Introducing... Melé

A little bit of Sunday listening and a big heads up for you here. A producer I've been following for the last 6 months with great interest. He's been producing for something like the last 5 years, and has been getting support right across the board from Tomb Crew to Toddla T and Jaymo & Andy George to Sinden... who recently signed him to his new label.

One of my favourite tunes I've been rising since the turn of the year is a wee UK Funky remake of the classic No Scrubs by TLC... called Digits. Very vivid memories of my early teens and the mainstream Garage crossover I grew up listening to on a daily basis. He was kind enough to give the tune away for free on his Soundcloud a few months ago, I suggest you check it out, sharpish!

Melé - Digits by Mele

I've recently been getting up to speed on some of his earlier releases, most notably his remix of Ruffcut's Hustler after hearing Nick from Tomb Crew playing it Kissy Sell Out's recent all day party at Vibe Bar.
Something a little different from the man, a lot of energy, but a whole lot of fun. I really recommend that remix, which you can catch on Juno here and preview below.

Shab Ruffcut - Hustler (Melé Remix) by Mele

He was also kindly asked by one of my favourite bands New Young Pony Club, to remix their new single Chaos at the turn of the new year, and he laced his 2-step/Garage/Funky stamp all over it to dazzling effect. He really worked Tahita Bulmer's vocals into his mix very well and created something of dazzling beauty but also colourful and uplifting.



This week saw the release of his new EP titled Bombay out this week on Mixpat... featuring new tunes Bombay, Flexi & And of the Sun with remixes from Heavyfeet, Nadastrom and French Fries.
Epic funky business. Bombay is definitely my favourite tune, featuring a sample also found in Will Bailey's Hustlin n' Scratchin. Flexi takes on a more Garage influenced vibe with some awesome warped bass and top vocal samples, while And of the Sun takes on a more 2-Steppy-Soca trip, the sort of thing you'd expect to hear on an Ace Ventura soundtrack. Maybe. Good vibes and a great breakdown half way through. Your pick of the remixes comes from French Fries... simply put, pure Saturday night party music.

Melé - Bombay EP by Mixpak

You can preview the EP above and grab it from Juno here. It's a great EP, so please support Melé in the best way possible if you're feeling his work.
Melé recently did a guest mix for Sinden's Kiss 100 show, which you can check out and download below courtesy of the Mad Decent blog, a great tracklisting and featuring Melé's up and coming release Mugged... one of my picks of the whole year that one... and my all time favourite M.I.A track XR2.

Sinden Kiss 100 - Melé Guest Mix

Melé // Bombay (Nadastrom Remix)
Roska // Squark
Jeremih // Birthday Sex (Martelo B-More Funky Remix)
Dubbel Dutch // Deep Underground
Doc Daneeka // Bumblebee Riddim
Mia // Xr2
Melé // Mugged
Seiji // Yesman
Deadboy // If U Want Me
Geeneus // Congo
Jammin // Kinda Funky
Redlight Ft Roses Gabor // Stupid
Ku Bo // Sumanita (Daniel Haaksman Remix)
Terror Danjah // Air Bubbles (Brey Remix)

The Count & Sinden - Strange Things (Melé Remix)

He recently did a great remix of The Count & Sinden's jungle epic Strange Things, which you can grab courtesy of The Fader... bigups!
Also, finally a heads up on one more Melé tune, which was recently released as part of the second edition of Hervé's Ghetto Bass series. Grab that from Play.com here Another great tune from the man, featuring a top vocal sample, which sounds somewhat like the lead singer from Crystal Fighters... I'll try and chase him up about that. Anyway, happy listening, and keep a tabs on this man, he's heading for an immense second half to 2010.

Dancer - Melé by Mele

Friday Tunes

Some new tunes from me to kickstart the weekend. New bizzniss from man like Nosaj Thing, Sinden, The Blue Nile, Geeneus and a classic garage cut from El-B.

First off, LA hip-hopper Nosaj Thing is on remix duties for Charlotte Gainsbourg's Heaven Can Wait. Full of false starts and reversed samples, Nosa Thing's ethereal production style combines with Gainsbourg's lovely vocals to create something a bit special here - all staccatto claps, lush synths bubbling up and a timeless vocal refrain - "Heaven Can Wait".

