Back Catalogue

Review: Despite reading like a member of Spandau Ballet covering Madness, this record couldn't be further from such a thing. The other Martin Kemp is among the stable of artists on DJ Oslek's forward thinking Frijsfo Beats label and here he keeps the standard high. "Heavy Heavy Heavy" sees dub meet garage uptown, with ascending and descending weird sound effects weaving throughout. "Terr" on the other hand, is 2-Step gone up a gear; layers of tribal percussion build and build around an incessant sub bass for that perfect 3am feeling.

Review: Continuing to blossom as producer with many sides to him, Lando Kal drops this latest EP for Icee Hot in a melee of weirdo house moves. The lead track calls to mind the creepier end of Brackles and Doc Daneeka, but strapped to a slower groove that merely accentuates the psychedelic wonder of it all. "Help Myself" is a little less murky with its G-funk lines and sunny chords, but it's no less deranged as the synths and samples come staggering in and out of earshot in a positively drunken style. Anthony Shakir's remix of "Help Myself" is a masterclass in restraint and unease, working on a rolling break and contorting elements of the original into a messy but engrossing concoction.

Review: Serious Baltimore business right here. KW Griff and Pork Chop's dark, chopped up club rider rolls with beefy kicks and a classic break. Released last year it's been picked up on by L-Vis 1990 who's gone ahead and given it a royal Night Slugs makeover. Subby, stripped back and munching its way through 808s, all that remains of the original are the vocal snippets and the same authentic sense of edge Griff and Chop conjured up in the first place. Heavyweight stuff.

Review: After making a sizable splash with a debut release on Uno, Kuhrye-oo gets the remix treatment for the anthemic vocal cut that markedly stood out on that first EP. He kicks off with his own re-version, running off a quickened broken beat and lashings of tense synth and piano that refuses to budge in its forwards momentum. Boody and Le1f get in on the remix action with a twisted deployment of vocodered lyrical flow over a subtly grinding beat, while Eon Kallisit opts instead for a hyper-garage meltdown that gets more delirious as it progresses. There's plenty of ideas bouncing around with typical Uno diversity from all involved in this sturdy collection, not least for those loving contemporary hybrid beats.

Review: It's hard to know where to start with this deliciously odd and endearing collection of bass music experiments from Kuhn - it's got bags of energy, tons of ideas and boasts some excellent cuts. Musically, it's surprisingly diverse, taking garage and dubstep as its base, but with nods to everything from rave and breakcore to IDM and classic electro. There's some serious dancefloor pressure in the shape of the juke inspired "Boombox", a fusion of strings and manic cut-ups on "MWYRK", and some almost nightmarish oddness in the shape of the beautifully wonky "Never Forget". The package also boasts two remixes of lead cut "I Quit", with Pixelord's deep garage take standing out.

Review: Taken from the recording sessions that spawned Kuedo's critically acclaimed album Severant, "Work, Live & Sleep In Collapsing Space" sees a track that brings together the more jagged elements of the producer's earlier Vex'd alias, along with the brittle footwork inspired and dystopian soundscapes percussion of his more recent output. Remixes are provided by Claude Speed, who provides a version that combines synths reminiscent of early Oneohtrix Point Never combined with motorik kraut rhythms, and Laurel Halo, whose delicate revision combines abrasive violins with a viscous mass of percolating synths.

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: Sounds Of Sumo label bosses Kry Wolf return to their home imprint with a bold new sound in the form of Concrete; eschewing their usually lighter take on bass music, the title track is a dark combination of wobble bass and dub atmospherics, held together with some steely techno rhythms which comes across like Objekt's "Cactus", while "Bluffin" combines more abstract beats with ghetto house-inspired vocal samples and dubby stabs. Woz is tapped up to remix the title track, being considerably more sparing with the savage bass and rearranging its rhythms into something altogether more angular; Benton's remix of "Bluffin" is classic SOS, providing a bouncy piece of bass-heavy garage house.

Review: Not content with having risen on the tides of their Sound of Sumo label's success, label bosses Kry Wolf have elected to start a new label in the form of Food Music. Debuting last year with a release from Shadow Child, the pair now take centre stage for the label's second release. Entitled The Flood, the lead track combines sharp tech-house beats with buzzsaw bass and slick vocal samples, all coated in deep strings, while "Workin Hard" takes things up a notch with its crisp flurry of claps and synth bubbles driven along by some peak-time rave piano. "Together" meanwhile combines techno and bass in equal measure with its dark, tunnelling acidic bassline and dubbed out piano chords; it's a stark contrast to Makes No Sense's remix of the track which gives it into a light UKG-inspired rework.

