Four Weeks

Review: An excellent debut from a new crew comprising Hyperdub/Lightworks funky house producer Ossie, as well as Paul Black and Orial. Bringing some lo-fi vocal soul to UKF, the trio announce themselves with three stark but huge tracks - the shimmering and jacking title-tune, the mesmerising Detroit waves of "Nobody Knows" and the warped house of "Messing Around" - complete with background studio chatter for extra trippyness. Ossie's own mix of "Back Of My Car" is also included, and makes for an intense astral hardcore makeover that rounds off this enormously impressive introduction.

Review: Considering he's been releasing records for the likes of Planet Mu and Apple Pips since 2009, it would be something of an understatement to say that Brackles' debut album has been a long time coming - but it couldn't have been better timed. Although his sound - a rough hybrid of UK garage and funky styles with echoes of dubstep - is very much of the now, there's an obvious love for the classic sounds of 90s UKG which many of his more inexperienced contemporaries lack - assisted by the inspired vocal contributions from Lily McKenzie and Terri Walker. But it's not just a throwback record - be it the slightly offbeat bass and calypso vibe of "Walkin' Out", or the churning subs of "Squarehead", Brackles nevertheless manages to twist the template into weird and unique shapes. That this album has been released on Rinse isn't a surprise - he's encapsulated nearly twenty years of the station's sound into one record.

Review: Broken Youth are poetic in their origins- claiming their musical ethos draws on many influences, which is what you'd expect when half of them (DJ Benz) moonlights in the excellent Hot City. Together with production partner Sam Tee, the Broken Youth style is unveiled in suitably boisterous fashion with a bassline update of 90s classic "Dreamer." Already getting plenty of airtime on Miss Annie Mac's Radio One show, it's likely you will be hearing this throughout the Summer. Welcome Broken Youth

Review: A UK producer who's showing huge potential with his house/UKF hybrids right now, Corporal F's latest for Hot N Heavy lends bass music some crafty touches. There's the brilliantly oddball sampling on the house gem "I Like You", some funky garage-flecked 808 funk on "Give It All" and a proper carnival smasher in the shape of "Heat Up". Add to that the heavy tribal grind of "Jungle" and this makes for a hot release.

Review: Never has a track been so accurately titled. Coming on like the demented imaginings of a bunch of laughing gas-guzzling nutters (or, in this case, Crookers and Style Of Eye), "That Laughing Track" features swathces of maniacal laughter layered over the sort of gut-busting, scattergun rave percussion that should send ravers absolutely bonkers. There's a bulging remix package to enjoy, too, featuring bombastic reworks from Milano (thrillingly pulsating), Sona Vabos (bouncy bass-house), Sound of Stereo (eye-watering electro-house messiness) and TWR72 (brain-melting fidget bounce).

Review: Atlanta's Distal continues to shine brightly, with this new release on Sinden's Grizzly label kicking heavily thanks to the Dirty South acapella loopin' of "Boss Of The South" and the excellent ghetto 808-frenzy of "Coke Bottle". Sinden himself smoothes out "Boss Of The South" on his mix, while Capracara's South of Heaven remix of the same track is a wildly experimental and very awesome woozy-house revisit that's simply gushing with misty rave goodness.

Review: Continuing to bait overly serious dance music with unashamed rave fodder, Unknown To The Unknown enlist a couple of rough and ready remixers in to take DJ Haus' "Needin U" into further realms of large. R1 Ryders step up first with more breaks than a Channel 5 film, wasting no time in launching into a dark slice of rolling old-skool goodness drenched in mammoth synths. Photonz's remix may seem restrained in comparison, kicking off on a haunting refrain and submerged beats, all the while edging towards a proper drop that calls to mind the finest space age machinations of Yorkshire bleep.

Review: Fourth Wave move on from their slew of Gerry Read and Presk releases and find a logical next step in the form of Felix Lenferink. Kicking off with "First Bouree", crisp techy rhythms abound before a clean and punchy chord sequence comes in. It's the warbling high-end synth that makes the track though, coming on like a spannered take on G-funk. "Second Bouree" is a much more slippery devil, as a fractured 2-step beat gets intermittently halted for passing guitar drones, only to recommence with subtle pads and tones delicately laid on top. Adeptly landing in the unusual pocket of mutant house music that Fourth Wave seems to treasure, Lenferink could pose another exciting talent, much like his label mates.

