I first heard the name Dylan Rhymes when I discovered Whole9Yards – the UK record label that would forever change my taste in electronic music. It started with Dark Globe, then I discovered Meat Katie and Elite Force. I knew Lee Coombs from Fingerlickin’… but this was the beginning of my love-affair with all things tech-funk.

The record store I frequented the most in LA at the time was on Melrose Avenue… one of the shop DJs knew I was into breaks and ordered me all kinds of great stuff from the UK. After moving from LA to Chicago and Gramophone Records being my new home for music – it didn’t take long for the shop to know all Lot49 music would be purchased (at $12 per 12″) by yours truly.

Almost as quickly as I had discovered this music, I made my first visit to San Francisco – where a talented young DJ named shOOey was playing Salty at a small bar in the Mission. I knew at that moment that this town “got it”… not less than 4 hours later I would hear Melyss play my all-time favorite Rhymes track Party People at an underground Opel event. This was May of 2005. It was decided: we had to move to San Francisco.

It is fitting that we feature Dylan Rhymes this week – the 8th anniversary of Opel is this weekend. I know SF has become as special of a place to Marvin as it has to me, so I decided to ask him a little about his experiences in the city on the bay:

JR: When did you first hear about breaks being popular in San Francisco?
DR: Before my first trip, which seems an age ago now, I had heard there was a big party scene in SF. For such a relatively small city I was amazed at how many people were in to the whole underground culture. Luckily having always worked with Opel promotions there I wasn’t DJing to a one genre crowd. They were very accepting of all styles of dance music which was great for me as I play a lot of different music.

JR: What is the most special about visiting and/or playing in San Francisco for you?
DR: I love going to SF because it is one of the most welcoming places I have ever been to. There is a great spirit amongst the people that live there and I have made some amazing friends. The shows are always fantastic but you gotta prepare for the after party onslaught

JR: Can you share with us a memorable moment from your gigs at Opel over the past several years?
DR: One of many special moments I can remember was playing @ Mezzanine with my Label partner Meat Katie. Prior to the party there was a fashion show of all local talented designers and manufacturers. It blew my mind the work and effort that went in to this production and how well it went. It was only my 2nd or 3rd time in SF and this experience cemented the fact that it would be my number 1 destination to play.

JR: What is it like playing at Opulent Temple at Burning Man?
DR: It is an experience which I find hard to describe as every time I think about it I conjure up different moods and memories. You have to go to Burning Man to fully comprehend and appreciate the hedonism of it all. I guess the easiest way I can describe playing there is to imagine thousands of people in front of you that are having the best time of their life and you are responsible. At the risk of sounding like a Trance DJ, I would say EUPHORIC…if that’s allowed?

JR: What is different about playing in SF compared to other cities around the world?
DR: The main differences are the crowd is very open to different styles and they are out to party. It’s a very simple process for the Bay Area people……they go out…..they get down……they enjoy themselves! SIMPLE!

I would like to thank Marvin for participating in this years “Take Five” (we did a five question interview with Syd Gris last year prior to the Opel 7 year anniversary). His music has been an inspiration to me and I am thrilled we could feature an amazing mix of his this week on Jungo Road.

A little more about our friend Marvin…

Dance music has been the biggest part of Rhyme’s life from a young age. Inspired by early hip hop and electro a la Kraftwerk and Doug E. Fresh, Marvin purchased his first set of decks at 15 and caught the bug in a bad way. Rhythm Design Studios in Uxbridge became the birthplace of Outsiders, Drake and Beaver’s much-lauded project for Junior Boy’s Own Chicago influenced Jus Trax label. Friend, DJ and London mainstay Clive Henry then joined the team and the trio became Peace Division, a project that gained props from every corner of dance music without exception.

Since then he has cemented his reputation as one of the leaders of the breakbeat and tech house scenes through his output through Kingsize Records, Meat Katie’s Whole9Yards and Lot49 labels and his own Blue Black imprint. Besides original work, Beaver has also remixed the likes of Deep Dish, Infusion, Dave Gahan, BT, Overseer, Unkle and Puretone while he has collaborated with Meat Katie, Christian J, Force Mass Motion (as Silencer) and Anthony J Gorry (on his 2004 album, Dead Famous).

