GS Dubs is without a doubt one of the most exciting garage-centric projects currently operating in the UK. Being the sister label to the immensely popular Garage Shared imprint, the Southampton-based platform was originally established to provide an additional outlet to the Garage Shared roster to unleash their more experimental. Since then however, the imprint has since taken on a life of its own, with regular garage drops regularly featuring in our best-seller charts and the likes of Smokey Bubblin’ B, Miss L.A, Rico Tubbs, Tuff Culture, Oppidan, Soulecta and many more heavyweight UKG names releasing a variety of projects since their inception back in November 2019. Consistency is key, and despite the fact that GS Dubs sits as a sister label, the quality is never compromised, making the future extremely exciting for all involved with the imprint!
Review: The GS Dubs team, being an offshoot of the incredibly consistent Garage Shared collective, are always pumping out exciting new drops, with this new compilation selection being one of the strongest in a hot minute. In anticipation of the clubs and raves reopening properly, they have gathered together ten original dancefloor anthems for garage DJ's the world over to enjoy. The tracklisting and roster is pretty monstrous, featuring tidy new creations from the likes of Tuff Culture, Chimpizm, K9, Deja, Aki and more of the active Garage Shared. There are a couple of real highlights for us, including the super spicy VIP mix of Miss L.A & Bunka's 'My Love', which was already a belter to begin with, alongside the choppy chord progressions and skippy percussive textures of 'Carbon' from Howden and system busting wobbles of ADuki's 'Make Noise'. With additional killer creations from Oh My Daze, Rebz & Ollie Weeks, this is definitely not a compilation to miss.
Review: As ever with Tuff Culture, he remains at the forefront of garage music, this time showcasing more goodness with the third edition of his 'Roots' series with the GS Dubs gang. This time around we're in for one hell of a ride with 'Attack Of The Retro Consoles', as we kick off with 'N64', a sumptuous roller, stuffed with a combination of colourful melodies and intricate breaksy action, followed by the sizzling subs and groovy drum skips of 'Mega Drive', this time focussing on bassy goodness and simple rhythms to kick start any dance. We then finish up with a dash of finesse as 'C64' delivers the most groovy arrangement of the lot, dripping in vibrant drum arrangements and crunchy textures all around. Lovely work!
Review: There really seems to be no slowing the progression of the GS Dubs team, who alongside their parent label: Garage Shared, have continued to showcase the best in new school garage music with incredible levels of consistency. This latest two track outing from Chimpizm is another example of their fantastic ear for a banger, kicking off with the moody, low-ended bassline expressions and catchy vocal slices of 'Raggamuffin Biznizz', reworking a tried and tested vocal sample into a sizzling roller. On the flip, we dive down a much more delicate avenue as 'Your Time' links together aquatic chord delays and pleasing shakers beneath an array of heavily reverberated vocal choirs to give us something extremely refreshing. Yet another wicked display from the GS team!
Review: Following on from a very exciting string of recent releases, we were thrilled to see Tuff Culture once again linking up with the GS Dubs team for the eighth edition of the 'Elements' series. As always with Tuff Culture, he delivers a selection of high energy garage originals, kicking of with 'Them Days', a tip top throwback link up with the sounds of SG. Next, 'Boss' deploys some super groovy rhythms, alongside the super futuristic percussive sub combos of 'My Addiction'. The one and only Gemi then joins the party for the catchy vocal slices and groovy rhythms of 'Just One', before the EP rounds off with 'For You', an organic roller driven by interesting rhythmic instrumentation and spacey synth action. Fabulous stuff!
Review: As always when the GS Dubs team get into town, we are in for a treat, as they this time invite the constantly evolving sounds of Gemi to the table to deliver one hell of a two-tracker. First up, we take in the super vibrant sounds of 'Hunnit', which, as with all of Gemi's best creations, finds that perfect balance between nostalgic bliss and new-school class, fusing high-pitched vocal slices with uber-groovy melodic design. On the flip-side to this, 'Pointers' continues down a similar path, with that perfect level of fusion between old and new. This one is rippling with colourful percussive additions and smooth low ends to add some real groove to the dance.
Review: As always with Tuff Culture, we knew we were in for a good time as soon as the release landed in the forthcoming section of the store, taking these three originals back to the oldschool with his second edition of 'Roots'. We begin with 'Equal', a super crunchy combination of nostalgic chord pushes and lofi drum designs, followed closely by the high energy 4x4 beat-shuffles and pulsating basslines of 'Screwface'. Finally, the vibes switch up to combine the feelings of the first two tracks with 'Wave Interference', an original jam packed with tasty vocal chops, scattered chord progressions and smooth bass pushes below, rounding off a wicked body of work in serious style.
Review: It's very exciting to see the return of Tuff Culture on this brand new selection as he lands on the ever-ready GS Dubs with five weighty creations, packed with sunshine flavour. We begin with 'Nobody', an incredibly vibrant link up with Hans Glader, linking up catchy vocal pitch ups with nostalgic chord runs for a real dancefloor favourite. Next, we are joined by old school organ lines and sassy drum grooves on 'Classic Roller', alongside the sweeping bass synth textures of 'Empty Words' and unpredictable rhythmic explosions of 'Space Trip'. Finally, SG gets involved on 'Good Vibes', delivering a super original sounding creation to round off yet another top quality project from one of the hottest names in UKG right now!
