DECENNIUM26 - Stormfield (Combat Recordings)

The 26th edition of our DECENNIUM series comes courtesy of local mastermind; Stormfield. 

London based @stormfield is widely known for founding the reputable Electronica label; @combatrecordings in 2004. A formidable outfit in the London underground scene, with their distinguishable brand of fierce, bass heavy, glitchy electronics, Stormfield and Combat have had a long list of accomplishments since their inception. Their roster of artists includes some of the most elite artists in the world of IDM and Electronica such as Somatic Responses, Mick Harris (Scorn / Fret), Anodyne & more. Combat tracks have gained support from the likes of Surgeon and Rob Hall (Autechre) and have had consistent plays on established radio channels such as BBC Radio 1.

Stormfield started DJing in 1995, beginning his journey with Ambient and Electronica, then spending many years playing Jungle, before emerging with half-step and Electro, all the while avoiding typical 'four-to-the-floor' tracks. He has held radio residences on various stations such as Breaks FM, Sub FM, ill FM, Proton Radio, etc. and has done an array of bespoke DJ mixes for the likes of Electronic Explorations, Fabric (Houndstooth label mix), Boiler Room (Nothing New podcast series & Rob Booth’s Electronic Explorations), Rinse FM (Combat label showcase), Darkfloor, Subsekt blog, Null & Void, etc. 

As well as DJing, Stormfield performs live glitchy break-driven acid using a mixture of laptop and hardware, in a constantly changing setup. As a producer he has released on respected labels such as Section 27, Opal Tapes, Jarring Effects, etc. as well as his own Combat imprint. He has also remixed for the likes of Fret (Mick Harris), Mitoma & Weldroid and Killdren. Keep your eye out for his new double EP on the way this springtime, on Combat.

Stormfield is equally at home in the world of visuals, and has regularly performed live visuals for the likes of Mick Harris (Scorn / Fret), African Head Charge, UKAEA, Somatic Responses, Metalogue, Broken Note, Brainwash Glastonbury, Anodyne, Grave Miasma, Splice Festival London, Bangface Weekender, Katharsis festival (Amsterdam)and Crux (London).

His exclusive DECENNIUM mix is a snapshot of tunes currently in his head, typically taking broken, asymmetric audio fragments and piecing them into a strange yet cohesive whole. It bounces between moments of peak aggression to deep void to melancholic euphoria with tracks bass heavy, deeply syncopated, nodding at Acid, Autechre, Scorn and Jungle along the way.

DECENNIUM - Stormfield (Combat Recordings)

Hands In The Sky

Artist: Various Artists
Title: Natural Selection: In Aid Of Ukraine
Label: Natural Selection
Catalogue No: NSUKR
Format: Digital
Release Date: 15th March 2022

Bandcamp: https://naturalselectionlondon.bandcamp.com/album/natural-selection-in-aid-of-ukraine-2

Track Listing:
1. Alex Schultz - Day One
2. Cluster Lizard - Being Alive Isn’t Everything
3. Plant43 - Rivers Of Rust
4. Annie Hall - Random Burst Robot
5. Blixaboy - Senso
6. Stormfield - Pyrophoric
7. Alex Jann - The Age Of Confusion
8. Fleck E.S.C - A Story On Earth
9. dynArec - Celestial Cut
10. Umwelt - The Dark Between The Stars
11. Assembler Code - Automata
12. Obzerv - The Network
13. The Advent - Audio Illusion (1995 Remaster)
14. Sterac - For Better Days
15. Operator - Courage
16. HIRT (Hiroaki Iizuka & Ryuji Takeuchi) - Force
17. Rommek - All Blood Is Red
18. Cressida - Fatigue
19. ANDRØMEDA - Manipulation
20. Alex Schultz - Molotov
21. Linear System - Gama
22. Kalter Ende - Stop and Patience
23. Nemrac - Vortex
24. Ryuji Takeuchi - Belief In People Power
25. Charlton - D-M-T-F-P
26. Somatic Responses - Hard Brenin
27. Slave To Society - Tundra
28. Ex.Hale - Underwater Dub
29. Mina Lord - Perun
30. Kotra - Delta Movement
31. Religia - Morning Invasion
32. Jauzas The Shining - The Unconventional
33. Paul Blackford - Concord

"Following the appalling criminal invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s forces, London based record label and events collective Natural Selection take a firm stand and show their solidarity with Ukraine with this colossal 33-track V/A fundraiser compilation, by which 100% of proceeds will be donated to Ukrainian charity foundation Come Back Alive. Natural Selection have brought together some of the most respected names in electronic music, including some closely connected artists within the Natural Selection family and also a hand-picked selection of Ukrainian artists including Alex Schultz, Cluster Lizard, Zavoloka, Kotra and Religia. Other artists include the likes of The Advent, Rommek, Slave to Society (AnD), Charlton, Somatic Responses, Operator, Sterac, Annie Hall, Umwelt, HIRT (Hiroaki Iizuka & Ryuji Takeuchi), Linear System, Cressida, dynArec, Assembler Code, Fleck ESC & more. Great efforts have been made from everyone involved to come together and contribute to this release at such short notice, showing incredible commitment and dedication to support this urgent and vital cause. 

With this release Natural Selection have meticulously curated a daring fusion of artists and genres, bridging the heavier spectrum of Techno, Electro, Acid, IDM, etc. with new, experimental style and form. Expect the most cutting-edge, hard-hitting, underground electronics throughout its entirity and extreme diversity in sound. Natural Selection's 'no boundary' ethos remains uncompromised with this release."

