Daniel Steinberg (image courtesy of Marie Staggat)
Getintothis’ Ste Knight takes a look at April’s wealth of offerings in this month’s Footsteps on the Decks column.
Now that everyone has come down off their chocolate high in the wake of the Easter Bunny’s generosity, it’s time to have a gander at what other easter eggs April has in store for us. There’s more than just cocoa solids on offer to tickle your taste buds.
April sees plenty of big names coming to our hallowed city, with the likes of Francois K, Submotion Orchestra and Nightmares on Wax all heading over to Merseyside to drop beats a-plenty. There’s the Bangface Weekender over in Southport, and Leon Vynehall will be stopping over the Camp & Furnace for Abandon Silence‘s third Beginnings party. More on our nights out, below.
April Albums
Albums are popping up all over the place this month, but first, we have to give a retrospective mention to Berlin house producer, Daniel Steinberg. Daniel has been in the game for over 20 years, and his experience shines through in the quality of this productions. His third album, Left Handed, was released in October last year, but Steinberg is back with a bunch of friends in tow, as he has just dropped his remix CD in March. The original album was fantastic. Cohesive, nostalgic and yet remaining current, Daniel hit the nail on the head.
The long player has been given the full treatment, and there’re some big names here. Fittingly, 808 State have remixed Crucial, which given its enthusiastic nod towards the 90’s rave sound, is more than appropriate. Bushwacka! gives us a re-rub of the latin-licked Corn Dog, thickening up the track with his own inimitable sound. Paul Johnson provides his own take on tech-house bumper Bones, his remix bathing the original in swathes of techno. Get on this release, it’s a bomb.
Horsepower Productions have Crooks, Crime and Corruption coming out on Tempa on April 29. Both Horsepower and Tempa are well-known names on the dubstep and bass scene. This comes as no surprise as both have a raft of quality releases, as artist and label respectively, under their belt. Crooks, Crime and Corruption is no exception, as the deep dubstep dons Horsepower go well into the realms of brown sound with this chest plate rattler.
Antwood, who’s track Coincidence Part 2 featured last month in our playlist, drops his latest LP on Planet Mu Records, home to the likes of Venetian Snares, Ital-Tek and Luke Vibert. Virtuous.scr is not one for pigeon-holing. We can try and apply labels to it, but we’ll fail. There’re nods to all sorts on this animal, with footwork, chiptune, dubstep and bass music, industrial and EBM influences all making an appearance. If robots made music for us, this is what it would sound like. Awesome power electronics from Antwood, check it – it is due for release on April 29.
Club Nights in April
Nightmares on Wax
1. Nightmares on Wax: Hot Plate x Madnice x Bam!Bam!Bam!, 24 Kitchen Street, April 8
Leeds Warp vet Nightmares on Wax makes the short journey down the ’62 to join us at 24 Kitchen Street for a nice intimate little DJ set. Nightmares on Wax, AKA George Evelyn is perhaps best well known for his 90’s cult classic Smoker’s Delight, as well as the rest of his critically acclaimed back catalogue, which includes Carboot Soul and, more recently, Feelin’ Good and N.O.W Is the Time. Expect the full gamut of hip-hop, broken beats and other eclectic electronic forms to be covered here as Wax takes to the decks.
Also gracing us with his presence will be Fila Brazilia‘s Steve Cobby. Having seen success with his solo material as well as the Fila gear, Steve has been pioneering electronic music in the UK for donkey’s years.
Support comes from the No Fakin’ Crew, Madnice selectas and MC Kwasi.
Leon Vynehall
2. Leon Vynehall, Tom Trago, Henry Wu, Harvey Sutherland: Abandon Silence Beginnings 3, Camp and Furnace, April 15
Following the success of their previous two shows, Abandon Silence return with their third Beginnings night on April 15. Featuring sets from Brighton’s own Leon Vynehall, alongside Tom Trago, Henry Wu and Harvey Sutherland, there seems to be no stopping the AS crew as they storm the Baltic Triangle with yet another insane party.
