One of the bigger free-for-all’s will be occuring at the tail-end of this month. The 26th of May sees London party stalwarts Urban Nerds celebrate their 5th Birthday. Taking place at the former cinema Scala, situated in North London, it boasts one of the more eclectic and heavy-hitting line-ups of recent months.

Showcasing some of the best in raw grime and UK hip-hop vibrancy, Room 1 is headed up by grime titans Newham Generals, along with Urban Nerds regular Marcus Nasty, and serial remixers Gorgon City, who’ll also be debuting their live show for the occasion. C4 & Preditah make up another tantalizing prospect, while Hip-hop is represented through the stylings of scene veteran Klashnekoff, a constant presence since the early beginnings.

No Hats No Hoods will face off against Pigeon Records in Room 2, and they’ve lined up some of the more cutting-edge grime MC’s s for the party, including the likes of Kozzie, Trilla, Chronik and Roachee. The DJ’s are just as exciting, however –  Warrior One, Rude Kid and Eastwood all speak for themselves. That’s not to mention veteran party-throwers Get Low Cartel and Redux will be hosting Room 3.

Check out the full line-up and buy 3rd release tickets here.

Glasgow’s Rudi Zygadlo can lay claim to a wonderfully unique approach to music. Combining experience from his ‘real’ music days in a band, Zygadlo combines wildly contrasting elements to create a rich, delicate and sculpted sound. His Achtung! EP in late 2011 only served to build upon these dimensions, an EP that’s accessible hubris betrays a wildly complex inner centre. We had a few words with Rudi ahead of his performance for Planet Mu at XOYO regarding his upcoming LP, the origins of his sound and Alan Partridge.

Bar a few one-offs, there was a spell of non-activity between your 2010 LP on Planet Mu and your most recent release Achtung! Was it a necessary break?

Unfortunately I can’t say it was strategic. I’d never choose to have uncreative spells. I’d rather write consistently but It seems creative lapses are sometimes necessary to give one the impetus to start something new, to store up inspiration and motivation etc etc. It’s worrying though when the lapses augment and the productivity wanes; you start to wonder if you’ll ever get your mojo back.

Your sound is difficult to describe and thus categorize. Structures constantly shift, harmonies from pop and rock are spliced with hip-hop and dubstep-influenced sounds, with a healthy dose of psychedelica to back it all up. Was this result a conscious product of experimentation or something more improvisational?

I liked all those ingredients. So I used them all and enforced no boundaries. The first album didn’t feel experimental, making it. It all happened so quickly and without premeditation. I think of experimentalism in terms of the process; going out into the field and rubbing stones together. Not sitting in a room plucking a few strings, quantizing some dodgy midi and carelessly singing into a shitty mic, like I was. But death to the process I suppose. Unless your thinking about the DVD features.

I’ve always thought that despite the frenzy of activity within the music, your sound has always maintained a delicate finesse to it. Is there anything you would regard as an essential aspect to your production?

Thanks! I think its an abstract quality control. I cant say something specifically is essential. Rather, I just know if it sounds right or not. I suppose dynamically and structurally, the songs that I am most satisfied with are those that have a narrative feel, those a little more through-composed than strophic, those that end somewhere remote from their starting point.

Why did you decide to release Achtung! through Pictures this time around?

We felt itd be nice to squeeze an EP out before we went fully blown with album two on Mu. Pictures is a fantastic new label and I’m very close to its founders. I believed a new album would follow Achtung a little sooner than it has turned out to be. (Aforementioned lapses) But I and all involved needed a little more time to get it sounding like a worthy and progressive sequel. (Which it does!)

How long were you producing before Planet Mu introduced you to the wider spectrum? Your sound implies a lot of experience behind it.

Well, the first tracks Mu heard were the first tracks that I’d properly completed and that phase of producing started three or four months prior. So they were there from day one in a way. Before that I’d been messing around with computer music since I was 13 but never finished anything. Perhaps it was from being in a band at uni which made me think about electronic music production in a different way, made me think about writing ‘songs’ and not IDM tracks. Songs i found easier to structure and easier to finish.

