WE ARE IN OUR INCANDESCENT ERA
Time for some pretty chaos
It’s hard to decide where to start this dispatch. We’ve done so much and I’ve updated you so little.
Do I go right back to the last season of releases and wax typographic about the brazen display of donk energy on releases by Dysfunction and Fireworks Factory?
Or how Rob Swire - the creative genius behind Pendulum, a band that switched so many of us from rockers to ravers - personally hit up Sonnet and told him he sounds like Skrillex, Noisia and a Labubu??
Do I go straight in at 200BPM and share Woosh’s debut EP and all the turbo materials I sent out into the world on December 20th. Or December 200th as I like to call it?
Or would you rather I eased into things much more gently and started off this pretty hectic info dump with a wonderful ambient mix of 1 More Thing music and a story of love?
Would you like to know where we’re at with our Mixmas competition this year and we’re going to announce the winner?
ORRRRRRRR………… Do I just go straight in with our wildest, most eclectic, open-armed, boundary-pushing, inclusive and thought-provoking project to date - INCANDESCENT?
So much stuff. Such little time to tell you. Dive in deep (and come back when you need more cos you’re never gonna remember all of this anyway)
Let’s start with the biggest ever thing. Because it’s fresh out the 1MT kitchen, I’m sooooo proud of it and it’s the sound of how we’re marching into 2026.
What began as an idea to get a little free download VA on the go to start the year off with a positive vibe. Its working title was originally Pretty Chaos but after a cursory search, I found too many projects and brands had that name (sadly, as that’s excactly how I’d describe 1 More Thing) but after a little workshopping with my other half, I came up with INCANDESCENT, a word that can be used to describe the strongest of emotions and also lightbulbs which are symbolic of ideas. Something I have TOO MANY of!
Anyway, over time it developed into a 35 track beast with brand new visuals, so many different genres, a series of interviews with each artist and a mix that tells a touching story of creativity and humanity… AND LOADS OF IDS!
So here’s where we’re at right at this moment (December 27, lunch time)
Right now, until Jan 1, this mix will remain an ID mystery. No info - just pure vibes and excitement for our year ahead.
It’s an odyssey from start to finish - heavy ambient textures, strange tempo switches, clips from interviews with some of the artists (all running along the theme of creativity, humanity and worries of a rapidly changing world) AND new visuals that have been created by Garru and our good friend Deerhill. It took me a long time and it’s still very much work in progress. When it drops on Jan 1 I’ll be rolling out videos daily on each artist and track. I don’t want any contributor to feel overlooked by me or overshadowed by others on the release. Or be overlooked by you listeners! There are so many different genres and flavours, it would be very easy to miss something.
Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t. I’ll be banging on about this well into Feb!
A Year Of Fireworks Factory!
We’re going announce the winner of our Mixmas contest on Monday. The quality levels have been SO HIGH it’s amazing! Thank you if you entered!
What’s really exciting about this is that it marks exactly a year since Fireworks Factory won Mixmas. He was only meant to win a gig at a 1 More Thing party but he’s ended up doing so much more with us and is now an integral part of our family.
I went to his studio in Bristol earlier this month to record an extensive interview where we explore everything we’ve done so far and re-cap over the year. It’s a unique and inspiring tale - one that captures Max’s development as an emergent artist as my own as a new label owner.
If you’re looking to make a mark on the scene then this is a great place to get some ideas and understand how things work when you start to release music and put yourself out there. I got so much time and respect for Max and how he’s approaching his art. He’s so talented, too. The fact we came together through a very random idea I had for a DJ competition is awesome. Check the full chat and get inspired yourself!
1 More Thing & Chill?
Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you over to our gaff with an ulterior motive. It’s far too untidy for a start. But we do want to tell you a love story….
1 More Thing & Chill is a collection of our ambient and downtempo releases (including a few forthcoming bits and special edits), all weaved together in a cool score-like narrative way.
Laced with interviews from Shenice and myself at Big Love, where we ask our line-up all about love, it’s unlike any other mix we’ve made and a really cool insight into the much deeper, soothing and emotive side of 1 More Thing.
If you’re in need of a bit of chill and peace this season then this is the perfect soundtrack. I had no idea 1 More Thing would be have such startlingly vast and breath-taking beatless and downtempo music in the catalogue so quickly but we have and it’s stunning.
Please check it out if you’re into the deeper side of what we do!
Or maybe you prefer it faster?
On the flip side of things, we’ve also been hurtling along at 200BPM in the last few weeks.
Blame Woosh…. He sent me a 200 BPM bootleg of a jungle classic and told me he had a load of tracks like it. A fan of the extremities and unusual music, I instantly demanded to hear them.
Within months I’d signed them and the end result is Boundary Test, an EP that bounces faster and sharper than anything you’ll hear at 174. It is effectively drum & bass in terms of its style, arrangement and the beats Woosh uses, but the energy is unreal. Check this mix of the whole release…
What a vibe! And the best thing is how much it’s inspired us on the DJ side of things. Flipping between 100-200BPM is a creative wonderland that allows you to join so many different musical dots. It’s also an amazing tempo to speed halftime and dubstep tunes up to.
Don’t take my word for it. Actually do, but in video form where I can give examples and run you through things. It’s on this video - I Kissed a 200BPM And I Liked It, part of our December 200th celebrations and mixes.
Trust me, 200BPM is the future. Everything about mixing at this tempo feels exciting, different and just a little dangerous. Check it out and have a little try yourself.
And this is where I’ll wrap up for now as it’s Christmas and I really should spend more time with my family. I think I’ve mapped out our most vivid extremities for now - a humungous mix of IDs and interviews, a beautiful ambient love story and a furiously funky turbo tale.
All this in the last couple of weeks. And so much more to come.
I will say this to sign out…
Sticking in one subgenre or genre is boring and preventing progress!!!!
The time for playing safe is over. If you want to stand out and actually make it as a creative individual then start getting bold. Fuse styles that shouldn’t go together, test new styles, play things at tempos they weren’t made at. Ignore the bandwagon, it’s too overloaded.
I’ll be back as soon as I can with more updates. Hope you enjoy the music, I’ll be back with more contrasts, switch-flips and surprises ASAP.
Have a lovely transition into 2026.
NoDave