Fanu is back with more break-driven D&B goodness via his own Lightless Recordings imprint this month and we’ve got the exclusive on EP closer Octamen. Driving along with some seriously saturated drums and tons of old school flavour. Wait for the second half for maximum energy! Look for the EP dropping Sep 21st via Bandcamp.
The Finnish experimental drum and bass artist Fanu has just released his 10th album, The Silent Watcher. He seems pretty jazzed about it, and he should be. By his own admission, Fanu decided to use some older techniques on this record, and it really comes through. Snares and classic 90s-style D&B drum combos are employed on tracks like album opener Five Ounces and Otherworld. The snare and drum combo on Otherworld is so thick, in fact, that drum and bass heads worth their salt will wonder if this track is a re-issue of a mid-90s track. Also pervasive are the many and sundry vocal samples from TV shows and movies, another 90s staple.
The Silent Watcher isn’t all about vintage beats and vocal sample cuts, however. It appears Fanu, a more than 20-year veteran in the D&B game, is examining the history of this genre and, effectively, his own history right the way through to present time. Paracosm Part 2, for example, blends a modern half-time beat with grimy bass grind-downs the like of which have not been seen since the early noughties. The smoothed-out Presence even hearkens back to early dubstep, while album closer Agenda goes full-on ambient.
There’s a little something for every time period of drum and bass on this album, and it’s nice to see Fanu playing with all the eras he’s loved the most as well. The Silent Watcher is available to stream or purchase on Fanu’s Bandcamp, Discogs and Beatport pages and on the Lightless Recordings Soundcloud page.
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Written by Layla Marino
Blog: (Dropping) Weird Science
Twitter/IG: @dropweirdsci
We’re extremely excited for today’s exclusive as we present a brand new cut from Finnish breakbeat legend Fanu’s new album The Silent Watcher. Entitled The Fall, the track brings together a soft female vocal with hard, crunching breakbeats and growling analogue bass for an unmistakably Fanu-sounding take on the old school techstep sound. Serious business! Check out The Fall below and watch out for the whole album dropping Mar 21st via Fanu’s own Lightless Recordings imprint. Trust us, this one is a belter!
Prolific and dedicated break chopper Fanu is back with a new LP that sees him returning to his roots to some extent. As with much of the work that he first made his name with, Polar focuses on break chopping, dark aesthetics and a b-boy sampling style that’s very much cut from the same cloth as Paradox and the other originators of the drumfunk sound.
In terms of originality the album isn’t treading any particularly new ground but as a love letter to the versatility of the funk break it’s a thoroughly enjoyable and accomplished piece of work. Sometimes it’s more than enough to provide a well honed example of a specific style and Fanu is definitely up there with the best when it comes to chopping up drum loops and picking evocative samples.
You can hear the whole LP below via Soundcloud, and better still it’s available on a “pay what you want” basis from Fanu’s Bandcamp page. Crank the volume and enjoy those jungle textures the way they were always supposed to be!
After something of a period of hibernation in the wake of Calyx & Teebee’s latest album for Ram Records, Teebee’s Subtitles imprint returns in style with a massive compilation album representing all the styles of D&B. While not all the tracks are outstanding (Ulterior Motive’s Gang Rule is a bit of a let down compared to most of their material), there are more than enough top class beats here to be worthy of your attention.
Among the best tracks are the warped, hefty tech of Calyx & Teebee’s Human Reptile remix, the atmospheric drumfunk of Fanu’s Rendlesham and the epic, majestic beauty of Seba’s Under The Sun (which is without a doubt the best liquid tune you’ll hear this year). There’s also plenty on show for the deep heads, with tracks from ASC, Blocks & Escher and Mark System all tripping the leftfield path.
Check out the beats below and grab yourself a copy on vinyl, CD or digital from Surus now.