Review: The Aphrodite Recordings crew are back it once again, this one delivering one last bomb shell to put an end to 2020 with. They welcome in A-Zone alongside Aphrodite and a host of incredible remixers for 'Calling The People', a big room breakbeat epic, jam packed with good energies and intense bassweight. We kick off with the Freestylers 'SoundClash' remix, pushing pulsating subs and super rhythmic drum shakes, before Bladerunner sends the track to the jungle jungle chopper, unleashing high energy breaksy action alongside more powerful bass expressions. Following this, the '2020 Jungle' mix gives us a much more updated and high energy version of the original, which also gets a full re-record. The release also features a dub mix for the Freestylers rework, alongside instrumental and 170bpm remixes of the jungle recreation. Wonderful stuff all around!
Review: And still the classics keep coming... Jungle jump up don Aphrodite brings another clutch of early 90s crucials back to life. All harvest from the earliest - and hugely fertile - pastures his career, cuts such as the bubbling bass and diced breaks of "Bass Lights", the running drums and ambient pads of "Sea Mortar", the ravey escapades of "Beautiful Bass" and the psychedelic chirps and whistles of "Fascination" still sound as future today as they did back in 93-96. All digitised for the first time and complete with a few versions that have never before been released, it's another killer flashback from the Urban Takeover king. High five!
I Wanted It More And More (feat Gail Mclean) - (5:49) 168 BPM
Review: Historical vibes in the area: the don Aphrodite returns with more classics and previously unavailable dubs from his 25 year deep vaults. Exclusives include a rasping, digital sizzling take on 1999's "Spice" and a much-sought after VIP of 1994's "Ganja Man". Elsewhere there's the electric shock acid ripples of the squat party style "Acid Junky" (from 2000), the immense jazzy drum swing, breath-taking pads and killer drop of 1995's "Bomber", the heads-down Virus-style neuro of "Lava Flow" and the piano-tinkling, skin-rippler of "I Wanted It More And More". Each cut still flexing timeless elements, Aphro reminds us how deep his roots are and how well his tracks stand the test of time.
Review: Sweet lord junglist Jesus, Aphrodite lets rip with a history lesson and we'd all be wise to pay attention. Ranging back to 1994 with the lighter-thrusting, rush-busting "Shine" the Aphro man takes us on a wild trip through 20+ years of D&B; "Style From The Darkside" is quintessential Urban Shakedown jump-up while "We Wanna Be Free" and "Criss Cross" mark the more electronic, rockier dynamics of the mid-2000s. Finally "Twilight" is a straight-up riot jam, all scratchy and nasty with late 90s Moving Fusion style rolling brutality. Five lines of uncut primo D&B business here.
You Know I Like That (feat Youngman MC) - (6:16) 176 BPM
DJ Aphrodite aka A-Zone - "Calling The People" - (5:27) 159 BPM
Amazon II - "Beat Booyaa !" (feat DJ Aphrodite - remix) - (6:01) 162 BPM
London Massive - (4:08) 174 BPM
Underworld - (6:46) 174 BPM
Amazon II - "Deep In The Jungle" (feat DJ Aphrodite) - (7:13) 159 BPM
The Valley (feat Deadly Hunta) - (5:20) 180 BPM
Holding On - (5:21) 180 BPM
Humble Pie - (6:08) 177 BPM
Bomber Style - (6:08) 177 BPM
Review: Pure Aphro funk, don daddy Aphrodite digs deep into the vaults once again for the fourth instalment in his Classics series. One of the key producers behind the original jump-up sound in the mid 90s, the album opens with the iconic sounds of "Spice" where smooth jazz gets the blunderbuss by bouncy bass before taking us through his synthetic space-aged bass era ("Karma Sutra"), his early 90s jungle era (most notably the savage breaks of his Amazon II project) and walloping us with cult party classics along the way ("Underworld", "Bomber Style") He's not called king of the beats for nothing.
Review: It's time to jump onto the sample pad and cause some serious madness as Urban Shakedown sees Aphrodite join the party for a vibrant four track expanse. We begin with the title track 'Do It Now!', a super choppy rinse out, combining nostalgic breakbeat manoeuvres with booming subs for excellent results! Next, 'There Is No Other' takes a more lofi approach with a smooth low end and fuzzy drum textures, before 'Assassinator' flips the script with some carnival ready whistle-work layered into more pounding drum designs. Finally, we dive down an acidic alley as 'Quasar' fuses moogy synth warbles with scattered breakbeat lines to round us off in style!
