Review: Ghent sub scientist ARtroniks continues his rich vein of hypnotic tech dubtep on brand new US imprint Bleak Winter. A game of two singular sides: "Riddle" blurts and flirts with a flabby bassline that ripples with a precision balance of tight control and body-moving funk. "Mantra" flips for a much deeper, contemplative serenade as lilting seabound guitars and tropical aesthetics ebb and flow around a trippy, almost slurring drum arrangement. Unique.
Review: Belgian badness.... Artoniks returns with two more intriguing moments in contemporary dub. Both tracks experimenting the amount of space that can be laced around and between the kicks, there's a unique flavour throughout: "Torodial" goes on a delightful half tempo wonk with one distinctive bass tone providing the melodic thrust while "Shifted" goes for more of an electrified slug vibe with an array of bass tones that wouldn't go amiss in a Hatcha or Caspa set.
Review: Lighting the 2016 touchpaper with a blow torch and no safety gear, Belgian bass veteran ARtroniks makes his Surfase debut with the creeped out "Run Dem". There's a sci-fi sheen to the techno-like palette ARtroniks is painting from here; all alien tones and twisted FX peppering the slick rolling drums. "Mischieved" takes us down an even darker path with a devilish bounce to the bass, a relentless kick/snare pattern and an eerie wail on loop in the background. More input? Check Mershak's subtle twists on "Run Dem".
Review: Belgium's Artroniks has been quietly pushing a whole load of bass on our digital pages for quite some time now, and he always springs to mind us our go-to guy when it comes to heavy, freaky and utterly mental dubstep. "Illusion" is the perfect corner dweller's tune, a punchy half-time drum punch with electrifying sonics and plenty of atmospheric delight. "Phasewalk", on the other hand, is gentler and more uplifting, taking Artroniks to greener, more stepping pastures for the centre of the dancefloor.
Review: Belgium's Artroniks makes his debut on the bass stable Biscuit Factory, a label that has seen EP's by the likes of Benga and N Type, among others. There are four deep, mystical dubstep numbers on here, spear-headed by the below zero low-ends and eerie, distant melodies of "Dustup". "Haven" itself is a rolling steppers tune that wouldn't sound totally out of reality in a Jah Shaka sound session, but the true monster lies in "Fathom", another one of Artronik's masterful bass cuts for the mind and soul. Recommended in this week's bass downpour..!
Review: From the label who gave us My Nu Leng and Adam Prescott comes another super talented artist - Belgian Artroniks. Fresh from big support from the likes of Compa and J:Kenzo, he makes his Mindstep debut with five outrageously deep slices of modern day dub. From the bulbous bass bubbles of "Afterlife" to the early Orbital flavours of "Inverse" via the darker, more dungeonesque vibes of "Dissonance", this shudders and shakes with serious low-end luxury. There's nothing dissonant about this whatsoever!
Review: The strengthened dubstep outpost of Duploc returns to the fray with another packet of heaters here as they bring together ARtroniks and Enigma Dubs for a pair of awesome remix projects. We begin with the eerie sub growls and explosive atmospheric pressure of 'Extinction', here remixed to perfection by the cunning styles of Enigma Dubz. On the flip, ARtroniks gets to work with his haunted overhaul of 'Dirty South', boasting seriously impressive synth work and spacious processing combined with jittery vocal stabs.
Review: Belgian low-end evangelists Duploc continue their monthly dispatches with a restrained, well-measured groove from Dutch dapper don Minzo. Fine-tuned bass designs croak over a woozy halftime arrangement while paranoid pads wheeze overhead; this should be filed for the deepest, darkest hours of the night. Looking for something a little more visceral? Jump on ARtroniks remix for a looser, slappier bass technique. Forceful.
Review: Black Winter have most certainly arranged a killer pairing for this one as they bring together the combined sounds of ARtroniks and Nixsin for an explosive four track steppers experience. We kick off with the haunting bells and gnarly droning bass tones of 'Two Faced' from ARtroniks, which is chased up by the acidic, moogy leads of Nixsin's 'Manic Mischief'. Nixsin then continues the storm with the more stripped back, chord driven atmospheric structures of 'The Other Side', which is then chased up in style by the slower tempo and stunning soundscaping of 'The Escape' from ARtroniks, putting the finishing touches on a very well thought out collaborative body of work.
Review: US based deep dubstep purveyor AxH has sure come along way; it's not like you hear of Boston, Massachusetts being a hotbed for innovative future music. This guy have proven there might just be something in the water (or the weed!) out there, given their credentials ie: releasing on London kingpins Tempa and now for N-Type's Wheel & Deal. Starting out with the spooky mood lighting of "Devil Shogun" complete with unsettling kung fu movie dialogue, "Fading Away" then gets stuck into some dystopian low frequency explorations with some help from ARtroniks. "Boneyard Keeper" pursues some more familiar dub flavour translated via dark sci-fi aesthetics. Promising stuff.
Review: Bunzero teams up with four different artists across the Darabuka EP so be prepared for a bit of an aural surprise in each track. First up it's a collab with Katya Gabeli; mournful, trembling strings introduce the cut, which is characterized by thudding, oppressed drum kicks and quirky SFX. This contrasts nicely with the Mr Jo collaboration "Chapati", an altogether more experimental piece with murmuring atmospherics and Eastern sitars that might have influenced the track title. Bunzero teams up with Kamine for the rolling, chiming title track, before he goes solo for a deep, meditative slice of soulfulness with clicks and bleeps a-plenty in "Liana". Last but not least "Metaphysical" brings the EP to a close.
