Review: Having bubbled for quite some time on labels such as Soul Trader and NWS and Marvellous Cain's RIQ, it's Shiftin Beatz where K-I has truly flourished with a whole slew of rollers over the last two years and this "Love Letter" EP is his most accomplished full spectrum release to date. All styles covered as the young London artist expresses his passion for all forms of D&B: the hurricane vocal tear ups ("Love Letter") the soulful subtleties and restrained barbed groaners ("Never Change", "Like You VIP") the tunnelling dark style rollers ("The Sith", "Pull The Trigger") and the whirlwind emotional moments ("The Journey") The full trip, navigated with love, K-I is in full control.
Review: Shift the bed, this is premium gear... For an act who only started releasing this year, Stompz has lived up to his name in a highly impressive way. Just from gut-kick drone on "The Box", the opener on this killer six-track EP, you know you're in for a treat. Elsewhere "Don't Talk" plays hell with your senses via its spaced-out drain bass, the reverse bass weirdness on "Starkiller" gets you all tripped-out, warped and paranoid, and the precision percussion and classic speed garage samples on "Serious Riddem" hit hard with a Dread-style roll-out. For added darkness just on the Charge-style riff monster "Talkin" while "Wormhole" closes the show with some stripped back minimal mayhem. Stompz isn't messing around here.
Review: This EP was always gonna be a winner for us, we were already big fans of the original tracks and the VIP's breath new life into them. The music floats in the dark and merky underground world where techy, nuero rollers meet noisey jump up bangers, it's a great place to be. 'Afterlife VIP' starts the EP with twisted basslines, a shuffling drum pattern and awakening risers. 'Let's Play' gets out the jump up classic pneumatic tool kit sample pack, with low drops and an onslaught of pounding drums. 'Smile VIP' is our highlight of this EP, it's itchy to the pointy of skin crawling and the bass deadly. 'Say What' is a high energy stepper, which centers around an uncommon glassy type of noise.
Review: AK and Digibit release the third volume of "Shift'D" and once again it's time to lifted. The emphasis is on the label's freshest talent with a clear focus on range and depth; Martyn Nytram sets the scene with a grizzling techy stepper, Stompz nods his cap towards to the Headz foundation with alien groans, tight two-step and late-entering jazzy chords, Critical Matter lays down a vicious wasp-like tech stomper than wouldn't have gone amiss on Virus during Audio's tenure while label newcomer Project concludes the story with a genuinely singular fusion of sunset guitars, brimstone beats and a trippy high end bass that really brings together. Gifted.
Review: They don't call him Stompz for nothing... This young rising northerner is laying down some genuinely toxic bass funk here. Following his debut on Shiftin Beatz just last month, he's back with two more scorching, jumpy blends. "Story Time" plays hell with your senses with its seasick harmonics on the higher end of the bass while "Stutter" pounds out it melody with a short sharp electric shocks. Buzzing.
Review: Critical Matter lives up to his name once again with two certified barn-melters on Shiftin Beatz. "Phantoms" snarls and bumps with a dark twisted funk that could be compared to DC Breaks when they're in shredder mode. "Night Error" flips with a long, drawn-out cut-throat groaning bassline that cuts through the mix with cutlass dynamics. Situation Critical.
Review: Palindromatic drama from Peer Pressure affiliate Martyn Nytram as he makes his Shiftin Beatz debut with four deep, stern jungle rollers. "Eyes Wide Shut" undulates with subby prowess before iced out pads take over and a sharp one line from Raphael brings the vibe together. "Feel You" follows on an even icier tip as its elements create a sensation of walking through a dark alley in the fog at night. Creepy business. Elsewhere "Run This" strips back to a bulging widescreen sub and classic breaks and "Like A Drug" adds a paranoid feel with the sweeping reverse pads and occasional drops into Critical-style bass glitches. An accomplished EP from a UK artist on the rise.