Catch Dylan Rhymes in the US over the next month or so starting this Saturday February 27th at Mighty (SF) for the Opel 8 Year Anniversary, March 6th in Tucson, AZ at The Rock, and then March 16th & 18th at SXSW as part of Lot49’s Texas invasion!

More about Dylan Rhymes on his site, Lot49, MySpace, SoundCloud, and Twitter.

Booking: Click to reveal email

Stream the mix and support the musicians by purchasing the tracks and hearing them played live! You can also download this full podcast mix above.

1. Dylan Rhymes + Meat Katie – ONLY YOU (Haggstrom remix)
2. Etienne De Crecy – Move
3. Zoo Brazil – FANCY (Popof remix)
4. Andreas Henneberg, Simon2 – BOLINGO GRINGO
5. Dylan Rhymes + Meat Katie – ONLY YOU (Echo Vacio Remix)
6. Reset Robot – v3
7. Thomas Schumacher – HEAT IT UP
8. G.e.R.M. – GLITTERBALL (Dylan Rhymes re-shift)
9. Odissi – DIRTY SECRETS
10. Cirez D – On Off + Depeche Mode – PEACE (Accapella)

For better viewing quality choose HQ from the SD/HQ button on the video player’s control bar below.

Lee Coombs today announced that his long awaited album Light and Dark (Lot49) will be released October 12, 2009. Lee is a taste maker, a hit maker, and a true industry icon. We got to preview the whole album; we know DJs and electronic dance music fans alike are going to love it. Its smashing!

Light and Dark is the culmination of Lee’s nearly 20 years on the forefront of electronic music and takes listeners through a history of electronic music, whether they know it or not. The album carries the raw essence and edginess of 1991’s burgeoning musical birth without seeming contrived. Lee has managed to warp time it seems by creating a masterpiece of a record that seamlessly blends his musical experience and genius from both the past and the present. Grimy old school analog sounds fused with bold techy drum progressions and the BIG tech funk sound that Lee is known for. The innovative use of vocal cuts and Lee’s innate ability to infect all his music with that little touch of dirty sonic mayhem really take this record to the next level.

Light and Dark has classic written all over it. The first two singles from the album are already out. Control was released (with remixes from Rogue Element and 10 Rapid) in November 2008 with big bouncy basslines, trademark percussion and Katherine Ellis’s unmistakable vocals. Right Now is what rave music should be all about; big stabbing key riffs that explode into monster basslines! Its hot on the DMC and Beatport charts. The club mix and a dopamine remix arm DJs with a dance floor anthem to keep fans jumpin’.

Fusing all the elements of the genres he favors is a definitive mark of Lee Coombs’ music. By integrating elements of tech-funk (a genre that didn’t exist before Lee and a few other industry vets like Elite Force, Meat Katie, and Dylan Rhymes coined the phrase), breaks, house, electro and techno, Coombs has once again has broken the boundaries of music and how we perceive it. Light and Dark pushes all the right buttons by somehow fusing essential elements of everything we love about electronic music, those intangible parts that can never be explained, just experienced.

The Light and Dark tour is set for October and November 2009 taking Lee to the Far East, the United States, Australia and Europe. Expect full previews of Light and Dark when Lee takes to the decks this September at Black Rock City, NV at Burning Man.

More info at leecoombs.com, MySpace, and Facebook

Booking (US, Canada): Click to reveal email
Booking (UK, Europe): Click to reveal email
Worldwide Management by Sara Cooper Management: Click to reveal email

Vandal is on Lot49 and has recently been leaning towards tech-funk and electro/evil breakbeat tracks. This mix spans that and hints at some indie dance and early millennium UK progressive. His recent releases like Capital Magic continue his build towards his full debut album, tentatively titled Tonight We Ride!, later this year.

