Reminder: Gig this Friday in Leeds

North of England crew, don’t forget you can catch me and loads of other awesome psybreakers and psytrancers at Killertrax Goes Psychoactive at Beaver Works in Leeds this Friday 4th Feb. More details in the original post… it’s gonna be awesome!

Categories: Gigs, News //

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My work here is done…

If you’ll permit me a slightly smushy aside. Here’s an email that arrived this morning and made my day/week/year, quoted verbatim:

Heya Quextal, not sure were to start on this, so ill go from the begining!

raving about in the perth doof scene, mixing here and there, i was slowly going off good ol psy-trance, and my CDJ’s were slowly gaining dust as they sat on my desk, un-used… untill at around the beggining of 2010, i stumbled upon one of your earlier mixes on psymusic.uk and had a listen.

well, i was blown away, and quickly downloaded and smashed out mix after mix from your site, (particularly love your NSB shows), and better yet, got onto the tracklists and has a look around on beatport.

and in September, i played my very first psy-breaks set at Earthdance WA and another at a new-years party out in the country. playing the likes of luqas, kiwa, far to loud and loads of other goodies from lables i discovered from your little website! the crowd loves it, and many people referred to the sets as “the best of the party”, and 3 more gigs are lined up in the next couple months!

i use my decks daily again, and my breaks tunes now totally fill up the CD wallet, and its all thanks to you! im writing this basicly to tell you, that your tunes are tops, and you’ve inspired a small, but growing wave of psy-breaks love in Western Australia, the most isolated city in the world! keep it up!

As you’ll know from my biography, I had a similar moment of epiphany in 2007, when I was inspired to get back into DJing after a long absence by encountering the sound of psybreaks, courtesy of a DJ called Giani. I’m so chuffed to be able to pay that forward, and I’m sure the author of this email will pay it forward again.

This is what it’s all about. Be inspired, inspire others, feel the passion, spread the love.

Thankyou to everyone who has given me feedback over the past 3 years. You kept me going, helped me to know that I was on the right path. I dedicate it all to you.

Right, that’s enough smush for now. I’ve finally got broadband back after my house move, so radio shows will resume shortly. I’m not going to wait until my normal slots (and in any case I’m changing the Psymusic slot) so watch out for announcements. As usual, the Facebook Page is the most reliable way to keep in the loop.

Categories: Misc // Tags: fans, feedback, inspiration

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Gig: Killertrax goes Psychoactive
/ Leeds / 4th Feb 2011

Watch out Northerners… Quextal is playing the main room at the Beaver Works in Leeds on Fri 4th Feb 2011 as new label Psychoactive Records showcase their killer sounds with LIVE PAs from Re:Creation (A/V set), Unconscious Mind(s) and more, across two rooms of sheer psybreaks, psytrance, techno and electro awesomeness, plus the Killertrax boys and girls doing their hard dance thing in the basement.

Categories: Gigs, News // Tags: gig, leeds, psybreaks, psychoactive, psytrance, techno

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/ Leeds / 4th Feb 2011

New additions to the Watchlist

Time for a long-overdue update to the Watchlist, where I list artists and labels who have proven themselves worthy of close attention. And it’s also overdue to give some recognition to those who are forcing forward the field of drum&bass, so this time around the focus is primarily on them…

Before we get there though, let’s deal with the other artists making their way onto this exclusive list. First up is Opiuo, one of a good handful of Aussie guys who are breaking new ground in the midtempo glitch-crunk market. If we’re being brutally honest, Opiuo’s sound is so instantly recognisable and unique, that sometimes it seems like he’s recycling his own tunes a little too much… but nonetheless he deserves recognition as the fattest thing to happen to midtempo since VENT’s Bear Crunk.

Sensient has been around quite a while, but until recently I only owned one of his rare forays into breakbeat. That all changed on seeing him live at Ozora this year. Deep, driving, maxi-minimal, hypnotic, and uber-squelchy, this is another artist with a totally unique sound. It doesn’t necessarily easily fit into a mix, but it deserves to be shoehorned in wherever possible.

