Earlier this year Scuba released his ‘Adrenalin’ EP, picking up radio plays from Zane Lowe, Annie Mac, Rob Da Bank as well as Mistajam, illustrating how his sound has mutated into previously unexplored areas. Alongside ‘Adrenalin, Scuba also released his addition to K7!’s DJ Kicks series which has made notable appearances on several “Best of 2011″ lists.

On the 27th February, Scuba will release his third album through Hotflush. Entitled ‘Personality’ and featuring 11 brand new tracks, it takes in a wealth of genres across contemporary dance music, proving once again Scuba’s place at the cutting edge of the electronic music scene. Preceding his LP will be ‘The Hope’; pushing on from the tense atmospherics of previous Scuba material, the single fizzes with claustrophobic bass pressure and menacing narration. Backed by an exclusive non-album cut ‘Flash Addict’, ‘The Hope’ will proceed the album on the 6th February.

Paul Rose aka Scuba

Originally from London, Scuba relocated to Berlin in 2007, and released his debut album, ‘A Mutual Antipathy‘ in 2008. The stylistic synergy of the album cemented his position as one of the most forward-thinking producers to emerge from the London bass scene. In the same year, Scuba founded the massively successful SUB:STANCE night at the legendary Berlin club Berghain. SUB:STANCE has since launched in New York with a look to expanding further in 2012.

Scuba’s second album, ‘Triangulation’, was released on Hotflush in early 2010, joining the likes of Mount Kimbie, Sepalcure, Joy Orbison, Untold, Sigha and George Fitzgerald on its enviable roster.  With ‘Personality’ due for imminent release and plans for a live show in the works, Paul Rose’s constantly developing world seems set to keep on turning in 2012.

Artist: Scuba
Title: Personality
Label: Hotflush Recordings
Release date: 27th February 2012
Format: CD / LP / Digital
CD Barcode: 5055317221681

CD Tracklist:
01. Ignition Key
02. Underbelly
03. The Hope
04. Dsy Chn
05. July
06. Action
07.Cognitive Dissonance
08. Gekko
09. NE1BUTU
10. Tulips
11. If U Want

Vinyl & Download format & tracklist TBC

http://www.hotflushrecordings.com/
http://soundcloud.com/hotflush
http://www.facebook.com/HotflushUK

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And better he has become. New Epoch, Goth-Trad’s debut album for the DEEP MEDi Musik imprint due out in February 2012, is the result of over a decade of pushing forward from the man Kode9 calls “a one-man army mutating the UK hardcore continuum in Japan.” Takeaki Maruyama aka Goth-Trad is a spearhead among producers worldwide who have taken the sounds of the UK underground and mutated them into new forms – or, in this case, into New Epoch. However, for Maruyama-san it’s never been about trying to replicate the UK sound as he acknowledged in a 2008 interview, “Looking at good Dubstep producers, I don’t think they are trying to make Dubstep. They are already looking beyond this, and trying to make something new. They are thinking on another level. That’s the fun part!” And fun is something he knows all about.

Emerging from a vibrant underground Japanese electronic scene, Maruyama-san has developed into one of the most outstanding artists of his generation. His unique “fun” style involves freely playing samplers, keyboards and even self-made instruments – this approach brought him the nickname “the Sound Originator.” His sound comprises a broad palette of influences from Abstract Electronica to Noise, from Dub and Reggae to Jungle, from Rave and Grime to Punk, and almost every form of music somehow is absorbed into his black hole-like approach, emerging from a trans-warp conduit on the other side as something uniquely Goth- Trad. Maruyama-san has simply always been experimenting and developing his own sound palette. This truly unique, abstract approach has earned him a place at the forefront of dance music in Tokyo – quite a feat in of itself since Tokyo has one of the most complex and engaging scenes for electronic music in the world. With a strong back catalogue of albums and touring beneath his belt the buzz for his music has slowly spread further and further around the world, New Epoch is certain to bring the bass mutations of this Tokyoite even further.

