Review: It's that time of year again! The scene's longest-standing platform Drum&BassArena step up with their annual flagship album and once again it's a fitting salute to all corners, all shades and all styles of the rich, wide scene. 60 tracks deep comprising absolute bangers and bliss-outs from the likes of Chase & Status, Noisia & Phace, K-Motionz, Rockwell, DJ Hybrid, GLXY and Seba, it's also home to exclusives from Kyrist, Brookes Brothers, Bou & Simula, Kanina, Kove and A.M.C & Turno. From jungle to jump-up, liquid to dancefloor and complete with three killer mixes for life when you're not practicing your double/triple/quadruple drops, Drum&BassArena continue to celebrate the widest possible scene.
Review: Liquid D&B 4 Autism return with another exciting VA to raise money for charities that help those with autism, especially in countries where support isn't accessible or available. The turn-out, as with the previous collection in 2020, is immense with a whole host of talents stepping up with vibes galore ranging over 50 tracks. Highlights include the solemn yearns of Edward Oberon's 'Love Will Get Us Through', Anthony Kasper's warm and stretchy 'Life Ain't Perfect', Bachelors Of Science's 'Light Me Up' and Furney's hazy 'De La Soul Saturday' but that really is just the tip of what this album has to offer. Get involved and support a great cause.
Review: Bang! There'd been hushed tones of this opus for well over a year, and at a whopping 29 tracks, it's been well worth the wait. Showcasing their widest repertoire, within the first trio of tracks we're already treated to Latino swing breaks, new jungle jiggery and dramatic dubstep. This wide-eared vibe embracement runs throughout consistently; "Hey Mr DJ" rattles a few electro-hop cages, "Countdown" is quintessential booty-bass heaven complete with delectable UK hip-hop rhymage, while "You Can Be My Night" shoots us up to planet D&B on a floaty carpet of rave heritage. A solid calling card to every party in town, it's time to get bouncing...
Review: The ever-dependable 'Katakana Edits' series rolls on, and while this latest installment might not win PECOE any deep diggin' brownie points, it does pack some very serviceable dancefloor-friendly reworks of classic cuts from days gone by. Leading the charge for this reviewer is 'Ice & Snow', which does unspeakable but very satisfactory things to Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song', but elsewhere you get a fresh take on 'Jingo', 'Grandmaster Mash' fuses 'White Lines' with chunks of the rap from 'The Message', while 'Bold Sister' revisits James Brown's 'Bold Soul Sister' - leaving only the 60s deep funk source for 'You Can't Hide' unidentified.
Review: Katakana Edits first compilation, 2017's "Crate Diggin", was an epic collection of high-grade re-edits, mash-ups and reworks packed to the rafters with tried-and-tested dancefloor treats. This belated follow-up is even more epic, with the popular label squeezing in no less than 50 tracks that variously touch on riotous disco-funk, dub disco, new wave, disco-rock, deep funk, Afro-boogie, swamp funk, Latin beats, boogie, pitched-down chuggers, boogaloo, hip-hop and everything in between. You'd expect that standard to be high - it is a "best of" collection after all - and it is. If you need an instant armoury of scintillating club cuts, look no further.
Review: With Valentines Day just around the corner, Editorial changes tack and takes a step into the world of loved-up, slo-mo groovery. It's a smart move. They've got some great up-and-coming producers involved, with Matthew Kyle's pal Joseph Terruel and Aussie moustache man Rocco Raimundo both offering deliciously deep, spine-tingling rubs. The latter's epic, filter-heavy "Looking For You" is arguably one of the best things he's done to date - a sinewy, string-laden disco slow dance that should impress all but the most miserable of disco purists. Heion's "Run" and DJ Steef's "I Can Win" are gorgeous, too, offering loopy, bass-heavy grooves with just the right amount of lip-smacking charm.
