TiMZED’s six track debut EP ‘Ghost’ is a varying exploration of deep laden synths and melodic grime which fits perfectly within the colorful subsets of the vast permutations of London’s ever-evolving underground. Ghost offers us a glimpse into what we can expect to hear in the future from the North West Londoner and with the likes of Oneman already championing the newcomer alongside Radio 1 airplay, I think this could be the start of something quite considerable for TiMZED.

Over the last year we have seen Dubstep and 4×4 beats morph into a whole plethora of styles and sounds, TiMZED avoids any cliché with ‘Ghost’ and we’re not subjugated to any fleeting phenomena that often transpires into new producers.

The spatial awareness of TiMZED’s productions should be duly noted with the use of effortless rhythmic sections, weaving themselves around timely snares and dark synths. Opening with ‘Anonymous’ you become engulfed by a number of sounds and a depth to a track that really is quite something for a debut. Many could be over awed by the number of elements used, but timely intersections and sumptuous vocal samples take you from once a very narrow aperture into a formidable warehouse of subtle bass and head nodding melody.

A life effortlessly weaves throughout these tracks, ‘Alone in the Dark(‘s)’ tough drum pattern and snares are eased into a vast concourse of bass by a timely vocal sample that intercuts with a breakdown that sets the varying discourses of TiMZED’s beats into new arenas. Easily my stand out cut from a delightful record.

This is cutting edge Dubstep and Grime harking back to the formulaic years, with ‘The Potion’ invoking memories of Skream’s ‘Dutch Flowerz’. This is the type of Grime instrumental / Dubstep I’m most comfortable with, away from the wobble and over consuming bassline, dispersing into melodic sounds and colors which represent a great vibrancy, the antithesis of London’s electronic music right now. Intelligent Grime is very much at the forefront with Starkey and TiMZED, Ikonika and Swindle opening the apertures to once rugged fruity-loop products and Playstation inspired 8bit sounds to sumptuous productions of spatial significance.

DOWNLOAD HERE

It was only a matter of time until the interesting expression the online medium once yielded were to be torn down by the scramble for advertising and SEO rankings. This has undone creative merit in a insufferable parasitic need for traffic drivers. As the blogroll continues to shift content and expression downwards, the only hope now is that we stem this tide of promo after promo with something worthy of discussing.

Advent of the real time web is killing so many creative arts, no longer do we perceive composition with longevity but continually search for what’s next. Twitter brought us instantaneous communication and with it brand messages and interaction devoid of any real merit. It has forged a race to be first, a grab and push culture without really taking the time to see the wood from the trees.

Wet spitballs of non news have become the evanescence of culture and it’s depriving creative individuals with the foundation in which to say yes, I’m proud of this, stop for a moment and enjoy it. Instead, we’ve lost ourselves in the flurry of dialogue and have been dragged down into the fast lane of quick creation. It no longer matters what we say and express about content, because nobody is taking the time to absorb and read, it’s click and onto the hyperlink, spun away from any opinion of merit to a picture and press release regurgitated by the next Joe Blogs.

Followings and clicks have become the pillars in which we define quality, no longer is a benevolence the epicenter of championing what we like. Now we’re too easily swayed by “tastemakers” and public relation personnel in the hope that Mr. Big Brand will extend his purse to little old me. This is true of all the creative arts, music, fashion, literature et al. Clicks have become the essence of what we do and it doesn’t matter what we write anymore as long as the algorithm pushes you up the search scale.

We have lost stumble culture and individuality has been destroyed by the hype. Fast consuming, fast reading, fast engagement. This has seen niche trends become mainstream and however hard you try to break free of this in a sort of unique individuality, a million bloggers and aggregators have spotted your shirt, your shoes, your tunes and spread a vicious virus of what’s hot to the masses.

Just to stay alive we’re constantly just forcing content creation upon ourselves, be it brands or bands, we need more promo or pictures and less art. If people could take the time to create and not be beholden to the content vultures and cluster fucks leeching off of your every tweet and refreshing every page, the online sphere would be a healthier more creative spectrum of individuality.

Blogs are becoming devoid of points of interest as we no longer critically analyze or convey any kind of sentiment other than the nuance of loves and likes. No one posts negative commentary anymore and that’s fine, but at least express an opinion as to why you like or love something, not simply it’s here in a narcissistic self gratifying ode to why I’m cooler than you.

Tony Allen is one of the most important drummers on the planet who along with Fela Kuti defined the genre of Afrobeat and inspired a host of musicians including Flea and Damon Albarn who are both featured here.  If you’re unfamiliar with Tony Allen then just take six minutes out of your day to watch this.

One of my biggest pet hates is American’s talking about Football.  That is an incredibly crude generalization however in the considerable amount of time I have spent across the Atlantic very few understand the sport.  Some do but their discussion of the game grates on me.  It’s the vocabulary, the vernacular, the description.  I am pretty sure many feel the same way about how I would describe NFL games or Baseball.  Such is life of the foreigner.  Football is the global language, once you play, all discussion, commentary and talk leaves the pitch and you can proceed to break down all cultural barriers.

This video of Spike Lee showcasing his son’s team evokes so many memories of my childhood.  Playing with the same group of lads from the age of six all the way up until 15 has provided my greatest sporting achievements and some of my fondest memories as a kid.

