Bok Bok At Juno Download

Review: After the success of the original Southside EP last year, Bok Bok has called upon his mates to rework some of the lead cuts with results that stretch across the board. Sir Spyro has some filthy bass at the forefront of his playful reworking of "Silo Pass", while the horns get teased in the appropriate places to great effect. Vjuan Allure instead focuses on dry beats working around a UK Funky template, with only scattered effects left to fill in the gaps. Bok Bok's own remix of "Charisma Theme" piles the tension on high with dread strings and a snappy dispersal of percussion. L-Vis 1990 gets jacking with his take on "Reminder", leaving it to Helix to delve into a funky techno rut to conquer "Look".

Review: Bok Bok has played a significant role in reinvigorating the contemporary bass music scene with the unique brand of neon-tinged grime/dubstep/house purveyed on the Night Slugs imprint he runs with L-Vis 1990. It's strange then to think that he hasn't graced the NS label with any original material of his own until now, but the Southside EP delivers on the hype and expectation that preceded the release. Kicking off with "Charisma Theme", it's all swirling, hazy atmospherics and taught chiming for the first part. Immediately demanding attention, the hollow thumping kicks of the intro swiftly build into a clipped, rolling riddim with clapping beats and quirky, fidgeting melody and undulating b-line below. "Hyperpass", up next, is a much deeper, darker beast, with ominous dread vocal, a dubbed out soundscape, the sound of rainfall and urgent, insistent beats pumping out menacingly. Moving on, "Reminder" is all hissing hats and searing snares, coupled with lassoing synths and a simple, repetitive bleepy melody. Then, there's "Silo Pass" with its scythe sharpening intro, and distant voices, weighty subs and rattling SFX, before grime-infused half step smasher "Look" concludes the EP, with poised and understated prowess.

Review: The new Crossover Series from the Sound Pellegrino crew makes for a canny and eye opening endeavour, offering the chance for like-minded producers from different paths the chance to collaborate together with the aim of "crossing the invisible bridges of the great house music archipelago". The standard for the series is set truly high on the inaugural release that sees Alex Bok Bok Sushon team up with Tom Trago for the Night Voyage Tool Kit EP. The six tracks see Trago and Sushon deliver heavily, stripped down drum trax informed by a love of Dancemania era Chicago House. At times the results are playful; see the opening track "Pathfinder" - little more than the duo checking out how pliable the rubbery analogue tone at the core is, with drums stripped down to a hissing undercurrent. More structure is evident on the skeletal "White Type R", which slowly unfurls into compressed head jack material, though that playful sense of melody creeps through intermittently. As the EP progresses, the overarching feeling you get from this release is two producers becoming increasingly comfortable working together - see how the vocoder led "Time Master" unexpectedly bursts into a percolating 23rd century p-funk out. It's obviously just the start of much more from the duo, with Trago revealing the duo will continue their Night Voyage endeavours in some shape or form.