Starkey Live@ Various 4.11.09

I've been a fan of Starkey since the "Grim FM" compilation, at the beginning of the dubstep movement which proposed at the time a different approach, much more experimental and tweaked than everything else released in those early years and still sounds highly enjoyable and fresh today.
I was pretty disappointed with his first album "Experimental Exhibits" though, which focused on more classic and banging tracks, unfortunatelly too monotonous for my own taste. And lacking something maybe, although i couldn't say what it is.

Everything changed while listening to a liveset originated from this album, this time tracks blend perfectly together, and it sounds like an uninterrupted flow of awesomeness kicking you in the butt and chiming the bell of party. Dubsteppa suit up, bro !


Starkey Live@ Various 4.11.09 download on PDXInDub

Utku Dalmaz - Milky Way

Turkey ain't only knocking on European Union's door... It's been a few years now that some of its inhabitants also rock the techno and house floors. Utku Dalmaz is one of them.

I noticed him last year, when he had a few mp3-releases issued on Istanbul-based labels such as Bosphorus Underground or M-Vitamine... At the time, he was weel inspired at doing minimal joints and you could already notice his great potential...

One year later, the young guy created his own label, Sound Mass Recordings and now provides us with a long play; it shows a little change compared to the '08 EP's. There's more groove into his music, indeed. It sounds deeper, more housey, with a bit more soul and with kind of a sunny and lazy atmosphere...

'Milky Way' hovers around that genre but still covers a pretty large spectrum, from tech-house to micro-house or something more classic. His beats always spot-on and fine-cut, he delivers thumping basslines, plays with samples with wisdom and let's the groove slowly settle down... The recipe seems simple but Utku Dalmaz is a chef. I already delighted in having some of it pretty much every day since the album came out a few weeks ago... That fits the summer perfectly and I seriously think you guys should get a few slices asap.

Utku Dalmaz - Milky Way by Sound Mass Records

Few Nolder - New Folder

Somewhere in a utopian present the size of a pinhead at the deep center of a black hole this is a world known slogan : "Trust Planet Mu to bring you the perfect mix of idm techno and dubstep". People actually get bored with it when they hear it for the 30st of the day on the radio.

Well in our world it's not, it's just the only catchphrase i came up with for this post. I need to improve on that !

Anyway, "New Folder" is the first album of lituanian relative new comer Few Nolder. As it is often the case on Planet Mu, it's not an album stuck in a specific musical category, landing somewhere between electro, idm, techno and dubstep and borrowing from every one of this styles.

Mood and pace aren't straigth-line either : Melodies get tangled into deep basslines and sharp rhythms while you try to dance through it and you can't help but smile at the beautiful glint of the sun on the knife leaning on your jugular.

Except for that strange eastern european dance track which is a bit ill-assorted with the rest of the album, "New Folder" manages to be perfect record from end to end.

Few Nolder's Myspace

His lives seem pretty explosives, too :