Jayline - "Mutiny" (feat MC Co Defender) - (4:34) 175 BPM
Jayline - "Mutiny" (feat MC Co Defender - vocal dub) - (4:34) 175 BPM
Jayline/Omega G - "Submariner" - (4:27) 175 BPM
Review: There's something about MC Co Defender's vocal style that instantly recalls a million classic rave tape packs. Serious command with a less is more approach, fuse it with Jayline's switches between jagged bass and soothing jazz chords and you've got yourself a timeless slice of classic rave-primed jump up. Looking for more of a heads-down stepper? "Submariner" will hit the spot. Gruesome.
Review: After a series of strong-armed dispatches on Clawhammer throughout 2015, Simskai makes his debut on Digibit's Shifin Beatz with a firing four-tracker: while "Magician" doesn't pull any rabbits out of hats, it will certainly transform your dancefloor into chaos, "People" is a lesson in minimalism as a gurgling bassline drapes itself subtly over concrete drums while "The One" takes us deep into the robot's most romantic psyche. Finally we climax with "Cruel". Loaded and coded with a devilish laugh and tungsten tip bass slaps, it lives up to its name.
Review: Mayhem and Fingaz write two new cliffhanger chapters in the book of Silent Storm; "Deja vu" sets a raw late 90s tone with deep references to the likes of Moving Fusion and early incarnations of Bad Company thanks to its unrelenting drive and unapologetic sense of darkness. "Freek Sack" boots us into an apocalyptic future where sandpaper basslines and sharp two-steps act as hard currency and are regularly traded for rolling shakers and hi-hats. Vicious.
Review: It's been a while since we last saw Kezman on Shiftin Beatz. During that time he's learnt a valuable-but-tough lesson: crime doesn't pay. Making foul, dirt-chomping Hazard-style basslines does pay off, though. As proved on these two midnight murkers. "Crimes Don't Pay" harbours higher-end middy wasp bass while "Tongue Twister" takes the tones down an octave or two for something much more harrowing. Criminally decent.
Review: Following his gnarly jump-up juice on Soundbully earlier this year, UK up-and-comer Fatality gets busy on Basildon-based imprint Shiftin? Beatz. Sporting a deeper, leaner steez throughout the release, each of these four cuts sit pretty in axis between the likes of Shogun, Playaz and Critical as naked drums punctuate with chiselled power and persistence. Highlights include the immersive sub arrangement and faraway string tones on ?Did You Hear That?? and the creeped out neuro moans of the cheerfully titled ?Dire Suffering?. Talk about living up to your artist name.
Review: Belgium's Nightfang - wolf by name, wolf by nature - lands on Shiftin Beatz with a barrel-load of heavy beats and raucous low-ends. The title track "Ghost Smile" is perhaps not as bad and as nasty as you'd think given the name, but "Time Bomb" - featuring the great Jack The Ripper - is all monstrous wobble, jump-up beats and sirens blasting. "What You Killll" and "Optimus Prime" both continue the young man's search for the nastiest, most growling bassline on the old Logic sound bank.
Review: Bristolian upstart Monstrosity serves up four cups of jump-up juice so strong that just a sniff will turn you green and hairy. "War Machine" is a Konichi-style bone-shaker with its clipped bass hits and cement-style drums. "By The Numbers" takes Full Metal Jacket samples and wraps them around broken glass bass groans. "Fear" takes us deeper into the darkness with church bells and interesting kick arrangements while "Nasty Place" lives up to its name with more deep throat bass and string samples straight out of the most nail-biting horror flick you ever did see. Gruesome.
Review: Straight outta Basildon comes more drum and bass steppin' with attitude courtesy of Shiftin' Beatz. Title track "Bareback" is all darkside low end therapy complete with spooky sci-fi breakdowns. "Big Mouth" is on the more experimental tip and explores interesting half-time signatures reminiscent of dBridge's Autonomic period. Next up "Rewind" is sure to live up to its title; a true roller complete with evil metallic strikes; or are they demonic voices? Finally "The Game" is straight up peak time tech-step, reminiscent of hometown legends Moving Fusion.
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