Sangam - Sour Face & Broken Nights LP (Black Hymn Records)

Here's the low down on Sangam. The guy could put out twenty albums now. Co-owner of Black Hymn Records Retral will back me up on that. We've discussed this guy for hours. Fortunately, they've taken the initiative, and whittled down the Northern producer's catalogue to twelve supreme cuts for a forthcoming cassette and digital release.

Sangam's music is stark, cold, but still touching and relatable. It's often said that Burial's tunes have a "London feel" about them (which I disagree with, but that's by the by). If that's truly so, then Sangam's tunes have an "Every other city feel". These are tunes that simultaneously show the love and hate you can have for the city you call home. Check Consume and The Smoke Quarter. Harsh, unforgiving, lonely, a distinct lack of hope. Juxtapose that with the Autonomic-esque pieces Make Me Feel and Lost Relations. Not joyous, just not so grey, a flash of colour that reminds you every so often that things aren't always as they seem.

Anyone that doesn't live in a big city might see them as places of unlimited opportunities to do something. Live there long enough, and you'll see the sheen come off. This isn't some big time superstar, or sixth form poet trying to wrap his mind around city life, this is some anonymous guy who could be the man next door, the woman down the road expressing true feelings with no filters attached.

If there's one guy I want chronicling these black hymns, it's Sangam.

You can grab the release on cassette and digital from Bandcamp from Saturday 7th September.

_______

Various Artists - Endless Plains Compilation

Check it. Purveyors of dark, dank and dusty ambient and garage Endless Plains Records, curated by Sangam and RHH have dropped a monster 26 tune compilation featuring tunes from many of Night Tracks' most favoured breddas...

Compiling pure murk from producers already associated with Endless Plains and some newcomers, they've aimed to capture the sound of the city at night, and succeeded in a big way. Obviously Night Tracks can get behind that.

Have to praise them on their selection. Not only do we have cuts from the label heads themselves, they snagged the familiar names of AtsuBox, Ghost Ark, Bruised Skies and Smaug, amongst the names of up-and-comers such as Lyeform, Phaeo, Alpenglow, and the phenomenally underrated German duo, A Wooden Heart. Woi, there's even a very rare outing for Night Tracks' Budeaux in there too.

You can grab it now from the Endless Plains Records bandcamp page. Highly recommended.

_______

Volor Flex & Sangam...

More coming soon... They're definitely a good pairing.

_______

Sangam & Volor Flex - Untitled

When my man Sangam told me he was collaborating with Volor Flex, I was like... sheeeeeeeeeeeeit. Then he sent he over, and not enough youtube videos of guys saying "sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit" cannot express my thoughts on this tune.

Raa. Woi. Just... raa. Early, early contender for tune of the year. Seriously, if something comes out that tops this, then we will be truly blessed people.

_______

Free Album - Sangam - Swallowed Into The Abyss

I'm a complete Sangam fanboy. 100%. I'm so pleased he contacted me, offering to put out an ALBUM, entirely for free. It's a release of ten of his older ambient pieces, and I think I've played just about every one of them in mixes, so you might recognise some of them.

It's the perfect weather for it, pretty much the whole UK has been swamped in fog for the last two days, so I had to drop it now. These tunes are burnt out, bleak, but uplifting pieces of music for a city. Check it out.

I contacted the man himself for a few words...

"Big up Night Tracks. Just wanna say a major thanks to all the producers/fans taking time out of their day to sit down and listen to my music. It's such a pleasure to come home every day and connect with a new listener or producer respect to them out there!

I wrote these tracks on late nights spread throughout the year, each piece has a memory, so I hope you can relate to the sound I'm bringing out of each track."

So grab it now. Click here or on the artwork below... Peace.

Design: T. Kelle
Photography: L. McArthur

_______

(AMORE002) Sangam - Codes/Stygian

Check this for a Night Tracks bonanza. Not only is this a release for my bro Sangam, but it's backed with remixes from my bros Retral & Gasface, and all round sick release from Soulstep Records sister label, Con Amore.

SAY WHAAAT.

The title track, Codes, sees Sangam put his spin on autonomic style DnB, which fans of Venture will appreciate. I've been rinsing this one for some months now, so you'll already know it if you've caught any of my mixes.

 

It's backed with a couple of remixes of Sangam's original, Stygian. Retral takes the positive vibes of the original, and adds a tight garage swing, with some sublime vocal cuts, whilst Gasface flips the original on its head so drastically that I was shocked to discover he didn't use anything but the stems of the original to create a bleak, stark remake.

You can grab this on Juno now.

_______

Sangambient

Maybe I'm just making assumptions, but I'm guessing it was the likes of Burial's Night Bus, Forgive and In McDonalds that kicked off an interest in ambient music for a lot of the producers I follow and write about here, and of course, that is no bad thing, when it allows the likes of Sangam to flourish.

 

Check this new piece with fellow ambient lord, Bruised Skies, entitled Street Lamp Mist. You may remember their previous pieces, Subcontinent and the, frankly, stunning Signs, and this piece follows the bleak, cinematic vibe.

It's up for free download. Grab it if you have any common sense.

To some, ambient is a pointless, impenetrable genre that will hold no interest. To me, it's music that's unencumbered by any pre-conceptions of what's expected, away from the world of rigid drum structures that basically define the track and can remove a lot of the organic feel, and I think that allows a hell of a lot of ideas to flourish that might fade away anywhere else.

