Picks Of The Week (21.01.23

1. Joe Ford, KNARS - Unforgiven [Evolution Chamber]

Recommended if you like: Spor, Memtrix, Billain
Listen: SoundCloud | Spotify

Among the thousands of talented people in our scene, there are a couple that truly stand out from the rest. Anything they do elicits a response from basically everyone. Not because they've got the hottest bootlegs or the most entertaining social media, but because their music is simply on another level. No matter how much time has passed since their last release, people will jump at any hints of new music by them. Joe Ford is one of those artists. Before we dive into his brand new single and Evolution Chamber label debut, however, let's go back and tell the whole story.

Burying The Leeds (1992 - 2010)

Joseph "Joe" Ford has not always been as obsessed with electronic music as you might expect. Growing up in Harrogate, near Leeds, he was not necessarily exposed to a whole lot of ravey music in his childhood. Through his family, he got to know all sorts of rocks and rolls and thanks to his brother picking up drumming, he was soon inspired to start creating music himself too. After spending a lot of his childhood playing in a bunch of bands and endlessly listening to the band Animals As Leaders, his friends (shouts to Will Harris and Andy Mirzai) introduced him to the wonders of Dubstep, in the form of the newest Datsik and Rusko tracks. On a mission to mess around with these wubs too, he got himself a software synth and an old copy of Cubase and off he went!

While most of his actual first few uploads on his YouTube channel consisted of "Animals As Leaders Style" songs and Modern Warfare 2 (the old one, of course) clips, it didn't take long for a Dubstep version of Viva La Vida and other similarly wubby experiments to start popping up in late 2009, early 2010. After a while he got a little bored of the sound, but soon enough he would stumble upon and be fascinated by the soundscapes of DnB artists like Calyx & TeeBee, Noisia and eventually also Spor. So much so, in fact, that he redirected his efforts to trying out this DnB thing instead, resulting in his very first upload in the genre: A bootleg of B.O.B - Airplanes. The nostalgia is real. One after another, Joe kept building up a portfolio of honestly already way too sick tunes, from wobbly ear candy like Decay (don't forget to 720p that shit) to ungoogleable tunes like Focus Mark 3. A portfolio that a certain YouTube promo channel quickly became acutely aware of.

Joe starts playing Forte (2010 - 2013)

No, not UKF, not yet at least. It was Axel from NeurofunkGrid that started supporting from very early on. Not only did he upload a lot of his tunes on his channel, he also sent a couple of them away to labels, one of which being Ammunition Recordings, who ended up liking the tunes so much that they immediately signed and released them in 2011, resulting in Joe's very first release ever. After this, the floodgates started to open further, with releases on Genome Records, some Glitch-Hop on Adapted Records and many features on Overtech Recordings. Fun fact: That last one is James Magnetude's old label, in a way sowing the seeds for the future Evolution Chamber signing more than a decade later! With the rebrand to Joe Ford in 2012, came a true behemoth of a debut double single on none other than Bad Taste Recordings. It's safe to say that these two absolute slammers, in combination with his follow-up multi-genre experimentational flexes on Caliber Music and, thanks to Asa and Koan Sound helping him push his sound to the next level, even Inspected, really struck a Joe Chord with the scene at large. As Reso put it at the time: "Sweet jesus in his holy sky Joe Ford is next level."

2013 was basically a whole breakthrough year in general for him. First radio play on BBC Radio 1, debut on Medschool's New Blood compilation, which would also become the first of many, many UKF uploads for him, first time playing at fabric in London, first international shows, from Vienna to a Kosenprod night in Toulouse (with his rider including things like "a lonesome babybel"), and a nomination for Best Newcomer DJ and Producer at the Drum & Bass Arena awards. Phew. In the midst of all of this, while sipping on a beer in a local Wetherspoons (of all places), Joe received a text from a certain Ed Keeley, probably better known as Friction, asking him to join his label Shogun Audio. While he was almost certain it was someone pranking him, he played along and lo and behold, he ended up on the label's Way Of The Warrior compilation, eventually signing exclusively with them!

