Review: The most prolific man in drum & bass, Conrad Subs returns to Ray Keith's Dubplate Dread for the first time since 2020 with a humungous wedge of wallopers. Seven cuts in total, each one of them tailored for those magic 3am moments, big moments range from the gruesome growls and grizzles of 'Octavirus' to the pure raucous shreds and slaps of the title track 'Real Dread', a cut which really does live up to its name. Oh boy, this could well be Conrad Subs' mightiest EP so far, which is really saying something. Real talk.
Review: Whenever we see the 1985 Music banner sailing into port, we know we are in for a good time, especially when it carries goods of the level of these from VIsages, who continues to impress with another killer 4 track drop. We open up with the title track 'Dol Guldur', a gnarly fusion of metallic bass tones, neurotic drums and spiced up vocals, followed by Snowy's high energy vocal performance on 'Evidently', a serious grimey throwback. Next, the more ethereal vocal slides and mind-melting synth pads of 'Panacea' flip the themes of the EP right on their head, with a killer vocal appearance from Killa P on 'The Most' giving us the final dash of juice to round this EP off in serious style.
Review: Art of Tones fantastic collaborative EP with live disco-jazz outfit Chatobaron, last year's 'Flight of the Comet', have been given the remix treatment. The EP begins with a trio of takes on 'Ban The Disco'. Crackazat steps up first with a UK garage-influenced deep house revision rich in musical colour, before Bruno Hovart dons his familiar Patchworks alias for a luscious, all-live take that sits somewhere between deep disco, jazz-funk and organic house. If you're looking for a little more energy, check Paul Cut's driving, Rhodes-laden revision of the same track. Elsewhere, the 'Raw Analog Funk Remix' of 'Pendant Ce Temps La A Vera Cruz' is a languid, warm and richly organic deep house treat, while Tiurbojazz's take on 'Flight of the Comet' is a slow-motion, sax and piano-laden head-nodder with added Balearic sunshine.
Review: Long live team Alpha Pup, an excellently organised project that have moved onto the third edition of their epic '20/20' compilation series, exploring the most lethal reaches of underground bass music. Featuring hard hitting originals from the likes of Ivy Lab, Dismantle, Rocks FOE, Bakey and more, it's clear that the team have gone all out on this collection, with sounds ranging as wide as the hardcore inspired mysticism of 'Naananaana' from Rohaan, to the industrial techno-flavours of Ila Brugal's 'Cynical'. The whole project packs a punch, but our highlights would have to include both the intense metallic madness of Deft's 'OKURTHEEXPERT', alongside Manni Dee's monstrous 'Wet Slide' creation. Top work all around!
Review: Oh gosh! Whether you're massively into Deep In The Jungle but you've got a few holes in your collection that need filling, or you've just started getting into this side of the music, this 60+ anthem collection is an amazing resource for all modern day junglists. Curated by bossman DJ Hybrid, this collection takes us back through the label's history and cherry picks an amazing array of peaktime wounders, bruisers and bubblers. To pick one or two highlights from such a generous collection doesn't feel right so let us advise you to take in that tracklist, press play and totally vibe out to some of the best jungle bangers made in the last 11 years. Mad love to the DITJ crew!
Review: In keeping with the approach of its predecessors, the fourth annual Boogie Angst compilation brings together "cool cuts" from the past year and a smattering of exclusives and previously unreleased gems. As you'd expect from a label helmed by Kraak & Smaak, it's a genuinely joyous and celebratory affair, packed to the rafters with party-starting workouts. For proof, check the revivalist disco-boogie cheeriness of Titeknots' 'Feels Good 2 Me', the future soul shuffle of 'Treat U Good' by Moods, Noah Slee, Lyriya & Meron, the summery electrofunk sunshine that is Art of Tones' kaleidoscopic rework of LUXXURY's 'Just Like It Was Before', the Rhodes-laden warmth of Kraak & Smaak's nostalgic 'All I Need' and the spiritually-enriching Latin deep house shuffle of Osunlade's Yoruba Soul rework of his Casbah 73 collaboration, 'Let's Invade The Amazon'.
Review: Monty Luke's Nightdubbing project on Rekids was designed to showcase the Black Catalogue boss's deep love of dub-infused house and techno. This 13-track album combines previously unheard cuts with nine tracks previously showcased across a pair of EPs of the same name. It's a fantastic set all told, with highlights including the smacked-out electro-dub headiness of opener '40 Acres and a Terrabyte', the extra-percussive deep dub-house hypnotism of 'Bob Molly', the after-hours friendly minimalism of 'Star Storms', the Detroit-goes-dub techno pulse of 'New World/Old Future', the classic dub techno warmth of 'Dark Paradise', and the dub-wise deep house dreaminess of 'Avantgarde Dancehall'. Throw in a handful of tidy ambient and digital dub tracks, and you have a genuinely superb long-player.
Review: Shim Shimah who got the keys to the beemer? Probably Shimah himself judging by the state of these purring futuristic grooves. Taking us right into a new dimension with his debut album, Shimah shows us how far he's come since his early moves on Playaz around 10 years ago. Flexing a vibe that one part sci-fi, two parts heavyweight and fully unique, Shimah's sound hits with that cosmic vibe that could fit between myriad of D&B subgenres with ease and style. Highlights include the album's twinkling title track, the heavy emotion and autonomic style halftime intro on 'Levitation' and rich trance elements of 'Disintegrate'. Stunning.
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