Broken20 founders Ruaridh Law (TVO), Dave Fyans (Erstlaub) and Dave Donnelly (Production Unit) have been friends of The Outer Church for some time now. Given the label’s stubbornly individualistic approach to electronic music, not to mention their keen interest in various forms of esoterica, it was perhaps inevitable that a mutual respect would develop. Further instances of common ground soon became apparent: we were intrigued to learn for example that the skeletal hip hop of Donnelly’s There Are No Shortcuts In A Grid System (2012) was influenced to a considerable extent by the work of Brighton producer Req, whose four albums (1997’s One and 1998’s Frequency Jams for Skint, 2003’s Sketchbook and Car Paint Scheme for Warp) contain some of the most inventive, fascinating and downright haunting beat-driven music to emerge from these Isles. Synapses fired, words were exchanged, and Production Unit soon produced a worthy tribute in word and sound. Here…
“First of all, an apology. This missive and its accompanying mix were meant to reach you much earlier in the year. The delay is the fault of two people: me (Production Unit) and the musical artist Req. The fact it wasn’t delayed further is thanks to two people: me (PU) and the musical artist Req.
"The tardiness first, then… I’m becoming more convinced as time passes that the concept of ‘being busy’ doesn’t exist. Rather, it’s a byword for a combination of three things: woeful disorganisation, rudeness, and an inability to say no. I hope that in my case it’s mostly the first and last of these, which are surely the most forgivable, though they’re all annoying in some measure and ultimately contribute to the second. I had a live set to play two weeks ago and I wanted to completely rewrite it, thus it took a lot of work up to the eleventh hour. If it helps, as penance for my unreliability, I obtained a keen knowledge of The Fear along the way.
"My accomplice/scapegoat in blame is the musical artist Req, whose music fills this mix. It’s no exaggeration to say that his music is locked in constant battle against the forces of quantisation, the latter of which is a staunch ally of yer disc jockey type (e.g. me), what with the mixing and the blending and whatnot. Circumstances being as they are I mixed this in Traktor, and while there’s an engaging skirmish to narrate involving Good Old Vinyl vs Letting The Laptop Do The Work Because Everyone And Their Granny Can Beatmatch These Days, it’s not the main event, so let’s leave it for another day. Anyhoo, digital mixing requires the program knowing where the beats and bars lie, and assuming they’re rigid, whereas much of Req’s music refuses to conform therein (Lord, the troubles I’ve had with the last minute of Cars Girls Money Too, its meter swaying like a drunk at bedtime). Some tracks didn’t make the cut because they were too woozy, but seven or eight others just demanded inclusion, meaning I had to chop and slice them into new edits in Ableton. It took time, and, frankly, it was worth it because it means they’ll reach ears they otherwise wouldn’t.
"And thus onto why it wasn’t further delayed, which involves a bit of fanboy hero-worship, but, I hope, in a grown up, collaborative way. Fanman, maybe. This was a joint effort between myself (PU) and the musical artist Req, whose music fills this mix and who is one of my favourite producers.
"He’s not a household name by any means, and his productivity occurred for the most part in an era when online music journalism was scarce and brief, therefore I rarely happened upon him in the main medium of the time: printed music press. In fact the only occasion we intersected in that sense was a short piece in, I believe, Jockey Slut. The pertinent (though somewhat stock) question was put to him, “What advice would you give to aspiring artists/producers?” and while I’m not sad enough to quote verbatim, the response was along the lines of 'Don’t sit there waiting for the next bit of kit to arrive before you produce. Do it now or you’ll spend a lifetime waiting.’ Now I can’t say it blossomed, fully formed, in my consciousness instantly, but a seedling took root and began to slowly germinate. As I began to work more on my own music (while the group I was in disbanded slowly) motivational self-sufficiency became imperative. I had to feast on a harvest of my own making, and I found that more and more I returned to a now fruit-bearing source - Req’s advice.
"To paraphrase a paraphrase, it’s important to make the best of what you’ve got, and to do so now. That holds for music production as much as any other pursuit, and it’s thus become a stalwart in my thinking. There’s every chance that I’d have stumbled across this revelation of my own accord, but when I think back it seems that hearing it from a reliable source brought me to it quicker. The attitude affects everything - bringing up my daughter, coping with her ill-health, making dinner, getting from A to B - but it requires responsibility if you see it through. It’s fundamentally not 'make any old crap from whatever’s lying about’. It’s 'make the BEST of what you’ve got, and do so NOW’. It demands honesty with yourself and integrity in your dealings with the world.
