ALWAYS EVERYTHING

ALWAYS EVERYTHING MIX 004: INTO THE DEEP

As dubstep’s stature accelerates to a freefall from grace, the Bristol music scene’s existential crisis has deepened. Some have stuck to the path well trodden with mixed results-see Punch Drunk’s excellent releases from Bass Clef and Kahn, and compare to Joker’s trance tinged attempt at pop dubstep crossover - whilst others have undergone slow yet radical transformations. As the dust clears, the consensus seems to be settling on deep and deadly house and techno.

Kidkut’s sometimes-mixed Immerse Records (though still baring the slogan “breakbeat and sub culture”) has entered a powerful second phase with a string of spectacular Bristolian house records, peaking with a decidedly underrated classic by exciting new face El Kid. Elsewhere Appleblim, a figure formally synonymous with dubstep, now counts producers like October and Watergate resident John Osborn among his collaborators, featuring with each on the launch release for new house labels Smorgasboard and Taanstaafl respectively. The most pronounced change in the Bristol landscape, however, is the move from sadly defunct Rooted Records to Chris Farrell’s Idle Hands, acting as the record shop arm of the label and agency of the same name. Just as Rooted functioned as a hub for the Bristol dubstep scene, so now does Idle Hands for house and techno, with a tightly woven web of connections between labels (Idle Hands, BRSTL Vinyl, Livity Sound), artists (Kowton, Outboxx, Hodge) and nights (Western Union, SUM) all traceable back to the shop via releases, instores and staff members. As the monthly, midweek dubstep party Dubloaded sadly bows out, its not inconceivable that Chris and Kidkut’s intimate house night Western Union could start to play an analogous role for this new scene somewhere down the line. 

Its not entirely without coincidence that the majority of dance music we’ve enjoyed this year falls under the same bracket. Parties like Dirtytalk, Ist Das and Headrush have brought the likes of Marcel Dettmann, Prosumer, Surgeon, Peter Van Hoesen, Kassem Mosse, Legowelt, Intergalactic Gary, Conforce and more to the city over the last year, and its been hard to escape the feeling that all the best nights have been house and techno related. In terms of releases, with the bass-centric hype bubble imploding impotently, great labels like Underground Quality, Rush Hour, Workshop, 100% Silk and Clone Royal Oak have completely usurped all of our previous focuses. This mix is a reflection of that: 53 minutes of hypnotic house and techno featuring Kyle Hall, Ben Klock, DJ Qu, Octo Octa, Vakula, Move D and much more.