Review: Plush Recordings call on Contract Killers, Soundwall, PFM and Formula One for two utterly beguiling excursions into liquid D&B funk. First up, "The Life Moments" by Contract Killers gets a refix from Soundwall, with the cavernous drop in tempo and vibe after the mid-section breakdown worth the admission price alone. PFM and Forumla One team up for "If You Were Mine", a liquid roller with smooth vocals, wistful percussion and squelchy bass stabs.
Review: Bristol beefcake Formula makes one of his biggest moves so far with this killer debut on Invicta Audio. All four cuts hitting with realness and showing a different side to the young producer, highlights include the deep-space wriggles and sultry house vocal snippets on 'You & Me' and the all-out party flavours of 'Bad Boys'. Switching from a classic twangy riff even your mum knows to a groany, gutter-chomping drop is a dramatic and funky move. We need more music like this.
Review: Formula re-appears on the Big & Bad label for another EP of seductive basslines and bouncy UK funky rhythms. "Yukky" is all wonky, grimed-out melodies and squelching low-ends, whereas the title track "Flexxx" proceeds to deliver the full weight of Formula's devious sound in the form of an absolutely nasty bassline - a sound so hefty that it overtakes all the surrounding elements! Finally "Dirty Irishman" is the nuttiest of the lot, where Formula really goes crazy on the low-end and delivers a fully-throttled squelcher!
Review: Bag it, tag it, tell you mum about it; the B&T massive put together this 15 track collection to celebrate the label's 15th release and it's an all-out showcase of tomorrow's finest talent. Highlights fire from all sides; Ben Snow's 'Fire Iron' is a grunting staccato session of pure savagery, Refracta brings NFM-style melted bass to the fray on 'Embrace', Dunk & Teej get all mobster on us with 'Soprano', Parallel does his old school slap-about thing on 'Communications' and KL's 'Tension' is strong enough to blast us into the 23rd century. Pack your bags and your tags, you've pulled m8.
Review: Back in the mid 1970s, young engineer Terry 'T.K' Kane and Harry Stone joined forces to launch a studio and record distribution business in Miami. It would spawn a huge number of in-house labels, and even greater number of funk and disco releases, and even a string of million-selling artists. Given this legacy, it's little surprise to see Athens of the North paying tribute to the funk side of Henry Stone's impressive legacy with this superb collection. While there are a few tried-and-tested cuts to be found - see the T Connection and Little Beaver cuts - for the most part The Miami Sound focuses on more obscure - but no less hard-hitting - gems from the likes of Jonny K, Stevens & Foster and Leno Philips.
