Dekmantel Podcast 081 - Joy Orbison

Joy Orbsion is someone we have a long and fruitful relationship with here at Dekmantel. He is, and always has been, a pure embodiment of UK dance music. His sound is steeped in English musical history (often explicitly in the form of sampled monologues) but also very much makes a new history of its own. He’s had countless underground hits from his definitive post-dubstep breakthrough ‘Hyph Mngo’ to his peak time tech tools with Boddika, and each one marks a mini reinvention of his style. What ties them all together, though, is O’Grady’s unique penchant for blending garage, bass, funky, house, techno and old school jungle into his own fresh concoctions. The two hour podcast he has served up here -as a perfect warm up to our festival this weekend- is split into two parts. Says the artist himself, “the first half is basically a way of showcasing producers that are doing great things at the moment and is completely made up of new, unreleased music, and the second half is basically winding things down with a load of stuff from my record collection. A come down, of sorts.” Starting with a spoken word snippet from his jungle playing uncle Ray Keith, the mix is initially atmospheric and moody, with sleek and stripped back drums and smeared synths making for a heady and intimate mood. After picking up through skewed bass patterns and skeletal techno, the second half seduces with elegiac rhythms, jazz selections and spoken word tracks as well as delicious soul sounds, reggae and stoned broken beat. The results show exactly where Orbison is at musically, as well as offering an insight into where he has come from.