1. Tiga What You Need (Proxy Remix) [Turbo]
2. Disco Trash Music Neon Disco (Alex Gopher Remix)
3. Autodidakt Shit Your Rack (Proxy Remix) [Traktor]
4. A-Trak Say Woah (Boys Noize Remix) [Kitsune]
5. Housemeister Who’s That Boys [Boys Noize Records]
6. Vandal Big Dog [Unreleased]
7. Circuit Freq ZonderZug (Randolph & Mortimer RMX) [Circuit Freq Rec]
8. Hyper Vs Vandal Fugazi (Vandal Remix) [Kilowatt]
9. Felix Cartel Salty Lake [Dim Mak]
10. Filth & Spendour Shadow & Shape (James Harourt Remix) [Itch]
11. McLloyd Tembisa Funk (Jokers Of The Scene Remix) [Positiva]
12. Bloc Party Mercury (Herve Remix) [Witchita]
13. Pheonix Lisztomania (Alex Metric Remix) [CDR]

More Vandal at SoundCloud.

‘Roll Player’ is pure class top to bottom, my favorite on the EP. I just love the syncopated percussive sounds and bassline groove – exactly the kind of stuff I am digging right now. Rather than relying on lead-lines that hit you over the head, this highly suggestive track has some  serious style.

The Specimen A remix reminds me of why I fell in love with Lot49 back In 2004 – and absolute blinder of a remix. The first minute does not prepare you for the breakbeat onslaught that ensues. This is the kind of remix that will have the masses begging for more. Thoroughly engaging and expertly produced, and that’s all before the spawn of Satan lead-line kicks in. Forget everything I said about lead-lines in the original review above, this is how it’s done right Here. Can you say epic? Sick remix. Specimen A will be remembered for this one. My God… unreal.

‘Long Acre’ brings us back to earth momentarily. Ahh – back to the minimal tech shit that MK has been blessing us with on the Dustbowl project and now this one with Dylan Rhymes. This techno groover invites you into the washing machine before it begins to fuck with your head two minutes in. An unmistakable hook, the slicing syncopated synth, complimented by groove-perfect drums, takes you on a journey. Great compliment to ‘Roll Player’ – ‘Long Acre’ is a classic techy winner of a track.

Mike Hulme’s take on ‘Long Acre’ is a bit deeper and bit darker – I love what he did with the lead-line… cutting it up for it to compliment his darker bass and added synths. With a clean-hat riding on top of the filthy synths this track has fresh and original sound to it. Looking forward to testing this on the dancefloor. Really like the way this one evolves.

Marvin’s re-edit is a real treat. Beefed up drums and psychedelic flange with the lead-line mostly in place makes this the remix of choice for me on ‘Long Acre’. Tremendous package all around.

(avail exclusively on beatport)

I suppose one of the perks of having your own blog is to ramble on about irrelevant nonsense (which this article is the perfect opportunity to do). Meat Katie, for my money, is really the king of tech-funk. There is a triumvirate, I’d say, but at the top of the heap is the godfather – Meat Katie. His name taken from an old British porno, MK has always had a unique style that cannot be described as house, breaks, or techno – rather the bastard child of all three. MK records were always full of force and style – and always on the dark side, which I loved. Aside from my brief sojourn into funky breaks, I was a huge fan of the “Whole9Yards sound” from the start. W9Y is MK’s much beloved former label, put to rest – and resurrected in the form of Lot49. Now five years old already, Lot49 has become the premier tech-funk label in the world and a staple in DJ crates spanning multiple genres.

I first met Meat Katie at LA’s best kept secret – Monday Social – back when it was at Las Palmas. Each subsequent time we have crossed paths he has been humble, geniune, funny, crass (always), and just plain cool – rare (believe me) in this DJ scene we all frequent. Evidence of MK’s status is that I found myself dancing next to BT at Monday Social that night – and the dancefloor at Las Palmas was about 10 square feet. Since then, I have gone on to see MK thoroughly punish dancefloors at multiple shows in San Francisco – none more memorable than Love Fest 2007. It is all the more thrilling that MK (and Lot49 label-mates) will be making that journey down Jungo Road this coming summer to Black Rock City. *editors note: they will most certainly be taking Route 447 and not Jungo Road en route to Burning Man – but it sounded better to say it that way.

