Ivy Sundays with Phuturelabs

As you may know we were spinning tunes on Thursdays in our favourite bar The Ivy over the last year or so. Well after a little juggling we now have a new slot on the last Sunday of every month.

While we will still be keep the vibe smooth for all those recovering from the rigours of the weekend, we will also be providing some party vibes later in the evening for all those Sunday stalwarts who are preparing to hit the city clubs for one more weekend boogie.

For our first night on the 29th January we are delighted to be hosting the pre club party for a new night La Rocha which runs every Sunday in the amazing new Glasgow venue The Berkeley Suits. On the night they have Labs favourite Dam Mantle playing who we covered last year.

Come down and join us for some excellent rums and a bit to eat and if you are game head down to the club for some tasty music. Check out one of our new session mixes below to get you in the mood.

Bjork – Human Behaviour (Underworld Mix)

Bjork’s 1993 “Debut” album was a lovely piece of left of centre pop music and the tracks fell into the hands of some of the best producers in electronic music for remix work.

While these mostly popped up on the vinyl releases of the singles, One Little Indian kindly put out a CD compilation entitled “The Best Mixes From The Album Debut For All The People Who Don’t Buy White Labels”.

While the pack included reworkings from The Black Dog and The Sabres of Paradise, the pick of the bunch for me was this was lovely moody house refix of “Human Behaviour” by Underworld.

Building and building over 12 minutes, the piano breakdown just over 10 minutes in is well worth the wait.

And just for the craic, here’s the video for the original:

Seth steps into the Labs

Italian producer Seth first came to our attention in November when we heard his “Cloud Gazing” EP on Skint Records offshoot Under 5′s. Composed of a variety of cross genre sounds it was an excellent debut which was also accompanied by an excellent video.

Fast forward a couple of months and we have managed to catch up with the producer to get the low down on what makes him tick while also securing an exclusive mix for our Test Tube podcast series.

Download Seth’s Test Tube mix or stream via the nifty Mixcloud player below (jump to tracklist) and read on to hear what he had to say.

There is not too much out there about you so can you give us a quick rundown of who you are?

I’ve been doing music for quite a while, going through different genres from dnb to electrohouse for example with the alias Pink a pad’s (a duo with the producer Iamseife). Then I started my own solo material.

I signed my first tracks to a label in 2009 but unfortunately they waited over a year to release it and I almost forgot about it. Now I’m producing, djing and working as sound designer for advertisments, movies and installations.

You have worked with Under 5′s, sub label of the legendary Skint Records? How did that come about? 

I didn’t know whether to send my ep to Skint or not as I didn’t think I’d ever hear back. After less than three days however I got a mail from Richard at the label telling me he really liked the material. Shortly after that I was offered a remix for Skint, they believe in my music and their team is great, they’re a bit “like a family”.

Do you hang with the Fat Boy much?

I remember I was in secondary school listening to his music, I was drawing out a kind of sequencer on paper to try to understand how he put the snare in “Push The Tempo”. Then I was coming back home and trying to do that on my MC-505. It was what turned me from rock’n'roll to electronic and resampling music.

What do we have to look forward to in 2012?

I’m getting a new EP together, then I’m working on a very special collaboration, it’s still in construction for the moment, but it’s going to be finished soon.

What was the music that ignited the DJ and production fires in you?

In the beginning it was The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Aphex Twin and so on. I grew up with that when I was 15.

Then I started to turn more in club music like breakbeat (Atomic Hooligan, NAPT, Stanton Warriors etc) then Drum’n'Bass and I fell in love with Hospital Records releases from London Elektricity, Nu Tone, Logistics, Cyantific then onto a bit of everything from the UK scene to the Berlin’s vibes passing all over the “good music”..

You have put out some great videos with your tracks so far, how did that come about and who is responsible for them?

Her name is Rahel Ali. We worked on a short movie together for a University project and she was the sound engineer. We had great time working together and I knew she was a talented photographer and film maker.

When we finished that project we decided to work together again in the future, but in a more creative way.So as I finished the tune “Coquette”, I sent it to Rahel to find out what she though. She immediately had an idea for an underwater vibe for the video and shot between Istanbul and Dub. I think she’s great and I’m looking forward to working with her again soon.

How does your production process work? Program and equipment wise?

I’m working much with Ableton Live rewired from Logic and a couple of hardware synths. I’m working a lot with software though so when I play out I like to use CDs or vinyl, I’m spending too much time in front of a computer monitor and like to get away from it.

Who are the producers and DJ’s at the moment who are really pushing your buttons?

Sepalcure, Submerse, George Fitzerald, Anex, Crypt, 2562, Joy Orbison, Ghostek, Volor Flex, Encode, Dark Sky, Powder Hill, Hybu, Made and much more!

Tell us a little about the mix you did for our podcast series.

I just turned up the mixer and started to play some tunes that I was in the mood to mix and to listen to. I usually adapt my set for the club, crowd, line up etc but when I do mixes like this one here, it’s just me, so it’s more like the music I like with no rules, I hope your gonna like it.

What advice would you give to any budding bedroom producers?

Right now it’s so easy to find ways to do music, I mean, one pc, two pieces of cracked software and that’s it, you don’t really need a studio, professional gear etc. All you need is passion. The music is already inside you, you just have to find your best way to create it.

If you were to be transported to a Lab in the Phuture and a mysteriously crazy scientist were to grant you one superpower – which would you choose?

