Rinse:18 — Mark Radford (Out 5th March)
What marks the beginning of a scene? How do new UK dancefloor trends begin?
Sometimes it’s the result of a sudden seismic shift – the vanishing of UK garage around the turn of the millennium and the subsequent rise of grime and dubstep, or the swift emergence of UK funky after grime dipped around the middle of the last decade. But sometimes the change is more gradual, and due to smaller factors: sometimes as seemingly innocuous as one or two individual DJ’s deciding to do things their own way.
Over the last couple of years, as UK funky has gradually drained out of the clubs, young urban London has increasingly been turning to the deeper, denser sounds of tech and minimal house for its dancefloor kicks. Mark Radford, who started his Saturday night Rinse FM slot in April 2011 after his profile had steadily grown over the preceding few years, has been a pioneering figure in that shift. Drawn to tech house’s hypnotic, bass-heavy drive, he found himself frustrated with what he saw as a lack of soul in much of the genre. So in 2008 he began to dig deeply for tracks that kept the rawness and energy intact but didn’t sacrifice any of the melody and musicality. His new sets started to skilfully balance those two facets, drawing new energy out of the tunes he was dropping.
“When I started playing this stuff, no-one else was really playing it, and people were turning their noses up at it,” says Mark of those earlier sets. “It wasn’t until they started coming to the clubs, hearing it and seeing what it was doing at the parties, that everyone started getting into it.” But once the word began to spread, his DJ sets swiftly captured the attention of dancers, and he began to amass a dedicated following that would repeatedly make the trek across London to hear him play out at his own and others’ nights.
Rinse:18 is a formidable document of the approach that has made Mark such a respected figure in such a short space of time. Drawing together music from well-known European producers and newer UK names, it accurately captures both the more wide-reaching scope of his weekly Rinse FM show and the heady, adrenalised energy of his peaktime club sets.
“It’s definitely a true representation of my sound, a sound that I’ve worked hard to create, to be different,” says Mark of Rinse:18. “People say to me ‘Where do you get your music from? No one plays it like you play it.’ It’s just my personality coming out in my music. It’s not something I even think about.”
It’s his own personal experience that makes Mark’s approach feel firmly connected to UK dancefloors, even though many of the tracks he plays are from further afield. With a natural affinity for low frequencies, developed over years of dancing to and DJ’ing drum ‘n’ bass, reggae and garage, his mixing keeps house’s constant groove intact while emphasising the deadly undertow of bass. A1 Bassline’s ‘Buoyancy’, which bounds into view near the mix’s end, drives that point home with urgency – the Londoner’s skippy drums and deft vocal samples bridge the gap between Mark’s selection and the shuffling funky house that filled clubs until recently. It’s that combination – house from across the globe delivered with a flair and rudeness that’s distinctly ‘London’ in nature – that ensures Rinse:18 feels like a confident snapshot of a new phase of UK dance music.
Rory Gibb
London, February 2012
TRACKLIST
01 Point Of No Return – Alex Niggeman
02 Some People – Rekleiner
03 Sin City – Mark Henning
04 Dark Room (John Tejada Remix) – Max Cooper
05 Wet – Steve Bug
06 Speechless (Carl Craig Remix) – Agoria
07 In The Dark – James What
08 Over You (WildKats Remix) – Lee Brink feat. Tina Geru
09 Around (Subban Remix) – Noir & Haze
10 Girl You Know – No Artificial Colours
11 Buoyancy – A1 Bassline
12 Voyage (Solomun Remix) - Tiger Stripes
13 Morning Caffeine – Martin Landsky
14 Morning Confessions – Lazaro Casanova
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