LIQUID FOX: BEHIND THE MUSIC
SAMPLER:
This is one of the original liquid tunes that inspired the LP. It captures the light amens that DJ Marky uses a lot in his liquid tunes. Almost a sub-genre of Liquidfunk. A lot of times when you listen to an LP or a collection of tunes, the first tune has to be a banger to hold your interest. That’s why we picked this to the first tune on the sampler, putting our best foot forward.
Originally we were going to release an all ragga-dub EP called "The Fox with Dreadlocks". I had commissioned 4 tunes for it. I had signed a remix from Ralo a few years ago and wanted him on the project. He had turned out some really good reggae dnb tunes for an older Atlanta label called Forestry Service. I was familiar with those and that’s how I came around to ask him for a similar tune for Corinthian. I was really happy with the result; it has that new kind of jump up bass and this sick, sick reggae melody innt. Since I only got this and one other tune back from the 4 commissioned, I decided to put these tracks on the LP.
The Square & Dirrrty B - Falling
2009 will definitely be a big year for these 2. I had originally tried to get another tune from them but that fell through (or so I though, see the story on "Her Smile"). So the pair sent me this track. One of the tracks I play most from the collection, good old fashion very musical dnb. Horns and good drum work round out this liquid roller.
Logic was originally released on the "Borealis EP" which we had out in 2006. In this remix Surora changed up the main drums and reworked the arrangement. Its somewhat boarderline liquid. I found myself using it as a transition from either harder dnb to Liquid or vice versa. Definitely a slammer either way. It has Surora's traditional Illskillz type synth work, which I have always loved about his tunes.
LP:
The Square and Dirrrty B - Her Smile
The one that almost got away. I got this from Alex (The Square) and started playing it all the time. When I finally got around to asking him for it, it had been picked up by another label. Thats how I ended up getting "Falling" from them. Their tunes are getting picked up, quick. Somehow the deal with the other label fell through and I was able to grab it up for the LP. The intro is synth, leads and hi-hats and I feel its a really good opener, so I made it the opening tune on the LP.
Deep. Not deep titanic, make the dance panic deep, but deep like a very emotional, winter-time tune. I LOVE listening to this at night on the way back from the palace (my friend Keith's house). The drive is all neighborhoods and little hidden roads, trees everywhere. This is the perfect soundtrack to driving through a moonlit night. Definitely more of a webcast or mix tape type tune. And no I am not going to somehow try and try this back to the dancefloor, its just not that type of tune.
Surora & Lightshapers - Don't be Afraid
This tune really reminds me of Bad Company's "The Bridge". Something about the main melody that reminds me of that. Surora teams up with the Lightshapers, who are breaks producers from the UK. After Blue Planetary Night I wanted something uplifting next and this tune does just that. The bass is filtered down for a lot of the tune but then surfaces and starts to sound a bit like a neurofunk bassline. Mass confusion with this as I thought we had it, then it was possibly going somewhere else and then finally we got everything worked out to release it. Im glad we did, its a great track.
Wax Project Laboratory - S.A.R.A.
I had picked up a neuro tune from W.P.L. earlier in the year and came across this tune, S.A.R.A. on his myspace. The panio melody caught me right of the bat and lucky for me at had "unsigned" written at the bottom. Solid tune, the panio score is very well written. I am not sure why Wax called it S.A.R.A or what the letters stand for. Maybe he could shed some light on the subject
I cant quite remember how I started talking to Deezy about tunes but I was quite shocked when he sent it to me. I had seen a few sets from him and it was mostly hard dnb so I assumed that his production would be the same. I was wrong. This tune has some heavy oriental influence and a really good vocal lead. I cant say other than "Japanese Electronics" have I heard such a track. The main synth reminds me of some sound from Reading Rainbow, its really awesome. I was very excited to get some ATL producers on board for the LF project.
