One of the bigger and more popular festivals is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Often just referred to as “The Fringe” it’s an international comedy, music and performing arts festival that happens in August every year. it starts after the Film Festival, and before the International Festival (more classical arts). It’s world-renound for comedy, and people travel from all over the globe to be here for the month that it’s on, where they can spend all day every day watching shows from comedy to musicals, music to puppetry.

This year The Fringe have in some way teamed up with Soundcloud (my new-ish favourite website) to deliver a data representation of sorts. Inviting “ambassadors” to record clips in and around Edinburgh during the Fringe, and post them online where they’re tagged with a location and plotted on a map, they presumably hope to build up a pretty impressive library of sound clips associated with the Fringe and Edinburgh.

I, for one am all for it – I think it’s a great idea, so despite not being in Edinburgh for the whole Fringe, I’ll be recording and posting while I am there (the first week) and pretty much repping Soundcloud and their nice little recording app.

I’ve embedded the map above (fingers crossed that actually works) and you can follow my recordings account directly below…

Latest tracks by DFRNT2

More info here – http://soundsoffringe.com/

That desire to showcase music that I have been sent, combined with the enjoyment of putting good music out there where it can be discovered led to Insight.

The fortnightly podcast started as just 7 tracks each fortnight but has grown to a rather more rounded 10 tracks per episode. The format is simple – play each track in full (with mixed start and end, plus a bit of intro or ident over the top to save it being ripped) – provide it in a high quality downlodable mp3, as well as the facility to subscribe with RSS, or with iTunes, and do my part to give these producers and artists well-deserved attention.

It’s been around 40 weeks now since the first episode went live, and I’ve seen the podcast grow rather nicely. This Sunday marks episode 20 and I’m proud to have brought it this far and expect to fully continue to produce the podcast for the forseeable future.

You can download episode 20 (and all other 19 episodes) from the Insight website (where you can also subscribe or join the Facebook group to keep up to date.

So with that in mind, it was with slight scepticism I looked at the title for the forthcoming compilation from Gradient Audio. One with a track of my own on it, no less. But rest assured the scepticism (which comes with most things that I encounter) was short lived. After hearing samples and seeing the tracklist, I was able to let it go.

I don’t claim to know what the future holds, but I do know that this compilation is pushing envelopes. It’s a collection of 19 tracks, all sharing the common forward-thinking theme, and all residingfirmly under the ever-increasing “bass music” umbrella.

Producers like HxdB, FBOM, Simon/off, Wachs Lyrical and others ensure that the selection has its fair share of skipped-up weighty beats, alongside deeper selections like Shureshotz and Cairo. My own track Tribal is in there providing some percussive rumblings, and there’s all sorts in here – despite having something for everyone, it’s unlikley to be something you’ll want to skip through, since every track really demands attention in its own right.

There’s a preview here:

HxdB Presents…Future of Bass Volume 1 : GRDLP002 (TEASER) // OUT NOW! by ΗxdB

Alternatively you should be able to get it pretty much most stores now, since it came out a few days ago.

Over an hour of incredible electronic music for free. 14 beautiful tracks covering deep dub-techno, dubstep, drum and bass, future garage and IDM.

Download it for free at the Cut site!

This release is set for 10″ vinyl and digital download.

He has, to date, clocked up releases on some of the scenes most forward thinking labels, including a single on Med School and releases on Hospital and Influenza Media. He has also been tipped as ‘one to watch’ by London Electricity on the acclaimed Hospital Podcast.

Cold Tenderness is, as the title suggests, an emotional and melancholy piece of ambient dubstep. It’s stirring synths and haunting vocals create what is, quite simply, a breathtaking track that you will want to play again and again. The flipside see’s Edinburgh’s finest DFRNT (that’s me folks) on remix duty giving us a glimpse of what is to come on his forthcoming extended player on Nu Directions later in the spring.

The digital bundle also sees an exclusive remix from production duo of the moment Need For Mirrors. Fresh from the release of the ‘Super Earth’ EP they offer up something different from their recent output.

It’s a super-deep mix of dub-techno and dubstep from about 110 to 140 bpm. I’m all about the dub-techno in Winter. It always just seems so appropriate.

You can download my mix from the blog here.

You can stream or download it from Soundcloud here.

Or just play it below…

Tracklist:

01 The Strait Of Anain – Snow Closures
02 Siprut – U
03 PH.2 – Constellation
04 Isotroph – Genese
05 Tripswitch – Strange Parallels (Codemonkey Remix)
06 L-ow – Diver (Furesshu’s Die Welle Edit)
07 WNCL – Mrs Fingers (Quantec Remix)
08 Quantec – Ray Of Hope (A Made Up Sound Remix)
09 Steve Foulds – White Noise
10 Isotroph – Kenya (Opti’s Uhuru Peak Remix)
11 Q600 – Shinzon (Hatti Vatti Remix)
12 Isotroph – Lymbes (F Remix)

Stream it from LPR radio on Mixcloud

I’ve also posted the link on my site.

You can also grab the mix from Sendspace – http://www.sendspace.com/file/3yncai

Tracklist:
01 Icicle – Minimal Dub
02 Biome – Customs
03 Lurka – Run
04 MAKO – Redlight
05 Commodo – Querky
06 Jakes – Kill Tha Roach
07 Dom Hz – Don’t Stop
08 Prodigy – Voodoo People (Dismal Futures Remix)