Drum & Bass Legend Dylan Makes First Boston Appearance in Years, 7.14.11

British-by-way-of Philadelphia producer/DJ Dylan, one of the pioneers behind some of the darkest, most abrasive drum and bass in existence, is making an appearance at the Phoenix Landing for tonight’s installment of Elements. I believe his last appearance in our neck of the woods was in 2006, and if the pattern holds water, who knows when the next time we’ll get a chance to check him out in the convenience of our own backyards.

But get this: he will be playing a vintage, old school set! In his own words:

“Hmm expect me obviously, the whole no u turn crew, dillinja, source direct, photek, Danny breaks, lemon d, j majik, blah blah…..plenty of not so obvious tracks too, a few obvious ofcourse but I want to bring out some tracks that need to be heard! So yessss gonna be a good time! Get the old heads back out!” 

Sounds good enough for me.

Phoenix Landing, 512 Mass Ave, Cambridge. 19+, 10pm-2am. Cover: $7 | Facebook event page 

Drum & Bass and Hip-Hop Producer Adam F Plays Elements, 12.16.10

Adam F is a legend in the drum and bass scene; in fact he was one of the first to branch out beyond the genre in the 1990s to work with a variety of American hip hop producers, including LL Cool J, Method Man, and Redman. His best known work, including “Circles” and “Brand New Funk”, are records that collect dust in very few a DJ’s record collection. 

He touches down at Elements tonight. (Phoenix Landing, 512 Mass Ave, Cambridge). First set in Boston in about two years if I can recall correctly. Expect to hear a variety of forthcoming music on his label, Breakbeat Kaos. He continues to be a tastemaker within the genre today…and I’m morbidly curious if he’s going to drop some dubstep? (If he doesn’t, he will be one of the FEW mainstream dnb cats not toying with it at least a little)

A couple of his lesser known tracks above: “Music In My Mind” was the very first song I ever heard from Adam F. His colors album was distributed on Astralwerks in the US, and heard clips of it while browsing their site in ‘97 by accident while trying to find out more info about U-Ziq. Mother Earth is a fantastic downtempo/ 140bpm piece he did, complete with rhodes and jazz licks, that originally came out on Goldie’s label Metalheadz in 1996. And, to cap things off, a classic Redman joint that Adam produced and wrote the beats for.

“Adam f is one of the most blazing producers out there..he’s official.” -LL COOL J

19+, 10pm-2am, Residents: Crook & Lenore, Visuals by VJ Bonk, $10 Cover.

The B Is Back! John B Plays Elements, This Thursday, 10.14.10

I’m a little bummed that this will be the SECOND time I’ll be out of town and unable to catch John B touch down at Elements, but he’ll keep the floor jumping regardless. In case you’re unaware, John recently signed local drum and bass producers Terravita to his label, Beta Recordings! Look out for tracks from them soon there, along with plenty of top quality business from Xilent and Camo/Crooked. 

In the tradition of other John B posts I’ve done here, I’m posting a mix of some of his recent work, followed by a video of Double J one of his early/lesser known/forgotten pieces from years past…strictly for the drum and bass heads!

John B Podcast 070: September 2009 ElectroTechno Studio Mix by JohnB

19+, 10pm-2am
Residents: Crook & Lenore
Visuals by VJ Bonk

Rising Local Drum & Bass Producers The Statesmen @ Elements, 3.11.10

Be sure to check out The Statesmen at Elements tonight if you’re into hearing some fresh talent right from our own backyard! With a steady gig schedule as of recently, Shawn and Dave Assembler (not pictured) know how to deliver behind a set of turntables and Traktor, playing a variety of fresh liquidfunk as well as jump-up tracks by themselves as well as the likes of Sinistarr, Spectrasoul, SPY, Cabbie, and others. 

Also check out a mix by Basek below as well as a few of their originals via Soundcloud:

Reset From Start Promo Mix 03/01/2010 by Reset From Start

1. Survival-Wasted Time 
2. Ed Oberon-Reckoning 
3. Survival-Secrets 
4. Mindmapper-Keep it Runnin 
5. S.P.Y and Jubei-Project 1 
6. S.P.Y-Slum Dub 
7. Spinline-Radioactive 
8. Friction and K Tee-Overtime (Spectrasoul rmx) 
9. S.P.Y-Dark Age 
10. Subterra-Bonsai Run 
11. Dabs and Wrath-Who’s Gunna Lead 
12. Sinistarr-Native 
13. Spectrasoul-Guardian 
14. Spectrasoul-Bygones 
15. BAL-Out There 
16. Q Project-Move On 
17. Marky and S.P.Y-FangFace 
18. Noisia and Phace-Floating Zero 
19. Spectrasoul-4 Points 
20.Sinistarr-734

The Statesmen - That Track by The Statesmen

The Statesmen - Never On Sunday by The Statesmen

Drum & Bass Heads! Elements November/December '09 Lineup

You know the drill people! Closing in on 11 years of drum and bass music each thursday at the Phoenix Landing, Lenore and Crook have some good stuff in store to finish 2009 off on a high note.

Despite their dedication on their Hot Pink Delorean project, the Terravita guys still MAKE time to work on drum and bass, their tunes sounding better than ever before (especially that new joint Loud And Proud; can’t wait to hear that on a good system!) and are going to kill it this thursday just like always.

