Most afternoons last summer I could probably be found walking around New York getting acclimated to my new home, head nodding in sync to the rhythm of Ginz‘s Data Transmission podcast which, along with Joker‘s Purple Wow mix (see my previous Purple post – by the way, that decline in interest in music I mentioned back then…not so much a problem this year), pretty well defined 2009 musically for me. Past midsummer however, the rest of the year only saw a trickle of new tracks and remixes, thankfully supplemented by Joker’s unbelievable NYC debut at November’s Trouble & Bass.
The first few months of this year have seen a bit more activity out of Bristol, most recently Joker’s live set for BBC 1xtra radio just this past Thursday. Kicking off with his face-melter of a new single, “Tron,” this is 30 minutes of mostly unreleased, mostly Joker-produced tracks including an incredible remix of Dead Prez’s “Hip-Hop” and what sounds like some sort of take on “Tainted Love.” Grab it here.
As far as the rest of the loosely knit crew, February saw Gemmy release a 30 minute mix for the 100th episode of Electronic Explorations, composed entirely of his own production – a bit less abrasive and more melodic than Joker, but still distinctively Bristol. Grab it here, and a short recent mix for Studio Brussel here.
Finally, we have Guido‘s mix for Fact Magazine (who really need to decrease the frequency with which they release mixes, I just can’t keep up), starting with his now-classic (to me, at least) “Beautiful Complication” and running through 40 minutes of the wonkier side of things, peaking with his remarkable remix of Wedge & Shadz’s “Running Away.” Get it here.
Now if only someone would start playing this stuff out regularly in NYC, so I could hear it on a proper soundsystem…
