“No bullshit, no remorse” – smog on his favourite hardcore tracks
TweetKicking off the label earlier this year with an explosive four-track release of mangled electronics from Manchester experimentalist Daniel Ruane, Failed Units, the fittingly titled imprint ran by Ruane alongside producers Carne and Vee, now close out their Dawn Of The Failed Units series with a two-track episode of “post-gabber whammers” from close ally and co-founder of the pioneering Berlin label oqko – smog.
It’s the third and final release in the series, which also saw a recent episode from Manchester’s Vee. smog continues to work to the label’s ethos and develop on his twisted rave formulas by pushing noise circuits as far as they can go, to the point of rhythms and textures becoming utterly unrecognisable.
Both pieces come inspired by his powerful live sets, and come backed by two equally nutty edits from producers Antwood and Forces. To celebrate the record, which saw a release last month, we invite smog to take us through some of his favourite hardcore influences – with heavyweight picks from Venetian Snares, Technological Terror Crew, Akira and more.
Akira – Fast And Akkurad (Producer’s Tortured Dynamics Edit)
I particularly like the work on the different elements and texture as well as the whole dynamic of the track. After listening to it again and again it still continues to reveal new details and subtleties. Even though I pick up Producer’s remix Akira’s original one is also a beast!
Technological Terror Crew – Kill Them
The distorted hip-hop infused intro and break combined with the bumpy, filtered kicks and cheap 8bits kind of synths make it addictive.
Venetian Snares – I’m A Fucking Idiot
Early mind-blowing and epileptic breakcore master track from Venetian Snares. So bad he couldn’t make it to his gig last year in Berlin… hope he can make it soon!
Nukom – Nina 2
The first EP released on Akira’s records label ‘Hong Kong Violence’ which includes 4 bangers. No bullshit, no remorse.
Nasenbluten – Concrete Compressor (Remix)
Early 90’s hardcore from the australians Nasenbluten made on a Amiga’s computer. This one is a perfect combination of breakbeats, comedy samples and gangster rap samples. A pure delight. All the different versions of this track (and all of their releases in general) are fantastic!
Liquid Blasted – Gauss Riffle
So much groove in this track, waving synths and distorted drums and audio samples slide along perfectly between the massive kick. Heavy stuff.
Hellfish & Producer – No More Rock n Roll
Another track from Producer, this time with Hellfish released on Deathchant. I find the use of scratches and hip-hop samples in hardcore tracks to be a pure delight, and when the track is a pure banger it’s simply perfect.
Dawn Of The Failed Units Pt.3: smog is out now.
Buy it here.
Featured Image: Hugo Esquinca
