Cutting edge live electronic and electro-acoustic music, audiovisual installations, performance art, music PR & consultancy and lecture / seminar sessions.
Duke Slammer burst out of nowhere in late 2011 with his funk-tastic album ‘Everybody Sweat’, this was hotly followed by a super collectable series of 3x 7” transparent vinyl’s which were quickly snaffled up by fans of funk, disco and skweee.
Duke Slammer’s sound has been described as “funky as hell” (lowriders blog) and comes served with a double dose of moog bass, washed down with a shot of drum wonk and crawling with wriggly worm synth lines. Immediate comparisons were drawn with artists like George Clinton, Funkadelic and Zapp, to ‘new school’ producers such as Space Dimension Controller, Dam Funk and Dabrye.
2012 “Year of the Slammer” see’s Duke take his live show on the road, doing his duty for your booty using hardware samplers and synthesizers, you wont see any faking the funk here! More limited 7” vinyl releases are also on the way via the Bonus7 label.
Radio support around the globe from BBC (UK), Laid Back Radio (BE), Le Mouv Radlow (FR), Sub FM (World) etc.
DJ love also coming in from bigwigs such as Laurent Garnier, Mary Ann Hobbs, Space Dimension Controller, Kid606 and many more.
Mr 76ix is a mysterious, legendary character in the world of electronic music. A long-time master of the glitchy rave sound that Skam Records became world famous for in the nineties, his amazing productions remained shielded from the public consciousness until his notorious live set at the Autechre-curated ATP in 2003. His performance was hailed as the highlight of the whole festival by the people in the know. Since then three albums and one remix LP of glorious electronic goodness have appeared on Skam, and the Manchester-based don has honed his sonic creations yet further, adding a crisp, acidic electro sound to his darkwave flavour and penchant for sweet, strange melody.
Icarus is the innovative electronic music duo of Ollie Bown and Sam Britton. Beating to a decidedly experimental electronic tempo, from their sampler based deconstructions of drum and bass in the 90s to the continuing generative and improvised software based genre smashing that has characterised their more recent releases, Icarus have always carved their own distinctive, eclectic path through the world of electronic music, an approach that has seen them release a plethora of records on labels as diverse as The Leaf Label, Output Recordings, Temporary Residence and Domino. It is also an approach that has seen both Ollie and Sam independently pursue musical interests in both academic research and with other musicians and ensembles to great acclaim; in particular through the collective Not Applicable, influences that continue to inform the dizzying and unique progression that is their collective alter ego.
True to their love of computers and improvisation and their continued quest to develop ever more creative computational agents that inform their music, many of Icarus’ more recent releases have featured excerpts from live recordings, culminating in the release of ‘All Is For The Best In The Best Of All Possible Worlds‘. Recorded over a European tour in 2009 which billed Icarus with the likes of Tim Exile, Furt, Hudson Mohawke and Isan ‘All Is For The Best In The Best Of All Possible Worlds’ documents the enourmous breadth of ideas and musical form Icarus are capable of in performance, a feat which has even drawn the attention of critics who deride computers in musical performance.
D’Arcangelo are available for live sets. Please email agency@thecentrifuge.co.uk with offers stating date, location, budget and other artists on the bill.
Mixing neo-electro, minimal techno and other flavors of underground dance music, D’Arcangelo consists of twin brothers Fabrizio and Marco D’Arcangelo. Lovers of new wave and dark synth pop, the twins met the likeminded Max Durante and formed Automatic Sound Unlimited. The project premiered in 1992 with the Roman’s Attak EP and lasted two years before it dissolved.
Two years later the twins would cement their status with a self-titled EP on Rephlex, a fitting home alongside hero and influence, Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin. With their appreciation of noisy synths, D’Arcangelo fit perfectly with the label’s idea of a “Braindance” movement and the dislocated dance music that defined it. Another EP for Rephlex and half of a split 7″ on the Suction label appeared before the debut full-length, Shipwreck, arrived in 1999. A bit less noisy were 2002′s second full-length for Rephlex, Broken Toys’ Corner, and that year’s remix EP for White Leather, Corner. They appeared on Rephlex’s limited-edition soundtrack to the video game Manhunt in 2004, then returned to their slow pace by waiting till 2006 for their next release, the Pro 188 EP.