What was the music scene like growing up in Glasgow? Were you aware of your contemporaries such as Rustie and HudMo before all this?

I didnt grow up in Glasgow I studied there and lived for a subsequent two years. I was aware of the names but largely oblivious to the music, certainly until Butter appeared. I enjoyed that a lot. If anything, I was more involved in band circuitry than the electronic. Yeah, I was isolated from that scene. When I started making those tracks in Glasgow I didn’t really leave the house for the 5 months it took then, not long after, I moved to Berlin via my parents’ place in Dumfriesshire.

Your sound seems to be increasing in complexity with each release. What can we look forward to hearing in the next album?

This is how Alan Partridge described my artistic progression. Regarding Das Neue Album von Rudi Zygadlo there is: More subtlety yet more histrionics. More lyrical sensitivity and sincerity yet more lampoon. Musically more challenging yet, bizarrely, more palatable, more sympathetic, more engaging. Louder, yet quieter. Less Genesis, yet more Gabriel. He is less afraid of his own poetry and his voice which has matured with age like wine in a bottle. Though never is it whiney. Where once upon a time the straddling of musical disparity often produced aural conflict, a unity and harmony has blossomed.Id say he’s dead on. Might use that as a press release actually. Better ask him.

Who are we not aware of at the moment, but should be?

Composers which predate recording technology.

Finally, where we can we expect to see you next?

XOYO, Planet Mu night, London. 11th may. See you there?

Rudi Zygadlo performs at the Planet Mu takeover at XOYO on May 11th, along with Kuedo, Machinedrum, The Host, Tropics and more. 

Putting the midwest firmly on the map and distilling a refined class back into the world of Gangster rap; Freddie Gibbs is a rejuvenating force in hip hop who draws closer to the top day by day. Already having worked extensively with the old guard ( Madlib and Alchemist) as well as rising new stars like Big K.R.I.T  and a peculiar match-up with Joker, he’s become the go to guy for those like their hip hop as cerebral as it is about blunts and extended clips. We had a brief chat with him about all things upcoming, and a little about himself.

So you’re from Gary, Indiana? It’s not exactly somewhere famed for it’s Hip Hop scene. How  has it flavored yout style? Especially considering the street element of your hip hop.

Well being in the midwest, you’re really in the melting point so to speak. You’re listening to everything, westcoast, down south everything, so all my favourite rappers have been from everywhere. That combination is what makes my style so versatile. I was never confined to one style. With the street element as well, I feel I am carrying the flag for that gangster rap. I don’t really think anyone is pushing it as much as I am.

I suppose Chicago has been a big influence?

Definitley, there’s no away around thatt. Chicago is ten minutes away so it’s definitley been an influence, things like Psycho Trauma and Do Or Die.

Have you had the chance to check out any UK Hip Hop or Grime?

I havn’t had a chance to check a lot of it out, but I know some of it. I did a record with Joker and I saw Dizzee Rascal in LA a couple of months ago. I havn’t done a record with him yet, but we’ll probably knock something out. I heard it’s more about the producers though with Grime and Dubstep though? So I havn’t really checked out all the MCs.

Are you always on the look out for different when it comes to producers ? Do you have a favorite?

We’ve got mutual friends and respect for what we do in our own channels. So it’s just a case of coming together and creating something unique. In terms of my favorite producer, I’d say Alchemist. In terms of producers want to work with in the future? I want to work with Dr Dre. Maybe even Pharrel, I’d like to do something with him. Hopefully even Kanye, he might want to work with me one day if I get big enough. That would be real dope. I think people want to see me work with these big name guys on a level with Jay Z and things of that nature now, because I  got the underground smashed already.

Do you regard yourself as a nostalgia rapper or does that not even come into play?

I definitely got to give credit to dudes like Scarface and Tupac, they laid the foundation for rappers like me. If it feels like I am reverting back to their style it’s because I am paying homage rather me taking their style. People need to know about those guys.

What about P.O.T.C (Freddie’s supergroup with Bun B, The Cool Kids and Chip Tha Ripper, can you say anything about?

