Appleblim - Life in a Laser

01. Life In A Laser
02. Ignite
03. I Think We'll Let The Gas Sort This One Out
04. NCI
05. Manta Key
06. Flows From Within
07. Chrome Mist
08. Astral Light Highway
09. Pyramirror

So, as we are a few supporters from the guy here and as I said in Martyn's topic for "Voids", this has not received enough praise regarding its high quality standard.

Appleblim is releasing is first LP after more than a decade in the game, and the less I can say is that it was worth the wait.

What is said on the label bandcamp page:

More than ten years since he first emerged on Skull Disco, Appleblim presents his debut album. The label he co-founded with Shackleton was the first the world heard of his productions, but Laurie Osborne’s innate relationship with electronic music culture reaches back much further than those groundbreaking early days of dubstep. Early days spent soaking up hardcore, jungle, techno and plenty more besides were fundamental foundations from which to spring into the then-unknown realms of sub-low half-step club music. At that time FWD>> and DMZ were the church for this ritualistic sound, and Appleblim was a regular fixture at both.

As dubstep matured, magnified, mutated and meandered, so Appleblim moved beyond Skull Disco to explore different avenues of expression in the new many-
layered club music landscape. His own Apple Pips imprint was a natural vessel on which to explore the emergent fusions of hardcore-derived sounds and the US-born house, techno and electro, while labels such as Aus Music equally provided a home for his work (often alongside Komonazmuk). Meanwhile long-standing collaborations with Alec Storey (Al Tourettes / Second Storey) finally manifested in the hyper-modern mind-twist of ALSO, captured as an album on legendary rave label R&S.

More recently it’s been possible to hear Appleblim delve into electro-acoustic and ambient production alongside bassweight sounds on Tempa, one of the original bastions of dubstep culture. As the existing boundaries between genres, cultures, eras and scenes continue to dissolve, on his debut album Appleblim offers up a fresh approach that brings some of the foundational sound ethics of
rave culture into a modern framework.

Hardcore breaks are still a regular sound source in contemporary club tracks, but on Life In A Laser it’s instantly apparent that Appleblim has moved beyond
choosing popular drum samples to truly tap into the elusive feeling engendered by the music of the era. It’s a tricky feat to manage, but in the pie-eyed chords of “Ignite”, the subby 808 tom basslines on “NCI” or the Mr. Fingers synth flex on “Manta Key” the sonic finish sports the same understated grit and grime that made those early records so timeless. There’s still space for modernism, not least on snaking 2-step killer “I Think We'll Let The Gas Sort This One Out”, but it’s offset by a layer of dust, not to mention an inherent moodiness that can’t be faked.

This fine balance of rave romanticism and future-minded approaches binds together in a cohesive conceptual statement. First and foremost it’s Appleblim’s personal reflection on the music that has moved him on countless dancefloors since his first flirtations with soundsystem culture. At the same time the canny influx of modern ideas into the soundworld of the 90s genuinely results in a new proposition, making for a perfect fit on the modern-day ‘ardcore fetishists label of choice, Sneaker Social Club. Many may claim to draw on old-skool influences in their modern trax, but take one listen to “Flows From Within” and you’ll feel the same time-slipping surge of future-shock as the ravers at Lost, Dreamscape, The Dungeons, Clink Street, Blue Note and all those other iconic spots. 

https://sneakersocialclub.bandcamp.com/album/appleblim-life-in-a-laser-lp

Nice! Need to find tiem to check this and the new martyn album out, and so many other things... not enough hours in the day~

This is indeed a lush album, thanks for making the thread :)

I do need to give it more time but at least I purchased it

I picked up the files on bandcamp at the time of release but finally I ordered the LP yesterday.

I listened to this a couple of times recently. Definitely nice timing having all of this stuff come out around the same time. Super fun to have all this excellent new DJ material. This album is a little dull I have to say but I do like it when he just unabashedly brings in circa-2005 wubs on "flows from within". I was talking to bronchuseven about what to call all this kind of stuff and he called it "percussive techno". So yeah bring on the percussive techno.

I also think these guys have been taking notes on south african dance music. There are some bits that have beats kind of like gqom music. 

Literally listening to this for the first time when I see this thread! Good shit so far, I'm diggin NCI.

I think I need to keep listening to this. The shackleton connection is becoming more apparent. There is also some trance in here. Listening to "Chrome Mist" right now and I'm fuckin into it.

There are a lot of things going on in those tracks, but it's never too much. It's really like he took all this time to craft all aspects of bass music to produce this.

His fellow Second Storey (aka Al Tourettes) is also a very gifted guy, just to say.

Diggin' this a lot, dem basslines.

I didn't realize this was technically his first LP. 

He did a great Red Bull Academy interview. Can't believe it's been 10 years!

^ will def check that video when I have the time!

Been rinsing this album and the X-Altera (Tadd Mullinix aka Dabrye) releases for about the same time now and gotta give the nod to the 'blim, dude manages to bridge the gap from early dnb to modern funkentelechy so effortlessly.  Don't get me wrong, the X-Altera album is great but it's more of a homage to metalheadz era dnb than an interesting reinterpretation of it (like say Lee Gamble's Diversions).

Anyway this album owns and I also need to get on Martyn's new joint stat

Thanks for X-Altera, tricky bangers on there!

Bit late to the party but Chrome Mist is a masterpiece. The buildup is fantastic, the sparkly dissonant stuff that comes in at about 3/4ths on top of the lush bassline and vibrant and playful synths is simply cum inducing.

this is also quite good

Thanks for bringing back that little oldie.

'blim said he is already working on the follow up.

(apple)blimey!

went back and listened again and realized i slept on this track, it is such a tasty roller with a lot of liquid jungle vibes going on, kinds of reminds me of something off of rooms(s) by machinedrum a lil bit

Yep, total liquid football jungle vibes alright, easily my favorite track on the album though the whole things great, just great.