Something Sangam can probably be considered somewhat of a pioneer of is applying ambient soundscapes to grime vocals. Check out his latest piece, Agrow (Sangam's Highest Heights Bootleg), probably the most out and out ambient edit he's made so far...

Is anybody else doing this with grime at the moment? Yeah, me, sort of, and you can expect something along these lines from Sangam and myself pretty soon. Taking away some of the attitude and well, agro, from the track can completely change the mood and tone of the vocals.

Burial might've given ambient music to a larger, more dance focused audience, but the likes of Sangam and Bruised Skies have taken it and are running as fast as they can with it.

Endless Plains Records

I got word of a new net label set up by my man Sangam and RHH, called Endless Plains Records, looking to push music with similar vibes to those they make themselves. Looks like their first release is by the (unsurprisingly) Russian L Own (seriously, Russia is on a mad Night Tracks flex, so many talented producers hailing from those ends), with the Broken Memories EP. Check out the previews below. Not sure how many tracks there are, or any more of the details, but it's out on Friday 20th of July, so keep an eye on their Bandcamp page for that...

Also, as a way of getting you excited, Sangam posted a collaboration between himself and L Own as a free taster of what to expect from Endless Plains, so grab it here...

_______

[BHR02] Sangam - 'We Cotched Under The Stars' EP

Any release that involves Sangam has my attention, but this one especially caught my eye. A three-track release on the new(ish) net label, Black Hymn Records, is a collection of some his ambient pieces, and if you've listened to literally any of my recent mixes, you'll have heard at least one of them at some point.

Sangam's subtle simplicity is brought to the fore on his ambient work, the lack of a beat giving more time and space to reflect on what's happening, rather than just nodding along. There's no better example than "Headlights In The Distance". Every chord hits deep man.

Check it out, and bag it as a name your price download over at the Black Hymn Records Bandcamp page, and please, contribute what you can.

_______

(PSKLP001) Atsuko & Sangam - Tomodachi

It's not often I write about releases that have already been, well, released, but this one was too much to let slip by. The impressive Prospekt Records have marked their debut LP release with an outing from Atsuko and Sangam in the form of "Tomodachi", a collaborative work between the two who we've featured on Night Tracks heavily in the past.

The LP doesn't make the division of work between the two producers blindingly obvious as other collaborations have, although Sangam's stylish simplicity runs through the release, and Atsuko's (I suspect) drum work manages to keep what is a very minimal release more than interesting.

At its heart, it's simply drums and bass, it's entirely stripped back until there's nothing left to take out, and that's just perfect coming from this duo. It's not over-produced, it's not flash, it's not showy, but instead it's a subtle slow burner that demands attention. Whilst there are some producers that can talk forever about production techniques, or how to tweak this setting infinitesimally, there are people like Sangam and Atsuko out there that are making thought provoking music and showing the world. I know which I prefer.

It's hard to single out a highlight from something that works so well as an album, as a true collection of tunes, and most of them wouldn't be half as effective on their own as they are fading into or out of the next or previous tune.

It's simple. Check it out.

_______

Benny Banks (Sangam Cold Streets Pt 2. Bootleg)

Woi. I almost, almost, skipped past this one today thinking that it was just a repost of his first take on Benny Banks' vocals, but lo and behold, this one is a "part two" of his previous remix. 

Sangam's take on grime always seems to strip away any aggression from the track, and he's capable of completely changing the mood with just a few lush pads and rattling drums.

Check it out over at Sangam's Soundcloud page and grab a free download...

_______

Bruised Skies & Sangam - Signs

Check out this amazing ambient piece formed in a collaboration between Bruised Skies and Sangam. Very sorrowful stuff from the both of them.

It's a free download too.

_______

Night Tracks 038: Sangam Guest Mix

When we interviewed Sangam back in March, he was kind enough to give away a free tune, and his generosity only increases as he dropped a guest mix in my inbox recently.

Fans of Sangam will know his style of murky, late night tunes, with flickering, skeletal drums popping in and out when the need takes them, and this mix is full of them, filled exclusively with self-productions and collaborations that could only really be forged by spending time in the north of the UK.

Anyway, check the mix after the jump or download here...

Interview with Sangam & Free Tune

I came across a guy fairly recently on Soundcloud who goes by the name Sangam, and I've been hooked on his tunes since. After he sent me the most hench promo pack ever, I decided to get in touch with him about an interview. He's kindly put together a tune to give away with the interview, so make sure to bag that. Read on and see what he's got to say...

NT: Hey man, give those that don't know you yet an introduction.

S: Big up Night Tracks, I'm Sangam, a producer from Manchester

NT: How long have you been producing? Why did you start?

S: I've been producing for just about over a year. I make music late at night and I tend to play around with lots of pads and synths, sample a lot of stuff I find on youtube, movie soundtracks and that. Basically started making music at night just to get stuff out my head that I see in reality and the more I keep making it, I feel like I'm expressing a different side to me.

Sangam - Inadequate levels

Jehst & Klashnekoff - Night Breed (Sangam's Dusk Bootleg)

I can highly recommend this free download by Sangam. Interesting take on Jehst & Klashnekoff's original. There's gonna be an interview (and possibly a free tune) with Sangam on Night Tracks soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

_______