Dom Howard from the band takes us on a tour of his favourite tracks
Submotion Orchestra – All Yours (J Sparrow remix)
Sparrow really got the vibe right with this remix. A great stripped back mellow track for the early hours.
Author – Green & Blue
Ben Glass commands this track with some awesome sax blowing, and the track works as well in a club on a soundsystem as it does at home.
Ruckspin, Planas & DLR – Heart Murmur
A long-time favourite of mine – it is at once both smooth and soulful as well as technical and experimental.
Cymatic – Electric Church
4 producers came together to create this timeless roller. It’s inter-spliced with quotes from a Jimi Hendrix interview where he talks of the importance of music for the soul, over just ‘making a loud noise’. I think those words are as important today as they ever have been.
Calibre – All the while
Calibre’s ‘Second Sun’ album was and still is, in my opinion, one of the greatest ventures into soulful and credible drum&bass music. This track in particular has a haunting, melancholy, hypnotic quality that is perfect for the quieter hours.
Break & Die – Peace & Dub
It’s rare for drum&bass producers to turn their hand to other genres with such ease without sounding like drum&bass. This track is a real bonafide dub track, brought right up to date with modern production skill, but retains the timeless quality of roots reggae and dub music.
Groundation – Babylon Rule Dem
I really like this song but I have no idea what the guy is singing about. It is quite a long track but doesn’t get boring as it’s like several songs in one. His voice is also unlike anything I’ve heard. Definitely worth checking out.
Disrupt – Selassie I Continually
Probably my favourite ‘Disrupt’ tune – but the Foundation Bit album this was taken from is phenomenal. Every track is really cleverly put together and brings everything down to a really accessible 8-bit form of dub where the fx are given as much importance as the composition. Check out more stuff from the Jahtari camp – there’s loads of free stuff for download on their site too.
Rhythm & Sound ft. Willi Williams & Jah Cotton – See mi Yah
Rhythm & Sound is the light at the end of the techno tunnel as far as I’m concerned. They combine the anally tight precision engineering of german techno with the warm low-end soundsystem culture of jamaican dub. A winning formula.
Planas – Breathless ft. Ed Thomas
Planas is about to release his debut full length album and if this track is anything to go by, it will be an instant classic.
The seven piece Submotion Orchestra return with ‘It’s Not Me It’s You’ – the first single taken from their forthcoming second album.
“The new album is shaping up to be a blinder, and we’re hard at work finishing it off before we embark on the March tour”, says Submotion keyboardist Taz Modi. “There are things that should both satisfy fans of the first album, and surprise them too. Hopefully ‘It’s Not Me It’s You’ will do both.”
‘It’s Not Me It’s You’ maintains the band’s signature combination of smoking-hot vocals and bass music played live, whilst also upping the electronic element. More importantly, the track sees the band moving away from more cerebral soundscapes and into the realm of a crossover-friendly club anthem in waiting.
Marrying a singalong chorus, Todd Edwards-style chopped vocals and post dubstep with the warmth and musicality of soul-jazz, ‘It’s Not Me It’s You’ is the track destined to propel Submotion Orchestra beyond their base of plentiful press admirers and fans into the hearts of a wider audience.
For anyone who bizarrely isn’t up to speed on the Submotion phenomena, here’s a brief re-cap: Having captivated revellers with their frenetic live dubstep spectacle, the band became firm festival favourites, wowing crowds at Glastonbury, Bestival The Big Chill, Lattitude, Secret Garden and Outlook in Croatia.
Last year the band released their debut album ‘Finest Hour’, plus singles ‘All Yours’ and ‘Always’. They were met with widespread critical acclaim, plus heavy Radio 1, 6music, 1xtra and NME Radio support.
Highlighting their broad appeal, DJ support has come a diverse selection of jocks including Laurent Garnier, Oneman (Rinse) DJ Flight (Metalheadz/Rinse), Simbad (Defected), Tayo (Kiss), plus Ashley Beedle and Rocky.
Submotion Orchestra sold out every date on their large venue headline tour which culminated in a triumphant gig at London’s XOYO. Catch Submotion Orchestra in full effect this March.
· Monday 12th March: Manchester – Fac 251 tickets
· Tue 13th March: Sheffield – Tuesday Club tickets
· Wed 14th March: Leeds – The Wardrobe tickets
· Thurs 15th March: London Scala tickets
· Fri 16th March: Brighton – Concorde 2 tickets
· Sat 17th March: Bristol – Fleece tickets
· Sun 18 March: Exeter – Timepiece tickets
www.submotion.co.uk // www.facebook.com/submotionorchestra
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