"Devil Mixes"

Keith P

draw for the drumstick
I'm surprised this never caught on in the dubstep circuit. I'd say wiley was pushing the envelop with all that. So why have they disappeared? Is music just not the same w/o drum patterns?
 

Woebot

Well-known member
wasn't it just wiley? and didn't he claim to getting spooked by them? had some appalling luck or something cos of their voodoo power ;-)

yeah they're good for MCs arent they!
 

Keith P

draw for the drumstick
WOEBOT said:
wasn't it just wiley? and didn't he claim to getting spooked by them? had some appalling luck or something cos of their voodoo power ;-)

yeah they're good for MCs arent they!

Eastwood did one for You Ain't Ready. Not even that, I think if u were to take away beat patterns then producers could become far more creative. Basslines and melodies might become richer etc.
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
it was almost exclusively wiley. they were amazing while new, but the novelty faded.

the reason why they could work in grime was because 1) grime was banished to pirate radio so often didnt need to make people dance/skank 2) the momentum had already switched from the beats to the MCs bars, leaving the beats often surplus to requirements.

kode 9 did Sign of the Dub around that time, which was beatless, but it was an exception. it might be possible now, since the weight of the b line is the primary driver in some dubstep tracks, but then there's also a lot of emphasis on more 'up' beats too like 'anti war dub.'
 

petergunn

plywood violin
WOEBOT said:
wasn't it just wiley? and didn't he claim to getting spooked by them? had some appalling luck or something cos of their voodoo power ;-)

yeah they're good for MCs arent they!

switched the name to "bass mixes", didn't he?

i swear a few more people did 'em for a bit...
 

Tyro

The Kandy Tangerine Man
I havent heard this term used for a beatless production.Is The Devil Mix of Eskimo not the one with the sample of the Toy Story Doll saying ''The Claw Is My Master'' WITH a beat?
 

petergunn

plywood violin
Tyro said:
I havent heard this term used for a beatless production.Is The Devil Mix of Eskimo not the one with the sample of the Toy Story Doll saying ''The Claw Is My Master'' WITH a beat?

no, there are 2 versions of Eskimo w/ that sample, if i remember right, one with a beat and one without...
 

joe.

Member
there's a beatless mix of 'r u really from the ends'

i think by jammer. i can't remember what he calls it - maybe sellasie I mix or summat.
 

SIZZLE

gasoline for haters
The eskimo with 'the claw is my master' sample is pulse eskimo (aka gunshot riddim) by Skepta. It's basically a mashup of Pulse X and Eskimo. Good tune, but not a bass mix.
 

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
*sighs*

'The Claw Is My Master' sample from Toy Story was originally used on the Eskimo "Devil Mix". It was sampled in the studio from a rubber toy they had laying around and were playing with. It also features Wiley saying "Eskimo" and "Roll Deep" played backwards over the intro.

Skepta made the Gunshot Riddim by sampling the 'Eskimo bass' from the Devil Mix vinyl and re-programming it into the same pattern as Pulse Y. The Toy Story samples appear clean on the Devil Mix record as well and were also sampled and added to the Gunshot Riddim along with the Wiley vocal bits which were made to play forwards.

So you have Eskimo Devil Mix

And then Pulse Eskimo/Gunshot Riddim

2 seperate tunes, one built out of the other.
 

juliand

Well-known member
This was really the path not taken, though, wasn't it? Neither dubstep nor grime as we know it--brilliant, alien squarebass instrumentals. Beatless. Brilliant and otherworldly, and markedly unlike dubstep.

I have a CD of Wiley, Ruff Sqwad, and Danny Weed instrumentals that I've listened to far more than any conventional vocal grime tracks.. Maybe Grime's reggae awaits its dub...if that makes any sense
 

DonRuba

Stocktown man
Logan Sama said:
Skepta made the Gunshot Riddim by sampling the 'Eskimo bass' from the Devil Mix vinyl and re-programming it into the same pattern as Pulse Y.

Interesting... and confusing. The file I have (Yes, I confess, I'm talking mp3's now, naughty me) of Pulse Eskimo/Gunshot riddim credits it to Wiley. Of course that wouldn't normally mean anything, since mp3's found on DC++ grime hubs are more often than not misinformingly named.

But then I also have a few mp3's on a riddim called Skepta - Gunshot Riddim, with various MC's on them. And that's a totally different tune. Anybody knows what the correct name of that riddim may be if it's not called the Gunshot Riddim? It begins with that old burial hymn (of which I don't know the name) and features MC's like JME, Crazy Titch, Clumsy, Hypa and others.

And another question: I also have a tune called Pulse Eskimo II (Oh Behave), which is also (falsely, I guess) credited to Wiley and has samples from Austin Powers movies instead of the "The claw is my master" sample. Who did that one?
 

boosted

Active member
Yeah, I really miss my devil mixes. They were always great for transitions from grime/dubstep to 4x4 or vice versa ... worked really well in the mix to give transitions or make a punctuated statement for the next song to drop. I like the anecdote that Wiley stopped doing them because they were bad voodoo. If that's true, then it's a worthy comment for Internet lore ;)
 

Keith P

draw for the drumstick
Logan Sama said:
*sighs*

'The Claw Is My Master' sample from Toy Story was originally used on the Eskimo "Devil Mix". It was sampled in the studio from a rubber toy they had laying around and were playing with. It also features Wiley saying "Eskimo" and "Roll Deep" played backwards over the intro.

Skepta made the Gunshot Riddim by sampling the 'Eskimo bass' from the Devil Mix vinyl and re-programming it into the same pattern as Pulse Y. The Toy Story samples appear clean on the Devil Mix record as well and were also sampled and added to the Gunshot Riddim along with the Wiley vocal bits which were made to play forwards.

So you have Eskimo Devil Mix

And then Pulse Eskimo/Gunshot Riddim

2 seperate tunes, one built out of the other.

Deep breathes Logan;) Gunshot Riddim is still one of my fav instrumentals. Was never able to get it on 12" either.
 

DonRuba

Stocktown man
boosted said:
I like the anecdote that Wiley stopped doing them because they were bad voodoo. If that's true, then it's a worthy comment for Internet lore ;)

Wiley talked about this in an interview for hyperdub.net. This site seems to be no more, but I found the interview on http://www.rolldeepcrew.co.uk/wileyint.html:


How did the idea for the beatless "devil mixes" come about?

Nah it's not "devil mix" you know? I called it that because it sounded evil to me innit. But I don't call it "devil mix" anymore because when I started calling it that I started to get lots of bad luck, if you understand. I called it that because it sounded evil but really, why didn't I call it "god mix" then? Because I don't believe in the devil. The more and the more you say his name, believe it or not, he'll come closer to you. And that is the truth, I swear I am not joking. "Bass mix" I call them now, cos it's just bass. The devil mix brought me too much luck. I was selling the devil mix of Eskimo and they were selling so fast. I bought stuff with the money, bought a car and crashed it. So it just turned me off.
 
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