We have two new players representing psybreaks — not just that, but progressive psybreaks, the very genre I most want to hear more of in the world… At the lighter end we have Blazer, keeping it rolling, hypnotic, techy and trippy. At the heavier end, still very psychedelic but rising more to a electro/tech-funk/acid mentality, is Triple Agent, whose music I have been very excited about from the beginning but initially dissuaded me with a psychotic tendancy to have odd bars with odd numbers of beats right in the middle of the mixin/out zones. He hasn’t abandoned this trope entirely, but has calmed it down enough that his tunes are now mixable (thanks Luk!)

So then, we turn to the drum’n’bass…

There are two main subgenres of dnb that I’m all over at the moment: blissed out daytime progressive, and gnarly twisted psychedelic neurofunk. One label in particular has been promoting excellent examples of both styles, and generally pushing the envelope, and that’s Hospital Records’ experimental baby brother Med School. Meanwhile two smaller labels that have also been consistently delivering the goods are Mindtech (generally on the twisted tip), and relative newcomer Offworld (generally on the proggy side).

Of all the artists on that progressive, sunny-afternoon vibe, it’s LM1 who most beautifully combines emotive melody with kickass rolling beats, precisely engineered and produced to perfection. If you’ve downloaded my mix Chilliquid Drum’n’Bliss you’ll already be familiar with the power of his tunes, and Frontier remains my absolute favourite track in this style of the past few years. So far…

If there’s an artist or label you think I ought to check out, let me know… get in touch via the contact page

Categories: News, Recommendations // Tags: dnb, midtempo, psybreaks, watchlist

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Special guest LIVE PA this Tuesday

Heads up y’all… this Tuesday 17th August on Psymusic Radio I’ll be joined in the studio by special guest Jon Ward aka FAT MANDY aka MR FASTER.

Fat Mandy LIVE PA – awesome interstitial psychedelia… Jon ranges across tempos and genres with an original melodic and squelchy style… you’re gonna love it!

plus Mr Faster DJing alongside yours truly, psytrance vs psybreaks vs progressive and more. Frankly, anything could happen…

Put it in your phone. Write it in your diary / on your hand / on the wall. Do not miss this.

The details:
Tue 17th Aug 19:00 UK time
Go to http://www.psymusic.co.uk/forum – from there you can tune in and say hi in the shoutbox.

Categories: News, Radio Shows // Tags: live, progressive, psybreaks, psymusic, psytrance, Radio Shows

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Mix: Tales Of The Interstitial episode IX:
live on PsyMusic 20th Apr 2010

Sorry for the delay on this one… took a while to sort out the tracklist! Plenty of chunky progressive in effect, along with psybreaks, melodic dark electro and more, and closed out with some lush chilled beats. This one going out to Mike. Next show: 18th May 2010 – ooh, that’s tomorrow! 🙂

Download (385.8MB 192kbps MP3 280’57”) [downloadcounter(quextal_live_on_psymusic_2010-04-20.mp3)] downloads

Download (385.8MB 192kbps MP3 280’57”) [downloadcounter(quextal_live_on_psymusic_2010-04-20.mp3)] downloads

Categories: Mixes, Radio Archives // Tags: chilled, chunky, interstitial, progressive, psybreaks, psymusic, techno

Artists: Aerospace, Anarchy Rice, Andro, Asem Shama, Atmos, BSD, Beat Bizarre, Beatman, Behind Blue Eyes, Big Mistake, Bkp, Blazer, Cannabinoid, Chakra, Chris Micali, Colombo, DJ Ico, Depeche Mode, Desert Dwellers, Double D, Edi, El-Tron, Elite Force, Eltron, Flippers, Giakomo Rondinella, Grouch, Hardy Hard, Hedflux, Hybrid, Inkfish, Kilowatts, Kiwa, Krusseldorf, Kultur, Lady Waks, Liquid Ace, Liquid Soul, Ludmilla, Monkey, Mr X, NotoMash, Odissi, One Man Army, Pangaea, Paul Blackford, Peak, Perfect Stranger, Plastic Shell, Quadrat Beat, RMS, Rhino Drum, Ricky Ambilotti, Spooky, Squiddhartha, Ticon, Timmy, Tommy, Untold, Vibrasphere, Weekend Heroes, Zipmix, original dub, s)

