Review: Coming in smokey from the Flexout Audio collective, another vibrant compilation collection, exploring the more atmospheric end of the UKG spectrum with the second edition of their 'Waves' series. Featuring a wealth of exciting artists, we see the likes of Trail, Relict, GLM, Able, EVOLVED & more arrive with some fabulous feature work, unloading emotive harmonic structures and smooth drum arrangements for a truly ethereal underground experience. Our highlights for this one would of course have to include 'Halo' from Dominus, a smokey slink through crunchy synthetic gargles and metallic drumlines, backed up by the gnarly LFO work of Vektah's 'Rotation Heavy' and the head-low bops of 'Rhythm Choke' from Theoretical, again demonstrating the range of sonic beauty on display here.
Review: As 2023 starts to wrap up, Manchester label Nuusic take the time to reflect on the year they've had and bring their many releases together in one comprehensive collection. Looking back over key releases such as Guzi's album Goldstone Life, Grimesy's 'Voices' and Conrad Subs' 'Don't Blame The DJ', there's a powerful range of party starters, bubblers, skankers and slappers. To pick just a few highlights from 30 is pretty hectic, but Tweakz' jazzy planet stamper 'Love & loyalty', Rise's creeped out 'Intertwined' and Guzi & Epicentre's walloping 'Rate My Switch' are a great place to start. If you've got any holes in your Nuusic collection, now's your chance to get stuck in.
Review: Live, laugh, love: Tweakz breaches the helm at Nuusic once again and the result is a sensual jungle-influenced collection of vibrant buzzy rollers and skank-ups. Musical and soulful to its very core but unabashed in its energy and ruff-house charm, 'Love & Loyalty' slams with wild breaks and big 60s style ripples and shimmers, 'Gangsta' strips things down to something much darker and more tense while 'Heavenly' brings things back round with big pads, dreamy vocals and chords. Through in a beef and drama free remix of Teej and Slay and you've got yourself a lovely package. Loyalty pays.
Review: Teej dons his finest denims and football shoes for this massive collaboration-fest on Flexout Audio. Linking with Objectiv, Felov and Tweakz - while throwing in two solo originals of his own - the whole EP rumbles with powerful, forward-thinking rollers. Highlights include the grizzled tension and mischievous funk of 'No Wrong' (with Tweakz) the deep dub intensity of 'Dark Room, Low Ceiling' and the grainy bass groans and rattling percussion of the title track. Rollers are dead, long live rollers.
Review: Saxxon and Teej on Nuusic... Do we need to say any more at this juncture? Everything about this one bangs hard with uncompromising, grubby, rabble-rousing funk and energy as the two hugely respected craftsmen link up for the first time. 'Soundkill' has an energy and vibe that's not dissimilar to the early 2000s Bingo Beats style with its ricochet elements and funk stabs. Meanwhile 'Akuma' sees Saxxon getting stuck in on a previous Teej joint with deadly effects. Killer sounds!
Review: Taking a moment away from their satirical streetwear manoeuvres, Bowlcut Beats welcome a dream collabo to collection: Dunk and Teej. Neither of these jungle boys are strangers to the label and the pair complement each other's gritty minimal signature perfectly as we're pinged around from shaker to sub in a despicable and filthy manor. 'Jungle Boy' sets the tone with its woozy, drunken bassline and robust kick drum swagger. It's backed up all the way by a range of vibes; 'Mamba' hits with a sexy, hip-slinking groove, 'Target' hits with pure tension while Teej gives his own stark twist on the title track for a final remix blast-off. Exceptional.
Review: Now here's how you launch a label... Having established themselves with a few cheeky free downloads, DJ Zent and James Curtis's label Dreambassuk launches with two crisp remixes from man of the moment Teej. Both cuts from Zent's recent back cat, 'Johnny Relax' is given a savage, snare-rattling shakedown while 'Wills Myth' brings on the tension, creeping up on you so violently it could slap you on stage. Living the dream.