Be sure to check out Meat Katie’s scorching 90 minute set from the Opel 7 Year Anniversary party – streaming below, download link above, and podcast available on iTunes (search: Jungo Road). Special thanks to Zach Moore and the Gough Street Sessions podcast for a copy of this un-interrupted mix. Be sure to check out Zach’s podcast for additional sets from the Opel 7 Year party and enough additional free music to make your head spin.

<————– slightly edited label logo (I prefer this one)

Stream the Meat Katie mix right here. You can also download the podcast at the start of the post or by subscribing.

Here are some of Jungo Road’s favorite tracks by Meat Katie available from Amazon. You can click to listen, purchase and support Meat Katie.

Electronic music in the US is very much an urban expression, in that, each city has it’s own particular style. San Francisco is no exception. One can almost distinguish So.Cal deep house from No.Cal deep house. What is unique about San Francisco, and not many US cities can claim this, is that it has a very healthy breaks scene. Perhaps it is the artistic and expressive history of the city which has set the stage for this particular style of music to succeed. The breaks are nothing new, however, and yet it seems many US clubs are not ready to promote anything other than four-on-the-floor.

Enter Syd Gris – legendary San Francisco promoter and founder of Opel Productions. From his humble beginnings as a DJ and part-time party promoter, Syd has always been a man with a mission. His parties always encompass a greater sense of community and responsibility – very much consistent with the philosophy and prevailing attitudes of the cities (SF and Black Rock). Over the past 7 years, Opel has grown to become one of the biggest crews in San Francisco. Between Opel and Opulent Temple (Syd’s Burning Man camp – incidentally the largest sound camp at Burning Man), Syd has booked the biggest DJs in the world – but none more consistently than tech-funk heros like Meat Katie, Dylan Rhymes, Lee Coombs, and Elite Force.

With Opel’s 7 year anniversary (a party too big for one night! see below…) on the horizon, it seemed fitting that Jungo Road features one of Opel’s newer DJs: Dex Stakker. I also used this opportunity to launch a new series on Jungo Road – “Take 5″. Five questions posed to accomplished and influential people in the breaks/tech-funk community. We begin this series with Dr. Syd Gris…

Take 5 with Syd Gris

1. What has made the breaks and tech-funk scene so successful in San Francisco?

I see it as a symbiotic relationship between the well established SF underground crews simply liking that sound as promoters and dj’s and so bringing it out to their parties.  The parties are sweet, and the ball starts rolling and it becomes self perpetuating.  I think because the 3 of us (myself as Opel, Seismic, and An-Ten-ae) are dj’s, we know what we like musically, and have trust that we know what the SF crowd will be up for.  We have an idea of a particular sound we want to push and expand here and so we take the steps to make it happen.

2. Will breaks and tech-funk remain a sub-genre that most promoters in the US won’t touch with a ten-foot pole?

They won’t?  That’s odd to me, especially as in the tech funk realm the whole point is it’s a range of house, electro, breaks and techno, so it’s got much more broad appeal that let’s say just straight ahead funky breaks.

3. When and who were the DJs/Producers that interested you in this sound?

No surprise there.  I bought the first Lot 49 release – ‘All I Need’ by Meat Katie, w/ one side a remix by Dylan Rhymes, and the other by Lee Coombs.  Off that track alone, and how sick it was, I booked Meat Katie to play a Opel Halloween party in 2005, and have since broadened the roster I like to bring out to be a bunch of the guys on that continuum such as Lee Coombs, Dylan Rhymes, Elite Force, Rogue Element, Vandal, Blende, + other guys that might be associated with breaks but do much more such as Adam Freeland, Stanton Warriors, Rennie Pilgrem, Hyper, Hybrid, etc.

4. What does the future hold for Opel Productions?

I like the talent cycle we’re on and we love doing what we do with special events such as our anniversary parties, LoveFest, Halloween, NYE, street fairs, etc. so we’ll likely keep that up.  Plus, our sister playa community the Opulent Temple will be looking to expand our production outside of just doing Burning Man, and that holds all kinds of exciting potential.

