Review: Drum & bass VA compilations do not get any bigger than this badboy... Total Science's CIA celebrates a quarter of a century in true style with some of the biggest and most respected talents in the game. Calibre, DLR, Break, Digital, FD, The Sauce and many more all deliver supreme sonics as we slide and glide from groove to groove; Digital plays havoc with our senses with the powerful drum breaks of 'Raggamuffin Bizness', Zero T goes super creepy and tense with the crucial 'Cut Dem' while Total Science show us how it's done with the super breezy and jazzy 'Run It'. These are just some of the many many highlights... 25 years and still fresh. No one does it like Spinback and Quiff.
Review: The people's champion FD returns to Lenzman's HQ with four more supreme pieces. Each one flexing hard around the FD spectrum, we got every flavour you need right here... 'Shawn Kemp' is a real blaster jam with a rugged, crisp bass riff, 'Mama Told Me' sends us off to bed without tea for skanking too hard to Hella's prominent bars while 'Double Drizzle' is the consummate bubbler with its tubular bass glide and jazzy keys. Last but most definitely not least 'Sails' eases us back to earth with its silky soulful flow. The 'Pleasure' is ours.
Review: The North Quarter's second mix project is headed by two of the label's leading artists: Redeyes & Fox. The Amsterdam-based label believes that the mixtape is an important symbol in the formative years of many artists and seeks to continue the beloved tradition. Featuring a bunch of TNQ exclusives, there's a whopping 31 tracks across NQ State Of Mind, Vol. 2, featuring premium material by the likes of Alexx A-Game, Echo Brown, Satl, Submotive and many more plus a continuous mix by Redeyes & Fox. Join the label in celebrating five years in the business and the artists that make the label the respected entity it is today.
Review: FD hides his ingenuity behind deceptively simple, stripped back productions. His music relies on the basics done unbelievably well and A Vision Of Hope is a six-track embodiment of how effective this method is, as he rolls things out with clarity in the percussion and high quality in the low frequencies. 'Hazmat' featuring Fox is a perfect example and the pair are a force to be reckoned with, as FD lays out an unbelievably crisp percussive basis for a bouncing, infectious bassline, both of which pair superbly with Fox's little-is-more approach to vocal magic. There's just a quality to this EP, it's organic and well-meaning but still tough and gutsy; the bassline on 'Vienna Circle' lopes in purposeful steps, but squirms with anger on 'Bully'. There are liquid notes on 'Here With Me' and an instrumental to rounds things off, North Quarter style. Sublime.
Review: The North Quarter is rounding out their 2020 with the first in a new Various Artists series: NQ State of Mind. We're assuming this name is a hat tip to Jay-z and Alicia Keys' NY State of Mind, and the focus on urban funk comes through clearly across this album's 10 tracks. It starts with the long-awaited Tokyo Prose remix of 'All My Life' by Satl, and Tokyo has stretched out Steo's incredible vocals over an elegantly simple piano riff and solid percussive basis, a timeless sound that gets right to the heart of what makes this label so good. Zero T gives his 2017 album cut 'Slightest Moment' the remix treatment, taking it up from hip-hop tempo to full drum & bass to form a rollicking, nonchalant roller which skips along with such purity of spirit you'll forget where you are. There's a superb original contribution from Redeyes with 'Original Soul', a stripped back remix of 'Late Night Jam' from Lenzman, and a dirty old school roller from Sam Binary. What an album.
Review: Freddie Dixon AKA FD has been doing his thing across a variety of labels for some time now, but it's in the last couple of years, and under the tuterage of Lenzman's The North Quarter, that he's really begun to shine. Lanta Nights is a couple cuts of gorgeous liquid and then three bassy, naughty rollers that smash of dub and soundsystem culture. It's a potent blend, and Akemi Fox is especially fantastic on 'Lie To You', a lounging, hip-hop endeavour that rolls out with the nonchalance it deserves. It's a superb EP and capped off with The North Quarter's typically well-refined aesthetic. Fantastic.
Review: Lenzman's imprint serves up its first V/A right here with Quarter To Quarter. Featuring exclusive tracks from the likes of FD, LSB, Total Science, Kyrist, Tokyo Prose, Break, Zero T and so many more, it's a full spectrum representation of the label that ranges from sublime, sun-kissed soul such as Redeyes' "Lust", Atlantic Connection and Steo's "Night & Day" to bouncy, vocal high-vibe affairs such as Break's remix of "In My Mind". Along the way expect stunning strident, cosmic hypnotic workouts (Tokyo Prose - "Rescue"), dubby dreamers (Kyrist - "Untrue") unlikely rudeboy slappers (Total Science - "Killa") and every other authentic, genuinely crafted D&B sound you associate with the label. Quarter To Quarter ... No half measures.
