Review: Roman Flugel is having a "Garden Party" and we're all invited. By the sounds of the deliciously cheery title track, said must-attend event is being held in a beachside glade somewhere along Croatia's Adriatic coast (hence the cut's wondrously melodious mix of Italo-disco riffs, low-slung disco bass, unfussy machine drums, grandiose nu-disco lead lines and kaleidoscopic acid motifs). Further proof of the party's "dancing all afternoon" credentials are provided by the similarly jaunty, tuneful, retro-futurist flex of "Parade D'Amour", while the bleeping and dreamy "Juke City" offers a hint of what's to come after dark if you keep supping the supplied "special punch". Just remember to stick around for "Wood & Neon", which sounds like the kind of skewed, colourful and mood-enhancing deep house eccentricity that Maurice Fulton does so well.
Review: Since launching in 2018, Midnight Riot's gospel-fired "Take It To Church" compilation series has proved hugely popular, hence this third volume of re-edits, remixes and sample-heavy original productions. As usual, there's much to set the pulse racing from start to finish, with highlights including the jazz-funk fired soulful house bump of Opolopo's remix of "Follow Me" by Sense of Sound Singers, the gospel disco/disco-house fusion of Sarah Dash's "Something Inside (DJ Spen & Reelsoul Remix)", the rubbery goodness of Carlton Low's 1980s sounding "Peace, Love, Happiness", the gospel-boogie brilliance of Jack Tennis's filter-heavy "Won't You" and the gospel scalpel science that is Divine Situation's superb "Goin' On" re-edit.
Disrupta & Mr. Longhandz - "Bloodclart" - (4:35) 174 BPM
Burnzy & Septon - "Sub Killer" - (4:46) 174 BPM
Replicant - "On A Mission" - (4:31) 59 BPM
Foks - "Back To The Bass" - (3:45) 174 BPM
T Zone - "Killers" - (4:23) 175 BPM
Review: One of the most consistent and hardest working platforms for new-gen D&B talent in the last 10 years, DJ Hybrid's Audio Addict has a golden tracklist for breaking new names with the likes of Kumarachi, RMS, Agro, Section and Mr Hybrid himself all coming through the label. Now comes the new chapter. A new logo, a new approach with larger V/A releases that celebrate the most exciting names emerging but the same mission applies: to devastate your sets with the most contemporary and up front examples of this thing we call D&B. It starts right here with this crucial six-pack. From the moment Newcastle's Hexa opens with an electro-flavoured growler "Flourish" to the moment T Zone closes the EP with the dramatic strings and foul bassline of "Killers", this is the sound of Audio Addict kicking into a new decade stronger and more consistent than ever before.
Review: Does James Burnham ever find time to sleep? The Leeds-based tech house hero has been churning out his trademark grooves for the better part of 15 years as Burnski, where he was a staple of top labels like 20:20 Vision, Dessous and Real Tone before moving on to head up his successful Constant Sound - the current 'go to' label. He's no stranger to Jamie Jones either, having released on both Hot Creations and sister label Hottrax previously, but he's back under the lesser known alias of James Solace here for the 'Mind Music' EP. It features the deep, down and dirty Reese-driven action of "Keep On", the sunny peak time thriller "Catalyst" which we can imagine having the crowd going mental on The White Isle this summer, and the tunnelling after hours shenanigans of "Groove" - which works that TB-303 to perfection.
Review: Alan Fitzpatrick has released on some of the world's greatest techno labels, including Figure, Unknown To The Unknown and Drumcode - and thanks to this EP his catalogue also boasts anb appearance on Rekids. Surprisingly for Fitzpatrick, the title track is a deeper affair, as the ghost of Detroit techno past haunts his steely drums with evocative synth melodies. In contrast, on "The Forgotten", he opts for a pared back approach, with insistent electronic riffs bubbling up over a lean, wiry rhythm. The label has commissioned Luke Slater to rework "Step Away". Working under his Planetary Assault Systems guise, he strips away the dreamy synths to make way for a pile-driving techno banger that brings the release to a grinding climax.
Review: Now when we saw this link up was in the works, boy did we get excited, as we see the ever-ready and experimental sounds of Daze Prism join forces with the immovable force of Project Allout. The EP itself is a super experimental look into UK funky flavours, kicking off with the vibrant title track 'Brizili', stacked in groovy percussive riffs and metallic bass tones. Next, the rhythms really are let loose as the carnival drum work of 'Clank' unleashes a torrent of groovy movements, before 'Mello' gives us a nostalgic chord-lead chopper. Finally, the shuffling moogy sub pulses of 'Proper' see us out in style.
Review: The man, the myth, the absolute legend DJ Sly makes his debut on Liondub's Street Series and it's about ruddy time too! Following the likes of Cool Hand Flex, Trex, Macky Gee, Motiv and many, many more, Sly jumps headfirst into the EP in the way the series was intended: pure floor fire tailored for nothing but mix creativity and crowd bashment. From the screaming high voltage growls of "Dark Number" to the utterly disgraceful bass tones and ravishment of the soundsystem slapping finale "Disco Hall", Sly hasn't just added to an already killer series but levelled it up. Essential.
Review: Towards the end of 2019, we were actively wondering whether the Four40 movement would be able to maintain the high quantity and quality release structures into the new decade, and boy does it look like they can. This latest drop from them sees them unveil the vibrant bass-experiments of Tom Bull for a storming stomper entitled 'Rukus', dripping in original LFO action and colourful drum movement. This is a must have for any 4x4 DJ, looking to bring an additional touch of energy to the dance.
Review: Following on from their epic start to the year with Pavv's vibrant '9AM' EP, the Southpoint team are back at it again, this time on a grimey vibe as they welcome Defiant in for his debut EP. The project kicks off with the eastern inspired melodies and rawcus synth tones of 'Shinobi', followed by the glitchy 8bit rolls of 'Neo-Ninjutsu' and skippy arpeggiated melodies of 'Yoshimitsu'. Finally, we round the EP up with two belters, the first being a grizzly, synth-heavy roller entitled 'Harikiri, followed by 'Yokai' alongside remnts, a monsterous collaboration, giving this one a final dash of class.
