Picks Of The Week (26.08.23

1. Redpill - Genesis LP [Blackout Music]

Recommended if you like: The Clamps, Buunshin, Malux

It's safe to say that I am a huge enjoyer of all things coming out of Rémi Redpill Jorquera's studio. Of course his signature move is Obliterating everything in his way, pushing you to The Edge with his straight-up Brokn, Air Strike levels of horrifying, frankly fucked-up (all in a good way) productions, but thanks to musical roots tracing back to his past as a bass player for the metal band Roze, Rémi is also able to throw down some Hazardously hurtful metal riffs to transform any Neurodisco into a full-on Moshpit. Maybe it's not your typical Sunday Lunch Time soundtrack, but it sure is sick!

Anyway, why am I bringing all this up? Well, turns out that the former Bl4ck Owlz member has not only been On Fire with sick remixes for Neonlight, Prolix and even Noisia, a bunch of original action on Blackout, Neksus and Korsakov, and the constant stream of extra content on his incredible Patreon since the last time we talked about him on here, all this time he was also working on his very first album, Genesis, on none other than the mighty Blackout Music! So let's check that out, shall we? To spice it up a little I actually sent some questions about the LP to Rémi himself, so stick around for some insights from the author himself!

Track Breakdown

What better way to introduce us to Redpill's cyberpunk-inspired dystopian science fiction world than with the title track Genesis itself? With an incredibly industrial intro full of metallic drum work straight outta the steel factory and another on-point, slightly glitched-out performance by Neurofunk's most consistently sick vocalist Coppa, Rémi let's us quickly know that there is no going back now, the rise of the machines has begun. No matter where you look, the horrific apparatuses march onwards with complete disregard to any organism standing in their way. This isn't just any old uprising either, as the absolutely massive, window-shattering mechanical battle cries make abundantly clear, this is a full-on war. Even those working at the scrapyard outside the warehouse eventually turn their heads and become witnesses to the sheer chaos that is unfolding, on Shake It. Even just seeing the machines wander outside is already quite the rare event, but soon enough, their violent intentions become clear as the wildest, absolute craziest sounds are being fired off left and right. Luckily, the machines seem to be only operating at half speed, but even this fractional hope of survival is being shredded into a million pieces once their programming fully glitches out and pushes them up to full-speed carnage. Fun fact: The bass work during this full-throttle "beautiful chaos" in the second half is actually Rémi's favourite, "most fucked-up sound" on the LP!

Now that the scene is set, let's skip the formalities and jump right into the mayhem, shall we? Similarly, Formalities basically takes no time to get going, swiftly pushing you to the farthest edges of your seat with an ever-rising, whirring synth, but giving you one last chance to react with its delayed drop, before fully indulging in the bounciest yet most in-your-face-iest assault on the senses ever. Seriously, this lead is not just so incredibly sick that your face might be stuck in permanent bassface after listening to it, it's also constantly evolving and adding more and more nastiness on top of it, leading to actual war crime levels of sensory destruction. After being left reeling from this insanity, I am very glad that Rémi decided to switch gears with the rather beautiful Let Go. With Czech vocalist Anna Vaverková's wonderful performance lending the tune a lot of humanity, warmer basses and smoother melodies, this is one of the most relaxed and melodic Redpill offering you'll have ever heard. Make no mistake though, the production is still huge, but less in a stab-you-in-the-face way and more in a sensory overload way. Delightful.

Enough with the niceness now though, time to bring out Blackout tribe chieftains Black Sun Empire and legendarily grimey professional pukers Virus Syndicate, we're meeting the Executionist! Big war drums, moody synths and smooth flows by the syndicate are just the beginning, once the titular cyborg enters the scene heads are flying left right and centre, with the executioner's trusty chopper arm occasionally getting stuck, but always managing to make the cut in the end. Gruesome, but makes for a very catchy rhythm! Speaking of gruesome yet catchy, next up we've got Slap the Bassline and, oh boy, you're not ready for this one. We've jumped from the killer cyborgs over to the few who managed to escape it all, hiding way down below in a far away bunker, with the screams of the loved ones they lost on the way haunting them in their nightmares. That's right, it's techno time. This particular 174 4x4 tune is unlike anything you've heard so far though. Legit scary industrial sounds creeping up on you, growing waves of pure goosebumps fully consuming you in full, it's like being trapped in an aggressively unstable time-and-space bubble, unable to escape. The distortion, the atmosphere, everything is just downright evil. I love it.

Even in this environment, however, there is no escaping the apocalypse. The Flash Point has already been reached, the inferno of hell is imminent. We try to ignore the impending doom, but soon enough, the dread inside of us reaches unbearable heights, before finally reaching the tipping point and igniting into a full-on panic. Always attacking in threes, with extremely distorted noises filling in the gaps, the bass stabs quickly breach our mental defenses and transform into something truly horrifying, thanks to the various additional synth layers on top coming and going. Even when you think we've reached peak energy, Rémi proves you wrong by switching it up into a pounding 4x4 beat, with a large wonky synth on top going absolutely ham. From one mental anguish to another, we jump over to Deus Ex Machina, on which the titular godlike machine is beckoning from below, its otherworldly voice, lodged right into our brain, relentlessly repeating the track title until our defenses give way. Once vulnerable, the entity starts continuously firing off supernaturally-charged 8th notes, with only its own, chilling growls providing any semblance of relief.

