Fuel Records founder Dave Tipper is a prodigy of electronic sound. A prolific British Producer and DJ, he founded Fuel with Richie Warren when he was still a teenager and then proceeded to assault us with snarling basslines, raucous breakbeats and warped, alien-abducted atmospheres.
Whether Downtempo or Dance, when Tipper does it, it scratches and drags, it crackles, zooms and shifts. His sound is mechanical and ominous, the soundtrack to a strange, disconcerting future where you’ve pressed the wrong button – the bleeps, the sweeps and the creeps erupt around you as an uncontrollable chain of events is set into motion, lights flashing, hatches flying open, portals tearing rifts in the air and all you can do is watch…
Pouring organic, ambient melodies over filthy liquid beats, he creates music to be played LOUD, on a real soundsystem. A wide variety of drums combine with jarring bass, often topped with masterful scratching and instrumentation.
Check out his masterful Solar Eclipse Set at Symbiosis 2012:
His music drips with intent, and at times is crowded and transitional as he shapeshifts through realms of Electronica. There are quiet and simple moments as well, as much about the spaces between sounds as the sounds themselves.
His sound is a massive spaceship lumbering through the galaxy, zapping planets, devouring comets.. Xylophones crash to the floor when gravity kicks back in.. Thoughtful, mournful and inspiring, it prepares you for a dire mission you’re not sure you’ll return from.
Fave albums:
His first, Critical Path – Brooding Electronica
The Seamless Unspeakable Something – Spacey Breaks
Relish The Trough – Eclectic Downtempo Journey
Wobble Factor – Mid-tempo, Glitched-out Trip-Hop
Broken Soul Jamboree – Downtempo Masterpiece
His true genius is in his live mixes tho – I caught him for the first time at Burning Man this year, HEAT! He is a calm, calculated conductor on the decks, rarely looking up, tweaking knobs and sliding faders with surgical precision.
Stream some of his other sets at samurai.fm , and check out our Youtube Playlist of his performances: Youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1B290247DC9E1557&feature=plcp
More at tippermusic.net