I just wanted to do some dope music, that’s always the goal. Those dudes are my homeboys, so we are just going to make music. There’s nothing tricky to it all. Just going in and knocking out verses when we have time. I’d be lying to you if I told I know when it was coming. Everybody is running around in their own direction trying to get that money.

What have you got coming up?

I’ve got a Ski Beatz project coming up which is going to be called ‘The World Is My Ashtray’, as well as my collab with Madlib called ‘MadGibbs’. Raekwon is going to be on that, I want to get him on the ‘Gangster Grillz’ mixtape as well. Then I’ve got my CTE collab album with Jeezy called ‘It’s The World’, and then after that my own album called ‘The Neck Tie Party’.

Seems  like a lot of people want to work with you…

I’m just blessed to work with guys of that caliber, makes me want to step up my game.

You coming to Europe more in the future?

Hell yeah, as much as Europe want to be there, I will be there.

Only last week Phillip Sherburne authored one of the most authoritative arguments so far on the wotdoucallit? sound; specifically, the countless releases that have spun out from the dubstep trajectory into an area commentators are eager to cover, but are struggling, hesitant or altogether unwilling to label. For the most part, it’s ‘bass music’ that’s stuck (or offended the least people), but that hasn’t removed the uneasiness that’s inherent in writing about… you know, whatever you wanna call it.

What’s interesting is that the influence of dubstep – its appreciation of space and minimalism, its sound-system focus, its foul and sinister mood – still has an enormous, weighty presence on even the most forward-looking releases. None more so than Hessle Audio (inarguably among the leading curators of just whatever is going on between 120 and 140 these days), who have thrown another curveball in the shape of Elgato’s latest 12”: containing the extremely tense ‘Zone’ alongside the equally menacing ‘Luv Zombie’.

‘Zone’ is an immediate departure from anything you could possibly expect, especially following Hessle’s last release, Objekt’s ridiculous ‘Cactus’, described by Ben UFO himself as his ‘limit break’ in DJ sets. Using a restricted and refined sound palette, Elgato moves slowly and stealthily through a low-frequency tension previously unthinkable below 120bpm. It growth within the tune is reflected in its growth on the listener. Sure, a kick drum might be absent, but it’s still as system-driven and club-ready as any DMZ record. I heard this on the Funktion One recently and overheard more than one person say: “I totally get this now.” Try not to dismiss it at first. It’s just as powerful as ‘Cactus’, but in a very different way.

With its virally infectious vocal sample, ‘Luv Zombie’ may grasp you first, but like the a-side it just refuses to drop you. For nine long minutes it basks in a constant mid-rave suspense, broken only slightly by rolling 808 kicks in the latter half. Elgato brings nothing but wound-up pressure on this release, pointing in yet another direction Hessle are able to re-contextualise dubstep’s dread.

Words: Joe Moynihan

Vessel seems to be one of the quieter members of the Young Echo Collective, the preciously talented group of producers including the likes of Kahn, El Kid and Zhou. Formed in Bristol, they all explore varying strands of electronic music, each very much their own yet also lending to a particular style and aesthetic. Vessel certainly stands alone, his latest EP containing sparks of originality and refreshment that makes it easy to see why Left_Blank, Throwing Snow’s label, put it out.

It’s the veneer of unpredictability that is most striking in Standard, the producer’s first release since last years excellent Nylon Sunset. Things have certainly changed since then, Vessel swapping a crisp, spiky flavour in favour of a murky sensibility. It’s a sound that treads the line between floor-filler and the more headphone focused variety. Above all, a growing sense of maturity and expertise has formed, initially noticeable but becoming even more apparent after revisiting Nylon Sunset.

The oily, almost sleazy synth licks that permeate through title track ‘Standard’ gave me the distinct impression of Jimmy Edgar. Beginning with a pantheon of atmospherics, it descends into dystopian funk, the utterly infectious toms providing the constant familiar. ‘Merge’, meanwhile, takes the same aesthetic but transports it into a techno sensibility. It’s this notion that is the most impressive quality of Standard – Vessel explores varying themes and directions, but gives it his own distinct, unique watermark.