Mastered by @dadub Studio

Natural Selection: In Aid Of Ukraine

Natural Selection: In Aid Of Ukraine - V/A [Previews]

So here they are, some of the early demo trax that I sent to Dynamix II Records (also Rephlex Records later in 93) circa 91/92. These were compiled from cassette tapes that were recently discovered in my sister's house (she keeps everything) and would have been recorded from original cassettes I would have made back in the day, hence the low fi quality. Some of these trax were eventually released as is or with some alterations, others never saw the light of day. For example Robotechno, the first track I recorded in my home studio set up, originally had a vocoder rap using my Roland VP330, but I haven't managed to locate that version unfortunately.
I have picked out what I consider the better or most relevant trax here and left the rest to time... There was another cassette full of more music circa 92/93+ that I have yet to find. If it turns up I will upload the best of those too. These trax are as they appeared on the cassettes and I haven't altered them in any way whatsoever.

1. Robotechno 2. Acid Bass 3. Space Kraft 4. Annihilator 5. Planet Bass 6. The Battle 7. Voider 8. Sound Chemistry


Dynamix II Records Demos 91/92

A cheeky bootleg featuring the vocal from One Night In Hackney by D.A.V.E The Drummer, and Yeahhbuzz saying the word “Cans!”.  

[EDIT: now heard and approved of by the man himself! So proud!]

Free On Bandcamp

Dick & Qwerty 001:  RRRitalin - 15 Cans

Acid fuelled electro track done for the Electronic Explorations compilation. It started as a few loops and somehow grew into a 10 minute track. 134bpm

Here's a video of the track being given a test drive at Air Studios:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsABZG6qzHU

Compilation due out 1st July via bandcamp. Check www.electronicexplorations.org for details

Focus

Plaid's techno is some of the most thoughtful out there, and the way
the British pair deliver it is often just as interesting. Take
Ed Handley and Andy Turner's latest album, Polymer, which came with its
own interactive web environment and encouraged us to think about the
role artificial substances play in our lives. Musically it was
a harder-edged mix of broken techno and heavy snares, but still offered
the sort of technicality and emotion that has always stood the Warp
duo apart.

In their mix for us they put all their many years of know-how into a
timeless selection of tense and engaging electronic sounds. It touches
on far-gazing and futuristic techno, melancholic ambient passages and
onto scintillatingly melodic IDM and twisted jungle. It's a real
rollercoaster from two jedis of the scene.

Dekmantel Podcast

Dekmantel Podcast 255 - Plaid

The 567th episode of @DarkScienceElectro was mixed by @kodah

London based Techno / Electro wizard Kodah is one of the original residents and co-founding members of @naturalselectionlondon , from when it launched in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 2010. A party with a reputation for impeccable curation, since its launch in London in 2012, Kodah has frequently brought the most cutting-edge lineups to some of the best club venues in London, most notably FOLD where a strong family bond has been formed, and one could argue where he has built his true, spiritual home in London, both as an external promoter, but also now as a resident DJ.

Giorgio Moroder - The Wheel 
SWARMM - Death Of A Generation / Birth Of Reform 
Defekt feat. JI - You Have Time 
Star-Kid, Gamma Intel & 543FF - Three City Firm (543FF remix) 
The Hacker - Positif Negatif
NULLPTR - Arrowhead 
The Exaltics and Paris The Black Fu - We Exist 
Squaric - La Marchandise Comme Spectacle (Perm remix)
Hexagon - Isotope
Plant43 - Density Wave 
Datawave - Interflow 
Second Storey - Shouldna 
Assembler Code - Write Pulse 
The Advent - Vast 
Blixaboy - Rescue One 
Versalife - Isotropic 
The Exaltics & Heinrich Mueller - 3.26 Parallax Seconds 
Assembler Code - O.Y.M 
CKFT (Keith Tucker & Carl Finlow) - Coder 
Random XS - Zuur 
Defunkt Dialekt - Violent Flowers of Ignorance
Model 500 - No UFO’s

Resources:
https://www.facebook.com/KodahMusic/

www.darkscienceelectro.com

Kodah

Dark Science Electro presents: Kodah guest mix

pH Level Four

Mantis Radio welcomes back Ingen (https://soundcloud.com/ingen) and his new, melodic tough techno sound.

Before his 60m session, tracks by Samurai Music, Bruk Records, Alrealon Musique, Zombi's prog rock, Car Bomb's intense metal, Subduxtion, oddball fuzz techno by Exillon and Bill Converse, Anodyne, Clipping's Jonathan Snipes, Employed To Serve's powerviolence, and Swiss post rock band Darius.

playlist → darkfloor.co.uk/mantisradio319
support the show → patreon.com/mantisradio

iTunes → tinyurl.com/mantisradioitunes
podcast → feeds.feedburner.com/MANTIS
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Mantis Radio 319 - Ingen

I DJ + produce as Stormfield, perform and teach audio visual live sets as Combat A.V. 
I also run the label Combat Recordings. Scorn, Milanese, Autechre and Gridlock have been my biggest influences. 
I'm half of Fausten with Monster X. I also dislike writing my own bio.

You can get the full bio, discography, mixes and video work here:
http://www.combatrecordings.com/clan/stormfield