Djrum

Felix Manuel Informs Me That His Alias Is Pronounced ‘Drum’ - The ‘j’ Is Silent. It Used To Be ‘Deejay Rum’ But He Decided He Didn’t Like It. Either Way It’s A Name That Has Increasingly Registered On People’s Radars Since Manuel’s 2010 Debut The Gorgeous So-Relaxed-It’s-Horizontal ‘Plead With Me’ B/w ‘Emerald The Antidote ’ On Smokin' Sessions. Since Then His Take On The Deep Sea Hybrid Of Dubstep And Techno - Perhaps Inspired By The Rash Of Innovation Coming Out Of Bristol Circa 2008 See Appleblim’s Dubstep Allstars Mix - Has Become Increasingly Finessed And Distinctive. Last Year’s ‘Mountains’ EP For 2nd Drop Blows Most Producers Working In The ‘chilled’ Dubstep Milieu Clean Out Of The Water. It Coolly Walks A Tightrope Between Sampleadelic Diversity And Luxuriant Uniformity All Rich Muted Blues Greys And Greens. Most Strikingly Manuel Isn’t Afraid Of Navigating Through A Range Of Tempos And Soundworlds Refracting Each In Turn Through His Distinctive Lens. There’s Hip-Hop The Opening Of ‘Undercoat’ Techno - Generally Of The Dub-Drenched Variety ‘Mountains Part 1’ - And Flirtations With Two-Step Garage ‘Turiya’ . Disparate Sections Are Dovetailed Together Expertly. It’s A Record Perfectly Suited To The Home-Headphones Ritual Where Listening Becomes A Captivating Wander Through Landscapes Suffused With Reverb Populated By Half-Heard Monologues And Verdant Oases Of Jazz Miscellany. It’s A Connoisseur’s Dreamboat As Highlighted By T Naming The EP His Favourite Of 2011. Manuel’s Easy Eclecticism Probably Stems From His DJing. He Was A DJ Long Before He Made A Name As A Producer And As Part Of The Yardcore Crew He Holds Down A Regular Show On Sub.Fm Where His Sets Can Encompass Anything From The Deepest Of Dub Techno To The Giddy Rush Of Ghettotech And Breakcore. In Fact The Near-Subterranean Tone Of His Productions Is A Pleasantly Surprising Contrast To The High-Energy Approach He Often Takes When DJing. A Series Of Yardcore-Promoted Nights A Few Years Back Tended To Focus On The More High-Octane Side Of Things With Breakbeat Science A Firm Fixture. It’s Rare For A Producer To Successfully Bridge The Divide Between The Critically Ghettoised High-Energy Rave Underground And More ‘tasteful’ Environs - But With Another Single And An Album For 2nd Drop On Their Way This Year It’s Clearly A Formula That’s Worked For DjRUM. read less