With the duo back on a roll, the full-length Eksel landed in 2007 follwed by a some remixes an EP for 030303 records “Cradle and GO!” and their Rephlex album “The Album”.
Bong-Ra is available for live sets outside the Netherlands. Please email agency@thecentrifuge.co.uk with offers stating date, location, budget and other artists on the bill.
For those who aren’t acquainted with Bong-Ra’s sound will be in for a pleasant surprise. As one of the pioneers of the Breakcore genre, Bong-Ra has managed to mix all his musical influences into a furiously energetic style. No remorse and no concession. Where other artists stick to their musical blueprint, Bong-Ra never stops the pursuit of musical development, hoping to catch his listeners off guard every single time.
Bong-Ra, Jason Köhnen’s electronic alter ego saw life in 1996. Hailing from The Netherlands, Bong-Ra initially started out as a DJ, but quickly focussed his priority on producing his own music in 1997. Djax Records signed Bong-Ra in 1998, proceeding to release the debut album ‘New Millennium Dreadz’ and the 12-inch series ‘Darkbreaks’ Volumes 1 and 2. Bong-Ra at that time was accompanied by MC Guzman on vocals.
In 2001 Clash Records (a hardcore jungle orientated 7-inch label) was set up. In that same year on the 12th of February John Peel invited Bong-Ra to do a ‘Peel Session’ which was released on UK label Deathsucker Records. Several vinyl releases followed in the period between 2001 and 2003. From 2001 to 2004 the ‘Breakcore a Go-Go!’ parties were run and organised by FFF and Bong-Ra becoming one of the first (bi) monthly regular Breakcore nights in Europe. ‘Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill!’ the second full length album was released in 2003 on Supertracks Records. This album saw an audiovisual co-operation with US based film company Gyromart. The track ‘666MPH’ was used on the Bikini Bandits DVD and the videoclip to ‘666MPH’ aired on MTV. The Bikini Bandits audiovisual project became an exposition in the Museum of Modern Arts in Arnhem, The Netherlands. That year Bong-Ra also appeared on some of Holland’s biggest Festivals : Lowlands, Metropolis and Eurosonic. Also a small UK tour with DJ Scud and Soundmurderer followed.
In 2004 Bong-Ra set up his second label Kriss Records, focussing on edgier breaks (mostly combining metal and breakbeats, releasing amongst others : Drumcorps, Scotch Egg and Venetian Snares). That same year the Center for Electronic Music (CEM) in Amsterdam asked Bong-Ra to produce a special 4 track EP solely using vintage equipment in the CEM studios, resulting in the ‘Colony of Electric Machines’ EP on the Vynalogica label. The ‘Monsters of Mash Up’ European Tour in 2005 with Shitmat (UK) and Enduser (USA) and a Japanese Tour with Parasite (UK) was followed by the third full length ‘I am the God of Hellfire’ released on Very Friendly and Ad Noiseam and the jungle/raggacore CD compilation ‘Warrior Sound’ on Supertracks (NL). In 2006 a special 4 track remix EP of Venetian Snares’ ‘Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett’ and the debut of Bong-Ra’s main side project The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble were released on Planet Mu (UK). The politically charged album ‘Soldaat van Oranje’ was released on Sublight Records (CAN). Bong-Ra returned for his second Lowlands Festival, becoming one of the highlights of the Festival (according to Dutch magazine OOR).
A second European tour and split 12-inch with Enduser ‘The Kill’ and a memorable muddy Glastonbury Festival highlighted 2007. In 2008 Bong-Ra released his 5th full album entitled ‘Full Metal Racket’ containing the 12” ‘Grindkrusher’ and ‘SickSickSick’ both released on Ad Noiseam, a 12” on Zhark Records followed entitled ‘Vitus Blister’. Bong-Ra continued his non-stop performances covering mostly all of Europe and establishing himself as one of the best performers in hardcore electronic territory. His tri-monthly events in Utrecht (Rebeltronics) and Arnhem (Megatronics) continue to flourish succesfully. A small production pause was taken during late 2008 and practically the whole of 2009 for his other important project ‘The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble’. Focussing on the second full length album ‘Here Be Dragons’. Succesfully venturing into the darker side of jazz and electronica.
