Review: It has been over 5 years since the legendary Roska last released a full instrumental project via his home imprint of RKS, so you can imagine our excitement for this one. Featuring four absolute sizzlers, Roska comes out of the gate swinging, kickstarting the show with the eastern-inspired arrangements and jumpy drum textures of 'Count Me Out Fam', doused with lively bassline action below. From here, the title track 'Ice Cold' slumps into view, exploring a much more melodic approach which sees Roska really flex his production muscles, before his brother KTM makes a very enjoyable appearance on the dancefloor driven themes of 'FaceTime'. Finally, 'Mission Complete' rounds off the project in style, utilizing hard-hitting bass energy and tidy drum expressions to get the job done.
Review: What more could we ask for eh? Roska and Serocee link up once again, this time for a dancehall delight entitled 'Intro', seeing Roska expand his production range yet again into a slower yet incredibly impactful bashment design. Serocee arrives with the perfect vocal for this one, providing a super rhythmic line which brings the whole track to life. Now, in addition to this, Zed Bias had to get involved, providing a sumptuous UKG flip of the original track, throwing Serocee's vocal into an autotune unit with some incredible results. Both versions of the track are instant killers in our opinion, adding two more crackers to the long list of RKAS bangers!
Review: Following on from an excellent single drop on RKS, Murder He Wrote is back at it again with a feature length LP, celebrating the future of UK funky across eight wavy originals. This is a real lesson in the breadth of UK funky, from the minimal, percussive lead sounds of 'Club Soda' and 'Watch The Tempo', to the beautiful vocals of both 'Lapse' alongside Roska and Maddy Ellerby and 'Say It Twice'. From here 'Stopwatch' gives us some experimental flavours, alongside the nostalgic piano lines of 'Smokes & Lazers' and crunchy LFO action of 'Watch the Tempo'. Finally, 'That Love' provides us with a euphoric drift between potent subs and colourful percussive patterns, rounding off an excellent selection indeed.
Review: Despite their incredibly consistent catalogue, it feels like Roska Kicks & Snares as an imprint has become even more special over the past year or so, with every new release levelling up the labels output. For their next selection, we see them welcome MOTU for a vibrant 8 track selection simply entitle 'Motu Collection', showcasing his quite frankly outstanding skillset, jam-packed with rhythmic gems left right and centre. From the wavy bass manoeuvres of 'Screwball' to the more carnival style drum work of 'Yeah Riddim' and stripped percussive magnificence of 'KCU', MOTU well and truly has UK funky covered. We also wanted to send a nod to the vocal collaborations on this one, as Nico Lindsay returns in fine from on 'Have To Know' alongside Killa P's electric performance on 'Tek Weh' and the mega collaborative flavours of 'Move', featuring PRM Project, DJ Polo, Roska & Blase Vanguard.
Review: If we are talking about consistency, there are few figures with a more celebrated run than Roska, one of the true cornerstones of UK funky and its history within underground dance music. He returns to his home imprint RKAS for a wavy selection, kicking off with the swirling vocal melodies of Elle Delaney and the spacey chords on 'Give Me Some More'. Next, Aleisha Lee is enlisted to supply some smooth vocal additions on the groovy flavours of 'Tonight', before Tasty Lopez arrives for a blissful addition on the bouncy composition of 'Static'. From here, Aleisha Lee returns for more vocal work on the almost drill-like instrumental arrangements of 'What's Right', giving us a throwback feeling towards early grime creations. Finally, Roska rides out solo on the crunchy drum designs, pulsating sub movements and progressive chord movements of 'Internal Sunshine' to see out this fabulous new collection in style.
