Category Archives: Releases

Infra Audientia Part 1 [Dark Manoeuvres]

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London label Dark Manoeuvres return with a new four track EP showcasing some bright new talents from various corners of the scene. nScape turns in a tough but still melody-tinged roller, bursting with cheeky amens and warm sub, while Beaton turns to slightly moodier territory on the ominously named Cavern.

Altitude keeps the grimey flavour going with a dark stepper which alternates between sparse minimalism and hectic break choppage, all set to a background of creepy pads and warping bass texture. Victor Norman rounds off the EP with a tribal halftime number which fans of None Decay and the like will definitely enjoy. Check out the clips below and grab this one from your favourite digital store now.

Theory of the Avantgarde – Cosmos LP [Avantgarde Recordings]

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Dabs and Grotesque’s have brought together a fierce selection of tracks for their Avantgarde Recordings imprint’s first LP, and fans of the deep but techy end of the D&B spectrum will definitely not be disappointed with the result!

Highlights include M-zine, Skepticz and Matt Pulsa’s tight, techy workout on Fumes, Fade’s big, bad reese bass driven business on Swarm and the grimy minimalist stylings of Kush T, who teams up with Serge on Hyperspace. Sadly only a few of the clips are only so far, but keep an eye on the Avantgarde soundcloud for more, and watch out for the LP dropping from October 20th. We’ve also lined up an exclusive mix from some of the Avantgarde crew so hold tight for that one soon!

None Decay – Night Terrors / Bicep [None Decay Music]

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None Decay return to their own imprint with another pair of dark, techy beats. Night Terrors provides a fairly hefty slice of rolling, industrial-edged D&B that brings to mind old school Virus Recordings business, but for me the star of the show is found in Bicep on the flip.

Imbued with tons of creepy atmosphere from the pads and FX, the tune flexes it’s proverbial muscles via crunchy bass growls and a stomping, insistent half-step beat. The little sonic details washing in and out over the backbone of bass and beats really make this one. Check out the clips below and grab this from the None Decay Bandcamp or your favourite digital store now.

Subtension – AK47 / Leaving [Renegade Hardware]

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We’ve been keeping a close eye on Subtension ever since his rather tasty Black Haze 12″ dropped for Samurai Music last year and his latest release for the veritable Hardware imprint doesn’t disappoint either. AK47 kicks things off with a rolling break and staccato bassline rhythm doubtless designed to invoke the rapid fire of an assault rifle; it’s a neat sonic trick and an innovative break from the usual neurofunk bassline fare.

Leaving sees the young Slovakian producer moving into more experimental territory, retaining the bassline grit we’ve come to associate with labels like hardware while playing with a drum rhythm more in keeping with recent material from Exit or Diffrent. It’s nice to see Hardware willing to push the more experimental side of 170BPM music; more of this please! Last but not least the digital buyers amongst you are treated to a third track in the form of Offset, which proves a tasty if somewhat formulaic slice of rolling techstep.

Worldwide release hits on October 13th but if you can’t wait til Monday you can get your grubby mits on this one on vinyl or digital from the Hardware store. Check out the clips below and get your orders in!

Mitekiss – Vaxe / Deltica [Sub:mission Audio]

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Leeds based imprint Sub:mission Audio continue to impress with another great new single from an up and coming talent, this time in the form of new addition to the label Mitekiss. The Croydon-based producer serves up a pair of effortless liquid rollers – Vaxe on the A-side proves a melancholy, piano-led slice of emotion straight from the school of Tokyo Prose, while Deltica heads for slightly more unusual territory, combining soft pads with odd little FX hits.

Both tracks show an appreciation for the “less is more” stylings of deep liquid D&B and a thoughtful musicality that’s difficult not to engage with. Check out the clips below, and watch out for this dropping from October 15th at all good digital stores.

