Receiving a perfect score of 10 and named the “money shot release” in the new issue of Mixmag, “The Low FreQuency Pureland EP” marks DJ/producer FreQ Nasty’s re-entry – with a vengeance – into the world of boundary-pushing music.
“I specifically avoided making dubstep on this EP as my modus operandi has always been –”look which way the crowd is moving and run in the opposite direction,” FreQ Nasty says. “Having said that, the crunkstep vibe of 1000 Buddhas… was made with that 100 “BPM-808-Hyphy Hip-Hop” sound in mind, but then other influences snuck in there too. And in the end my tunes never turn out quite how I imagine them to. So I don’t know what genre you would put these tracks in specifically. Not dubstep? Post dubstep? It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day as new genre’s often start in one physical location but very soon spread to anywhere you can get a half way solid link to the internet. This EP dropped out of AT&T’s broadband network somewhere between London and California. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed getting back in the studio.”
Digging into the tracks, Warm Dark Place is a glitch-hop and drumstep hybrid of equal parts West Coast glitch hop and UK tear-out. The influence of FreQ Nasty’s time in the US Bass heaven of California is obvious with a haunting melodic refrain offsetting the hefty bass pressure. 1000 Buddhas of the Pureland of Bass is a crunkstep roller that takes the uptempo hip-hop beats of the Northern Californian Hyphy movement and welds them to seismic 808 bassline. FreQ Nasty played this across the summer of 2011 and the 808 bass solo in the middle gets them screaming every time. The Heart of Definitive Meaning is a journey into the more reflective side of bass music. Swathes of guitar over a backdrop of distant chimes and revolving chords all served on a bed of deep sub bass. It evolves slowly with an almost subliminal drop into angular stabs of low frequency voltage.
Born in Fiji, raised in New Zealand and formed musically in the dance music revolution of London in the late 90s, FreQ Nasty started his career on the seminal UK label Botchit & Scarper, moving to SKINT Records in 2003. He went on to release a slew of cutting-edge records, collaborating with and remixing a diverse range of artists including Fatboy Slim, Kelis, KRS One, Roots Manuva, Rodney P, and reggae legend Junior Delgado. 2008 saw the release of Creator, his crossover hit collaboration with MIA producer Switch and NYC hipster Santogold, and the ground breaking FABRICLIVE 42 mix CD, which was picked as DJ Magazine’s compilation of the month. He is one of Burning Man festival’s most loved DJs, where he brings his signature mix of drumstep, glitch-hop, dubstep and all things Bass heavy every year. 2011 saw the release of Dread at the Controls on California’s Muti Music, which launched the 17-city Monsters of Bass tour with Marty Party and Opiuo. With the cutting-edge redesign of his website, launch of his new label, FreQ Nasty Recordings, and worldwide release of his new EP, supported by online, blog, and international press coverage, FreQ is making a powerful entry into 2012.
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