Bangface Weekender line-up
3. Bangface Weekender: Pontins Southport, April 14-17
The Bangface crew bring their hardcore heavy party up from the Big Smoke for a festival like no other at Southport’s Pontins resort. Featuring the stuttering breakcore lunacy of Venetian Snares, Shitmat‘s ragga-core brutality and Joey Beltram‘s Energy Flash-electronics, as well as a whole host of huge electronic acts that lie in the more leftfield sphere of dance music, this is deffo a weekend not to be missed. Expect hardcore, D’n’b, rave, acid and everything else in this colour-core melting pot of madness.
Submotion Orchestra
4. Submotion Orchestra: Ceremony Concerts, Bam!Bam!Bam!, 24 Kitchen Street, April 29
To coincide with the release of their new album, Colour Theory, Submotion Orchestra comes to Liverpool on April 29. Expect to be hearing some luscious jazz-flecked electronica from the Leeds 7-piece, as they bring us their dubstep rooted sound to 24 Kitchen Street. With influences steeped in roots reggae, hip-hop, electronica and dub, there’s a great deal of heaviness to look forward to. Vibes!
Francois K (image courtesy of Laurent Villarem)
5: Francois K: Liverpool Disco Festival, Camp and Furnace, April 30
You may have read our Liverpool Disco Festival preview a few weeks back, but the guys behind the big glittery shebang have pulled out all the stops for their April opening party at the Camp. Liverpool will be hosting none other than disco legend Francois K. Get your disco balls right were we can see them, as Francois takes to the decks for an extended disco set. Support is provided by LDF and Hustle residents.
Kreature
6: Kreature, Terreux, LKY, Rugg: Gecko, The Garage, April 30
Night-crawlers and newcomers to the Liverpool scene, Gecko, bring a whole host of north-west talent to Liverpool’s The Garage. Manchester-born Kreature heads the field, bringing his own brand of underground techno to the Baltic Triangle. The roster is further bolstered by more underground talent, in the form of Terreux, LKY and Rugg.
Read previous instalments of Footsteps on the Decks here
April Singles
There’re some big boys stealing your ball in April as we look towards our singles recommendations.
First off with a clean right hook is Death in Vegas. You Disco I Freak is the first single from his new album, Transmission. It’s a real driving techno track, which takes on the darker edges of the sound. With its feet planted firmly on the dancefloor, You Disco I Freak opens with a stuttering wasp-sting synth which tunes in and out perpetually creating an air of unease – perfect for the 4am heads-down moments – and the track builds on layered sounds throughout towards a wonderfully dissonant climax.
A Made Up Sound takes your chin out with his uppercut, Thin Air, released on April 11. Broken techno is the order of the day here, as Huismans conjures Fallout 4-style post-apocalyptic scenes throughout his new single. Think a frazzled Mr. Handy let loose with a sampler and a drum machine and you’ve got the picture. Title track Thin Air mixes together a whole hodge-podge of other-worldly samples, whilst still keeping to a hard 4×4 formula. The other three tracks follow less of a standard, as they eschew the 4×4 for a whacked out almost dubstep-infused recipe.
Detroit techno producer DJ 3000 comes flying in with the haymaker, as he releases his single, Take Me Away, on April 15. The track is full on techno fodder, so get your speakers jacked. Awesome jazz-speckled grooves in this one, which keeps the bottom end firmly at the lower levels and the percussion nails it home. Truncate is on the flip with a Berlin-esque rework.
If electro is your street then Umwelt deals the knockout blow on his forthcoming single, State of Matter. With the dials set to eleven, Umwelt delivers a slab of peak-time electro to indulge your ears (don’t stop there, indulge the rest of your body by making flying robo-shapes all over the place). Ekman‘s remix is a full-on acid bath while the Exaltics employ their 303 to max effect. Eomac‘s rework is a lo-fi fuzz-monster which strips the original right back.
Check these and other singles for April out, below.
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