Back Catalogue

Review: Can you imagine a more perfect mix - the innately soulful yet age-worn vocals of American singer Bobby Womack and the effervescent and vital bad-boy house of Julio Bashmore? XL really nail it with this remix release of this highlight from Womack's latest album, with the Bristolian house god spending a good couple of minutes teasing the track in as vocals are looped and basslines drill into your head, before unleashing a classy and sunny beat for full orgasmic revelry. Exemen do a great job with the tune too on their rerub - gearing up for the Notting Hill Carnival with a dubby 2-step remake.

Review: Paul Woolford has been enjoying something of a renaissance of late, thanks to last year's collaboration with Psycatron for Hotflush and his Special Request project which has rightly gained many internet column inches thanks to it's rough and ready junglist spirit. Now he joins the likes of xxxy and Chrissy Murderbot on Halocyan with this superb EP. Placing a breakbeat rhythm over the top of some ominously swelling bass, "Pursuit" is reminiscent of the "Lolita" track he released as Special Request, with a leaner, brighter feel, while "Crank Call" displays the same rhythmic mastery, but with some distinctly electro tendencies, as layers rippling synths are placed under restless hi-hats and hammering offbeat snares. Digital only track "5meo" rounds things off on an upbeat note, as driving Detroit bass and tumbling melodies are driven forward on forceful rush of kicks and dry snares.

Review: Sheffield's Walter Ego is causing a bit of a stir at the moment with the likes of Toddla T and Monki both supporting his recent releases. When Ego is not running his own record label, Bad Taste Records, he's perfecting his production techniques that incorporate intricate garage-influenced beats and elements of various bass genres. Title track "Shadows" is a leftfield banger in the vein of Actress featuring skewed 2 step rhythms and ghostly yet soulful male vocals. "Rebounds" is more peak time and, with its tribal beats and rave stabs, not unlike MJ Cole's recent output. "Shadows' also returns in a chill out remix by Inkarv.

Review: Fellow Sheffield producers Walter Ego and 2046 combine on Ego's Bad Taste label for two impressive fusions of tech, funky club and bass - with the excellent title song mixing a storm of dark keys stabs, while "Hand In My Hand" is a serious worker, using some familiar R&B vocals over a charged, genre-melting beat.

Review: On his Hyperdub debut last year, youngster Walton made a real impression on the Juno review ears, and we've been eager for more ever since. Once again surfacing on Kode 9's imperious label, the All Night EP finds Walton on equally impressive form, replicating the course of his debut with the title track being the most immediate production. "All The Night" is luridly colourful in the thick 8 bit textures that spill out over hyperactive vocal edits and buccaneering drum chops. Up next, "Mallet" does more with steel pans in the opening bars than Jammy xx ever did, before veering off into an eminently satisfying bleep heavy UKF flex, whilst "Kush" drops the tempo down to a heavily saturated, downtrodden shoulder lean.

Review: Keysound bring together a gaggle of relatively fresh names to throw it down in a rowdy fashion. Walton rips into action under a hail of gunshots, deploying some deadly grime strings over a pulsing UK Funky rhythm. Gremino meanwhile has his own brand of virulent bass music to share, moving scattily through all manner of brutal synth notes before pulling off a shockingly long drop out, only to come back barking the same lurching mantra. Visionist is more dextrous with "Come In", scattering a manic array of vocal samples over a moody backbone. Vibezin rounds things off with possibly the most essential cut, catching a strange soundtrack vibe in the midst of a snapping found-sound beat that sounds as future as it gets right now.

Review: This is the second release by Warsnare aka the rather less threateningly titled Daniel Potter, a leading light on South London's New Cross scene. He likes to blend genres and BPMs and hates being categorised however, describe it we must. "Murderous Times" is a meandering, slice of warped vintage RnB, "Red Lights" is total pandemonium with 'try mixing that' beats, bongos, bleeps and even a kitchen sink (maybe), "Black Powder" sounds largely like what we would expect everything to sounds like if one were to consume such a thing and "Slum Clearance" is a truly apocalyptic closer. Bravo!

Review: Bringing a classic approach to dread-filled dubstep paranoia, Wen steps up to Keysound with a swagger that would sit comfortably alongside the sub-hassling pressure of DMZ. "Commotion" rubs back and forth in a cold refrain devoid of melody in favour of unrelenting bass and distant wraiths of sound, only inhabited by a scattered slice up of an MC. "Nightcrawler" heads into a grimier territory, working some crafty synth moves and a keen sense of sound design into a dynamic stalker of a track, while "Spark It" deconstructs electro down to its barest ingredients, and slamming a hefty bass throb underneath. "Road" completes the package in morbid fashion, making it a sturdy four tracker of the most fearsome kind of dubstep.

