Totally forgot to post these here.. These 4 cover designs are for the Encounters label that I started with Copacod & Newk in 2012. The Nano.Strike cover is a collab with Remona Poortman (picture) & Joshua Decker (logo).
Tracklist: Disc-1
1 Amen Soldier
2 Beat U Chest
3 Not Afraid
4 Bustin Shots
5 At War
6 Crew
7 Retaliate
8 Unexploitable
9 Brutal Force
10 Calm before the storm
Disc-2
1 Prove Yourself
2 Reality
3 Channel 187
4 Rudebwoy Business
5 Keep The Fire
6 Dubplate Nah Ready
7 Die Tonight!
8 No Hope
9 Sparkplug
10 At Night
11 Big Man Business
12 Outro
Keep The Fire is a rolling, raucous Junglist manifesto spread over a
massive double CD of 22 tracks. And when it kicks, it kicks hard!
Massive hoovers, chopped-to-shreds Amen breaks, rolling bass lines,
wheel-ups and outrageous callouts ricochet off of each other in a 2+
hour document of a true Junglist soldier’s life in the dancehall.
It’s the mastermind creation of Rotterdam-based FFF, born Tommy de
Roos. Rotterdam’s influence on the hard end of electronic dance music is
undeniable, and no one would question FFF’s dominance in the realm of
hardcore breakbeats (or if they do, they’ll swiftly get a fire-y
dubplate dropped on their head!) Releasing killer tunes since 1997, he’s
done so on virtually every label associated with the post-ragga
movement, blending oldskool sounds with new-school production techniques
in endlessly creative ways over the last 15 years.
FFF already has one full length out on Murder Channel, 2011’s 20.000
Hardcore Members Can’t Be Wrong. But with Keep The Fire, de Roos didn’t
want to linger just on the dark and crazy beats. “Sampling is the main
ingredient of the album,” says FFF. “Almost all tracks are soundclash
inspired battle tunes. Most samples are taken from either vinyl or
soundclashes.” Soundsystem Clash is all about doing your utmost to get
the crowd to favor your tunes, so sometimes things get a little nasty.
But FFF says “I don’t support any kind of violence except for musical
violence. I see the tracks as battle tunes for the dancefloor. I love
the energy of soundclashes and the idea of killing another
dj/soundsystem/artist etc through music. I think the whole clash vibe
adds to the energy of jungle.”
Keep The Fire is also indebted to another scene born in de Roos
homeland, Bubbling. These were sped-up digital dancehall tracks
pioneered by artists like DJ Moortje & DJ Kenneth in the 90s, tunes
that made crowds go absolutely nuts. FFF wanted to capture this feel in
the album as well – “We mainly listened to Bubbling through bad quality
cassette tapes (copy from a copy from a copy etc.) Really noisy gritty
tapes full of hiss. A lot of local guys were also making tracks on
fasttracker, impulsetracker software, and played at Bubbling battles
mostly in youth centres around Holland. I loved that the Bubbling sound
has the same energy as Jungle, crazy edits, dancehall vocals, etc.” So
it’s actually the Bubbling that makes Keep The Fire both a dance album
and a FUN album, and holds it together for listeners beyond DJs.
Keep The Fire sees FFF standing shoulder to shoulder with his musical
peers Mu-ziq, Bong-Ra, Shitmat, Soundmurderer, Jacky Murda & RCola,
Krinjah, Tester, and even original mentalist jungle producers Remarc
and Bizzy B. His brand of sonic mischief, hard-but-playful sound, and
slaughter-with-a-smile aesthetic is the perfect match for Murder
Channel. Every single track will have audiences calling “Tuune!” and
demanding a wheel!
-Kid Kameleon 2013
It´s been a while since I posted anything new on here. Spent most of my time working on my upcoming 2nd full length album for Murder Channel. Which is going to drop somewhere in September. More info soon.