©SHAUN BLOODWORTH 2011
Of all the potential candidates for a Ten Tracks feature, Brackles easily ranked within our own top ten targets. Before the success and recognition earned through his productions, with releases on Rinse, Apple Pips, Planet Mu, Brainmath and his own Blunted Robots label, he was and is a DJ and selectah of incredible talent. His approach to a mix is similar to Oneman’s, with sets exploring the links between the classic and the contemporary. On a purely old school tip, his 2009 two part garage mix is a thing of rare beauty (check it here and here).
His own productions also showcase the benefits of a drawing from a plethora of influences, with debut effort Get A Job proving an energetic and unforgettable take on the UKG format and a solid introduction to one of the first UK producers to fuse UK Funky sounds to grittier and bassier foundations.
As with all our Ten Tracks, his list provides a couple of surprises, some straight bangers and a good insight into what made Brackles who he is today.
Enjoy, and big up to Brackles!
Roska – Feeline VIP
First UK funky tune I bought. Completely different drums to anything at the time, didn’t know it was possible to put whistles in a tune and make it work!
Kode 9 – Kingstown
Gotta be my favourite Kode 9 track, had some 2steppy/breaky dubstep bits before this but this was the first proper dubstep track I bought. Would go so far as to say this is the best half step tune ever.
Prince – The Ballard of Dorothy Parker
The perfect chord progression?
Joni Mitchell – All I Want
Probably not an obvious influence on my production but I’ve listened to this album so many times it must have rubbed off somehow..
Mr Fingerz – Starz
This one makes a bit more sense than Joni! One of my favourite Arp tunes, can just get completely lost in it.
Horsepower Productions – Rudeboyz
Love how detailed the Horsepower beats are, there’s always strange FX and great sampling keeping things interesting and the drums have this incredible swagger.
Youngstar – Bongo
This was when grime properly became grime for me. I’d still say Dilemma or Pulse X is the first grime track but they still fitted in with 2 step. At the time this was the rawest track I’d ever heard and sounded like nothing else.
Quas – Bartender Say
Came to this track through hearing it sampled on the second Quas album. Just love how over the top the melodies are on this, it borders on slight madness. Probably a direct influence on LHC and 6am El Gordos.
The Messenger – Guide My Soul (Todd Edward Remix)
My Todd Edwards tune of choice for 8 am when still buzzing after a rave.
Romina Johnson – Moving Too Fast
I wish I could list a super obscure dem2 or Steve Gurley 2step record as my garage influence but stuff like this, I Don’t Smoke and Bound For Da Reload were the first garage records I really got into. When I hear that intro it immediately brings back memories of Nokia 3210s and Smirnoff Ice.
Find Brackles on
Holla naomi@elasticartists.net for bookings.
