Cat No: NERVE030
Artist: Saburuko vs Morphy
Released: 16th June 2010

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

A: “Feels Good” – Saburuko

AA: “On The Slate” – Saburuko & Morphy

AAA: “Glasgow Rockers” – Morphy

Paul Reset’s notes:

Well, it’s time for last orders and as we close the doors and start tidying up, who better to join us for one last pint of Red Stripe than Saburuko and Morphy. Both have been good friends for many years outside of the world of drum n bass and I’m honoured to have them involved in the final release.

First up we’ve got a big ol’ summery number from Saburuko – “Feels Good”. Sampling an old skool classic to quality effect, it’s a bit of a belter and always does the damage on the floor. Next up we’ve got a Saburuko & Morphy collab in the shape of “On The Slate”, taking things on a darker, rolling route, this is a brilliant chunky amen roller packed with atmosphere. To finish off proceedings and Nerve we have an unreleased gem from Morphy in the shape of “Glasgow Rockers”. This one’s been played to death by both of us over the years and has provided the soundtrack to many a messy evening. This one’s all about the infectious horn hook showing Morphy’s love for reggae and dub.

The artwork for this release was put together by Glasgow’s ithinkitsnice, as well as being my unfortunate flatmate for a coupla years and putting up with my crap banter – he’s also been a big supporter of the label from day one so I was really chuffed when he agreed to take on the artwork and even more chuffed when I saw the brilliant finished article! Check out more of his stuff over at ithinkitsnice.com.

Originally released on The Intercity EP (NERVEEP002), Morphy went back in on the track last year and dubbed it out even more for inclusion on the Cloak x Dagger bundle on TenTracks. Now he’s decided to give it away for free so get it downloaded and get yerself dubbed up in a Ruffneck stylee!

(for anyone unfamiliar with the Soundcloud player – simply click the wee down arrow to download the MP3)

Ruffneck (Dirty Dub) – Free Download by Morphy

Cat No: NERVE025
Artist: Morphy / Linden
Released: 16th December 2009

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

A: “Tuva (Morphy rmx)” – Linden

AA: “Samsara (Linden rmx)” – Morphy

Paul Reset’s notes:

Well we’ve got something a bit special here to wrap up 2009 for Nerve. Two of Scotland’s best producers go head to head, remixing each other’s material and moulding the tracks into their own inimitable shape.

First up we’ve got Morphy taking on “Tuva” (From Linden’s “Hidden EP”). The original was a techy beast of a track and I was keen to see what Morphy would do it. He’s stripped all the elements back, coated it in lush analogue warmth and delivered an amazing chunk of movie soundtrack style dnb. Dipping it’s toes into the world of IDM and ambient but retaining the dark dubby groove he’s become known for.

Next up we’ve got Linden taking on Morphy’s “Samsara” (NERVE023). The original was an dubby amen roller with an eastern vibe and Linden’s again stripped back the original elements and delivered an atmospheric bass monster that’s guaranteed to fill the more discerning dancefloor.

For more info:

Morphy on Myspace
Linden on Myspace

Cat No: NERVEEP005
Artist: Morphy
Released: 2009

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

1: Hermies

2: Version

3: Warren Dub

4: Samfie Man

Extra tracks:

5: Version (Morphy’s Ruff’n'tuff Original)

6: Warren Dub (Enuui rmx)

7: Samfie Man (Aeroplane Dope rmx)

8: Version (Paranoise rmx)

Paul Reset’s notes:

After making his Nerve debut with the epic “Samsara” on NERVE023 and contributing two brilliant tracks to “The Intercity EP” (NERVEEP002), it was definitely time for Morphy to showcase his talent over the course of a full artist EP.

Each of the four tracks show a slightly different side to Morphy’s production talent – from the full on dancefloor smasher that is “Hermies” to the dubby darkness of “Version” via the smokey dub vibes of “Warren Dub” before finishing on the skankin dancefloor number that is “Samfie Man”.

To add a little extra flavour to the package we decided to have some remixes done and include the original of “Version”. Aeroplane Dope’s “Samfie Man” remix drops the tempo and takes the track down the dubstep route whereas Enuui’s remix of “Warren Dub” is on an ambient dub tip – keeping the same smokey atmosphere of the original but taking things down a notch. Paranoise brings a dark, doomy dubstep vibe to “Version” – upping the dirt factor even more! To close the package, Morphy always felt that original of “Version” deserved a release as it has a raw energy quite different to the final mastered version, I agreed and here it is!

Morphy has been performing his live set around Scotland recently and we highly recommend checking it out. For more info on Morphy – check his Myspace page.

Thanks to Kendo at BigDoodleDesign for the design help!