Joe's Efforts Paying Off (2014 - 2020)

Following a slew of wonderful singles on the label, a collaboration with then-quartet Fourward and the full-circle moment of Joe remixing his very own early inspiration Datsik, his very first EP on the label, All Of Us, saw the light of day in 2015! The next couple years were full of incredible collaborations with Culprate, Icicle, Miss Trouble and Linguistics, remixes for Barely Alive, Enter Shikari (!), Zombie Cats and L33, plus another 4-tracker called Let It Out. After one more solo double single, the time had finally come for the ramp-up phase for Joe's debut album Colours In Sound, starting with the first single Care For Me in 2017 and ending with the full release of the critically incredibly acclaimed long player in 2018. As if the absolutely deserved waves of praise from all over the scene triggered by the album release wasn't enough of a highlight already, he was also recruited to compose a track for the legendary and wonderfully cheesy Let It Roll Opening Show that very same year!

While the release of original tunes slowed down a little, as is often the case after an album release, Joe still managed to stay in the spotlight with a series of remixes for the likes of Rawtekk, Celldweller, Phace & Misanthrop, Mizo, AL/SO & High Maintenance and, of course, Droptek. While he was definitely mostly busy with his instant classic remixes during this, he also found the time for a couple solo releases, like his Abstract Places EP on Eatbrain and strong contender for most ridiculous Neuro tune ever, Into Black on Blackout (fittingly).

Gone But Not Unforgiven (2020 - Now)

While there was never really a time when Joe released nothing, it did become noticeably quieter on the release front during the pandemic. However, all the other outlets for his musical expertise opened up wider than ever before! Not only does his day job involve designing sounds for video games nowadays, he is also always busy educating the next generation through various Masterclasses, sample packs, plugins and libraries, the most elaborate one being his absolutely massive Evolution: Devastator Breakout project with Keepforest, and is responsible for the mastering of countless of tunes on Korsakov and probably many others. Also, he recently got engaged! Not to mention his three kids continuously keeping him busy. All throughout this, however, he still found the time to work on new solo material, which, now that he is signed to the mighty Evolution Chamber, will be finally coming out over the next couple of months!

For this label debut Joe reached out to Dutch singer-songwriter, music and video producer and band frontman Martijn Holslag, probably better known as KNARS, to collaborate and lay down a sick vocal lead! KNARS, or Knarsetand as they were known from 2012 to 2018, had been operating as a kind of Prodigy-esque band, with big Breakbeat, Dubstep and DnB banger instrumentals and "angry-young-man lyrics" performed by Martijn. You might have heard their music in the Borderlands 3 trailer! However, last year, Martijn decided to part ways with his band mates, retooling KNARS as his own personal creative outlet. After silently working together with Joe for his recent collaboration with Killer Hertz frontman MC Multiplex for his Many Minds Of Multi project, they are now right back at it again, with both names featuring on the track title this time!

Alright, so let's finally talk about Unforgiven then. We stumble through some extraordinarily thick and heavy atmospheric fog, full of eerie voices echoing through the night, with otherworldly insects flying in our faces and incredibly swift moving beasts in the distance. Shortly after, KNARS delivers the tune's emotionally-charged doom spiral, repeatedly hammering home the emotional distress our actions have caused, like a mantra. While we get sucked further and further down the rabbit hole by this siren song of self-loathing, the world around us begins to swell with energy, with Joe bringing out some of his finest melodies and naughtiest basses. The further we fall down, the more distant the now stuck-on-a-loop vocal becomes and the more the uneasiness increases, until it all suddenly bursts open, with fast-paced drums relentlessly whipping us forward while the now fully unleashed reeces lash out left, right and centre. Even though the drums slow down a little over time, the growls from the abyss below us become deeper and more menacing, until we actually finally run out of steam and have ourselves a little breakdown. Of course things aren't over quite yet. For our second rodeo, Joe amps up the energy even further, with another return to the energy of the initial outburst after seemingly slowing down for a bit.

A disgustingly dirty yet emotionally resonant and melodically stunning joyride of pure adrenaline, with sound design that you won't find anywhere else. You have been sorely missed, Joe.

2. Various Artists - Matcha (High Tea Music Presents) [High Tea Music]

Recommended if you like: Fred V & Grafix, Artino, Wiguez
Listen: SoundCloud | Spotify

Another High Tea compilation? Yup! Same thing as always, three detailed picks and a bit of a summary at the end, let's go!

