Fanu presents Lightless Recordings

LIGHTLESS RECORDINGS

Play the breaks, dive into the atmospheres

Lightless Recordings is Fanu's own imprint for the drum and bass style that he is pushing: deep atmospheres and dirty fat breaks.

The label concentrates on representing timeless quality drum and bass that relates notably to the mid-nineties drum and bass aesthetics. Lightless Recordings cherishes the style of d'n'b whose backbone is formed of quality breakworks and eerie atmospheres. "Future music with the aesthetics from the past," as Fanu himself puts it.

Lightless won't press any whites: all releases are full art releases. Who wants whites anyways?
The art for Lightless Recs is made by Khoma. Check out his artwork at www.khomatech.com.

Among the supporters are acclaimed DJs and producers such as Bailey (BBC 1Xtra), Flight (BBC 1Xtra), Grooverider (BBC), Amon Tobin (Ninja Tune), Outrage, Fracture, Stranjah, and many more.

The first release hit the shops in July 2006, and the second plate arrived in shops in December. The 003 came out in spring 2007 and put out on the market some authentic jungle vibes by the Irish jungle pirate Naphta. After the third 12" it was time for the Fanu album, "Daylightless", to come out.
004 will present fresh German junglists Cycom, Bad Matter and Martsman and their fresh takes on the urban jungle tekkno! 005 will be a hefty serving from the dnb veteran Alpha Omega, and Fanu's joining the serving with a remix. The sixth release will feature Vector Burn with a long-awaited Fanu-track remix job, and 007 brings Alpha Omega to us again (he's not gonna quit) with oversized fatness.

Check below for sounds of the Lightless past and future.

001A 001AA
***001***
The A-side of 001 is called For Those Who Dream, and it represents the trademark Fanu sounds: sharp breaks with deep atmospheres that have absorbed a lot on an inspirational level (if not even on a sample level...) from Twin Peaks and certain David-Lynchism , which to Fanu are massive influences. Laura Palmer (R.I.P.!) would eat this up and buy five copies if she was alive and you know it.
The AA-side track (we only do double a-sides!), called Next To The Divine One I Wake, is a 3/4 downtempo track with a cymbally break, just as in the a-side tune. NTTDOIW introduces an equally dreamy atmosphere, beautiful vocals as well as a deep 808 bass.We can say with pride that this shit is Bill-Laswell-approved material!

002A 002AA
***002***
The A-side tune, Garmonbozia, is, again, a display of Fanu’s Twin-Peaks-holism. Laura Palmer's there even before the intro break kicks in, telling us about Killer Bob's antics. Fanu does here what he can do best: creates a cinematic intro with pads, sampledelia, and a rolling Purdie break, all contributing to a laidback and dreamy soundscape, leaving the listener totally unaware of what's ahead. All stays peaceful the begins. The break gets heavyweight and in comes the bassline – both of which remind us of the nineties' Dillinja, another source of Fanu's dnb inspiration. Not for the light-hearted!
The track on AA-side, My Life In Flames – inspired by Ed Rush (notice the nineties groove in the intro?), Danny Breaks, and, again (sigh...), Twin Peaks. The break and bass presence is equally strong in this track, and the eerie beginning with its dominating pad and odd Twin Peaks speech samples make this one quite a package. Here's a track that captures the listener with its rolling, cymbal-rich breakwork (it's a universal fact that cymbals get the chicks and we all know it!) and the bassline that is as woofer-shaking as it gets – and we're not talking about the nowadays oh-so-popular midrange here. This one's another track paying homage to Fanu's drum and bass influences; it's likely that the children of early Metalheadz era as well as those who were let down by the soulless drum-machine dnb will be pleased by the sounds of this track.

003A 003AA
***003***
For Lightless 003, veteran Junglist Naphta steps up to the plate to deliver the first two parts in his ‘Soundclash’ series. Digging deep to draw on the roots of sample-based Jungle, Naphta unveils an Amen break double-header that sets the pace for a return to the versatility, colour and sheer dynamism of vintage 94-95 era Jungle.
Already caned by a handful of discerning underground drum n bass and Jungle DJs around Europe and the US for the last 3 years, Soundclash Part 1 finally sees the light of day courtesy of Lightless Recordings. A beautiful blend of atmospherics, chopped-up breaks and wicked vocal interjections culled from hardcore ragga soundclashes, Soundclash 1 has already earned itself a reputation as a timeless classic that crosses the divide between headphone/home-listening and mashed-up dancefloors effortlessly.
Flip over for the follow-up Soundclash Part 2 (Junglist Rise). Swinging in with a jaunty reggae-influenced skank, the tune brings a warm party flavour in the intro, rolling beats setting the pace nicely, before the tune fades down into a wistful melodic roll-off… building the anticipation in preparation for a full-on breakbeat dancefloor attack! Similarly fired up by the energy of clash culture, Soundclash 2 offers a sweet sequel to the first in the series, and a perfect floor-mover for DJs to drop as the days grow brighter and Summer beckons…!

***004***
The fourth release the Lightless 12” series provides you with a hefty, all-German serving, proudly introducing German's freshest new talents Bad Matter, Martsman, and Cycom, all contributing to the lightlessness with some technoy beat-o-holism (the techno must be in the water there).
Petrol by Cycom deviates from Lightless's output so far by its more straightfoward drumline (notice the funky-as-heck 303-ish clapping there!) – and a fat drumline it is too, pounding on your chest like a crazed-up German drummachine. We dare claim the heaviest beats of 2008 are already here. The 808 bass (we're going low enough here!) isn't any easier on you either: it's big like an oversized wienerschnitzel. All those elements, coupled with a hypnotically haunting pad on the background make Petrol a dish for winners. For those who are into a more minimal yet heavy-as-hell technoy drum and bass, Petrol is a treat you don't come across very often.
Cold Love brings back the breakbeat action that'll satisfy the most demanding breakozoid. This track is (cold) love for synthesis all the way: bleeps, whirls, and slowly progressing synthlines and melodies all work together – with a sturdy subbass backbone – to create an ecstatic-electric journey from the dark to the light: dark vibes to start with, and a salvation to end with. Cold Love will get your brain rocking without pill-popping.

DAYLIGHTLESS