Next up, the remix package for new XX single Islands is jammed full of quality mixes - Delorean and Faulty DL mixes are both worth checking out - although unfortunately, for once Untold's effort falls short (for me anyway) - the Untold mix would be better as a standalone track, with the XX's vocal stylings seeming ill suited to the percussive tension Untold brings to his productions. The real treasure in this package is the Blue Nile Remix, which introduces a new piano line and bathes the vocals in reverb.

Geeneus kills it once again with another funky banger - the Yellowtail VIP rolls along nicely with a percussive beat and a properly banging synth line, all set off by that repeating vocal sample.

Sinden's clearly been switching up what he's been listening to lately - his tracklists for his Kiss FM show have been showing it for a while, and it's beginning to be evident in his productions too. His mix of Miike Snow's Sylvia builds from a simply UK funky drum beat to a sweltering tropical house riddim. Dreamy vocal lines and a nice piano refrain don't hurt either.

Last up, classic UK garage slice for you from El-B. One for the heads who know this one - I was watching a few of the Red Bull Music Academy lecture videos, and when people were questioned over the origins of dubstep this producer popped up every time. That dark 2-step thing with skittering rhythms and real sub bass that was being produced by heads like El-B, Horsepower, Zed Bias would go on to become influence each and every of the original dubstep producers. This track Buck & Bury was played by both Skream & Kode 9 in their RBMA lectures as an example of this dark garage sound, and rightly so. Can't stop doing the Buck and Bury....

Any Brighton heads should make sure they head to Aka Aka Roar on Monday to catch Ramadanman - I'll be doing my usual residency thing, warming up and closing the night - cheap drinks all night, £2 entry, Life - dun know.

Bangers & Mash Week 2

Second in the Bangers & Mash series is a post on up and coming producer L-Vis 1990.

Resident at the legendary Night Slugs night, whose free nights at Eastern Village in Old Street have never failed to blow me away with their lineups; past guests include the T&B crew, Egyptrixx, Crazy Cousinz, Brackles, Lil Silva, Ikonika, Kode 9, Jackmaster and many more.  L-Vis 1990's productions have been getting some serious attention to - United Groove and Flux are both tipped for release very soon, and have already been getting played by some massive DJs - Flux was featured in the Count & Sinden's last DJ mix.

L-Vis 1990's Hyper Bass approach to dance music pulls together a whole load of different genres: basslines that borrow equally from UKG and fidget, chopped up vocal snippets in that fidget style as well as drum beats that have that tribal energy of UK funky, as well as a syncopated dubstep feel to them.  

I first noticed L-Vis when his Township Funk and Night remixes started getting blogged - I was immediately impressed by the quality of them, especially considering how many remixes there are of these two songs out there... The Night mix remains my favourite mix of Night.

His debut self titled EP didn't fail to impress either - both Apple Bass & Change the Game were absolute belters - and although on first impression they didn't seem to vary much from the other fidget out there, it was only when I played Apple Bass out that I got 'it'.  You can see why L-Vis calls his own mixes Hyper Bass mixes - the appeal to them is how he fuses jungle, drum and bass, dubstep, breaks, reggae, funky, garage, grime and bassline together - creating some serious dancefloor heat as well as getting heads moving.

I've put together a little 6 track minimix of L-Vis 1990's material to date, some already released, some not.  If you like, please support - if your in London then get yourself down to the next Night Slugs on the 14th May.   Entry is only £3, and L-Vis will be joining the rest of the resident crew, along with guests Terror Danjah & Egyptrixx.  You can buy his debut EP off Beatport here, or keep an eye out for United Groove - it should be out on an as yet unannounced label in the next few months.

Bangers & Mash #2 - L-Vis 1990

L-Vis 1990 - United Groove
L-Vis 1990 - Change The Game
Crazy Cousinz - Bongo Jam (L-Vis 1990 & Bok Bok's Refix)
Laidback Luke & Diplo - Hey (L-Vis 1990 & Switch Remix)
Benga & Coki - Night (L-Vis 1990's Hyper Bass Remix)
La Roux - In For The Kill (L-Vis 1990's Hyper Bass Remix)