Review: Now here's a rollcall you can set your watch by... Jeopardize, Disrupta, Atlantic Connection, Dunk and Oz all on one release dicing and splicing, chopping and popping with some of Warhead and Teej's releases on Co-Lab. The results spea for themselves and range from big 3am drone horns (Jeopardize) to theatrical breakbeat rattlers (Atlantic Connection) to classic mid 90s sounding vibes (Oz) Bangers o'clock!
Review: Back to 2019... Lupo dropped the growling, prowling beast that was 'Frequencies Of Dub'. Now part of the exciting slew of Lupo remixes that seem to be dropping right now, we have two updates from two close friends in the game. The funky Dunk steps up first with a pared-back grumbly one. Driven by a curmudgeonly bassline, there's a real flabby sense of fun to the groove. Meanwhile OCC sparring partner Teej goes in on the dubby reflections and big fat rolling subs. Make a connection.
Review: Atom-splitting remix action now on Profound Beats as Teej's 2018 EP undergoes a few version excursions. First up is Flat T who takes 'Radioactive' to grizzly new levels with brisk beats and layers on layers of droned-out bass textures. Fellow OCC member Lupo follows with a shake-up of 'Paralysis', giving it a whole stack of big boom energy on the already ballistic bassline. Power-full.
Review: Lordy lordy! Audio Addict are hitting release 100 and they're about to celebrate with some massive dispatches. It starts right here with these two powerful remixes. First bossman DJ Hybrid and Haribo's 2018 bust-up 'Raised In The Jungle' enjoys a woozy and raw shakedown from man of the moment T>I. Then Teej gets busy on Martial Taktics' label debut earlier this year 'Katana'. Big chops for big systems, we'll give these 100 out of 10... And we know there's even amazing Audio Addict 100 vibes to come soon. Big up DJ Hybrid!
Review: Trex dusts off his shovel and tags in a whole team of Gs as they forage for gold in the grit. 'Undergrowth' is an instant treasure trove as Rider purrs over a stealthy but venomous bassline. Dig deeper: 'Scene' gets the oil drill out and strikes thick gooey bassline gold while 'Need U' goes fracking and pipes up an icy, shivering, breezy heads-down showdown. Deeper again: 'Answers' takes us to the core as heavyweights Teej and Pastry Maker join Trex to answer any queries you might have about the subterranean world while T>I rolls out the bulldozer for a final forage as he twists up 'Scene' into a high voltage excavation. Can you dig it?
Review: New sickness from Nuusic right now as Teej whips up more 'Drama' than an Eastenders omnibus. Linking with the unstoppable Slay for the title track, we warm up with a Frank Butcher weight bubbler before getting gradually stinkier and stinkier with bumpers like 'Coin Toss', a grumpier-than-Dot-Cotton VIP of '16 Speakers' (with Jappa) and gully-assed flip of 'Duppy' by man like DJ Hybrid. Just when you thought dnb didn't need any more drama, turns out we were wrong.
Review: To cap off their three-part anniversary celebrations, Nuusic are laying down the heat on instalment number three. Teej has been one of the main players throughout this series, and with 'War Cry', a minimal roller with the guts of a lion and the roar of one too, as finger-clicking drums bear the weight of something much heavier, a snarling bassline that moves in devilish twists and turns. The vibes are also seriously real on J Select's cut, a spacious number that moves in gruff fits and starts, a barking cut with a catchy sample that smacks of proper rave memories. There's luscious depth on 'Always Be Mine', Speaker Louis and Epicentre finish off the series with the stuttering breaks of 'Unity'. What an LP series and congrats to the crew on three years.
