Picks Of The Week (20.11.21

1. Voicians - Reverse [Voicians]

Recommended if you like: Jack Mirror, Lexurus, Pendulum

As is tradition with end-of-month weeks, this week's batch of releases has been both stupidly big and bursting with annoyingly great tracks. However, since one release in this huge pile came from someone whose music I've been a fan of since the early days of my still quite short journey as a DnB fan, choosing a release to start with was kind of a no-brainer. So, let's talk about Voicians!

Daniel Voicians (yes, that seems to be his actual name!) is a german multi-genre producer and vocalist, whose musical endeavours are so wide-spread that you might have listened to a production of his without even being aware of DnB as a genre. But let's back up a little first. Daniel is originally from Stuttgart in Southern Germany and has lived a musical life longer than he can probably Remember at this point. At the age of 6 he was already a part of an orchestra, but it was the Limitless possibilities of the electronic music production world that really got his attention. In 2008 he released the first of many big musical projects, The Inner Frame, on bandcamp. Even on these quite early productions he seemed to already have a very (So) Clear idea what he wanted to do with his music: Something between Electronic Rock, beautiful cinematic atmospheres and hard-hitting yet melodic Drum and Bass. That's not even close to The End of the list of different genres he explored, but we'll get to that. If you can't solve the Riddle of what his early influences were from this description, let me clear that up for you: Celldweller! And yes, also Pendulum, of course.

In fact, it was Celldweller's The Last Firstborn that sent him down Along This Road in the first place! It directly lead to Daniel stumbling upon the remix contest for their track Frozen on Celldweller's very own label FiXT. That remix didn't go anywhere, but he kept at it. After he won Subkulture's Erasus remix competition in 2008, he went on to win Celldweller's The Lucky One (first place), Switchback and Louder Than Words (both third place) competitions. Through this and his bandcamp followups, the Shift EP and the escApe debut album, it's safe to say that he wasn't a Stranger for the label heads anymore. Even as a normal listener, it became clear that it was only a Matter Of Time until he was joining the FiXT family, a prediction that would eventually become true in 2013.

In the midst of him releasing more and more EPs and LPs, sometimes as a self-release, sometimes on FiXT, he was approached via tweet by a certain Muzzy. Apparently Muzzy was talking with a few FiXT people who then mentioned to him that there's this Voicians guy on the label, who also likes Drum & Bass! After talking for a few days, Daniel asked him If He Wanna (yes yes, I know this reference is a bit of a stretch) come over to his studio in Germany, which Muzzy happily agreed to. On this very first session the duo started a project that would eventually become the anthem Back To You. Why am I telling you this long-winded story? Well, once this collaboration was finished, the big-hatted producer suggested reaching out to Liquicity for a release, which is the start of Daniel's long-lasting relationship with the legendary label!

Daniel kept on producing and producing and singing and singing, eventually resulting in releases on Monstercat, Viper Recordings, NCS, 720Mau5 and NIGHTMODE and collaborations with the likes of Maduk, Andromedik, Boxplot and T & Sugah, but thanks to various other revenue streams, he never really had to perform as a DJ. Sure, he had his live shows, but that wasn't quite the same. Well, that all changed in 2018, when Liquicity asked him to perform at their show in Antwerp and he basically had learn everything about DJing in just a few months. Since then however, he's performed at various other Liquicity events, including Liquicity Festival (<3), and even at Hospital ADE.

Wait, but what did he do if he didn't DJ before 2018? I'm glad you asked! We're getting closer to me talking about the actual music, I promise. Not only did he produce music that was used in a breath-takingly large amount of TV shows and movies, which is why he even has his own IMDB page, he also does voice-overs for TV and radio ads and even podcast intros. If you've watched 2014's season of America's Next Top Model, you might have heard his music! Aside from that, he also used to be the Head Of Sounddesign™ at the local radio station DASDING, before finally becoming a full-time musician last year. Lastly, he very recently also started his own Retro Synth project Polyark!