Maruyama-san first started producing music in 1998 and by 2001, he was ready for a breakthrough. It came when he formed the band Rebel Familia with the much-respected Dub Reggae bass player Takeshi ‘Heavy’ Akimoto of Dry & Heavy, a legendary Japanese act. By 2003, he had released his first solo album Goth Trad 1, which led to his debut European tour the same year and an opening slot for respected indie rock act The Mars Volta the following year. Maruyama-san says of this period, “Before Dubstep I was making experimental beats or almost kind of ambient.” His second album The Inverted Perspective in 2005 shifted the focus to the live improvisational style that he continues to develop and refine to this day. Looking back, he describes the record as “almost a noise experiment.” This was swiftly followed by a third album Mad Ravers Dance Floor, which was his first move towards the kind of dance music he makes today. He recalled what inspired him at the moment in an interview with Knowledge magazine – “When I found Grime music I heard Morgue by Wiley. It’s very deep and like down-tempo Hip-Hop but has more bass. Maybe we could call that Dubstep but back then it was called Grime. The first image was ‘deep’. The music totally fit some vision in my head. I felt something from that music.”
Mad Ravers Dance Floor opened European ears to his sound even more – especially when the Grime-inspired single Back to Chill was picked up by UK label Skud beats, catching the attention of the expanding bass music scene in the UK. By the end of 2006 Goth-Trad also started own night in Japan named after the single and he embarked on his fourth European tour that provided a pivotal breakthrough moment in his career thanks to a timely meeting at the London club FWD>> with Dubstep pioneer Mala from Digital Mystikz.

Mala signed the single Cut End / Flags to his own DEEP MEDi Musik imprint and subsequently those cuts garnered noise from a strong core of supporters including artists like The Bug, Kode 9, Coki, Skream and Mary Ann Hobbs. A new era had started for Maruyama-san: after four European tours, three solo albums and countless other work he was embraced by the growing bass music scene as a force to be reckoned with.

In due course this led to continued engagements for his music. By 2007 he played the legendary DMZ event for the first time and was the opening DJ for Skream, Kode9 and The Bug on Japanese dates. Not one to stop moving, he also continued his work with the band Rebel Familia, releasing an album that featured collaborations with Punky Reggae legend Arie Up and reggae godfather Max Romeo. This project tethered him to dub more and his love of deeper dub-based sounds remains a constant in his music to this day. His relationship with Romeo also continued with the Lee Perry-associated singer making an appearance on the club smasher single Babylon Fall released this past September on DEEP MEDi Musik and also featured on New Epoch. Romeo’s mystic voice lends itself well to the spirit-laden music of Goth-Trad. Unlike the Shinto mountain and forest spirits of old though Maruyama-san’s music is firmly routed around the spirits of his city. His is the music of dark alleyways in Shinjinku on a cold wet night, the soundtrack to the underbelly of a sprawling modern metropolis on the edge, a noir Tokyo first seen in the post-war films of Japanese New Wave directors in the early 60s and the films of the Art Theatre Guild. It is Western-influenced yet uniquely Japanese.

In the Art Theatre Guild film Eros Massacre we see the story of a Japanese anarchist revealed as sword fights take place on a Tokyo highway shot in beautiful captivating widescreen black and white. It’s this kind of contradiction that we hear in Goth-Trad – sounds we think we know mutated into new shapes and forms. The sound of Goth-Trad cuts through the humdrum of copycats. 2007 ended for Goth-Trad with more European dates across eight countries, this time with both live and DJ performances. The following year he continued to build his reputation with three releases – Far East Assassin for Skud Beats, Genesis for Soul Jazz Records and Law for DEEP MEDi Musik, the imprint that was quickly becoming Goth-Trad’s home. In 2009 he became an in- demand remixer with remixes for both Skream and Distance. Two more heavyweight singles for DEEP MEDi Musik Dark Path and Sunbeam also followed. After that came same lab time leading up to his most assured sounding album to date.

