Today’s exclusive comes from Diffrent Music and is undoubtedly the highlight of the new EP from Crypticz, Don’t Need U. The track sees the British musician teaming up with San Francisco producer Iyer for a deep, hypnotic halftime cut centred around an instantly recognisable vocal hook. We’ve been hearing this one in mixes for months so we’re really excited to present the full length track; check it out and hit up the Diffrent store to grab the EP on vinyl or digital right now!
Celebrating a full year of monthly mixes, Hex is back with the 12th episode of the DNB Dojo Podcast! This bumper edition of the series weighs in at nearly two hours, packed full of music from Treega, Cyantific & BMotion, Anodyne Industries, Friske, Thomas B, Conduct and many more. As if all of that isn’t enough there are also exclusive dubs inside from Sedo and Just Jungle (aka Genotype). Play it loud and get a taste of the full range of the D&B sound!
You know the score by now; check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.
Regular readers will know that we’re big fans of US beatsmith Quentin Hiatus and his Free Love Digi imprint, so when they proposed we team up to give away a track from his new EP we jumped at the chance! Unexpected Guest brings together Quentin’s knack for an infectious melody with his hip-hop influences for an atmospheric, hypnotic slice of halftime goodness; bleepy leads and a head-nodding groove on this one. Check it out below and hit up Soundcloud or Google Drive for a free download!
Samurai Breaks has been a busy man this year; between building up the Tsunami Bass Weight imprint alongside label partner VYKing and dropping releases for Plush, Halogen Music, Electrikal, Fragmented and more, 2017 has given us lots of output from the English-born, Prague-based producer. Between all of that he’s also found time to write his debut album, the Boss Battle LP, which dropped on Tsunami Bass Weight last month.
The album sees Sam honing in on the heavyweight halftime sound he’s explored on some of his other recent releases, taking cues from the likes of Ivy Lab and Signs with sparse beats, hints of trap and monsterous neuro-influenced basslines the order of the day. The album is at it’s best when it combines the head-nodding quality of a punchy halftime drum rhythm and a simple but weighty bassline with playful glitchiness, as on LP hightlight Special Delivery.
It’s not all sluggers though; rapid-fire breaks come into play on the chaotic Devil’s Lettuce and the antagonistically named Swivel, switching things up from the slower and more hip-hop influenced mainstays elsewhere on the record. Overall this is an impressive body of work – while perhaps not as varied as it could be it is still well worth a listen. Halftime bassheads, this one’s for you. Check out the clips below and hit up Bandcamp to grab a copy now.
With autumn beginning to close in Hex is back with the 11th episode of the DNB Dojo Podcast. This month the mix features cuts from Forbidden Society, Makoto, Jazzatron, Black Opps, Ordure and many many more, as always representing the full spectrum of the D&B sound.
You know the score by now; check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.
It’s nothing but Delta9 Recordings beats on our latest mix as label DJ Rili showcases the best of the label’s recent output! 51 minutes of dark techstep and halftime including tracks from Logics, Kela, Mystic State, Altered Perception and many more. Get to know Delta9…
As always 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.
Diffrent’s latest sees a clash of underground heads as production trio Kolectiv team up with Bristol experimentalist MEDIKA for a seriously weighty slice of dark D&B. Echoes of hip-hop punctuate the heavyweight beats and bass on this system-shaking halftime beast. Badman sound! Check it out below and look for the release dropping October 6th via the Diffrent Bandcamp.
Ill be honest, until I did my homework I had no idea that QZB are the artists formerly known as QBig & Zenith B. I should have known better. Perhaps their latest EP on Critical Music will cast a net even wider than their old alias did. Systems Vol. 9 definitely demonstrates the full breadth of their talent.
WYGD features entrancing whispers of vocals throughout the track, a style that pops up elsewhere on the EP. Lace that with clever percussive elements for a perfect example of a techy roller. Apollo – my favourite on the EP – features that repetitive vocal again, but in a very different manner. A totally screwed and chopped vocal alongside jazz-funk elements make this sound like Die & Break’s Grand Funk Hustle, Octane & DLRs Let Me Go, and DJ Rashad managed to pop out a child from a threesome gone awry.
Turning Point is true to its name, as for me this is where your attention turns from the vibe to the sound design. QZB seem to have captured the perfect snare, alongside a bassline that provides both textures to applaud and a vibe that matches it. I’m ready for the slating, but for me this bassline is ‘grown up jump up’. That really was the turning point on the EP. Revenant is far more stripped back, but with the same attention to intricacy and quality. The track is punctuated by open snares and fidgety percussive FX, and dare I say it an arpeggiated synth that is perhaps a nod to the Stranger Things soundtrack.
Its apt that the final track of the EP is named after the mythological Norse heaven, Valhalla. Another concrete demonstration that technical prowess in sound design can be matched with the atmosphere it creates. A heavily reverberated siren in the breakdown brings that Valkyrie-esque soundscape into focus. And rightly so that QZB sit atop the mythological heavens. For me, Critical are returning to sounds that got me into the label in the first place. Whilst its clear that Kasra is building a team of artists with distinguishable traits in sound – something any team-builders should aim to replicate – I would speculate that most of their UK audience prefer their tunes deep, dark, and intricate.
Hit up the Critical Store to grab Systems Vol. 9 on vinyl and digital right now.
Written by James Austin, aka DJ Auzi, label manager at Terabyte Records
Facebook: facebook.com/auzidnb
Weighty sub vibrations and creepy sampling on our latest premiere as Tesseract Recordings ready their latest release from Rafiki and Draize! Tell Me sees the latter half of the duo on solo production, delivering a weird and slightly unsettling halftime rumbler; yes yes! Check it out below and look for the Connections EP dropping September 15th.
A disclaimer; we’re not generally big fans of the compilation LP here at Dojo HQ. While the format has its strengths, it can be difficult to form a coherent narrative on a compilation, and the larger ones often feel too big to digest sensibly, allowing great tunes to get lost in the wash. When they’re done well however they can be a powerful statement of intent; enter new imprint Black Crane’s debut release, Initial Breeding.
Fans of the deeper end of D&B will only have to glance at the artists involved to get an impression of the kind of label movement Black Crane is; beats are provided by Thing, Dominic Ridgway, DYL, Mark Kloud under his ‘Yushan’ alias and a host of lesser known producers, so as you’d expect this is an exploration of the more experimental and less club focused end of the 170 sound.
The danger with a compilation of this ilk is that it might easily become a morass of third-rate Samurai Music wannabe tracks that blend into each other in a “12 tracks of industrial halftime with not much character” sort of fashion. Thankfully Initial Breeding avoids this scenario via three key elements; breadth, quality and sequencing. The breadth aspect is truly impressive, taking in everything from the more obvious gritty halftime of Yushan’s Hitchhike and Cuelock’s Grey Crowned, through the IDM-tinged melodies of Snik’s Anxiety, dubby business from Thing, autonomic-inspired ambient explorations from Eusebeia and future jungle from Dominic Ridgway. The material is all left of field but the diversity is more than sufficient to avoid the sameness of your average VA compilation.
The quality of the tracks on show is really impressive too; from percussive precision to abstract sound design to just sheer rhythmic joy, all the producers have knocked it out of the park. Last but by no means least, the sequencing from Istota and the label crew is perfect, taking the listener on a journey that gives the album poise and glues the tracks together. This trifecta of excellence puts this LP in that rarest of categories; a truly enjoyable compilation rather than just a bag of vaguely linked tracks. Check out the previews below and hit up the label’s Bandcamp to grab a copy now.