six-track, self-titled EP on Hessle Audio hints at the shape of new directions to come, especially on "A Couple More Years" and "Don't Change For Me," which mines UK hardcore and jungle and adds more juice and swagger than on previous efforts; the "Glut" b/w "Tempest" sides for Untold's Hemlock imprint, where he inserts cut-up vocal edits and fires up the 808-influenced drum programming even more; and the "Fall Short" b/w "Work Them" EP (Swamp 81), which recombines all his inspirations into an acid-funk-Chicago-jukeB-more-club-groove thang that sounds like no one else working at the moment. While there is a reductive sonic architecture detectable across his body of work, none of the tracks really sound alike. There is subtle variation in all of them. That's a neat trick that can only come from a rare, unique talent. Is it pure instinct or is the work part of a conscious process? "I'm never content to do the same thing twice, so my music is always evolving, moving forward," Kennedy says. "It's hard to judge it chronologically from 2006 to this point, but it's all been a conscious attempt to not clone any of my tunes, to always break through to something new. Otherwise, it's just not interesting." The fact is, Ramadanman, Pearson Sound, and Hessle Audio's product has been far more than interesting. It may be too early to call, but the guess here is that history will offer kind rewards for all of the above projects. From day one, Kennedy and crew have been competitive with the best of their bass music contemporaries, carving out a niche and owning a funky corner of the dubstep sub-world. Ramadanman has beefed up his tour schedule and is in greater demand for DJ gigs ("I did support for Modeselektor [in late 2010] and it was my first time doing a kinda rock-star thing on a tour bus. Wicked!") and started his own weekly, an all-vinyl night in Leeds called Acetate. He's just finished a FabricLive mix to be released in March in Europe and April in the US. So where does Ramadanman see his life and artistry heading over the next five years? "I don't think about it, really. I just plan on making music," he says. "Just a few years ago I was going nuts in the club, probably just acting like some totally annoying kid. Now I run a record label, make sure all the tracks are mastered properly, listen to the test pressings, and put them out when they're ready. It's pretty boring stuff, really. It's who I am. I can't see myself in the future any other way." Ramadanman's FabricLive mix will be released in April on Fabric. soundcloud.com/ramadanman
Hear a few Ramadanman tracks at XLR8R.com/137extras.
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