Rogue Beatz are back and this time they’re bringing the liquid rollers, with Rush Records alumni Colossus & Imprint on the buttons for some smooth, rolling styles. Both tracks on offer here are worthy of your attention but for us it’s all about Broken Chains, a tough edged slice of deep liquid with a top notch bit of amen chopping in the bridge. Definitely check this one out – it’s due at all good digital stores from April 30th.
Ready to get ravey? The new EP from Fixate for Exit Records is certainly that, at least on appropriately named title track Throwback Therapy. Mining the sounds of old skool hardcore and jungle and throwing in a pinch of footwork and a hint of D&B, this one doesn’t seem to be taking itself too seriously and is all the better for it.
Digital bonus Sueno treads similar territory, chopping the jungle breaks with some some classic vocal “woo”s for another tidy little rave up. The other three tracks on the EP dial back the nonsense a little in favour of footwork inspired explorations of the halftime D&B pattern, all of which are worthy additions to this growing niche of the D&B community. For me though it’s really all about the less po-faced exuberance of the title track. Check out the clips below and grab this one from the Exit Store right now!
Australian production trio Gran Calavera touch down on Flexout Audio with a pair of deep, soulful rollers; tough enough breaks to move a dancefloor but still with a musical edge, and more than a hint of jazz on the B side which features vocals from Bonnie Laschon. Check out the clips below and head to your favourite digital store to cop this one now.
Default return with two new beats from label co-runner West. Dark Soul provides a solid slab of dancefloor worthy D&B combining melodic elements with rougher bassline sounds, but for us it’s all about the more soulful vibes of Where You Are. Check out the clips below and look for this at digital stores from April 27th.
Emotif return with two tech-edged slabs of dancefloor drum & bass that should be more than capable of smashing up the rave. Memory Box focuses on groove while Logic to the Mayhem goes in harder with tough bass stabs and some cheeky distorted amens among the hard kicks and snares. Check out the clips below and grab this one from your favourite digital outlet now.
Whether you’re a new convert to the realms of Drum & Bass or an old hand with a massive record collection, some of the label back catalogues can be a touch on the intimidating side, and none more so than Hospital Records. The label is on course to hit 300 releases in the near future, and the rich 18 year history leaves quite an archive for anyone to dig through.
How convenient then that Tony Colman & his compadres have cherry picked the best for a new compilation! Fast Soul Music provides a whopping 46 tracks, picking out the best of the label’s output old and new and bundling it together for a bargain price, including two 60 minute mixes from Hospital stalwart Nu:Tone.
Needless to say it would be pretty difficult to cover every track in the selection, but there are some absolute classics on show here; the likes of Netsky’s Memory Lane, High Contrast’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Tokyo Prose’s Songbird and London Elektricity’s Had A Little Fight stand out from a packed tracklist featuring top notch melodic cuts from the whole Hospital family.
Whether you’re new to the liquid sound or just want a tidy mix for the car, it’s difficult to argue with the wealth of quality tunes here. Head over to the Hospital Store to pre-order the compilation now ahead of it’s release on Monday. Meantime you can get a flavour of things from Makoto’s promotional mix below.
Dispatch return with another top class techy release and this time it comes courtesy of Survival & Silent Witness. As you’d expect from these two the release offers up chunky slabs of tech funk with plenty of groove and bassline pressure; title track Trust No One edges it out for us as the Dojo favourite, but Cutter is no slouch either, slicing up the dance with an ominous bline and crisp snares a plenty.
On top of the two fresh tracks the EP also features the results of the recent remix contest, with Renegade Hardware’s Minor Rain serving up the winning remix of Fletcher alongside the minimal drum workout stylings of Depth Mode’s remix and Diecast’s atmospheric 140 flex. Can’t say fairer than that really!
As usual you can cop this one on vinyl and digital from the Dispatch Store right now; general release to follow from Monday. Get to it!
If you like your D&B grimey and militant, pay close attention! Goreteks, another of Denver’s rising crop of D&B production outfits, bring their wares to Quentin Hiatus’s Free Love Digi imprint and the EP is deadly from start to finish.
No Mercy kicks things off with a stomping halftime beat full of hard snares and cheeky drum fills, while the filtered bass roams in and out of the mix in an entirely threatening fashion. Silence is Golden ups the ante, showering down kicks and snares amongst the sea of dubbed out echoes and distorted bass. This one recalls some of SPKTRM’s best material, and it sounds like the soundtrack to a distopian warzone, brutal business.
Secrets continues the menacing vibe; shades of Amit can be heard here, but with extra grit and angst. The percussion fills on this one really make the track, and the use of space makes the composition all the more powerful. Last but not least, Louder dials back the aggression a little for a tribal, echoing exploration with plenty of dubby twists and turns and a general air of simmering danger.
It’s been some time since producers I’ve never heard have impressed me this much on a first listen. Check out the clips below and go pick this one up now!
With a healthy selection of releases for the likes of Symmetry, Subtitles, Critical and Metalheadz, Yasin Elgohary aka Xtrah is the sort of producer worth paying attention to. He’s spent a few years cultivating a crisp, techy style with a nod to the old school while embracing modern production techniques to their fullest.
2015 sees Xtrah launching his own label named Cyberfunk (he apparently neglected to check that Quest already has a breakbeat label of the same name, but hey…) and the first release is out now, featuring two solo tracks from Xtrah, a beat from new discoveries Simple Technique and a collab with scene stalwart Break.
Operator opens things up nicely with a tune that owes more than a little to Dillinja’s classic material. That bassline scuzz! We Exist takes a slightly more militant, precise tone while hitting all the same techy boxes. Newcomers Simple Technique are up next with the appropriately titled Cold Steppin; as icey as the title suggests, this one is a tidy little slice of dancefloor damage. Last but not least Break & Xtrah get their breaks all chopped up for Forte, another cut that should be smashing up the dance plenty over the coming weeks.
A decent opening salvo for a new label then; few surprises but a solid offering nonetheless. Check out the clips below and look for this at all good stores now.
Warm Comms continue their impressive run of recent releases with two firing new beats from ex-Need For Mirrors member and general badman HLZ. The release shows a real knack for combining straight up D&B heft with more experimental influences as evidenced by the soaring guitar riffs of Dying Memories, bringing an element of prog rock to the tune against the backdrop of sub and breaks.
Duel meanwhile lives up to it’s name, conjuring up the image of some strange ethereal battle with the opposing forces swooping in and out of the stereo field, swiping at one another before disappearing back behind enemy lines. If anyone needed proof of the innovation present in D&B, this single should be ample evidence. Check out the clips below and look for this on vinyl and digital from April 20th.