Dojo’s very own Hex sneaks another tune out via Quentin Hiatus’s Free Love Digi imprint. Slugproof brings together sharp breaks, bouncy bass and a cheeky vocal sample for a tune with plenty of roll and a side helping of swagger. 10 points if you can spot the classic rap group sampled! Check it out below and grab yourself a free download via the FLD Soundcloud.
With so many great freebies surfacing over the last few weeks we thought it high time to round up our favourites here at the Dojo. First up, the ever busy Quentin Hiatus dropped a tidy free track in conjunction with his recent interview for KMag. Brooding atmosphere, deep sub and a plodding half-time riddim combine on this genre-blending slice of 170BPM business.
Evol Intent continue their steady stream of free giveaways with the typically monstrous Cognitive Divergance; described by the trio as “a modern exploration into the late 90s tech era of drum and bass”, this one is full of big bad reese bass and a relentless drum line.
Terabyte/Transmission/Sub:mission boss-man Altered Perception brings us a tight techstep roller in the form of Neurosis. Swirling bass groans and a crisp break are sure to do some damage.
Arkaik celebrates 1000 Facebook likes with a deep dark remix of Shiver’s Crossover, featuring some top notch angular riddims. Head to DNBShare to grab this one.
BSE’s Blackout imprint get ready for the launch of their next EP with a freebie from Concept Vision & Segment – big nasty rolling neuro vibes as you’d expect! Head to the Blackout Facebook page to get it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAd7U1EnT3I]
Amen badman FFF presents us with a full 6 track EP of his raggacore stylings – if you like your breaks chopped to hell and back, look no further! Download at the Murder Channel Bandcamp page.
[bandcamp width=400 height=340 album=3605023383 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=small]
Last but not least Dojo head honcho Hex gives away an old school techstep roller in the form of The Law to celebrate 500 Soundcloud followers. Big distorted 808 hits and gnarly reese bass are the order of the day here, with a few choice samples from Dredd thrown in for good measure.
What better way to kick off your Sunday than with a free download from NeurofunkGrid? Impak returns to the label for his second NFG release with two new cuts that are sure to be working dancefloors over the next few months. The Hum hits down with a tight, rolling groove and a catchy lead melody; while there’s weighty sub to the mix this is definitely a masterpiece of clean engineering.
Over on the flip Medula aims for scuzzier territory; atmospheric pads and piano on the intro give way to an impressive array of warping mid-range sounds that fans of Aeph and other purveyors of the futuristic neurofunk sound will definitely enjoy. A half-time breakdown in the second half gives the tune variety, and the sound design alone is worth a listen.
As usual you can grab the EP from the NeurofunkGrid Facebook page where you can also find all the label’s previous releases. Check out the clips below and grab it now!
The latest freebie to grace the Dojo inbox comes from Spanish duo Betafuture. Recently relocated to Bulgaria, the pair have just released their latest work in the form of the Void EP, featuring four tracks of crisp, atmospheric liquid D&B. Morning Sun brings a cheerful vibe with rolling breaks and soft, melodic synths. Breathless takes the energy down a little, focussing on bass texture while retaining atmospheric elements.
Sonder meanwhile brings in natural bass guitar and distinctive high frequency synths over another crisp set of breakbeats. Finally Distance drops the tempo for a more chilled out, melancholy slice of piano-led electronica. Check out the clips below, buy the release on iTunes, or just grab it for free here.
Quentin Hiatus’s Free Love Digi imprint return with a free download from Denver producer Atic. Conspicuous proves a tasty slice of moody, rolling techstep imbued with some appropriately eerie horror-movie style strings over a solid foundation of bass and beats. Check it out below and grab yourself a free download from Soundcloud.
It’s always interesting to hear what D&B artists get up to creatively when they’re not rinsing the 170+ tempo range and Gridlok’s latest album explores distinctly slower territory. Blending his knack for heavy hitting beats and bass with a ton of atmosphere and a healthy dose of hip-hop, the LP explores a grimey, industrial sound across 13 brand new tracks.
Highlights include the creepy dub and interesting percussion of Daisy, the lurching offbeat psychedelia of Seasick and the sheer head-nodding hip-hop groove of Big Sound, but honestly the album is a stellar listen from start to finish. Best of all it’s absolutely free! Check out the clips below and download via Soundcloud.
It’s a rare treat to get a full album for free and doubly so when that album is a massive 46 track career retrospective! US producer Vector Burn gifts his final collection of never before released tracks to the world for free, having exited the D&B scene in favour of other musical pastures some years ago. Featuring tracks that were destined for the likes of Rumble, Defcom and Renegade Hardware, the collection stands as a testament to the golden age of Techstep production, with tracks from 1999 through to 2007 painstakingly retrieved from hard drives and arranged in chronological order.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8MrWK4T5Xw]
There are so many tracks to choose from here it’s difficult to pick a mere handful to embed in the post – do yourself a favour and head over to the Internet Recordings page to read the history and grab the full set. While you’re there you could do worse than to check out the album sampler and have a gander at their back catalogue, featuring early releases from Mefjus, Zardonic and Acid_Lab.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Thr6vSYFw]
It’s always interesting to hear what the mainstays of the D&B scene get up to musically when they’re not thrashing out 170, and the latest set of uploads to The Upbeats’ Soundcloud page showcase exactly that. Lost & Found proves a rewarding collection of breakbeat, house, dubstep, hip-hop and other assorted electronica. Better still it’s all absolutely free, so have a listen and grab the tracks via Soundcloud.
With so many great free tunes kicking about this month we thought we’d round up a few of our favourites here at the Dojo. So in no particular order…
Evol Intent continue their epic series of Throwback Thursday free giveaways with a fan favourite, never released dubplate from way back in 2002! The Ladies has achieved some fame over the years via Soulseek/Youtube and is now finally available to download in newly remastered glory. Girly vocals and tough amens have never sounded so good.
CIA Records pre-empt their big plans for 2014 with a free tasty in the form of Total Science, S.P.Y & System’s Sleight of Hand, a tasty roller with all the polish you’d expect from this sort of collab. Check it out below and give the CIA Facebook a like to download.
Finally Quantax and Facing Jinx have teamed up to give us the latter’s remix of the former’s Untold. Stripped back riddims, grimey bass and soft, soulful pads come together nicely on this one.
Evol Intent continue their excellent run of free “throwback Thursday” giveaways with a remaster of Ewun collab 8 Bit Bitch. While the Spor remix (which featured on the Era Of Diversion LP) added a certain amount of extra production quality and some rather tastier bass, the original still has plenty of glitchy charm eight years on from it’s original release on Evol Intent Recordings. Check it out and grab a free download below!