Review: Part two of the Nuusic anniversary celebration, and the halfway point is just as good as the first instalment. It's more of the label's most standout tracks from the last three years, and Conrad Subs' 'Little Vibey Thing' is right up there with the best of them, a swing-heavy vocal-led jungle number that's formed of swelling bass touches, crunchy drum lines and a nonchalant gem of a vocal, one that's halfway between hip-hop and soul. Margaman's 'Teach The Roots' is a masterclass in simple vibes, with a clean percussive centre and edges that wallow in bassy reggae, all of which is deliciously built into a crescendo with a superb build-up. Proper dancefloor stuff.
Review: Sniff my dubplate! Nuusic unleash a brand new project dedicated to special dub-level versions from the best in the game. First up on Dub Culture is this powerful shakedown from Teej. Taking the 2019 original from Grimesy and T-Man's energy-level changer 'Quantum Leap' and softening its rough edges, Teej adds a whole other layer of fatness to the subs while keeping T-Man's killer bars clear and central. This is what we call a serious remix. Oh boy.
Review: Over on Helix, Teej is doing absolute bits with this EP. It opens with the title track, a Serum-esque array of drawn-out, dirty synths that stretch and stretch with an other-worldly quality that just sounds amazing. 'Nova' has a spooky intro, an eeriness which puts you in the mood for the unique, minimal-led steppiness of this tune. - a seriously cool bit of music. 'Smokin' is more minimal goodness, a proper little roller that creeps from phrase to phrase in menacing fashion. 'Keepin It' Real' finishes things up in more rolling style, a fluid back end flowing in underneath yet more perfect drums. There's loads of detail etched in to every second of these tunes - sick.
Review: Fresh from his appearance on the Weapons Of Choice Wild Bunch compilation, Oli Lewis steps up to Sub-Division with his biggest release to date: the six track heavy "Too Hot" EP. Instantly rattling cages with the ludicrous bassline on "Jeroboam", Oli gets to work on us limb by limb; "32 Papers" nibbles at all our digits as we pull furious gun fingers, "I'm Feeling High" eats us at the knees thanks to its wriggled-out bassline and endless twists and turns, "Too Hot" goes right for the jugular with its ominous hollow tones while "The Fog" scoops out our brain like ice cream with its high frequency bass groans. Last but not least we see Lewis team up with Teej for a full bodied feast on the slinky-but-sinister "Soundboy's Dead". Sizzling.
Review: Heist's forever consistent Co-Lab invite Warhead and Teej over for a bit of musical mischief. Two of the most exciting new names to emerge from the underground in recent times, naturally they hit the spot with two link-up tracks and two solo originals. "Activate" packs a heavy punch with a bassline sludgier than quicksand mixed with treacle while "Eclipse" is a heads-down gritty one with an almost techno flavour to its bass warps and loopy percussion. Elsewhere Warhead goes full-on rudeboy with the savage "Rasclart" while Teej hurls us into a dank slimy-walled dungeon with "Osiris". If you can find a more on-point new-gen collabo this month we'd like to hear it.
Review: Encrypted Sound haven't been around for that long and this is their fourth release, but the maturity is already evident in their selection and what better way to show that off than with a twelve-track VA LP. Joining the fray is a range of artists including Able,Teej and Toby Ross, the latter of whom has smashed it out the park with 'Sinister', a stripped back and infectiously bouncy tune that nonetheless hits beautifully hard, it's kick drum perfectly placed to add that extra lift off. Teej has been killing it on labels like Co-Lab recently and he does so once more again, with 'Erasure' resting on an inch-perfect snare drum that provides the base for its choppy main bass. Top work from the whole crew here.
Review: Nick The Lot and Teej are two of the most prolific producers around in the new school of emerging talent, producers who walk the line between riotous jump-up, teeth-cutting minimality and back to basics jungle goodness. This single on Pick The Lock is their latest showcase and it's a doozy, with 'Simulation' stepping to a funky beat yet baring its teeth with a fierceness familiar to those who have heard these two's previous work. 'Broken Record' is irresistibly bouncy and there's a clarity and a sharpness to this track which will please fans in all camps of the genre. Big.
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