A sublime selection of dancefloor beats and downtempo dubs from around the globe, Mixes + Mavericks features seven remixes by Pitch Black, two live tracks that couldn’t be more different in nature or tempo, one seriously unorthodox situation (an unauthorised remix of a remix) and a track in between states, all highlighting the breadth of the duo’s sonic palette.

Whereas their previous Rarities + Remixes collection was predominantly rooted in New Zealand, Mixes + Mavericks is undoubtedly a more international affair, with all the remixed artists hailing from the northern hemisphere. Many of the connections are the result of the duo’s touring and festival appearances around the globe: they first met Gaudi at a gig in Japan, Animat and Nick Woolfson (Sounds from the Ground) at The Big Chill festival in the UK, while downtemple duo Desert Dwellers were encountered in the Californian underground. 

Other connections were more straightforward: Brighton-based Ink Project (run by Kiwi Jez Lloyd) approached them to remix “The End” and Mexico’s Sudden Reverb was introduced by label-mates Deep Fried Dub. Meanwhile Mike bumped into Radioactive Man’s Keith Tenniswood (of Two Lone Swordsmen fame) while he was getting a 7” record cut. 

Uber-producer/Killing Joke bass player Youth features in two very different ways. First up is Pitch Black’s pulsating dub mix of his collaboration with Italian producer Gaudi, from their Astronaut Alchemists album. Then there is his unsolicited remix of epsilon-blue’s 1999 remix of Speech, over which he added bass, beats and blessings.  This mash-up lurked for years in the archive under the title of Helmsdub, but only as a corrupted mp3 file. Thankfully a little detective work discovered that, much to everyone’s surprise, it had been released as Speechless (Big Circle Flat Pain Remix) on a 2004 CD compilation. A copy was tracked down, the tune was carefully re-mastered and then correctly named.

Mixes + Mavericks also features two very different live offerings: Notting Pill is a dose of atmospheric moodiness from a rare ambient set at Notting Hill Arts Club in London, held to publicise the upcoming showcase of New Zealand music at Fabric in 2003. The banging G202, meanwhile, was captured by Andre Upston at Rippon Festival in Wanaka, NZ at the turn of the millennium, and later broadcast on Radio New Zealand. It was a track that, despite being a staple of the live show for many years, was never finished, and following software updates and data dumps, the only version that exists is this live recording.

It's a Future Dub is a similarly embryonic track – eventually it became It’s the Future Knocking, from the Filtered Senses album, but here it’s a fascinating hybrid caught midway between creation and completion. Many of the elements of its future self are present, but there is a whole lot more going on, making this a fascinating signpost on a possible road-not-taken. 

Beautifully accompanied by Tim Prebble's Cyanotype images, Mixes + Mavericks is a showcase of Pitch Black’s sonic diversity as remixers and maintains the trademark production aesthetic that has won them thousands of fans and filled dancefloors around the globe.

Mixes + Mavericks

Pitch Black - It's A Future Dub (preview)

My support set recorded live at The 30yr Celebration of The Orb's game changing album UfOrb in London 
A proper Dub journey with Live overdubs creating a wash of Delays held together with the BEST Basslines and Dubby grooves
Enjoy :)

UfOrb Celebration London 22/07/22

Back in the early nineties, Mike mixed a live show by Christchurch reggae band Ras Bonte. Their last song of the night was a cover of Exodus, and Mike had one of those ephemeral moments where the band and the live desk dub mix locked in sync, and the sound just took off.

For years we have talked about trying to re-create that moment, and have finally risen to the challenge. Featuring Sandy Mill on vocals and David Fullwood from Ital Horns on brass, we are delighted to present a 21st century version of a classic tune, complete with a fruity Misled Convoy re-rub.

Making Exodus made us think of the climate migrations that we are going to see more of in the coming years. We commissioned visual artist Delainy Kennedy to make a video that reflected this global issue, with the cover image being a still taken from the final cut.