Review: From Diamond & Raw, a new record label based in Edinburgh, Bristol bass trio Forget Me Not team up with The Boxette's singer Neo for this very tasteful and forward-thinking mix of R&B sugar, creeping techno textures and 2-step beats. Huntley & Palmers' excellent Auntie Flo drops a bare but thrilling drum-led remix, as does Gullfisk, who winds in superb floating, dubby soundscapes on his more head-focused mix.

Review: As part of Bristol's Outboxx, Jacob Martin is no stranger to the unique style of house that is now part of the city's DNA. But while his work as part of that production duo comes from an angle that is undeniably driven by a classic Chicago template, his solo work as Hodge applies a 2-step structure to the same brushed, vintage sounds. Like his contemporary Hackman, it's a melodically lighter take on the genre - "The Fall", despite its name, is a summery slice of swung percussion and funk infused textures which at times recalls Space Dimension Controller's intergalactic timbres. "Crush" meanwhile positively snaps with its whipcrack percussion, whilst offering a more grounded experience with its squidgy bassline, which is momentarily sent skywards on a drifting chord. Another name to add to Bristol's already bursting list of talent.

Review: On a slow and steady rise with a distinctive take on UK Funky, Ill Blu haven't given the people much to chew on with their career so far. One can only assume the duo have been hunkering down crafting new material as this EP on Hyperdub comes more than a year after their last outing on Numbers. "Clapper" is a brawny cut with a nagging mid-range squawk and tasty rolling brushes of snares on a milatiristic tip. Juke's man of the moment Traxman does a hefty chop up of the original with a stomping rave era cut that wouldn't sound out of place on The Prodigy's Experience.

Review: A garage and old-school house don within the UK scene, Jeremy Sylvester launches his Urban Dubz label with this new EP, which boasts the shamelessly party-rocking "I'm In Love With A DJ" alongisde the sprightly funky house of "Doo Daa Day" and the '90s-recalling, Todd Terry-isms of "Everybody Let's Party".

Review: Nurtured on grime, young London producer Joss Ryan transcends his roots thrillingly on this new EP for DVA. On a sparse, half-step tip, "Melancholy Dreams" makes a keen opener, while "Drop Off" is a melodic overload of off-kilter synths and piano glides yet still with that grimey slant to the beats. "Trust You Two" is the most aggy thing here, yet even despite the harsh bass and sinister, chewy leads, Ryan shows he's brimming with brilliant melodic constructs.

Review: A producer known for his sterling, dub slanted Soul Jazz 12"s as well as remixes for Spank Rock, Roll Deep, and Count & Sinden, Kalibata brings his talents to Greenmoney for this excellent double-track release. "Freeown" is a fired-up tropical bass worker that's not made any less punchy by its dubby inflections, while "Skanker" is a dubstep-influenced menace that plies seriously low bass over crisp 2-step snares.

Review: French producer Koyote brings us the second installment in a trilogy of EPs slated for the Mixpak imprint. Bringing together a number of different styles, Koyote draws on grime, funky, house and old skool rave music. The Blowin My Mind EP kicks off with "Metro Bunny", in which a chirpy melody sits above smashing drum kicks and snares hypnotically, and takes us through "Blowin My Mind" with its funky influence, driving 4/4 beat and Redlight-esque patina. "Peanut Butter Complex" has a jacking house beat with droning SFX and quirky moments peeping in and out of focus and the "With Some Pretty Eyes" remix adds another dimension to this compelling EP.

Review: We know about the boy who cried wolf. But have you heard the one about the boy who cried Kry Wolf? No, neither have we. But dropping this bottom end savvy b-boy workout will certainly keep the wolves from your door for a while. Elsewhere you'll find "Under My Skin", a bashy, darker number with an incessant rhythm and some nifty finger clicks and handclaps. There's plenty to chat about on the remix tip, too: Mak & Pasteman turn "Black & Blue" into a Guy Called Gerald flavoured acid house joint, Daniel Haaksman massages "Under My Skin" into a hypnotic Made To Play style mode while Real delivers a slice of two-step so sexy you'll want to marry it.

