Om Unit delivers us a late festive treat in the form of his remix of Jay 5ive & Kromestar’s Wishful Thinking. Much sought after since being featured on Om Unit’s XLR8R podcast back in 2011, the track features a deep half-step groove and massive, spacey synth leads, and is very reminiscent of the tracks on the Aeolian EP. Check out the beat below and head to Om Unit’s Bandcamp for a free download.
Paradox kicks off the year with a slice of beautiful, atmospheric drumfunk under his Alaska moniker. Jasheri is truly lush, soaring strings and understated sub-bass punctuated by crisp, elegant drum breaks which while heavily syncopated convey no sense of impatience whatsoever. Despite the tempo, this is music to lose yourself in, not music to lose it to.
Zoranine heads for even deeper territory, swapping the uplifting synths of the A side for equally lush but slightly more melancholy tones. Flute, oboe, xylophone and subtle touches of guitar all play into a true musical masterpiece, laid out to a downtempo back beat.
As usual with Paradox’s releases you can pick this up on beautiful limited edition snow-white vinyl, available to pre-order now from Surus. Watch out for the release dropping from January 10th.
dBridge & Kid Drama (aka Jon Convex) return with the second of their Heart Drive mixes, coyly titled Empathy Reboot. Unlike previous installment Aut0mated L0ve, this time the tracklist is kept entirely secret…we’re guessing the tunes will surface over the coming months, but who can tell? As you’d expect the mix is full of cutting edge experimental beats, ranging from dark and growling to deep and soulful. Check it out below and grab yourself a free download!
After an exceptional 2013 Automate continue their push on the varied fronts of D&B with the third release on their Deep imprint from Australian producer Fuj. Pressure Plates proves as menacing as it is musical, with hints of dub layered into a mix of tribal halftime drum rhythms and growling bass. This may not be a full-tempo roller but it packs a mighty punch!
Over on the flip Terror Firmer dials things back a touch while amplifying the levels of tensions and gloom; ominous synths and deep sub bass pervade the mix with occasional swipes of distorted midrange reaching out of the tune to knock you off balance. The second half of the tune brings things full roll quite nicely, providing DJs with a useful weapon for switching between halftime and full frontal beats.
Fuj is definitely one to watch for 2014! Check out the beats below and watch out for this one dropping at all good digital outlets from Jan 20th.
Purveyors of all things eclectic Diffrent Music celebrate their 20th release with a various artists LP featuring a varied cuts from the extended label family. The tone of the material varies greatly, from the beautiful, laid-back beats of Fybe:one and Kolectiv, through the slouching, tripped out dub of Jekyll’s Horcurso and out into the brutalised industrial bass and heavy snares of M-Zine, Skepticz & Mtwn’s Choices.
The common thread is that almost all the tracks on the album eschew the familiar drum patterns of most D&B compositions in search of percussive innovation, the only real exception being Arkaik’s broody stepper Wax. If you’re looking for DJ friendly crowd pleasers this definitely isn’t a collection of them, but it’s proof that the 170 tempo range continues to be a hotbed for experimentation and truly interesting music. Watch out for this dropping via CD and digital from December 9th.
To celebrate the release of the album Diffrent are throwing a party in London this Friday. With a stellar lineup of the label’s best producers and tickets available for only a tenner, those in the nation’s capital should be sure to check it out – details over on Facebook here. As if that wasn’t enough, they’re also giving away a free track from Fybe:One – check it out below and head to the Diffrent Facebook for your download.
Paradox Music return with an unusual release – their first 12″ to feature music from artists other than Paradox since 2010’s PM020 (featuring Equinox on the flip). Toronto badman Gremlinz teams up with new name Ahmad to provide two rough and tough slices of dark jungle.
Nibiru gets straight down to business with heavy hitting breaks, meaty sub and old school stabs – this is a beat crafted via years worshipping at the school of Photek, positively oozing 90s D&B soul. Over on the flip The Orchard trades in the full tempo breaks for a kick driven half-time beat punctuated with distorted amens and reverb heavy toms, while bass growls and haunting synths slither in and out of the mix.