New Epoch is by far and away Goth-Trad’s most complete piece of work to date, showcasing what he is has learnt in his years of producing, touring, playing live and remixing. The album features eleven superbly and delicately crafted tracks. From the opener Man In the Maze full of beautifully dark, emotional strings and pulsating, mesmerizing groove to the intense synthesizer stabs and pure dance-floor mayhem of the Mirage – one of the strongest tracks that has been firing in heavy rotations from Mala and Kode9 – to the title track New Epoch which defines a producer digging through different styles, experiences and cultures to find himself now one of the most unique artists within the scene and beyond. We’ll leave the final words to Goth-Trad himself (as told in September to Low End Theory),
“To be honest with you I’m not listening to Dubstep that much, the whole reason I got into making Dubstep is because it’s free. You can do anything with it. Take it all sorts of directions…. I’m always looking for more directions and styles within my work, but I’m not really thinking I’m doing Dubstep. I’m just doing my sound. I’ve been doing this style of music for almost ten years and I just say all this music is bass music. I’m putting a lot of variety into the new album. Some tunes are very techie, some tunes are much more experimental, a bit glitchy. There may be some more banging stuff. I’ve lots of ideas to keep moving with.”
New Epoch indeed! Onward marches the one-man army known as Goth-Trad.

MEDICD007
Goth-Trad
New Epoch
Release date: 6th February 2012
Barcode: 5055317219596

01. Man In The Maze *
02. Departure *
03. Cosmos
04. Airbreaker
05. Walking Together *
06. Strangers *
07. Babylon Fall (Ft. Max Romeo)
08. Anti Grid *
09. Seeker *
10. Mirage *
11. New Epoch *

* Tracks feature on the MEDILP007 vinyl version of the album which also comes complete with the CD version too.

MEDI053
Goth-Trad
LP Sampler
Release date: 30th January 2012
Barcode: 5055317221353
a) Airbreaker
aa) Cosmos

Goth-Trad – Airbreaker / Cosmos [MEDI053] DEEP MEDi Musik by stholdings

http://deepmedi.com/
http://www.facebook.com/deepmedi

Interview with Goth-Trad on Resident Advisor:
http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1510

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Ghosts is released on Robert Henke’s own label Imbalance Computer Music on CD, double vinyl in gatefold packaging and download. The vinyl version includes on bonus CD with all tracks in digital format. CD version comes in luxury digipack.

The title of this album, Ghosts, came to my mind at a quite early stage. I liked it due of the large field of associations it provokes. I started taking notes about topics connected to the term, read about mythologies and collected ideas. I also often write fragmentary texts, short cinematic scenes that I come up with when my head is idling and I have time to kill. One of these texts is included in the artwork of the CD and the vinyl edition and it is an essential part of the Ghosts album, it serves as a window to a bigger drama, and the music offers another view. The text also links the Ghosts album to the Silence album from 2009. Both stories are related, I just don’t know yet how.

Independently of the aim to create a new album I constantly try out things in the studio, and some day in December 2010 a structure started to emerge that had a dark and evil quality. I knew this would become a core part of a future album and I gave that sketch the working title ‘Ghosts’. Finding new material with similar color turned out to be more difficult than I did anticipate so I changed my strategy and worked on sounds and shapes of very different vibe; whimsical little sonic creatures, potentially mean or helpful spirits that have their very own life. I recorded and transformed sounds from objects I found in my flat; glasses, paper, thin plastic sheets, stones, pebbles in a salad bowl and so on. I believe I became a pretty good foley artist by doing so. The track ‘Taku’ mainly consists of recordings I made with two empty glasses clicking at each other, and ‘Unstable Matter’ is an exercise in applying complex transformations to all kinds of recordings: a bunch of vintage cymbals, my own voice, metal plates, singing bowls, bells, and a rusty hi-hat.

During the entire year 2011 I composed a lot of sketches, mainly rhythmical tracks, but most of them I had to discarded at some point. Either I did not like specific elements in them or they did not fit in my theme of a world of ghosts. Very often I assigned the same title to numerous different tracks in that process, since I did like the title and the message it potentially could convey but not the music assigned to it. ‘Foreign Object’ is the most extreme case here; a track with that name got completely discarded on the evening prior to the final CD mastering process and replaced by a new composition created in a rush at that very night: During the creation process of the album I spent a lot of time trying out different orders of tracks, order is important to me, I aim to create a work of art that works as one large structure, not just an arbitrary collection of songs. Even whilst, or maybe even because this is not the way most music is consumed in the age of random mp3 collections.

