“Aslan’s sun is rising, thanks to internet support from the drum n bass community” 

Many people fear that free music on the web isn’t worth much more than that. Often times I agree, but every now and again I’m proven wrong by someone truly exceptional making their way via the medium of the internet. Aslan’s is one such artist. 

I first came into contact with Aslan’s through posts to a news group run by Chicago-based forwardbound.com, a site dedicated to the bands and labels of atmospheric drum n bass. Taran, of Aslan’s, regularly posts links to his newest tracks, usually hosted by ironcladmindfloss.com (a site that he and friends have created as an artistic outlet for musicians, poets and fine artist alike.) He began putting his songs on the more infamous mp3.com just a few months ago, as a more reliable way to make his music available, and has been rather pleased with the results. 

Already, the mp3.com site has logged over 250 downloads/streamed plays of mp3’d tracks from his upcoming album (available on their own DAM system by the time of print), something Taran feels he has Forward Bound to thank for. Fellow producers and DJs from the Forward Bound list have been very supportive of his work, lending criticism and critical contact information to the project. Several companies and individuals have expressed interest in releasing vinyl or pressing dub plates of Aslan’s songs, which is something Taran is quite excited about. 

Having just begun his dnb production career a scant 2 years ago, he couldn’t be more happy to have caught the attention of a sometimes fickle audience. But, more than “the list,” Taran has nothing but good, solid music to point to for his success. I would classify his music as straddling the line between Warp, which caters to the avant garde Intelligent Dance Music set, and the primarily atmospheric Drum n Bass focused Good Looking Records’ sounds — including some of the best aspects of each. With intelligent drum programming and atmospheric toppings, Aslan’s is a treat for both the mind and soul. 

“Falling Vast,” one of the most recent songs added, was the first to capture my imagination. With it’s catchy bassline and samba-esque percussion, I soon found myself grooving to the beat and nodding my head in time. Quickly stealing my attention, however, was “Placebo,” with it’s moody keys loop and punchy rhythm. 

More moody, even, is “Eldila,” which reminds me somewhat of electronic innovator, Plaid. A lovely, wispy melody (a harp, perhaps?) is juxtaposed over a mechanical brushed-sounding drum beat, a flute melody, occasional samples of waves, bird calls, and — of all things — old time western pistol fire, plus a strange sub-basey clicking sound that’s the oddest touch of all. This song is truly magical in it’s ability to whisk one away to a dream like state, where all such disperse elements spin a cohesive story. 

“Eustace,” which apparently brought Aslan’s to the attention of the powers-that-be at mp3.com who choose the featured artists, is a slightly heavier number, with a nice ambient breakdown halfway through and foot-tapping percussion throughout. The last of the free tracks offered is “Mother Monarch,” one of the slower songs, with an odd groove and quirky sounds, one of which sounds suspiciously like a dog bark. 

The final 3 tracks of the album are also definitely worth collecting, if you’ve enjoyed the other 5 tracks Aslan’s has generously offered on mp3.com. (but you may want to check out the ironcladmindfloss site for additional tracks, if you know what i mean…) “Pan2” is a funky downbeat song with oodles of ambience that you won’t want to miss. “The Yard” has the trippiest beats and silliest melodies of the bunch, placing Aslan’s more firmly on the side of IDM than dnb. “Dragon Spirits,” may be the weakest song, but still plenty enjoyable as well. 

“Son” is a strong first effort for this young talent from Indiana, and I believe it will make a nice launching pad for Aslan’s future in dnb and IDM. Be sure to check out these tracks while they are still available to you through the graces of artist-based technology on the internet. 

[Originally posted to RadioSpy, a subsidiary site of GameSpy.com]

Shape Shifter UK on riffage.com

I was recently turned on to riffage.com, the latest downloadable mp3 site on the web, through a bandmate. Fearing “riffage” was an allusion to 80’s Heavy Metal, I was a bit hesitant to check it out. My doubts were soon to put to rest, however, as I saw that Riffage had a contemporary look and feel, with colorful techno-styled graphics (think orange and purple), lots of embedded Flash files, front page feature stories, and constantly updating content. 

There were a plethora of navigational choices from the entryway, making my first contact with the site almost daunting, but I decided to begin with what seemed the obvious choice; “Get Music Now!” This was where I ran into the Featured Artist Section, which highlighted Shape Shifter UK as the Electronic/Techno artist for the period. As he also had 4 tracks included on their Electronic Top 40, he seemed a promising artist.

I quickly downloaded the 7 free mp3s listed, with little or no trouble. However, I kept receiving error messages when I attempted to purchase any of the other 4 tracks. Thinking that the mp3s might also appear on the band’s official home page, I checked out the Band Info Section and clicked on a link which turned out to be an mp3.com page. There I located a free download of one of the purchasable Riffage tracks, plus 3 other free tracks which weren’t listed at Riffage. Now armed with 10 free mp3s, I had a healthy 58 minute playlist –including 6 of the 10 tracks which appear on the Shape Shifter UK cd entitled “Fears and Emotions” (currently available only as a DAM cd on mp3.com).

In Paul Sumner-Williams own words, Shape Shifter UK “cover{s} the spectrum of the underground dance scene {with} a blend of Techno, House, Breaks, Drum n Bass and Ambient.” I would have to agree with this statement, but further clarify that the type of House music Sumner-Williams writes is generally of the Trance variety, unfortunately my least favorite type. Shape Shifter’s songs are never overly long, clocking in at roughly 6 minutes on average, and the compositions seem more listening oriented, than club focused. Still, I could easily imagine hearing some of the more banging Techno tunes — “Fires of Hell” and “Wobbly Ground,” in particular — or even the Progressive track, “Illusion,” at a rave.

I found his Breaks and Jungle-influenced songs to be pretty enjoyable on the whole, having a fairly ambient bend and laid-back tempo to them. There are traces of Techno stylings which makes me hesitate to call them Drum n Bass, as he does. I’d almost call them Intelligent Jungle, because of the bleepy sounds he favors, but the programming isn’t as intense as say, Photek. A few tracks are almost neatly split between a Progressive and Breaks/Jungle feel, particularly “The Snake Charmer” and “Believe in Me.” This discussion points to Sumner-Williams’ statement that he’s “trying to break the mold of commercial dance music” by blending the various genres together, and in so far as that goes, he is quite successful.

My favorite tracks would have to be “Introduction to the Future,” which is an appropriately spacey number with nice pads, a catchy bleepy synth lead and deep piano line, and “Distant Voices,” which features an eastern-inspired female vocal loop and a sample of thunder claps over a slow sweeping analog lead and thumpy bassline. “Making Sense of it All” is also a catchy tune, with spastic breaks and a rolling bassline. “The Haunting” has some nice percussive elements as well, but I wasn’t as excited about the synth lines or sounds.

I should also mention that I was impressed by the sound quality of the mp3 files themselves, being very clean and of a good volume level. 

Over all, I’m happy to have discovered both Shape Shifter and Riffage, and look forward to monitoring the progress of both as this new age of technology advances and brings us in closer contact with artists via the web.

[Originally posted by RadioSpy, a subsidiary of GameSpy.com]