Pyongyang City Sessions

The Autonomic podcasts changed a lot of things for me musically.  Not only did it entreat me to look back at older music, as Joe Synkro did, it also brought to my attention a whole roster of artists previously unknown to me.  Of those, James Clements AKA ASC has been surprising and delighting me since I first heard ‘Porcelain’ on Nonplus.

Obviously, he has been creating music for a great deal longer than I had been aware of him, and has had regular releases on a slew of noted Drum and Bass labels since 1999.

With his more recent releases on Nonplus and Pushing Red he has fully embodied the bizarre feelings the Autonomic sound can often evoke, those that arise when music both references the past while looking firmly into the future of emotive, conceptual music.  With the past in mind, we thought it fitting to ask ASC to put together our second Ten Tracks, and to his credit he replied almost instantly and had the finished piece in my inbox not 24 hours later.  Enjoy.

01 – 808 State – Sunrise

A seminal piece of electronic music from 1989.  808 State were the first artists I heard doing instrumental electronic music back in the day, and it blew my mind.  I heard the now classic Pacific first, which led me to buy the LP, 90, from which this track is taken.  It still sounds better than most tunes produced today.

02 – The Art Of Noise – Instruments Of Darkness (The Prodigy Remix)

Another tune from yesteryear.  I think this was from 1991, possibly 1992?  Anyway, once I was hooked into dance music, I used to tape an old program on ITV called BPM.  I’m sure a few people who read this remember it!  Anyway, this same video was featured on that show and was one of my fave early hardcore/rave tunes to this day.

03 – Ulrich Schnauss – Molfsee

Ahh, Ulrich.  The guy is a genius.  He has a knack of creating the most smoothing melodies and his arrangements are always great.  My good friend Heath, who runs Warm Communications, told me about Ulrich many years back and I’m glad he did, as he’s become one of my fave artists of all time.

04 – Deepchord presents Echospace – Sunset

These two guys…  I don’t even know where to start.  Supremely talented in the art of sound design and field recordings, their dub techno and soundscape opus The Coldest Season was a massive inspiration for me.  It even caused me to start writing techno.  In the past I’d only listened to it casually, but after hearing this I was sold completely.  I had to do my own take on the sound.  I guess that’s an indication of when something is so good that it gets you hooked.

05 – FSOL – Cascade

Electronic music’s finest pioneers.  Groundbreaking abstract ambient IDM whatever you want to label it.  Their videos were equally as good as the music too.  Again, so many great tracks, but this was the one that really got my hooked on Lifeforms, the LP it’s from.  Breathtaking productions and the ideas are just amazing.

06 – Seba & Lo-Tek – So Long

Probably my fave d&b tune ever, although it kinda vassilates between this and Future Bound – Sorrow.  Right now though, I’m gonna say So Long.  First heard this on a Bukem essential mix for Radio 1 and it was one of those defining moments for me musically.  Showed everyone the beauty and elegance of higher bpm music.

07 – Acen – Obsessed II (Pictures Of Silence)

This was the first piece of vinyl I bought – well, the first piece when I started DJ’ing.  I bought it for the A side, with it being a big tune at the time, but fell in love with this track.  Heavy breaks, pitched up vocals, atmospheric keys and bleeps.  It was everything I loved about underground music at the time.  I couldn’t get enough, and still can’t!

08 – Slowdive – Catch The Breeze

I’m a massive fan of indie bands and shoegaze in particular, so it’s probably no surprise to know that Slowdive are my fave band of all time.  There’s not many tracks by them that I don’t like, and it’s a lot harder picking one track out of a whole back catalogue of gems.  I’ve chosen this one though, as it’s got that reverby ethereal-ness to it, which is something that has always been in my music since day one.

09 – Cocteau Twins – The High Monkey Monk

Again, a tough one.  Probably picked for the same reason as the Slowdive tune, and again, it was so hard to pick from a band who’s catalogue spans nearly 2 decades or so.  I chose this one in particular, as some of my older fans will recognise the beat from the intro of this.

10 – Omni Trio – Rollin’ Heights

Another fave from 1994, or 1995?  It’s funny, when I listen to it now, it’s quite primitive in it’s structure, but those pads and strings get me every time.  That whole Vol 4 EP was amazing and was one of the records that made me want to do my own thing.

Huge thanks to ASC for doing this, his track ‘Modular Concepts’ features on the Exit Records compilation Mosaic, out at the end of the month.