Decoder
Like their more common alias Technical Itch, the work of Darren Beale and Mark Caro as Decoder skirts the leading edge of progressive drum'n'bass, incorporating the moodier elements of jump-up and techstep with a nod toward drum-twisting junglists such as Dom & Roland and the Penny Black label. Although the duo have deepest roots in the late-'80s hardcore breakbeat scene, their material both apart and together has tended toward the darkside, combining dense, unsettling atmospherics with complex, bruising drum patterns and deep sub-bass groans. In addition to Decoder and Technical Itch (the latter coming from their Bristol-based Tech Itch recording studio), Caro and Beale have also recorded as Kutta (for Rough Tone), T.I.C. (for Back 2 Basics), and Alpha Proxima (for Au Toi).
The pair's earliest tracks came toward the peak end of the U.K. hardcore scene; both Beale and Caro were noted DJs, with Beale's recorded work as Orca adding to his renown. Introduced by a mutual friend, they released their first record together as Plasmic Life on Bizzy B's Brain Records, and by the early '90s, were moving away from the conventions of hardcore, following breakbeat into the less static realms of darkside and hardstep jungle. Still only a part-time collaboration, the pair's partnership deepened after Omni Trio's Rob Haigh heard a Tech Itch track on Kenny Ken's Kiss FM show, leading to their signing with Haigh's home-based Moving Shadow in 1996. The pair produced a number of singles as Technical Itch for the label that same year, with scores of tracks as Decoder and T.I.C. continuing to appear on their own and other labels, marking the pair as one of the more prolific (and increasingly influential) of the new crop. A 1998 Decoder full-length was their first LP out of the gate, though Tech Itch's Diagnostics followed one year later on Moving Shadow.
© Sean Cooper /TiVo
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Concussion
Drum & Bass - Released by Tech Itch Digital on Aug. 22, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Drowning / Jabba / Altered Beast / Analysis
Ice Minus, Decoder, Technical Itch
Drum & Bass - Released by Moving Shadow on May 24, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Decoded
Drum & Bass - Released by Tech Itch Digital on Apr. 15, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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To Fight or Surrender
Julie Herndon, Davor Vincze, Decoder
Classical - Released by Infrequent Seams on May 9, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Potion (XinSheng)
Davor Vincze, Decoder, Nina Guo
Classical - Released by Infrequent Seams on May 9, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Dark Shape
Techno - Released by The Escape Velocity - Axis on Sep. 10, 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Light EP (Original Mix)
Techno - Released by [R]3volution on Sep. 27, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Like Minded (Original Mix)
Techno - Released by Diffuse Reality Records on Jun. 29, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monolithic Activity Spectrum
Electronic - Released by Subsist Records on Jun. 4, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Crisis / Spy Ring
Drum & Bass - Released by BS1 Records on Aug. 14, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Inner vision
Electronic - Released by Untone Records on Sep. 7, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Power Subdivision
Electronic - Released by defmain() on Jul. 28, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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