Review:
As one of the grime and bass scene's standout label projects over the last 5 years, Project Allout have conquered much, constantly alternating between grime, dubstep, bass and garage, all with a real touch of finesse. This latest compilation sees the gang assemble in force as the likes of Sammy Virji, Killjoy, Palize, Deadbeat UK, Daze Prism and more heavyweight names bring their heat to the table. For us the standout tracks have to be Dunman's grimey roller in 'Chip On The Block' and of course Moony's amazonian funky ride out on 'M', a subby mover, designed to take the dance real low.
Review:
As a label, Crucast have gone from strength to strength, rapidly establishing themselves as one of the premiere platforms for bass music in the UK. This complication marks that out perfectly with an astonishing selection of over 30 original creations, featuring high profile appearances from the likes of Jaguar Skills, Brent Kilner, Pavv, TC4, Inkline, Deadbeat UK and a tonne more. For us the EP highlights the strength in the current UK bass scene, with favourites being Bushbaby & Hadean's long-awaited collaboration release 'Clean Up', the monstrous swinging synths of Tengu's 'Weapon' and of course the wonky wonderings of SaidWho's 'Voices', a truly original compositional idea, focussing on rawcus bass sounds and scattered drum selections.
Review:
The UK's Mikey B has been in the midst of it all even since the first dubstep wax-plates were being spun at Plastic People's infamous FWD nights. The producer has gone through several evolutions and mutations, never shy to change his style and develop his bass in relation to what is happening around him. For instance, the present "Warning", out through his own MBProductions, is a fast-paced, techno-laced wobble bass anthem that gets meaner and meaner with each new beat - a proper dancehall banger! "Running Away", on the other hand, uses sultry female vocals to build up its insanely gnarly drop, and "With My Team" makes that jagged siren bass work alongside the track's garage-leaning vocal charm. Bombs - the lot of them!
Review:
Bristol's musical pioneer DJ Die presents his new imprint GutterFunk. Bristol has always been a melting pot full of musical styles, and the label stays true to the rich sonic heritage of the city. This multi genre label is an outlet for genre defying productions, collaborations, as well as a platform to push new talent. With past releases by Addison Groove and Dismantle, their newest addition is mysterious yet already established producer Nuff Pedals. They serve up some nu-jazz/broken beat experiments in the vein of 4hero and Bugz In The Attic on The Second EP: from the fierce and bombastic beat attack of "Hang Glide" or the sleek urban soul of "No Boundaries" feat Maddslinky.
Review:
The Night Bass train continues to roll out furiously as they employ the services of five brand new faces across their brand new compilation 'Night Bass Freshmen'. Being one of the most popular bass labels in the UK, the standard is set very high and everyone steps up to the mark, kicking off with Blossom's vibrant 4x4 belter 'Go'. We then move into Nukid's highly experimental electro balad in 'Front2Back' before landing on the techy bass rolls of 'The Burbs' from Jordan Burns. Next up, Kendoll with his slightly acidic stomper in 'Stop Calling Me' before we round of the EP with some minimalist UK Bass from the rapidly rising duo of Nubass & Deppz.
Review:
After an incredible showing at Parklife festival and a very popular Rinse.FM takeover, Crucast return to their release schedule with a stack of weighty remixes for TS7's 'Motion Shift'. We begin with TS7's own VIP mix, which combines pounding subs and gliding synths over punchy 4x4 rhythms. The legendary of AC Slater steps up with his stripped back 2-steppy redesign, followed by Livesy's gritty overhaul. Finally we finish up on Annix's jungalistic jump up fusion of a remix, set to turn dances into zoos up and down the country. Crucast have certainly delivered another classic with this one!
Review:
After the explosive response to their 'Yosh Pit' last week, the almighty powerhouse that is FooR return, steamrolling through releases with this latest monster alongside Killa P and Irah. The vocal company get absolutely crazy on this one as they lay down fearsome patois verses, including a classic chorus from the pair. These vocals sit perfectly on top of sharp 4x4 production by the guys at FooR, complete with electrifying leads and punchy drum designs.