2010 saw a return of Bong-Ra 2.0. A new EP on Ad Noiseam entitled ‘Monster’, a 12” of the Peace Off dubstep sister label Ruff with two dubsmashers ; Megasaurus and Gargantuan! the adaptation of Hecq/Exilion’s Spheres of Fury. Also Clash Records saw light with Bong-Ra’s jungle alias Killahman Machine, releasing Clash 013. In a few months, the new 6th full length Bong-Ra album will be released on Ad Noiseam.
Scanone is available for DJ and live / AV sets. Please email agency@thecentrifuge.co.uk with offers stating date, location, budget and other artists on the bill.
Perhaps best known for his work with Combat Recordings and as label boss of Yellow Machines, Jude Greenaway aka Scanone is a London-based producer and DJ and AV artist who has been producing, performing and releasing music for well over a decade. In that time he has managed to develop a sound that skirts around the lunatic fringes of a myriad of underground genres, from bass-heavy electronics to glitched-up IDM and techy, brooding, dubstep.
Dead Fader are available for live sets. Please contact agency@thecentrifuge.co.uk with offers stating date, location, budget and other artists on the bill.
Dead Fader is the recently Berlin-relocated doom-noise-bass project led by ex-Brightonite John Cohen, bringing a previously unimaginable level of intensity to the dubstep scene. Grinding rhythms, searing sonics and shattered eardrums are what you can expect from a live performance. There’s distortion, and then there’s Dead Fader…
“It’s playful but sick. Like a puppy with extremely sharp teeth” – Justin K Broadrick (Jesu/Godflesh)
Rotator is available for live sets. Please contract agency@thecentrifuge.co.uk with offers stating date, location, budget and other artists on the bill.
Rotator is frantically active as both label head of Peace Off and Bang-a-Rang Records and also in a more literal sense as an incendiary live performer, bringing more to the modern ‘core sound. As one of the most renowned and in demand artists in the high-tempo music world, Rotator attacks headline slots at clubs and festivals with the utmost ferocity.
“ROTATOR will dismantle your firecrackers and bomb the place down cause he’s the perfect combination of French pastry and kamikaze riddims, King of the dance floor and yardsales!” (Sickboy)
With his new album “Even Weight” just out on the mighty Ad Noiseam, Enduser has been tearing up the label’s 10th anniversary party series across Europe and beyond. Now booking for 2012!
Lynn Standafer, also known as Enduser, undoubtedly counts as the better known, most active and highest praised break- core producers. Shooting his way through the 2000’s with salvoes of EPs and albums as well as constantly touring all over the world, Enduser has grown from being a driving force of this sound to one of its best embodiment and most recognized figure.
Synonymous for a music which marries carefully laid melodies with unrestrained aggression, Enduser has received praise from all sorts of horizons for the way he manages to entice a sense of beauty in the midst of broken and pummelling beats. If hard electronic music can ever be recognized as having a soul, it is throughout Enduser’s output that this gets best demonstrated.
Enduser has played too many high-profile shows and festivals to list, and has amassed an impressive discography, which features several highly successful records and tracks. His music has been recognized as heavily influential in many genres, ranging from drum’n’bass to metal.
Enduser has also collaborated with artists ranging from drum’n’bass heavyweights Dylan and DJ Hidden as with rock and metal legends Jarboe (of the Swans), Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu) or Bill Laswell.
Funckarma is the long standing project of Don and Roel Funcken, Dutch brothers notorious for their bass heavy groove filled IDM and experimental approach to all forms of electronic music. Since 1995 their prolific output under various names has found them homes on labels around the world, from Warp to n5md, Skam to !K7 and many more . Always forging new sounds in their constant sonic evolution, they’re breaking into the dubstep and DnB scenes as well, bringing their own unique form to these ever shifting landscapes while staying true to what built their fanbase .
Funckarma live is a spontaneous fusion of material from their amazingly broad catalogue of production sources. They feed the audience their infamous intense ground shaking moments as well as something minimalist and stripped, all in one smooth transition. This gives a totally unique perspective on the work, and guarantees a fresh set every time by providing a tremendous amount of freedom to its creation.
With their DJ sets they integrate music from other artists with their own. Genres mainly flow through dubstep, techno, acid and dnb but are not limited to these forms. he DJ sets are renowned for their approach using digital mixing and controllers enabling them to alter tracks into a new blend.