Football as Spike shows here brings families incredibly close together, It can also divide them for 90 minutes due to tribal allegiances.  I can’t really think of a time when my Dad missed a game and having played in three sides Club, FA Academy and School that’s pretty amazing.  We also travel 300 miles every other week to Manchester and back to watch our side.  My story is the same as millions of other young men across the globe, sport and it’s unifying quality to bond father and son is universal.  The World Cup is tantalizingly close, the greatest sporting spectacle anywhere in the globe will captivate the hearts, minds and imaginations of the youngest of boys and the oldest of men, regardless of nationality we’ll all be watching.

Hadley Wood; the home of Footballers, Jewish Rudeboys and Banksy.

It’s with great pleasure that I can finally say that The Shape of Things to Come has progressed much further than my personal musings. With an emphasis on quality readership over quantity, the blog has attracted some great readers with their own cutting-edge influence on British street culture. As with most networking opportunities Twitter has opened many doors over the last year or so, and I have found great common ground with like minded individuals. Ph0t0machine is one such chap and having once ran a previous blog of the highest merit, he was firmly on the radar as a purveyor of quality insight and information. He is the new recruit to So Shape It, and as I ramble about music with a fairly uneducated take on things, as one mate said about my technical knowledge; “Nick, you couldn’t mix a drink” it’s fantastic that Ph0t0machine has decided to join the team. He’s a quality DJ and a top notch producer who brings an educated and technically informed knowledge of music to the blog. He’s going to be posting in the near future about a whole manner of things, but music will be at the core.

Follow @Ph0t0machine on Twitter
Check out his Myspace

This Saturday sees the return of Download This! at Plan B in Brixton.  For me this is one of the most important nights happening in London at the moment.  The apertures for UK bass music are drawn further apart and an interesting intersection of 4×4, Dancehall rhythm, dubby basslines and ragga enthused vocals is breathing life into a new space making UK club music as dynamic and exciting as it has ever been.   Download This! is seemingly at the forefront, giving a broad and varied selection of DJs the platform in which to release unheralded fusions of street music with bass at the core.  Previously Ph0t0machine opened the night with Roska headlining followed by Redlight and Seiji.  This certainly set the mantra for Download This! with quality at the forefront, while a diasporic notion of Bass underpins the narrative.

Seiji stole the show with a vigorous and technical set which tore the place down, leaving Annie Mac to proclaim on her Twitter that it was the best set she had seen this year.

For a taste of what to expect from Seiji this Saturday check his promo mix for the night.

At the last Download This! Roska seemingly transitioned from Funky, House and Techno effortlessly, but the most exciting set for me was Redlight.  Formally producing Drum & Bass records under the moniker Clipz, Redlight is carving his own distinct sound throughout his new productions and yet interweaves basslines from a whole manner of sources, pushing Plan B’s Funktion 1 soundsystem to the limits.

FACT as ever have been on the cusp of this fusion, most notably showcasing both Seiji a noth or so ago and Redlight last fortnight within their phenomenal mix series. (DOWNLOAD Redlight’s HERE & Seiji’s HERE)  Both mixes take you on an epic journey of cutting edge Bass music with Seiji providing a historical lesson while inducting you to the latest Bass cravings. Both are underlined by a conscious effort to draw on distinct UK vocals to provide a narrative and energy to their sets. Seiji and Redlight draw for a couple of the same vocal tracks, with J2K and Roses Gabor the choice cut for me, Redlight’s own tunes are a cut above and take centre stage.  ‘Stupid’ also featuring Roses Gabor is very much at the heart of the sound  that Download This! champions. The specials on show throughout his mix are of a similar vibe and Breakage’s ‘Hard’ takes D Double and Footsie’s vocals to a new realm with tribal percussion that hints at Funky’s ever growing presence at the dark end of the spectrum.

Greenmoney are renowned for both their quality radio show on Ministry of Sound and their own production offerings.  The duo recently teamed up with Female MC and vocalist Mz Bratt concocting a track that sits at the darker end of Funky and the rhythmical intersection of Grime and Dub Step.

They also know how to throw a quality bash that underpins the very essence of bass music right now and Download This! is testament to the aesthetic Alex and Leo are championing.

Smutlee is on the line up and I’ve constantly drummed on about his pioneering take on Funky and Dancehall and his mix for Download This! sets the tone for what we’ve become accustomed to when he’s on the decks.  Fresh back from cutting it up in Germany, I’m looking forward to hearing what he’s got in store.

It’s difficult conveying these sounds without an overwhelming use of cliché.  However I think that experiencing these cutting edge Bass tremblings on a Funktion 1 is without a doubt one of the greatest rave experiences happening in London at the moment.  With Plan B’s newly refurbished interior giving Download This! a great bar and clean ambiance you should definitely reach.

The greatest jacket ever made.  As seen at the Design Museum.  A Football Casual stalwart, a quality engineered fashion icon, C.P. Company’s history has been well documented in relation to Football.

The Goggle Jacket is a studied example of functional innovation inspired by the practical requirements of long-distance car racing.  The jacket was originally designed by Massimo Osti, as part of C.P. Company’s sponsorship of the 1988 Mille Miglia – the Italian open road endurance race initiated in 1927.  To celebrate 20 years of the design Aitour Throup presented a detailed analysis of the original, culminating in his redesigned 1000m Goggle Jacket.  The entire structure of the garment has been constructed around a human form in a driving position.

This is a particularly special refix for the classic C.P. Company jacket by an acclaimed draughtsman and designer.  I want it! More images after the jump.