Alright, time to talk about the track that brought me here in the first place: Reverse! Instead of the usual "oomph" that a lot of dancefloor tracks that with, we are introduced into the track's beautiful atmosphere by a short preview of Voicians' blissful vocals. A few melancholically meandering guitar riffs, surrounded by a subtle yet warm blanket created by a distant Voicians clones and strung along by a feint tambourine keeping the rhythm going, is all that is keeping us company these first few bars. However, this suddenly changes when a loud drumhit slaps us awake. Usually I'd be mad if I was woken up like that from such a slumber, but since it is immediately followed by Daniel's angelic vocals, my potential anger immediately subsides. Honestly, he could sign his shopping list into the mic and I'd be all over it.

Soon after, we are introduced to our main lead synthwave-y synth that is as catchy as it is melancholic, as if we're traveling to a different galaxy, 80s style. One of those that makes you want to dance with your eyes closed, you know? All of these elements beautifully come together in the drop, enhanced by some of the cleanest of the clean bouncy dancefloor guitar wubs and a secondary synth weaving itself in between the little pauses of the main lead, completing the call and response structure.

In short: Beautiful vocals, clean as hell production, melodies to both drift away and dance the night away to, you know, a Voicians banger.

P.S.: Did you know that one of his very first SoundCloud uploads ever features a reversed guitar? I mean, what are the chances even?

Other dancefloor releases from this week:

Kanine, Elipsa - All To Me
Fox Stevenson - Good Time
Andromedik, Ayah Marar - Tomorrow
Various Artists - Forza Horizon 5: Hospital Soundtrack LP
Drvmmer - Burn EP

2. Burr Oak - Shinigami (w/ Billain) / Strafe [Blackout Music]

Recommended if you like: Buunshin, Killbox, Neonlight

Alright, let's do one about someone you know already.

Wait, you don't know Burr Oak yet? No worries, you can always quickly check out my previous wall of text about their Dark Age EP to find out more. In short: it's the collaborative alias of french mostly-Neurofunk producers The Clamps and Opsen. Yes, the combination of these two works as amazingly as you'd expect. Pretty much every single thing they put out will make you question yourself if you're living in a simulation or not. After all, can something this beautifully cinematic and this ridiculously heavy even exist in a non-simulated world? I don't think so!

That's pretty much the question you'll have to ask yourself when you listen to the new double single by the devilish duo, Shinigami / Strafe, on Black Sun Empire's legendary label Blackout Music.

Let's start with the ridiculous elephant in the room: Shinigami. Holy moly, what an absolute masterpiece of a tune. Together with bosnian cyberneuro maestro Billain they have truly created an auditory experience to behold. Shinigami is a Japanese word for a spirit that is a part of the journey into the afterlife. In the literature, these "death gods" decide the day a soul crosses over, so to speak, and help these souls on their way. Usually they're not visible to humans, but once someone is very close to their designated death date, they will show themselves to that person. In some versions they even inhabit people and drive them to their death. Somehow, these three crazy talented people managed to write a track that actually earned that track title.

In their over two minute long first buildup, they seemingly effortlessly manage to convey that creepy atmosphere of a tiny yet deadly imp that's lurking in the shadows, just waiting for their time, while its assigned human is blissfully unaware of anything that's happening. The ominous drawn-out bass note gets louder and louder until it is almost deafening (allow the exaggeration), all while a high-pitched voice seems to happily sing a song, but in such an alien way, in a language you don't understand, that you can't help but be creeped out by it. The drums are closing in faster and faster, then an extremely short fuse is lit, leading into a truly bombastic drop. A quick-firing flurry of drums symbolizing the suddenness of death, a bass so heavy and so disfigured through a tightly controlled but still insane amount of distortion that you can't help but visualize a being of pure evil, resulting in a drop that's simply bursting with energy. That initial explosion eventually slows down slightly, as if the human is fighting his fate at first, before eventually giving into it.

This track is simply amazing and easily one of the best of this year. And I didn't even mention that insane sound ushering us into the second drop that immediately sends shivers down my spine every single time I listen to it. It's a goddamn masterpiece man.

And then there's Strafe. It has been described by Burr Oak themselves as "Woody woodpecker on crack" and I honestly struggle to find a better description than that. As per tradition with Burr Oak, the buildup is cinematic as hell, however this one differentiates itself by including a short but sweet vocal. This leads right into a relentless machine gun fire that will drill itself into your head whether you like it or not. In the second half the duo even venture out into 4x4 territory, at which point this tune becomes truly ridiculous, in a good way. I honestly wouldn't know how to react to this track at a rave. I would just be completely blindsided. If that's not a mark of a great unique tune, then I don't know what is.

