Ultra deep vibrations on today’s premiere as Swiss duo Special Victims deliver an atmospheric halftime cut for Drum Army! Mellow-step for winter times…check it out, and look for the Yo Bro VA LP coming Nov 20th at digital stores.
Regular readers will know we’re big fans of K2T here at DNB Dojo. As co-manager of Detached Audio he’s been a reliable A&R presence, bringing a slew of varied releases from up and coming names to our collective ears, and he’s an accomplished producer in his own right with a gift for soulful liquid rollers with an old school percussive flavour. As he gears up to drop his debut LP The Tranquillity of Being With The Self, we grabbed him for a chat about album flows, mental health and downtempo influences…plus we’ve got the premiere of the title track! Check it out…
UK producer Paradox has just released his latest 12″ single under his more chilled-out pseudonym, Alaska. While Solace is a sparse, sort of liquid drum and bass track with funky vocals and Paradox’s omnipresent jungle-style drums, Earthloop is a downtempo, almost trip hop-like track with slow, jazzy snares and beautiful, wintry synths. Paradox himself calls Solace “a sequence of sad violin loops set the tone over fast breaks and strings”, which is certainly accurate, but Alaska fans should be sure to check out Earthloop as well for its complexity and incredibly clean production.
Paradox as Alaska has created something really special with this release, conjuring a completely different vibe from his more well-known releases, and his continued dedication to high-quality 12″ presses makes this single as highly prized as anything else he’s put out under his main moniker.
The Solace/Earthloop single is already sold out in vinyl form on the Alaska Bandcamp page, but it appears to still be available on the Samurai/Arctic Music Group website. Check out the clips below and go grab a copy while you still can!
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Written by Layla Marino
Blog: (Dropping) Weird Science
Twitter/IG: @dropweirdsci
In case you weren’t aware Mar 28th is Piano Day (the 88th day of the year for the 88 keys on a full size piano) so we figured we’d take a break from the usual coverage to celebrate one of the oldest and best musical instruments around.
Experimental composer and multimedia artist Koronis has put together a beautiful minimalist piece entitled Weave for the occasion and crafted a unique animation to go with the piece; we think you’ll agree they’re both soft, understated and generally awesome. Check it out below and go find yourself a piano to play with!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7spwVfFZFQ
Mako’s Utopia Music imprint has been relatively quiet lately, probably due in no small part to Mako’s increasingly busy release schedule and his work on an LP for Metalheadz with DLR (which we can’t wait to hear). Busy schedule notwithstanding, it seems the label is still getting some love as evidenced by their first new 12″ since Inner Revolution dropped at the start of the year.
Both tracks on the latest release come from super-collab style lineups, with Hydro at the centre of each. He’s recruited Habstrakt, War and Mateba for a chunky halftime outing on The New Age, which is all heaving sub bass and perfectly placed percussion, plus a few ominous pads for good measure. The track carries a really deep, tribal vibe and the overall effect is absolutely hypnotic.
Over on the flip Hydro is joined by Samurai Music/Auxiliary mainstay Sam KDC and unknown quantity Modabke for the achingly beautiful Voyage Nocturne. This one goes well outside of what can really be called D&B, hitting more of a downtempo/ambient vibe but still with those super crisp drums and an element of dark bass gargling away in the background behind the wash of jazzy licks, spacey synths and other instrumentation. If the first track was hypnotic this one is full on trance-inducing, and defies a worthy description.
Utopia Music continue to be one of the most exciting and innovative labels in the game, and we hope their strong tradition continues around Mako’s journey to the upper echelons of the scene! Check out the clips below hit up your favourite store to grab this on vinyl or digital right now.
For the latest in our exclusive mix series we’re extremely excited to welcome Utopia Music’s Hydro & War to the DNB Dojo decks. The boys have crafted a fantastic mix spanning rolling techstep, deep halftime, downtempo, hip-hop ambient and even a little jazz. We hope you’ll all enjoy the varied selections as much as we do!
No tracklist on this one but be sure to listen out for Hydro, War & Mateba’s latest cut for Utopia, 87, and forthcoming Hydro, Habstrakt, War & Mateba cut The New Age (again out on Utopia very soon).
As usual you can check out the mix via Soundcloud below or head to Mixcloud, Hearthis.at or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Dropbox.
Stray is that most rare of beasts; a producer who gets better and more innovative as he advances in years, rather than settling into a comfort zone and churning out the releases. His latest EP for Exit Records finds his work in rude health, with seven new tracks spanning hip-hop, D&B and electronica.
Paradise opens things up with a big, slouching slice of bassy hip-hop which those of you who’ve caught Stray or Ivy Lab recently may well recognise. The groaningly bassy Walkonby and cheekily funky Movements continue the 85BPM hip-hop trend to great effect; it’s a style that Stray has clearly become both comfortable with and adept at over his last few releases both solo and with Ivy Lab.
Queen sees the tempo switch up for the EPs only straight D&B affair, an enjoyable little roller with plenty more of those signature vocal cutups among the soft synths and crisp breaks. Without U moves things in a jungle/footwork direction with big chunky breaks and hints of dub thrown into the mix, before Branflakes drops things back to the hip-hop swagger once again with massive punchy sub and interesting percussion.
Last but not least Dizzy provides a perfect little outro of mellow downtempo, with soft jazz and funk licks set to loose breaks. Blissful stuff. Essential listening once again; check out the clips below and hit up the Exit Store to grab this one on vinyl or digital now.
Anyone who keeps an eye on the wider bass music scene should already be familiar with KOAN Sound – the Bristol-based duo have gained fairly widespread acclaim for their dubstep, glitch-hop and other lower-tempo material on Skrillex’s OWSLA label, Inspected Records and beyond.
Their latest release sees them concentrating on the 170BPM sound more than usual, with two of the four tracks playing with the D&B template. Strike hits down with intricate drum programming around a halftime kick/snare rhythm and plenty of the duo’s trademark squelchy bass, while Forgotten Myths goes full roll after a pretty epic atmospheric build up.
Elsewhere on the EP we’re treated to lush, melodic glitch-hop on Sentient and soft, almost ambient tones set to rolling 140BPM breakbeats on View From Above. Overall it’s a top notch EP, and best of all you can grab it on a “pay what you like” basis from their Bandcamp. Check out the tracks below and grab it right now!
Leeds based duo Redpine & Solo serve up a new EP for Studio Rockers blending influences from Future Garage, Jungle and beyond. Title track Smoke City blends classic break chopping with cinematic elements and a distinctive vocal line for a tasty track with tons of contrast, while Stay True drops the tempo and lightens the tone for a breakbeat garage workout that’s more than a little infectious.
I Am Someone continues the broken beat cross-breeding on a track with a housey groove, while The Love drops things down even further for a downtempo/trip-hop type of vibe. All the tracks display an aptitude for composition and atmosphere which makes them well worthy of your attention – check out the clips below and look for the EP dropping at all good stores from April 14th.
Blu Mar Ten close out their Famous Lost Words remix project with a remix from the legendary Future Sound of London. The release is coming out on a single sided 10″ vinyl (with free digital copies) and the only place you can buy it is from the Blu Mar Ten store. With pressing limited to 300 and only 94 left at time of writing, you better be quick if you want this one! Check out the teaser clip (or this longer one on Facebook) and look out for this shipping sometime in December.
Update: FSOL’s rather beautiful remix of Night Shift is out now at all good stores. The 10″ vinyl is entirely sold out so bad luck if you slept on that one, but the digital is still available via the Blu Mar Ten store (and should be available elsewhere too). Check out the Soundcloud clip below and get buying!