Pick 1: Bugwell - Rise

My first pick: Bugwell! Behind the rather strange name is London-based Hugo Robsen, who by day serenades the world of Pop-Rock as singer/songwriter/pianist/hat enthusiast Hugo Valentine, but since 2021 regularly crashes onto the DnB scene rather spectacularly by night, with multiple releases on Viper straight out the gate, plus appearances on ProgRAM and the Jump Up Cave. On Rise he combines the two passions effortlessly, showing off his talent for soulful piano-driven hat-featuring pop ballads in the first minute, before slowly but surely introducing the more electronic sounds. Once his incredibly catchy vocals have thoroughly burrowed themselves into the deepest depths of the listener's brain, an immense wall of beautiful synths makes its way over to you, driving the hype-o-meter to levels that the average TikTok tune can only dream of, until tik-tik-tik-exploding onto the audio space with an arrangement of countless hyper-amplified yet lovely elements that simultaneously overwhelm and delight you. Magnificent!

Pick 2: Entrophix - Reality

Next, we've got "two life-long Dutch friends making music for you to dance to": Entrophix! All sorts of strange names today. Who are these two then? Daan Eijsberg and Tony Ramon van Silfhout! After meeting and forming a strong bond way back in kindergarten (!), they stayed good mates for the rest of their educational journey and, once it became clear that they also shared a similar musical taste, eventually even started organising their own events together. As is often the case with these smaller events, they started playing out at their own shows, quickly realising that this is exactly the type of thing they want to pursue further than maybe previously predicted. In 2015, they officially joined forces under the name you see in front of you today. A couple years of tearing up all sorts of Dancefloors from Rotterdam to Amsterdam later, they have not only become residential DJs at the Fiber event series, they are now also represented by the fantastic LiftOff Agency, joining the ever-growing roster featuring the likes of Polygon and Itro.

This year, they're taking things to the next level, with the release of their very first ever tune, Reality! When considering this relative lack of production experience, it's all the more surprising just how good this debut track is. The vocal sample is perfectly picked and even allows for some great "crowd shouting the lyrics" moments, the bass is just so wonderfully warm, each drum hit packs a punch, the cheerfully cheesy synth melody is insanely catchy, it's all there! If this first outing is already this great, I'm honestly really anxious to see what else they can come up with!

Pick 3: Dim Bolt - The Ascent

Last but absolutely not least we've got monsieur Dim Bolt! Named after a combination of his favourite podracing pilot and the last thing he ate at the time, frenchman Victor Roques aka Dim Bolt has been putting out music since about 2019. After a couple of quite relaxing, Future Garage-y self-releases, he started getting addicted to the drums and basses around 2021. While his first few steps in the genre, i.e. his DnB debut Addiction and some sweet sweet bootlegs of Porter Robinson and Blond:ish, were still self-released, it didn't take long for his name to start appearing on all sorts of labels, bolting from DnB France to YANA to Simplify and, of course, High Tea! Not only did he receive tons of support from scene legends like El Hornet or Fred V for his tunes, one of his collaborations with Ben Rolo on Bay 6 even earned him his very first Radio 1 play last year!

So, what did he bring to the table this time? Something really lovely, of course! Right off the bat, we've got this fabulously cheesy vocal sample introducing us into the smile-inducing worlds of monsieur Bolt, but once that entirely too catchy grandiose piano starts playing its tune, you know you're in for something great. Slowly but surely, the piano melody turns into a charming little synth lead and before you know it, you are waving your arms around and singing along. That's what happened to me at least. Another wonderful entry into his uplifting discography!

Summary

Of course, that's not all we've got on here! We've got multi-genre producer JFRY flexing his techy vocal chops on Ka-Ching, Brighton-based Tengu collaborating with Worthing-based Ben Rolo on the afternoon banger Three Five, Braunschweig-based (shoutout!) rising star ALVE RINE doing a fonking good job with Edge Of Town, YouTube mix superstar METHOD taking a chill pill with Losing Control, newcomer Moisinn making some banging organised noise on Home, prolific Rotterdam-based liquid connoisseur Astreaux teaming up with Laura Bennett on Good To You and Swiss new-kid-on-the-block KYRIPH returning to High Tea with Slovenian artist Nathuoriel on Distant Memories.

The amount of great new talent on these compilations will never cease to amaze me.