Review:
It's been a hot minute since we heard from Phlegmatic Dogs, but they are back in major style as they return to the ever-impressive Night Bass imprint for an explosive two track EP project entitled 'No Cats'. We kick off with 'Cuatrocats' which brings energy through squelchy bass waves and perfectly processed 4x4 drum patterns in typical Phlegmatic fashion. On the flip we are introduced to 'Bounce', which takes a more techy experimental route, with subtle subs rolling lose amidst heavily attacking bass stabs and yet more precise drum design. A great return for the Dogs!
Review:
Much to our delight, we here see Far From Perfect make an explosive return to the Soulserious imprint as he unveils a brand new three track selection. We begin with the tribal bass flavours and downright dirty sounds of 'Firestone' before rolling into the subtle funky grooves and growling subs of the title track 'Magnetic'. From here, we take a more satanic turn as the demonic bass sounds and sharp percussive pings of 'Complexity' take a lead role, followed closely by the skippy 4x4 flavours and shimmering tones of 'Doo'. Finally, we finish up in style with more laid back creation of 'No Effs', which applies slowly professing bass synths and percussive layering to create a really tight sense of atmosphere.
Review:
Digital Pilgrimz level up to LP mode with their debut long'un One Hundred. If you've followed their previous releases on Future Follower and the likes of Ultra Bass you'll already know the drill; pristine UKG, breaks and D&B with precision measures of soul, savagery and depth. All floor-primed and glowing with unabashed broken funk, highlights include the tubular harmonics and jazzy organs on "Stronger", the gully-crunched skipper "Calling All Dancers" and the jungle cavalcade romp "Mercy Tings". Loaded with rubs from Strong4Life, Dephex, Shiva and Godlike for good measure, this is an all-out bounty in every direction. A very accomplished debut album.
Review:
Shimmering chords, skippy drums and moogish subs, we ask "What more could you want from a UKG belter?" as Disperto Certain arrives on the Reactive Label imprint for his brand new garage roller 'I Feel Different'. Come the breakdown we are greeted with some exciting chord progressions and shuffling drum layers, coupled with some vibrant stabs and percussive melody lines, perfect to bring the grooves out of your system!
Review:
Another week, another dollar for DJ Madd, one of the few artists who comes through with consistenly on-point dance tactics, filtered through a definitive bass lens. He's up on RKS Dubz this week, touching down on our charts with a quick, improvisational dance anthem by the name of "Booty Wine". As per usual expect a hybrid approach, blending together the very best frameworks from house, bashment, and the UK's dubstep tradition. Pure dance vibes from start to finish!
Review:
It's that time again, as the infamous PAR imprint returns for their yearly Christmas compilation, showcasing their extensively versatile roster and variety of musical styles. This year is a collection of returns and debuts, as we see Killjoy, Deadbeat, Dr Cryptic, KXVU, Moony, Jakebob amongst others all make solid return appearances. Some of our favorites include the haunting sounds of Dallen's grimey roller 'Time', the catchy 4x4 riffs and rhythms of Kind Hydra's 'Bass Trap' and skippy arrangement and aggressive synth design on 'Trigga' from the elusive Rotti. There aren't many labels that can boast such an extensive yet versatile roster and yet remain so assured in as many different areas of UK bass music.
Review:
Long term Night Bass flag flyer Taiki Nulight returns to the ever-impressive imprint with his long awaited Broken Ribs' EP, which is stuffed to the brim with bass heavy goodies. We begin with the title track which is a dancefloor weapon, from the high intensity build ups of the intro to the incredibly unique synth design of the breakdown. Next we move into the more stripped back 4/4 arrangements of 'U Know' before landing on the highly anticipated sub heavy collaboration with Inkline entitled 'Cynic'. Finally the EP rounds up with it's second collaboration, this time with Stranger, as the pair pull together a selection of weird and wonderful synth sounds and skippy drum patterns resulting in a high energy banger.