No matter which set they play, it’s all about bringing innovation and new dimensions of sound to the system by blending their own production with the finest in the new wave of artists warping dance floors and minds around.
According to his press bio, Global Goon’s Johnny Hawk is a former shepherd from Liverpool who earned a recording contract after moving to London and rooming with Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) for a time. Hawk had worked in the capital for a multimedia company while making music on the side; after moving into a shared house with James, he released his first album Goon on Rephlex in 1996. Rumors that Goon actually was Aphex Twin persisted even after the release of Cradle of History 4 years later.
Planet Mu / We Me Records Syntheme project is a recognised alias of Global Goon and his recent live / DJ performances exhbit his tweaked-up take on acid house, techno and disco.
Point B is the creation of writer and producer Richard Bultitude. Suicide Beauty Spot is his second studio album and takes his sound above and beyond all that has gone before it with a stunning sonic journey that massages the synapses and shakes the hips. The sound he has perfected over the last 7 years is a slick, textured, bass rich take on Dubstep/2-step.
Fans of his electronic peers such as Burial, Autechre and Tipper will find this potent brew infused with reflection and bittersweet calm. Having established himself with Erratica & Orson Records he quickly found himself appearing alongside Boom Bip, Nathan Fake and Squarepusher on Time Out’s massive The other side:London compilation. Live shows put him on rosters with the likes of Tim Exile and Andrew Weatherall at events across Europe.
After a spate of remixes and a Digital EP 2006 saw the Cinder Cones & Animal Bones EP punch its way onto the airwaves and turntables of many a DJ and was a favourite of BBC Radio 1’s Mary Anne Hobbs and Oneman. His debut album A previous version of myself (SCSI AV) caught the attention of various high profile publications including WIRE magazine and paved the way for this release.
Maintaining his characteristic playful sense of melody and effortlessly flitting between genres, Suicide Beauty Spot is a brooding, contemplative and dark work of beauty and is Point B’s first full-length album on Combat Recordings. Whilst embracing the urban rhythms (dubstep, hip-hop, 2 step) so familiar on his 12” vinyl releases, this long player embraces some lovely live instrumentation in which the likes of his santoor, Irish harp and marimba animate the bass-heavy soundscapes. Remixes are in the pipeline from Boxcutter, Kelpe, Cursor Miner and Cloaks.
DJ Mag:4/5
Melancholy two-step
As dubstep comes of age, so the quality moves out of the realm of DIY bedroom productions and into that of the rich, layered compositions found in Suicide Beauty Spot. Genuinly exciting exploration of the sonic possibilities opening up out there.
Ben Arnold
Unforgiving streets are the thread that connects Richard Bultitude with his brooding electronica-informed dubstep-ish work as Point B. Yet despite his current base, Brixton, presenting an obvious starting point for such links, experiences in previous hometowns had more affect on a sound refined throughout his imminent second studio album ‘Suicide Beauty Spot’.
“I found the streets of Bradford and my birthplace Birkenhead tougher than my current location,” he admits. “They certainly fuelled some of the angst, frustration and fear that’s sometimes expressed in my music. Brixton has had a mainly positive influence. The area is so rich with the sights and sounds of other cultures that it inevitably inspires creative thinking.”
The title of ‘Suicide Beauty Spot’, meanwhile, is a direct reference to an equally bleak but rather more picturesque setting: East Sussex headland / notorious death leap site Beachy Head.
“I heard a radio program about Beachy Head,” Bultitude elaborates. “That place has seen some tragic things alright but remains unspoiled and beautiful.”
The resultant evocative elements of his self-coined ‘itchy deep-step’ are aided by often unusual live instrumentation prevalent within thought-provoking production work, bleeding a little humanity into the record’s alien landscape.
“All the instruments are played by myself, though not always very well,” he self-effacingly claims. “I’m not classically trained but I have played guitar since I was a nipper. I have a modest but ever-growing collection of instruments, the most weird and wonderful being my santoor [an Indian dulcimer], which has over 100 strings. The most recent addition is an Irish knee harp.”
