Picks Of The Week (28.09.24

1. The Clamps - From Dust To Dawn [Kosenprod]

Recommended if you like: Opsen, Burr Oak, First Person

How does he do it?!

Just last year, we did one of our diligently detailed deep dives into the collaborative long player he crafted with his best mate Nicolas Opsen Levy under their Burr Oak alias, and roughly 18 months later, we're already back talking about Julien Carbou and his newest 17-track (!) strong solo album as The Clamps! And it's not like the Frenchman wasn't busy in the meantime either. Just in this timeframe, we've got remixes for First Person, A.M.C, Mean Teeth and Wiguez, a collaboration with A.way on Sinful Maze and solo stomper Conviction on Code Smell, but that's still just the solo stuff! On the Burr Oak side of things, we've had outstanding crossover teamwork bangers with Pythius, Magnetude, Audio and Redpill, remixes for Neonlight, Task Horizon and Redpill & Black Sun Empire, and hardcore-influenced one-off pounders Ground & Pound and J'laisse Des Traces (J'Pars En Vrille). However, we've still not covered everything this most productive member of our scene had to offer musically - he also started his own Hard Techno alias All For Us, with one freebeast of a tune and two brutal slammers on Broken Strain.

Not to forget all the touring he and Monsieur Levy have been doing as of late, with them unleashing the bulls™️ at basically all the big festivals and clubs all over the European continent and, as of this week, Julien has even embarked on his first Australia tour! So let's see what he's got to offer on this newest one then, shall we?

By now, most members of the No Neuro No Party family will have grown fond of Julien's extraordinarily destructive brand of heaviness, and trust me, his newest long player From Dust To Dawn delivers plenty to love on that front without losing that unique spark that sets him apart from the masses. Lead into the madhouse with the slowly unraveling, massively vibe-setting title track, we're not just treated to planet-destroying steamrollers like the journey through ominous heaviness that is Where Secrets Lie, the vocal-chop-filled dramatic reenactment of hell raining down on earth that is Faith, the city-, nay country-flattening yet melodically wonderful Inflate, and the gnarly bison stampede Let Me Know (Where You Go), i.e. the type of tunes you might expect from a Neurofunk album by one of the greats, no no, all sorts of other vibes are very much present and accounted for as well!

For instance, we've got the techy-leaning bangers like the hardcore-hammering, woodpecker-stabbering, earthquake-causing adventure through auditory space Blumhouse with returning collaborator Tryst Temps and the whirlwind of cries of agony, continous bass bombing and increasingly heavy tensions that is the anti-stupidity anthem Dummies, while still not falling short of the heavy tunes putting the funk into Neurofunk, like the stabbilicuous four-to-the-fleur turning into a full-on bouquet of heaviness that is Feeling Lost, the frankly ridiculously catchily flowing straight-up banger Click Clack, the bass-walls manufacturing headnodder Snakes & Cowards with a touch Reggae-esque inspirations on the vocal front, the slowly but surely evolving madness of epic vocals, 4x4 pounding and elephantesque bass explosions of Seven Virtues, and the machine that takes you from grandiose instrumentalisations into a never-ending battle between ear-destroying one-two-punch howls and rhythmically intricate techiness and back again, also known as The Bill.

Of course, Julien is flexing his (Juli)endlessly creative production all over these tunes, but on none are they more pronounced than on the elaborately constructed union of heavy and vibey, the psychological horror in audio form that is Les Autres, the intergalactic voyage alongside otherworldly beings from a dying star pushing both the drum action and every single synth past the point of no return that is Veilwhisper, the marvellously atmospheric body- and mind-shaker destined to rattle everyone who listens to it to their very core that is Moirai, and the at first almost relaxing yet incredibly detailed vibe eventually snowballing into this avalanche of synthtastic, filthy sound design magic that is Snowfall with fantastic fellow Frenchie Eluun.

However, my favourite has got to be album closer Story's Left Untold. Not only is it a surprisingly melodic take on the genre that is usually so much about the big fuck-off reaction, as a tribute to his beloved cat Ponyo that sadly left him all too soon earlier this year, it's also oozing with honest-to-god heartbreaking emotion that never fails to overwhelm the cat lover in me. At first I genuinely thought it was just a sweet little tune sampling his cute lovely cat purring and meowing, but the more I paid attention to the poignant lyrics once again so wonderfully performed by Julien himself, the more the crippling grief, the depressing emptiness of the sleep- and endless days, and the sheer emotions of it all became clear, to the point where I couldn't help but bawl my eyes out. Rest In Peace, Ponyo.

As insanely bassface-causing in its world-class production as it is diverse in its excellently creative worldbuilding and heartfelt songwriting from the man himself. A truly outstanding body of work. Absolutely up there with the best albums of this year, and we've had quite the year!

