Review: Dance Concept have developed a reputation for releasing music that broadens the boundaries of drum & bass, and this single from Deploy is no different, featuring an interesting combination of vocal sounds and tougher, dancefloor tones that we haven't heard from many producers. It's a tough nut to crack without straying into cheese territory and Deploy has done a great job in ensuring this isn't the case. The vocals are smooth and soulful, but when the bassline comes in the illusion is shattered and you're brought right back to the club, a shudderingly cool combination of sounds that's jarringly effective. Both tracks pay homage to this method, but if you're not partial to a good vocal then there's an instrumental version of 'Live Your Truth' included as well. Big up.
Review: Are we human, or are we dancers? That's not quite the concept of dance but it comes close to touching on the close relationship between humanity and the poetry of movement, a concept the label Dance Concept seem keen on. Deploy comes in hot with his Isolation EP on the label, a dancefloor orientated number that spans the synthy end club-based pressure to the grittier, techier end. 'Reload' is our favourite, a steppy, breaksy tune that starts tough and gets tougher, spinning out into the depths of low-frequency force and keeping cool the whole way. There's gritty, tough music here and we're definitely into it.
Review: Oi and indeed oi... Deploy instigates yet another dark and foreboding attack. This time on Benny V's Dance Concept. Every track a slugger; "Transform" is a slack kicked sludgy funk up with some furious transitions midway, "Dark Lord" is a mystic damager that will turn your soul inside out with its balance of cosmicity and darkside horse power and "Casting Shadows" taps into the Bristol foundation with stripped back unhurried funk. Finally "You're Mine" closes with the most brutal blend of the collection as a gnarled late 90s techy stepper gets counterbalanced by early rave / Orbitalesque elements. 20 years deep and still pushing forward, Dance Concept don't mess around.
Review: Previously spotted on Ray's "Deeper Love" EP, rising songsmith Deploy stamps down on Dread for the label's first release of 2018... And he's doing it some serious vocal gusto. A Dread head-turner, this blasts a lot of expectations of the label as it shows a completely different direction with authentic, heartfelt almost Ian Brown-like vocals over some crisp, precision produced beats. From the orchestral stabs and vocal cuts of "Liquid Shadows" to the hurricane jazz of "Painting Lies" via
the title track (with Mr Keith himself) this is really interesting and forward-thinking reminder of how vocals should be tailored for longevity, not the hit parade.
Review: Dread Recordings unleash their fifth mixtape of dancefloor stormers, and with 17 massive tracks to choose from, they're not mucking about. Spanning the entire genre of drum and bass from its old school beginnings to modern minimal and everything in between, there's something for every picky sub-genre bass aficionado. This tracklist of rising stars like Excalibur, Mara Man and Deploy sit alongside the likes of Savage Rehab and Renegade Live to pull off the biggest D&B event of the year. Hold tight, this is gonna get messy.