You might think to yourself, "oh, I would just hide out in a swampy area, where it's too wet and humid for the cyborgs". While not a bad idea, there is one tiny thing that will probably thwart those plans: Frogs. Yes, the cute little amphibians that used to notify us about the comings and goings of Wednesdays, but not anymore. Now, those croaky buggers, too, have been infected by the machinistic pandemic, and trust me, they are not to be messed with. As if Rémi's own chaotic nature wasn't already enough, he brought in fellow French brain-scramblers Burr Oak and man, is it ever a deadly combo. Reese basses that are too large for our feeble minds to comprehend, distortion too crazy to contain, atmosphere so thick you cannot even cut it with a machete anymore, just pure chaos really. You see, it really is hopeless for our species. Extinction is unavoidable. This somber moment of realisation comes in the form of a quite synth-heavy, space-y, downright eery, more melodic exploration of the Redpill sound, reminding us of the gravity of the situation while making sure we enjoy our last moments on this planet while we still can. It's beautiful is what it is!

You know what's also beautiful? Blade Runner 2049. You know who also thinks that? One of the founding fathers of what we call Neurofunk today, Ben Settle, better known as Ed Rush! After years of seeing each other at raves and playing each other's tracks at shows, Rémi and Ben got to talking and sharing music online, eventually leading to Rémi releasing on his early inspiration's own label, the legendary Virus Recordings. But it doesn't stop there! Ben has also been instrumental in the construction of the album's sonic universe, offering valuable tips and insightful feedback for Rémi to fulfill his creative vision, and, of course, has even had a hand in the creation of one of its many sonic worlds, Interlinked! As you might remember from my incredibly smooth segue above, both are big fans of Denis Villeneuve's dystopian feast for the eyes, and such decided to incorporate the film's pivotal interrogation scene into their collaboration. I don't want to spoil all too much here, but what I will say is that the dynamic duo manages to perfectly capture the tachycardia-inducing nature of the scene. Instead of the psychological torture that K has to suffer through in the movie, however, these two opted for the physically violent approach, which actually mirrors the scene's initial, way more gruesome design ideas. An absolutely massive track, in other words.

Of course, we've still got one more tune to go though. A tune perfectly representative of what Redpill's sound is, both in name and sonically: Relentless. Right away, we are thrown into an abandoned building, with creaking doors and hair-raising horror stings left and right, with no way out. We try to run, but the unspeakable horror stays on our tails, slowly but surely infiltrating our minds, only interrupted by a gargantuan synth. Even when we manage to catch a breather, it still lurks in the shadows, eventually coming back to haunt us. In the second half the feeling of being hunted comes to a climax, as Rémi switches the beat up into a heart-pounding 4x4 rhythm, making the arrhythmic synth stings even more effective.

Director's Commentary

Before we get to my own conclusion, let's hear from the orchestrator of this revolutionary chaos himself!

My music is heavily influenced by the cyberpunk genre because it opens the door for unheard technology-oriented futuristic sounds. I take great pleasure in crafting these designs within my compositions (for example, in "Formalities" or basically everywhere on the album, haha), but I also enjoy incorporating melodies and harmonies, often played using organic instruments such as vocals, orchestral arrangements, or warm analog synthesizers but mostly in the non-drop segments.
One goal for this album was to make each track sound different with a unique vibe. It was a journey and I went all over the place, exploring different genres like techno ("Slap The Bassline," "Extinction"), jump-up ("Formalities"), rap ("Genesis," "Executionist"), melodic DnB ("Let Go"), and dubstep ("Shake It"), but always with a neurofunk producer approach. Additionally, there are tracks like "Flash Point" and the Burr Oak collab "Frogs" both of which distinctly highlight the evolution of the neuro sound across different eras

Video games are a gold mine of inspiration for me both in terms of music and visuals, and it's reflected on my album artworks, which are expertly created using 3D by the French artist Kasaey. I'm pursuing the intriguing and exciting concept of humans augmented by machines. I've also prepared some AI-based videos for several tracks with that futuristic vibe. I'm really aiming to make this album a technological manifesto in both the visual and audio domains.

I named the album 'Genesis' because it embodies the birth of my new sonic universe, blending cinematic intensity, cyberpunk vibes, and unexpected genre fusions. Much like the beginning of a journey, 'Genesis' invites listeners to step into a world where human and machine collide, melodies meld with mechanics, and boundaries are pushed beyond the limits!

Conclusion

Laser-focused on his dystopian cyberpunk sci-fi vision filled with agony and dread yet still remaining beautiful in its own way, with a production so precise yet so chaotically distorted that your brain might not ever be quite the same after listening to it, Redpill managed to create something really special here. I cannot help but love the controlled chaos. J'adoredpill!