Review:
No droning or moaning about this one. Boofy & Lemzly Dale's Sector 7 unleash these overwhelmingly forthright and innovative thumpers from fellow Bristol badman Drone and the world is a better place for them. "Sapphire" is genuinely unique with its harmonised percussion panel beating a riff deep into your psyche while the spooked out arpeggiated 23rd century horror film OST "Been This Way" looks out from within your psyche to a panel beaten world where hope and resources are as rare as a duff Sector 7 release. Powerful and wildly forward-thinking.
Review:
Bristol's Joker is without a doubt one of the most respected 140 based producers in UK dance music, constantly bringing fresh flavours to the forefront of the scene with his unique ability to sniff out a quirky melody. Here we see him team up with Newham Generals' own: Footsie for a dubstep driven tearout with beefy lead synths and super crunchy drums topped with trapstyle lyricism. We are also treated to 'Polka Dot', a shuffling gem of melodic genius, made up of experimental chord progressions and skylined synthesis.
Review:
Across multiple genres of UK underground music, Riko Dan is already solidified as one of the vocal legends. He is also known to step outside the 140 box and work alongside unusual production to create some truly phenomenal work. His brand new EP has been released through Tectonic and is a homage to his vocal versatility, be it the rapid fire patois voicings upon 'Vibration', the slower more dancehall inspired lyrics on 'Slap It Up' or even the uber grimey flows on the title track 'Hard Food'. Along with these we are also blessed with the techy arrangement of 'Hungry', the 8bit melodies of 'Alright Then' and a fantastic remix of 'Big Slug' from the ever creative production fingers of Walton.
Review:
One of Nomine Sound's biggest releases to date; Boylan & Slimzee collide for four absolute heavers right here. "No Cure" is the deadliest jam of the set with its swooping, swathing horror movie bass, "Replicants" takes us deep into the rave machine and sends us home packing with some twisted mentasms and hoovers, "Delta City" plays the consummate graveyard stomper with a little more space and weight while "Reinforced" closes with a homage to one of the most important record labels in the early jungle movement. This is nothing short of essential.
Review:
Sepia's move to Deep Dark & Dangerous is the natural turnout for an artist whose been residing on our charts with nothing but bangers for the last few years. The imprint is quickly picking up all the relevant talents, and is quickly becoming an important force when it comes to new waves of dubstep. "Sakura" charges forth with a militant bass stance, followed by "Eclipse" and its glitchy half-steps surrounded by eerie background sonics. "Point Blank" goes down more soulful pastures, nodding to the likes of Burial in the process, while "Regret" tunes down the tempo entirely and ends up at a slow, Eastern lull with a booming sub bass for added effect. Sublime material from Sepia!
Review:
In the wake of all this grime business blowing up at the moment, it seems an apt time be delving into this compilation of early Plastician jams from a time before Mr Hawtin forced him to change his name. Coming at the emergence of dubstep when it was also called sublow or sometimes just grime, it's a thrilling reminder of the possibilities that were opening up in gritty urban electronic music at the time. With a primal approach and that icy minimalism that made the early material so exciting, there's not a duff moment in earshot across the whopping 21 tracks included here, and they've all been remastered for maximum contemporary impact. What more could a bass lover ask for?
Review:
Time for a latter platter; Utah abyss explorers Durandal and Funkmod make their debut on the mighty DND with five stinking bass creepers. Vibes range from soaking wet frog bass and alien weirdness on "Choomah Dub" to pressure cooked bounce dynamics and shimmering skanks on "Wise Up". Need more you greedy animal? Jump on their remix of Pushloop. Pure filth.
Review:
We find your lack of faith disturbing.... Nomine fires up the dance with two insanely heavy VIPs from the man like Macabre Unit. "Darth Vader" keeps the 70-a-day breathing and ominous tones but jacks up the riff into something much choppier and wilder while "Mash Up Da Place" enjoys a subtler shake up with tripped harmonics laced into twisted bass riff. These are what VIPs were invented for.