I always felt that my Ghosts album needs to end with the track ‘Ghosts’ and every other decision had to be a consequence of this paradigm. I wanted the album to end with a dark and sad message: get out of my head. you do not exist anymore. However, when playing back the final edits in Basel prior to the mastering, my friend and host Daniel Teige insisted that ‘Ghosts’ has to be the first track and just grabbed my computer to completely rearrange the album. Blame him on the final order of tracks on this CD. After his intervention everything seemed to make much more sense, the transitions between the emotional states of each track provided new pleasurable surprises – apart from the very end of the album, which just did not work at all anymore. I decided that there are only two possible ways out; either entirely discarding the last track and ending with ‘Aligning the Daemon’ or coming up with something new in three hours, with nothing but my laptop on a chair, and two cheap hi-fi speakers. The ghosts and spirits of that night liked the idea, and when they told me to record a Macintosh system voice and showed me how to transform these recordings in a parody of a medieval chant full of devilish minor thirds I knew it would turn out to be great.

The album was composed, edited and recorded entirely in Ableton Live and the synthetic sounds are the results of tweaking the Operator, Simpler, Sampler and Live’s audio effects, my Max4Live synthesizer ‘Granulator’, a bit of convolution reverb and a lot of Live’s own reverb. An important role in the sound design also played the creative usage of Live’s various time stretch algorithms. The ‘Tension’ synthesizer’s physical model of a violin string bombarded with rapid parameter changes sent from a Max patch is responsible for the odd sounds on ‘Phenomenon’. Other important contributions to my sonic universe come from my collection of vintage hardware synthesizers: Resonant timbres of a Sequential Circuits Prophet VS on ‘Afterglow’, bell-like sounds of a NED Synclavier II on ‘Foreign Object’, various timbres from a Yamaha DX-27 piped through an Alesis Quadraverb and a Lexicon PCM-80 reverb, pads from a Oberheim Xpander and more I forgot about. Very essential for my creative process and for the incredible fun whilst working on this album are my newly acquired Strauss SE NF-3 studio monitors. One of my best purchases ever. The entire album was recorded in 96kHz and only the final master files were down-sampled to 44.1k for the CD / mp3 releases.

‘Ghosts’ has been mastered in December 2011 at Idee und Klang in Basel by Daniel Dettwieler. Playing back the individual songs directly from my original sessions in Live at his room equipped with Strauss SE MF-2 speakers and state of the art DA converters allowed me to control the spatial placement and final corrections of timbres in each track in more detail than I ever dreamed of.
During the creation of Ghosts several friends provided essential support, critical comments and inspiration: Justine Lera, Torsten Pröfrock, Susanne Kirchmayr, Gerhard Behles, Vance Galloway, Harry Ed Roland, Stefan Brunner, Matt Jackson, Johannes Kiersch, Tarik Barri, Daniel Teige, Daniel Dettwieler.

Recorded bit by bit at the Foggy Playground Berlin.

Artist: Monolake
Title: Ghosts
Label: Imbalance Computer Music
Cat no: ML026  
Barcode: 827670012023 
Format: CD
Release Date: Feb 27th 2012
CD track list
01 Ghosts 5:05
02 Toku 5:42
03 Afterglow 5:14
04 Hitting the Surface 7:42
05 Discontinuity 4:49
06 The Existence of Time 5:09
07 Phenomenon 5:59
08 Unstable Matter 5:42
09 Lilith 5:07
10 Aligning the Daemon 4:51
11 Foreign Object 5:19

Total running time: 60:43

Please note: The vinyl version includes a bonus CD with all tracks in digital format

Monolake Ghosts album preview by monolake

http://www.monolake.de/

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Caspa – Itchy & Scratchy (FREE DOWNLOAD) by Caspaofficial

Head over to his official Soundcloud page to download now – Make sure you follow him too to stay ahead of the game!

http://soundcloud.com/caspaofficial
http://twitter.com/Caspadubstep
http://www.facebook.com/caspadubstep

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Grab the free download from the Paradox soundcloud page!

