the godlike genius of Todd Edwards

Unless you're talking about a microhouse producer who has just started in the last year or two, I think it's terribly difficult to pinpoint who took what from where. In Akufen's case, his '00/'01 releases wouldn't have been out of place on Kompakt; if anything, he was developing nuances in his style at the same time. You have to consider that some of his earlier releases were on Trapez and Perlon, two labels that have made the style what it is just as much as Kompakt.

Besides, someone who picks up a Kompakt 12" at random these days has about a 1/4 chance of hearing a track that resembles anything on My Way. Several other labels are more confined to that type of sound -- again, some have released Akufen tracks. With the way Kompakt has branched out in the last few years, I find myself using them as an adjective a lot less these days -- almost never, actually.

(None of this has anything to do with Edwards, so I apologize. I really enjoyed reading the article, if that helps.)

(Why couldn't the Akufen pictured in Matos' article be placed in that Pixies video to hack up Frank Black?)

my life is a shambles

what then? :)

With Akufen, I couldn't really get past the first few tracks on the album, which (admittedly on a superficial listen) sounded like bad IDM circa 1995.

That is the single best thing to happen in a long time. If Todd Edwards can get out of his speed garage-beat rut, then we have a lot of wonderful music to look forward to. Maybe I should start going to church.

haha

I listened to Never Ever Far again. Think its a great track, obviously. But I'm really not hearing anything much 2-steppy about it. There's the 4/4 pulse, and the barest hint of a melodic bassline. The drum pattern shuffles along, sure, but I wouldn't exactly call it "intricate" and it doesn't do anything to break up the pulse. And it just plods along unchanged for the duration of the song. I think his rhythms are quite downbeat, actually.

Whereas I then put on Rewind, to take a completely random example, and I hear a rhythm that's much more ruptured, with lots more internal breaks, micropulses, microedits... there's just so much going on. And that's not a particularly adventurous 2-step track. There's not really any dub elements going on in it, for instance, which bring a whole extra level of beef and disorientation on 2-step tracks from early (Double 99) to late (James Lavonz).

For me a lot of the best 2-step outshines Edwards--whether you agree with that or not, I think it's hard to dispute that there's a lot more going on in the music than what he brought to the party. All I'm saying is, I think the James Brown-Ohio Players metaphor is a tad overstated... I never liked the Ohio Players much, either!

so i dug out the akufen record and it's really good! i was too quick to dismiss it.

I sorta agree with Ben - I luv Todd Edwards but mostly for reasons quite different to what appeals to me re UK Garage. Although his remix of Hakan Lidbo's "Walk Away" sounds amazing in the middle of Pure Garage III.

Anyway - Matos, great article! But why the Akufen bitching (other than him receiving accolades that Todd should've got)? In your blog entry you rightfully claim that the big difference is that Todd is about melody/harmony/texture while Akufen is about rhythm... and then you write:
"Akufen's message boils down to "look how weird and cool the radio blips I picked up are," "
But ain't that kinda missing the point? Surely, Akufen message rather boils down to: "look how FUNKILY I've arranged these weird and cool radio blips"? His stuff is deliciously sharp and TIGHT, basically,
the most wonderful brain aerobics, calling your synapses to get on
down and boogie.

"Full On Vol.2" is great, but it suffers a bit from bad sequencing, making it even more hermetic and uninviting for the uninitiated - I prefer post-"Saved My Life" Todd to the old school Todd, but tracks like "Radio Thing" and "Push The Love" did stir up the flow of "Full On Vol.1" in a good way, and their ilk is sorely missed here.

The mega-wonderful 1xtra mix I pimped in the post way above is still something I think all Todd-heads should check out, and if you want more Todd R&B jams, click 'ere:
http://www.johnclew.fsnet.co.uk/cheekyrnb.ram

Actually, having already written it up in print, I must say I disagree with you re: the sequencing of Full On 2--I think it's much better done than the first one, the first couple tracks are kinda blah but then each track keeps upping the ante; my two favorites are the last two tracks, always a good sign. Also, to me his absolute peak is the Mantra "Away" remix, which is '97 I believe--his remixes are at least as good as his originals, probably a bit better. It's gravy gravy gravy as far as I'm concerned, but as my man Andy pointed out last night, he does seem to be getting a bit more M.O.R. as far as his source material and effect both.

Also, that thing you linked way upthread (haven't checked out yr new link, will try to later) sounded good, but basically like Todd-of-old with clankier beats--not that big a difference, really.

It's a half hour mix that's got half the tracks off "Full On Vol.2" put together in a way that beats the album's sequencing as far as I'm concerned, with a few oldies thrown in (in this context "The Praise" sounds soooo much better than ever)... it just goes up and up, culminating in the indescribably gorgeous remix of Space Cowboy's "Crazy Talk" - one of his best in ages. Unfortunately still unreleased, and no-one knows when it will hit the streets.

That Mantra remix - fuck yes, what a jaw-droppingly awesome tune. I agree that his remixes are often beter than his originals (and considering the business practices of i! Records, I'm not holding my breath for a best-of remix comp in foreseeable future, sigh). Tim's right about the Hakan Libdo dub too, and I'll also add to the list his (along w/ Sunshine Bros) remix of Somore's "Refuse" that hardly anyone ever mentions, but is truly heavenly.

project for the future (i.e. when/if I get a better PC w/d/l and burnign capabilities): make that T.E. remixes comp myself.

(along with a bunch of other amazing stuff)

Gah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UxY5LonBIc

Todd in Romford, 2003

Entire back-catalog being re-released tomorrow on streaming services!

140 tracks (!!!)

super cool

been having some moments with his rinse show lately

sweet! still rock the 3 volumes of full on regularly!

Amazing (but I hate lyric videos)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ues0MCCfaF8

Wonderful new profile feature here

https://djmag.com/longreads/rebirth-todd-edwards

thanks ned, great read!

somehow i've never seen the romford video before, what a magical moment, i can't stop watching it
the intro (which todd calls "preposterous" in the interview, lol) is like a long lost Avalanches track

he posted a really sweet tribute to the man he's been with for 7.5 years on facebook today. <3 <3 <3

ugh this sounds amazing

https://soundcloud.com/mixmag-1/hardrive-deep-inside-todd-edwards-remix

holy shit this is the best thing he's done in a minute, it's fucking beautiful

Hardrive - Deep Inside (Todd Edwards Remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sgwSl20HKQ

that bassline is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

is it new tho? Spotify has it as a 2009 release

Yeah I just googled and it's new. Man I would love to hear this out.

Such a great remix