5. What is your most memorable moment over the years with Opel?

Simply impossible to say.  We’ve been blessed with more awesome memories than I could sort through, and we look forward to more.

We thank Syd Gris for taking the time to share with us his insight into the scene and some history on Opel!

Opel 7 Year Anniversary
Part One: April 25, 2009 featuring Meat Katie & Dylan Rhymes (with full local support)
@ Mission Rock 817 Terry Francois St. San Francisco
Part Two: May 1st, 2009 featuring Stanton Warriors (with full local support)
@ Mezzanine 444 Jessie St. San Francisco

for more information visit www.opelproductions.com

a fundraiser for the Opulent Temple, the infamous Burning Man sound camp you all know and love

DJs:
Lee Coombs [free MP3 mix from Jungo Road] (Lot 49, LeeCoombs.com – UK)
Syd Gris (Opulent Temple – SF)
Dr. Wundt (Dealin’ Records)
Todd Fatjo (Jack Productions, Dealin’ Records)
Hoj Johmeri (Opel Productions – SF)
Morgan Stoner (Funky Communication, Team Ewok)

…will get your feet moving and have you longing for those crazy nights on the Playa. Burlesque and go-go dance performances by local Burners.

Light installations by Dr. Light & Techno Todd, and blacklight photography by Joe Che. Flyer artwork by Todd Fatjo & Steven Loftis.

(100% of the proceeds go to production of the Opulent Temple sound camp at Burning Man. None of the DJs, artists, performers, & volunteers for Opulent Temple receive any compensation for providing you with the beautiful music and imagery they provide. We thank you for your contribution!)

Notes
21 and over w/ID, street parking, coat check available, goodie bags for first 25 attendees in costume.

Public Assembly/Galapagos Art Space
70 N. 6th St. Brooklyn, NY

You can now purchase tickets at BrownPaper.com:
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/62443

Lee is a DJ and producer who needs little introduction. His cross-genre success and influence on the world of dance music is among the best in the game. With a discography like Lee’s (here) it’s hard to know where to begin to describe his sound. Thus, he is the perfect contributor for Jungo Road!

Bending boundaries and ignoring the status quo – where would the Breakbeat scene be today without Lee Coombs. For over a decade this British producer has been at the forefront of it all; releasing groundbreaking mix CDs, remixing the world’s most acclaimed artists and knocking out dancefloor destroying productions that are considered classics years after their release.

A seasoned veteran, Coombs first hit the DJ slopes in 1989, bathing himself in the acid house scene at parties around London and Cambridge. Crucial in shaping his all-encompassing approach to DJing and production, this boundary-less approach would become Coombs’ trademark, mixing up breaks, house, electro, techno and acid with dexterous assurance.

In 1998 Coombs made his first massive strike on the breaks scene as the prized recruit of then ‘up and coming’ label Finger Lickin’, with the man’s acclaimed album of 2001 ‘Future Sound of Retro’ signaling his arrival on the world stage. Such was the impressive nature of Coombs’ debut that respected industry figurehead Pete Tong noted him as the ‘man to watch’. An ‘Essential New Tune’ accolade soon followed courtesy of Tong, with Coombs’ re-rub of Quivver’s ‘One Last Time’ making dance fans weak at the knees the world over.

