Tag Archives: Deep

Consequence – Atrium / Box Rituals [Pushing Red]

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US label Pushing Red continue their run of excellent house and techno releases with a new 12″ from Consequence (who fans of the deeper side of d&b should remember from his albums on dBridge’s Exit Records imprint). As we’ve come to expect from his releases, regardless of their specific style or tempo, the tunes are steeped in atmosphere and somehow always have that ‘Consequence’ sound.

A side Atrium kicks things off with an ever-so-slightly swung beat over a classic techno-bass groove, making great use of weird arpeggios and little details to give the track a really full sound while retaining that hypnotic effect that the best techno always achieves.

Over on the flip Box Rituals lays down a slightly more tribal beat, with an insistent kick drum layered behind a percussive smorgasbord, giving the beat heaps of texture. Soft pads combine with this more intricate beat to create a more ambient slice of music, and one you can easily lose yourself in for a few minutes.

Look out for this one dropping on March 3rd.

Ravager & Livewire – Runaway / Fear The Future [E-Motion]

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Up and coming deep/liquid label E-Motion have been going from strength to strength over the past year and their latest release from Ravager & Livewire cements their reputation as a great source of tunes from new producers on the scene.

Ravager’s Runaway opens up the release with an infectious, hypnotic melody and punchy drums, with a warm, insistent bassline. Next up Livewire remixes the tune to great effect, amping things up ever so slightly into a more dancefloor led number which retains the musicality of the original nicely. Finally Livewire finishes off the EP with a slightly techier number, bringing the dark bass and synth stabs to the fore to produce a tasty little roller.

Check out the clips below and look out for the release from March 11th!

Diffrent Q&A

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A couple of weeks ago leftfield London label Diffrent put out their 15th release from Arkaik. To celebrate, I caught up with label boss Dexta for a quick chat about all things Diffrent and D&B.

DNB Dojo: How do you go about finding artists? Or do they come to you? Diffrent certainly have a knack for finding and releasing tunes that are firmly D&B while being fairly unlike most of the rest of the genre.

Dexta: Thanks!! Well luckily we have a few exclusive artists who we managed to find before we got any real notice based on endless nights on SoundCloud and putting up posts on forums that we’re looking for music etc. Paid off pretty well. With the success of the GiraffeCast we get loads of tunes sent over from all kinds of artists and producers from over the globe and some from Mars, a fair few of these submissions tend to make it into the pink giraffe CD wallet and sometimes even make it onto the Diffrent release schedule. So keep em coming.

DNB Dojo: The latest release from Arkaik seems to move away from the styles of some previous releases (e.g. from Stanza and Fathom Audio) and into the territory of labels like Noisia’s Invisible imprint. Was this a deliberate move, or is it just a case of getting sent good tunes and putting them out?

Dexta: Pardon the obvious pun, but we do like to keep things different. All of our past releases have a big contrast from the flip sides, and each release moves into new grounds, Arkaik’s EP is no exception to this theory. Pete (Arkaik) is a very busy guy, and we try to give him as much freedom and space in the studio so we tend to have a lot of top quality tunes to try and distribute from him. It’s really rewarding now to see the love and attention that he is getting as such a new comer artist to the D&B music scene. I think he suits the label very well and he is part of the foundations here and this comes across in all of his musical output!

DNB Dojo: Have you got anything exciting lined up for 2013? Anything big you wanna tell us about?

Dexta: Well, as we all know 2013 has just began, we’ve about 6-7 releases pretty much ready to unleash, so these will be played and mentioned in our podcast and mixes as much as possible. We’ve got our 3rd birthday party coming up March 22nd at a secret location in East London (tickets are being put on sale now from our website www.diffrentmusic.com). The new website has been put together, we’re planning on setting up a YouTube channel and hopefully construct a life size Giraffe head/neck sculpture! TBC!

DNB Dojo: Any tips for budding producers who’d like to get music out on your label?

Dexta: The bets way of getting music into our speakers is by sending your music over, only if you seriously think it is the right kind of vibe for us, listen to the podcast do some homework, and send us a couple of tracks that we can suck in and debate about… the email is info@diffrentmusic.com

DNB Dojo: What’s the deal with giraffes?

Dexta: There is no deal, but did you know that due to their long neck, the vocal cord is so stretched that the only noises they make are in the Sub Bass frequencies!?

Check out the release below and grab yourself a copy from your favourite store, out now!

Calibre – Fabriclive 68 [Fabric]

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Calibre has always been a quiet, enigmatic legend; he doesn’t play out regularly, nor does he often deal with the press, and he’s never bothered to maintain much of an online presence, preferring to let his tunes speak for themselves. Good for him then that they speak volumes, in a soothing, soulful tone of voice. Already held in immense esteem by most of the drum & bass community, his induction into the Fabriclive hall of fame merely cements the position he’s been occupying for well over a decade.

