Review: Roska's fifth album - Late Nights, Early Flights - takes a captivating instrumental journey through the realms of UK Funky and beyond. With grooves for days, the album explores various styles within the genre, emphasising the melodic side with spacious drums, incorporating orchestral soundscapes, and showcasing a percussive flair, all while maintaining a playful and club-ready vibe. Inspired by a successful tour of Asia, Roska channels his love for red-eye flights into the studio, creating something enjoyable and fun that in equal parts goes deep, heavy, techy and dubbed-out while always remaining atmospheric.
Review: What better way to kick start the year than to land a lethal dosage of UK Funky on your own imprint, that also happens to be the finest in the game? That is exactly what Roska is up to as 'Better Be' delivers a squelching squeeze through west-coast style synth melodies and euphoric chord progressions, kicking off the EP with a high dosage of original funky energy. Next, 'Frustration' a more minimal take on the classic funky sound, focussing on uniquely designed synthesiser pokes and bass stabs, before the project draws to a close on 'Scribbles', a low-ended goliath that packs a serious punch for the ravers. After this many years at the top of the tree, it's safe to say there really is no better UK funky veteran!
Review: The king himself Roska has once again delivered two slices of funky goodness with this wicked new project, exploring two eastern-inspired rollers, cascading with original melody and stunning drum work throughout. First up, 'Curious' gives us a very sub-heavy design, focussing on whirling bass notation and unique rhythmic assistance from some super original sound design. The party then intensifies as 'Heung-Min Son Interlude' then delivers a more stripped back approach, focussing on a bulbous 808-driven leading bassline and catchy vocal samples to match. Two more absolute weapons from the UK funky forefather.
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: 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.
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