach your boyfriend How to dance with you - The Black Kids (The Twelves Remix)
3)Bonafied Lovin’- Chromeo (Yuksek Remix)
4)Ready For the Floor - Hot Chip (Soulwax Remix)
5)Olympic Airways - Foals
6)Tired Eyes - +/-
7)Ion Square - Bloc Party
8)Halfway Home - Tv On The Radio
9)O New England - The Decemberists
10)American Names - Sebastien Grainger
11)61 - The Kissaway Trail
12)Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks - Wintersleep
13)A Thread Cut with a Carving Knife - Stars
14)Its Okay - Land Of Talk
15)Colly Strings - Manchester Orchestra

Cheers!

-aXion

Random night in Brampton resulted in some untimely pictures of gouls and really slutty costumes. Awesome time. Enjoy the photo’s.

P.S. to all those in Brampton, can you do a me a favor and “share” this page on facebook. That would be awesome. I’m sure there’s people in these photo’s that I don’t know so pass on the good word.

Really great night here put on by the SIM and Pure Phunk crew. Exactly what I wanted to hear. A bit of everything that’s good in Bass Music right now. Not many pictures here, but you can blame me for that. Sometimes I’m just not feeling it.

Legendary DJ Trace, of DSCI4 and No U Turn fame, has been focusing his energy on minimal techno and house these days and it’s sounding crisp! Some of you may have downloaded his mix posted a while back (February I believe) which was the first I had heard of it. A bit of digging around suggests that he’s working on some projects including a label called Shark VIP and some nights around UK called Basic Concepts, which this mix is from. Needless to say, Trace is as genius in this field as he is/was in Drum and Bass. Constantly breaking boundaries and creating new ones in the process.

Check this mix out. No tracklist. As mentioned in some of his previous postings, he likes to keep things oldschool mixtape style. None of this trainspotter shit!

Click to download mix (Sendspace link)

Click to visit DJ Trace’s Shark VIP Myspace page

- Darkside Flow

I’m a big fan of Adele, so these remixes are just too cold - pun fully intended!

Basement Jaxx gives his take on it not once but twice on this release. The first is a funky electro infused remix and the other is a dub style house mix. Jaxx does not hold back on either cut and manages to create two completely unique takes on the single.

I’m not a huge fan of dubstep at all, but this remix is dope and is actually my favourite of the bunch! Classic garage beat to start and proper chopped samples of the original throughout. Adele’s voice is incredible and still gives you goosebumps with Rusko’s signature treatment. I love how the vocals are edited without compromising the melody. Underneath it all you’ve got a deadly bassline with a few switches to make it interesting. I also like how the drum beat switches between the 2step and half time feel.

Overall, a quality release on XL recordings. Adele is only 19 and has some of the UK dance music industry’s key players giving credit where it’s due. Pick up the vinyl or check iTunes for the digital release.

Take a listen..

Adele - Cold Shoulder single - XL Recodings
1. Album mix

2. Basement Jaxx Classic remix

3. Basement Jaxx dubb

4. Rusko remix

Enjoy!

- Darkside Flow

Going to be at this one on the 7th celebrating a few birthdays and getting live to some dope beats. Unfortunately I missed them on their last visit to Toronto, but the word is that they smashed the shit out of Wrongbar. Can’t wait till to see them. For anyone who hasn’t heard of them or just hasn’t heard this mix, I figured I’d upload it and share. More info on the event can be found here.

Crookers Essential Mix - Saturday 06-21-2008

Download

Tracklist

intro
1. Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance (The Crookers WoW mix) Betin Cocek - Intro Ca-Ca - PIC
2. Erykah Badu - The Healer - Motown
3. Nostalgia 77 - Seven Nation Army
4. Dabrye - This Is Where I Came In - Ghostly
5. Dabrye - Game Over (Flyin Lotus mix)
6. Mr Oizo - Z - Ed Banger
7. Portishead - Machine Gun (Island)
8. Ratatat - Bird Priest - XL
9. CSS - Lost (Mehdi mix)
10. Syl Johnson - Different Strokes - Twilight
11. Benga - Pleasure - Tempa
12. Rusko - Mr Chips
13. Alter ego - F**kingham palace (Modeselektor mix) - Klang Elektonik
14. Radioclit - Secousse - Mental groove
15. Radioclit - Secousse (Crookers Spino mix) - Mental groove
16. Crookers - Il Buono - Mad Decent
17. Tommie Sunshine - Limit Of Your Mind (Nic Sarno mix)
18. The Crookers - Il Cattivo - Mad Decent
19. AC/DC - Thunder (CRKRS 10 min re-fix)
20. Plastikman - Spastik
21. Jape - Floating (DIM mix)
22. Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (DIM mix)
23. Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Crookers mix)
24. Boy 8 Bit - The Things That Freeks Are Made Of
25. Kw Griff - The Force
26. NERD - Everyone nose - Phra (re-fix)
27. Outlander - Vamp
28. Crookers - Il Brutto - Mad Decent
29. Crookers - Il Brutto (Bloody Beetroots Il Bruttissimo mix) - Mad decent
30. Alan Braxe - Addicted
31. AC Slater - Jack Got Jacked (Jack beats mix) - Palms Out Sounds
32. Don Rimini - Let Me Back Up (Crookers Tetsujin mix) - Mental groove
33. Crookers - Sveglia - Southern Fried
34. Crookers - Knobbers - Southern Fried
35. Duke Dumont - Hoy - Dubsided
36. Math Head - Get Hype - Trouble and Bass
37. Math Head - Turn the music up - Trouble and Bass
38. Kid Cudi - Day N Night (Crookers mix) - Fools Gold
39. Busy P - To protect the entertain (Crookers mix) - Ed Banger
40. Crookers - Big Money Comin - Southern Fried
41. Yelle - Ce Jeux Acapella
42. Foamo - Rockerman
43. TJR - Sonic Chronic (Lee Mortimer mix)
44. Bumblebees - Rio (Crookers mix) - Modular
45. Crookers - Magic Bus - Southern Fried
46. Crookers feat Kid Cudi - Embrace The Martian - Southern Fried

