Nerve Recordings » downtempo

I first discovered NJC’s work through his “Feelz Good” track on L Plates, I played the tune to death, got in touch and we did the tune swapping thing for a good few years, again and again he delivered dancefloor smasher after smasher (“Lose It” on Function was another big fave) and was a big feature of my sets for many years. He’s been off working in other genre’s for the past coupla years (explained further below) but now he’s back with an album of unreleased tunes now available on iTunes and he’s kindly given us this 14 track album of brilliant drum n bass, downtempo, dubstep and electronica as a wee taster for it!

Some linear notes if you will….

All of the music from the NJC Xmas Xtras are tracks that have been produced over the last 8 years by Nat Clarkson. Some of them have been made in the last 3 years and have slipped the net whilst Nat has been producing with bands and new artists. You may remember some of the DnB tracks as they were floating around during 2003/2005. Tracks like Hub Dole and Stand and Deliver were made with UK band The Marvelous whilst Nat was producing their debut album during 2007. Nat says “It was a nice break to explore the different sounds of live music along with dance production, we had fun making the tracks and thats important”. Nat was asked to do a remix of the National Anthem which is the last track in the downloads – this was a joke really but worth sharing with everyone…

NJC is currently working on new DnB for release in 2010 and also co-runs Ambiel Music with Gordon Mulrain and Dance Regime with Chris Grabiec which are 2 independent labels. Ambiel Music is geared towards bands, solo acts, experimental and non-hard dance music. Dance Regime is geared towards harder dance and electronic music. These labels are still under development.

To tie in with this free download NJC has put out an album of unreleased DnB tracks from 2003-2005, now available at iTunes.

NJC online:

NJC – official site
NJC on Myspace
NJC on Youtube
NJC on Facebook
NJC on Twitter

Nerve Breaks 015 – Jammin J – Fall (inc. Secret Society & Error Response rmxs)

Paul Reset — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:50:37 +0000

Cat No: NB015
Artist: Jammin J
Released: November 15th 2009

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

1: “Fall”

2: “Fall (Secret Society rmx)”

2: “Fall (Error Response rmx)”

Paul Reset’s notes:

For the 15th release on Nerve Breaks, we’re switching up the styles again! Edinburgh’s Jammin J delivers “Fall” – a chunky amen number coming in at 150BPM. The tough beats are overlayed with smooth jazz licks and keys and some bowel troubling sub bass sure to fill the floor. As part of Edinburgh’s “Riddim Tuffa” collective you can catch him playing dubstep, breaks and drum n bass across Scotland.

On the remix tip, first up we have the kings of J-Tek – Secret Society. They’ve removed the jazz factor and upped the darkness with this, a track that meets somewhere in the middle between house and old skool jungle tekno – brilliant stuff!! They’ve also put together a crackin J-Tek and DnB mix exclusively for us so make sure to get that on the Mp3 player and in the ears.

Secondly, we’ve got Glasgow producer Error Response on remix duties. His “Zen” album impressed us so much that we were desperate to have some of his works on Nerve Breaks and he hasn’t let us down with this remix! Lovely downtempo bizness is the order of the day here.

Further info:

Jammin J on Myspace
Secret Society on Myspace
Error Response on Myspace

Nerve Breaks 013 – Diazepam – The Departure EP

Paul Reset — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:21:34 +0000

Cat No: NB013
Artist: Diazepam
Released: September 26th 2009

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

Paul Reset’s notes:

I stumbled across “Departure” on Diazepam’s Soundcloud page and it literally blew me away – an absolutely beautiful slice of downtempo beats with slick production and an epic feel. I dropped Diazepam a message and after hearing more of his material, knew I had to get some of his work signed up for Nerve Breaks!

Each of the tracks stand alone as beautiful pieces of music, with the tempo reaching as high as 170 on “Distances” without losing any of the space and atmosphere, but I highly recommend listening to the EP from start to finish to get the full experience. I think the tracks sound like a meeting of minds between Max Richter and Burial and the production is on a par with both of those amazing producers.

Diazepam is a 19 year old Parisian and this is his debut release, I’m extremely proud to have him on-board and hope we’ll see much more from him in the future!
Find out more about him on his Myspace page.

Diazepam’s notes:

I’ve been making tunes for about 2 years now. I don’t really belong to a specific style, and my productions simply reflects my desire to blend acoustic instruments and minimal electronic atmospheres. Also, I would like to personally thank Paul for believing in me and letting me release my debut EP! Enjoy !

