Audio Culture: The Upbeats

The Upbeats & some incoming releases

Selected Works is a weekly (usually) newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell, aka Yours Truly. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately and some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken + some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes it takes completely different forms.

THE UPBEATS:

As the 2000s began, Dylan Jones (aka Downie Wolf) and Jeremy Glenn (aka Terror Snake), the New Zealand electronic music producer/DJ duo better known as The Upbeats, were finding their way into Wellington’s underground drum & bass scene. From the moment they arrived through their storied residency at Valve (now Valhalla), they brought a new energy that audiences almost instantly responded to.

In 2004, The Upbeats released their energetic first 12" vinyl double-single ‘Slit’ / ‘Fill Me In’ through BC Recordings in the UK, following it up later that year with a self-titled debut album for Loop. Close to 20 years later, their exploits have taken them around the world more times than they can count, permanently etching their names into the international drum & bass history books.

Last week, my full-length feature on The Upbeats and their two-decade-plus story went live on Audio Culture. You can read the story here.

INCOMING:

Here are a few interesting records that are coming out over the next few months. The text included is abstractions from their sales notes.

Renowned for his pioneering contributions to the noise music genre, Merzbow (aka Masami Akita) has solidified his position as one of its most significant and recognizable figures. From his groundbreaking utilization of tape loops to craft expansive industrial landscapes in the late 1970s to his transition to laptop-generated static noise at the turn of the century, Merzbow has consistently pushed the boundaries of sonic experimentation. Modern Obscure Music is delighted to unveil Merzbow's debut release on the label "Tsubute Mosaic." Incoming April 19th.

One of the UK’s greatest musical stylists and visionary of the globally influential Purple sound, Joker, AKA Liam Sylvester McLean, returns with his first release in 6 years. This is the guy who brought Bristol to Longbeach, CA, and vice versa.

First Word Records is proud to bring you The Essance - the classic debut album by Essa (formerly known as Yungun), originally released in 2004, now released on vinyl & digital for the first time, 20 years on. This is what you call a UK hip-hop classic.

From Wales, the land of the harp, Amanda Whitting has taken her classical roots and forged a path following on from Ashby and Coltrane. Here’s the first single from The Liminality of Her, her brand new 10-track album.

Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra (Triangles of Light and Spaces of Shadow) is a collection of visionary Mexican electronic music sourced from obscure cassettes, CDs, private pressings, and personal archives, presented by Séance Centre and Smiling C. These works trace an expansive scene of prescient musicians who created a unique speculative cosmology, forging Mesoamerican mythologies with innovative sonic technologies.

FIN.