Excited by Photek and forward-thinking mid-’90s duo Chaos & Julia, drum & bass was an important formative force for Bultitude, who moonlights as d&b project Xammatu, as well as under ‘squashy hip-hop’ guise Planes. He also went through “a good stint in my late teens with party d&b such as Peshay, E-Z Rollers and Grooverider.” Dubstep has since become a bigger catalyst for his music, though.
“The rise of the dubstep scene gave me all sorts of ideas the more I started to understand it,” he explains. “The dynamic between the slow, plodding half beat and the 140 bpm 2-step rhythm is really compelling. The use of modulated bass as a rhythmic and physical force is key too and was the perfect ingredient to the repertoire of electro / garage I’d started to build. But I do still love d&b. I bought some Breakage recently and it made me want to freak.”
As the title and cover suggests, Suicide Beauty Spot reflects both the dark and lighter sides of Point B’s take on beats, 2-step and dubstep that’s a very individual outlook with lots to recommend it.
Point B (aka Merseyside born Richard Bultitude) is acclaimed as “Brixton’s foremost melodic electronic artist” has his debut album released on Combat Recordings.
By contrast with the ‘dark knight’ that is King Cannibal (who had ‘Badman Near Dark’ out on Combat last year and his debut album Let The Night Roar released on Ninja Tune on Monday), the twist with Point B is that he draws influences from a broad canvass like a Burial, Flying Lotus or even a El-B.
And it’s not long before his inventiveness catches you’re ear, after the bitty-bass bin opener ‘Weightless’ there’s the sweet haunting of tracks like ‘Candour’ and ‘Someone Else’s Past’ where electronic and acoustic worlds meet. As a fan of dubstep, hip-hop, 2 step garage, Point B is different to your average bedroom/basement bin head as in addition to the samples and drum machines, he also plays live instruments like his santoor, Irish harp, dulcimer and marimba and his works best on the suitably entitled ‘Guilty Pleasures’.
More ‘traditional’ Mary Ann Hobbs territory is ‘Bathed In Night’ and the wobble of ‘Minerals’ and ‘Headland’.
And then as a counter to the bass beats, there’s the cinematic “warm electronica” of ‘Further Thoughts On Movement’, ‘Alien Language’ and the fantastic ‘Wingform’.
The track that best represents the album’s multi-directions is the title track ‘Suicide Beauty Spot’ that’s full of foreboding doom with some additional percussion on a structure that elevates and “offers impressive views over London” and the electronic music scene.
Perhaps it’s because he is currently resident in Brixton that is sound is more underground beats inspired since his debut album in 2006, A Previous Version Of Myself. With past live performances at Festivals in Europe (including the Bloc weekender), he’s played alongside the likes of Andrew Weatherall, Tipper and Lusine. We’re told that the launch party will be in London at the Corsica Studios (see details below) as part of Plex’s 3rd Birthday celebrations that will also feature Berlin’s Hard Wax as well as other Combat Recordings (Understandably selling out fast).
Suicide Beauty Spot is an usually and special set with that’s packed with tracks that will have a shelf life longer than this weeks’ next best thing; definitely one to follow.
RIVAL CONSOLES is London-based youthful purveyor of intelligent dance music Ryan Lee West. With his critically acclaimed debut album IO released on Erased Tapes Records in 2009, West crafted an electronic record to transcend the discerning and flirt a little with the club culture. The follow-up record Kid Velo is slated for release in summer 2011 and we are taking bookings for club shows and festivals in support of this highly-anticipated release.
Biography:
Born November 10th, ‘1985’, Ryan Lee West grew up in the small city of Leicester in the midlands of England. Fascinated by sound from an early age, Ryan chose to dedicate his time to studying, experimenting with and producing sound at De Montfort University Leicester before relocating to London. West strives to humanise and at the same time emphasise entirely computerised sounds to defy categorisation in modern electronic music. Rival Consoles combines a clever and complex mix of hard-hitting beats with catchy acid melodies.
Or as he describes it in his own words: ‘Rival Consoles is a musical project where I take ideas which are cheap and processed, and combine them with rich, unpredictable patterns – resulting in music which appears commercial yet typically against commercial music at the same time.’