Those familiar with Calibre’s output will find few surprises but plenty to love on his mix for Fabric. Comprised mostly of his own tunes or remixes, the rest of the material comes from the likes of Lynx, dBridge and Marcus Intalex. The mix is an effortless journey through deep, soulful, melancholy drum & bass, and the selection is complemented by absolutely pitch perfect mixing from one tune to the next.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkmfomqodLs]

Fans of the deeper side of the genre shouldn’t hesitate to grab a copy of this when it hits the shelves on March 18th. I know I’ll be coming back to this one time and time again!

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Mould & Fabric

Ivy Lab – Afterthought / Brat [Critical]

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Early last year Kasra’s Critical imprint put out a tasty little 12″ from Sabre, Stray and Halogenix featuring the beautiful tune that is Oblique. The material was released to much critical acclaim and was generally lauded as one of the best tunes of the year (amongst some impressive competition too). Since then the trio have been quiet, mainly focusing on their individual solo activities. But just recently they announced the formation of a new alias for their collective work; Ivy Lab. Naturally this announcement also came with news of a new release, which is due out on Critical Music Feb 4th.

Afterthought on the A-side brings back the vocal talents of Frank Carter III to great effect, and is a beautiful (if somewhat predictable) soulful, understated roller. Very much Oblique-the-second. Over on the flip, Ivy Lab prove themselves far from one trick ponies with the dirty, weird, robotic half step sounds of Brat. To round the package off, those that pick up the digital release get a rather tasty House rework of Brat from South London Ordnance, taking the excellent sound pallet of the original and bringing it down to a slower, more methodical beat.

Check out the tunes below and watch out for the full release from your favourite vinyl or digital outlet!

Sam KDC – £5 Bundle

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Sam KDC has been busy for the last couple of years, crafting material for the likes of ASC’s Auxilliary imprint and dishing up some excellent remixes. His latest offering is a veritable bargain available from his Official.fm page and consisting of ten great tracks for five of your British pounds. The content ranges from deep, smooth liquid on tracks like Back Where I Met You, through deep, mellow half-steppers like Washed Out and Departed and even a bit of dark amen business on Burn It Down.

Excellent tunes, excellent value! Check out a mix of the tunes below and then go grab yourself a copy!

In The Mix…Lenzman & Dan Steno

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Those who keep an eye on Lenzman‘s soundcloud will have noticed that he releases an excellent mix every month or two, usually with the accompaniment of a talented yet understated MC. Past mixtapes have featured DRS and Riya, and this time Dan Steno steps up to the mic and helps Lenzman bring in the new year with a selection of drum & bass spanning deep minimal and warm, soulful liquid. Highlights include new cuts from Critical, Soul:R, and the beautiful new Makoto remix of Lenzman’s Broken Dreams which is forthcoming on Metalheadz later this year. Yes selecta!

Naibu – Fall EP [Horizons]

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I’ve long been a fan of Horizons for a number of reasons; their commitment to vinyl releases certainly endears them to me, but above all it’s the desire to release drum and bass which isn’t solely aimed at the dancefloor. Music that works as well in your bedroom as it does in a club, and music that is charged with emotion.

Their latest release from Naibu hits the spot in that regard, delivering some deep, melancholy sounds. Opener Just Like You sets the pace with skittering drums, soft pads and a warm vocal from Key. The EP heads for slightly darker territory with Nothing Special and continues to waver between beautiful and brooding from track to track to great effect.

Sadly nearly half the tracks have yet to be previewed publicly (such as the excellent Autumn Comes) but I can leave you with the last track on the EP, a typically classy and well engineered remix from Break. Watch out for previews of the rest of the tracks on the Horizons soundcloud page and look out for the release on three 10″ vinyls on March 11th.

Liz-E – The Last Time / Something Inside [SGN:Ltd]

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Shogun sister label SGN:Ltd are back with another deft signing in the form of up and coming liquid producer Liz-E. Her debut for SGN is smooth, rolling, uplifting liquid funk which brings to mind recent releases from the likes of Technimatic. Look out for these dropping very soon!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQaaa3k_GKo]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5OC_dxCGvY]

Kreed & Macca – Walk With Me [Lifestyle]

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A pair of new producers by the name of Macca & Kreed caught my ear recently with their track Walk With Me, forthcoming on part 1 of the Warp Speed LP for Lifestyle Recordings. The track is a beautiful piece of deep, rolling liquid with some jazzy samples and some nice vocal echoes; enough movement for the dancefloor but chilled enough for your living room. Here’s hoping for more from these two in 2013!