‘Zero’, meanwhile, threatens to break out into industrial chaos, but retreats back into its shell, showcasing the wonderful production values and percussive structure more than anything. It’s highly accomplished stuff, and serves as the perfect prelude to his Tri Angle release.

Vessel’s Standard EP is out now. 

Walkmans, cassettes, modem dial-ups, Roland SP404s, Nirvana, London Docklands. Ralph Cumbers (aka Bass Clef) appears to live well and truly in the past. With his signature analogue-style and his appreciation for an album as an entire entity, some might argue that this producer, who this month returns to Punch Drunk, is a reaction to the advent of cheap software that allows anyone to lay down a track on the top deck of a bus.

We caught up with Cumbers to chat about his latest LP, his record label and to grab his thoughts on the benefits of releasing on cassette. Here’s what he had to say for himself.

BASS CLEF “love at last sight” by magicanddreams

What was your first encounter with electronic music?
I think growing up in the 80′s it was everywhere – so probably before I knew it…

Some memories that stick in my mind though, stuff like getting a ZX spectrum and listening to all the tunes that soundtracked the games…and the great modem-y sound of the games loading up from tape – sort of glitched 8 bit guitar feedback.

The first gig I went to was Jean Michel Jarre. I guess I was 11 or 12, my mum took me. It was a huge production at London Docklands. JMJ was on a boat with a massive load of synths and lasers and stuff. The boat was supposed to move up and down along the dock, but it got stuck at the far end, miles away from where we were standing. It pissed down with rain the whole time. I thought ‘live music is rubbish, I won’t bother going to gigs ever again’.

Not long after I remember seeing Orbital mime to ‘Chime’ on top of the pops. At the time I was really into heavy metal – I thought ‘that’s not real music, they’re just pushing buttons on machines’ ha!

What sort of stuff were you listening to before that?
Well the first stuff I ever got in to was stuff I raided from my parents collection – obvious stuff like The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, ELO, Jeff Lynne’s War Of The Worlds (which is still the album I’ve listened to most of in my life I reckon….). Then I had a heavy metal phase, Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, then grunge hit so stuff like Mudhoney and Nirvana…then at 15 or 16 I discovered rave and jungle and techno.

What were your original motives for starting MAGIC + DREAMS?
Well after having a slightly frustrating experience of being on a label and a distributor, and having to compromise a lot on format, design, release schedule etcetera, I just wanted to go right back to basics and try to building something from the ground up – where we did everything ourselves, from manufacture to press to going to the post office, doing everything possible by hand. Not having to rely on anyone else (except Paypal and the Royal Mail!)

Why did you decide to release everything on cassette?
We’ve done cdrs and there’ll be a minidisc too….but yeah cassette primarily. It’s a format that’s totally central to what I do, all my own music is recorded on 4 track cassette, it’s the format that was how I first got really in to music – listening on a walkman, exchanging tapes and compilations with friends. Also financially it makes sense for a tiny label with no backing – you can master for it yourselves, manufacture costs are quite low and you can do very small runs of 50 or 100 easily. I’d love to do vinyl, and we’ll work towards it for sure, but you need a lot of cash upfront for mastering and manufacture…

Do you think that it’s getting increasingly difficult for physical labels to last without offering their music for sale in a digital format?
Look at something like Livity – Peverelist doesn’t do any digital on that just small runs of quality vinyl and it does well I think. It’s kind of a nice stance to ignore digital, but then again, someone’s going to rip it and stick it up for torrent or whatever anyway, so you might as well have a good quality wav or 320 digital available somewhere, that you have control of, that has the right track titles and stuff.

Tell me about your love for analogue. Where did it stem from?
I guess being a trombonist first of all, I just got the idea embedded at a young age that musical things should respond to you in a physical way, with infinitely small increments, rather than this on/off binary digital way. So I gravitated towards faders and knobs and stuff, rather than a mouse and a screen, which I find massively tedious. Obviously I have a computer, I’m not typing this on paper which I will then carrier pigeon to your office…I have Soundforge on here which I LOVE and use all the time. But there’s no grid on that, like Logic or whatever, it’s just the waveform, in all it’s chaotic beauty.

