Simian Spring Collection - Part I (Blips, Bleeps, Bloops)

So, the Mixt Ape storefront has appeared pretty barren for the last few months, I can only apologise and attempt to blame a shortage of ethereal bananas which usually fuel Mixt Ape's musical drive, before admitting the reality of the situation - I've been an unhealthy combination of busy and lazy.

But also, anyone who isn't following the Mixt Ape facebook page WILL have been missing the bulk of posts, as I've reverted to using this blog only for mammoth ones. So from hereon I'll be collecting the highlights of every month/quarter from the facebook page and throwing them altogether into posts like this, complete with the polished veneer of pictures/videos/download links.

Here's a few of my favourite dub/dnb/electronica tracks from the last few months. Enjoy! (Part II rock/indie/alternative coming up)



Reeling in Youtube views like no-one's business, this collaboration would've served as the perfect flagship for the recently(ish) dropped Noisia album Split The Atom. Nevertheless I guess that the fact that Foreign Beggars come first in the artist name must've caused its omission from an already full-to-the-brim album. It does however, thankfully, still feature collaborations with the London-based hip-hop/grime outfit (has anyone actually heard any of them rap except the two loudmouths in this track?) which can only be a good thing, as the two artists slot together like peanut butter and nutella. The first of these, Shellshock, is a blistering example of this harmonious combination, Foreign Beggars' dark and prophetic rapping paving the way for earth-shattering (apologies for the clichéd dnb terminology) drum breaks. However I have to say I still marginally prefer the more dancefloor-friendly, attitude-filled Contact, Foreign Beggars perfectly capturing the roughness of British hip-hop without that usual cringe factor, and Noisia's relatively held-back production serving as a sinister, bouncing backdrop. But they tear this apart in the remix (after 2:28 in the video) in classic sonic-shattering neurofunk style that's making them some of the most prominent producers in the scene. I think it'd be fair to say they're creeping up on the success of acts like Chase & Status (dare I say the prodigy and pendulum??). Also check out eponymous breaks track below, very nice.

DOWNLOAD:
♪ Foreign Beggars & Noisia - Contact
♪ Foreign Beggars & Noisia - Contact (Noisia Remix)
♪ Noisia - Split The Atom
♪ Noisia - Shellshock (ft. Foreign Beggars)



Goodness me Reso you just made me do something highly inappropriate... Are you going to come and clean this up? Oh wait no, you're too busy producing unbelievably incredible wobbly dnb despite being a prominent dub producer/DJ. Tony Colman's been banging this one all over the Hospital podcast and rightly so. Appears on the recently dropped Hospital 'Sick Music 2' compilation (expect a more in-depth review shortly) along with some other treats such as B Complex's Three Dots, Agent Alvin's Moonlight Bay and MRSA's Chemicals, which we were all listening to months ago of course (it's still my favourite dnb track of the last six months methinks. Noisia's deception close.) As put in a Youtube comment, 'Holy shit on a stick thats more disgusting than fingering your sister and finding your dads wedding ring'. I'd like to firstly throw up in a corner, and then add that what's great about this track is not pure filth (although clearly there's plenty of dirt smeared across its grizzly waveforms) but that it's a fine example of Reso's consistent craftmansip and steering away from the focus on the drop that stains so much new DnB. That's to say that - like with his dub - Reso doesn't just create heavy drops and then surround them with mediocre production. His tunes are made for more than just mixing into a set for a minute to provoke some skanking, they're intricate and dynamic from start to finish. Anyone unfamiliar with his dub try some of the tracks below, although I have to say these ones ARE pretty drop-focused... Sometimes it's a good thing.

DOWNLOAD:
♪ Reso - Slap Chop
♪ Reso - Armored Core
♪ Reso - Beasts In The Basement
♪ BSS - Kalemba (Reso Remix) - I like this one a lot, it's a brief sojourn from the brutish rough swagger of his dub tracks into a slightly more tropical remix of this obscure Spanish track.




I won't go on about Bop yet again, if you want a description read an album review I wrote for my student paper a while back. This recently dropped remix EP on Hospital showcases some pretty fantastic reworks of his tracks, most of them fairly adventurous. Above is my favourite, done by ambient DnB producers Blu Mar Ten, it completely overhauls the arrangement of the original track, to the point where it's completely indiscernible that they are of the same crop. Where the original was (characteristically for bop) sparse and cold, this rework smothers the mix in rich, warm production, using gentle acoustic cymbals, flanked by major-key pads and soothing vocal samples. The overall effect is if anything more transitory and evocative. The Lynx & Hellrazor remix is somewhat more adventurous, with modest beginnings sinisterly torn apart mid-track into something darker, jungle breaks aplenty. Such breaks also feature in the amateur remis competition winner Thinnen's remix, though the track is essentially a more energetic up-tempo rework of the subtler original.

DOWNLOAD:
♪ Bop - Nothing Makes Any Sense (Blu Mar Ten Remix)
♪ Bop - Tears Of A Lonely Metaphysician (Lynx & Hellrazor Remix)
♪ Bop - Enjoy The Moment (Thinnen Remix)


Joy Orbison: So Derobe
Hello garage, it's good to see you too. Where've you been since the late nineties? Slipping into obscurity and transforming into current genres dubstep, grime and funky? I suppose this probably isn't technically garage, but it's nice to hear its obvious stylistic origins in a thoroughly eminent new (largely dub) producer. And it's very refreshing to hear those shuffling beats without the sultriness they're rarely seen without these days (thank you dubstep). JO's production of the track is beautifully graduated, carefully layering subtle pinches of soulful vocal snippets, nostalgic staccato bass-lines and synth pads.

DOWNLOAD:
♪ Joy Orbison - So Derobe 
♪ Joy Orbison - Wet Look


Circa - Ida
Helios - First Dream Called Ocean (Stray Remix)
Another couple of soul-immersive gems from Tony 'London Elektricity' Colman's demo box - these tracks make up two of those on the recently released New Blood 010 compilation on Hospital's little sister label Med School. If the rest are anything like these then it'd certainly be worth a buy. In the case of the Circa track, its immaculately sampled live snare rolls are a positive aural caress, comprising a track that epitomises the notion that modern DnB works best when it strays as far from its given template, and the dancefloor, as possible. The Stray remix of ambient master-producer Helios on the other hand is unfathomably gentle and soul-calming (a term I will try not to throw around haphazardly any longer). Lush ethereal synth pads are innocently broken by gentle IDM pops, serenaded by heavenly chipmunk vocal samples. Like Bop but with more soul, and a richer mix.

DOWNLOAD:
♪ Circa - Ida
♪ Helios - First Dream Called Ocean (Stray Remix)