These mix cover arts keep getting cooler and cooler…
Did I accidentally go another six months without posting a review? Sorry guys, life keeps getting in the way. But anyway, today we’re gonna do things a bit different as I’m here to review the newest edition to the legendary bass producer Excision’s Shambhala mix series. This hour and a half mix is something fans of dubstep look forward too every year where Excision throws down new tracks across all genres from him and his label Rottun Records.
This year’s mix surprised me in many ways, one of the biggest in the fact that it was almost entirely Dubstep and Drumstep. While Excision did throw down Moombahton, Electro House, trap and Drum n Bass as expected the ratio of those to Dub/Drumstep was much less compared to last years mix and the last time I saw him earlier this year. In a scene where more and more artists are changing their sound to be extremely trap heavy, it’s nice to see Excision going back to his roots a bit (although I wouldn’t mind if he went back further and brought back the “deep” sound from his early work).
On the technical side of things, I think that last years set was a slightly cleaner mix. This isn’t to say that the mix is sloppy by any means as Excision’s been in the game for a while and he knows how to make shit sound gooooooood. I did however notice that a lot more of his transitions were hard cuts, especially in the beginning. This didn’t really phase me too much and I doubt it will the average listener because Excision’s track selection for this mix is fuckin’ prime. I’ll admit it, last year’s mix greatly help shape my taste in drum and bass and drumstep and I stole quite a few tracks for my own mixes. I’m sure I’ll end up downloading a lot of stuff from this mix as well because Excision couldn’t go 5 minutes without dropping something that audibly made me say “wow”. Some of my favorite tracks from the mix would have to be this year’s version of Excision’s anthem “X-Rated” (which he somehow manages to keep fresh every year), the Danny Bryd remix of Niggas in Paris or the COMPLETELY unexpected Rudebrat remix of RL Grim’s “Tell Me”. That last example might have been the highlight of the mix for me…I don’t want spoil it for anyone but Excision took me from thinking he messed up big time to making me go hard to a genre I’m not even a real fan of.
For me, this mix came at the perfect time because I’ve been listening to so much Liquid Drum and Bass and Psybient lately that I almost forgot how much I liked it when music got on the heavier side. While I literally told my friend a couple days ago that I probably wouldn’t see Excision again next time he came around, I’m now sure that next time he’s playing at the Oakdale you will definitely see me raging hard in the back. If you’re still unsure about devoting an hour and a half of your life to listening to this mix, check out the first 8 minutes live below and then go download the full set in higher quality on Excision’s soundcloud.
-Niles
The Funk Yard 