Review: Following on from a top quality run of drops, we were very excited to see what the Basskruit team had to offer this time as they unveil this spicy four track compilation entitled 'Explosie Vol. 1'. We kick off our exploration with Crowley, who delivers an industrial thumper named 'Grump', stuffed with colourful percussive drags and unpredictable melodic scoops, followed by Beatsforbeaches returning with another unorthodox scorcher in 'Whydah'. Next, we move into the smooth chord progressions and super-scattered rhythms of Zygos who excels on 'Sideways', before the creeping percussive bubbles and hard hitting sub-lines of 'Echolocation' give us a fiery outro.
Review: We are huge fans of the Duploc movement here at Juno Download, especially when they continue to roll out projects as powerful as this one as they unveil twelve war-inspired remixes. The roster they boast is outstanding, with the likes of Pushloop, ENiGMA Dubz, Rygby, Ourman and more all getting involved with some tasty overhaul involvement. For us there are two clear standouts from this one, including Ternion Sounds subtle yet hard hitting refix of 'The Eyes' from ENiGMA Dubz, alongside Dalek One's glitch-driven reimagining of 'Seek War', originally put together by Ghostek. This is Duploc at their absolute best and we can't get enough!
Review: One of Belgium's most authentic, dedicated dubstep collectives celebrate half a decade in the game with this impeccable 15 track collection from some of its nearest and dearest mates and both spirits and production benchmarks are set as high as you'd expect. Highlights? Bukez Finezt's ghetto-chomping wobbler "Real 2 Real" will leave you feeling seasick (in a good way) Requake will have you writing a new will and leaving everything to Duploc, Taiko's "Gremlin" will dark you out so hard you'll want to be blind (in the best way possible) while Saule's "Ottoia" stretches time and space in such a way you'll completely forget what day it is. Here's to five more years!
Review: Foundation celebrate three years and 20 releases with this supersized clutch of deep, dark and forward-thinking exclusives. Painting a picture of dubstep's most exciting frontiers, highlights hang, slide and oozes from every cavernous corner: Drew's Theory provides meditative intensity on "Harmony", Deafblind & Darkimh twist up the drums in the sludge-packing "Concrete Groove", Krease soundtracks your next nightmares with his late night graveyard romp "Hindsight" while Dillard digs deep into the proper roots with its shimmering classical dub designs. Weighing at 24 tracks, Foundation have pulled out all the stops here... A seriously detailed piece of bass music futurism.
Review: New Zealand dub champions Averted Vision apply their radio show and event dynamics to a new release. Repping the broadest dubstep sound while staring defiantly into the future, each cut tickles a different corner of bass music's underbelly. ARtroniks embraces the skitty, icy spirit of Detroit on "Trossen", Epoch subverts a very well known Lafayette Afro Rock Band horn sample over a trappy kick-snare-sub combo, Lowquid breaks into an abandoned cathedral to the soundtrack of harrowing harps and strings while Lefty gets his Special Request on with a breakbeat cut that's reminiscent of early Headz material. Finally Inkarv & JP get all breezy and skippy (a la Vaun or Phaeleh) with the sublime spine-melter "Solace". Beautiful.
Review: The second London/NYC Transatlantic session within four months; it's clear the fusion between the two city's labels is healthy, creative and ultimately fertile. Highlights across this international modern bass romp include the delicate jazz samples of Matt Deco's spacious stepper "Absent Minder", the juicy digidub bubbles and woozy horns of Dubsworth & Tapa's "Backflipper", Bakir's percussive snake-hip wriggler "Hyperion" and the breezy hums, distant yearns and dampened rim shots of Jobanti's "Afrique".
Review: Celebrating three years of deep consummate beatsmithery, MindStep curate the inaugural MusicForYourMindStep compendium. Fifteen exclusives, baked by the label's family and close affiliates, each track surges at the very forefront of sub science, pushing the label's remit further and further into the future. Highlights include the sodden slo-mo tribalism of Feonix's "Cafeweiss", the overwhelming sense of atmospheric oppression on 11th Hour's "Ishwara" and the muffled jazz and scratchy dub drums of Trashbat's "Arrowhead". And that's only a fifth of the stark sonic soliloquies MindStep have commissioned and compiled. Dig deep and discover your own highlights.
Review: Brand new label Nauseous Vibez flings themselves into thick of things with a huge 18-track launch release. Highlighting at a family-like tightness amongst their talent, Syndicate unites dubsteppers from across the globe with a consistent, well-polished range of depth, body and groove. Highlights include the soul-stirring piano tickles on "Coded", the muscular menace of UZZI's "Blackout" and the skippy slo-jungle breakism of Artroniks' "Hidden". A fine way to launch a new label... Nauseous Beats peddle in some seriously sick audio (literally).
Review: Portland's finest bass crew follow up their Best Of Low Voltage selection with another generous whopper. And this time it's all new material. Featuring Phantom faces old and new, "The Deep End" plunges us deep into immersive sub chatter, thick foggy melodies and hypnotising riddims. Highlights include the unique staccato bass and kick drum refrain on "Nu Powah", the pneumatic minimal drum work of "Aikkido" and the more wafting, mystic groans of "Bingo". Eyes down please!
