Review: A gent on the streets, a demon in the spreadsheets; Excel returns with another exceptional EP that's absolutely loaded with grot and slimy sonics. Following his 'Apocalypse' EP on Pick The Lock, he continues to hone a very particular strain of 'puking robot' bass that's evident in many of tracks, especially right here. Highlights include the coiled spring flexes and algae-covered bass on 'The Beginning' and the rusty robot scrapes and scratches of 'The Truth'. That's just half of it. Check it yourself... You might say it all adds up.
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: Back on Pick The lock for the first time in a long time, Kormz brings the storms with this almighty six-pack track attack. Taking off where he last left us with last year's 'Collusion' EP on Nemesis, it's an intense trip into the fieriest corners of his DAW and a place where some really grotty sound designs ooze out of the speakers. Vibes range from the bone-shakingly tearing and gnarly ('Stick') to greasy, deep and offkey ('Desolate') via strange other-worldly trippy funk ('Sh*t Connection') And that's only half of it. Shots fired!
Review: We hate to break the news to you but, as doctors R!PT!DE and Ghee-K have officially confirmed: 'You're Dead'. Putting this 'ahhhhhhhhhh' into RIP, mourning will be rolled out in a series of super freaky, ultra sleazy, mega leftfield sound designs and textures. From the regimentalist solider orders of 'Rojah' to trippy, broken-spring finale fire of the title track 'You're Dead', this is one exceptional collection. Time to put your affairs in order.
Review: Selecta! Sub-liminal bossman Agro rolls his sleeves up and gets stuck into his label vaults, drawing out persys and reminding us just how on it his label has been since morning. Ranging from the twisted bass bubbles and trippy warped sounds of Warhead's 'Tread Carefully' to the interplanetary bleep drama and sweet bubbling subs of Kumo's 'Trick Shot', Agro is explicitly telling us how versatile and timeless his label has always been. With some of these cuts going back to the 2016/17, he's proved it. Get stuck in!
Review: Long-serving producer Disco Tech has released more edits and reworks over the years than we've had hot dinners. Remarkably, he still continues to deliver on-point revisions - as this second volume in his ongoing 'Reworks' EP series proves. There's much to admire across the six tracks on show, from the atmospheric, slow-burn excellence of AOR disco revision 'Stars In The Ghetto' and the dub-funk wonder that is the James Brown-sampling 'Boss', to the peak-time '80s disco sing-along 'Take Time' and the on-point Clash dub disco revision 'Magnificent'. We also recommend 'Be With You', a deliciously groovy, dubbed-out take on a Doc Severinsen track that has long been a DJ Harvey favourite.
Review: Montenegro-based rework maestro Mitiko (real name Sasha Mitich) has been a busy boy this year, with this EP-turned-mini album marking his sixth missive of 2024 to date. There's plenty to get the blood pumping and the feet moving across the seven tracks on show, from the lightly housed up vocal disco rush of 'Along With You' and the filter-sporting Afro-disco joy of 'Fungi Mama', to the slow-motion disco-funk headiness of 'Ghost' and the build-and-release excellence of the stomping, string-laden peak-time disco of 'Peak At You'. Those seeking mid-tempo thrills are catered for via 'Get Up and Boogie', while 'Latin Hustle' is a memorable revision of a Spanish language dancefloor gem.
Review: Oh dear, it looks like L3MMY Dubz is going to kill us. Let's face it, with sound designs as intoxicating and venomous as L3mmy's, it was only a matter of time before some type of murderation was going to go down... And at least he's taken the time to warn us. What a warning it is, too. The title track is a big bucket of pure froggy grot and it's backed up by three more deadly blows: 'Bone Cruncher' lives up to its name its twisted bit-crushed glitches and sonic slaps, 'Gurgles' is so slimy and stinking it's now the new national anthem for all swamp people across the world while 'It's Horrible' closes the EP on such far out and freaky levels, he's already killed us. RIP everyone!
Review: Shabi's DOBRO jams continue with Happy Jams that are undeniably exactly that, much what these times need. Pushing a classic house tip with good vibes pads, sample selections, loops and tricks, Shabi gets '90s old school and French touch in his kicking title track. "Let's Talk Dancin'" offers some similar tricks, holding down a groove with a vocal hook to boot, while "I Feel It Comin'" does something some more soul and R&B. "Disco Party" throws down some classic percussion and a walking bassline while "C'mon Let's Fly" may as well be Fred Falke back in the mix. French house style!