Nerve Breaks 012 – Phuturelabs – Norwegian Resistance Movement EP

Paul Reset — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:54:37 +0000

Cat No: NB012
Artist: Phuturelabs
Released: 2009

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

1: The Herd

2: Foregone

3: Childhood

4: What’s Behind Door 23…

Paul Reset’s notes:

After Basepair’s EP on NB010 featuring tracks from his archive between 1998 and 2001, we decided we’d go back in time once again and resurrect these tracks from the Phuturelabs archive.

Phuturelabs was a collaborative project between myself and Scott English AKA The Noisy Minority. We made our debut with “Code 420″ on NB004 and worked on these tracks around the same time in 2000-2001 also.

“The Herd” is a moody downtempo breaks track featuring an inspiring sample from the legend that is Bill Hicks. The other three tracks take things down a darker route with the beatless “Foregone” leading the way. It’s moody ambience and evil drones throw a dark atmosphere over the EP while “Childhood” is erm..a tad strange even by our standards. Nothing really to say other than give it a listen.

“What’s Behind Door 23″ closes the EP and it’s more dark downtempo breaks. I was never really sure about the flute in this but I love the muffled drums and glass smash samples so we decided to have this on the EP.

We always talked about working on more Phuturelabs material but never got round to it, the darkness may yet return!

Nerve Breaks 011 – The Figures Of The Lost Dawn – The Mullen Cholly EP

Paul Reset — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:15:49 +0000

(image copyright Trey Ratcliffe – Stuck in Customs)

Cat No: NB011
Artist: The Figures Of The Lost Dawn
Released: 2009

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

Paul Reset’s notes:

The Figures was a short-lived collaborative project between myself and Martin BSE – we scratched out heads and sent samples back and forth and these are the four tracks that were born of that. Ranging from moody downtempo breaks to weird ambience and with some randomness inbetween.

I was really chuffed with the way these tracks came out and we always meant to work on more material but life and alcohol got in the way. The Figures may one day rise from the darkness.

Nerve EP 002 – Various – The Intercity EP

Paul Reset — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:30:11 +0000

Cat No: NERVEEP002
Artists: Morphy / Velocet / Paul Reset / Kiat / Linden / 9 Tails Fox / BZ / The Figures of the Lost Dawn
Released: 2008

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

1: “Ruffneck” – Morphy

2: “Awaken Life” – Velocet & Paul Reset

3: “Island Rock” – Morphy & Kiat

4: “Day By Day” – Linden

5: “Tenma” – 9 Tails Fox

6: “Positive Vibes” – BZ

7: “Go With The Flaw” – Velocet

8: “Not In My Town” – The Figures of the Lost Dawn

Paul Reset’s notes:

I’d realised that there was a huge amount of quality production talent in Scotland and no real showcase of this talent. So I decided to put this EP together. Basically I wanted to get the best Scottish drum n bass producers in one place to show off the talent to the world! The EP is fairly varied style wise – ranging from Morphy’s dubby rollers to BZ’s jump up tinged beats and even with some spacey downtempo towards the end.

The artwork is actually a map of Scotland but I’m not 100% sure how obvious that is…..

Also here’s the press release that went out with the MP3s to the press etc – I thought it was fairly amusing and also has all the Myspace links etc for the artists so is functional as well as (very slightly) humorous!

Press release

With a history of invention spanning such diverse creations as the telephone, golf and economics, Scotland has proven itself to be at the forefront of well, basically, genius. To prove this once again, Nerve Recordings have focused on this part of the world for it’s new release – The Intercity EP, featuring producers spread the length and breadth of Scotland (with a guest appearance from Singapore). From the dubby beats of Morphy to the techy futurism of Velocet, most of the sub genre’s of drum n bass make an appearance here and show the quality and diversity of the production talent in the country. Starting with the tough beats of “Ruffneck” through to Linden’s smooth roller “Day by Day” and finishing on two slabs of downtempo in the shape of Velocet’s epic “Go With The Flaw” and the doom laden sounds of “Not In My Town” from the Figures of the Lost Dawn.

Morphy:

With a love of dub so strong, you’d think he had an echo box for a heart, Morphy has carved a niche for himself in drum n bass with his releases on labels such as Function, Horizons and Direct. Popping up twice on the EP, first with “Ruffneck” – a chunky half time dub monger finding favour with fans of drum n bass and dubstep alike and being joined by Singapore’s number 1 dj and producer Kiat on his second outing – “Island Rock”, a combination of crisp breaks and killer sub bass sure to smash up any dancefloor.