Review:
As real pacesetters in the UK bass scene, it's always exciting for labels such as Four40 to delve into more experimental grounds. That is exactly what they have done by bringing onboard Kastle for a mighty UKG project by the name of 'R U 4 Real'. We kick off with explosive stutters and jittery bass manoeuvres of '4 Real' before diving into the more sub driven skippy textures of 'In My Mind'. The EP then rounds off with some real finesse as the nostalgic vocal slices and lethal bass oscillations of 'Darkside' get to work. Excellent stuff!
Review:
Nottingham based giants Tumble Audio have gained quite the reputation in the north as an innovative bass movement, both through their incredibly popular events and of course the music they release. Here we see Exit99 get busy on his garage inspired breakbeat hybrid 'Ravers' before diving into the stripped back skippy vibes of 'Step Away'. On remix duty, Coldpast pulls together a nostalgic reboot of 'Ravers', whilst Smuttlee comes through with an innovative dancehall overhaul of 'Step Away'. It looks like Tumble have done it again as they continue their dominant run of popular bass releases.
Review:
Bristol bass badboy DISTRO is back on the unstoppable 877 imprint with nothing but new flavours, bringing through the absolute heat-o! The lead tune "Soundboy Killer" is all guns blazing, churning out the snares alongside some dutty, dubwise vocal samples and mystical melodic infusions that make this a true dub-stepper. "WMPI" is a similar sort of beast, except here the groove is very much based on the 'bashment' end of the scale, blowing out the speakers with a keen aggression and some fiery-mannered beat-crafting. All killer, no filler!
Review:
As a label, Yosh has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, bringing together some of the bass scenes most exciting artists on both compilations and single releases. Here they team up with the wise owls of Tengu to put together a powerhouse tracklisting, bringing in a host of new faces such as KXVU, Movement, Pavv, J69 and. R3DX, as well as bringing back some of their favourite regulars. For us the stand outs have to include Kyle Riot's emotive bass belter in 'Through My Eyes' which combines electronically processed vocal stabs with shimmering bass textures. Another highlight would have to be Mofaux's 'Soldier' composition, which combines skippy drum rhythms with a grinding LFO and more catchy vocal stabs. Excellent stuff.
Review:
Groove Skool are back with the second edition of their 'Nu Grooves' EP series and we can confirm that is truly jam packed with incredible rhythms and summer slammers. As far as large scale garage projects go, it's been a long time since we heard a project this size boast such consistency start to finish, with tracks such as 'Sylvester's Groove' slapping you with nostalgic bliss and 'Crown Joule' providing a more subtle field of play. There's something for everyone for certain, with other highlights including the impeccable 'So We Sing' featuring Ilya, the super bouncy 'Something' in collaboration with Duncan Powell and of course 'My Hurt Goes On' with the awesome Keith Boon, working them into a classic UKG melody. Fantastic stuff!
Review:
With garage and UK bass music really establishing themselves as worldwide genre sensations over the last 2 years or so, it's pleasing to see some high quality compilations making their way to the shelves. This particular selection from the Clubbers Culture outlet is jam packed with 4x4 goodness, boasting a more european tint, including some stormers from the likes of Sophia Shy, Riser and more. For us the standouts have to include the pulsating techy tones of 'Parallel' from HVLES and of course the skippier flavours of Cale Jara's 'Feel The Force'. Overall, this is a potent collection with some serious weight on board!
Review:
Here we see a return to Cozy Lounge for the enigmatic pairing of Bass Adjustment and Shadi-Toloui-Wallace with a couple of absolutely storming remixes. The first comes to us courtesy of Blakk Habit who strips the track back to its foundations to rework into a skippy UKG detonation, allowing the smooth vocal presence of the original to sparkle through. The pace then quickens as we enter Celladore's energetic revamp, sticking on the UKG theme but here relying more on grinding subs, expanding synth LFOs and glittering arpeggiation.
