Category Archives: Releases

Emperor – Dispositions – The Remixes [Critical]

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Material from Emperor’s recent Dispositions LP gets the remix treatment on the latest release from Critical, and true to form the label have delivered a really interesting selection for the EP. For our money you should just ignore the Phace remix; as weighty as it is it’s predictable fare and far from the most interesting work we’ve heard from the German neuro powerhouse.

Klax on the other hand have absolutely excelled themselves with their remix of Made of Light, taking the original’s moody vocal and setting it to a halftime beat punctuated with grime-tinged synth swells and some serious bassweight. This one positively swaggers along as the synth lines stalk through the mix, and the energy levels are kept high despite the plodding drum pace; top notch mid-set switch-up material.

Ivy Lab are next up and once again on a half time flex, flipping Jounce around from a full roll neuro workout into a hypnotic, bouncing slice of intergalactic hip-hop that just oozes character. Smooth melodies and warm low end reverberations make for a serious head-nodder. Last up we’re treated to the softest of renditions as Made of Light gets the accoustic treatment, stripped back to nothing but Solah’s beautiful vocal and a moving piano line. Something a little different from the usual Emperor material! Check out the clips below and hit up the Critical Store to grab the EP on vinyl or digital now.

Alia Fresco EP [CNVX]

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Kid Drama’s CNVX imprint has always been an eclectic outlet; from the IDM-esque melancholy of his Mikarma alias, through beats from dBridge, Resound and Abstract Elements, the label certainly doesn’t like to be pigeon-holed. All of which brings us to the imprint’s latest offering, a quirky and sublime slice of autonomic pop courtesy of Drama himself and vocalist Alia Fresco, who you may recognise from her collaborative project with Loxy and Resound, The Levels.

The production here is stripped back to the barest essentials, minimalist arrangements that bring to mind The xx, albeit entirely lacking in indie-rock guitar twang. This use of space gives Fresco ample room to breathe, and her voice fills the tracks beautifully. From the brooding reflections of Ordinary Thing and Guys Like You through the more uplifting Let You Go and into the absolutely electrifying Break Me Out, the EP is powerful, gripping and original; a pure blend of autonomic aesthetic and heartfelt lyricism. My only complaint is that at 15 minutes, it’s nowhere near long enough. Give us an album!

The Alia Fresco EP is out now on vinyl and digital via CNVX.

Blu Mar Ten – Empire State [Blu Mar Ten Music]

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Whether it’s in their capacity as label curators or as artists in their own right, we’re big fans of Blu Mar Ten here at DNB Dojo. In a time when so much music, drum & bass included, is a packaged commodity designed to appeal to a very specific marketplace and lacking or devoid of originality, BMT stand as a beacon of the creativity and inspiration that makes the best music so exciting. If you subscribe to the adage that 99% of everything is rubbish, then these guys are the 1% of the 1%.

Enter Empire State, the team’s seventh studio album and their fourth for their own Blu Mar Ten Music imprint. Picking up pretty much exactly where Famous Lost Words left off, the album plays like a love letter to all the facets of D&B, focusing on the deeper and more melodic side of the music but with some unashamed dancefloor rollers thrown into the mix. More experimental tracks like Monologue and Fall From Grace dial back the beats, allowing Blu Mar Ten’s knack for shimmering synth work to shine through, while straight up rollers such as Immortal Beloved provide that uptempo euphoria the duo do so well.

Robert Manos makes a welcome appearance on the effortlessly crispy Keep It Together, while the rest of the album’s vocal-led tracks feature the enigmatic strains of Kite, a female vocalist that we can literally find nothing about anywhere. The pair clearly have a talent for spotting gifted singers; as with Agnė Genytė’s contributions to their previous LP, Kite lends raw emotion and a less obvious style of delivery to the vocals here, and the album sounds fantastic for her presence.

Empire State probably won’t convince the naysayers of the merits of the more melodic end of D&B, nor is it packed full of cutting-edge, genre-bending or trend-setting material. If however you want an album featuring some of the most finely crafted D&B and a ton of depth and feeling, Blu Mar Ten deliver in spades. As always. Check out the previews below and hit up the BMT Store to grab a copy on vinyl or digital now.

