the Sub Swara Podcast’s 10th anniversary!
March 2, 2010
Familia y Amigos:
For our Xth podcast, I’m moving 144bpm in the out-lane on a layered globalist meander, pushing against the outer edges of what dubstep may or may not be. What was the question?
Regardless, an amalgamation of answers: A plaintive Piazzolla swell set against a swampy Illum Sphere beat …hints of Moderat and a classic Sub Swara break… …pressure builds and we hit full cruising altitude as Chasing Shadows unleashes Amirah. The captain says you are now free to move about the cabin.
Tracklisting/Collage elements:
RIcochet- Duo De Amor Astor Piazzolla Remixed
Illum Sphere- Psycho Long Live The Plan
Moderat- No. 22 Moderat (Deluxe Version)
Sub Swara- Constructing The Absence Coup D’ Yah
Chasing Shadows- Amirah Ill/Amirah
Ill.Gates and Meesha- Irma Vep (Trill Bass Remix) Irma Vep
Loops Haunt- Impact Omnihammer
Spystep- Portomental (Ribotto Remix) MutiMusic
Douster- Ladinian Triassic Ep
Filastine- Desordenador (live & feat. Amélie Bouard) Extra Dirty Bomb
DJ Madd- Better With You (Akira Kiteshi Mix)
Skint and Demoralised- Red Lipstick (Sub Swara Remix)
Virtual Boy- Girl Born Star How Long Does It Take To Get To Space? Ep
David Starfire- Cobra (Sub Swara Remix)
Bird Of Prey- Atrium
DJ Madd- Someone (Breakage Unspecified Rmx)
RDubz- This Way Fears and Feelings Ep
Sub Swara- Koli Stance (David Starfire Rmx)
Antiserum and DJ G- Bulgarian Funk Around The World Vol. 3
Sub Swara- Koli Stance (Dov Remix)
Sub Swara- Backwater Coup d’Yah
Bersa Discos- Bombon Asesino
grab the podcast in whatever way works for you!
on itunes by following this link
in your reader here
or if you’re in an audiophilic mood, grab the full 16bit, uncompressed audio right here:
the Sub Swara Podcast’s 10th anniversary!Sub Swara Video Blog: Winter gigs and recordings
February 18, 2010
Whattup people! Dave here with the lowdown on what’s going on in the Sub Swara camp as the snows melt around us and some of the material that Dhruva recorded in the last episode gets crafted into songs. check it out (and peep the super-high-tech chair spin):
And check the evolution– we had Hired Gun flipping vox in one of the first vids, percussion recorded in India in the 2nd, and then the 2 get put together in the 3rd. Always a blast melding new sounds into newer songs.
We’ve got a bunch of road gigs coming up in the next few weeks, including Texas for SxSW, Eastern Canada, Western Canada, and we’re developing some NYC dates as well– love the hometown 
See you soon!
Sub Swara Podcast 009
February 2, 2010
…And we’re back! With Podcasts 009, that is, brought to you this time by yours truly (Dhruva). The track list is below and this one is all about some fresh, new forward hip hop, dancehall and dubstep leanings (not too surprising given that that’s the way we tend to lean) from some of our favorite producers around the globe.
You can get the podcast via Feedburner, iTunes or if you’re of the audiophile sort, you can download the podcast in full res audio below.
2. Heyoka – Micron
3. ??- Fair and Lovely Riddim
4. South Rakkas Crew – Holiday (Titles Riddim)
5. Mochipet – Alien Crunk Dub – (Audiovoid Remix)
6. Mos Def – Quiet Dog (Sub Swara Remix)
7. Breakage – Higher
8. Nuphlo – Homeland Insecurity
9. Joker – City Hopper
10. XI – Superwhatever
11. Starkey – Ok Luv
12. D1 – Jus Business
13. Syndaesia – Walk Away (Widdler Remix)
The Mos’ Def Remix? Free–> AND RIGHT THERE!!