So what is it exactly that you like about the hands on approach to production and equipment as apposed to working on a computer?
Well for me there’s less in the way between your brain and the song I think. I really just want to listen whilst making a tune, and let all kinds of random subconscious images come in to my mind, rather than having that all displaced by staring at some ugly coloured blocks scrolling left to right across a screen. For me that just kills the creative mood straight away.

COSEPH JONRAD ‘dead london’ by magicanddreams

Tell me about Coseph Jonrad, and in particular the Paper Round Tapes series.
I guess I got really stuck at some point, struggling to work on a Bass Clef album, that I ended up scrapping. I just wanted to free myself up again, so I switched to just using the Roland SP404, which I use live, but not really for writing – it’s just a little sampler that’s great for doing loops. Then I decided to get out of my rut, I would remix a whole album in 24 hours. After I’d done the first one, I realised it could be a whole series of remixes of albums that I had obsessively listened to as a child. It’s about limitation really – the choices have already been made as you are doing a whole album, track-by-track, in the original order, and there’s a very limited amount of source material to work with… then pushing that really as far as it can go, to try and create the magical experience of first getting a walkman, when I was 10 or 11, doing my paper round and getting lost in the world of headphones…

I read that you felt albums should always have a narrative. Could you expand on this? Is this the way you worked on Reeling Skullways?
Well when it comes to selecting the tracks and sequencing them, I really think you need to tell a story. I know everyone just deletes the tracks they don’t like, or listens to it on shuffle, but I think if you’re going to release an album, you should put a LOT of thought in to the structure. You’ve got to be able to sit down and listen to it in one go, and for it to have some lasting effect on you. Like a movie or a book, or a long late-night heart-to-heart conversation with a good friend.

Tell me about the title of the album.
It’s a quote from ‘Barefoot In The Head’ by Brian Aldiss (also the artwork is a little nod to the book too). It’s an amazing novel – about a post-apocalyptic Europe, where because of chemical warfare everyone is basically tripping all the time. The prose is extremely lysergic, – not easy to read, a bit like Finnegan’s Wake maybe – but very rewarding.

Would you say it came together quite naturally?
Very much so, it just came out of really trying to hook up the modular synth with the normal Bass Clef set up of drum machine and sampler. And really avoiding samples as much as possible – using the sampler as another synth instead, just playing chords and melodies with the internal waveforms…then all these tracks just flowed out. I sent them to a few people with the idea of pulling some tracks out for 12” releases. But Tom (Peverelist) got back to me and said ‘I think there’s an album in there’, so I did another batch of tracks, and then we honed it down to make a cohesive record. I guess I did about 25 tracks in the end.

Do you have a set idea for a track before you start?
I never have an idea. Maybe sometimes something a bit more abstract and wordless like a feeling. Then you just try sounds and notes and rhythms til it feels right. For me personally it’s about capturing a moment – a performance of the track, changing the patterns and dropping things in and out and EQing on the fly – just getting a good take of something down onto tape, so you’ve got to worked quickly. I almost never spend more than a day working on a track – otherwise I loose the feeling and it sounds crap…

Are there any specific artists or records that you think have a been big influence on your productions?
Oh yeah about a million…!

From my earlier days definitely the Warp royalty – Aphex, Autechre, Andy Weatherall and LFO…then huge influences in terms of method, if not necessarily musically, King Tubby and Arthur Russell. The way Kate Bush creates sound worlds never ceases to inspire and amaze me – she was a total pioneer of combining songwriting, electronics and conceptual stuff.

A huge influence on my development as a producer was a actually a close friend, who is a DJ and part of UK hip-hop crew The Numskullz, Jay Le Surge – god I learnt so much from him, about how to really listen to what people were doing, with stuff like hi-hat programming or reverb or something – he’s an unrecognised genius! Recently I’ve been totally obsessing about Omar S and Heiroglyphic Being.