Review:
The mighty Austrian duo who have brought us smash hit singles such as "Make The Call" and "All Fall Down" now step up with their piece de resistance Cross The Line on genre-defining label Hospital Records. Featuring collaborations with Ayah Marar, TC, Skittles, Shaz Sparks, Futurebound and Jenna G, the album spans D&B, dubstep, drumstep and electro-house in a 14-track genre-crossing opus that will have you raising the roof with excitement. Highlights from across the album include the immense, tempo-switching "Run Riot" and the euphoric, feel-good title track "Cross The Line". Essential listening.
Review:
Not content with absolutely smashing the game with their Deep Dark & Dangerous label this year, Truth return to one of their strongest spiritual homes: Deep Medi Music. Naturally they're packing some serious sentiments: "Lion" is a pounding roller that chugs with an industrial strength toxic bassline and demonic call from Teklife's Taso. "Messages" flips the situation for a much lighter, mystical and spatial exploration with fluttering break echoes and unhurried, yearning chords. Finally we're knocked seasick by the slobbering kicks and boa-like bass of "Ruffneck" which doesn't so much as live to up to its name but sets a new benchmark in dangerous, knife-edge ruffneckism. Powerful frequencies.
Review:
Often being portrayed as one of the UK's finest DJ's, Jaguar Skills is a name solidified across so many genres of dance music it's hard to summarize in one line. As a project "Miseducation Of A Hip-Hop Boss" is a homage to this, as we hear four high profile collaborations across multiple genres. To kick off "Riot Squad 2" in collaboration with Mind Vortex is an instant jump up anthem. Next up UK grime veteran Saskilla joins the party with his high energy vocal on another drum and bass belter entitled "Off My Rocker". Following this Milli Major & Face get involved on the high grime anthem "Air Pie" and the EP is then rounded up with the highly anticipated collaboration with Double S named "Levelz".
Review:
Simply Deep's Aerotonin makes his full Southpoint debut with some absolute fire. First up we're accosted by the rapid wry humour of Luciferian and Jabz as "Spin" hits us with beat after beat, bar after bar in the most full frontal way possible. "S&S" gives us the smoky feels; all atmospheric and swaggering with well crafted synths and a perfect female vocal hit while "League" goes in for the big bounce with a "Pulse X" informed finale: Stampy kicks with venomous bass and breaks/fill that come in from nowhere, this is bare chaos material.
Review:
Don Mclean could learn a trick or two from New Zealand's Headland; you could drive a Chevy (or any other brand of motor vehicle) up this "Levy" all day long and it'll never go dry. A true marching tune that gradually rises in intensity without ever losing its stately pace, it's the type of tune that was tailored for nights like System or DJs like Amit. Elsewhere we get seasick with the trippy glitches on "Seen" before going all-out darkside with the haunted humanisations on the foreboding "Cold Warning". Seriously heavy duty stuff as always from Headland. Man's having his pie and eating it right now.
Review:
Stockholm's Eva808 returns to the ever-juicy White Peace with her first full EP for the label. Following the damage and soul exploding sounds of her Encrypted EP last year, once again it's a woozy unpredictable affair: "Oyuki" is a seasick damager with its warped textured and slurring momentum while the string-snapping "Empress" is straight out of Hitchcock's playbook. "Ro$e Gold" and "You Don't" play perfect counterpoint as hazier soft-focus antidotes to her peaktime venom. The former is like being in a church under the sea while "You Don't" is like having honey poured in your ears. TIP.
Review:
Daryl Nurse aka Youngster is not cite often enough when we talk about grime, dubstep, and the evolution of both these genres. But, the UK bass scientist is very much up there on our list, and we're big into his sound from the early 2000's. Out on White Peach this week is a reissue of his '02 bombshell "Bongo", a raw and minimalistic bass stepper with a wild set of cowbells, stop-start rhythms and a nasty, unforgiving bassline for the heads. That's not all, though; there's three remixes to sink your teeth into: Hi5Ghost chucks in an added layer of slicing percussion sounds for total damage, Deep Medi associates Kahn & Neek slow the whole groove down to their singular, cerebral levels, and Impey drops his broken gunshot riddim version, aptly called the 66668 Bar remix. Fire!
