Review: The celebration of Optiv's influence continues as C4C pay tribute to his legacy and the huge hole his tragic passing has left in the game with the second of this trilogy album series Stories. Just like the 'Origins' chapter, 'Evolution' features a whole range of major league artists who've all been influenced by the late great Cause 4 Concern founder. Break, Kolectiv, Current Value, IHR, Task Horizon, Audio, Malux and so many more brilliant souls all deliver exclusive goods to the album as C4C raise money for Optiv's sons. RIP.
Review: It's the age-old argument that's kept croaky old junglists up past their bedtime for years: does VIP stand for 'this mix is strictly for very important people' or does it stand for 'variation in production'? In truth, it can mean either, depending on who made the VIP and who they intended it for. But now at least we know Eatbrain's stance on the matter as they ask some of their biggest VIP producers to go back over a seminal label release of theirs and give it a good overhaul, update and go-faster stripes for 2020. The results speak for themselves; the added grit and funk on L 33's 'Mafia', Jade's emotional dynamics on 'TV Says' and the complete subversion of 'Need' by Zombie Cats and Abis are just three examples of how very important these variations are. And they're made for you: the true VIPs.
Task Horizon - "Brace For Transit" - (4:37) 172 BPM
Teddy Killerz - "Psi 2000" - (4:05) 174 BPM
The Prophecy - "Arytmia" - (5:52) 174 BPM
Tobax - "Steinhagel" - (5:08) 175 BPM
Traced - "Land Of Expectation" - (5:21) 173 BPM
Transforma - "Death Breather" - (5:01) 172 BPM
Zombie Cats - "Chemical" - (4:37) 172 BPM
Review: C4C Recordings are celebrating 20 years soon and this album is their celebration: a mammoth 40 tunes of hard-hitting neuro goodness to warm your bones and rattle your face holes. The list of producers present on this album is pretty exhaustive and, perhaps some high-profile exceptions aside, every single neurofunk producer you could want is here. Dub Elements land on their feet with the exceptional 'Beasts Abode', a slightly less frantic but equally venomous tune compared with lots of other offerings. Other highlights come from ChaseR, Current Value and Agressor Bunx and the whole album is special - go check it.
Review: Following on from last year's incredibly popular instalment, Shogun Audio have brought back Point of Origin for a third time. This series emphasises the rolling, minimal-ish side of the scene from some younger, more hungry producers and boy, is it a good formula. Exemplifying this is Revaux with 'Ibex', probably the nastiest tune on the album and arguably the best, as its crunching bass tabs inject fantastic groove. Rizzle and Malaky add something more sultry with 'Solstice' and 'Requiem', the former focusing on the vocals of Sydney whilst the latter opts for a more instrumental roll-out. Gerra & Stone represent the old guard amongst the newbies, holding up their end with a growling amalgamation of low-frequency force. This is an exquisite album of D&B, with every corner covered and every flavour recognizable - special props going to Shogun for supporting new talent as well.
Review: Time for a freshness flex: Shogun return to their new and rising talent series Point Of Origin and once again it's a big deal with 15 crucial cuts from 20 outstanding and future-shaping artists; from the already established and massively respected such as Serum, Paul T & Edward Oberon, who follow up last year's massive "Take My Breath Away" with the deep space slinker "Burning", and Paul SG with his decidedly wobbled-out drumstick snapping roller "Holy Moly" right the way through to exciting new energies in the dance like Phaction, with his ghostly-vocalled soul-out "Distant Lovers" and Neve & Crimson's beautifully blue-notated jazz drum dark-out "Solar Rain" and so many stunning cuts in between (Mitekiss, Gerra & Stone, Was A Be, Macca & Loz Contreras, the list goes on) this is Shogun at its most exciting and forward-thinking.
