Blueprint Records head honcho, James Ruskin, is 1 of the 5 artists playing for our 20 Years of Blueprint Records on April 16th. Here’s a spotlight on him, looking at the music typifying his career so far & the mixes we can’t do without.
It’s difficult to talk about James without talking about those that he was involved with in the early days of forming Blueprint Records.
Richard Polson who sadly passed in 2006 was instrumental in forming Blueprint – between them it created an outlet to release both individually, and collaboratively under their alias Outline. Oliver Ho was another key player who, once introduced into the fold, helped Blueprint Records open up the way for many incredibly talented techno artists – Mark Broom and his Fear Project, Regis (and O/V/R – James and Regis’ collaboration), Surgeon, Samuel Kerridge, Sigha, Lakker, Rommek, and many others.
Fabric asked him ‘As you face your 20th year of the label what would you say has been your proudest moment to date?’
“I’m incredibly proud to be going into our 20th year. I’m proud that we’re still here, that people are still interested and more importantly that Richard’s legacy is also kept alive. I’m proud that something we worked out over 20 years ago is still going strong. I believe in what we’re doing. I believe in the music we’re releasing and I’m hoping that people can see that, can relate to that and can enjoy the ride with us.”
Slit
It’s an assault of kick-drums padded against echoes and stabs of synthesizers, and a really great release from 2014. ‘Wisdom of Youth’ and ‘Emotion Erode’ also completely hold their own if you want to listen to the full EP.
James has 2 mixes we really wanted to put in, so fine, we’re putting in both. If you want to listen to soom seriously high-octane stuff, we would advise you give the O/V/R (Regis & James Ruskin) live at Berghain mix a go – not for the faint-hearted!
Fact Mix #169
Here’s the other..
“Powering through a whopping 42 tracks in a lean one and three quarter hours, it’s a real techno masterclass, rhythmically diverse, taking in tracks from Ruskin himself as well as contemporary like minds such as Marcel Dettmann, DVS1, Mark Broom, Ben Klock, Traversable Wormhole, Mike Dehnert, Mark Broom and Peter Van Hoesen. There’s a wealth of material, including sure shots from Detroit dons Jeff Mills, Rob Hood, Kenny Larkin and Dopplereffekt, upfront steppers from Scuba and Al Tourettes, and classics from Aphex Twin, Balil and Underground Resistance. In a word: barnstorming.”
The Dash
Ruskin’s first album is also well worth a listen – hailing from 1998, Further Design. This however is a twelve-tracker released on Tresor 10 years after, and includes “traditional Ruskin workouts such as lead single ‘Lahaine‘ and more cerebral, downbeat electronica.” – for which we’d recommend ‘Scene‘.
In all, it’s a fantastic album to experience the variety of what Ruskin is capable of on a production level. Under 3 is a particularly menacing display…
No Trace
2014 was a good year for Ruskin – here’s another release on Token from James. Ready for something ridiculously danceable? We hope so.
