Twin remix albums from Tundra Dubs

As a stroke of good fortune (and good nature), Tundra Dubs have released two fantastickal free remix albums within a short space of time of one another, for free, within spitting distance of their 1 year birthday (and subsequent party). The albums in question are remix albums of two “Tundra Classics” (as they may well be called, so seminal are they in the witch house scene these days): FUNERALS' debut EP “MARAE” and ▲AIMON's “Amen”.

On the FUNERALS remix album, each track has been transformed by the likes of Goteki, VS//YOUTHCLUB, kkoee, Ritualz and ▲AIMON into a glimmering dance classic. By each, I really mean just that – there is not one single track on this album that falls short of amazing. You can fill and bomb dark electro dancefloors across the world by simply pressing play.

The album pushes the individual songs to their limits in exactly the way remixes should do, and each remix shows a different element maximized. In my humble opinion, it even bests the original EP by FUNERALS, released earlier this year.

Standout tracks: “OUT THERE” (▲AIMON remix), MARAE (Goteki Remix)

The ▲AIMON on the other hand, features what can only be regarded as the who's who of Witch House taking the reins, going to work on the original dark masterpiece of an EP. I'm going to start by saying I'm biased as all hell on this one. For a start, I adore the source material – it's a regular on my daily listening regime. Furthermore, remix duties were then handed over to roughly half of my favourite artists in the scene. SKELETONKIDS, I††, ▲NDRAS, BL▲CK CEILING, Ceremonial Dagger, Vortex Rikers, UNISON, powwowW, SCYTHE, MARA5, RΛIN... It's a long and spectacular list. So yeah, biased, to say the least.

Much like the originals, the album is altogether twilight music – the sublime edge of darkness. The main difference is that, much like the FUNERALS remix album, each track is expanded on. In this case most of the tracks are deconstructed, added to, reformed, mutated and occasionally transformed completely. From I††'s characteristic abstracted and textural molding of “PURE,” to SKELETONKIDS shimmery and achingly beautiful re-imagining of “AMEN,” a full spectrum is explored. All manners of darkness considered for entry...

In one sense – and where it differs in totality to it's dancier counterpart released only weeks before – this album is like brief glances into each padded cell of 70's-style asylum for the mentally deranged. Each one is twisted as fuck, totally self-involved and inward looking, unique, and interesting. Some sit to one side and babble about how the sun makes them see pretty spots while urinating themselves, whereas others, regardless of the amount of medication, will happily slice your face off within a moments' contact and happily feed it to you, with or without the use of your own teeth.

What? I said nothing, nothing at all. It really is a fantastic remix album, is all.

Standout tracks (please don't make me choose): “EXU REI” (Preteen Pornstar rmx), “EXU REI” (Haunted by UNISON), “PURE” (I†† remix), “AMEN” (SKELETONKIDS remix), ○+☆≋□ (powwowW remix)

- Bunny

Tash Willmore - These Eyes - A REVIEW -

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is famous for its excellent music-scene from which Mr. Willmore is an emerging star.
Surströmming is another famous product of the Scandanavian country; a fermented herring dish which omits an overwhelming putrid stink. The music created by this talented Swede, on the other hand, does NOT release noxious fumes but does in fact give off a glowing neon-gust which jumps into your ear canals, onto the boat of booming bass and floats to your core. It really does hit the spot.
Even though it is clearly apparent that he does not feel it is necessary to be categorised into or restricted by genres, Willmore moves in Witch House circles and the influence is evident in These Eyes. An underrated gem-of-a-track for which he has (perhaps subconsciously) taken all of the best elements of the aforementioned genre and amalgamated them with his own fresh touches to form a wonderous creation; providing a catalyst for a new generation of ravers.
Gone are the days of making witchy music in the cocooned-confines of bedrooms and keeping it there to stagnate. It's time to take it to the dance floor!
All the elements needed to make for an ideal freakout in a sweaty club are present; driving beats, soaring synths, a high danceability factor and euphoric build-ups. 

Listen. Embrace. Liberate. Invoke the neon spirit within.

This track can be found on the following E.P (available as a FREE DOWNLOAD) .... http://auralsects.bandcamp.com/album/invocation-of-the-neon-spirits



- Fire Coral

OPTIMUS PROM (self-titled album released on Tundra Dubs, 2011)

                   

For me Optimus Prom sounds like what would happen if you broke into your local arcade after hours and turned that sucker into a full-on bumpin' house party. 808's bang hard while Mrs. Pac-Man sparks and glitches in the distance drenched in PBR. With refined, dancish beats and ghoulish vocal samples this release is bordering constantly between pop-experimentation and respectable party music, and never comes off as pretentious by fault of favoritism. Personal fav on here 'Axe Party' sounds like the cool kids got a hold of the Devry Technical Institute music and made it into a postmodern anthem, complete with ghoulish bass that crawls up your spine and synths that say boOoOO and blow blunt hits in your face. So many great moods here all done up to perfection, this is one to check out for sure. Totally blissed-out with a little something for everyone these vibes are almost like a microcosm of the future of independent music. Released via Tundra Dubs you can pick it up here http://tundradub.bandcamp.com/album/optimus-prom in your choice of limited CD-R or digital download at a very fair price. Tundra is nothing but quality, cutting-edge tunes - check out their other releases. SO LEGIT ♥

- spf5Ø

WH LNDN 30/09/2011

So... I attended my first ever IRL Witch House gathering this past weekend. Where else other than London? The second ever Witch House London night began quietly, as all the best ones do... and kicked off by Aural Sects' first ever physical release - a compilation CD of tracks that can mostly be found online (although a new version of one of my own tracks). The DJ's proved their mettle by getting the dancefloor moving practically from the start, and before too long the first act stepped up to the plate...

Transcoda are a London based musical collective, based around using hardware in creative ways. Interesting bits of kit used in their set: a drill hooked up as a midi controller for pink noise, a baby doll that the drill went into at the height of the performance, and a variable-speed strobe light used as a midi controller for the kick drums and occasionally the full drum loop. Needless to say it was a spectacle – combined with a custom vid of said baby doll floating mid-air and one member of the duo alternately whispering and shouting through a vocoder they certainly made an impression. The sound arena was more towards avant-electronica/industrial than witch house though.

Which of course cannot be said for WIK▲N. With only a minimal setup of laptop, midi keys and a mixer, he managed to create beautiful walls of melodic noise. There was a mixture of old familiar tunes that were majorly altered and new tracks, which are due out in the next month or so. The highlight of the set was undoubtedly new single “Gucci Bitches” (see video below), which goes deeper into the hip-hop culture side of witch house than WIK▲N has explored before. The crowd were amazing, throwing triangles up in the air and cheering whenever there was a pause - it turns out witch haus is much appreciated after all. The only (minor) drawback to the gig was the fact that the venue didn't have subwoofers so much of the powerful bass of the tracks was left out.

Sebastian's set of bangers (his word of choice) was fantastic, and the night closed with Isaac of CRIM3S spinning a set of dank dubstep, which went down well in spite of the genre change. Fucking stormer of a gig and night, and certainly a good intro to what offline Witch House is like... ROLL ON THE NEXT ONE BIATCHES!

-Bunny