So, what next for a man who uses technology most producers have long since thrown out, records onto mediums that are between nostalgic and novel and lifts his latest album title from a psychedelic sci-fi novel (Reeling Skullways is released on April 30th on Punch Drunk)? We’re not entirely sure where this unpredictable musician will go next but whatever he does, we’re certain of one thing.

We’re sure to have a lot of time for it.

As a member of the acclaimed LA-based hip-hop outfit, Jurassic 5, Mark Potsic (aka DJ Nu-Mark) has emerged as one of the scene’s hardest-working members. Having established himself as a respected producer and first class DJ (amassing a collection of some 35,000 records, it’s said), Nu-Mark has graced countless stages and records with his cutting-edge DJ sets and innovative productions.

After introducing himself as a solo artist in 2004, Nu-Mark released a string of collaborations with artists such as Nas & Damian Marley. Honing a sound that’s now globally recognised, his ultra-clean production, slick approach to sound design and raw creativity has garnered him deserved recognition.

This April, Soundcrash & The Doctor’s Orders welcome Nu-Mark to London’s Koko, alongside A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad, for a back-to-back set – not to be missed.

Nah Mean (DJ Nu-Mark Remix) by DJ Nu-Mark

First things first, when did you first get involved in hip-hop, and in particular the scene that surrounded it?
In Junior High my best friends uncle was a DJ and he lived with him. My best friend and I use to break in his living room and his uncle use to make us mix tapes. I remember watching his uncle DJ for the first time and was completely in awe. I had been playing drums since the age of 7 and I was now 12. Once I witnessed the DJ repeating phrases from a record it changed my life and at the age of 12 I started collecting records and appreciating the pioneers and a birth of a new genre.

And what was the first hip-hop record that really stole your heart?
I guess most people would say Rappers Delight but for me the advanced story telling and word play of Roxanne Roxanne by U.T.F.O. made me really appreciate the genre as a whole. I didn’t know drums could sound that big (being a drummer), I didn’t know story telling could be so concise and I love the competition between the group members over Roxanne.

Were there any events pushing that sort of sound whilst you were growing up? Where were you going out to?
I grew a bit outside of Los Angeles in North Hollywood so it was tough for me to get to the legendary Radio Tron etc… That said, Hip Hop and B-Boying especially had grown to a feverish pitch in the mid 80′s and there was a movie theatre where all the kids posse’d up to battle. I remember every weekend there would be at least 1000 kids outside of the U.A. theatre battling, beat boxing etc.. It was a really energetic time and I’m extremely lucky to witness the birth of Hip Hop because it influenced me to stay steady at my craft.

Were you producing material before you started on your hip-hop stuff?
I was making beats in Junior High before I was DJ’n actually. After seeing my friends uncle DJ, I actually picked up a Roland Tr 606 (the pre 808) and made beats in my band class. When the conductor was focused on the brass section, I’d have a pair of head phones on, programming beats on this new gadget – this could be the equivalent of the ipad today I guess, for me anyway.

Were there any particular records that were influencing your sound in the beginning?
I was really big on the production sound of Marly Marl and Full Force. They both seem to understand the importance of the rhythm section. As time has progressed Hip Hop’s drums have become increasingly more pounding and deep. Ultimately Hip Hop took the bad boy sound/ image out of rock because it just sounded was more sinister then the classic rock riffs I use to idolize. Plus Hip Hop was and is very much in your face when it comes to lyrical content and has gone to places most lyricist won’t touch.

After years of being one of the most influential hip-hop producers, do you ever feel under pressure from fans at all? Do you still enjoy the production process?
The production process is still my favorite. I don’t really feel pressure to come out with something incredible. I think I’m more concerned that Hip Hop will have a home in the future these days. Dubstep has taken a big chunk out of Hip Hop’s shine but we don’t know how long this will last. At the moment I create and DJ more then just Hip Hop beats. I love to spin Latin, Funk, Soul – even Swing and Psych. Just depends on my mood and the crowd I’m working with. Personally, I feel that hearing one genre for an entire night can get a bit draining so I like to have fun with it and mix up genre’s.