Review: DJ Hybrid continues doing bits for the scene as he lays down this massive 31 track selection on Deep In The Jungle. Reflecting exactly where the mother genre is at right now in 2021, he's dug deep for a whole range of flavours, including a few cheeky exclusives. Every track is a banger but you'd be mad not to check Crom and Rider Shafique's theatrical slap-about 'Change', Xav's mind-blowing shock-out '1993', Mrs Magoo & DJ Hybrid's stripped-back and purring 'Back To 96' and the absolutely foul behaviour of Kumarachi & Epicentre with 'Patterns'. Trust us, this isn't even the tip of this jungle iceberg - cop it and bop it!
Review: Seriously large compilation to dip into here with the ragga vocals of Blade Runner's remix to Marvellous Cain a bomb to start with. Scale yourself further down the 60 selection and you'll find several cuts from Mexican crewman Isaac Maya to raving tear outs from Soulculture. Tim Ryan All Stars serves up something easier on the ears for those red stripe afternoons in the sun, while for something a little more soulful and liquid - perfect for the peak time - check out Sound Shifter's "Loving You Forever". Old school Hospital Records vibes. We said it once and we'll say it again, seriously big.
Review: What a monsterous collection of creations we have here as we explore the full range of breakbeat influences, from slower, more clunky original creations, to garage inspired rollers and everything in-between. The sheer mass of this collection is one of it's immediate charms as we are gifted over 50 originals and remixes, each one bringing something unique to the table from a supporting cast including the likes of Origin8a & Propa, Benton, MKII, Deekline, Samurai Breaks and more. The constant changes of direction and expansionary sense of sonic inclusion are both big yesses from us, with our favourites including 9Trane's nostalgic bubbler 'Thuggish', next to the housey piano drives of Herve's 'Live Together' and the old school garage flavour of Matt Jam Lamont, Echelon & Tuff Culture, who join focus for 'Massive & Crew'. Tidy work indeed!
Review: We can think of few DJs more suited to compile a retrospective of killer 1990s house and garage than Z Records boss Joey Negro and Fanatix member Neil Pierce. It's perhaps unsurprising then that this follow-up to Negro's admired 2015 compilation is packed to the rafters with must-have treats. There are naturally some suitably big cuts present - see Kerri Chandler's fine mix of N-Joi's "Anthem" and Todd Terry's rub of Martha Walsh's "Runaround" - but for the most part the selections will be new to all but a small collection of veteran US garage enthusiasts. Our highlights include the riff-powered goodness of Slam Mode's "100% Power", Marshall Jefferson's deep dub of Screamin' Rachael's "Rock Me" and the soulful rush of Donald O's "Everything's Gonna Be Alright".
Review: Italian breaks rejigger The Captain returns with two new excellent mash-ups on the latest Resense release - with "We Will Rock You" melding stadium rock with a canny Latin bassline, while Earth Wind & Fire's "Can't Hide Love" gets a similarly slow and South American makeover on "You Can't Hide".
Review: Deep In The Jungle Records is a UK jungle imprint that have been making bigger and bigger waves over the past several years, a big part of which is their affinity for fat compilations that straddle numerous sub-genre boundaries and which represent lots of different artists. This next one is about classics and it features artists like Conrad Subs, Kumarachi, DJ Hybrid, Kartoon and more. Conrad Subs is a favourite of ours and his cut, Takeover, is a wicked, deep rolling piece of work that packs a sick bassline, one which makes you think of late-night raving at its finest. This is a top compilation from a star label of the new wave.
Review: Gatto Fritto set the bar high with his selections for last year's first "The Sound of Love International" compilation, so it's a thrilling surprise to find that this follow-up - featuring cuts selected by Max D and Ari Goldmann AKA Beautiful Swimmers - boasts an even more inspired track list. The Washington DC-based duo evokes the spirit of the Croatian festival behind the series via the synth-heavy Afro-Balearic bliss of Plunky's "African Sunset", the new age dancefloor shuffle of Svend Unseth's "Aquilla Aquela", the vintage deep house dreaminess of Mark Goddard's "Tiny's First Journey", the pitched-up R&B vocals and hot-stepping B-more beats of KW Griff's "Be Ya Girl" and the sparkling piano riffs and smooth New Jersey house grooves of Spirit Garden's "Electra City".
