Review: Vibes o'clock! Acid Lab returns to Weapons Of Choice with two springy slabs of bone-shaking grit. 'Don't You' has a deeper twist with its loose bouncy breaks, stripped back vibe and subtle rave elements in the hoovers and the pads. 'Final Warning' takes us a little deeper into the shadows with its gnarled Reese and rattling percussion. Timeless tear-ups.
Review: Weapons Of Choice rally up the troops once again for another crucial 'Wild Bunch' collection and, as you'd expect, it's an absolutely blazing bounty of futuristic D&B fire. Sitting somewhere in the dark corners between neuro, dancefloor, jump-up and jungle - with an exciting international rollcall of artists - the full VA reflects the label's wide-armed and no-nonsense style. From big horn-heaved festival skankers such as Krak In Dub's 'Life Pon The Line' to minimal flare-ups like Nemy's Vitiligo', the full spectrum is covered here. Extra fistbumps go to Arkange's insane 'Get Bullet' for it's absolutely twisted riff on 'Get Bullet'. Wild by name, wild by nature.
Review: It's time to up the pressure on this next set of sizzlers as Prestige touches down on Weapons Of Choice Recordings for two potent creations, encompassing the more raucous side of new school rollers. We open up with 'Side Effects', a weapon that holds an eerie introduction, leading to a lethal combination of synthetic mastery and crunchy drum production. From here, 'Vision Of The Future' then rears it's head for another slap of high energy goodness. This time however we are greeted by another collection of unique synth sounds and reesey growls, again, set to leave the dancefloor in an absolute state!
Review: German maestro Acid Lab lands his stripped-back sonic spacecraft at Weapons Of Choice HQ for a four-track session of pure minimal jungle menace. Pure drums and bass and no unnecessary flab or filler, each of these tracks seem tailor made for 3am at Rupture when chaos reaches peak intensity. Highlights include the harrowing subs and cut-throat breaks of 'Natty Dub' and the jazzy swing and pneumatic stepper feel of 'Amon Re' but the whole EP is deadly. Big up Mr Lab each and every time.
Review: Following a streak of releases this year from Yatuza, Confusious and L-Kind, Weapons of Choice Recordings usher in their first compilation for the year in style. Looking to the remix for inspiration, Command Strange is first up taking on Confusious with a ragga-tipped, stepped-up, rave-rolling bomb! New kid on the block Lankzi goes 'back & forth' with a sweet vocal rhythm and workout of Conrad Subs's heavy original, with Quadrant & Iris perfectly liquifying Gunston's "Stay Real". With some horror themes and supernatural motifs taking over the atmospheric passages of FX909's Malicious, Molecular's remix caps off a fresh update of Weapons of Choice Recordings' fine back catalogue.
Review: Weapons of Choice are here with their latest release for the newly upon us summer season, a single from L-Kind. This label always bring out the goods with their tunes and this release is no different, sitting very nicely in the modern, up-to-date brand of attitude-filled D&B pioneered by the likes of Serum and Bou. 'Traffic' exemplifies this perfectly, with a rough and diving bassline that will definitely sit well with the discerning D&B head. 'Vision' is also wicked, with a sense of clarity in the low frequencies that cuts through right to the core. Yes yes.
Review: Rising Aussie artist Confusious returns after last year's stunning Context Audio EP with this beastly two-tracker on Weapons Of Choice. 'Who Knows' studies at the school of Break. Crisp splashy breaks, a fizzy, fuzzy bullet-like bassline and an array of trippy FX, this kicks like a whole school of mules. 'Ground Zero' takes us to even darker pastures with a big MC vocal hook on the fills and swooping cutless bass strikes. Watch out for the sudden drop into halftime - moody than a lockdown breakup.
Review: Weapons of Choice are an insurgent force of a label who have been steadily growing for the last few years. Yatuza is the latest producer to join the family and his offering is one of stripped back sonics and fierce minimalism, a nod to the label's stylistic grounding and a reflection of his sound. Its title track - 'Macumba' - is a big tune that keeps to a ferocious pace in drums which smack of the old school, whilst a flurry of hats and rippling basslines keep things moving as well. The rest of the EP is also pure gold as well - proper drum & bass for true heads.
Review: Hot on the heels of his exceptional debut album 'No Gear All Idea' on Incurzion comes another sonic assault from young UK new-gen badman No Patterns, this time on Weapons Of Choice. Two sides, two vibes; across the EP we get to hear the two of No Pattern's contrasts. "Extraterrestrials" is a curmudgeonly stepper with trippy arpeggio flourishes and some great spoken word samples. "Don't Stop", meanwhile, is much funkier with some ace sax blasts peppering a slinky fat-bottomed dark funk work out. Both kill it. No Patterns has really made an impression this year.
