In The Loop : Episode 18

Episode 18 of "In The Loop" is long overdue and takes a look back at what the artists from our VA Volume 3 compilation have been upto. The compilation was a popular, eclectic, all Scottish affair.

First up is a brand new track from "...From The Benthic Zone". It's a psychedelic, trippy number laced with intelligent percussion and evolving layers of glitchy sounds and effects. There's a lot going on but it never gets too muddled.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Alpha Skies most recent offering from last month is a peculiar and interesting number. "Palomar" veers in between remnants of funk and jazz with smooth guitar licks serenading their way over a very breakbeat like structure. It's melodic, experimental electronic music in it's element.


--------------------------------------------------------------

The latest Nova Noma production is a blissed out, soothing ambient piano led piece. "Sleepyhead" starts off with a beautiful piano and some chirping birds before some well placed downtempo beats soon join the fray. Look out for a new EP/album coming later in the year.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dreamland Fantasy recently uploaded his submission for the Piano Soundboard Movie Scoring Challenge from late last year. The process was as follows "We were given a selection of short videos with the sound removed and had to compose a piano soundtrack for the one selected".
This short piece shows off the impressive piano range that Dreamland Fantasy possesses.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Warm house with a tropical flow is the name of the game on the new Night Time Bassline EP "Sanity Before Vanity". All the standard NTB elements are there, upbeat melodies, solid kicks and cosy chords. You can grab the full EP here.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The First World" from No!z has a real Eastern flavour at its core. It's another cinematic offering from the Glasgow based Spanish producer. Full of enticing sounds and developing drums.


----------------------------------------------------------------

Oco is known for downtempo gems and "Let Me Talk" falls perfectly into that category. A slow burning melodious number that picks up the pace half way through with some almost tribal beats working their way into the equation.


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Crae's output over the last 6 months has seen a solid body of work makes it way online. Off the back of his "Injection" EP release on Bricolage, comes another new thumper with a melodic spacey vibe running through out. "Magnetikz" is moody, mean, dramatic techno.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Willy continues sculpting his own brand of dark electronic music on "Jers". A powerful, no frills techno banger. There's an almost militaristic edge to the drums as they plough their way through the speakers. Hopefully there's more new sounds on the way soon from the young, Edinburgh native.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"starocean777" from Gregor Garnutsi/Upstanding Monk sees the experimentalist explore the farthest reaches of the galaxy and he's invited you along for the ride. A pulsing beat amid an array of cosmic sounds soon gives way to an ambient implosion. An intriguing composition to say the least.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the subject of intriguing compositions......the undefinable Swedgy Bliker returned late last year with the demented "DIC". A melting pot of off beat electronics that never sits still. It'll either puzzle your brain or make it dance. Both are positive!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leit Motif released his "Till We Have Faces" EP on Bricolage last November. It was three all out analogue ambient creations. His newest offering is a bubbly electronic effort that sees him come together with Bricolage founder Fragile X on "A-maireach bi e nas fhearr" which translates as "Tomorrow Will Be Better" in Scottish Gaelic. It's a slightly melancholic yet optimistic number that grows and grows into a melodic outpouring before fading out to nothing.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Replicators latest venture is "Skin Tight" where he puts his smooth word play over the top of the "CVRL" track of the same name. It's unconventional hip hop with a distinctive ambient under current.


---------------------------------------------------

You can grab your copy of VA Vol 3 (featuring all of the above artists) over at our bandcamp site or from the embed below

In The Loop: Episode 12

Episode 12 of "In The Loop" takes a look back at what some of the artists from the Bricolage Volume 3 compilation have been upto.

1. ...From The Benthic Zone

Two new tracks of laid back, fizzled, electronics and glitchy drums have appeared on FTBZ soundcloud account. Check out 'New Tan 2.0' and 'Pisa Stub' below.




----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Alpha Skies

In the weeks before our Volume 3, Alpha Skies, uploaded "Colours. A heavy and steady beat interwined with computer game sounds and melodies.



The video for his track "Evergreen Morning" was also recently uploaded to our YouTube channel. It's a relaxing visual interpretation of a remarkably soothing track. Computer error codes mixed with some swirling colours, sunshine and ambient nature scenes.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Nova Noma

Nova Noma has been busy over the last month. 3 tremendous new tracks have surfaced. The first "Atlas" is a short cinematic interlude of sorts. Then there's "Subconscious Impulse", a chilled effort with a hip hop style backbone. Lastly, "Highrise", a slightly more energetic track than what we're used to from Nova Noma. Sweeping synths are still there but the beat is that little bit more biting.