Naibu – Corners LP [Horizons]

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Naibu returns to Horizons music for a fresh LP outing following last year’s Case Study for Scientific Records. According to his own words in the press release, “it was time for me to go back to the DJ format and try to make the best danceable album I could”, but thankfully the Parisian producer hasn’t gone all RAM Records on us; while the tracks are all firmly D&B tempo and underpinned by danceable breaks, this is still a collection of material that works as well in the living room as the club.

The softness and organic instrumentation that have long been hallmarks of Naibu’s work are present and correct here, and even darker tracks like The Way You Turn and Traces still find space for those touches in between the tough breaks and throbbing basslines. There’s plenty of variety on show here too, from liquid rollers like Corners and No Return to more experimental numbers. Help Computer plods along at a halftime gate powered by eerie pads and the ominous vocal refrain, while Burning brings together a hypnotic bleed melody and tripped out echoing chimes for an enthralling and faintly psychedelic journey.

Once again Horizons and Naibu proves to be a winning combination of dancefloor chops and musicality, illustrating once again that the depths of what is possible in D&B have yet to be plumbed even twenty years on from the genre’s inception. Check out the clips below and hit up the Horizons Store to grab a copy now.

Swinging Flavors #4 [Previews]

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We’ve long been fans of Italian label Beat Machine and their club focussed Swinging Flavors 7″ series so we’re pretty excited to share exclusive previews of their brand new release from Itoa! Jungle meets footwork with a sick remix from Keysound / Astrophonica badman Sully to boot, and these tracks are bringing a classic sound into 2017 with a nice modern twist.

Check out the previews below and keep your eyes peeled for full length premieres on the Beat Machine soundcloud between now and the release on Jan 26th. Hype!

G.H.O.S.T – 41:39 Deeper EP [Goldman]

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The ever reliable three man production team that is G.H.O.S.T are back this month with another top EP on their self-run Goldman Records imprint and they’re presenting their biggest selection of tracks yet; four fresh cuts spread across two 12″ plates and a further two digital bonus tracks to boot.

Thankfully the 41:39 Deeper EP isn’t a case of quantity over quality; once again the break focussed, slightly old-school style on show is impressive, and the larger selection of tracks sees a range of atmospheres set to those funky drums. Caught Slipping and Jam sit well with previous G.H.O.S.T faves in the dark and moody end of the spectrum before Heavy Shoulders switches the mood, with soft, chiming pads reminiscent of classic atmospheric drumfunk from the likes of ASC.

Before Dust goes in deep, chopping the drums into piercing, staccato rhythms to an eerie, almost cinematic selection of pads for the last track on the vinyl selection. Morph 242 hits harder still, with tough breaks and modulating bass sounding like an ode to the late 90s birth of neurofunk, before that style got quite as clean and clinical as it sounds today. Last but not least Peaks lays down a straight-up spooky roller sure to light up the dance late into the night.

Another finely crafted release from a team who clearly love both D&B and the vinyl format dearly. True to their artform! Check out the clips below and hit up the Goldman Store to pre-order the EP ahead of release on Friday.

Hydro – Ethos EP [Methlab BNKR]

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Methlab’s dark and minimalistic BNKR imprint returns for it’s 3rd outing with Utopia Music’s Hydro on the buttons accompanied by familiar partners in crime Villem, War and Mateba.

Unsurprisingly given the artists involved, the release has a very ‘headz-y vibe, combining crisp modern production with the influence of golden era techstep D&B from the likes of Source Direct and Photek. Despite the grimey basslines and dark, ominous atmospheres there’s still an emphasis on funk and groove which can be lacking in some of the hyper-clean productions of 2016. In amongst the sharp snares and carefully tuned reverbs there’s still plenty of analogue distortion and warm, organic tones, melted together into compositions that feel both driven and hypnotic.

The drum programming on show here deserves a special mention too; after the more straightforward steppers beat of opening track Ethos Hydro and friends have gone in on hyperactive funk drum chopping that is an absolute joy to listen to; think somewhere between the chaos of a Paradox break and the sharpness of DLR’s best efforts and you’re in the ballpark. This back to basics approach, revelling in the origins of the genre and the most central elements of the D&B sound while still leveraging modern techniques is what makes these tracks such a joy to listen to.