"The music produced by the musical artist Req, whose music fills this mix and who is one of my favourite producers, but whom I’ve never met, bears out this idea. It seems to possess a certain truth, displayed by ragged edges which confirm that, like the best people, its imperfections constitute in large part its attractiveness. It’s music that has pulled itself up by its own bootstraps and got out into the world, saying 'This is me, here, now, doing what I do because I have to and because I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t.’ Though the focus is firmly on breaks and beats, there are frequent, naive plays at a specific kind of melody, evoking gaudy seasick circuses and thus the freak show soundtrack to the miniseries of Stephen King’s It. Their skewed chromatics aren’t 'right’, musically, and they’re clearly quite under-produced, but they exist, and do so purely through the will of someone putting them there, hence I almost feel like I respect and know them on familiar terms.
"In case it’s not obvious, I’d have waited weeks and months to record this mix if I’d waited on the perfect opportunity. As it was, I made it on headphones at the dining table in an hour and a half I’d stolen from the myriad quotidian demands on my time. I know it’s not flawless, but (something of a crux, reader) it exists, here, now, etc, etc. You see where this is going.
"I didn’t always rate Req so highly, though I appreciated what he was doing. In the sixteen (sixteen! Blimey) years since I heard One it’s become apparent that his sound encompasses a large proportion of the music that’s filled my life in that period - hip hop, electronics, downbeat, ambient, drone, a general off-kilter aesthetic. Much like that advice to wet-eared producers like me, his music has encroached steadily, wrapping me in it until its intimacy is as keen as that of a childhood blanket. I think I really began to understand One when a tape rip soundtracked the writing of my university dissertation. I’d decamped from my flat to the parental abode with a few hastily grabbed cassettes for company, and as I scribbled about WVO Quine, Quantum Physics and its interface with the paradigms of possibility and probability (pretentious, I know, but the titles of philosophy tracts tend to be - and no, I’ve no idea if it was any cop) the assembled melding of boom bap, 4-track synth recordings and found sound hit home. True, in an environment that’s no longer your own, especially when you’re under pressure to finish a major task, music becomes the space you inhabit, so it’s not surprising that I sheltered in the arms of One, but it was a reckoning that became perpetual and I’ve been smitten ever since.
"And so, not to put too fine a point on it, I’ve found solace, inspiration and a wyrd moral compass through the musical artist called Req, whose music fills this mix and who is one of my favourite producers, whom I’ve never met and never want to. On that point: when I played The Outer Church last January the pastor of this fine institution said Req might appear, and linked me up to his Facebook profile in case I wanted to befriend him. I demurred. I met one of my heroes once. It was awful. He was quite boring and had a handshake like an old lettuce vomiting weakly onto my palm. Years ago I’d have jumped at the chance to meet an 'idealised idol’, but ideals only exist in the abstract. What’s important, to me at least, is to grasp the imperfect now for all you’re worth, in eternal pursuit of those Platonic goals, here, now… again, perhaps you see where this is going.
"I hope this mix educates and entertains a few people who gather an understanding of Req, or of something at least. It’s deliberately cyclical (i.e. the tempo gathers pace throughout until by its end, it’s double the speed of the start, leading back irrevocably and repeating, the way that Req’s music has recurred and wound back towards me, or I towards it). For that reason, I thought the track title Mirror Beats might be an appropriate mix name. Like all portals, whatever their superficial destination and whether they’re circular or linear, this one really leads inward to an aspect of myself. But maybe it’ll work its way to an aspect of you too.”
Tracklisting
Req - I Req - Wasp Zither Req - Cosmic Elements Req - CCK Orchestra [Production Unit edit] Req - Stalking Req - 207 Kid Acne - Rubber Body Poppers (produced by Req) Kid Acne - Junction 20 (instrumental, produced by Req) Req - Seek [Production Unit edit] Req - JJ Smoke Req - Skit 2_Ryslide Kid Acne - Gyp-o-hop (instrumental, produced by Req) Req - Subculture Req - Java Bytes Kid Acne - Hooligan 78 (instrumental, produced by Req) Req - Love Ache Req - Dnop A Ni Selppir Req - Crack [Production Unit edit] Req - Razzmatazz Req - Navigator 2 Req - New Intro Req - What [Production Unit edit] Req - Itchin [Production Unit edit] Req - Cars Girls Money Too [Production Unit edit] Req - Drum Piano 1 [Production Unit edit] Req – Dharmas [Production Unit edit] Req - Mirror Beats Req - Vocoder Break Rock Req - Bonus Jam Req - Soul Plot Req - Mixtape 99 Req - Train Jam Req - Runout Scratches Req - Wasp Zither
Production Unit performs as part of Broken3 with TVO and Erstlaub at The Outer Church in Edinburgh on October 25th and Glasgow on October 26th