Review:
The S.O.B.A.D crew descend on Nottingham with a whole armoury of hybrid bass/beat hurters. Sly One do all the driving as "My Name" slaps with a UK take on juke beats as a fork-tongued lava rap from TK Wonder whips up a dramatic frenzy. "TMB" sees the trio taking us on an even techier tip with its loopy, hypnotic vocal loop while crew mates Distro & Archive give UK funky a dark, demented update for today's paranoid times. Final S.O.B.A.D member Bromley winds down the trip by completely stripping "My Name" back down to a classic electro breaks groove. Block rocking.
Review:
Ozwald touches down on Chow Down for the label's third EP to date, making this also the artist's this release since his debut last year. The vibe here is very much on a 'hybrid' tip, mashing up UK styles with a suave touch, never shy to push the boundaries of grime to their edges. The title track "Money Tree" is a wacky broken beat number with a funky, jazzed-out edge, but the sounds of "Juju" have a lot more in common with early era two-step. "Speaker Bugs" is a fast-paced, teched-out number that adds techno to the already buzzing mix, while "Grinding Tribe" goes on a mad, baseline-house kinda flex, sounding like garage, house and two-step all mixed up into one fiery cocktail. Banging!
Review:
As a movement, 1Forty has been seriously impressive since it's conception, consistently putting together impactful releases across both grime and bass. This four track compilation comes as their second in the bass criteria, featuring some serious stormers. We kick off with Sammy Virji's prized wobbler 'Punctuation' before dipping into the lethal growling reeses of Arridim's 'Pirate Radio'. Following this we roll into 'Your Booty', a skippy stuttered dancefloor mauler from Spectrum before rounding off the EP in style as Odd Nature steps forward for 'Battle', a real 4x4 speaker rattler.
Review:
Sheffield's Project Allout don't mess about, having developed a reputation for championing all directions in the ways of bass. Every take on that three letter word is important to this label and that's why they cram so many hot jams onto their comps. Basically they're the Ferrero Rocher am-bass-adors and they are really spoiling us with 49(!) lengerz. Highlights include AT's bleepy 8-bit hip-hop groove "Flash Bang", the epic, symphonic trap of Dubzta's "Lord Of War" and the almost disco tech grooves of "Murkers' by King Hydra. All killer, no filler!
Review:
Has bassline ever been more influential than it is currently across the UK? I think most people would struggle to argue otherwise. To celebrate this, bassline heavyweights DJQ, Jamie Duggan, Skepsis and Darkzy join forces for an allstar compilation album, including a selection of full tracks and exclusive mixes. The full project includes exclusive drops from the likes of Champion, Shanti, DJQ, Flava D, TQD, Preditah, Bushbaby, Darkzy, Bru-C and many more. You are going to struggle to find a more comprehensive bassline selection this year!
Review:
LA based imprint: Night Bass have been one of the most impressive labels within dance music over the last couple of years, and that trend continues with their latest EP project alongside Petey Clicks. This four-track project kicks off with the title track 'Club Heads', which is a ball of super electronic sounding synth instrumentation with sharp 4x4 drums below. Next up we have the super experimental distortion of 'Paid' along with the unpredictable synth melodies and explosive percussive design of 'Parrin'. Finally we finish up with fidget-inspired crunchy bass instruments of 'Bass & Tweeters' which ties the EP up with a real spark.
Review:
When it comes to compilations, it's important to keep them as jam packed with entertaining material as possible and it's safe to say that the Four40 camp have knocked this one out of the ballpark. As a project 'This Is UK Culture' is an incredible selection of bass, garage and grime creations, spanning the full breadth of the electronic dance music sphere. Comprising of 16 high profile inclusions, it's difficult to select highlights, but our stand outs would have to include Jamie George's soulful UKG remix of Ahadadream's 'Pray For You', the intense patois flavours of Tomb Crew's 'The Sermon' and of course the dance destroying arrangements of 'Lust' from UK Bass giants Hybrid Theory.