Review: Vibe Chemistry applies the science once again as his Make Your Era laboratory welcomes another chemical solution: Medicine. Having broken through on Diligent Fingers' Spynal in 2022, Medicine has since gone on to smash it on Kingdom and Gorilla Warfare and is now already at debut album level with 'The Line'. Hitting all the right spots, the album is a full trip into the heart of the dancefloor with naughty ravey numbers like 'Take Me Up', big vocal cuts such as 'Let Me Go Now' and sexy, sweaty weapons like 'Make It Rain' and plenty of heaters in between. High recommended. Follow 'The Line'!
Review: Greek producer Goji Berry made his Katakana debut on the multi-artist 'Vol 50' EP back in 2017. Since then he's appeared on two further V/A EPs in the series as well as helming six of his own, most recently Vols 142 and 140. Now he's back with 'Vol 144', which finds him reworking a brace of classic soul/funk jams, namely Wilson Pickett's 'Funky Broadway' from 1967 and Lonnie Liston Smith's 'A Chance For Peace', taken from 1975's 'Visions Of A New World' album. Given the calibre of the source material, it's hard to go wrong, really - and Goji Berry certainly doesn't.
Review: Next up from eatmybeat, a vibrant collection of percussive-driven rollers from the one and only D-Nite, showcasing his crazy ability with some top level production skills. We open up with 'Ominous Arrival', a fluctuating combination of high energy rhythms and subtle vocal samples, followed by both the industrial synth thumps of 'Sine DNA' and arpeggio-lead soundscaping of 'Circular' to follow. From here we then move into the highly unique title track 'Ai Amor', a glorious roll through samba-style drum patterns and catchy vocal slices, followed by the bleeping synth sweeps of 'Amargo' to close off. Awesome work!
Review: Umbo (Croatia's Mario Lovakovic) has chalked up releases on Timewarp and Kraak and now comes to Germany's Resense with two re-edits of tracks from Chess, Sun Records and Stax veteran Little Milton's 1969 'Grits And Groceries' album. That album's title track, here reworked as 'Grits', was written by Titus Turner in 1955 as 'Mona Lisa Was A Man' and has been recorded by many blues, soul and R&B artists under a variety of titles over the years; '23h' is much less confusing, being simply the new name for 'Twenty-Three Hours'. Anyway, suffice to say the sheer power of the late R&B legend's voice makes either a cert on funk and soul floors!
Review: Two recent cuts from Russian disco don Alexander Chebankov, better known as Sunner Soul, get handed over to fellow St Petersburg native Unclepasha - whose musical CV dates back to the early 00s - for the remix treatment. His take on 'Right Place', which first appeared on last month's 'Something Good' EP, tones down the boogie and jazz-funk influences of the original and ends up deeper and smoother as a result. Conversely, he's kept the boogie stylings of 'Need You' (taken from February's 'Da Funk' EP) intact and arguably even emphasised them, in a dubbed-out remix that gets distinctly Levan/Peech Boys-esque in places.
James Brown - "Sex Machine" (Philly Vanilli remix) - (10:07) 108 BPM
Review: Germany's Philly Vanilli has been around since forever, it seems, but to these ears - and they're ears that have reviewed plenty of his previous releases for this very website - this new set of reworks for Deep Disco Edits is the best work he's turned out so far. He's working with some very well-known source tracks here, so there's no point insulting your intelligence by enumerating them: suffice to say that somehow he's managed to tease the funk out of these much-loved classics in a way that, in some cases, even the original artists didn't manage. Ohio Players' 'Love Rollercoaster' was, admittedly, always a personal fave of yours truly but in PV's hands it becomes a truly exceptional 10 minutes of sheer funk joy, while his reworkings of Marvin, Kool & The Gang and The Temptations are equally impressive. Essential!
Review: Few labels do minimal as well as Trelik and in terms of artists, Edwards is also as good as they come right now. This perfect pairing opens up with the deeply alluring 'Time' with its woozy pads and smeared chords over warm and rubbery drums. It's a hypnagogic affair then 'Vacuum Tube' has a more menacing air thanks to the wispy and unsettling synth details and clunky hooks. 'Watch Out' brings a more spangled and rubbery rhythm that has colourful details peeling off the beats and last of all, 'Stream' ups the ante with some thudding deep house and widescreen ambient synth work.
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