Paradox Vol.9 Radioshow – July 2011 by PARADOX

AM006
Alaska
a) Boreal
aa) Isochime
Release: July 4th 2011
Snow-White 12” & Digital

Alaska – ‘Boreal’ – (Arctic Music 12″ 006) by PARADOX

www.paradoxmusic.com
www.facebook.com/paradoxmusicuk
www.soundcloud.com/paradox-music-uk
www.mixcloud.com/ParadoxMusicRadio/

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The album showcases a close group of artists; some new to the label some well known for their releases already; the likes of Survival get the remix treatment from the mighty Break, ever-rising label boys Octane and DLR feature with another couple of complete blinders, one of which written with label manager Ant TC1 and not to mention artists such as Spinline, Hydro, Skeptical, Paul T, EBK,
Subterra, Christina Nicola, Gusto, Keza and MC Fokus all provide a mixed set of styles sure to hit
the standard the label is well known for with any listener.

DJ support is already exhaustive with the likes of Marcus Intalex, Calibre, Andy C, Break, dBridge,
Cern, Teebee, Calyx, Bailey, Flight, Kasra, AI, Lenzman, Icicle, Alix Perez, Jubei, Spectrasoul and
many more all showcasing tracks featured on the album and many providing constant feedback on
how well put together the collective package is.

DISCD002
Various Artists
Transit One

01. Survival – Sky (Break Remix) *
02. Octane & DLR – Drop Out *
03. Skeptical – A Process Of Elimination *
04. Octane, DLR & Ant TC1 – The Jazz Club *
05. Spinline & Hydro – Blindfolded *
06. Survival Ft. Christina Nicola – Mistakes *
07. Spinline – Made Guy
08. Paul T & Survival – Sunshine
09. Skeptical & MC Fokus – Structure
10. EBK – Mud
11. Keza – Monkey Business
12. Survival – High
13. Octane, DLR & Subterra Ft. Gusto – Red Mist [Vocal Version]

* Also featured on the 3×12″ Vinyl Version

Due for release on all formats on 17th January 2011.

Skeptical & MC Fokus – Structure – Dispatch ‘Transit One’ album (CLIP) by Ant TC1

www.twitter.com/anttc1
www.myspace.com/anttc1
www.youtube.com/moment150

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Drawing on influences from electronic music past and present from early techno sounds, 80’s synth-pop through to a myriad of contemporary dance music genres, Craggz & Parallel have created a truly unique and daring album sure to quench the most discerning and dance floor tastes whilst challenging the more traditional drum and bass album ideals. Even reverting back to analogue production techniques to combine with the modern creates an experience unlike any other around today so keep you ears open for the genius new sounds of Craggz & Parallel.

Craggz & Parallel

“I don’t really say things like this much, but Craggz & Parallel are about to flip D&B on its head…” Breakage

“Analogue synths, drum machines & +170bpm = Top album. C&P FTW!!” dBridge

“Craggz & Parallel have taken a bold step towards a much deeper, more mature and personal sound; locking themselves away for 2 years has resulted in a truly inspirational album that will turn a lot of heads. One of the best releases in 2010 by some way, this definitely gets the Flight seal of approval.” DJ Flight

PRODUCTCD001
Craggz & Parallel
Turn The Page

01. Turn The Page
02. Release
03. Chamber
04. Slave (Feat. Warren Dite)
05. Now I See (Feat. Kasra)
06. The Sleeper
07. Matrix 6
08. No Wave (Feat. DRS)
09. Metroplex
10. Mute Mix
11. This Is Not The End
12. Future Shock
13. Forever

A series of 3×12″ Vinyl releases will be released around the time of the CD release.
CD Release date – 20th September

Turn The Page by CRAGGZ & PARALLEL

Current support:
Fabio & Grooverider (Radio 1), Mistajam (Radio 1), Mary Anne Hobbs (Radio 1), Annie Mac (Radio 1), Zane Lowe (Radio 1), Bailey (1Xtra), Crissy Criss (1Xtra), Eddy Temple-Morris (XFM), DJ Hype (Kiss FM), Ministry Of Sound, Kerrang, Rinse etc.

www.craggzandparallel.com

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With a bulging DJ diary, Lee lacked both the time and energy needed to really give it the care and attention it needed and Atlas sadly closed its doors just a year later on release number three. Fast forward to 2010 however and Atlas is making a comeback with Lee vowing to make it a success again this time round.