Review: There's a scurrilous rumour going round that PA is short for PAIN - the pain you feel when his music hits you like an elephant stampede as it hurtles from the speakers. There's another rumour going round that PA stands for Petrol Addict - and that he drinks gallons of the stuff during his epic studio sessions. We can't corroborate these rumours but we do know that if you don't jump on both of these uncompromised bruisers you'll feel the pain of FOMO and your car may run out of petrol as you drive around to every DJ friend you know trying to blag a copy. Certy heavyweight business.
Review: Coda & Coy are taking us back in time this week with their latest single, this one on Weapons of Choice Recordings, by rolling things out over two tracks in the stripped back, sample heavy style so renowned in the 1990s. The title tune packs a sample you'll have heard from producers like L-Side, and it stretches its legs over a wonderfully subtle yet hard hitting combination of moving basses and rolling drums. The flip-side features more nostalgic sampling, which builds a ravey atmosphere into a feeling of suspense, cut away on the drop in wicked fashion. Sick single.
Review: Everyone likes a good compilation, right? What's better than having as big a range of artists as possible in one condensed place? It's essentially an album with the ease of listening of a single, so we're all for it. Weapons of Choice have come out with the first edition of The Wild Bunch and it's packed full of bangers, one of those albums which doesn't try to be cool or sophisticated by chucking in a few fillers for the sake of diversity - it's just hard stuff here, with a couple of exceptions llike Viewer's liquid number 'Way to Express'. It works great, with Meladee's 'Weed & Walgreens' the highlight, its driving, bubbling basses intermingling with a fresh sense of movement.
Review: KC is a wicked little artist and Weapons of Choice have picked him and MC Astro up for this rough and ready collection of urban-edged sounds that'll please those who enjoy low-roofed, sweaty raves. 'Night Time Rollin'' has that old-school drum sound that's been lost these days amidst the fever over crisp mixdowns and perfect harmonies, this track choosing instead the road of vibes that are industrial and guttural in equal measure, each inch drips with attitude and this track really doesn't mess around in any sense. The others are equally devastating, especially the second VIP of the EP, 'Not Today', which packs fat stabs underneath Astro's sweet vocal injection.
Review: Gunston is an artist who resides on the stripped-back, more minimal end of the spectrum and he's landed on Weapons of Choice Recordings for a really, really slick four-tracker that just generally pops off. The title track is our pick of the bunch, which has a pulsating sub-bass underneath a snapping, crackling percussive line that has that satisfying edge all quality drum lines should have. It's a properly cool tune that characterises the whole EP from the start in a seriously good way. 'Come Again' is awesome as well, with a growling back end which rises and falls in tandem with the power of the percussive.
Review: Nuvaman has come out with two proper rollers here. 'Signals' is floaty and atmospheric in its introduction and it rolls over nicely into the main body of the tune, with wobbling sub basses and skippy drum lines doing all the work, and what good work it is. 'Future 95' sees a return of the rave piano but it's not being used in the traditional sense, instead leading you in to a huge foghorn that reverberates around the entire range, seemingly getting bigger each time. Nuvaman has pulled out the stops on this one and constructed a single that isn't really worth missing, so don't.
Review: DJ Vapour isn't a name we're overly familiar with, but Weapons of Choice have picked him up for this rough and ready collection of urban-edged sounds that'll please those who enjoy low-roofed, sweaty raves. 'Arachnid' has that old-school drum sound that's been lost these days amidst the fever over crisp mixdowns and perfect harmonies, this track choosing instead the road of vibes that are industrial and guttural in equal measure, each inch drips with attitude and this track really doesn't mess around in any sense. The others are equally devastating, even the last tune - 'Take Over' which starts on a lighter note, ends up being a pummelling collection of sounds. Good stuff.
Review: Veak - after a short hiatus - is back and it's pretty impressive stuff and a welcome sight after his little break. The title track is wide, forceful and ceaselessly crazy, an arrangement of limit-breaking synths coming together in a surprisingly melodic arrangement - one for the raves. 'Opposed Gravity', 'Run De Riddim, 'Make Some Noise' and 'Horns Of Jungle' are all in a similar vein, just pure dancefloor killers with the energy to keep you going once the sun starts hitting your face. 'Just A Warning'' is a bit different, a wobbling, junglist stepper with appropriately ragga sampling and siney sub bass dives that lend it a slick feel.
Review: Ruffneck roustabout The Force dents the ever bulging WOC discography with two barnstorming shockouts; "Black Hole" will fling you around the galaxy from here to Omicron Persei 8 on a rocket made of pure concentrate nuclear bassline gully while "Warlord" wobbles harder than your ma at a twerk off on a bouncy castle. Balanced with a classic movie score sample, it's an instant nod to Full Cycle at its funkiest bassline peak. The Force is strong once again...
