Back Catalogue

Review: Pronounced "adverb", this solo American producer lays down some beautifully textured and very glitched out bass-step on this release for Car Crash Set. "Lust" rips apart its atmospheric opening with a torrent of fierce leads, while "Colourful Eyes" sounds on a par with Rustie's sci-fi voyaging. Check out the maximal joys of "Sugar Glaze" as an excellent first step into the world of +Verb.

Review: When 123MRK's Noname EP dropped in 2011 creating waves all around the dubstep and bass music scene. Moulding the sound of his generation into a style all his own, the Frenchman suddenly found himself held aloft as an innovator as well as simply a producer of sounds. This remixed release of his seminal EP was a lofty undertaking and the finished item features remixes from some of the future dubstep scene's brightest young stars alongside long-time innovators. From Liar's metalic, lo-fi flavours to Troy Gunner's understated clicks and swirls; ViLLAGE's heart-pounding house remodelling to Heblank's old-school twist, even the likes of Pixelord and ReSketch play their garage-influenced hands to create an all-new modern-day canvas of what exactly bass music is right at this moment. It can never be truly defined, but this is a pretty good encyclopedia.

Review: Made up of on field recordings taken by 2562 on a 2010 trip to Jordan, Air Jordan is based on a similar concept to his 2011 album Fever, which was made up of samples exclusively from disco records. But while that record reflected its source material in its more overt dancefloor focus, Air Jordan reflects the dry heat of the Jordanian landscape in a dusty cloud of broken beats and cracked textures. "Solitary Sheepbell" creates a hazy mirage out of its pitched bell samples, whilst the arid, hesitant rhythms of "Desert Lament" mingle with the kind of bustling atmospherics that place you at the centre of a busy marketplace, a theme carried through in the booming industrial beats of "Jerash Hekwerken". It ends on "Nocturnal Drummers", a suspenseful fusion of dehydrated percussive samples which caps off the producer's most concise work to date. Highly recommended.

Review: For a producer who earns a living patrolling the moody sonic terrain between dubstep and techno, the third album from Dutchman Dave Huismans under the 2562 alias is his most raucous yet. A notable progression has been made from the dense atmospherics and subterranean bass that characterised 2008's Aerials and the dark textures of 2009's Unbalance, both of which saw release on Bristolian imprint Tectonic. Fever - released via Huismans' own When In Doubt label - has a more insouciant slant, albeit buried beneath several layers of robust drum programming and hanging synths. The stuttering rhythms and disorientating panning of "Winamp Melodrama" opens Fever, followed by the whirring effects and muffled vocal loops of "Cheaters". The chaotic drum programming on "Juxtaposed" brings to work the mind of fellow genre ignorer FaltyDL, before "Intermission" marks the album's halfway point and paves the way for Huismans' most outlandish moment, namely the unrelenting party techno stomp of "This Is Hardcore". God only knows which disco records he sampled for this one - but it's enamoured with bucket loads of groove and swing. Essential listening from start to finish.

Review: An engaging and interesting four-track EP here from 3 Hrs on the Black Butter label, which kicks off with the title track "Absolutely" - a shimmering little number with glistering synths, rumbling bass, ribbiting beats and chopped up, repeated vocal snippet. "Clap Work", up next, continues in a similar vein, with faded, clapping beats, booming sub bass and distanced, echoing vocal element, with repeating insistence to "clap!" Penultimate cut "Fear To" is an eerie, ominous slice of darkness, whilst "Nite Time" slows the pace down, with a stripped back soundscape as the EP draws to a close.

Review: Taken from 3HRS' debut release for the moody bass label Black Butter, this highlight from the Absolutely EP is a perfectly-pitched coming together of underground drum machine sounds and the titular claps, all wrapped around a complex pattern and a spooky set of acapella shots and background dialogue. A crisp and insatiable beat, with plenty of brooding menace built in.

Review: Exactly placing this three tracker from Black Butter regular 3HRS is tricky. While it has more in common with analogue deep house - especially the fluid and intoxicating opener "Objective" - than anything else, it also displays a strong bass music influence, with the title track delivering a soulful and sophisticated take on 2-step garage. Then there's the curious case of "Training", which seems to sit somewhere between the eerie iciness of T Williams' "Heartbeats", the rave revivalism of "Lone", and the heart-aching, Detroit-influenced deepness of Mr Beatnick. Either way, it's a great sound. Like the rest of the EP, it's pure cocoa butter.

Review: A pair of brilliantly varied tunes from Cali producers Skinandbones & Vin Sol, out this week on Soo Wavey, sees the pair channel Adonis gloriously on the Chicago acid flashback that is "Nocturnal Emissions", which sees 303's nestled up against some heavily reverbed vocals. On a much more upfront vibe, "Good Good" finds the pair on a lean and energetic flex, akin to Thomas Bangalter jamming on a garage groove. Well worth checking out.

Review: A pair who impressed hugely on their Grizzly-released reworking of Brenmar's "Let Me Know", Californian duo Skinandbone5 & Vin Sol drop two equally impressive originals in the first of their 'Rhythm Tracks" releases. As the title suggests, these are two drum-only track, but they absolutely ooze class, with the right DJ able to drop the "Spastik" like rolls of "Heavy Accent" or the heavily-flanged hats of "All 808 Everything" into sets in style.