To support the release, we’re heading out on tour this November:

04 Hide, Christchurch                                              
05 Waitati Music Festival, Dunedin                      
11 The Mothership, Auckland                               
12 Totara Street, Tauranga                                    
13 Yot Club, Raglan                                               
17 Porridge Watson, Whanganui
18 San Fran, Wellington                    
19 The Cabana, Napier

Tickets from https://www.pitchblacknz.com/songkick.html

Pitch Black - Exodus (Misled Convoy ReRub)(preview)

Pitch Black - Exodus (Version)(preview)

PsyStep Adventure for Space Night @
Mojos Nightclub Whistler 
Feb 2023

Psy-Step III Space Night @ Mojos Feb 2023

illDub @ Fractalfest 2022, Day (DJ Set)

introduction (prod. nova chance)

Magic

For Elee — Prayer in Song

To my baby girl, my gift, my Elee:
You came into the world on a day of sorrow,
and yet you were light.
Born into brokenness, you became our healing.
Even in the saddest places,
God proved His love by giving us you.

The night you were born,
I travailed in grief and pain.
But the moment you arrived,
we all fell in love with you.
Your brothers and sisters fought daily for the chance to hold you,
because holding you was holding joy itself.
You were balm to our wounds,
laughter in our mourning,
comfort in our affliction.

Elee, you are my joy,
my healer, my forever love.
Though miles and silence may stretch between us,
nothing can erase what you are to me:
the proof that God still births beauty out of ashes.

Isaiah 61:3
“To give them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness:
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.”

Happy Birthday, Elee.
You are my forever gift, my blessing, my joy.
I love you endlessly.

Released in honor of my daughter Elee’s birthday, and in remembrance of 9/11 — may beauty bloom even from ashes, may love heal what sorrow cannot, and may light rise in the darkest hours. 

https://youtu.be/O9av3X1yGJA


#ForElee #BirthdayPrayer #BirthdaySongDedication #PrayerInSong #HauntingInstrumental #AngelicVocals #ViolinSerenade #BassInstrumental #SpiritualInstrumental #HealingMusic #EmotionalInstrumental #AmbientBass #DedicationSong #CinematicInstrumental #UpliftingPrayer #InstrumentalDedication #MusicForTheSoul #BeautyFromAshes #HopeInDarkness #RedRoseEmeraldzCity #MothersLoveSong #ForeverLoved

Elee

Selections by Master Margherita

Kaldaf Funk (Saz Mix)

We're proud to follow up our “Third Light” album with a companion selection of remixes entitled “The Light Within”, with the remixers hailing from across the globe *and* the bass music spectrum. The resultant ten-track collection is playful, spiritual and sensory, with upbeat tempos and slithering effects woven deep into the rhythmic pulses and dark undercurrents of our original tracks.

Bookended by uptempo versions of “Daylight Wasting” from International Observer and Berlin bassheads qnp, “The Light Within” features contemporary bass cuts from Portland’s Bodie and Christchurch’s Akcept, downtempo grooves by Argentinian dubsalon and South Korean mcthfg, dancefloor dubs from Mexico’s Tor.Ma in Dub and Brisbanite SUBSET, as well as drum and bass by Wellingtonian Zuke and the legendary UK producer Adrian Sherwood.

Contemplative but cheerful, either way, as “A Doubtful Sound” states, ‘The rhythm IS gonna get ya!’

The Light Within

Pitch Black - Daylight Wasting (International Observer's Durian Hook Remix)(preview)

Pitch Black are Michael Hodgson and Paddy Free. Having pumped their way through New Zealand’s electronic music scene since their inaugural performance at the annual Gathering New Year's eve festival in 1996, they have spent the subsequent years rousing dance floor punters, generating rave reviews, winning awards and gaining thousands of fans across the world. 

Hard to box into a single audio 'genre', Pitch Black is a combination of musical journeys. Their sound is distinctive; ranging from organic ambient beginnings and layered soundscapes to skanking keyboards, cutting acid riffs and thumping rhythmic grooves, with dub being the glue that holds their sound together. One critic has described them as like "Orbital meets King Tubby, or Rhythm and Sound in Technicolor". 

It is their live show that really makes Pitch Black stand out from the rest of the crowd, both sonically and visually. Their tracks take on an added dynamism and their performances reveal the dialectic behind the band - Paddy wants to do it for the crowd, Michael wants to do it to the crowd. Visually they are in another dimension thanks to Michael's cutting edge visuals.

They have toured the world relentlessly, playing everywhere from Amsterdam to Zagreb and the streets of Las Vegas to the Australian outback, supporting acts such as Coldcut, Skream, Easy Dub All Stars and System 7 along the way.

NZ Bookings: h (at) strikeagency.co.nz
RoW Bookings: info (at) dubmissionrecords.com

Pitch Black - It's A Future Dub (preview)

Pitch Black (NZ)

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