Morphy’s notes on the Dubtopia EP:

Samfie Man started out life as a fairly mellow dubwise number with a Jamaican dancehall feel to the beats. However one day I went overboard pitch-shifting and re-sampling the results over and over again. This resulted in the insane hookline which I am often asked about. I think Samfie Man is my favourite track on the EP and one of the tracks I am most proud of to this day.

Warren Dub was really just a straight dub track where I had laid down a bassline, piano parts and then recorded myself playing melodica along to the groove. The dubs were then performed “live” on the mixing desk using outboard vintage effects. The best bits of these dubbed out sessions were compiled and edited together to create the final track.

Morphy’s notes on the bonus tracks:

Version (Morphy’s Ruff’n'tuff Original) – this is the original mixdown of Version that was done initially for playing out. Although I went back in to work further on the track this original mixdown has always had a certain raw appeal about it that the more refined and polished Version seemed to lack so I thought it would be fun to let the original version see the light of day!

Samfie Man (Aeroplane Dope Remix) – when he isn’t producing exciting new dubstep and drum&bass or performing lead vocals for his reggae crossover act Mega Dub, Aeroplane Dope is a busy remixing. This is certified with this superb dubstep remix of Samfie Man where he slows the vibes down to a heavy skanked out pace whilst keeping the pressure on. For more information about Aeroplane Dope check his Myspace page.

Warren Dub (Enuui Remix) – having ran the successful leftfield d’n'b label Exegene for several years as well as working on a variety of diverse production and engineering projects Enuui (aka Cube) is no stranger to music. On this beautifully crafted remix he re-samples and re-processes every texture from the original Warren Dub beyond the call of duty and delivers a lush dubby ambient house track. Superb stuff. For more information about Ennui check his blog.

Version (Paranoise Remix) – Polish dubstep maestro Paranoise can normally be found behind the decks at Edinburgh’s hugely popular Volume night where he lights up the dance with the freshest beats around and his own tightly honed productions. Twisting up the components from the original Version he re-creates the track as a brooding and menacing dubstep number that lulls you into a false sense of security with dubbed out soundscapes before dropping a tearing hook out of nowhere! For more information on Paranoise check his Myspace page.

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

Cat No: NERVE023
Artist: Isotone / Morphy
Released: 2008

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

A: “Water Dragon” – Isotone

AA: “Samsara” – Morphy

Extra track:

AA: “Samsara (Original Demo)” – Morphy

Paul Reset’s notes:

Release number 23 was always going to be an important one for us, and in the end it turned out to be our final vinyl release. After nearly seven years of releasing on vinyl we decided that we had kinda lost the desired fight required to continue with it. We’d seen our way through 4 distributors (2 of which had went bankrupt) and had kinda lost the will to jump through the hoops that are required to get vinyl released these days. Releasing materially digitally gave us back the complete control which was of utmost importance to us.

So we were very happy to finish our vinyl campaign with this – in my opinion, one of our strongest 12′s. We had worked with Isotone before and had planned to release a track of his before on the ill-fated NERVE016X and were happy to have him onboard with this absolute killer of a track. Hard, heavy techy beats are in full force here and this one smashed up many a dancefloor.

For the flip we snapped up a track that was (and still is) very special to me personally. Morphy has been a good friend of mine for many years – we co-ran the LiveVEvil event in Glasgow from 2000-2005 and in the years since then have been residents at Xplicit in Edinburgh and played many a gig together and had many a drunken session (which kinda inspired the artwork) in various clubs and establishments. When I first heard this track it was in the slightly more stripped down original version you can download above but I absolutely loved it. Hypnotic and deep but with a tough dancefloor edge, Morphy went back in on it before release and toughened it up a bit and that version made the cut in the end but both versions are worth checking it.

Morphy’s notes:

It’s been years since I heard the original demo of this. Listening to it now as I type brings back a lot of good memories. I do much prefer the final version that got released as it feels complete to me…. but it’s also interesting to listen to the more sparse ideas I had back then.

Here’s how it came together….

It was 2005 and the weather up in the North of Scotland was glorious. One of my friends remarked on the “indian summer” we were having. Her comment stayed in my head as an idea for a summery track with an eastern feel to it.

I set to work chopping up tabla slices and sitar notes and created the track Indian Summer – a tabla-fueled workout with intricate drum edits.

The track – with a revised name “Samsara” – was sent to Cube at Exegene who promptly signed it up, but it was eventually replaced with a more dubwise track that suited the release better.

My good friend and Nerve head honcho Paul Reset had been playing the track and including it in his DJ mixes for some time and had expressed interest in releasing it on a 12″ for Nerve. This was of course great news but as time lagged on (as it does in this industry) the original track felt a bit stale and it struck me that a re-vamp was due!

In 2007 – two years after the original demo had been created – I sat down to create the final version of the track, adding some ruff’n'tuff amens and a more dubby feel to the bassline and the echoing textures – more in keeping with the Morphy sound!

Once again – artwork duties were carried out by the guys at Yuva.TV.