January 21, 2010
What’s good everybody– greetings, once again, from the Sub Swara lair. Sadly, we don’t have any video for you this time as we just got back from gigs in Boston and Montreal (more to come on that later). What we DO have, though, is a brand-spanking new remix of one of our faves, Mos’ Def’s “Quiet Dog.” With Dhruva on the buttons and myself on the mix, Haj deemed it crushworthy this past weekend.
Our friends @ thefader.com seem to believe so as well, as it’s featured on their music page. Go on, take a gander.
Video to come next week– Lots of love ’till then!
The Mos’ Def Remix? Free–> AND RIGHT THERE!!Sub Swara Video Blog # 3 – India Studio Sessions
January 5, 2010
This installment’s coming from the subcontinent where I (Dhruva) got into the studio to craft some of our sound pallet for album #2 – check out the video below. I worked with a couple of great percussionists who do sessions with AR Rahman (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) and recorded them on some sick instruments that aren’t often heard, like bass dholak (wow, ridiculous sub on that one), and folk drums like nagara and ghat singhari (clay pot with a leather skin on top for that super modulating wuump wuump kinda vibe).
So the way it works is we basically go into the studio with a grip of track sketches and then get the session players to record on them with some specific direction for the phrasing and dynamics. Then we move on to slicing, dicing and shaping the elements and build them into the fabric of our tracks. The process is always a blast and we’ll keep you posted on the progress from the labs.
Sub Swara Video Blog # 3 – India Studio SessionsJust in time for the Holidays: Sub Swara podcast 008!
December 21, 2009
yes yes y’all! Dave here with a new mix to warm you up– ideally, like fine mulled wine with some cinnamon–for the holiday season. It’s been a crazy few weeks here in Sub Swara land, as Dhruva mentioned– I *WAS in India, Dhruva *IS in India, and Haj is on the West Coast– we had 2 days of working together here last week, in which some new material was developed, a photoshoot for a magazine which we love (but can’t mention yet) was done, and plans for world domination were… planned?
Regardless, I grabbed a bunch of my most recently-acquired faves and tossed ‘em in the mix for y’all. While the last few podcasts have been really hype, this one’s all about the drums and the bass–funky, groovy, a bit off-kilter. the tracklist:
Coleco: “Automatic” (dubplate)
BD1982: “Soldier” (forthcoming Seclusiasis)
XI: “000″ (forthcoming Immerse)
Mungo’s Hi-Fi: “International Roots (LD Remix)” (Dub Police)
V.I.V.E.K: “Groove On” (Dubplate)
TKR: “Soul MKIII VIP” (Dubplate)
Sharmaji feat. Juakali: “Fireworks” (Dubplate)
Badawi: “El Topo” (forthcoming Index)
Benga & Kutz: “I’ll Kut Ya” (Dubplate)
Distal: “Heaven’s Blowback (or Hell’s Mercy)” (Dubplate)
DZ: “Serenity Now”(Dubplate)
If you’re on itunes, you can grab it here–viewPodcast — or if you’re already subscribed, chances are you’ve already got it.
If you’re not an itunes person, go directly to the source!
Enjoy!
Just in time for the Holidays: Sub Swara podcast 008!Sub Swara Back on the Road in 2010
December 17, 2009
So we’ve been on a bit of a self imposed hiatus (although Dave rocked out a few shows while on his recent trip to India) to work on our new album but we’ll be hitting the road again come January. As for a few specifics, we’ll be in Boston, Montreal, NYC and a few other spots in Jaunary and February, SXSW and WMC in March, a big ol’ Canadian tour in April and then the summer festival season will be upon us (including Wakarusa in June).
Many more details coming soon but just wanted to throw a bone out there for all of those who have been asking. And yes, we will be presenting a show in NYC next year (Sub City Sessions Part 2, now an annual endeavor as opposed to the originally envisioned quarterly event – sorry, we got too busy to put on multiple events a year, but we’ll be doing it big every time we do it, so keep a look out for news on that!)