Burr Oak (and Billain) did it again. Shinigami is undoubtedly one of their best and one of the best DnB tracks this year overall, while Strafe jackhammers itself to the top of the list of uniquely ridiculous DnB tunes. Amazing.

Other neurofunk from this week:

Transforma - Quantum Leap EP (<33)
Audio - [Unsocial] LP
Binary - Legacy / Alternate Skin / Motive
Art1fact - Divided
PRFCT Mandem - Burning Up

3. Alexvnder - Unspoken EP [Glitch Audio]

Recommended if you like: Nelver, Styke, Humanature

You read that right: It's the long-awaited return of the one and only Alexvnder!

I know, I know, there's a whole lot of backstory to talk about here. However, I'll have to keep it short for now, this is already too long. Let's lay down a quick bio here: Alexvnder is a mostly-liquid (so far) producer from Wyoming in the good ol' USA. After his debut release on Citate Forms in 2015, he went on to release on pretty much all of the great liquid labels of the scene: Bay 6 Recordings, the Influenza family of labels, Differential, Terra Firma, Soulvent and, as you could have guessed from the header, Glitch Audio. Dude's been mad productive in these years. Due to becoming disillusioned with multiple aspects of the scene, he decided to take a step back from DnB in 2019. This is a very simplified summary, check out his farewell video and the excellent Last Week Liquid episode with him for the complete picture.

Since then, a combination of heartfelt messages from both fans and industry legends and a consistent support for his older music even throughout this hiatus made him realise that maybe this whole music thing isn't all bad. Then, a month or so ago, he sneakily teased the upcoming return through a change of profile picture on Facebook. A move that got the hype train in the liquid scene going, a move that has been called "brilliant" and "perfectly subtle marketing". It was also a move that was a total accident, he was just cleaning up his socials ahead of the return announcement and didn't expect everyone to get a notification about it. Whoopsie!

It would only make sense for his official return EP to be released on Glitch Audio, seeing as they've been supportive of his music from the very beginning. They even helped him release his debut album Reconciliation after he had troubles with other labels! I can't really tell you much more about Glitch, since they're not really the type of people to do interviews apparently (or my Google-Fu is just too rusty), but I can still wholeheartedly recommend checking out their entire catalogue. Yeah, the entire one. Don't worry, it only goes back to 2019. However, the quality of their releases is so consistently high and the productions all so polished that it kind of feels like they've been around for way longer. Last year's In The Night EP by Majestim, for example, was one of my absolute favourites of 2020. Of course, this new Unspoken EP by Alexvnder continues the pattern of excellence on Glitch!

Spoiler warning: This whole EP is a vibe from front to back. Whether it's the title track Unspoken with its super lovely vocal sample, think breaks and wubby wubs, Cherry Blossoms with its incredibly vibey piano, the vocal sample that yeah-yeah-yeah'd itself straight into my heart and the heavy reverberation that blurs everything together into a soothing sea of melodies, Don't Leave Me with its short-but-sweet spoken word vocal, distant-but-audible think breaks and all-around-lovely piano, Coastal with its perfectly flowing progression of sounds and yet another wonderful piano, or Peace with its extraordinarily amazing piano, the atmosphere so warm it'll easily get you through this winter and a fantastic pitched-down vocal that catapults this EP closer right into my favourites of the year list, everything is simply one big vibe.

If this isn't a perfect return for Alexvnder, then I don't know what is. I'm very very much looking forward to hearing what else he has been cooking up.

Other (deep-) liquid stuff from this week:

Thread, Kin:etic - Disposition EP
Royalston, Both/And - Shoulder to Shoulder
Aydn - Beneath
Hugo Marsh - 33 💎
Henry, Echo Motion - Silent Show EP
Kublai - Landscapes (w/ Note) / Before I Leave
Rameses B, Veela - Against The Grain (not quite liquid)
Easy - Gonna Try / Kinetic (w/ Speedwagon) 💎