MINDSET006 / 12″ & Digital / HxdB – The Prism EP
Posted by hxdb
Buy 12″ @ BOOMKAT / JUNO / CHEMICAL / REDEYE / BM Soho / HARDWAX / TRIPLE VISION
From Boomkat.com“Mindset Recordings show their calibre with an ace debut from Canadian producer Hexadecibel aka HxdB. The sixth release on the steadily matured label shows a shared love for the emotive steppers soul of D-Bridge, or the crisp clarity of Instra:mental at a dubstep tempo. ‘Prism’ shapes sharp 2-step rhythms to harness silicon-toned moody-blue synthlines, while ‘Macro Modular’ wriggles with a dubstep electronica vibe built from clipped post-dub-steppers patterns and ‘Showdown At The Cinema’ adds jazzy blue rhodes to restrained tearout bass, lush strings and glistening atmospherics reminiscent of the man D-Bridge. A recommendation to any fans of Hyetal, Indigo, SYNKRO or Narcossist!”
From Sonic Router Blog “Canadian producer Hexadecibel, hereby shortened to 4 letters to represent each syllable of his full moniker, who first appeared on Echodub’s freebie compilation ‘Anechoic Chamber’ is at the helm of Manchester’s Mindset label’s newest plate; and over the course of the three tracks on offer, he really does manage to paint a perplexingly unique and distinctively old school style. The A side ‘Prism’ feels like it owes a debt of gratitude to the Dutch school of production with crystal clean drum lines and a smattering of those fluent touches of synth colour a-la 2562, with HXDB letting the ethereal patches of jagged euphoria meld into the harsher bass stabs that dissolve after half a bar. Its swagger is simple, even a little minimal in terms of HXDB letting each sound breathe, but the charm of it really does lie in that snare that seems to bubble and pop as much as it snaps. ‘Macro Modular’ and its accompanying track on the flip, ‘Showdown At The Cinema,’ however display a penchant for a more twisted b-line (likened by Boomkat to the minimal patterns of dBridge) with the former letting the focus lie on the subtle panning on the tail end of the uplifting bass loop before the cut up drums of the halfway point signal something a little more danceable. Even when HXDB cuts loose he still keeps the restraint present and correct, mixing up the bass patterns and only cranking up the resonance a few times to get that liquid pursing “wow” sound. ‘Showdown At The Cinema’ is probably the stand out cut though, with the introduction of a heavily delayed vocal to what sounds like a reversed and processed guitar loop, monumental strings and a toy piano that squeals joyfully for throughout its limited appearance. ‘Showdown…’’s real moment in the sun though is when all of the above elements come to pass layered atop the grumpy, distortion frayed bassline, as HXDB stutters out the groove with a few of those amen style hi hat shuffles.”
From Uptown Records: “HXDB TURN IN A BLINDING TRIO OF TRACKS FOR MINDSET, THESE PEEPS BE ON FIYA RIGHT NOW YO!”
From Hardwax.com “Fine IDM & UK hardcore roots house compatible UK garage/dubstep cuts”
From Just the Bassics Blog “HxdB – A1: Prism B1: Marco Modular B2: Showdown at the cinema In Just the Bassics, we love our spiritual Dubstep. Well, generally any kind of spiritual/emotive music fits perfectly in our playlists, but make it Dubstep or DnB and it jumps immediately to the top of the queue. Recently, when browsing Redeye Records I came across this record and the preview made it look very promising, so, since I was needing to refresh my Dubstep library (and, on a personal note here, since it’s been so f*cking hard to find tracks that aren’t just an amalgamation of noisy, over-the-top filthy basslines with beats that are too worked out…maybe it’s because I’m not looking in the right places or I’m just too picky when it comes to dubstep), it went straight to the ’shopping cart’. Turns out that this record is even better that what I was expecting, something that hasn’t happened in a while, now that I think about it. Back to the EP. The 3 tracks were produced by HdxB (Hexadecibel), a 31 year old producer from Vancouver, Canada and released on Mindset Recordings. The sixth release on this label are these tracks that could be easily compared to the spiritual-stepping vibe you can get from producers such as dBridge or Instra:mental. Simple beats that work perfectly, supported by a deep, crystal clear synth and sub bass, along with many different ‘ear-candy’, spacey sound fx’s, such as a simple arpeggiator that emerges to the surface here and there. Or just a something that, as I like to describe it, sounds like violin strings being absorbed and twisted into some sort of vortex, creating a hypnotizing effect that seems to put you in a state of trance. Either that, or I need to stop smoking. Either way, this piece of quality dubstep is something you MUST get your hands in, as soon as possible. No excuses. Get your bum out of the chair and go and get this to the nearest record shop you can find. Or do it online, if you must, just get the record. It’s good to start the rave with; it’s great to play on that sleazy bar, with ambient lights and a relaxed atmosphere; it’s awesome to finish the night with when you get home knackered, with a numb brain and body after a very satisfying rave or just to chill and enjoy during any time of the day, really. In case you need some sort of preview, there’s nothing like good’ol Soundcloud…”
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