BRKCHK is an artist that first came to our ears via an excellent release for Quentin Hiatus’ Free Love Digi imprint, and the same emotional resonance which made that EP so special is more than evident on his latest release for his own Multilux imprint. Following on from our last chat back in 2014, we caught up with Jacob to find out about the story of long lost EP God’s Not Listening, the meaning in his music and the state of D&B in 2017. Check it out!
Whether it’s in their capacity as label curators or as artists in their own right, we’re big fans of Blu Mar Ten here at DNB Dojo. In a time when so much music, drum & bass included, is a packaged commodity designed to appeal to a very specific marketplace and lacking or devoid of originality, BMT stand as a beacon of the creativity and inspiration that makes the best music so exciting. If you subscribe to the adage that 99% of everything is rubbish, then these guys are the 1% of the 1%.
Enter Empire State, the team’s seventh studio album and their fourth for their own Blu Mar Ten Music imprint. Picking up pretty much exactly where Famous Lost Words left off, the album plays like a love letter to all the facets of D&B, focusing on the deeper and more melodic side of the music but with some unashamed dancefloor rollers thrown into the mix. More experimental tracks like Monologue and Fall From Grace dial back the beats, allowing Blu Mar Ten’s knack for shimmering synth work to shine through, while straight up rollers such as Immortal Beloved provide that uptempo euphoria the duo do so well.
Robert Manos makes a welcome appearance on the effortlessly crispy Keep It Together, while the rest of the album’s vocal-led tracks feature the enigmatic strains of Kite, a female vocalist that we can literally find nothing about anywhere. The pair clearly have a talent for spotting gifted singers; as with Agnė Genytė’s contributions to their previous LP, Kite lends raw emotion and a less obvious style of delivery to the vocals here, and the album sounds fantastic for her presence.
Empire State probably won’t convince the naysayers of the merits of the more melodic end of D&B, nor is it packed full of cutting-edge, genre-bending or trend-setting material. If however you want an album featuring some of the most finely crafted D&B and a ton of depth and feeling, Blu Mar Ten deliver in spades. As always. Check out the previews below and hit up the BMT Store to grab a copy on vinyl or digital now.
Today’s premiere comes from Dojo favourite D Flect and UK/NL label Silent Audio. Taken from the Occlusion LP, After Rain sees D Flect going in deep on a crisp and melancholy roller led by soft strings and light-touch piano. Vibes! Look for the LP at all good digital stores from Jan 17th; pre-orders are live now at Beatport, Juno and iTunes.
The Dojo podcast returns with a bumper two hour long second episode just in time for Christmas! Blog owner Hex is back on the decks with all the best cuts from the Dojo inbox representing the full spectrum of D&B sounds. Check it…
You can check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube, Mixcloud, Hearthis.at or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.
Ever since we first came across Frederic Robinson via early releases for London label Diffrent Music we’ve been keeping a keen ear out for more of his eclectic, innovative and utterly unique take on the 170BPM sound. Refusing to be pinned down by genre stereotypes or the trends of club music, Frederic’s material combines hints of jazz, pop and classical with a touch of the D&B sound and the results are truly exceptional.
Following his first LP for Blu Mar Ten Music, Frederic has moved to possibly the only other home within the scene his music was likely to find, and dropped his second album for Med School. Thankfully the experimental wing of Hospital Records appears to be more than happy with his musical direction, because the album picks up exactly where debut Mixed Signals left off.
Frederic’s music continues to be filled with a childlike delight; complex melodies and harmonies flitter in and out of the mix accompanied by deft, rapid yet soft percussion and the tracks live up to the album’s title in many ways. It’s not difficult to imagine an army of tiny fleas beating drums, playing tiny xylophones and waltzing manically to the uplifting symphony. Every track feels effervescent, innocent, almost like an expression of pure joy in musical form, and the overall effect is beautiful and breathtaking in equal measure.
Sadly clips of many of the album’s tracks have yet to surface, but the handful that are online can be heard below and should provide more than enough encouragement to pick up what is undoubtedly one of the album’s of the year. Hit up the Hospital Store to grab a copy on vinyl, CD or digital right now; you won’t be disappointed.
We’re kicking off a special new feature this month as we present the very first DNB Dojo Podcast! Mixed by blog owner Hex and featuring the best cuts to land in the Dojo inbox over the last couple of months, the podcast features 80 minutes of brand new D&B from across the spectrum with liquid, techstep, neurofunk, halftime and everything in between represented. Check out the mix and look out for a new podcast coming every month from now on!
You can check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube, Mixcloud, Hearthis.at or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.
It’s been a couple of years since we caught up with BRKCHK but the man has been plenty busy in the intervening years playing shows around the Houston area and running Multilux Recordings with partner in crime Amathyst. We jumped at the chance to get him onto the Dojo Mix series and the resulting mix is a pleasure to listen to; deep, liquidy selections from Random Movement, Technimatic and more plus a couple of tasty new BRKCHK productions. Wicked stuff!
As usual you can check out the mix via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube, Mixcloud, Hearthis.at or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.
Another Dojo exclusive today as we bring you the B-side from innaSelf’s brand new single for Philadelphia imprint Redcliffe Records! Crispy breaks and enigmatic piano characterise this jazzy liquid roller; definitely one the melodic heads will lose themselves in. Look out for the single dropping September 19th at all good digital stores.
innaSelf:
Facebook → www.facebook.com/pages/innaSelf/524564470933436
SoundCloud → @inna-self
Twitter → twitter.com/innaSelf_uk
Redcliffe Records:
Facebook → www.facebook.com/redclifferecs
SoundCloud → @redclifferecs
We’re incredibly proud to have the exclusive premiere of XCUZMe’s superb new liquid roller Cotton! Forthcoming on Bay 6 Recordings this is is soft, soulful, melodic D&B at it’s finest, with beautiful guitar licks and crispy breaks flowing along throughout. Look out for this and four other fantastic tracks on The Heart Of It All EP dropping from 29th July.
Follow XCUZME:
SC: @welovexcuzme
FB: www.facebook.com/pages/XCUZMe/1031400410237420
Twitter: twitter.com/welovexcuzme
Follow Bay 6 Recordings:
SC: @bay6recordings
FB: www.facebook.com/bay6recordings
Twitter: twitter.com/bay6recordings
We’ve got USA’s finest on the Dojo decks this week as Blueprint brings the Deconstructed Recordings sound to our mix series! Featuring the finest deep liquid selections from the likes of Humanature, Silence Groove and Undersound alongside a fistful of Deconstructed dubplates, this is smooth sailing for the warm summer sunshine.
As usual you can check out the mix via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube, Mixcloud, Hearthis.at or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.