Ask any close follower of contemporary electronic music about its most consistently singular and innovative artists of recent years and it's likely the name of Dave Huismans will pop up. Whether it's under his zipcode alias 2562 or as A Made Up Sound, he pulls off that rare thing: surprising with nearly every new release, while maintaining an identity unmistakeably his own.
With one foot in the true school techno and house he grew up with and the other boldly stepping into the unknown, there's a proper sense of purpose to his music. It displays an adventurous, often wildly idiosyncratic take on composition and rhythm that makes for both intricate experiments and the most gloriously strange peaktime bangers around, as demonstrated on the 12" format through his own A Made Up Sound label series and guest appearances on labels like Delsin, Clone, Livity Sound and The Trilogy Tapes.
Over the course of three landmark albums as 2562, meanwhile, he's laid out a highly influential vision of broken rhythms and sampling trickery since 2007, initially pioneering the crossover between techno and the then-emerging sounds of early dubstep on Tectonic Records, before steering ever further away from any genre outlines, making it more personal at every turn: from deconstructing the disco of his childhood years in building the Fever album (2011) from its particles, to soundtracking a trip to the Middle East on the Air Jordan EP (2012), both of which were self-released on his When In Doubt platform.
His fourth album The New Today, described by himself as "an ambient album gone thoroughly awry," loosely references the novel of ideas tradition of writing and was developed from a series of live performances in collaboration with visual artist Heleen Blanken.
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2LP
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DOUBT 003LP
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CD
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DOUBT 003CD
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Under the 2562 codename, Dutchman Dave Huismans aka A Made Up Sound has been integral to deviant dancefloors since 2007. The otherworldly yet lifelike The New Today is 2562's fourth album and presents his first new material in this guise since 2012's Air Jordan EP, which was also self-released on his When In Doubt imprint. As with that last EP, The New Today was sketched out during a trip abroad -- a six week stay in New York in late summer 2013 -- and later arranged at his home studio in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Composed as a narrative collage drawing upon and splicing from an eclectic library of early European synth experiments, new age tapes, musique concrète, Krautrock, post-punk, obscure electro-pop and other largely forgotten and out of print music, The New Today loosely references the novel of ideas tradition of writing as a restless, eight-track drift bolstered and propelled by his signature texturhythms. From the humid concrète drone sphere of "Arrival" through the hypnotizing gyrations of "Terraforming," to the airborne rhythmelodies and mercurial syncopation of "Vibedoctor" and centerpiece "Utopia," the tension and conflict of aural assault "Drumroll" and ultimately the celestial sweep of closing chapter, "New Life," it's equally the most diffuse, cohesive and involving LP in his celebrated cache.
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CD
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TEC 006CD
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This is the second full-length album by Dave Huismans aka 2562, the follow-up to his roundly acclaimed debut, Aerial (TEC 004CD/021LP). Unbalance pushes both his creative talents, and the boundaries of dubstep, to another level entirely. This is an exceptional body of electronic music, and fully demonstrates 2562's adept ability to move through engaging soundscapes with both pin-point precision drum programming and innovative sample regeneration. 2562 is named after the postcode in The Hague, Netherlands where Huismans lives -- a city detached from the main epicenters of dubstep, thus bringing both cultural distance and a uniquely diverse sound to the project. Unbalance sees 2562's vision of dubstep moving forward into previously-unexplored areas. Warmer than its predecessor, innovation and experimentation is still as evident as ever, as the influence of Theo Parrish and Flying Lotus meet with the deep end of Bristol bass music. With productions drawing inspiration from garage, dubstep, house, techno and broken beats -- affiliations and collaborations have proliferated -- killer remixes and one-offs have cemented the Dutchman firmly in the "A" list of contemporary production talent. Unbalance is impeccably built, and accessibly disposed: sheer dancefloor carnage is guaranteed. With this new album, 2562 breaks new ground -- in moving away from the dub-techno associations of his earlier works, he creates a whole new world. From the outset, "Intro" and "Flashback" let fly some of the face cards in Huismans' deck -- the ample swell of swung garage informed by a new school sensibility, all grounded by that trademark giant bass presence. "Lost" reprises a familiar broken refrain in refixed mode, landing with a delightful low-end, almost junglist descent and a huge, mid-range melodic sustain -- absolutely killer stuff. With "Like A Dream," the album really motors -- squashed Mr. Fingers-style acid machinations inside wild bass and drum swing. Tear up the dub instructions, the diversity and breathtaking momentum of this fine album moves fleet of foot -- like Usain Bolt over Berlin.