Review: One of the more prolific artists in these times, Matt Cutler is back with his fifth album, which is an impressive feat in just five years of releasing music. It's a disregard for pretention that makes Cutler's music work so appealing, whether it be the exuberant 90s house approach on last album Emerald Fantasy Tracks or his earlier hip hop-tempo bump. Galaxy Garden starts off on a more esoteric tip with the tropical electronica of "New Colour", which captures the cheeriness of Plaid, or more recently Oriol on Planet Mu, in its sunshine chimes. By the time we get to "Lying In The Reeds" we're up to a house tempo that harks back to the softer side of early Detroit, playing with melody in a way that made Kenny Larkin stand out early on. It's when "Crystal Caverns 1991" starts up that we reach the most blatant distillation of old-skool; kicking off a breakstep beat with sweet but punchy 90s synths, the track cuts into a deadly rave motif without so much as a pause in the beat and it's like being back in, er, 1991. It would be easy to write off an album like this as derivative, but no-one can listen to the music itself and call it an imposter. Every track reeks of originality, whether it be the surprising track structures, the superbly detailed production, even the evocative imagery that the music conjures up. If you ever needed an album that felt like wide-eyed, innocent joy, this would be an excellent place to start.

Review: A seriously fired-up tropical/UKF burner from a British producer on the grow, Major Notes builds on previous releases - which have been supported by DJs like Ras Kwame or Rinse's Marcus Nasty - with the excellent "Abeka Lapaz Dance". This single-track advance promo shows why there's so much hype for this particular beat, thanks to its driving electro bass beat with a pleasing soca lilt and some winding leads keeping it vital the whole way through .

Review: Some killer minimal bass from Northern Line's Myeb, here working up a moody dubscape and punchy banger in the shape of "Go Hard Go Solid", which mixes soft, thick bass hits with crisp UKF drums. "Rapid" is a more upfront, Roska-esque, floor-ready beat that uses short, one-shot stabs to bring a tension to a more melancholy bass part. An excellent and essential UKF banger.

Review: British bass producer Ndread steps up with this stellar EP, available exclusively via Juno Download and led off by "Everything" - a bubbly mix of crisp hats, retro garage organs and a sly, detuned vocals. On an even more staunchly 2-step accent, "Apologies" is a gentle beast that makes great use of snappy snares and a billowing set of organs.

Review: Released on Space Hardware, another new label from Hypercolour magnate Jamie Russell, American producer Placeholder impresses hugely on this debut. The whispy bass-house of "Brothers" makes for a gripping and minimal start to the EP, but "Don't U Know" is the real standout. Stocked to the brim with future-funk and neo-soul flavour, the expertly chopped and pitch-shifted vocals that drive it along are truly exceptional, with octaves layered on top of each other over a fresh 808 clap. Jacob Korn fleshes "Don't U Know" out with some tricked-out snares and hats on his remix (as well as his Todd Edwards-esque "NuGroove remix"), but that original really takes some beating. Highly recommended stuff!

Review: With releases on Hot N Heavy and Senseless under his belt, as well as heavy support from bass-monsters like Crookers, Canblaster, Mumdance and AC Slater, San Francisco-based producer Reilly Martin makes a startling debut on Top Billin'. Deep, Joy Orbison-like textures (as on "Risin") are matched by energetic yet breezy clubsteppers like the Snoop-sampling "Work It" and the fiendish Detroit via Dirty South banger "Oh So Nice". A perfect fit on Top Billin's superb roster of mind-expanding bass producers.

Review: Frite Nite label boss Paul Salva teams up with fellow American west coaster Grenier (who's recently changed his name from DJG, and who's constantly impressed hugely with some unique bass/step visions). The pair share their talents across two new tunes - the stunning "Wake The Dead", which wraps electro vibes around a variety of different styles on a haunted tip thanks to some polyrhythmic drum work, and "Forest Floor" which is far less cluttered and will find favour with fans of Hud Mo, Machinedrum et al.