In a bamboo forest, the senses are heightened and brilliance demands to be recognized within its subtleties. The quiet clacking of one tree upon another is amplified by their thousands of siblings which surround the visitor. The deep thud of one’s footsteps is magnified by immersion into this soft world. The shine of sunlight is transformed into a vivid green glow by passing through its canopy of leaves. Concentric Circles, the debut full length from Nate Mars, shares many qualities with that scene. Its sense of place is created by a heavy use of organic instrumentation, strongly founded in middle eastern or south Asian sounds and is often rooted in dub. And the care afforded to every detail results in an overwhelming richness of sound and warmth.

[BUY IT!]

For all the comfort and naturalness evoked by Circles, however, the album is no escape from modernity and danger. Instead, it nourishes those ever present realities, using them to reinforce an appreciation for life by reminding the listener never to take it for granted. Mobilizing bass troops wobble restful foundations, trembling synths rise in hysteria and vocals even suggest justice in violence for the oppressed. There’s an overall aura of suspense on the eve of battle throughout. But again, this facilitates reflection on all that is worth fighting for. It’s an album that hopes for the best but expects the worst.

Mood is paramount here, but while the composition is not particularly complex, it certainly isn’t ambient. Loops never make it very far without being layered over by a new one; cadences and extra flourishes abound; and an unwavering awareness of narrative is kept in mind. And although it’s set at a leisurely pace, it isn’t hard for a listener to stay focused on the music, which rarely plays the background. By relating each loop to its predecessor, it creates a storyline of sorts that offers a handle for keeping track of its progression. And the sounds are so big that it’s hard to forget you are listening. This dependence on loops and big sounds does pose occasional problems, though. Sometimes, even when a new bar is introduced, the previous sound continues on and is so big that it remains the focus, obscuring new chapters in the tale.

For all this review’s focus on the music of Circles, we may have given the impression that it is an instrumentally focused effort. Far from it – nearly half of the songs feature vocalists, ranging from toasters, to grime MCs, to a trip hop styled singer. And Mars has a talent for drawing out the best of the vocalists he works with like a true producer should. He also layers their voices with inviting textures.

The New York based producer has been featured on Culture System a number of times. We posted a couple of his remixes back in early 09, “Above & Beyond Dem” was mentioned when it was released as “Rise” on the Bazooka Shot mixtape, and “Horizon” made it’s premier on our Nyght Out mix. Concentric Circles has been finished for some time now, and Mars says Wonky and Dancehall have since been added to his vocabulary. When asked who he wanted to big up, he suggested you, the reader. “If you’re taking the time to read this and listen to the music, I thank you for being a part of the journey with me. ” And to cement that recognition, he’s provided us with a free download of one of the best tracks on the album, “Warrior”. Enjoy! (Image by Pierre-Etienne Travers. NOTE: Our last image was apparently already being used as another album cover, so to avoid confusion, we agreed to switch.)

‘Sub-soca’ is certainly a fitting title for the majority of Marcus Visionary‘s Carib, a crazy long double LP full of carnival hype that often shifts into overdrive jump-tempos. But it sounds like soca enjoyed through salvaged radio waves discovered by a distant space ship partying as it drifts helplessly in wait for their enemy’s final blow. The speed of the album also hints as much at Visionary’s drum n bass background as it references soca. And like many of the dubstep producers with visible roots in the dnb scene, homie populates the album with dark sci fi aesthetics, albeit tempered with Caribbean, dub, and house influences. This massive release also jumps far into most reaches currently being explored in deep bass, covering the range of future roots to dubstep and tropical tech-house to UK funky. Most of the tracks are rather simple, never introducing anything new beyond the two minute mark, but there’s something in the basis of nearly every track to enjoy.

The Jahdan remixes, the reggae cuts like ‘Nightfall’, and even the rapid paced, destructive wobblings of “In The VIP” are all tuff. The album wouldn’t be what it is without them and the diversity they lend it. But it’s the heavily syncopated, techy tropical stuff and grimey UK Funky that really make this album special. That sub-soca if we’re gonna keep with that. Of them, the ghosts of useless sirens that haunt the ‘London’ soundscape makes it nearly the most gripping. But the identifiably Caribbean track, ‘Pepper Pot,’ is the standout track of them all. Made up of almost entirely percussive elements, the track plows through a diverse array of drums, flips numerous polyrhythms and switches up the main beat over and over again.