Review: You shoot, you score... Weapons Of Choice look back over the last two years of killer rollers and thumpers and recruit a rollcall of hurter-mongers for some updates. The seemingly ubiquitous Bou returns with a savage shakedown of Saxxon's "Weapons", L Side flips Simplification's "Awesome Days" into a crazy amen munching sea serpent, Redeyes adds some dreamy charm to Dave Owen's "Twin Stars" while Jayline gives Mr Explicit's "Funk Ya System" an absolute foghorning. Full El Dude Brothers business, this has the power of at least 100 truckers all learning on the horn at once. Shots fired!
Review: The Furney fires keep burning as he makes his debut on DJ Slap's WOC. Marking the seventh release on the label with the title "Seventh" even though there are actually eight tracks (we won't tell trading standards if you don't!) each cut shows a different side to Furney ranging from restrained, stripped back timeless rolling soul to much darker subversive adventures. From the classic samplecraft on "Trading Minds" to the precision balance of shiny synths and moodier bass on "Jah Quero Down" via the brilliant string sample and rubber ball rave bassline on "Seventh", this is a deeply detailed and diverse collection from one of the most consistent men in the dark soul game. Feeling lucky?
First Things First (feat The Ragga Twins) - (4:35) 172 BPM
Wondering Why - (4:14) 175 BPM
The Unknown - (5:23) 172 BPM
Lights & Lasers - (5:18) 175 BPM
Another Dimension - (4:51) 175 BPM
Last Night - (5:49) 173 BPM
Review: Calling all camps and crews and corners of the game! DJ Limited is here with an EP that genuinely ticks every D&B box under the sun. No boundaries, just realness; whether it's the late-2000s Sub Focus style uplifting riff magic on "Lights & Lasers", the restrained weaves and flows on the rolling soul piece "The Unknown", the grimy jittering frazzles of "Wondering Why", the cheeky funk and Flinty and Deaman's dancehall scorches on "The Unknown", the skin-scorching BC-style electrified rippage of "Another Dimension" or the trippy 24th century jazz of "Last Night", we guaranteed Limited has got you and your unique tastes covered with this powerful EP. Unlimited vibes.
Review: Welcome to the theatre of war; longstanding Dread affiliate Mr Explicit is your general and you'll follow his every order. You'll load up your rifles and fire a salute to the ravaging, groaning bass "Caution", you'll be doing the pincer movement all the way from here to 2023 to "Funk Ya System", the persistent percussion and jittering bass will have you shooting and scooting while the sweeping bass saws on "Mental Scars" are pure ambush material. Finally "Positive Vibez" will win you every battle with its feel-heavy dubby textures and barbed wire breaks. Find, fix, flank and finish. Your mission is complete.
Review: This is a well round 360 EP and it's great to see one producer blending so many styles od our beloved spectrum. 'Awesome Days' is a chilled out techy roller with crips amens and whole loads of sci-fi sound effects. 'Double Trouble' completely flips the script with a dark and brooding sub and a creepy underwater feeling. Switching it up again 'Madness' leads us down a more intense dancefloor orientated route, with jump up sounds and a beautifully soulful vocal. 'You Know' has a Metalheadz feel with crashing drums, an emotive and ethereal pads.
Review: This five-track assault boasts more dancefloor destroyers from the Weapons of Choice camp, this time via sharp-shooting twosome NC-17. On the A-side they're joined by like-minded battlefield lieutenant The Voss, who helps the duo turn "Scanners" into a fiendishly dark, fuzzy, stomping and weighty fusion of skittish D&B breakbeats, thrusting electronics and hushed vocal samples. Norfolk-based producer Saxxon lends a hand on B1 "King of Bronx", a punchy, hot-stepping workout full of mind-altering sub-bass, fizzing percussion fills and cut-up vocal samples. Finally, they pay tribute to Stanley Kubrick in the only way they know how on "Kubrickville", an all-out assault on the senses that's as dystopian as they come.
Review: Respectfully honouring one Dillinja's finest tunes in their name and respectfully honouring our ears in their short-but-super-sweet output so far, DJ Slap's WOC imprint is kicking with serious statements of intent. Following Saxxon's launch, US firebrand Dave Owen takes over with three equally on-point compositions; "Breaking Through" sits somewhere between Utah Jazz and Need For Mirrors with its rushy pianos and wasp-like electrified bass sizzles, "Twin Stars" takes us deeper into a more soulful introspective thanks to its ghostly vocal moans and weeping strings, "Run The Jewels" shuts down the show with the biggest weapon in the cabinet. A gully, swampy tech funk roller with heavy halftime sensibilities. All bases covered, all shots fired. Bring on WOC3!
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