Since I was a child I’ve known the answer to this question! If being invisible includes even to pass through the walls, I’m going for that! Otherwise I wanna fly

Mix tracklisting

1   Intro –  Cyrus – Manhatten Blues 
2   Mike Dehnert – Moment
3   A Made Up Sound – Cange
4   Sepalcure – Love Pressure
5   Submerse – 2ru Groove (Duncan Powell Remix)
6   Cosmin TRG – Now You Know
7   Mosca – Orange Jack
8   Beastie Respond - Syncopy_(Blawans Trecther Mechanica)
9   2562 – Yes/No
10 Martyn – Vancouver (2562 Remix)
11 Havantepe – Butterfly
12 Zack Marullo – Pumpydum (Domyan Remix)
13 Hatikvah - In The Spirit (Rod Modell  Deepchord Detroit Kinematic Mix) 
15 Lusine – Two Dots
16 George Fitzgerald – Don’t You (SCB Edit)
17 Scuba – Lights out
18 Starkey – Lost in Space (ft.Charli XCX) (Darling Farah Remix)
19 Roof Light – Around Here

Mux Mool – Planet High School (inc. free downloads)

US producer Mux Mool’s album “Skulltaste” was one of our favourite albums of 2010 and the arrival of new album “Planet High School” was greeted with suitable excitement here at the Labs.

It doesn’t disappoint and once again shows off the producers skills for adding various genres and tempos to his palette while continuing to wrap them up in his unique packaging of groove filled earworm hooks and catchy melodies that sound instantly recognisable and forever memorable.

You can grab the album from February 7th but grab a couple of freebies below courtesy of Pitchfork and brace yourself for the long player’s arrival.

Mux Mool – Raw Gore

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Mux Mool – Palace Chalice

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Makoto – What Do You Want/Different Rhythm

Japanese producer Makoto is a name known to most for his classy drum n bass work on LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking imprint but his long players have always included a variety of tempos and genres.

His latest outing comes courtesy of 7even Recordings and sees him deliver two slabs of house goodness with a tough backbone.

“What Do You Want” is up first and sees a catchy vocal hook sprinkled over a sea of warm sub bass and crisp snares. “Different Rhythm” on the flip is a brilliant wee amen driven stepper that keeps things simple but effective with it’s tough beats and bass combo.

Vinyl available now at Boomkat with a digital release to follow shortly.

10-20 – Magnet Marsh (exclusive free track download)

While most labels seem happy to rest on their laurels and stick to the standard current formats of digital and vinyl, Glasgow imprint Broken20 are forever looking to expand their horizons.

The latest project to come from the mind of TVO and co is the launch of Broken60, a cassette based offshoot label and the first outing comes from 10-20 in the shape of his “Magnet Marsh” album.

Across the album’s 21 tracks, the listener is welcomed into a world of easy on the ears left of centre electronica. Sprinkling drums and percussion throughout where required, the tracks lose themselves in a sea of wonderful atmospheres where every slightly disjointed moment is balanced equally with moments of serene calm and subtlety.

10-20 – Gold Ninety

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Pick the album up now digitally at Boomkat or wander over to the Broken20 store and pick up a cassette copy.

Each physical copy of the album comes with two seperate download versions – one with individual tracks and once with two long tracks entitled
simply ‘tape version – side a’ and ‘tape version – side b’ to give you the full experience.

Grab a free track from the album above and head on over to the Broken20 Soundcloud to hear more from the album.

Commix – Dusted (Selected Works 2003 – 2008)

While things had seemed to slow down at Commix HQ while they concentrated on their Shifted moniker, Metalheadz have lined up a compilation of unreleased goodies from the duo set for release in March.

The tracks were written between 2003 and 2008 but easily stand the test of time and make this a must have album for 2012.

The tracklisting is packed with gold with jungly meanderings and sub bass a-plenty with plenty of fodder for the head as well as the dancefloor.

There’s also a new full Commix album set for release in Oct/Nov and with the shift (see what I did there) to house and techno, it may be a more of a mixed bag tempo wise than debut “Call To Mind”.

You can hear the rest of the album over at Commix’s Soundcloud and keep an eye on the Metalheadz shop for this one appearing over the next couple of months.

Bullion – Say Arr Ee/What Does She Know

It’s been an impressive start to 2012 for those of us with a hunger for fresh electronic music and the next label out of the gates is the legendary R&S.

The last few years have seen the imprint invest heavily in new talent and bring the likes of James Blake, Pariah and Blawan to the ears of many. London producer Bullion is the latest to join the fold.

The two tracks on his first full 12″ for the label utilise more live instrumentation and his own vocals than previous work, none of the groove is lost however and “Say Arr Ee” is the pick of the two.

Driven along by a kick and snare combo, a simple but catchy bassline and a saxophone line that sounds like it’s being played by an alien, it’s an impressive piece of work that defies pigeonholing.

Released on January 30th and available to pre-order now at the R&S shop.

Doc Daneeka & Benjamin Damage – THEY!LIVE

Last year they brought us one of our favourite tunes in “Creeper”, a dark brooding affair with plans also announced for an album. That day is nearly upon us as Doc Daneeka and Benjamin Damage get set to release THEY!LIVE on the ever quality 50Weapons label.

As you might expect the album has its fair share of club bangers such as the afore mentioned “Creeper” but it’s also full of some subtle and engaging electronica. There are also great vocals by Abigail Wyles.

This drops on the 27th January at all the usual outlets.

Jacques Greene – Concealer EP

Our man from Montreal, Jacques Greene has just announced plans for a new label Vase which will release its first EP this month. The EP sees Jacques in collaboration with fellow countryman and LuckyMe label mate Ango on the opening track Flatline.

The majority of the EP has a more relaxed feel with lashings of RnB vibes throughout. The only real change up to this is the track “Clark” which has been firmly aimed at the dance floor.

Set for release on the 30th January from all the usual outlets.