Apart from Exit Recordings being possibly the best label around these days, EXIT011 features one of my favourite tracks in the history of Drum and Bass. INTERVENTION by Instra:mental! We’ve been hearing this gem pop up in all sorts of avenues for the last year or so and it has finally hit the shelves in a 1000 piece limited addition picture disk 10″ press. In D-Bridge’s own words, Exit continues to provide “quality over quantity” with a collectors item that is sure to sell out fast. Having said that, it’s a bit on the pricey side at about $25 Canadian. But if you’re a fan of Instra:mental, D-Bridge or the Exit Records imprint, you know it’s well worth it.

The first time I heard Intervention was when Guy from Commix was in town for our night here in Toronto and he did an exclusive mix for the show on Jungletrain. At the time he was only able to ID it as “something by Instra:mental” but the powers of the internet quickly had the set ripped and track identified by nights end: Intervention. I just could not get over how a simple syncopated stepper could move me like some of the heaviest tracks since day dot without the typical hallmarks you’d expect in this music. Minimalist in nature, Instra:mental strips Drum and Bass back to the bare bones and creates a unique piece of modern day electronic mastery. Probably the most notable part of the track is the eerie monotone male vocal reminiscent of an 80s technopop hit..

City Nights
Lights
Sitting here waiting
Girl at the bar, glanced
Neon blue eyes caught my attention
Intervention
Whatever she’s drinking
Her body’s got my mind thinking

Turn the record over and you may recognize the flip from listening to D-Bridge’s Red Bull Radio mix with MC SP. Instra:mental and Nico rough it up a bit with a track that starts out sounding almost like a dark industrial hip hop track. The track Horse deteriorates at the break down and makes way for a bone crushing bassline that rocks to the depths and back. Bassbins at high volume fully recommended!

Instra:Mental & Nico - Aptitude 04
Label: Exit Records
Catalogue: EXIT011
Format: 1×10″

Tracklisting:
A. Instra:Mental - Intervention
AA. Instra:Mental & Nico - Horse

Cop this shit right the fuck now!

- Darkside Flow

Well, we here at Baceblog certainly have a love for music and technology, so I thought it was fitting to recommend something to our readers that combines the best of both of those worlds. Previously we featured Intua’s fully loaded mobile production software Beatmaker. In this review, we’re going to focus on one of my favourite applications available for iPhone and iPod Touch: Tuner app by Nullriver Inc.

In a nutshell, Tuner is a native audio streaming client that allows you to listen to MP3, M3U, PLS and AAC+ streams in high quality from your device. As a DJ who hosts a show on an internet radio station, this was particularly interesting as, if you have a mobile device, you’re able to have virtually unlimited internet radio at your fingertips in the car, on the bus, or walking down the street.

Features in the application include a bookmark window, station listings by genre, top 500 stations and a search function. Upon opening the search function you’ll also notice that you can select “Open” to enter your own stream addresses provided they fall into the formats I listed above. The only disappointment you may experience is that it doesn’t support Windows Media streams.. but it’s a program for Apple devices, so why would it?

Yes, don’t worry.. I didn’t forget this was a music blog. Here’s a few recommended streams that will provide a variety of different types of high quality electronic music:

- Jungletrain.net: Jungle, DNB and Oldschool station based in The Netherlands
Search Jungletrain and select the 128kbps stream for the best quality sound

- Bassdrive.com: U.S. station specializing in deep, dark and moody DNB
Search Bassdrive and select the 128kbps stream for the best quality sound

- M2 MIX: Diverse mix of house, techno and electro from France
Click search, select “Open” and add http://www.m2radio.fr/pls/m2mix.m3u

- Electro Radio: Swiss station with all things electro all the time
Click search, select “Open and add http://www.electroradio.ch/stream.m3u

Side note for experienced users: If your device is jailbroken, there is a brand new application in Cydia called “Backgrounder” that will allow you to run Tuner in the background while browsing Baceblog and other great sites on your phone. Check it out!

Happy listening!.. and don’t forget to tune in to Jungletrain.net every Friday 9-11pm EST from your iPhone or iPod touch! ;)

- Darkside Flow