Such was the demand for Coombs, that luminary Paul Oakenfold was soon knocking at his door, resulting in the critically acclaimed Perfecto Breaks album of 2002. After landing the job of remixing Oakenfold’s ‘Time of your Life’ and then further re-rubs for world class acts such as Moby, New Order, Lamb and Planet Funk, Coombs’ status as one of the industry’s most in-demand artists quickly developed. Even the BBC was under the Coombs spell with them flying him over to Prague in the summer of 2003 to record the theme music for the television program ‘Born to Win’ with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ever the musical innovator, Lee Coombs’ 2004 album release ‘Breakfast of Champions’ signalled a significant evolution in his sound. Collaborating with some of the most respected artists in his field – from Dylan Rhymes to Christian J, Andy Gardner (Plump DJs) and Jem Panufnik (Soul of Man), the album charted the ambitious new territory of Tech Funk, injecting the Breaks sound with butt-shaking elements of House, Electro and Techno. It was a style Coombs would make his own, alongside fellow innovators Meat Katie, Elite Force and Dylan Rhymes. Featured on the acclaimed album was the cracking single ‘Shiver’ (feat. Katherine Ellis) which was snapped up by classic house imprint Azuli and became one of the biggest vocal house anthems of 2005, whilst the ‘Alright All-Night/Dubhead’ and ‘Obsessional Rhythm’ singles went straight to no.1 in the DJ Mag Beats & Breaks Chart.

Departing Finger Lickin’ for new pastures in 2005, Coombs’ focus shifted to releasing music through his own Thrust Recordings imprint as well as Adrift and Meat Katie’s Lot49 (then Whole9Yards). It was at this time that he started his Thrust club nights in San Francisco, with the quarterly events becoming one of the hottest tickets on the West Coast.

Change has further characterized Coombs in recent times. Not only has the recently married Brit relocated to the USA to settle with his new wife, but he also formally joined the Lot49 team and released the label’s latest compilation in 2008.

If that’s not enough, a groundbreaking new artist album is also on the way. While still dancefloor focused, Coombs views this as his most ambitious project yet with a range of tempo from 100 – 128 bpm and collaborations with the likes of Longrange (Phil Hartnoll from Orbital’s new band), Meat Katie, Seasunz, Katherine Ellis and many others.

When he is not in the producers chair, Coombs regularly tours all corners of the globe and is a bona-fide fans favorite throughout Europe, the USA, Australia, Asia and of course the UK. His popularity has also ensured his repeat appearance at infamous festival Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

In an industry that’s so often governed by trends and fads, Coombs’ unwavering ability to simultaneously destroy dancefloors and push musical boundaries almost 20 years since he first touched a pair of turntables is a remarkable achievement in itself. With plans to further spread his production wings to writing music for film and TV, as well as producing bands, there’s little doubt that his impressive sonic skills will be rocking ears for many years to come.

[Editors note: Those of you who subscribed to our podcast/RSS feed or cellphone/email list had early access to this exclusive mix last week! If you haven't signed up already, do it today so you get in on the next early scoop!]

Catch Lee Coombs at the Opulent Temple Fundraiser in Brooklyn on April 11th.

Get more info on Lee Coombs at his website and Myspace.
US/Canada Booking: Click to reveal email
UK/Europe Booking: Click to reveal email

Stream the exclusive Lee Coombs mix right here. You can also download the podcast at the start of the post or by subscribing.

Here are some of Jungo Road’s favorite tracks by Lee Coombs available from Amazon. You can click to listen, purchase and support Lee Coombs.

Label co-owner and breaks legend Dylan Rhymes gives the full compliment of remixers plenty to work with on his original. From the filthy bass that wastes no time in making its intention known, to the HUGE synths and Underworld-like vocals. No filler here, just pure dance floor mayhem.

Ctrl-z’s break-y approach is exactly what the doctor ordered in the clubs dominated by 4×4 sounds right now. The perfect peak-time breakbeat track, this one bumps and squeeks in all the right places. Tom Real takes this track exactly where my style is right now… groovy, techy, and straight-up BUMPin’. No need to go hands in the air on this one to get down. Says a lot in it’s reserved approach to the mix. Sexiest track of the bunch. Matt and Stephen continue to impress. No longer a couple promising producers from Stateside, the McCurry/Cole combination has become synonymous with pure tech-funk class. The drums on this track absolutely KILL. They bring the hammer on their remix – top notch. Klaus Hill delivers the perfect big-room sound on his take. Solid! The Hyperion remix, however, takes the cake for me. Just relentless! This kind of maximal tech-funk-techno is the kind of take-no-prisoners track that will pack the floor every single time. Just massive!

The whole package is just phenomenal. Get it. Now.