Earlier EP releases clearly define his progression from ‘The Decadent EP’ and the follow-up 7-inch ‘Helvetica’, where instead of X-Box vs. Playstation, classical theory meets dance. More recently West contributes three album tracks, ‘Milo’, ‘Func’ and ‘ARP’ to his 12-inch split EP with Ólafur Arnalds’ minimal-techno outfit Kiasmos.
There is more to this freshly graduated 23 year-old than meets the eye, for those not content with 4/4 beat dance floor stormers; West is fast establishing himself as both a sound designer and programmer. Having repeatedly performed at the Tate Britain Museum in London, where he drew over 2000 visitors into his unpredictable, yet detailed sound drawings ‘…using self-created sound manipulation tools in MAX/MSP and Super Collider’. New York based composer Nico Muhly, known for scoring the Oscar-nominated The Reader and his collaborations with artists from Björk to The National, is amongst one of the first to receive West’s trademark remixes.
The album got recommended by James Chapman of MAPS: “I just got into this guy. The album’s great (‘IO’) and this (‘Electorate’) is my favourite track. It turns from electronica into a real kinda disco groove. Superb.”‘1985’ got introduced by Tom Robinson on BBC6 Music. West recently moved to London where he is working on his next full-length album scheduled for a mid 2010 release. In the meantime he will showcase his new material at London’s FABRIC and other club venues throughout Europe.
Press:
UK:
US:
Germany:
Selected Press Quotes:
‘West’s Rival Consoles project revives the schism between the commercial house music of suburban hell-holes and the perverted beats of electronica’s golden boys. A massive slice of jagged grandiosity… ‘IO’ is a party record even snobs can enjoy.’ (7/10) – NME
‘A new sulphuric wave is about to wash over our dancing forms and reduce us to boogieing bones – and Ryan West, aka Rival Consoles – is riding it on an acid-proof surfboard… leading the crusade against tired welterweight club rhythms… one minute indebted to the techno godfathers, the next paying reverential tribute to the masters of electronica’ – DJ MAG Fantastic Four
‘If you miss the Aphex Twin who wrote songs that lit up warehouse raves at 3 a.m. but still tied your brain into knots, do yourself a favor and check out Rival Consoles. West is a nascent IDM hero on IO’ (9/10) – XLR8R (US)
‘Writhes in a field of its own, twitching and buzzing like little else… One of the best releases of its kind this year.’ – CLASH
‘Rival Consoles finally comes in full album length and satisfies all along the line. His tracks appear to be little short of celestial, are catchy and contain several grandiose melodies’ (5/6) –RAVELINE (DE)
‘Ibiza yesterday, Berlin today, Miami tomorrow. You don’t need to get on a plane to explore the international club-scape: putting on IO by Rival Consoles will do’ (4/5) –MUSIKEXPRESS (DE)
Professional radio / tv sound designer by day, electro-breakcore mentalist by night, this smiling misfit has caused so much recent mayhem in his hometown of Grenoble (France), that only London could take him. Since arriving here, he’s already torn up the Interakt electro party, Yardcore, north London’s ill FM show, and various events across Europe including the Riddim Collision Festival 2007 with Plaid, Scorn and Enduser.
Coming from a background in thrash metal and industrial music, with his previous 12-piece metal band gigs involved fake-blood-splattering theatrics and on-stage riots, he later went the solo electronic route as it was more efficient at causing mayhem. Taking up Native Instrument’s Reaktor software, he’s spent the past few years exclusively designing his own instruments and effects to further mangle audio to his own extremes.
Intrigued by his way of adeptly and confidently switching from solid, body-rocking electro grooves to abstract, mentalist breakcore, feisty hyper-processed dancefloor electronics, labels like Jarring Effects, Bedroom Research and Peace Off have been quick to release his militant, lunatic sound.
The decision to move to London came after his last performance in France caused a small riot among old punks fighting in a record shop, resulting in smashed windows and other damage.
An ex-Sublight talent discovered by none other than Mr Aaron Funk (aka Venetian Snares) and counting such luminaries as Richard Devine, Kid606, Wisp and Phoenecia as ardent fans, Gareth Clarke’s lush, sophisticated melodies intertwine with clean, crisp post-jungle beats for the perfect pleasure amalgam for body and brain. We are mighty proud to have this insanely talented fella on our books! Big things to come including a very cool label announcement very soon, check the tracks below for an exclusive taster of his future releases.
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