DJ Lee

ATLAS004, the first release of the relaunch, is from Lee, fellow Oxfordians Total Science and current d&b hot property S.P.Y, with two huge dancefloor tracks, – Relentless’ b/w ‘Useless’. These tunes have been getting battered by the select few DJ’s lucky enough to have a copy and have been causing carnage in clubs across the world. They have created a buzz about Atlas not seen since the first release and with plenty more music in the pipeline, your sure to be hearing a lot more from Lee and his Atlas imprint in the near future….

ATLAS004
Total Science, S.P.Y & DJ Lee
a) Useless
aa) Relentless

TOTAL SCIENCE / S.P.Y & DJ LEE ; USELESS (Atlas) by Atlas Recordings

Release date TBC

www.atlasrecordings.net | www.myspace.com/djleeatlas

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ASC

ASC has always been involved with the more experimental end of Drum & Bass having released music on such influential labels as Offshore and Warm Communications inspired by the works of 808 State, Art Of Noise, The Prodigy, Blame, Odyssey, Future Sound Of London, Slowdive, Monolake, Polar & Autechre.

AUX001
ASC
The Touch / The Touch (Vaccine feat. Riya Remix)

Starting out with what has to be one of the most eagerly awaited tracks this year, The Touch finally sees a release.  It’s become a bit of an Autonomic anthem and Vaccine‘s lush 140 retake on the flip enlists the vocal talents of Riya, and makes sure that this plate gets maximum exposure from heads pushing different tempos.

ASC – The Touch by Auxiliary

Look out for more cutting edge electronic dance music from Auxiliary to follow this essential first release.

www.soundcloud.com/auxiliarylabel | www.myspace.com/ascintexsystems | www.soundcloud.com/asc

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By the time young P.U.D.G.E. (thus called because at school he was always extra medium, or less than chubby) hit 13, he had discovered turntableism, and started DJing at house parties around NYC. By his late teens, he had emerged as a promising emcee, standing next to many of the well-known emcees from the Lyricist Lounge; including Mos Def & El P.

P.U.D.G.E.

Still producing, P.U.D.G.E.’s music  was starting to gain attention, and his first beat was released on the Vinyl Junkies debut EP. After hearing about the emerging beat scene in L.A., he moved there in 2004, and started getting a few production credits under his belt, including cuts for Rawkus Records and Stacey Epps. After circulating some of his instrumental beat tapes, interest for P.U.D.G.E. started to gain momentum. Early this year, P.U.D.G.E. headed up All Cty’s L.A. series, on a split 10” with Dibiase, preceeding releases from Ras G, Samiyam & Matthewdavid.

RAMP are now very proud to present P.U.D.G.E.’s debut album, Idiot Box.

RAMP032CD / RAMP032
P.U.D.G.E.
Idiot Box

01. Elektric Werdz
02. Everything 2 Me
03. Merci Mercy Weak
04. Whut Happened
05. The Price Is Wrong B
06. Wholehearted
07. Lost AngeLA
08. Insensitivity
09. Don’t Get Too Huxtable
10. The Way I Feelately
11. Still Love Lost
12. Allow Me To Waste Time (Bonus)

Released on 1xCD / 2×12″ Vinyl & Digital download on 27th July 2010.

http://www.stholdings.co.uk/cat/soundclip/SOUNDCLIPRAMP032CD.mp3

P.U.D.G.E. Interview for Kmag: www.kmag.co.uk/editorial/features/pudge-interview

www.ramprecordings.com | www.myspace.com/ramprecordings | www.myspace.com/djpudgemcee

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