Xample is also one of the best jump-up producers at the moment, releasing dancefloor-based tracks left and right on Ram and Frequency. To the producers out there, I highly recommend the tutorials he made with Lomax for Computer Music Monthly this past summer, check out the youtube video below for the first part!

Oklahoma City producer Subsonik will be making his debut trip to Boston in December; he’s been well known for his fusion of trance and drum and bass music on labels such as Sudden Def, Cymbalism, and Beta. He also runs the label Subsonik Sound, have a listen to one of his own tunes on the imprint below.

DJ Fresh (of Bad Company UK fame) is also making his Elements debut! Still running the Breakbeat Kaos label and producing himself, he’s had a big hand in helping newer talent such as the Brookes Brothers and Furlonge get a bit of recognition over the course of the past year. He’s responsible for two of the biggest drum and bass releases this year: the vocal “Hypercaine” on his own imprint, along with the classic 1990s jungle-tinged Fantasia/Heavyweights 12” on Digital Soundboy. Should be a pre-holiday set!

Elements- Lineup for September

September is just around the corner, the college kids are returning to school, the beaches have emptied out yet the water is still warm…and the Phoenix Landing will surely be packed on Thursdays! Here’s the confirmed September lineup- I was wondering if producer Klute of Commercial Suicide fame was going to play out here this year, he’s played at Elements every year since I’ve lived out here, 2009 now being no exception. Oh yeah, Caustic makes his return from the left coast. He hasn’t played here since he originally moved away in 2006- another reason for celebration (bitches)!

August 27 Dip Vertigo (Bass Dynasty, Timeless, Maximum Moves)

03 Caustic ~ Welcome Home Party! (Soundbox) Boston

10 C.A.B.L.E. aka Damage Inc. (CIA, Innerground) Brazil

C.A.B.L.E. - Another Bottle mix

01 - C.A.B.L.E. - Against the Wall (Mac II)
02 - Insight - Hold On (Digital SoundBoy)
03 - Phobia & Jubei - Overdub (dub)
04 - C.A.B.L.E. - Get Off (dub)
05 - Johnny L - Harry (Mr L)
06 - Gridlock - Snap the Whip (CIA)
07 - C.A.B.L.E. - Alternative (CIA)
08 - Icicle & Nymfo - Franky Montain (Ram)
09 - Zero T - Angel Heart (CIA)
10 - Break - Submerged (Calyx & Teebee rmx) (Subtitles)
11 - Noisia - Cannonball (Vision)
>>> Verse & SP - Surrender (Crunch)
12 - S.P.Y - New Beginning (Critical)
13 - C.A.B.L.E. - Individual (Innerground)
14 - Spor - Resolute (Subtitles)
15 - Task Horizon - Diabolism (dub)
16 - Concord Dawn & Bulletproof - Datura (Cyanide)
17 - C.A.B.L.E. - Gods Basement (dub)

17 Residents: Crook & Lenore

24 Klute (Commercial Suicide) UK

 


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John B @ Elements- Pics uploaded!

Better late than never!!

John B- Elements- 7.30.09 

Concord Dawn touches down at Elements this thursday, 7.2.09

Concord Dawn will be playing at Elements at the Phoenix Landing in Cambridge tomorrow night! If you're a drum and bass fan you obviously need no explanation as to who this duo is, but to those not familiar with them, they're from New Zealand and have been making music for about a decade. They released two LP's (self titled and Disturbance) in their homeland as they toured locally and slowly built a fanbase who were attracted to their unique signature sound. Strangely enough, they incorporated a good amount of heavy metal guitar licks as well as trance synths in their music, and somehow they made it work. Really well! 

In 2002 they released Morning Light, and the following year, they (along with Pendulum) proved to the entire world that there was more to drum and bass music than just the U.K. In retrospect, I think Concord Dawn was one of the groups that really opened up the doors to producers throughout the world to get noticed and spread awareness.

Concord Dawn plays elements once a year. I've seen them every installment here since 2005, and their sets are always incredible and filled with energy. Elements resident M-Doc, who moved away many years ago, is also making the trip back to visit and will be opening!

Check out some of CD's videos below. My favorite song of theirs, Say Your Words, I (strangely enough) couldn't find on youtube, so I did the honors and recorded it myself! Also, below that, check out one of their earliest tracks which you may have never heard before: Guardian Angel, from their sophomore LP. 



 

Elements drum & bass @ Phoenix Landing: March/April flyer/lineup

March 5: Redshift
March 12: Damian Silva
March 19: Crook & Lenore
March 26: Subfocus
April 2: Stereolith (aka Fantastadon!)
April 9: Edward Oberon
April 16: Ross Tiefenthaler
April 23: Total Science
April 30: Crook & Lenore 

Elements @ The Phoenix Landing, March '09 lineup

March lineup for Elements announced, flyer as well as April lineup to come shortly!

March 05 Redshift (Fluid, 413dnb, MIA) MA

March 12 Damian Silva (Soundbox Presents, Bassic) Boston



March 19 Residents: Crook & Lenore

March 26 Sub Focus (RAM Recordings) UK