As usual the release will be available on a beautiful limited edition vinyl pressing and the standard digital formats – watch out for this one dropping from December 9th.
Manchester producer Indigo has been busy lately – he’s signed a deal with R&S offshoot Apollo, released a new album with partner in crime Synkro under their Akkord alias and to cap it all he’s put together an essential new EP for Samurai Red Seal.
The EP sees that trademark cinematic Indigo synth work thrown into a full on soundclash with jungle-hearted breaks and some deft sampling. Dark bass and echoing percussion characterise opener Volta while Versa collab Spirit of the Winds takes a few leaves from the Paradox book of drumfunk with subtle sub taking backstage to the frantic choppy syncopation of the ever changing drum line.
The titular Storm changes gears once again, adopting a more ominous tone on a track characterised by glitchier percussive elements and a sparser composition with a much more tribal vibe. Finally Condition drops the tempo for a slice of reverb drenched deep house. As usual with Samurai you can pick this up on limited edition marbled vinyl or digital from their Surus store – don’t sleep!
Established back in 2001, US label Warm Communications has long flown the flag for high quality, leftfield Drum & Bass. Early releases from ASC, Equinox, Seba and Banaczech explored deep liquid and drumfunk, with producers experimenting with the less dancefloor oriented styles of D&B.
Looking back over the label’s discography, it seems founder EHL was in no hurry, and still isn’t – despite the labels twelve year tenure it had only notched up a relatively modest release catalogue. The upshot of this however is that the releases are of a consistently high quality, with plenty of genuinely classic and interesting tunes to choose from.
Certain classics stand out from the pack, such as the effortless ambience of ASC’s appropriately titled Highbrow, the epic cinematic drumfunk of Fanu’s Footsteps Concealed and Seba’s brilliantly idosyncratic This Is Our House.
All of this brings us up to the present day and hot on the heels of a sublime 12″ from Seba and Blu Mar Ten comes another solo single from Utopia head honcho Mako. A Break From Ritual explores ruff, tough drum programming with a huge mashup of different breaks kicking in and out of the mix over dark bass stabs and samples pillaged from hip-hop, rave and more.
Over on the flip we’re treated to a deep, dubby roller in the form of What A Little Moonlight Can Do, taking things down a notch but still placing the emphasis on intricate drum programming and unusual sampling. Watch out for this one dropping on vinyl and digital from December 2nd.
After the recent announcement of Heartdrive it seemed inevitable that we’d be hearing more 170BPM productions from Jon Convex under his Kid Drama alias, and the new EP he’s prepped for dBridge’s ever forward-thinking Exit Records delivers more beautiful 170BPM explorations in the spirit of Autonomic.
In Mind kicks things of with lush, melody driven ambience and subtle but insistent beat patterns before What Do You See? switches the tone, opting for dark, throbbing bass and stark half-time drum rhythms.
The deep, dark vibes continue on Retract, which sees Convex teaming up with relatively unknown Australian producer Hands Like Crime to craft a tune that’s all in the detail of the percussion (and appears to make excellent use of a sampled dial tone). Finally the appropriately titled Grind sees him recruiting Om Unit to the studio for a grimey, evil sounding tune full of frantic half-time syncopation and spooky lead synth chords.
Check out the beats below and watch out for the release dropping on vinyl and digital from 18th November.
Noisia’s Invisible imprint continues to showcase the experimental side of drum & bass. Nickbee opens the salvo with the sublime Third Entity; beautiful atmospherics on the intro give way to monstrous bass stabs and some super crisp percussion work throughout the track gives it that polish that separates the 1% from the rest of the D&B scene.
Axon moves things along with the hyper syncopated trap-infused sounds of STTR – comparatively stripped back but packed full of rhythm and an infectious groove. Noisia themselves contribute the cinematic sounds of The Tower, drenched in gloom and a beat pattern so sparse it’s almost non-existent, and Fre4knc closes things out with a tidy sub-heavy stepper.
Check out the beats below and grab this on vinyl or digital now from your favourite outlet.