Respected Russian label Occulti Music launch their new LTD imprint with a top new release from Moscow producer AX Farel, and we’ve got the exclusive on Cork Up. Blending elements of dub and techno with the halftime D&B sound, this one is pure groove with a deep, hypnotic atmosphere. One for the heads…check out the track and watch out for the release dropping Mar 20th featuring an Impish remix of Cork Up and another deep stepper from AX Farel.
Mauoq continues the run of excellent releases on his Mauoq Music imprint and this time he’s brought friends! Combos #2 sees the Italian producer teaming up with some of his pals in the scene and we’ve got the premiere of Bredren collaboration Staircase.
True to their respective styles this is a dark, brooding take on the halftime sound with heavy kicks and snares punctuating tense atmospheres. Snarling bass and trippy FX hits ice the sonic cake nicely; check it out and look out for the EP dropping via Bandcamp from March 15th, with general release following on March 29th.
Respected US producer and Ground Mass label boss Mark Kloud brings us the latest exclusive DNB Dojo guest mix! Mark has dug deep for this one, delivering a 90 minute mix packed full of dubs including unreleased material from dBridge, Om Unit & Sam Binga. There are even some top secret tracks alongside plenty of the man’s own material, all of which makes for an enthralling journey through the deep end of the 170 sound. Get to know…
You can check out the mix via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.
Dojo boss Hex is back with the latest in the monthly Dojo podcast series featuring 85 minutes of the best D&B to land in the Dojo inbox over the last month. As always we’re representing all the styles of D&B with bassy halftime, techstep, liquid rollers, minimal cuts and dancefloor neuro all featured in the mix. Brand new tunes from HØST, Klax, Mark Kloud, SCAR, Mikal, Dead Man’s Chest and many more…
You can check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.
Translation Records return after a brief hiatus and we’ve got the exclusive on one of the tracks from their brand new EP by Romanian producer Dyl! Moody atmospheres and distorted percussion set the tone on the ominously titled Numbers, Words, Mind Control…dark business. Watch out for this dropping on the Numbers, Words, Shadows EP from March 3rd.
BRKCHK is an artist that first came to our ears via an excellent release for Quentin Hiatus’ Free Love Digi imprint, and the same emotional resonance which made that EP so special is more than evident on his latest release for his own Multilux imprint. Following on from our last chat back in 2014, we caught up with Jacob to find out about the story of long lost EP God’s Not Listening, the meaning in his music and the state of D&B in 2017. Check it out!
Russian producer Still has really impressed us with his latest EP for Diffrent Music; weird and wonderful soundscapes, crazy sound effects and hints of techno play into a truly innovative selection of electronica on the fringes of the D&B sound. We caught up and asked the man for his Top 5 influences; check it out for a walk on the weirder side of the sonic spectrum.
We’ve got a very special exclusive from scene stalwarts Need For Mirrors and Phil Tangent today as we present the premiere of the lead track from their new EP for CIA Deepkut, ‘Polaroid’! Shimmering pads, simple breaks and a memorable vocal sample make for a blissful deep liquid jam; perfect Sunday listening.
Our latest exclusive comes from Delta9’s forthcoming From The Streets compilation LP and London producer Abstrakt Vision. Samurai brings together hypnotic, relentless percussion with gloomy atmospheres and hefty sub bass for a deep, dark and ominous roller. Tough riddim!
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.