You might’ve already heard a lot of this album, since 10 of its 27 songs were already released on two EP’s bearing the Carib title. Listening to these previous releases would mosdef have helped to digest the full length. Although the songs cover a range of styles, and often push into new realms, many sound very similar to each other. When listening, you can tell Visionary was thinking about offering deejays a choice within each style pushed here. “This LP is a collection of dubs compiled and made for DJs with the clubs in mind,” he said in the release notes. This probably also accounts for the brevity of composition in most of the songs, since they’re expected to be blended with other joints.

It drops on NYC-based LionDub International on May 2nd. Read up on label founder Liondub in this Knowledge Magazine Q&A.

Your rhymes meant a lot to us throughout the years. Your time on Earth affected many people, including us. Rest In Peace mah dude. (Photo from the cover of Jazzmatazz Vol 1.)

Two Latin dub joints here thanks to the mighty Cero 39 and his Tumblr blog. The first offering, “Buen Dia Barranquilla”, features a quicker pace, one more familiar to the brighter lights of an urban setting. It rides on a spacious drum loop with big bass kicks reminiscent of a Cadillac bouncing on hydraulics while melodic bass pads the spacing. Hand drums are pasted over regionalized synths, which are laid onto a touch of wobbles, all of which creates a series of layers similar to the walls of popular street art locales. “TNT (Dub Version)” is the more sensual of the two, basking in a hazy enjoyment under an expansive, unobstructed night sky. Full of outdoor fireside warmth, cool breezes of echo laden melodies float about leisurely until the central bass guitar melody demands the listeners attention. Full length album soon come, too! (Image by Juan Marin via IdN)

DOWNLOAD

Drownbeat Retreat – basically a blend of instrumental hip hop and classical music – is not for those with too short an attention span. With an eye towards symphonic instrumentation, the mix has a number of long melodies and some detailed rhythm work. Also, don’t sleep on church organs, they’re ridiculous, mang. (Original cover photo by Mark Coran.)

Lionel Cohen — “Bleeding Cowboys” [BUY IT]
Dinosauruxia — “Safe (Radio edit)” [BUY IT]
Iron Orchestra — “Black Snow”
Th.e n.d — “Brahmans Son”
Andels — “Above The Hills”
Emancipator — “Breeze (version)”
Jacaszek — “Lament”
Olafur Arnalds — “Til enda”
:10: — “Breathe” [BUY IT]
Russ Liquid — “Sumner House (VIP Mix)”
Mika Denn — “She’s Lost, He’s Come” [BUY IT]
Lloop – “Lei-tzu”
Tremor — “Viajante (Mopse Remix)”
Turbulence — “Tired (prod. by Jah Grasshopper)” [BUY IT]

the jump » »

ATL’s Distal and Mite are swinging through the area as a part of their mini-tour, which coincides with the recent launching of their new label, Embassy Records. The two produce an array of music as broad as the diverse bass scene of their hometown, flipping anything from future garage, to g-funk bass filth, to techstep. In anticipation, we figured posting this collaboration of theirs, an early version of “Forgotten Formula”, would be appropriate. The drop at 1:35 where the bass drums become the focus and lead into those RoboCup claps gets us every time. Catch them in the Lower East Side on Tuesday at Broken Teeth or Watchtower Wobble on Saturday in New Paltz. (Photo by Art Wolfe for SEED Magazine.)

New local fire by Peter Gunn, comin’ correct with a housey mutant bass joint. Some hype, skittery percussion courtesy of a Michel Polnareff break. Gunn resides in Sunnyside Queens, home to “Irish bars that play either traditional Irish music, bad classic rock, or euro pop/trance.” Definitely not a source of inspiration for dude. Dizzie Rascal’s first album was more important, which put him onto the whole UK bass thing. Pete used to spin at Pure Fire, a night held at the fly APT club, where you could hear grime, hip hop, dubstep and dancehall. Unfortunately APT recently got shut down. You can still catch Gunn around the interwebs, either on his Web site or his radio show which airs Mondays from 8-9PM on Viva-Radio. And peep his Soundcloud page for some of his grime flavored beats. The Gunner also asked us to post the dark roller “Le Matador (VIP)” as a sort of B side to “Mayger,” since it also rocks a French sample and has a house BPM. (Photo by Josef Breitenbach.)