Over the last two decades, what sort of changes have you seen in the scene? What are the noticeable differences from when you first started out to now?
I think the importance of the lyricist has diminished greatly both in Hip Hop and club music as a whole. The 80′s showed me that it was a crime to bite another persons lyrics or style. De La Soul sounded nothing like Public Enemy who sounded nothing like N.W.A. Today it’s acceptable and border line important to sound like someone else in order to fit into the cookie cutter box for mainstream appeal. I’d say the beats have gotten huge in Hip Hop and Dance/Electronic but the importance of lyrics is now a thing of the past.

You’ve collaborated with some of the biggest names, not only in hip-hop, but in music. What’s next for you collaboration-wise?
I’m releasing my debut album this year entitled “Broken Sunlight”. I’m breaking this album up into a colored vinyl 10″ series. I’ll release about 6 singles that will span across 7-8 months all of which will feature mc’s and vocalist that inspire me. I have a single out now with Bumpy Knuckles called “Dumpin’ Em All”, the b-side is a great track with Large Professor called “When You Sleep”. Both are free downloads at unclenu.com Oh the video is bananas!!! Check it.

Dumpin’ Em All featuring Bumpy Knuckles aka Freddy Foxxx by DJ Nu-Mark

Do you have any plans to work with any of the J5 lot in the future?
Not sure, never say never. At this exact moment in time I don’t see any plans to work.

You’re Djing alongside A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad this month – how did this come about? Looking forward to it?
The promoter for Koko came up with the double billing which thrilled me to death. I hope London will appreciate this. I have great respect for Ali and his amazing contribution to music as a whole both pre and post Tribe! London!!! London!!! London!!!! Wake up and join us!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait to rock the toys for the first time in the U.K.!!!

I’ve heard a lot about your DJ-sets constructed entirely around children’s music toys – for those who don’t know, can you tell us a little about them?
Towards the end of J5 I started using a toy on stage for my DJ solo. When the group disbanded I decided to fill the entire stage with children’s music toys and wire them into my DJ rig. This has strengthened me as a DJ in many ways. First off, toys break all the time so it has taught me to become for flexible. I also have had to work with the fixed tempos of the toys to make a cohesive show. This too can be viewed on unclenu.com

You’re a DJ who’s obviously very comfortable working with MCs in the studio, as well as on stage – do you enjoy performing without an MC present?
It’s been a major change in my life as far as my stage show is concerned. I use to have 4 MC’s in front of me while I hid behind the turntable and a hat. Today I’m in the forefront which is very much not my personality as far as the live setting is concerned. That said, this change in my life has me at the most positive point in my career and I’m growing each day from it like never before. I still work with a lot of mc’s in the studio and plan to incorporate vocalist on stage again one day.

What’s next for you?
Like I said the Bumpy Knuckles and Large Professor single is out now. The 10″ color vinyl hits stores April 24th. I have another single dropping May 22nd. I will continue to give good music throughout the year and the full length album to drop late summer…”Broken Sunlight”.

Do you ever envisage a time when you’re not working in music?
No, it’s the only thing I know.

Gorgon Sound – the collaborative talents of Kahn and Neek – see their debut release on the new Peng Sound Records imprint this month. Once a much-requested dubplate, ‘Fine Jah Way,’ is now backed by a complete reinterpretation by Bristol Roots outfit, Dubkasm. Owing much to the city’s rich soundsystem culture, unmuddied and indeed enriched by a smattering of grime, ‘Find Jah Way’ has been a valued inclusion in the collections of selectors such as Peverelist, Rob Smith, as well as Superisk (whose Punch Drunk release ‘Find Your Way‘ served as the track’s inspiration). The two versions were switched to half inch tape to add analog appeal and so, as you might expect, the finished result is to be picked up on vinyl from the Tape-Echo shop.

Catch the launch of Peng Sound Records this Saturday (7.04) at the Take 5 Cafe, Bristol, where both Dubkasm and Gorgon Sound are set to perform, powered by the Roots Radical Soundsystem.

