Mix Monday #13: Vesper

Now some people might say that #13 is unlucky, but I see that very differently, because today I'm presenting you with my own mix for April. Featuring a few exclusive tracks and my own picks for tracks I think are really gunning it at the moment.

It's the second in my Future of Funk mix series, you can catch the first in the series from both Soundcloud and Mixcloud if you're feeling the first one.

As usual I take things on quite an upbeat and full on approach and then towards the end tone things down... firstly working with some new bass, then onto a more housey tip, before playing some dubstep that I'm feeling at the moment, that isn't necessarily 'wobbly', but that has an edge about it.
I've been constantly trying to get away from the wobbly and 'filthy' infested side of dubstep for a few months now, and I think the tunes I've included go some way towards that. I wouldn't have included Spanish Fly for example, had it not had some cheeky salsa-erish edge to it :).
I love odd ball tunes, and anything with a tropical kind of feel to it, gets my vote every time.

I've uploaded the mix to Mixcloud, Soundcloud and Mediafire to cater for people's personal preferences... the main link highlighted in blue takes you to the mediafire download page and then I've embedded the other links, should you wish to go to them. Please give it a listen and most importantly, enjoy :).

Vesper - Future of Funk #2

Future of Funk #2 by VesperDJ

1. Douster - King of Africa VIP
2. Geoffrey James - Just Another Jack (Dizz Remix)
3. Sduk - Clunge
4. Drop The Lime - Devil's Eyes (Tomb Crew Remix)
5. Drop The Lime - Devil's Eyes (Foamo Remix)
6. Drop The Lime - Howling
7. Foamo - Jookie
8. Myd - Train To Bamako (Canblaster Remix)
9. Herve - Hot! Drum Attack
10. Foamo - Centavo
11. Sam Tiba - Barbie Weed
12. Mumdance - Sacrifice Riddim ft. Badness
13. Joker - Tron
14. BBE - 7 Days and One Week (Emalkay Remix)
15. J.Rabbit - Spanish Fly
16. Tom Piper & Blaze Tripp - Brrrap
17. Raffertie - 7th Dimension
18. Kastle - You Got The Love

Future Of Funk #2 by Vesperdj on Mixcloud

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it... I've also done up some wee artwork for it as you can see above, as I hate posting up pictures of myself.

Although I'm trying to promote myself here, it's not just about me and my mixing, it's most importantly about the music... As is shown below in the video I've embedded of Hard House Banton's The Music, as a wee in joke I have with most friends who refer to me as, The Music Man.

You know who you all are.

Tron.

So, it's been a long, long time coming, but Joker will finally release his dancefloor destroyer, Tron, sometime next month, but I'm actually screwing that I don't have any gigs this weekend to be able to play it out at. I've gotta wait until April 3rd... such a shocking state of affairs.

If anyone wants to book me last minute... then please do (vesperdj@googlemail.com :)... I shall charge you nothing! Anyway, back to the point. The immense... Tron.

It's a rare piece of music that has united a diverse range of DJs, including Diplo, Kode 9, Shy FX, Flying Lotus, TC, Caspa, Pinch, Skream, Roska, Martyn, Ginz, J Da Flex, Baobinga, 2nd II None, Reso, Oris J, Cosmin TRG, Appleblim, I.D, Guido, Mike Paradinas, Gemmy, Atki2, Tomb Crew, Bok Bok, Moshi Moshi DJs.... just to name a few.

In anticipation for the release of Tron on Joker's new label Kapsize... the man is running a wee competition to promote the release of Tron where you can win 1 of 15 signed copies of Tron on 12". A pretty sweet wee prize if you ask me.

All you have to do is stick your email address in the widget above... and you'll be sent a confirmation email about all the shizzle. Good luck :) and check out the full versions of Tron and the VIP mix below.

Joker "TRON" + VIP Mix by Multiverse

Wonky (Worst genre name since nu-rave?)

Reading a hilarious Guardian article on 'wonky', a new style of dubstep, that linked wonky fans with ketamine users (a tenuous one at best I thought), I thought it was probably the laziest piece of music journalism I'd ever encountered. To make a connection between drugs and any genre of music is lazy enough, and especially when the genre is debatably not even a real one - many of the artists mentioned in the article do not seem to have any real connection, bar sharing a label (often Hyperdub) and a larger genre (dubstep). However this doesn't change the fact that the producers mentioned by Simon Reynolds in the article are some of my favourite at the moment - Zomby, Joker and Hudson Mohawke. In the last paragraph of the article, Reynolds makes his most sensible point - he compares the sound to 8 bit and trip hop, and listening to tracks like Ikonika's Simulacrum or Joker and Rustie's Play Doe certainly reinforces this. But the genre also seems to me to align itself with hardcore more than Reynolds likes to admit - Zomby even released a hardcore tribute album - Where Were U in '92? Although my answer to his question is probably in a crib wearing a nappy, producers like Acen, 808 State and Altern 8 have been really up my street lately - the breakbeats bring hardcore closer to bmore than happy hardcore or drum & bass, the genres that hardcore were said to develop into.

Zomby - Where Were U in '92? Buy rest of album here:

Ikonika - Simulacrum (Hosted by Electrorash)

The B side to Ikonika's debut single on Hyperdub (Please) was absolutely rinsed by me when I first got it - Ikonika combines a proper fat analogue bassline, and a synth line that borrows heavily from chiptune and 8 bit, with a classic syncopated, off-beat dubstep percussive beat. Buy MP3 here.

Zomby - The Lie

This Zomby track samples classic reggae artist Sizzla's I Was Born, coupling that vocal sample with percussive shakers, airhorns (hardcore again anyone?), detuned synths and a real feeling of pent up aggression.  The 12" came with remixes from LV and a new Zomby track - Dripping Like Water.  Buy it here.

Joker - Zariak (Hosted by YCCMP)

Another jittery, off kilter hit from Joker - keeping up the tension with a fat square wave analogue bass and a drum beat that keeps you guessing all the time.  Thanks to the Grime Forum for releasing this for free.

Joker & Rustie - Play Doe

This was my first real introduction to 'wonky', and still remains one of my favourite tunes - it's so easy to hear exactly which parts are Rustie and which are Joker.  It's got that trademark Rustie 'aquacrunk' (another contender for worst genre name) lead synth line, and that grunting vocal sample propels the track along nicely.  Buy MP3 here

2000F & J Kamata - You Don't Know What Love Is

Already covered this song in my first post for Squeaky Bleeps - I think the exact words I used were "If Prince made dubstep", and I'd still agree with that... the vocoder gets me everytime.  Showcasing a more funky vibe, this B side to Joker's Digidesign actually got more attention than the A side from a lot of DJs, and with good reason.  Buy the 12" here