DRUM & BASS 2019 - Part 1

https://acidtestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-afterworld

Om Unit and TM404 have both been researching production and compositional elements in the crosshairs of dub and acid for the last few years - Om Unit most notably with his Acid Dub Studies 1 & 2, and TM404 with his Acidub album in particular.

Om Unit has been a longtime fan of TM404’s use of the TB-303 and the deconstructed space he brings to the house and techno template. Meanwhile Om Unit’s own leaning towards breaks and reggae instrumentation has offered a different approach to the acid sound they both love so much. So an LP with Acid Test seemed the perfect opportunity to combine those approaches and see what kind of mutations could be discovered. The result is a primordial soup that is in parts acid, dub, breaks and ambient, full of spaced-out synths and psychedelic bass, where the pair enjoyed building tracks with a feel for where the music wanted to go, irrespective of stylistic constraints.

Rolling opener Motorway Acid sets the pace high and strong, conjuring both wide open spaces and fast-paced travel at the same time, with weightless pads, stroboscopic breaks and a mighty 303 riff that can teleport you to the middle of a foggy dancefloor. Microdose Mondays on the other hand, slows the tempo down and veers into cosmic territory, with perfectly dubbed drum rolls and burbling squelch. But it’s London Stock that kicks the album into hyperspace, finding its futuristic steppers groove somewhere in the answer to the hypothetical question ‘what if Shaka had produced Stingray?’

Speaking of underwater electronics, Meanwhile In The Smoking Area delves deep into submarine territory, delivering the kind of bass weight and sonar acid signals you’d need a diver’s suit for. It’s a vibe that’s continued on the tracks Thursday and Refracted, and speaks to the record's title - otherworldly, dreamy bass meditations that aren’t of this realm. The album closes out with Praha, a pacey yet ambient vista of warm wide synths, layers of 303, and dub echoes that sound like the machines are slowly coming to life.

It’s in this altered state that the album resides, somewhere between worlds and styles, emerging out of the space around the TB-303 that Om Unit and TM404 have created, with their open-minded approach to the music and to this collaboration. Free the 303!

B3. Refracted

B2. Thursday

B1. Meanwhile    In The Smoking Area

A3 London Stock

A2 Microdose Mondays

A1. Motorway Acid

https://tinmanofficial.bandcamp.com/album/hidden-acid

Vienna-based producer and 303 maestro Tin Man returns to Acid Test for his first solo EP for label in over 5 years. It's another impeccable outing of romantic acid variations, especially tailored for unforgettable dancefloor revelations.

Tin Man has been setting the pace for forward-looking acid lovers for close to two decades now, and on his 15th Acid Test appearance he takes the vibe back to early and proto-house roots, stripping back the musical elements while layering in the euphoria with four perfectly crafted slices of feelgood 303.

Opening track Hidden Acid already sounds like a long lost classic, with strings draped over bouncy acid and motorik drums, stretching out over nearly nine minutes, and beautifully capturing the feel of house music circa 1991. Swaying Acid comes in all propulsive, toms and congas setting the foundation for melodic acid lines to weave through your heart strings.

On the B Side, Running Acid is fully optimized for the autobahn fast lane - a gradual, slow-filtered acid meltdown that builds and releases in tandem with driving hats and vaporous pads that hang over the track like early morning mists. Wrapped Up Acid brings the EP to a fitting close, slowing the tempo for a low-key easy dance excursion par excellence - smooth yet spikey 303 riffs punctuate the chords that drift through with a hint of Badalamenti in the progression.

With the Hidden Acid EP Tin Man might hark back to more vintage times, but the emotive power is as strong as ever. The naivety of the ‘90s is instead replaced with a conviction behind the musical choices that brings even more weight to the heartwarming vibes. This is acid in some of the best shape it's ever been, enhanced and upgraded specifically for the dance.

B2. Wrapped Up Acid

B1. Running Acid

A2. Swaying Acid

A1. Hidden Acid

Forthcoming on Dom & Roland remixes album. Clip taken from Friction BBC Radio 1 show
Link: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04cb0s6

Dom & Roland - Jungle Beast (Optiv & BTK Remix)[ DRP ]

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Tobu - Damn Son

Cloud 9 - You Got Me Burnin (Ray Keith & Nookie Remix)

Trux – Orbiter LP – Avenue 66 (AVE66-04)

Release date: February 23rd, 2018

There's been an air of hypnagogic mystery surrounding Acid Test’s sublabel Avenue 66 from the start. Joey Anderson's oblique, Prince-inspired incantation “Above The Cherry Moon” set the tone for a label that’s sound that has found beauty in the furthest recesses of the dance floor, in the murkiest decay of kick drums and rave stabs.

Fitting then, that the first album on the imprint comes from Trux, an artist who has chosen to reveal nearly nothing about themselves. Following a cult classic mini-LP for Office Recordings, “Orbiter” bears out the anonymous producer as a master of liminal, conceptual dance music.

“Orbiter’s” ten tracks have a vaporous, shape-shifting quality, threatening to topple over into full-on kick drum bliss or vanish into ambience. Opener, "With It," moves from heady ambient rush to skeletal piano, while "Blinko" and "Roy's Garage" spell out a hazy memoriam for the UK continuum. 

Forlorn pianos ring out amongst the field recordings, excitable toms and jungle bass all softened in the enveloping gauze. “Orbiter” positions Trux as an unknown auteur who puts evocative world of tone and echo into dizzying motion, content to watch from the wings.

Track List

With It
Orbiter
Blinko
Roy's Garage
Third Glow
In My World
My Row
Odd U
Agoma

Distributed by Wordandsound.net

A2 - Orbiter

Ed Rush - Mothership

Acid Test featuring artists: Tin Man, Donato Dozzy, John Frusciante, Recondite, Pepe Bradock, Achterbahn D'Amour aka Iron Curtis & Jool....

Avenue 66 featuring artists: Joey Anderson, Lowtec, Trux, Relaxer, SW. Trickfinger

A2 - Orbiter

Acid Test

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