Bass Clef At Juno Download

Review: Aside from sporting the finest, bushiest beard in dance music, Ralph "Bass Clef" Cumbers has long been a producer with more ideas than most. Just as capable of making thrilling, bass-heavy floor fillers as quirky dubstep and oddball electronica, he's made a career out of surprising listeners at every turn. This latest album - his first for Peverelist's Punch Drunk imprint - is a good case in point. Having seemingly tired of straight-up dubstep and bass music (for now, at least), Cumbers turns his attention to linear electronics, classic Detroit techno and stargazing electronica, laying down a series of delightfully melodic compositions that arguably rank among his best to date. The album's forthright positivity is its most startling feature; clearly, "Clef" is in a good place right now.

Review: After seriously impressing with the debut sounds of Andy Mac last time round, Bristol imprint Punch Drunk step it up a notch further with this monumental release from Bass Clef. The local hero turned Hackney import graces our shelves with his first release in 2011 and it's totally been worth the wait, unveiling the rather glorious sounds of "Rollercoasters Of The Heart". There's an undeniably throwback nod to the euphoric days of rave gone by thanks to the swirls of lysergia tinged stabs and stretched out vox, but it's how Bass Clef marries them to a crisp groove of rolling sub bass and crisp off kilter house drums that has us hooked. Complementing this, "So Cruel" brings the mood down markedly, revolving around a half time swagger and bouncing subs dipped in purple menace which are the perfect foil for the requisite looped up chanteuse. It's the searing synth flourishes that jettison through the track without announcement that lift "So Cruel" to somewhere near the title track in our affections.