Review: Rippling rhythms, crackling white noise and muffled, hissing beats dominate for the most part of Mak & Pasteman's delectable "What Love Is". Setting the tone for their release on Car Crash Set, the pair go in with the deep, heavy rhythms, pulsing beats, hissing percussion and eerie vocal which hides behind the rest of the music somehow. A midway breakdown adds a brief moment of melancholy reflection before we return to the main tune. "So Much" continues in much the same manner, with sparse beats in a gentle, humming soundscape, broken by a labored groan and dripping SFX and pattering percussion. A must buy, right here, right now.
Review: Pronounced "adverb", this solo American producer lays down some beautifully textured and very glitched out bass-step on this release for Car Crash Set. "Lust" rips apart its atmospheric opening with a torrent of fierce leads, while "Colourful Eyes" sounds on a par with Rustie's sci-fi voyaging. Check out the maximal joys of "Sugar Glaze" as an excellent first step into the world of +Verb.
Review: New from the good people at Car Crash Set, QP's "Sol Jerk" thunders in at a +130bpm tempo for glorious some footwerk-inspired 808 patterns, which get nicely offset by a sloping half-step snare and some brutally lean synth stabs. HxDB focuses more on the half-step while adding some killer rogue Balkan sounds to this delirious makeover, while Cosmic Revenge adds some Miami flavour.
Review: The latest in Car Crash Set's "No Northwest" series sees Vancouver's Daega Sound share the spotlight with Seattle's Kid Smpl for some deep and moody tech winners, including DS' tech-step menacer "Legion" and his equally crystalline and reverb-soaked half-stepper "Winter's Horse". Kid Smpl gets deeper and trippier on "Timber" and almost nails Sigur Ros' aquatic swoon on the excellent "Over".
Review: One first listen, "Dwell" could be something you'd play to an old hippy splashing out on a bit of time in a floatation tank; all deep wafting pads and subaquatic cries and cosmic twinkles. Then you listen a little closer and you realise there's a full-on funky two-step riddim riding roughshod in the background. Crisp soothing ambience coupled with crafty drums - "Dwell" really does what its cogitative moniker suggests. "Fall Apart" plays the ideal foil to such a brooding lead cut. Again, it's garage, but a twisted, distorted, fractured garage where sprightly synths and the processed vocal carry class, while the lolloping, off-kilter rhythms add weight and progression. Don't dwell on this for too long.
Review: New on Car Crash Set, Australian producer James Arctic lives up to his name with these two new chilly yet thrilling bass/jack house winners. "Green Lagoon" recalls Addison Groove thanks to its icy use of crisp 808 drums and whispy atmospheres, while "Ollie North" is a very hype sweat-fest featuring bouncing basslines and sharp snares.
Review: This extraordinary nine-track package from Mexico's Mekha compromises four original tracks and five remixes. First of all is two minute outing "Process" - a minimal, haunting intro with almost painful humming, which introduces us to the sparse experimentalism that will ensue. "Aneurism" is a deep, dubbed out piece with deftly placed beats, occasional bleeps and quirky SFX. Dsve remixes this, adding in a swishing vocal and booming bass, whilst Kupas Vampire Slaya mix is an exercise in disorientating 8-bit bleeps. "Cortex Feedback" is a more menacing piece with remixes from DMR, MHV and The Raging Sea Unconscious mix, with the original rounding things off.
Review: Mike G brings us "Throw Back" on Car Crash Set and in doing so unleashes a load of heavily reverbed, bass heavy beats on us with brutal force. The title track is all chopped up lyrics on frenzied loop, with pulsing beats and driving b-line adding further pressure to the proceedings. Pounding and pumping for the duration, this one's for the heads. "Disco Radio" again focuses on a distorted vocal with booming subs, hollow bongo beats and surging synths adding to the Hessle Audio meets Night Slugs style atmosphere.
Review: Bristol's Actraiser drops a big, brash and bouncy set of deep funky riddims on this latest EP for Car Crash Set. Lead tune "Kong Riddim" is a dark, cavernous gem with an infectious set of UKF drums anchoring floating pads and subtle, echoed synth leads. "Adventure Island" on the other hand is heavier on the congas and the stacked snares, while "Bubblun" brings a joyous 2-step rhythm out to play and nestles it around spacey pads and female vocals shots. Quality modern funky to be ignored at your peril.
Review: A truly mesmerising house tune from San Francisco's Cosmic Revenge, backed with some equally ace mixes from Ratcatcher and Beat Connection, making for a very strong single indeed from Car Crash Set. A delirious mixture of subtle pads, trippy arpeggios and laid back 808 drums characterises CR's original, which Ratcatcher (who previously collaborated with Doc Daneeka as Rodski) exploits for his minimal/tropical reworking. Beat Connection (who've just recently toured with Toro Y Moi) add a little more jacking skank to their version, boosting the spacey, sub-aquatic chords as well for good measure. Smart, forward thinking house at every turn.
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