Review: Minimize to maximize: two Dispatch lifers NC-17 and Dub Head go toe to toe on this exceptional pair of chunky bruisers. 'Open Fire' takes the lead with an icy sense of timeless futurism that's underpinned with a rudeboy swing in the bass department. Sitting somewhere between Breakage and C4C, this is one of those bubblers that really hits a lot of spots. 'Minimal Or Lazy' continues this underground vibe but with more a grumpy, techy edge that nods towards the Virus school of sound. Max vibes.
Review: Uncompromising vibes once again from the Canadian trooper NC-17. Fresh from releasing his latest opus Enter The Violence, he returns to Dispatch with more brutalist funk-ups. 'Raw Means War' sets the pace with industrial strength groovemanship while 'Evil C' goes for that classic stripped back mid 90s roll-out vibe. Deeper into the EP we slide to find a twisted, tense halftime voyage in the form of 'Harvey Keitel' before the militant bone-rattling Detroit inspired 'New Rose Hotel' wraps up proceedings in icy style. Blueprints by name, blueprints by nature.
Review: Having appearing on their line-ups and various sublabels, Toronto tear-up artist Peter NC-17 finally gets his full Headz debut with 'State Of Grace', an uncompromising four-piece that leaves no stone unturned and pulls no punches. The title track says it all with its savage riff and rattling techno-like drums. Deeper into the EP we hit pure drumfunk magic on 'Jimmy The Great', we go full heads-down mode on 'Act Of Rage' and Christmas comes early with the pure drama of 'Santa Sangre'. Gracefully aggressive.
Review: Liondub's renowned Street Series continues in full force and this next instalment is courtesy of NC-17, a producer who got his name making liquid but who comes with some serious junglist heat on this one. All five of these cuts mean business and our favourites are the steppy bits, 'A Better Tomorrow' especially, which combines apocalyptic vibes with urban sonics to create a powerful patchwork of force and energy, all underpinned by a broken percussive line. The other four are also strong and we're definitely looking forward to hearing these out and about.
Review: This five-track assault boasts more dancefloor destroyers from the Weapons of Choice camp, this time via sharp-shooting twosome NC-17. On the A-side they're joined by like-minded battlefield lieutenant The Voss, who helps the duo turn "Scanners" into a fiendishly dark, fuzzy, stomping and weighty fusion of skittish D&B breakbeats, thrusting electronics and hushed vocal samples. Norfolk-based producer Saxxon lends a hand on B1 "King of Bronx", a punchy, hot-stepping workout full of mind-altering sub-bass, fizzing percussion fills and cut-up vocal samples. Finally, they pay tribute to Stanley Kubrick in the only way they know how on "Kubrickville", an all-out assault on the senses that's as dystopian as they come.
Review: Actions stations! Not content with releasing the first ever album trilogy in D&B with Most Violent Year (or releasing a full collabo album Short Cuts with Dauntless earlier this year) NC-17 continues to slay with another jaw-dropping body of work - Enter The Violence. Weighing in at 13 tracks and featuring collabs with the likes of Myth, Universal Project, Quadrant and Dungeon Kru, it's another full assault of the senses that digs deep into some of the most timeless and crucial ingredients and aesthetics of drum & bass. Highlights include the disgusting slimy funk of 'Slug Trail', the twisted groove and energy of 'Date With the Devil' and the pure urgency and drama of the title track 'Enter The Violence'. Fighting talk!
Review: Representing Canada and Australia on a UK label... 'Short Cuts' is a truly international celebration of drum & bass from two outstanding and forward-thinking craftsmen - NC-17 and Dauntless. Both currently in epic states of creative flux (NC-17 with his album trilogy and Dauntless with massive collabs like Current Value) the pair get stuck in and take the sound to some far-out places. With vibes ranging from the twisted jump-up scrapes and screeches of 'Devils' to the warm and funky Virus style 'Microchip Convention' to the euphoric, rising sense of hope on 'Vertigo City', this is unique body of work and a great example of when collaborations are more than the some of their parts. There's some serious alchemy going on here.
Review: Exactly a year after the inaugural volume, NC-17 drops the third part of his immense 'Most Violent Year' series. One of the most prolific yet intensely considered bodies of work Dispatch have ever released, each album has gone in on the details and celebrated the whole span of D&B generations while remaining fully future-focused. This collection might well be the most wide-armed as the Canadian artist flips between vibes like the technoid Renegade fire of 'Blood Warden' to the grungier bassline stink of 'Punk Drunk Love' within the first two tracks. Complete with collaborations with the likes of John Rolodex, Exile, Philth and Logam and explorations ranging from Loxy-style percussive grizzlers ('Wolfen') to the wide-armed swagger of 'Romeo Is Bleeding', NC-17 has completed a unique truly special trilogy right here.
Review: The second part of NC-17's ambitious trilogy album concept Most Violent Year has landed and, unlike many sequels, it hits just as hard as the first part. If a little harder. Laced with energy and Virus-style venom from the off, 'Rise Of The Machines' is a hammering intro track that pushes us deep into the rabbit hole. Many highlights follow and they come in all dark shapes and sizes; the elastic bass and twisted warps ' Brutal Violence', the stark chaos of 'Dead Wid It' (with Rebel Music bossman OB1) the curmudgeonly grizzles and growls of 'Lord Of Illusion', the percussive heads-down Dom & Roland style funk of 'Slime Time' (with Philth), the list of violent encounters goes on and on...
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