Toddla T Sound - Worst Enemy (Ninja Tune)

This is the first single from Toddla T Sound, the collective of Serocee, DRS, Shola AMA and Toddla T, brought together by Toddla himself. Featuring both elements of live performance and DJing with live vocalists, their aim is to bring all the madness from the clubs to the studio. Already road tested at Love Box, Roskilde, and Bestival, the response has been resounding. “Worst Enemy” is a collaborative release that has come about because of the great vibes of a year spent on the road touring filled with the combo’s ‘old-meets-new school’ sound and ethos. “Worst Enemy” also gets the remix treatment from rising Numbers artist Deadboy whose productions have been described as ‘hypersoul’ and ‘heartache for the dance floor.’ Tapping into London’s rich musical heritage from Scott Walker to early ’90s hardcore all the way through to UK garage and house, Deadboy’s tracks somehow still share the same sense of futuristic melancholia as the first wave of Detroit techno by the likes of Derrick May and Juan Atkins. Energetic breakbeat floor power pours out of Deadboy’s mixes here, with both a full vocal version and a more DJ-centric dub. Dig in.

Soul of Man (Finger Lickin’) - “Yes, yes, and YES again! The original all the way, swerve the remixes though. TOP TUNAGE, got the vibes, got the the bleeps, got the hairs standing to attention, too.”
Dave Taylor (Switch / Major Lazer) - “The original is proper!”
Sebastian Doering (Lovebirds) - “The original is wicked … so deep!”
Tom Flynn (Hypercolour / Dirtybird) - “Awesome! I absolutely love the Deadboy remix. Full support.”
DJ Rocca (Ajello) - “The Deadboy Remix changed my day! Amazing.”
Kruse & Nuernberg - “The original mix is ACE.”
Ulysses (Neurotic Drum Band) - “The Deadboy remix is super fun. I love the old rave feel.”
Jota Wagner (Colors Sound System) - “Modern and ‘old school’ at the same time. The Deadboy remix is pretty cool.”
Joey Silvero (Distant People) - “Heavy weight massive impact track!”
Da Wiseguy (Mixed Up on RTE Pulse, Ireland) - “Don’t get me wrong … the Deadboy remix is a deadly buzz altogether. But the original is just something supremely special.”
Joshua Ferguson (Dialogue Inc.) - “Definitely a great follow up to Toddla T’s recent successes. Deadboy really kills it with that rolling break.”
Charlie Wild (WNYU / Mixtape Riot) - “The Deadboy remix is FRESSSSSSSSH! I’m liking the original a lot, too.”
Velanche (Velanche’s Playtime) - “Deadboy smashes it. That is all.”

Available now from Juno Download and Beatport.

Toddla T - Watch Me Dance: Agitated by Ross Orton & Pipes (Ninja Tune)

In 2007 Toddla T (aka Tom Bell) was working in a shoe shop in his hometown of Sheffield, then just 19 and living at home with his parents, he DJ’ed at weekends and was producing beats and tracks with his friend Scott as Small Arms Fiya. Just four years later and Toddla T is DJ’ing around the globe, has a slew of remixes under his belt (Hot Chip, Gyptian, Gorillaz, Major Lazer for starters), released two acclaimed albums, and has launched his Girls Music label. Toddla T’s productions can be described as a combination of dub-wise street-soul for the clubbers. As he explains, “A bit of the Soul from Soul II Soul Club Classics and a bit of the Left-field from Leftism. I’ve been listening to those now and again, they took in a whole load of club music and made an album that summed something up and were great to listen to at the same time.”

When Toddla T was asked if he fancied the label commissioning producers for a remix album of of his second album Watch Me Dance, he had a much better idea. He asked two legends of the Sheffield underground music scene – Ross Orton and DJ Pipes to agitate, smash and rebuild his album in the manner of the scene that shaped his sound. A renowned designer as well as DJ – and instrumental in the Sheffield underground music scene for well over a decade – Pipes has been described by Toddla T as his number one inspiration. Orton, meanwhile, in between working on the Toddla T records, was a member of Fat Truckers, the drummer for Jarvis Cocker, and, as the Cavemen (with Steve Mackey of Pulp), wrote and produced MIA’s “Galang.” He has also remixed and produced everyone from The Kills and Kelis to Tinchy Stryder and The Arctic Monkeys. Together the pair have taken Toddla’s record and agitated it with the essence of Sheffield bass culture – running from a dub reggae take on “Fly” through a bleep-tastic version of “Take It Back” and taking in everything in between – a true Steel City re-work of the original album that goes much further and has way more coherence than a series of unrelated remixes.

Fort Knox Five - “This is wicked!”
Tim “Love” Lee - “Nice. I really enjoyed this a lot. Hard to pick a favorite.”
DJ Sabo (Sol*Selectas) - “Nice dubwise agitations … big ups Toddla T!”
Ben Mono - “‘Take It Back’ is my thang!”
Azaxx (Tru Thoughts) - “‘Fly’ is amazing. I like the dub vision of this really good track.”
Kid Gusto - “I’m feeling it.”
Quincy Jointz - “Love it. Hard to chose the favorite tune.”
Pablo Contraband (Disco Deviant) - “BOOOM! I’m loving this sound so much. Hats off to Orton & Pipes for the stunning reworks. I’m going to cane this hard.”
Vinyl Ritchie - “Smashing.”
Andy Wilson (Ibiza Sonica FM) - “Some great bass ‘n’ bleeps business. ‘Streets Get Warmer’ and ‘Fly’ work best for me with their reggae flavor, and ‘Cherry Picking’ is the one for the dance floor.”
Florian Stumpf (Rhino Soundsystem) - “Mind-blowing stuff … love it!”

Available now from NinjaTune and iTunes.