Lettuce - Alone (Kubatko Remix)
At the end of last year I was introduced to Kubatko via a remix Lettuce had done of one of his tracks. I signed it and it came out in Dec 2007. After checking out Kubatko's solo tracks I knew this guy would be perfect for a liquid release. Apparently everyone else thought the same as all of his original liquid tunes were all signed up. So I thought I just get him to do a remix and might as well take one of Lettuce's old liquid tunes. I had wanted Surora to remix Alone back in 2007 but that never panned out. I still had the samples so I sent them to Jakub and he sorted the remix in a few days. Honestly it had to grow on me, but the more I listened the more I liked it and the more I heard parts of the original. Funnetik opened with it on our guest slot on Smoke Bomb's Smoke Room show. Definitely got asked about from those guys and was well received.
Night Ship - Punch Drunk Dub (Variant Remix)
I had asked Variant to do this remix for the "Fox with Dreadlocks" EP that we were planning. Since the EP fell through and we already had Ralo's "Scatter Dub" we moved this to the LP as well. Variant takes his time on tunes and it shows in the final product. I got a decent clip from him and played it for the other Night Ship boys, we were blown away by the MASSIVE bassline. He took our sub and probably threw it away as this bassline pwns it. Just as you have time to get over that, it goes into this straight up reggae breakdown in the rebreak. Definitely something for the dancefloor. If we didnt put it out I think it could have gotten picked up a label like "Bingo".
Since I had put out some solo tunes from The Square earlier in the year, I wanted to get something solo from Dirrrty B. He was SO happy when I told him this was going to come out on CD. I think all of his releases b4 were digital, so to have something to hold for a release meant a lot from him. It means a lot to me. The panio breakdown in the rebreak is my favorite part of the whole track.
For months I had seen Jason out at clubs in Atlanta and talked about him about production. He had mentioned his liquid tune he had that he thought would be good for Corinthian. I had a track from Lettuce penned for the LP but it fell through. This happened right around the time Jason sent me "Arkham". I was BLOWN AWAY. I had heard one of Jason’s tunes with Nerve Agent and it was pretty slamming. This tune he sent sounded like High Contrast with a slightly rougher bassline. It was amazing. It also has one of the best rebreak melodies I have heard since Skynet's "Lifeforce". The final name was "An Autumn Offering" and I think it fit the Fox just perfectly. Now I was starting to get quite the army of ATL liquid producers on the project.
Custom Soldierz have handled some of the rougher tunes for Corinthian over the years. I never thought I would have a tune from them on this LP but when they sent me this, I knew it was perfect for the Fox. They had taken Spanish, Central America guitar riffs, slamming drums, liquid soundscapes and NEUROFUNK basslines to form this tune. I thought it was a great concept. They had half the tune finished and then 2 of the 3 had major finals come up. They are studying to become doctors, I can only imagine how hard the finals were that they were facing. We were up late one night on AIM and they said they didnt think they could finish the track in time. We were shooting for a release in Nov 2008 at this point. We got out a calendar and figured they could probably get everything done by 12/19, so we changed the release date to accommodate. Corinthian is nothing without its artist and I think they really appreciated us moving out the date instead of dropping the tune. It all worked out and the track was finished in time. nice work mates!
FLASH STICK ONLY:
I was looking through my AIM box one day and found this gem just sitting there. Just like "Running Away" it has some serious female vocals running in the tune. Straight forward drum work and a pretty serious bassline. This one found its way into my competition set for the FUZE tournament. I asked Deezy for it and told him it would be the worlds first FLASH STICK ONLY release. Then I told him I was planning to play it, in the competition, in the same round that he was playing, of which he thought was pretty funny. 2 days before the comp, I had asked him to send me a final WAV, which he did. I when to practice with it but my straight forward, easy to mix, drums had been replaced by filtered amens. He had send me some kind of amen VIP of Fade Out. I stumbled over the mix a few times and decided just to play the version I already had. At the show I told him about it and he said he had already started that version a few weeks prior. We laughed b/c I thought he made it to trip me up in the comp. We ended up releasing the version I played and keeping the amen VIP for us to play out.
The Square, Logam, & Jett - Sounds
I asked Thomas @ the Blue Olive about getting a liquid tune for CR. Lucky for me he had just completed this track with The Square and Jett. It was the last track signed for the LP and the 2nd bonus tune on the flash stick. TBH I havent even had a ton of time to play it yet. I really enjoy it so far and it has caught the attention of Mr. London Electricity as he has played it in his latest podcast. Huge ups to The Square, Logam & Jett for that!
