Review: Oh boy... Dave Jones has blessed us with six Zed Bias album (his eighth album in total if you include his Maddslinky LPs, and you really should) and the world immediately feels like a nicer, warmer place. Building on his deep foundations of space-aged soul, roomy drum arrangements and raw emotions, Different Response is riddled with timelessness and atmospheres that resonate with every corner of the dance from soul to jungle to techno; the slight vapour trails of Dego and powerful vocal pull of Eva Lazarus on "Restless", the gully gospel of "Lost Souls" with DRS, the cosmic synths and rattling footwork of "Just Like Ohm" and the badded up turbo bruk of "Jibba Jabba" are just some of the many delicious highlights on offer here. No one does it like Zed.
Review: Next up from Unchained Recordings, a very welcome visit from Zed Bias who delivers a very futuristic selection of half-time & drum and bass originals. We begin our look at this one with 'Beijing', a very exciting collaboration with the legendary Strategy in which Bias lays down a grizzly underbelly of scattered drum textures and gnarly subs, giving the perfect backdrop from Strategy to do what he does best. Next up, the calming atmospherics and distant whistles of 'Just Before Dawn' slow the pace slightly alongside G Force, before 'Doenca Tropical' gives us a much more unique sense of percussive design, looking at pinging individual drum hits and a spacious backdrop. Finally, we stray into a more footwork inspired world as 'In The Morning' unleashes a scintillating display of subby mastery, with catchy vocal slices to top it off and round this selection off in style.
Review: The latest release from Illum Sphere on Ninja Tune comes bolstered with so many remixes they actually come in before the original material on the tracklisting. Legowelt leads the charge with a superlative version of "Embryonic" heavy on bleeps and keyboard choir tones, before Lone delivers a sugar-sweet drum & bass interpretation. "Spectre Vex" meanwhile finds Illum Sphere exploring fulsome synth tones with a coldwave leaning, which leads neatly into the JTC and Charles Manier versions of "The Road" with their varied 80s stylings. Let's not overlook the charms of the Zed Bias version of "Sleeprunner" not to mention the other original material on the EP. It's a veritable feast of electronic ideas for those with eclectic palates.
Review: Dogger's Precinct hits its tenth release in true style with this beautiful VA from some of the label's nearest and dearest rolling out with soulful grace. Every track is a highlight as Dogger and Tyler link-up once again for the heart-breaking 'Try Again', LSB goes in deep and driving with his dream 'Dixieland' while Funktional makes his label debut with the sultry late night stalker 'Chemistry'. Elsewhere Zed Bias, Chimpo & Salo create pure soul gold with the essential summer bubbler 'Started With You', Minstate and Verbz get on the dusty jazz samples and fuse that hip-hop vibe on 'Get A Move On' and Think Tonk close the EP with the wavey and emotional 'Coastal Service'. Here's to the next 10 releases.
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