Review:
For an artist who debuted on Deep Dark & Dangerous with an EP called "In The Quiet", Khiva is certainly making all the right noises. Taking off where she left us last year, it's another hard hitting document but overriding message is one of love... "Fresh Cut Love" hits with all the bewildering dizziness of a raw emotional encounter; savage, forthright and deliciously confusing. "Aphrodite", meanwhile, is a stirring homage to the number one end boss of love himself. All plucks and harps and mysticism, once again it captures a feeling and energy that's as old as time itself. Feel the love.
Review:
The Division label is back and utterly 'up for it' with this second instalment of the Partial series, a corner of the label dedicated to bringing you the very hardest in dubstep vibes; strangely enough, this seems like a bit of a rarity these days! Woolymammoth's opener "Prasak" sets us up for some seriously hard beatings, which is exactly what "Visor" by Holly & Former delivers on. Revazz's "Voltaic" is a slower, more menacing bass mutant, which is not something that can be said about "High Risers" from Proxima...an impressively off-kilter number with some nutty percussion swings. "Shocking Element" by Subp Yao & Razat goes off on a broken beat tangent, and The Outsiders' "Radar Signal" offers the nearest interpretation of future grime on this whole EP. Blinding bass bombs!
Review:
When Machinedrum drops a single on Ninja Tune's catalogue we instantly know two things: a) it'll be an immediate favourite of ours, and b) there's an album on the horizon. Here we have "Dos Puertas" from the Sepalcure associate, a tune whose identity is hard to pin down and categorise; the beat is all over the place in terms of structure, but that doesn't matter because it has that typical Machinedrum sound, a sonic swagger that broadly fits under electronica but that also meanders into broken beat and r&b. Masterfully executed and stand-out, as usual.
Review:
Thirty Three nuggets of serious UKG gullyness; Project Allout have already developed a serious reputation for generous dispatches, but this is whole new level. Uniting their many lengmen for a deep exploration of the pastures between bassline house, instrumental grime and the broader realms of bass music, every area is covered. Highlights include the eski angst of Chemist RNS' "Stare", the violin-snapping, post-dubstep darkness of Deadbeat UK's "Graveyard", the outrageous VIP muscles of Hoax and Dubzta's "Twilight Zone" and the sassy vocal flexery of Pavv's "You Got Me". This is just the tip of the bassline iceberg, though. Dig deep and grab your own lenger; there are enough here for everyone.
Review:
Serious drama from the Cardiff direction. Adam Mac and Dubzta take a Hollywood-level string arrangement chew it up with futuristic beats. Lurking between dubstep and grime, it's the ultimate victory soundtrack with heaps of added poignancy and emotion. Remixes flow like fine wine: Dubzta's VIP adds a little uppercut in the beat department, Triple S gets sticky on a triplet UKG flex, Hoax Beats bury the strings under anvil subs and hammering halfsteps while Moony lets rip on a 4/4 bassline house vibe. Looking for added vocal venom? Look no further... Row D consolidates the grime feels with a sharp-tongued twist.
Review:
It was only a matter of time until the Project Allout gang made their 2018 return as they kick the new year off with some serious bassline pressure. This release sees Bristol's own Mindstate team up with the energetic vocals of CAL for an extremely vibrant VIP mix of their earlier collaboration 'Girls'. The VIP see's funky chord patterns and spooky synth leads combine with the vocal presence for an eerie introduction which descends into bassy madness come the breakdown. On remix duty PAR bring forth Ghastly with his much quicker 4x4 rework, Jaikea with his unpredictable recreation and Sheppz Dawgy for a full grimey rethink.
Review:
On his first release for Deep Medi Musik this year, Commodo taps up JME for a mean lyrical flow over the top of a typically monstrous production, making a perfect dubstep / grime crossover track in the process. JME has a blast pointing back to classic reference points from Kano and Wiley and many more in his conscious MC turn, while Commodo's beat prowls in the background with that exotic charm that has always marked out his style from the rest of the pack. There's a hooky chorus and plenty of grand stabs, and for those who just want the tune the instrumental is bundled in as well. The fact that the beat stands up on its own without any trouble says a lot about Commodo's studio prowess, which is no doubt why he continues to be a mainstay on Mala's label.