Labels: 3 Liquid Hz, Acidphonic, Aurium, Ayra, Balkan Vinyl, Bandcamp, Ching Ching, Choo Choo, Darkdance, Disconekta, Distinct'ive, Dragonfly, Dusted Breaks, Festplatten, Full Tilt, Harmonious Discord, Hessle Audio, High Grade, Hotflush, Iboga, Lot49, Metamorph Muzik, Offaudio, Omnis, Operating System, Rapid Response, Spin Twist, Spooky UK, Tribal Vision, U&A, USB Digital, VIMtronica, Zoo Grooves

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Forthcoming London gig!
Quextal b2b Re:Creation @ Elysian Project
Fri 14th May 2010

Yes yes, Adam Re:Creation has kindly asked me to play alongside him next month at the mighty Elysian Project in London. We’ll be spinning on a fat psybreaks and psydnb/neurofunk type tip, though I suspect we may hop around the genres more than that 🙂 The night offers three rooms with a hugely diverse range of music from both live acts and DJs… click on the flyer to see it full-size.

Sign up on the Facebook event page. If you want any more details, full line-ups etc you can get them on the Elysian Project site.

Note that early bird tickets are available at £7.50 for a few more days. It’s £10 on the door, which is pretty fantastic for an all-nighter!

Hope to see you there 🙂

Categories: Gigs, News // Tags: club, Elysian Project, flyer, gig, London

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Quextal b2b Re:Creation @ Elysian Project
Fri 14th May 2010

Mix: Quexotic Cover for Ben & Lex
live on NSB 5th Apr 2010

Jumped on for a last-minute cover of the Beats & Bobz show for Ben & Lex. In deference to those legends of the Deep South West breaks scene, I aimed to replicate their show’s typical genre distribution (or my impression of it, anyway): roughly 65% breaks, 35% techno, and 110% megarave! There the similarities probably end… well, I just can’t do the West Country accent, moi lover 😉

Download (140.7MB 192kbps MP3 102’28”) [downloadcounter(quextal_live_on_nsb_2010-04-05.mp3)] downloads

Download (140.7MB 192kbps MP3 102’28”) [downloadcounter(quextal_live_on_nsb_2010-04-05.mp3)] downloads

Categories: Mixes, Radio Archives // Tags: beatz & bobz, ben & lex, breaks, cover, megarave, nsbradio, techno

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Next two weeks swapped on NSB

Short version: I’m doing next Saturday on NSB (10th April), instead of the one after (17th).

As you ought to know, Quexotic Adventures, my fortnightly show on NSB Radio, is partnered with a show from those brillo Brightonians the Slackers Convention. If you haven’t yet checked it out, I suggest you do: if you share some of my taste in progressive, psybreaks and/or chunky techno, you should find plenty of tasty choons to chew served up by LuQas, Pav and friends.

Anyway, due to various plans, schemes, plots and conspiracies, not to mention those villainous wildcards Happenstance, Serendipity and Inability To Be In Two Places Simultaneously (despite all the advances in quantum chromodynamics), we’re swapping over the 10th and 17th.

So the final schedule for April is:
3rd: Quextal (you missed it, archive here)
10th: Quextal
17th: Slackers
24th: Slackers

Normal flip-flopping pattern resumes in May until further notice!

Categories: News, Radio Shows // Tags: nsb, quexotic, Radio Shows, slackers

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Mix: Quexotic Adventures #011:
live on NSB 3rd Apr 2010

Yep, I’m afraid it’s another four-hour double-Quex feature! I can’t help myself… I had kinda hoped that the extension might happen this week, because otherwise I’d have had to make very, very difficult choices as to which of the massive pile of superlative new tracks making my hard disk groan and wheeze under the sheer weight of their super-heavy dopeness, would be selected to be played straight away; and which would be sent back down into the dungeon in tears after learning that, through no fault or inadequacy of their own, but just because it happened to be a bumper couple of weeks for decent releases, and the DJ had caught a bit of Bank Holiday Fever and gone somewhat manic with his Crate, they must wait another fortnight, or pray for a cover slot to bring them out of the darkness sooner…

Download (316MB 192k MP3 230’21”) [downloadcounter(quextal_live_on_nsb_2010-04-03.mp3)] downloads

Download (316MB 192k MP3 230’21”) [downloadcounter(quextal_live_on_nsb_2010-04-03.mp3)] downloads

Categories: Mixes, Radio Archives // Tags: chill, dnb, downtempo, electro, progressive breaks, psybreaks, quexotic, techno

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live on NSB 3rd Apr 2010