How Do I Get Down? 2004

The further you look into “TB Arthur” the murkier it all becomes. Rather like the story of the mysterious “Lewis” in a very different area of music, it all seems a bit too perfect. The over-amped analogue machines, the extraordinary psychedelic qualities of the music, the stories of dusty warehouses and hints of distant raves, the messages in run-out grooves like secret messages from times past: it’s all so perfectly designed to press the buttons of techno vinyl fetishists it can’t be real. Can it?

Our contacts at Hardwax are not the most communicative – like Hardwax ever has been, right? But the one thing they have been absolutely emphatic about is that despite forum chatter, this is not some secret project for Adam X, or Shed, or anyone else. To be precise: “TB Arthur is TB Arthur and will remain so despite the speculations”.

Does it matter, anyway? Well not right now, it doesn’t. For now – and for the eternal now of the dancefloor – what we have are three 12”s of really outstanding tripped-out machine funk that serve their purpose equally well whether they were made in 1995 or 2015, and whether they were made for fun, for a joke or as an expression of drug psychosis. And there’s the promise of more to come, too. Perhaps it will turn out that there really is a dark and tragic tale behind them, perhaps there’s a big game going on, or perhaps the background will remain shrouded in mystery. But for now, what we’re left with is music that we have to judge entirely without prejudice, and which is good enough to more than justify any cloak-and-dagger shenanigans.

Upfront 016: T.B. Arthur

Building on the iconic sound of the Jupiter-8 and Juno 106, Synthwave brings the sounds of the 80s and early 90s to Roland’s System-8 supersynth. Ideal for genres ranging from Retronica/Synthwave to Indie Chill to Future Funk and intelligent Trap, this pack also includes an additional 32 hyper-useful presets that utilize the System-8’s AIRA engine. Polishing off the product is its full compatibility with Roland Cloud.

Co-created by renowned sound designer Francis Preve and sample library legend Jim Stout, Synthwave System-8 is the gold standard for producers looking for a retro vibe.

Synthwave for Roland System-8 and Roland Cloud

Here are some of the track I've done over the last 20 years.  This includes Nebula Nine, Carma,Machine 13 and Jim Stout

How Do I Get Down? 2004

Jim Stout

Related tracks