If you’re a fan of precision, dark edged techstep with depth beyond the dancefloor then BNKR continue to deliver right at the top of the game! Check out the clips below and look for the EP dropping at all good digital stores from Nov 29th.

DLR – Dreamland [Dispatch]

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Dispatch are truly spoiling us right now. On top of their impending 100th release extravaganza and a ton of top notch releases over the last few months, Ant and the gang are treating us to a full length DLR album, barely more than a year on from his solo LP debut Seeing Sounds. Christmas comes early it seems!

The themes on the album couldn’t feel more topical either with the recent Brexit debacle in the UK and Trump’s election victory in the US. Where Seeing Sounds felt at times abstract and introspective, Dreamland is pointed and political, from the leftwing anti-capitalist patter of interlude tracks like Living The Dream to Gusto’s angsty attacks on modern society on standout title track Dreamland. Lyrics like “course politicians got their hand in the till” paint a vivid picture of disbelief at the status quo, and that fire in the belly comes across in the razor sharp production of whiplash snares and growling bass.

Production-wise this is very much evolution rather than revolution, honing DLR’s well tuned style of groove-laden tech-edged D&B. While this isn’t a tedious collection of “bangerz” by any stretch, pretty much all the tracks feel more than capable of causing some screwfaces in the dance, with Mako collab Anxiety Attack and the ominous, stalking basslines of album closer Time is Everything proving to be standout moments.

Dreamland is unlikely to convert non-believers to the DLR sound, but fans of his previous material will definitely be all over it. It’s great to see an artist using their music as a platform to make a statement and encourage social change too, especially in an age where so much music has little to no message beyond the intent to rip up a club. Props to DLR for balancing the dancefloor with a deeper message, and props to Dispatch for their continued belief in original independent music. Check out the clips below and hit up their store to grab this direct; Dreamland drops everywhere this Friday.

Competition: Win the new alg0rh1tm EP!

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Air Mass (the deeper sister imprint to Mark Kloud’s well established Ground Mass) are back with their 2nd release this month from Serbian producer Alg0rh1tm. Weaving complex sonic tapestries combining cinematic soundscapes, glitchy microfunk-style percussion and a hint of the autonomic aesthetic, the 170 sound doesn’t come much deeper or more hypnotic than this.

The EP drops via the Ground Mass Bandcamp on Nov 29th and the label have kindly given us five digital download codes to give away! To be in with a chance of winning one all you have to do is like the DNB Dojo Facebook page and send an email to competitions@dnbdojo.co.uk with your name and the subject line “Air Mass Competition”. We’ll draw the winners on Tuesday Nov 29th – good luck!

Requisites #1 [Demand Records]

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dmnreqvinylfront

Regular readers should know we’re big fans of the vinyl format here at Dojo HQ; in an age where music has become increasingly disposable, a well produced and curated slab of wax stands as something slightly more tangible than the ever increasing slew of digital releases. Of course it sounds cracking too!

Enter Swiss label Demand and their new vinyl EP series, Requisites. To quote their own press release, “every release symbolises one particular requisite that you’d evidently need to rock the so called black gold”, starting with the obvious; headphones. It’s clear that the Demand crew hold vinyl in as much esteem as we do, and everything about this release from the artwork to the tracks themselves suggest this is a labour of love.

On to the music, and we’re treated to a diverse array of tracks from artists mostly familiar from the label’s back catalogue. Phil Tangent and Phase both turn in respectable deep but edgy rollers that are well worthy of your attention, but the limelight falls elsewhere for us. EastColors and Tiiu team up for a super deep and moody outing on Naked Skin, synths stalking through the track as Tiiu’s delicate vocals shimmer above a sparse beat.

Perhaps the best of all though comes from the super team of Big Bud, RoyGreen, Protone and Dual, who join forces to deliver blissfully laid back vibes on Gospodi. Taking a few notes from the Calibre playbook without resorting to cheap imitation, this one just grows on us more and more with every listen. Hypnotic stuff. Check out the clips below and hit up the Demand Store to grab a copy right now.