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12"
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TEC 029EP
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This 12" marks a significant return by 2562 to Tectonic with the first plate to touch down since his highly-acclaimed Aerial. "Love In Outer Space" is one sneaky manoeuvre -- a warped synth hook rattles your skull in a woozy, intergalactic machine-funk trip that is as groundbreaking and disorienting as 2001: A Space Odyssey. "Third Wave" is a more accessible 4/4 roller. Heavily spun by Martyn, Appleblim, Peverelist, and many others, this energizing rhythm sounds like Herbie Hancock hitting a dubstep fix.
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2LP
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TEC 021LP
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Double LP version -- repressed. If you can imagine a perfect marriage between Benga or Skream-style rhythm and bass with Basic Channel soundscapes -- you will realize why everyone is getting so excited about this album. Aerial ticks all the boxes for a varied, multi-faceted debut, melding genres with a distinctive production style that is smart, inventive and entirely futuristic. Dutch-born, Huismans borrows his name from his Hague home district code "2562" but takes his musical influence from further afield: Detroit, Kingston, Croydon, and Berlin. Huismans' previous incarnations have included the dubbed-out broken-beat of Dogdaze on the Flying High label and more recently as A Made Up Sound -- making serious moves in techno on Shed's Hardwax-affiliated Subsolo imprint. If 2007 was a year for Burial and Pinch, then summer 2008 surely has 2562 written all over it.
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CD
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TEC 004CD
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This is the debut full-length release by Dave Huismans aka 2562. After releasing two of the fastest-selling 12"s on Tectonic in 2007, it was a natural step to drop something truly stunning. If you can imagine a perfect marriage between Benga or Skream-style rhythm and bass with Basic Channel soundscapes -- you will realize why everyone is getting so excited about this album. Aerial follows the two-track vinyl teaser Techno Dread/Enforcers which are featured on the CD version, alongside the lead tracks "Channel Two" and "Kameleon," both drawn from the 2007 singles that found their way onto the decks of everyone from Mary Anne Hobbs, Skream, Kode9, Laurent Garnier, and anyone else with their ears primed for heavy bass, deep funk and sublime dub. Aerial ticks all the boxes for a varied, multi-faceted debut, melding genres with a distinctive production style that is smart, inventive and entirely futuristic. Dutch-born, Huismans borrows his name from his Hague home district code "2562" but takes his musical influence from further afield: Detroit, Kingston, Croydon, and Berlin. Huismans' previous incarnations have included the dubbed-out broken-beat of Dogdaze on the Flying High label and more recently as A Made Up Sound -- making serious moves in techno on Shed's Hardwax-affiliated Subsolo imprint. If 2007 was a year for Burial and Pinch, then summer 2008 surely has 2562 written all over it.
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12"
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TEC 020EP
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2562 limbers up with a stellar 12". The galloping, Ritalin-infested skanker "Techno Dread" harnesses the exuberance of Mala's forays into four/four dancefloor ruffage, the depth and groove of recent Skull Disco and the smoked piquancy of Deepchord/Berlin dubness. "Enforcers" displays brittle but not-quite broken drums illustrating a new reign... a new strain of garridge reborn. Warmth comes in the shape of a full-force, endlessly inventive low-end line. Dubstep for dancing -- rush the floor!
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12"
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TEC 016EP
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2562 has been creating great waves this summer, with not only his last and best-selling Tectonic 12" Channel Two, but also under the guise of A Made Up Sound on his recent SubSolo limited edition. Adroitly straddling techno and dubstep audiences, both tracks here are simply massive music for dancefloors everywhere. Killer.
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12"
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TEC 015EP
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After stealing the most praise away from veteran greats such as Substance and Stephen Brown on the last Soloaction remix EP, "A Made Up Sound," appears here as 2562 to resounding and stunning effect. Cleverly uniting elements from four/four Moritz-influenced dub techno, deep danceable dubstep and the less fractured end of broken beat, this 12" is already finding favor with all the usual suspects and further opens the gate for dubstep to finally achieve its innate rhythmic destiny. Killer.
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