Untouchable bass weight from the dark uberlord Scorn backed with a remix from the late Ben Bracket. Scorn’s ‘Gravelbed’ is something of an anthem for his legions of followers regularly caned by everyone from Mary Anne Hobbs to Rob Hall due to its overweight subbass shift and lurching dubstepped drum patterns. The flipside is given over to Ben Bracket’s monstrous junglist mix of ‘Gravel Bed’, pushing the tempo up to suit his well studied amen thrusts and jabs, while turning the atmophserics that little bit more sour. Ruff ‘n Tuff. – Boomkat

*note Scorn is playing live with the Combat team in Corsica Studios London October 30th, more info soon.

Below is an abridged transcript of the special paper insert that accompanies the vinyl release:

[B]racket 1977 – 2009

This 12” is dedicated to Ben Brydon (aka. Bracket). His was an excellent producer and DJ, and our long-time flatmate at Combat HQ in north London.

I originally met Ben via No-Future, a techno messageboard some years ago, and later he walked up to me at a rave down in Brixton. His jovial, enthusiastic, chatty and genuine nature was instantly endearing. Our label was on the lookout for guest mixes for it’s radio show at the time, and his effortless mashup of styles was nothing short of awesome. He quickly became part of the label’s clan and a radio resident.

Ben had been living mostly in Aylesbury, coming up to London for legendary long weekends that saw him still wandering around looking for the next party on a Monday morning. He’d been thinking of living in London for a while, and moved in 2007 when there was suddenly a spare room going in our flat, and quickly became part of the family at Belfast Road including Subeena, Helena, Clem and myself (Stormfield). He turned out to be the perfect flatmate: sensible enough to hold a decent job but musical and crazy enough to be constantly DJing/producing/partying as soon as he stepped out of the office.

As time went on, his music-making skills kept getting better, and tracks soon found releases via Dead Letter Drop, Coin Operated, Bankai Audio, Consume and Combat Recordings. Ben was especially chuffed when Scorn said he’d loved the remix of Gravel Bed. Mary Anne Hobbs played it as the intro to the Scorn vs King Cannibal special on Radio 1 in March 2008, and again in Ben’s honour this year. He was on a real roll throughout 2006-2008 with a constant stream of that saw him grace DJ booths at clubs and festivals from London to Malta.

On 25th April, 3 weeks after he passed away, “Brackout”, a tribute party was held in the sweaty basement of an old bank in London, with an ultra-heavy soundsystem. A huge number of DJs and producers from various crews turned up to play in his honour, the sets and headcounts reflecting the sheer diversity of music he loved, and number of friends he’d made over the years.

What we’ll miss are the random late night chats in the kitchen, which made sharing this flat such a pleasure. The numerous trips to the local turkish grill whenever we had enough money to go there. The many times we’d walk past his room, then pop our heads in going “what the fuck is that tune?” The mutual moaning about gigs, promoters and the so called “scene” around the music. The time he cleaned the kitchen floor of broken glass because he worried that Tai, , the Combat kitten would hurt herself. The trips to the mastering studio whenever a tune was cut. The way we’d rope each other in to fill slots for radio shows; you couldn’t get a more “resident” DJ than someone who’s on the same council tax bill as yourself. Despite the rampant party hedonism, he was always considerate and kind and to some of us was like a protective older brother (albeit one who’s also always out raving :)

His absence catches you unawares sometimes, like on the night of the Bracket tribute show on ill FM, I’d forgotten to bring a tune and by habit thought “oh nevermind, Ben will have it”.. followed by “oh wait.. ahhh shit”.

Contemplating the past couple of weeks, I dare say our sadness comes not because
there was anything regrettable about his life: he was responsible enough to hold a decent job and had a roof over his head. Ben had a load of good friends, constant party adventures, and in spite of all this he managed find the time to churn out a load of good music, which will find their way to listeners via his friends and various labels. Rather, it’s because we’ll miss him being around, and the way he enriched our lives by knowing him.

Ben’s motto “if in doubt, go out” is still scribbled into our kitchen table.

- Stormfield 2009