Review: For reasons not made clear, the esteemed Gomma label collared Peaches and decided to record some cover versions of tracks from the back catalogue of the iconic Casablanca Records label. Purists might sneer at the mere idea of this concept but the end products are undeniably fun (and its refreshing to hear Ms Nisker actually sing as opposed to, you know, act like Peaches). Moullineux step up first with a burning punk funk rendition of Flashdance's "Maniac", whilst Telonius' take on Donna Summer's "Our Love" gets bonus points for having Mr Harold Faltemeyer on keys! Other highlights in the eight track include Munk's chunky disco funk take on the Stephanie Mills classic "You Can't Run From My Love" whilst the ever excellent Phenomenal Handclap Band embellish the Halloween standard "Walk The Night" with their own distinct brand of loose limbed funk.
Review: Armada Music 20 Years Classics pays homage to dance music's rich history and aims to educate a new generation of fans about the artists who shaped the genre. There's classics galore on this one as you'd expect, with several bangers by label chief Armin Van Burren, in addition to seminal anthems such as Joe Smooth's "Promised Land", Inner City's "Good Life" (remastered), Chez Damier's "Can You Feel It" (New York extended dub) and Olav Basoski's "Waterman" (extended mix), as well as appearances by newer artists like ANOTR, Patrick Topping and Jan Blomquist.
Review: Mark Knight's label brings together some of the sounds that were showcased over the course of the ADE. Basement Jaxx kick start the compilation with the stomping disco house of "Never Say Never", while Harry Romero shows that he's not just a US house head. Working with Doorly, he drops "The Truth", a tough techno track, led by heavy claps. The techno influence lingers on Maceo Plex's "Conjure Superstar", which features an unusual combination of rave sirens and sublime, 808 State-style synths. As is the case in the wider electronic world, this reinvention of the past is in abundance on Amsterdam 2014 and apart from Plex's track, the most impressive contribution is Dosem's "Chase the Link", which sounds like a particularly dark version of vintage Lil Louis.
Review: Well, the UK's Shifting Peaks have really gone and done it with this latest leviathan of a compilation, an anthology of their best and most wanted from 2010 until now. Inside, there's talent and plenty of club antics bouncing off the wall left, right and centre; with over fifty cuts there's enough to go around and satisfy a whole artillery of bass-heads. Some of the stand-outs for us are Tessela's "Yes You Can", Hackman's "Always", "Put You Down" by Odessa, and OM Unit's remix of "Reach Out" by Nphonix. What a belter,
go forth and indulge!
Review: A must have for DJs looking to get the sound of Toolroom into their mixes, House Party Vol. 6 is full of the freshest new music from some of the hottest acts right now, Boasting a huge a total of 70 tracks plus three album guest mixes by label staples Sllash & Doppe, Jaded, Paige and Nihil Young. Highlights come from: KC Lights & Leo Stannard who serve up some super soulful vocal deep house on "Cold Light", Danny Howard teams up with Eli & Fur on the glassy eyed and bittersweet euphoria of "Next To Me", the return of legend Hatiras (with Vincent Caira) on the low slung and jazzy joint "It's All Right", as well as Chicago stalwart Anthony Attalla nailing that rolling main room tech house vibe on "Don't Stop" and some slinky and hypnotic progressive house from Rauschaus and Peer Kusiv on "Mesopotamia".
Review: Long-standing German tech-house legend Steve Bug, founder of both Pokerflat and Dessour, returns to the latter label with something a bit special, and likely to satisfy all of your DJ needs. The producing don has taken it upon himself to remix a twelve tunes, all from different artists that have shaped the sound of house and techno as we know it today. You'll find Bug's retouches on artists like Simon Baker, Manuel Tur, and even Lovebirds. However, the special moments come from his sleek Re-Dub of Chez Damier's mythical house bomb "New York Dub", a stripped back edit of Laurent Garnier's "Whistle For Frankie, and the gorgeously deep swells of his remix of "Pensum" by Francis Harris. Masterful, and very much recommended.
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