Review: Three varied cuts here from FD, a house producer with roots in London's jungle and garage scenes. 'Ribs' (feat Issac Rosie & Maverick Soul) is a very noq-sounding affair with insistent shakers, shimmering synths, barely-there party vox that drift in and out of the mix and a neat Rhodes-like piano line. 'Ribs (Interlude)' then drops the pace for 1:18 of downtempo ambience, before the Byron The Aquarius Mix of 'Ice Cream' blends shuffling deep house beats and soulful vox in a way that harks back to UKG's earliest days, its title perhaps a tribute to the seminal label of the same name?
Review: Every time you see a release that's forthcoming under the moniker of The North Quarter, you know it's going to be very, very good. Label honcho Lenzman doesn't take prisoners with his A&R skills and he definitely doesn't do so when it comes to FD's debut album, not that FD needs much oversight in order to be an outstanding producer. Better Days is thus unsurprisingly amazing. 16 songs in length, including preludes, FD takes you on a journey through hip-hop influences, jungle vibrancy and full-on D&B that'll leave you quivering with excitement. 'Better Man' featuring Fox is arguably the stand-out, with serene jazz elements blending into Fox-led funk and bouncing bass stabs. Unreal.
Review: Over a year has passed since he last appeared on SUNANDBASS Records with his "Serious" EP, FD returns to his spiritual stomping ground with three more timeless jams. As always with FD, the record covers the full spectrum; "All Yours" has a silky, soulful, Lenzman feel resonating throughout, "Second Villain" sounds like Randall in a basement at 3am while "Wah Wah Track" is a sunset reloader in waiting. Think Marky, think Patife, think Calibre. You know the drill...
Review: Ahead of his full EP release on Lenzman's North Quarter, dedicated craftsman FD teases us with this beautiful piano-stroking soul shaker "Always Something". Laced with space, a wry touch of jazziness and groove; serious props go to Fox who provides solid gold soul with his fully-sung chorus and conscious story on the verses. Stunning in its simplicity and straightforwardness, hypnotic in its allure - this is an amazing way to reveal the next chapter from The North Quarter. Blessy.
Review: Double decade business: Total Science celebrate their label's big two-oh with an on-point collection of ageless constructs from friends old and new. Naturally, everyone arrives to the party in their sharpest finery; Break's cheeky rave references on the juiced up "Unified", the ugly undertones and system-melting weight of Total Science, Digital & Spirit's incredible "Apply The Pressure", Calibre's cosmic ping-pong jam "The Trot", Nymfo's dreamy harmonic heaven "Game Of Love", The Invaderz swashbuckled drum session "Be Around"... Not one player has tailored a shabby garm, ensuring well-suited jams for decade to come.
Review: Player central: Not one artist on this EP doesn't command serious respect. Ed:It and Pennygiles's 2014 firecracker gets the treatment from Ulterior Motive, adding just a lick or two of shade to the already solid groove. ST Files and Response follow with a beautifully restrained deep stepper that's not dissimilar to erstwhile ST collaborator Marcus Intalex. Total Science and FD maintain the deep theme with a soulful rolling track that's not dissimilar to their Funky Technicians material. Villem and McLeod anchor the EP with a unique halftime roll that balances dark and light tighter than your nan's 1950s television. A truly spotless EP.
Review: Zero T, LSB, FD and Tokyo Prose... Talk about soulful heavyweights! Each player representing with a sublime slice of rolling gold, this is - without question - one of the best "Fourfit" EPs we've seen to date (and, let's face it, they've all been amazing) Zero T brings the shimmering ivories, Tokyo Prose gets dreamy, FD unites the dusky vocals of Collette with the rusty dynamics of amens while LSB gets his timeless jazz on. When it comes to authentic deep, rolling, soulful D&B, this EP is a gnat's nads from perfection.
Review: For a large percentage of drum & bass fans, Spearhead as a label can do no wrong. Years of immaculate releases all bowing to the same ethics of great sounding, great feeling music has brought them widespread love and respect. The incendiary touch of Calibre has clearly reached London-based FD's mind for "Change Please", with its clarity and perfection drawing influences from the producer while bending its own path through clever vocal sampling and sharp percussion. "Into You" is just as lovely to listen to with that tweaked vocal and the tiniest ebb of piano; not that lovely is a particularly D&B term. It's a gorgeous pair of tracks and you should grab both with all of your hands.
Review: Rest assured, the fourth installment of the Genesis EP will not disappoint. Kicking off with "Iceberg" it's all stripped back aesthetics and warping, metallic tones here with a haunted minimalism. Next "Break & Enter" ups the ante with smashing snares, booming b-line and a growly vocal sample, before "What You Need" takes things on a tougher tip with pounding drums, groaning SFX and plenty of menacing swagger. Last but not least "Anthropocene" rounds things off with great poignancy.
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