Review: Young Philly producer Krueger channels the sounds of London on this new EP for Paradisiaca. Title tune "40oz Bounce" channels Pearson Sound and Girl Unit in particular, whilst still sounding hugely unique, while the excellent bass-thumper "This Is Sick" mixes reverbed textures with a thumping minimal kick. On a mean, post-dubstep tip, "Talk" is an equally essential 130bpm mindf*ck loaded with plenty of hip-hop swagger.

Review: Deftly exploring the creative possibilities in the endless badlands of a post-dubstep landscape, Krueger references everything from juke to techno across his two originals. "Giggles" is a paranoid, minimal masterpiece that refuses to be pigeonholed, while "Can You" is basically acid house if it arrived twenty-five years later. Complex yet stark and simplistic both are the epitome of electronic music's earliest, most essential ingredients. And the remixes are all pretty special, too...

Review: Dutch house powerhouse Kraak & Smaak drop a favourite from their recent album "Electric Hustle", which features the rugged-yet-soothing vocals of house legend Romanthony. While their original is a quiet storm of minimal drums and classic house stabs, Roach Motel drop two fleshed-out revisits that lend the tune a building, club-happy vibe. Psychemagik flip the tune too, creating an Italo-leaning beauty with Romanthony's detuned vocals giving it an epic quality.

Review: With the dust barely settled from his last grime-infused monster on Livity Sound, Bristol's Kowton returns on the city's premier label at the bass/house/techno intersection, Idle Hands. "Never Liked Dancing" is classic Kowton - raw, stripped back drum machine rhythms, sprung bass, all twisted into unique shapes that hint at sinister figures lurking in the shadows. "Track Mute" meanwhile takes that simmering energy and turns the heat right up, as rapid stabs, laser FX and a churning low end intermingle in a sweaty Stokes Croft basement vibe. As with any Kowton release, this is essential.

Review: Since appearing on Jamie xx's Essential Mix last year, anticipation has been building for the release of Welsh producer Koreless's "Lost In Tokyo", and it finds itself on the logical home of Jacques Greene's Vase imprint. Sharing the same sense of melody as the Canadian tour de force, Koreless manages to take water droplet synths and a breathy vocal shrouded in reverb and construct a tense slow burner without the addition of any beats. A remix is offered by Greene himself, a logical choice given that he has taken the young producer under his wing over the last year, and turns in a club focused remix with tumbling bass and thumping kicks in the style of his recent track "Ready". Essential stuff.

Review: With its theme framed by spoken word samples in the intro, "Underground" is Bristol born Komonazmuk's love letter to his younger days listening to and playing on pirate radio. The track itself, taken from his forthcoming album, sees him leave behind his moodier rollers for a bright, funk infused house number that could only come from Bristol, with a killer vocal hook that nonetheless maintains all the bass weight of his earlier material. On the flipside a renewed Paul Woolford takes some time off from his Special Request project to rework the track into a dark, bass-heavy hybrid form with hints of the Autonomic sound in its fast rhythmic cuts and moody synths. Awesome stuff.

Review: Kommune is another mysterious producer, but with a difference. For starters, Motus is released on Lone's Magic Wire label, hardly a bastion for Berlin-flavoured anonymity. The music isn't exactly typical heads-down, stripped back techno either. "Motus" is a grungy groove augmented by over the top, jarring riffs, but the arrangement changes and morphs thanks to an infectious vocal sample and a churning filter that recalls 'party' techno of the late 90s. Maybe Kommune has pinned his underground credentials to "Shadowkick"; the swirling chords create a sense of mystery and the bassline is brawny and muscular, but despite these underground elements, the vocal refrain 'we gotta get down' ensures that it doesn't lapses into furrowed-brow seriousness.

Review: Ever committed to their position on the wild frontier of glossy party sounds, the first Numbers release of 2012 reveals a brand new production duo from London who go by the name of Kodiak. Kicking off on a jagged UK Funky rhythm, "Spreo Superbus" piles on the drama from the first bars as whipcrack snare delays and rushy synth pitch bends lead to the first of many drops. The production is immaculate, packing scores of detail into the framework, from ranging synths to a multitude of vocal snippets, off beat bass stabs and clattering yet precise percussion. Tempering those rambunctious attributes, Actress snakes in with his Uraeus remix and pares things down instantly with a low slung beat, spacious chords and vaporous hisses. It's not until the twilight of the track that a nasty bassline comes crawling in to ruffle the feathers of its sonic compatriots. Girl Unit isn't pulling any punches with his reworking, riding a smoother beat but keeping the delirious synth energy of the original intact before slamming down into an electro-fied freak-out full of edgy ripples of melody. While the remixes do well to give credit to the source, it's the original that really shines on this release for sheer flair and studio prowess, not to mention a deadly knack for creating hype out of pure digital freakery.

