In Session: LTJ Bukem Releases First Album in 8 Years and Promises His Good Looking Records Will Put Out an Album A Month

For far too long we have gone without new music from the original drum & bass don, LTJ Bukem. His solo mixes and Good Looking Records imprint became the stuff of legend, but in the mid 2000's, he decided to take a well-deserved hiatus. Now over eight years since his last release, he's just put out the instant classic, "In Session," mix album, which features stellar tracks on the revived Good Looking Records.

What's more, in doing a little digging, we came across a candid new interview on the Drum & Bass Arena Blog and it was this particular quote from LTJ Bukem himself that really got us excited about what's next:

“It’s great to have fun with the digital format and give fans more for their money,” he explains. “We’re planning to do an album every month. It starts with Bukem In Session this month. Then in July there’s Collectivism with different artists collaborating with each other. In August we’ve got a Makoto producer album coming out as part of the Producer Series we started a few years ago. In September we’ve got a new series called Resistance with a track from each country from different artists from around the world. We’re also working on a jazz-influenced drum & bass concept named Jazzin. Each month as well as the album there’ll be a variety of digital and physical releases, including vinyl only releases.”

So there you have it...not only is LTJ Bukem back...he's fully recharged and ready to introduce a whole new generation to his signature brand of liquid drum & bass music.

Here's a little taste of Mr. Bukem's Top 10 Tunes for June 2013:



Special Thanks: To the long-awaited return of LTJ Bukem and Good Looking Records...often imitated, but never duplicated

LTJ Bukem - Atlantis the DJ Marky & S.P.Y. Rework

 

 Well people... You asked for it.

It seems like just yesterday that I got the chance to see LTJ Bukem and DJ Marky on the same stage,

but those days are over here in Southern California.

It has been a really long time since any of the Electronic Massives of Southern California have brought any real names to the table worth spending a weekend hanging out with 

a bunch of teenie ravers on ecstacy for the first time and are sweating all over you and smell like the drugs and fast food they ate with their ex and are now in actuality just a younger crazier version of you as a teen and you kind of respect it because they really like the music you like too... 

Don't Mind the Ravers - Damn they know how to have a good time. Quandry?

Luckily Los Angeles still has the longest running Drum and Bass night known as RESPECT.

Each week Rob Machete and the Junglist Platoon bring us bad ass DJs from around the world, with little to no teenie ravers and maybe the occasional fight, RESPECT kills it, with names like:

A-Sides, Marcus Intalex, DJ Dara, Aphrodite, S.P.Y., Calibre, AK1200, the list continues on and on!

And we love them for it.

Just recently RESPECT brought producer and DJ, S.P.Y., to bring some 

of his insane tracks, mixing abilities and some choice reworks of some classics like

LTJ Bukem's, "Atlantis".

When S.P.Y. dropped this track during his set only a month ago, I knew I was hearing something 

sweet, but I had no idea it was this good. Working along side his creative 

partner and confidant DJ Marky, S.P.Y. brings us back to the original days of 

Drum and Bass, re worked into a modern classic itself that is no doubt going to get you mooving no matter what you are doing. This track not only proves how amazing it is that Drum and Bass producers are always collaborating on some ill shit, but it also helps LTJ Bukem show the people....

That he just may be making a comeback.

 Special Thanks to: Discovering my love for Drum and Bass music in the summer of 2009, watching a child have an "a ha" moment, pinecones are seeds for pine trees, buying a ton of new music online for March's Drum and Bass mix, pieces of earth from 11,000 feet in the air, Jameson Irish Whiskcy, Miami Heat Harlem Shake video, Kobe Bryant going off the deep end and scoring insane points this season, The San Francisco 49ers making some really nice moves in the offseason, the New York Yankees payroll is as grand as the average age of players, Skullphone, Drum and Bass being accessible at all avenues because of the internet.

New Music Tuesdays: LTJ Bukem Classic Drum & Bass Track "Return to Atlantis" Gets Remixed by DJ Marky & S.P.Y

Hold up! Wow, one of the biggest tracks in drum & bass history, "Return to Atlantis," the 1993 classic by LTJ Bukem has just been given a fresh re-rub from none other than DJ Marky and S.P.Y! Keeping plenty of the original intact but beefing up the drums for 2013...this one is a sure-fire dancefloor filler!



Out now via the recently re-launched Good Looking Records!

Now Mr. Bukem, would you kindly please come back to Los Angeles?

Special Thanks: Drum & Bass legends, LTJ Bukem, DJ Marky, S.P.Y, the debut of Little Giants, The Prodigy's 'The Fat of the Land" album turning 15, My SF Giants for overpaying CF Angel Pagan for the sake of team chemistry and breakfast for dinner.

Photek Preps New Album 'Ku:Palm' and Offers Free Download of First Single 'Pyramid'

We at Upperhands couldn't be more excited about the long-awaited new album from acclaimed electronic music producer, Rupert Parkes, aka Photek.

Photek made his mark initially as one of the pioneers in drum and bass, releasing standout singles on LTJ Bukem's Good Looking label as well as Goldie's Metalheadz. 

Never known to stay in one genre for too long, Photek's last solo album, 'Solaris,' came out in 2000, and saw the producer incorporate deep house sounds into his repertoire. In the following years Parkes went on to produce for artists like Nine Inch Nails and then start his own record label. Last year saw a slew of outstanding new Photek EPs from that, which have been building towards finally putting together a proper long-player. The result is the eagerly anticipated 'KU:Palm,' which is coming out on October 23rd. Judging by the early sounds, it looks to be a mixture of all the musical elements that fans have come to love from Photek over the years. 

You can download the first single 'Pyramid' for FREE right here

Special Thanks: SF Giants back in the NLCS, Amon Tobin ISAM 2.0 Tour at Greek Theater, frozen peanut butter cups, Biden sticking it to Ryan in the VP debate, crisp Autumn weekends