Check out the ’shows’ space soon – all the updates will be there with the quickness…
Sub Swara Back on the Road in 2010Our Mochipet Remix is now out on Pre-release
December 14, 2009
So good things often come through in pairs, and in this case, our remix for Mochipet, ‘Complex Cumbia Dub‘, has just dropped right on the heels of our release of Mochi’s remix of Hi Fidelity on Coup d’Yah Remixes Volume 3. The track is out as a pre-release exclusive on Addictech and is part of a slew of remixes by great producers like Kraddy, Restiform Bodies, iLL.Gates and more. You can listen to the remix at the bottom of this post.
All the samba drums are live and rocked out by our man Sharmaji straight out of the Crown Heights studio. We saw a few sick batucada videos on youtube and decided that we had to weave that element into one of our productions so there you have it! The release will go worldwide on all digital retail outlets in February.
Listen to the remix:
Our Mochipet Remix is now out on Pre-releaseCoup d’Yah Remixes Volume 3 is Here & Now!
December 4, 2009
Yes Yes! The third and final installment of remixes of our debut album, Coup d’Yah is now available exclusively here on our site (go to the music page to listen and pick it up). For this one we sent their material to some of our favorite artists from east and west coast USA to bridge the gaps between the bumpin’ dancefloor affair of Volume 1 and the intense dubstep pressure of Volume 2. This volume features David Starfire taking the Sub Swara 140 BPM anthem, Koli Stance, to a pounding tribal dubstep space with one of the most massive builds and drops you’ll ever hear, Daly City Records’ Mochipet twisting the original dark ragga vibe of Hi Fidelity into an agogo- and conga-laced soca banger, Sub Swara’s own Sharmaji dropping a throwback 94-style junglist vibe with a completely new perspective on Yeah (Ina Dravidian Bombstep), and Process Rebel kicking a sick future dancehall take on Banga.
Plus you can grab a free download of David Starfire’s remix here on the site for a limited time, so watcha’ waitin for? 
Sub Swara Video Blog #2– HIRED GUN
November 23, 2009
whattup y’all– Dave here, in a stunningly-unslept state– I just got back into NYC this morning at 530am after playing some great shows in the Middle Atlantic with goldspot, and tomorrow me and my better 5/6ths are off to India for a family wedding, a gig in Delhi, and some downtime in Mumbai.
So what does a sleep-deprived Sub Swaran do on his day off? HE RECORDS!
As much as we’d like you to think that we work in a room full of training ninjas, dancehall MC’s and SWAT team members, the truth is that we often are developing ideas solo, and then bringing them to the table for collaboration. This happened last week when Dhruva brought in a nearly-done tune called “October” for a mixdown. He, Haj and I thought it could use some hype vocals, so we started coming up with names who’d be good. One stood out immediately for me: HIRED GUN!
I know HG from doing gigs with Nomadic Wax; he’s a killer rapper, poet, and one of the most intense freestylists you’ll ever see. To put it simply:
Dude is nice on the mic.
HG dropped by after teaching urban poetry to his after-school classes (!); I set up a mic/pre/compressor, let him rip, and he gave us 300% more than we were looking for in ONE take. Take heed, young musicians: that is how you do it. Couldn’t have been easier or more enjoyable.
So while we’ve got our sonic work cut out for us, fitting such a huge vocal performance into a song, HG and i sat down to listen to some less-developed ideas. I pulled up a dubstep thing i’m working on, and he just started spitting fire. I jumped to grab the flip and…. check it:
i’m like YO!!!!!!!
so in a month we’ve had Shamik, the Genie, and Hired Gun drop by to share their talents; feeling completely blessed by that.
gotta go pack but– next update from INDIA! If you’re in Delhi, i’m playing BASSFoundation’s party on 12/4 at Café Morrison– should be a blast!
Sub Swara Video Blog #2– HIRED GUN
