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Despite the genres future-forward and experimental beginnings in the early 90s, drum & bass rigid uniformity over the last decade has made it a stifling environment for many producers. For dBridge, with his background as a former member of the drum & bass heavyweight champions Bad Company, the pressure of dancefloor expectations and DJs desire for club smashers has been experienced and rejected once in his career already.
Since going solo, he has been busy developing a more cultured sound, carving himself a free form niche in a music scene from which he was feeling increasingly distanced from. Instra:mental meanwhile, having had a successful stint in drum & bass some years earlier, returned to D&B production in the mid noughties with a uniquely fresh approach. Inspired by 80s synth music, the Detroit sound and the Warp back catalogue, and with a studio fully loaded with vintage hardware equipment, they set about writing drum & bass unlike anyone else; a method that struck a chord with a like-minded soul in dBridge.
There was no space in drum & bass, it was just running twenty breaks on top of each other, so we thought about what we could do, because what we were making was quite minimalistic in some ways; we decided to not fill the gaps. The way we work is great, because if you have got someone else working with you, you can all grab a synthesizer and just make some noise and have a little jam session. - Instra:mental.
Hanging out with Instra:mental began to influence me; they were thinking outside of the box, not just a little
a lot. I was still sampling whereas they werent, one session I made a sound on the JP-8000 and I started to get it, be re-inspired for my job
for music. - dBridge.
After a year in which Instra:mental collaborated with dBridge on the epic Blush Response, they decided to form a creative alliance as Autonomic. As a result a club night, a podcast, an umbrella for their labels, and, most crucially, a style was born. The Autonomic sound is music first, drum & bass second. The people behind it are not setting out to make a drum & bass track; they are setting out simply to make music, producing compositions that are emotionally charged, personally edifying and organic. This is a million miles from the music-by-numbers churned out by so many of todays producers; this is lovingly crafted with integrity, with vision and without the limitations of genre or style that so many artists impose on themselves. And with the likes of Jimmy Edgar, Kyle Hall and Zomby lined up to release on Instra:mentals NonPlus+ label in 2010, its fair to say that the trio are only just getting started.
Eventually we want to go to any gig and have complete musical freedom. This is exactly what we are doing: any music, any style, and any tempo, as long as we like the music. - Instra:mental.
After a year of server-crashing Autonomic podcasts that have shown an overwhelming thirst around the world for drum & bass that does not conform to any institutionalised boundaries - dBridge & Instra:mental have mixed FABRICLIVE 50 (note: the 100th addition to our compilation series). With a tracklist that boasts some of dubstep's leading lights working at a drum & bass tempo, FABRICLIVE 50 is a dreamlike collection of beat explorations and electronic soundscapes all lovingly woven into 70
minutes; a treasure of a disc that reveals more enriching details with each listen. Beautifully imaginative and colourful, enter the world of Autonomic, as they return drum & bass to the bleeding edge of electronic music.
We wanted the fabric CD to be like the best podcast weve ever done. That was our aim. When we were asked to do it, we approached all the people making music we love, and asked them to write us something special for the CD. Distance, Scuba, Genotype, myself and Instra:mental all did it. Its a great collection of music, harmonically it all works together; and as much as we have different styles, youd be surprised what tunes stick together just from being in key. We wanted to showcase what it is that were doing, and what the sound is capable of. dBridge
Tracklisting:
01 Riya Seems Like Exit Records
02 Instra:mental From The Start NonPlus+
03 Stray Pushed Exit Records
04 Dan Habarnam Nu Este Roz Exit Records
05 Vaccine Ochre NonPlus+
06 ASC Starkwood (Consequence Remix) Unreleased
07 Consequence Lovers Shell Exit Records
08 Distance Skys Alight (Dub) Unreleased
09 Alix Perez Self Control Shogun Audio
10 Genotype Distorted Dreams Genotype
- Meleka Go (Accapella) Meleka
11 Instra:mental End Credits NonPlus+
12 Instra:mental Watching You NonPlus+
13 Instra:mental Fist (Level 2B Mix) NonPlus+
14 Consequence 11 Circles (ASC Remix) Exit Records
15 dBridge I Know Exit Records
16 Instra:mental Encke Gap NonPlus+
17 Loxy & Genotype Farahs Theme Exit Records
- dBridge Inner Disbelief (Accapella) Exit Records
18 Pearson Sound Down With You Darkestral
19 Scuba Tense (dBridge Remix) Hotflush Recordings
20 Instra:mental No Future (Consequence Remix) NonPlus+
21 Code 3 Living Proof Exit Records
22 Consequence Ft. Instra:mental Reflex Reaction Exit Records
23 ASC Phobos NonPlus+
24 Skream Fire Call Exit Records
25 Instra:mental Machine Made NonPlus+
26 dBridge Love Hotel Exit Records
27 dBridge The Dim Light Exit Records
28 Scuba Eclipse Paul Rose
29 ASC Ubiquity Incident NonPlus+
30 Abstract Elements Abysmal Depth Exit Records
31 Actress Gen Ohn (Screwed Version) Werk Discs
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