Review: A hotly anticipated release here from producer Wen (aka Owen Darby). The internet has been alive of late with bass lovers reactions to this guy's thoroughly innovative sound which loosely rests somewhere between post-dubstep and future bass. Also the debut release for New York label South Fork Sounds, "Lo-Fidelity" is sparse and haunting with a female RnB vocal warped around sporadic 808 beats and prowling bass frequencies. "Takin' Over" sounds like stoned aliens invading earth to a shuffley 2-step rhythm.

Review: Werkha is a rising talent championed by like-minded fledgling label Cool Kid Music. In keeping with the label's aesthetic, Werkha has delivered a three track EP that fuses neo soul, sparse garage beats and lots and lots of synths. "Cube & Puzzle" starts all hazy before launching into Bowski-style stripped back garage. "Le Roitelet" is a bizarre mix of fuzzy digital soul and jazzy French female vocals. "Bottle Trick" keeps the jazz, this time guitar, and marries it to slo-mo beats and layered vocal loops.

Review: If the accompanying release sheet is anything to go by then this tenth WNCL Recordings is supposedly the final in the series of 10" and digital releases. Whether this is an end to the label or not is unclear, but for the time being we can be content with another piece of razor sharp classic house homage from the South London producer. "Coming On Strong" is not, as its name may suggest, a homage to Hot Chip's debut album of the same name, but a piece of raw, bumping basement house which is heavy on the toms, and accented by some particularly jazzy samples. Pangaea's remix meanwhile transforms it beyond recognition, warping its saxophone tones into an abstract soundscape driven by complex rhythms.

Review: Following his "All Werked Up" release on Well Rounded Individuals last year, Texan producer Wheez-ie cooks up an even more hardcore trip into '90s rave with "Remember The Score". Ghetto juke gets mixed with pitched-up rave pianos on the title tune, while "Fuck Yer Shit" rests on a slew of trancy and winding acid synths.

Review: After the well-received "A Little Louder" EP, plus his hook-up with the mighty Tomb Crew for Top Billin' ("I Go Sick"), Justin Reid-Simms (aka Whole Sick) drops another seriously sick EP for Sounds of Sumo. Title-tune "Do The Do" is a seriously addictive mix of looped vocals over a hybrid house/garage beat, with some rogue piano stabs keeping it bubbly, while "Thinkin Bout U" is leans on a more UKF vibe, complete with ghostly detuned vocal stabs and some crunchy leads. Kry Wolf and Diamond Bass both weigh in with some top remixes of "Do The Do", while Wool takes "Think Bout U" on a deep and dubby voyage.

Review: Bristol-based Woz has a growing reputation in the bass music scene. Following a recent guest appearance on Mistajam's 1Xtra show, he's now ready to release some more original music (much of his back catalogue comprises remixes). Zylo sets out his stall, pitching him as a producer whose party instincts regularly take priority. There's much energetic dancefloor fare on offer, from the booming basslines, retro bleeps and scratchy breaks of "Fustraightin", to the woozy UK Funky flex of "Reach" and the stabbing bounce of the darting title track. Despite the balls-out nature of his style, there's enough depth to suggest there's more to come in future.

Review: Heralding the start of a new side-project and the end of a silent patch for Alex Smoke, Wraetlic comes to Jon Convex's Convex Industries in a full-length form, providing a spacious platform for the Scottish producer to lay out his ideas about where this latest venture is heading. The penchant for melancholia is still very much present, but the slick minimal techno of the past has been replaced by a rough and natural-feeling electronica. Also noticeable is the greater focus on vocals on this record; an element which you would find whispers of on albums such as Paradolia but embraced more extensively here. Representing an interesting new direction for Alex Smoke, Wraetlic is an album rich in detail that demands listening in full for a truly immersive and thoroughly personal experience.

Review: Returning after a hiatus of some years, Alex Smoke presents a new alias in Wraetlic with this three track sampler a taster for his upcoming eponymous long-player, due for release on Jon Convex's Convex Industries label. As Wraetlic, the producer channels a significantly darker mood than that of his earlier releases. "Rats" sees Smoke incorporate his own distorted vocals, concentrating more on bleak sub-bass and abstract sounds, whilst "Refrain" takes a half-step rhythm and hazy Border Community-style sonics, and "The Watchful Eye" creates something like fractured electronic shoegaze. Hotflush boss Scuba provides a remix of "Rats", adopting his techno-focused SBC moniker and delivering a remarkably effective 4/4 remix which is as devasting as his rework of Function from earlier this year.