From the holy to the moly with all levels of WTF and crikey along the way; Gradient have just levelled up with this turbo-charged VA that celebrates how exciting the new generation of drum & bass is right now. So many talents, not enough time or space to list; just press play, dig deep and you'll find untold bangers for days. From Harley D to Warhead to Amplify via Nick The Lot, Jenks, Scurrow, Flint, Fanatics and the bossman Metal Work, this is a huge collection that's right on the cutting edge of the club D&B sound. Fusing elements of jump-up, tech and good old fashioned dancefloor bangers, these are the sturdiest foundations from which future careers will be built on.
A decidedly pop-tastic release from Razor-N-Tape here, coming from Underground System, a multiracial, NYC-based indie-dance live band who cite Fela Kuti as a primary influence and whose work has previously appeared on Soul Clap Records, Planet E and Hell Yeah Recordings. Both 'Into The Fire' itself and the vaguely new wave-tinged 'He Said, She Said' have something of a Hot Chip-ish kinda feel, while on 'Desnuda' the band take a left turn into more reggae-leaning territory. The standout for this writer, though, is Yuksek's remix of 'Desnuda', which packs lashings of fat, squelchy 80s bass.
Any new album from deep house pioneer and all-round legend Larry Heard is good news, but especially so when it's credited to his best-known and best-loved alias, Mr Fingers. Around The Sun Pt 1 is Heard's first album under the alias for four years and, unsurprisingly, it's as musically expansive, evocative, and atmospheric as they come. Naturally, it's rooted in the warming, dreamy, subtly jazz-flecked deep house style he's been tweaking and improving over decades, with occasional forays into sun-kissed downtempo grooves ('Touch The Sky'), angular acid tracks, Heard's take on dub house (the deliciously deep, micro-house influenced 'Marrakesh') and summery Balearic house ('Shimmer'). All in all, it's another masterpiece from deep house's most significant pioneer.
"Buggin"" was the first single from Hot Since 82"s 8-track album project, released back in 2018. Featuring the fine vocal talents of Jem Cooke, the track was inspired by the distinct brand of early noughties house music that he"s said to love. Four years on, we"re treated to a bunch of fine new versions here: whether it"s Jorhav"s slinky and hypnotic remix, UR2wo"s rework is a throwback to the evocative progressive breaks sound of the late "90s, while Svan Code"s re-rub tackles the main room at peak time with its tough rolling tech house groove. Elsewhere, Emma Forster"s rendition will get the hands in the air with her uplifting house perspective.
A Sagittariun has made it his mission to release distinctive dance music, and he continues that journey with Strange Brew. Opening track "The Mind Blanks At The Glare" is a wonderfully woozy break beat track, smothered in warbling acid and featuring evocative keys. "Don't Look In The Freezer" sees the UK producer venturing once again down an unexplored path - rave samples and dubbed out chords are combined with trippy 303s to create a mesmerising track. Rounding off this release is the aptly named "Cosmic Trigger": more dance floor-focused than the other tracks, its tingling melodies and growling bass mark it out as another idiosyncratic A Sagittariun jam.
Big room house specialists Toolroom have been responsible for countless White Isle anthems over the years, something that makes their annual Toolroom Ibiza compilations a must-check for those seeking future floor-fillers. Their latest edition is something of a beast, featuring no less than 50 full-length, unmixed tracks and a couple of themed, non-stop DJ mixes (one gathers the set's deep, funky and electro house cuts, the other the tech-house tracks). Naturally there are far too many highlights to list here, but our current favourites includeMason Maynard's subtly DJ Mujava-inspired 'Light My Fire', the piano-powered rush of GotSome and Georgia Meek's 'Dead End', the twisted tech-house weight of Iglesias and Classmatic's 'Freak', and the warped, mind-mangling late-night shuffle of De La Swing and Rendher's 'Voodoo Step'.
![O [phase] - Human Error (Stef Mendesidis Remix)](https://imagescdn.junodownload.com/300/CS5492071-02A-MED.jpg)