------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Dreamland Fantasy

"Prelude To The Dream" is a short instrumental piece that was originally intended as an intro to the track "The Mermaids Reverie" which was the DF contribution to Bricolage Volume 3. The intro was discarded from the final version but Francis has stated that he may elaborate on this exquisite 15 seconds one day.



"Catch Ones Heart" is a blissed out piece of electronica and piano that is dedicated to his wife.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Night Time Bassline

"Binary Butterfly" was full of nostalgic vibes and influences. There's two new tracks on the NTB page that follow that recipe. "Stay For The Summer" sounds exactly what you think it'll sound like. Modern house elements infused with an old school disco style. The result is a warm vibrant track perfect for the incoming summer nights.



"Paradise" is the most recent upload and is the more laid back of the two tracks. It moves along at a slower pace but is still full of those appealing signature NTB sounds.


------------------------------------------------------

6. No!z

There's been a plethora of new uploads over on the No!z soundcloud page recently. We've shared a few below. The cinematic "No!z" style and expansive sound are all at the core. The music on show is electronica for the thinking man. Carefully produced and detailed.






-----------------------------------------------------------------

7. Oco

The sun was shining bright in Glasgow all last week and Oco got in the mood by producing a short half an hour mix of chilled out and soulful RnB and hip hop.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

BRICOLAGE: VA: VOLUME 3 (bc011)

Volumes 1 and 2 of our various artists compilations spanned all corners of the globe and provided some fantastic sounds. For Volume 3 we've stayed closer to home and delivered a substantial range of tracks that are all products of Scotland. In sticking with the theme of the previous compilations, the sounds are as eclectic as ever. It starts off with some excellent bleepy electronica before morphing into chilled out and upbeat dreamlike stuff. There's some house and techno after that followed by a few experimental tracks before finishing on a superb ambient number and a spoken word piece. 

It's a showcase of just some of the amazing artists and creativity that thrives up and down the country. 





Huge thanks go to everyone who contributed and made the release possible. 

The album is "pay what you want" or free download above or at our bandcamp with any and all profits going towards potential future physical releases and live shows.

Introducing The Collective 30 - 32

Tonight we continue the introductions to the artists on our forthcoming release compilation. An all Scottish based effort out a week from now.

30. No!z



Nono Movida is a Spanish producer living in Glasgow. His background is steeped in the visual side of arts. He's worked for many years as a VJ for various different DJs and groups and the cinematic influence that he leans on shines through in his music which almost always has a grandiose, soundtrack type, feel to it. Nono first started playing the piano at age 10 but originally wasn't intent on learning too much about it. His younger days would mainly be spent trying to imitate music from his favourite films, with the work of Alan Parsons in particular being a big favourite. Soon though, Nono gained the desire to try and create his own music and in recent years has started using Ableton and Reason to further his repertoire and explore more expansive sounds.

No!z (Soundcloud)

No!z (Vimeo)

No!z (Myspace)

No!z (Moviola)
--------------------------------------------------------------------

31. Replicator



Replicator is the alias of, Paul Wardrop, a Glaswegian emcee/spoken word artist and music producer. He sees his music as a way to facilitate making overt political statements whilst passing it off as entertainment. It's a clever way of working from a man who clearly has a good way of thinking and a unique way with words. Glasgow has always had a big influence on his output and in the words of Replicator himself...

"It's also very influenced by the local artistic community of Glasgow, being in and around a culture of people openly sharing opinions and ideas tends to infuse itself into the lyrics in a way that feels very authentic and less pretentious, i do this to give back inspiration to those who have inspired me.... and the irony of the fact that sounded pretentious is not lost on me"

Replicator also makes up 1/3 of Glasgow based hip-hop group Futurology. A trio definitely worth checking out.

Replicator (Soundcloud)

Replicator (Twitter)

Futurology (Bandcamp)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

32. Willy



Lewis Williamson AKA Willy, is a young, and very talented, electronic producer from Edinburgh. He has a knack for crafting together some powerful sounding techno rhythms that come complimented by a more abstract and experimental edge where the melodies are concerned. It creates a unique pallette of sounds. It's a fantastic combination and it's a big sound for someone so young. Lewis is dedicated to making his music so much that he reckons he is putting his future at risk by prioritising his beat making ahead of his studies. Techno always wins in the end if you ask me.

Willy (Soundcloud)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------