More info – http://www.myspace.com/morphydubbed

Velocet:

Islay born Velocet splits his time between making the finest bread in Glasgow and making beats on his beloved Logic Audio. Again making two appearances on the EP, firstly, joined by Paul Reset on the techy dnb monster that is “Awaken Life” and secondly on his tod and in epic downtempo mode with “Go With The Flaw”.

More info – you will know him by the trail of the bread…

Linden:

Dundee based Linden made his debut on Nerve Recordings earlier this year with the Hidden EP featuring 4 chunks of full on techy dnb. Here, he takes things down a gear and delivers 7 minutes of rollin beats and bass in the shape of “Day by Day”, once again demonstrating why he’s been tipped for the top by many.

More info – http://www.myspace.com/dalinden

9 Tails Fox:

The shadowy figure of the one known as 9 Tails Fox is often spoken about in hushed tones and occasionally referred to simply as “The Scottish Producer”. No one is entirely sure what he looks like, and this track was delivered on DAT by a vulture bearing a wax-sealed letter reading “abandon all hope ye who doth hear these breaks”. The track, “Tenma” uses crystal clean breaks and dark atmospherics underpinned by a bassline guaranteed to shake your rib cage.

More info – http://www.myspace.com/9tailsfox

BZ:

Motherwell based BZ has made a name for himself as one of the top MC’s in Scotland whilst building up a reputation for producing high quality hard edged beats. He makes his debut here with the techy tinged jump up flavours of “Positive Vibes”.

More info – http://www.myspace.com/bzxplicit

The Figures of the Lost Dawn:

A meeting of minds between Scottish producers Martin BSE and Paul Reset came to fruition in the form of The Figures of the Lost Dawn. Both producers left behind their own native genre’s to carve out this dark piece of downtempo electronica.

More info – http://www.myspace.com/thefiguresofthelostdawn

Nerve Breaks 010 – Basepair – Selected tracks & remixes from 1998 to 2001

Paul Reset — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:01:37 +0000

Cat No: NB010
Artist: Basepair
Released: 2009

Nerve Breaks bursts into life for 2009! First up in our new release schedule is an EP from my good friend Basepair – lovely mixture of breaks, ambience, drum n bass and downtempo bizness. I’ll let Basepair explain more! Find out more about Basepair…

Tracklisting and info – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

All were completed using Emagic Logic Audio sequencer running on a PC, Yamaha QY70 tone module, SU10 sampler and various outboard rack gear. As with all my tunes I like to mess about with stereo panning/ phasing and including sub bass in my tunes. A decent set of speakers or quality headphones to listen on are recommended…..

“Code 420 (Basepair rmx)” by Paul Reset vs The Noisy Minority – remixed by Basepair

From 2002. An unreleased remix submitted for Nerve Breaks 004 which didn’t make it onto the pressing. Quite a dark moody version & one I really enjoyed working on at the time. Additional mastering by the Rephase Engineer.

“Mobius Incursion”

From March 2001. Minimal dnb track with some harsh stabs, spacey pads and sub bass action…..

“Ambient Journey Trip”

From May 2001. Recorded this live using just my voice, two mics and a handful of delay pedals which I manipulated on the fly.

“Another Day (Beginning of)”

From early 1999. Begins with ambient samples I recorded in and around Byres Road in Glasgow’s West End, June 98. Features Iain Kennedy on Trumpet.

“Good Looking”

From late 1998 I think. Written in the classical form of the “Rondo”!
Submitted at the time as part of my music degree portfolio. Begins with some samples I took from the Shipping Forecast. Features Iain Kennedy on Trumpet.

“Claustraphobe” (Open Source mix)- by Piccardo – remixed by Basepair.

From April 2001. Guitar by Piccardo. At the time I had been messing about remixing a couple of Piccardo’s songs and this quickly became my favourite. Had to do a lot of editing on the guitar parts so that the delays and pitch shifting worked. You can hear some audio artefacts caused by the pitch shifting in places which I quite like.

“PIL”

From June 2000. Started (and almost completed) after returning from a heavy night of d’n'b clubbing in Glasgow. The seashore samples were recorded on Westport beach near Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre.

“Place in your Mind (Boom Boom dub mix)”- by Moje, remixed by Basepair

From 2001 I think. The things that sound like tom drums are actually children’s toy bats for playing tennis with.

Basepair and Paul Reset getting drunk on Islay, pretending to discuss this EP..