Tangent Recordings 013
Release Date June 2007
A: Blu Mar Ten - Headturner
A: Blu Mar Ten - Church
CLICK HERE TO BUY!
Blu Mar Ten is made up of founding members Leo Wyndham and Chris Marigold, with new addition Michael Tognarelli.
After meeting through a mutual friend in 1995 and both having a musical past, Chris & Leo clicked immediately and started to write music. Leo had written around 200 hardcore and house tunes over the previous few years, while Chris had been DJ-ing on pirate radio and at raves.
1995 was an incredibly exciting time for music, particularly drum & bass with the rise of Fabio and Bukems Speed and Goldies Metalheadz. The days were spent writing all day in the studio then nights spent going on pilgrimages to Hoxton Square and the West End to hear the professionals at work.
The first track to be released was The Fountain / Lunar in Feb 1997 on the now defunct Way Out Records. The track received acclaim across the board appearing on numerous big name compilations and was named by Fabio as his tune of the year. This was closely followed by the duos remix of Erykah Badu's classic On & On for MCA, which travelled into the mainstream top 10. On the heels of these releases Blu Mar Ten were offered a long-term deal by LTJ Bukem's Good Looking Records, which was eagerly taken up. This partnership saw a long chain of releases on the label including features on the Logical Progression, Earth and Progression Sessions LPs, tracks on Good Lookings partner labels and a dedicated artist EP and Blu Mar Ten artist compilation LP was also released
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and in early 2001 Blu Mar Ten and Good Looking parted company, but despite this have remained friends. Since then, Blu Mar Ten has blossomed into a variety of musical styles. Taking a step back from drum & bass, they have produced breaks for Rennie Pilgrem's TCR and Danny Macmillan's In-flight labels, 2 step garage for Lime, banging house for Guidance recordings and left field downbeat for the Big Chill and Naked Music to name but a few. They have also taken on remix duties for Erykah Badu again, Terry Lee Brown Junior, Jakatta, The Ananda Project and Annie Lennox.
Casting their net wider in this way won Blu Mar Ten recognition from a diverse set of DJs such as Tom 'The Jedi' Middleton, Felix da Housecat, Ben Watt, Carl Cox, Lee Burridge, Erol Alkan, Howie B and Mary Anne Hobbs.
September 2003 saw the long overdue release of the first proper Blu Mar Ten album, 'The Six Million Names of God' on Exceptional Records. The LP represents work from 1997 through to 2003 and focused more on the downbeat side of the duo than the dance floor. Featuring collaborations with Blame (720 Recordings / Charged), Nor Elle (Plastic City) and Fink (Ninjatune), the album is packed with layer upon layer of lush sounds and surprising interludes.
In 2004 Chris & Leo were joined by Michael who has known Chris since 1993. The pair had met in Manchester where, as a teenager, Michael had been working in Eastern Bloc and Spin Inn record shops alongside Marcus Intalex and Sappo. Michael joined the duo bringing an emphasis on harder beats and a more driving sound, and continues to produce darker drum & bass on his own.
2006 & 2007 are busy years for Blu Mar Ten. A return to their drum & bass roots sees a string of 12" smashers hitting the drum & bass scene on labels as diverse as 'Hospital Records', 'Nookie's 'Phuzion Records', Friction's 'Shogun Audio', vintage label 'Basement Recordings', John B's 'Tangent Recordings', the mighty 'Renegade Hardware', Subject 13's 'Vibez Recordings' and Doc Scott's legendary '31 Records', with Dj support across the scene to match. Amongst these tunes is the now mythical 'Shadowboxing Remix'. Originally made as a one-off just to DJ out, the hype surrounding this rework of Doc Scott's classic has created a splash in the D&B community with a previously unexpected release now out on the loose.
2007 sees the arrival of the eagerly anticipated new album 'Black Water' which retains the lushness of previous work while adopting a much more direct approach in it's sound.
For More on Blu Mar Ten Check out
blumarten.com and
myspace.com/blumarten
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BETA 018 - Release Date June 2007
A: Castor - Axe To Grind
A: Castor - Nothing Can Break Us
2 monster dark rollers... Nuff said.
CLICK HERE TO BUY
Castor (Keith Ross) began pursuing production and dj endevours back in '97. Being rooted in hip hop and downtempo, he started out working more on turntablism and slower bpm tracks . He was introduced to drum and bass by a friend, and soon got the itch. He and then partner in crime Simpplex started releasing darker, dancefloor aimed tracks on a small Phoenix based record label. Receiving support from well known U.S. djs he was inspired to push his abilities in the studio and take it as far as he could.
Making a name for himself as a dj in the U.S. was another catalyst for his ever climbing goals and aspirations. Castor has played both coasts as well held residencies in his local scene. The ever versatile producer has made everything from liquid, to dark, to minimal, to electro, to heavy dancefloor killers, as well as other non dnb projects.
Castor teamed up with another Phoenix producer--Vector burn. Their collaborations have been sought after by numerous record labels and played by heavy hitter djs. In '05 they gave their project a name "The Riot". Their music is politically charged and suited for a high energy dancefloor setting. Forthcoming releases will be found on labels such as Renegade Hardware, Beta recordings, Renegade recordings, Barcode, Habit recordings, Vibez recordings as well as more in the works. 2007 is looking good, watch this space.
For more info on Castor check out his website:
www.castortunes.com
Or Castor on Myspace
myspace.com/castortunes
john b robot drum & bass diary