Deficit & Peak – The Watchmen [AutomAte Deep]

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Label boss Deficit brings us another fine pair of tracks for AutomAte’s Deep arm, including his first solo outing for the label. The Watchmen sees him teaming up with Peak on a brooding, snarling composition that does it’s best to defy genre boundaries. Beats fall from all around in rapid syncopations but eschew the familiar D&B patterns in favour of wandering, tribal rhythms, while the bass growls away in the background and a bleeping melody dances over the top. The whole track has a superbly dystopian vibe to it, epitomized by the quote lifted from the Watchmen movie in the bridge.

Over on the flip, Eternum sees Deficit going it alone on another dark, eerie composition, blending a half-time rhythm with robotic bass and creepy sci fi FX sweeps. Once again there’s tons of detail in the mix with all manner of weird percussion making an appearance over the backbone of kicks and snares. Once again we’re treated to a cinematic quote in the breakdown, this time from Sherlock Homes. Clearly Deficit is a man who knows his movies as well as his music.

If you appreciate the weirder end of the 170BPM spectrum and the defter end of sound design you should definitely give these a listen; check out the clips below and watch out for the release dropping from October 13th.

Ed Rush – Scarabs / Boxcar [Piranha Pool]

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Ed Rush launches his brand new Piranha Pool imprint with a pair of big bad neurofunk killers. Both tunes have their eyes firmly focussed on the dancefloor, and while they don’t offer tons of surprises they’ve got bass groove and production sheen in spades. Scarabs is the more up front of the two tracks while Boxcar aims for deeper but still pretty grimy territory. Check out the clips below and grab this on vinyl and digital from your favourite store now!

 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jvm96V0E4U]

Ulterior Motive – The Fourth Wall [Metalheadz]

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After a lengthy period of writing and a quiet buildup of hype, Ulterior Motive’s debut LP for Metalheadz has finally dropped this week. It’s clear the duo have taken the task of their first album incredibly seriously (they reportedly whittled the tracklist down from 120 demos) and they’ve managed to create a pure D&B album which still feels like a journey rather than just a collection of songs.

While all the tracks bear some hallmarks of the Ulterior Motive sound, The Fourth Wall definitely sees the duo branching out from their traditional grimey tech D&B, with tributes to the Bristol sound (Sideways) and old skool rave (Tape Pack) alongside the deeper flavours of tracks like Muted, You Must See and Chapters. There’s still plenty of room for the more “classic” UM sounds mind you, with Inta-National and Keep It Moving standing out as the best dancefloor workouts.

Doubtless everyone will have their own favourites so check out the clips below and head to the Metalheadz store to pick up the album on CD, vinyl or digital.

Son of Kick – Hours (SPL Remix) [Midication]

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Long ago, before Dubstep, before the rise of “EDM”, Samuel Pool aka SPL made a name for himself making vicious darkstep D&B with releases on Freak Recordings, Evol Intent Recordings and Tech Itch Recordings, among others. In recent years he’s mostly been preoccupied with lower tempo flavours but his latest remix for Son of Kick sees the LA based producer returning to the monstrous 170 sound he first made his name with.

Playful breaks and pitched up vocals on the intro set the tone before the main event; a huge portion of growlingly filtered bass and the sort of balls to the wall breakbeat assault that will absolutely slay a dancefloor. This one is dangerous! There are also respectable lower tempo mixes from Marshall F and Two Fresh which you can check out over here. Check out the remix below and grab it from Beatport now – other stores should get the release from October 12th.

TR Tactics – Time Slice / Cone [Addictive Behaviour]

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Austria appears to be a hotbed of D&B talent right now, with Fourward and Mefjus both at the top of their game and tons of other great producers plying their wares, including TR Tactics. The duo return to Addictive Behaviour with another no nonsense neurofunk release, featuring two tracks of crisp, weighty, futuristic D&B. Cone comes out on top for the sheer bass grime factor of it, but both tracks are well worth a listen – check them out below and look for the release on Beatport from October 6th with full release following from October 20th.