2010 RECAP: Taal Mala of Lighta!

We saved the final instalment of the 2010 recaps as a segue way into our first podcast of 2011. Tall Mala delivers a staggering 2+ hours of all of 2010′s different strands of bass excellence. This thing is a beast. Truly spanning a shitload of genres here… and Kyle Hall’s “You Know What I Feel” – what a fantastic burner to start the whole thing off with! Purped-out sounds meld with 2step slink, warping through deep dub & fusing with some future techno energy. Oh yeah, there’s a few bangers on there too. Nice to see Africa Hitech in there, so underplayed this past year.

We understand that this isn’t a practical mix to get down to in one gulp – we suggest inhaling in separate sessions. Taal Mala generates a few movements & swells of vibe throughout the mix, so leaving & returning is a feasible thing to negotiate. But we’re pretty sure that sometime in July, when you revisit this thing, it’ll be a solid reminder of what a great year 2011 was for dancefloors.

download sub⎹division podcast 13.0 mixed by Taal Mala

Taal Mala: “2010 has been very action packed. Non-stop fast forward to the future. A lot of events have taken place to strengthen the network of producers/DJ’s/promoters/ravers of the West Coast of Canada, and Internationally. The vast space between Canada’s few major cities is feeling smaller. There has been an incredible amount of growth and success of the bass music movement everywhere.  Small towns are being put on the map, and the network of music fanatics is tightening.  The concept of rave camping (aka the summer music festival) has come full circle, with importance being placed on community, vibe, and good music, rather than commerce and hype. The BassCoast Project being the prime example of this. The lines between genres have been blurred to the point that there is no such thing as genres of electronic music anymore, just tempos. This has resulted in the blurring of the lines between different sound crews, cliques, and communities, that were once relatively unknown to each other or segregated into their own little pigeon holes. Technology is logarithmically skyrocketing in it’s availability and usability, which has been a big part of this coming together of people and music, as well as being responsible for the amount of good music that is accessible and that is being created.  Music is getting better and better everyday, regardless of the increase in horrible music that is wafting its way through the open door that is digital music distribution. I think everyone in the music world has received a wake up call of sorts this year, to really define themselves, focus their intentions, and step up their game.  I know I have. The internet is now really being flexed to it’s potential as the ultimate arena of musical input/output.  With webpages such as soundcloud.com, there is a place that is designed perfectly for music promotion, market research, and easy sharing of dubplates between DJ’s, as well as being a simple straight-forward catalogue of new and unreleased music, for music connoisseurs, labels, and DJ’s. Facebook and twitter have also resulted in everyone able to keep up with everything that is happening with music releases and events, albeit to an absurd point of minute to minute updates. The blog phenomenon is a particularly simple and incredibly effective way of keeping up-to-the-time with what’s a gwan as well.

2010 has seen an onslaught of talented new artists and DJ’s as well as the resurgence of stalwart labels and production legends reminding us they’re legendary for a reason. Many artists have proven themselves as diverse and tactful creative superpowers, refusing to fall victim to trends, or being lumped into one particular category or cliche, as well as the artists that have put themselves  in a box, being swept away into obscurity. Many incredible Canadian artists have made their way into the international spotlight as well, including XI, HxdB, and Daega Sound with several big releases being well received and supported worldwide.

Just in my world, many life-altering advances have come to be in 2010. I had my first internationally promoted Taal Mala release, the Dreaderthandread EP on BadmanPress Recordings, a label managed by prolific Canadian producer/DJ, DZ. This was followed up by my first 12″ release,  Criminal Youths/Mud Up, also on BadmanPress Recordings. I’m still doing my part to perpetuate vinyl records as the reigning superior format of recorded music above all other. This year also gave birth to my own soundsystem, which I had built between January and March of 2010. This is the important first step of my quest to have good, clean, clear, and of course, bass-weighted, sound for every man, woman, and child of planet earth.  The beginning of many years to come of back-breaking lifting and chest-crushing bass. I have also made a recent pilgrimage to Jamaica, the birthplace of heavy bass, big sound systems, and DJ culture. This has been a source of much inspiration, and a clear indication that I am putting my energy in the right direction.

The immense diversity & excellence of music that was unleashed in 2010 is quite overwhelming to say the least.  I’ve deemed it impossible to narrow it down to any single release or album, so I’ve put together a mix  2010 Rewind…”

Kyle Hall – You Know What I Feel
James Blake – CMYK
Eskmo – The Melody
Rudi Zygadlo – The Udu & The Clave
Pariah – Orpheus
Sepalcure – Love Pressure
Hyetal & Shortstuff – Ice Cream
Daega Sound – Silver Dawn
XI – Superwhatever
DJG & Headhunter – Spacecake
TRG – Strobe Lick
Digital Mystikz – Eyez
Bombaman – No Touch
Addison Groove – Footcrab
Jamie Grind – Balloon
Africa Hitech – Blen [Remix]
Maniac – Thug
Taal Mala – 500, 000 Volts
Starkey – Fourth Dimension
Terror Danjah – Bipolar
Giant – Collins Booster
Noisia – Split The Atom [Bar 9 Remix]
Slugabed – Skyfire
DOK – Slipstream
Jimmy Edgar – Hot Raw Sex [Machinedrum Remix]
Addison Groove – Chasing Dragons
Untold – Bad Girls
Blawan – Flam
Mount Kimbie – Maybes [James Blake Remix]
Ital Tek – Moment In Blue VIP
Girl Unit – IRL
Shystie – Pull It [Ill Blu Mix]
The Badical – The Plight Of Superman
Hackman – Gutterflower
Boddika – Syn Chron
Simian Mobile Disco – Aspic
Altered Natives – Crop Duster
Falty DL – St. Marks [Cosmin TRG Remix]
Todd Edwards – Stand Right Now
Stereotyp & Lexie Lee – Mine Are Bigger
Munchi & Mr. Lexx – Shottas
Tin Man – Falling Acid
Stereotyp feat. Warrior Queen + Hubert Tubbs – Make it
Tarran the Sailor – Belong Tonight
1000Names – Paradise Rings
Funkineven – Must Move
dÉbruit - Persian Funk
Wiley & Mark Pritchard – Scar
Onra – Rock On
Hrdvsion – Colours
Taal Mala – Continuum
Instra:mental – Watching You
Eskamon – Fine Objects
Colby Sparks – SSRI’s
Reso – Technetium
NastyNasty – Bleeding
Subcorr – Hyper Dancehall
Salva – Wake Ups
Oriol – Coconut Coast