Other Neuro from this week:

A.way, Thez, Mila207 - Heaven's Gate
Meph, Gexan - Hope (Vici Remix)
Zigi SC, Karpa - HOLY
Stonx - Nasty EP

2. Audioscribe - Infinite Spaces EP [Pilot]

Recommended if you like: Hybrid Minds, SiLi, Capturelight

After all these loud noises, I think we should settle down a little, with some lushness, courtesy of one of America's finest producers in the genre: Audioscribe!

Keen brains will remember that we've featured this auditory record keeper, named Dylan Hardy, back in 2022 for his REAPER remix already, but frankly, there was so much missing from the Salt Lakeian's backstory that I cannot help but expand on it a little. For instance, I never mentioned that it was his dad that instilled his love for rock, and by extension the guitar, into him from an early age! Following that, he tried his hand at playing in bands, but as time went on, and as his spinal muscular atrophy worsened, that became harder and harder, leading to the eventually wheelchair-bound teenage Dylan to pursue production instead. Somewhere along the process, in 2011, his good mate Capturelight showed him Liquicity, kicking off a long-lasting love for the sound pushed by the blossoming YouTube channel. Two years later, at only 15 years of age (!), he not only started uploading various different sonic experiments with Synx as well as Capturelight under the Audioscribe alias already, he would also drop his very first label release, Skyline on NoCopyrightSounds, followed by Free Fall the next year.

However, aside from that, 2014 would also mark the start of his hiatus from the newly established moniker, with him drifting into all sorts of Electronic, Trap and Soundtrack-y vibes production-wise, while his own musical diet consisted of Post-Rock, Shoegaze and the likes. He didn't just keep these things to himself though, he created a whole 'nother side project for this kind of stuff, called Dylan Hardy! As well as branching out sonically, he also decided to get back into the guitar he loved so much growing up, and by 2018, he was ready to get back into all things Audioscribe, to weave all the things he learned during this time into the Liquid DnB he was still so obsessed with. More specifically, together with his mates Boxplot and Justin Hawkes, on the blindingly lovely Sunroad on Liquicity, the channel that basically started it all! Over the next two years or so, he polished his skills further and further, finally kicking off a real spree of loveliness in 2020: a return to NCS with Shimmer, the anthem that is Hymn with Justin Hawkes and his very own solo outing, Letting Go, on UKF's Pilot.

Further and further, Dylan burrowed himself into the scene at large, with more and more releases on Pilot, Hospital, Liquicity, Wilkinson's Sleepless, Space Yacht, Bassrush, and even Deadbeats, working together with Fred V and Boxplot, remixing REAPER and Pirapus, and playing some rather huge shows across the American continent.

Now, he returns to his home imprint Pilot to once again take flight with four truly wonderful anthems, on his Infinite Spaces EP! If you want know why I'm so hyped about this particular return, just listen to EP opener Codeswitch, with Elkin's most excellent vocalist/lyricist/instrumentalist Dylan Longworth on the gorgeous vocals. Not only is vocal-Dylan absolutely killing it in his department, producer-Dylan is also bringing his absolute A-game, consisting of truly heartwarming synths, a wonderful drumwork smoothie and a blanket of bass that'll keep you cozy on even the coldest days of Autumn. The cuddly vibes continue with Okay Tomorrow - big, distant drums, a cute little vocal sample and lovely Hymn-esque synths are just the beginning! As the buildup composition is reaching its peak, Dylan pulls out the rug out from underneath us with a drop fake-out, through which he's bringing in some infectiously catchy synth flurries that will keep us company on this steppy headnodder vibe.

For title track Infinite Spaces, the vibe pendulum swings back to the liquid anthem side of things, with Manchester-based singer-songwriter Kintsuku's vocal performance alone already taking listeners' ears to cloud nine, but it's the way Dylan works it into the arrangement that pushes it to the stratosphere. The delayed drop putting a spotlight on Kintsuku's titular Spaceeees, the lush, warm roller vibe that follows, the pianos all over the tune, that Halftime vibe in the second half, it's all just so wonderful! Just as we were starting to get comfy at the campfire of loveliness that is this EP, we have already reached the end, with the dreamy closer Love Yourself. Not only are we once again treated to a fantastic, life-affirming vocal sample, the arrangement of synthified choirs, rolling drums, guitar strums and even some record scratches, if my ears are not deceiving me, is simply gorgeous as well, rounding the project off perfectly.

Sublimely vibey anthems that might well make you Audioscry.

Other liquid from this week:

Halogenix, Verbz - Steeze
Archangel - Bamako EP
Artificial Intelligence, Lenzman - Drowning (GLXY Remix)
Rezilient - True Origins EP
Artsea - Submergence / Pale Butterflies