Review: Inspired by some time spent in Shanghai, the Hyperdub main man makes a long-awaited return with this no-messing two tracker that sees him venturing into ever more curious realms of rhythmic abstraction. "Xingfu Lu" shudders on a trap-like framework, sparse but heavy hitting all in the same breath. The melodies sport that oddly comforting sense of otherworldliness that has always characterised Steve Goodman's musicality even as the groove playfully fits and starts. "Kan" is a more feisty proposition, moving erratically between different motifs and getting even twitchier in the drums department while found sounds slip in between the miniscule cracks between the hats and snares. It's a bewildering effect that suggests interesting pastures new are in sight for Kode 9.

Review: Riderz of the sonic storm, the Canadian duo continue their well-received adventures into rainbow electro with this ace balance of West coast bass sleaze and Mohawk style vibrancy. With a cheeky VIP and remixes by the likes of XLII (guitar-bashing) Shiftee (dreamy drone shuffle), Warsnare (pumping future-bass), Goosebumps (whimsical psychedelia) and Sun In Aquarius (trippy sleepless bass) it's a glittering groove that's been represented in myriad positive ways. "Imma Go Hard" finishes the set with a raw ghetto funk adieu.

Review: A cursory listen to this EP would easily lead the listener to believe it was made by some underground British bass guy who wears his baseball caps sideways. But they'd be wrong; Klaves is actually 21 year old producer Mikolaj Gramowski from Poland who has pretty much beaten the British producers at their own game: "You" is an awesome blend of late 90s garage and house. "Hope It Gets To Love" is sassy future garage, and our fave is the Fault Lines remix - a slamming house scorcher featuring the kind of thumping kick not head since "Da Funk"!

Review: It could be said that calling your own tune a "Game Changer" is quite an audacious move. Thankfully Kingthing has the chops to deliver a strikingly unique production such as this, so he gets off the hook. Brooding isn't the half it with the title tune being a mean and moody afterhours creepathon featuring warped, low-pitch vocals, incessant wood block hits and mournful setlines. In other words: awesome! "Who Needs Enemies" is harder - boomy and deep, but with techy beats and unrelenting industrial noise loops.

Review: Having already bolstered the Night Slugs mission across an EP and occasional other appearances, Kingdom returns to his neon-lit home with more of that R&B flavoured business. "Let You No" rides one of those quintessential clean, precise dubstep beats that the NS crew love so well, while the melodies fall thick and bright around a decisive vocal rip. It's immaculately produced, while "Stalker Ha" manages to eke out more of an edge with some wild samples and hits over a more punchy UK Funky beat. "Dreama" sees Kingdom exploring his sound more, slowing the beat down to let his imaginative synth work fly free. Check it.

Review: Keeping it inventive, Kimp Vasko shakes things up with this release on Prospekt curiously entitled "Smoke Signals". Kicking off with "Jardela" we are treated to a flurry of glitch, techno infused beats and whirring atmospherics with bassline buzz; then it's on to "Baleria" with its more synth-led Ibiza house feel. "Matxete" keeps things interesting with its quirky rhythms and blissed out atmospheres, whilst "Wildfire" is all tripped out beats and bleepy synth soaring melodies before "Retro" brings the EP to a finish.

Review: Hailing from Belgium, this guy has gone from making harsh and accelerated chipmunk-voiced beats (often of the juke/footwork variety) to deeper stuff. Here the slower, throbbing "Make That Booty Clap" is remixed by a number of names: The Martin Brothers go electro-meets-Chicago, while Zombie Disco Squad push the jackin' levels into the red, Plastician goes slow and evil sounding and Mark Starr goes for a stripped down (pun intended) trap style workout.

Review: After releases on Squelch and Clap, Matt Relton aka Kidnap Kid steps up with this new trio of songs for Black Butter. Already boasting DJ support from Skream, Redlight, Martelo and Jaymo, the EP gets off to a killer start with the swirling 2-step of "Vehl", which fans of Deadboy will instantly take to, while "Lazarus Taxon" smoothes out proceedings a little with a boogie acapella thrown over a bubbly, chopped bass beat, while the creeping intro to "Be More" and the ushering in of some stellar snares might just be the highpoint of this hugely impressive EP.