South London based Lo Note UK combine street wear and heavy-hitting, forward-thinking sounds, and their latest release will be reverberating around dancefloors over the coming weeks. 22-year-old producer Last Japan has been a familiar presence on Rinse and NTS, and his upcoming 12″ showcases a crisp, powerful production style, the polished intensity dichotomised with longing, tranquil synth melodies and atmospherics.

It’s easy to see why the producer’s sound has been tapped by the likes of Oneman, Jackmaster and Seb Chew. The release follows in a similar vein to Objekt and South London Ordance, and the sanguine notes that make up the intro are betrayed by the concentrated bassline. Jungle breaks are plentiful, the sense of unpredictability accompanying the 12″ through both tracks.

While ‘Ambush’ perhaps toes the line of its limits, ‘Tactics’ takes the format and runs away with it. Compressed and stripped back, a bouncing tempo and cold, busy percussion, it’s the clear winner out of the two. With a final, uncompromising flourish which throws laser-beam synths into the mix, ‘Tactics’ and Last Japan provide a sense of raw, unbridled power, yet manifested in pristine conditions. It’s this marriage that really makes the 12″ stand out, and should see yet more acclaim come the producers way.

You can check out clips of the release here. Ambush/Tactics is out on the 16th via Lo Note UK.

News of the return of Apollo Records started floating around a few months ago with the first release on the newly reinvigorated R&S sub-label coming from Manchester based 2-step and minimal aficionado Synkro. Wrapped up in carefully considered atmospherics he presents to us a gift of intelligent and emotive calibre that firmly places it as already one of my favourite releases of the year so far.

Title track ‘Broken Promise’ explores at first a melancholic and insightful side of the EP, setting it with a deep and dusty white-noise drumbeat that swells and progresses, soaking up waves of tranquil ambient grooves along the way. Understated and pensive piano work float above while distorted pitched vocals sets a poignant tone, culminating with tinges from strings for even more added depth. All this at the 170 range and on an accomplished Autonomic tip, it’s clear Synkro’s taking this Apollo debut very seriously.

‘Why Don’t You’ sees the tempo drop and his signature deep 2-steppy sound stripped back with emotions laid bare. Featuring Barry White bass licks, smooth 90s RnB click-snares and intimately soulful chopped up vocals, Synkro’s often precise technical arrangement this time rubs against a more raw aesthetic found in the underlying hissing cassette tape textures and inflections of those sexy distorted guitar riffs. ‘Memories Of Love’ is almost a continuation of the track before it, this time baring its heart on its sleeve with repentantly passionate vocals enveloped in warm washes of low sub and reverb, hovering ambience and looped reassuring electronic bleeps.

Final offering ‘Knowledge’ is my personal favourite on the EP, raising the tempo back up to take the listener on one last journey. A faint crackling radio transmission as if it’s a message from the far reaches of the outer cosmos plays out sparing any other sound for a minute and a half; a testament to the architecture as more than just a dance track. A tribal percussion kicks in that drives the 7 minute voyage of an uncharted alien territory, reminiscent of tablas from the Middle East drenched in atmospherics on a Scuba’s A Mutual Antipathy vibe or a Shackleton epic soundscape but with Synkro’s distinct minimalism. The hypnotically deep beat immersed in ethereal sounds evokes images of a mystical and meditative trance emphasising the Mancunion producer’s defiance of sticking to strict genre and tempo boundaries.

Synkro’s accomplished and highly versatile productions were often unfairly overshadowed with lazy Burial, Mount Kimbie and James Blake comparisons early on but with this latest alongside recent releases in the last couple of years on Brownswood, Exit and Mindset, it’s clear he’s come into his own. With a stamp of approval from R&S head honcho Renaat Vandepapeliere, support from dBridge, Gilles Peterson & Mary Anne Hobbs and a signature sound that is undoubtedly his it looks set for the prolific producer to fully cement his status on the electronic music stage and to successfully pave the way for the new generation of Apollo artists.