Time for another roundup of the best releases in the underground D&B scene; read on for new releases from Renegade Hardware, Flexout, Warm Communications, Invisible and more…
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Tag Archives: Silent Witness
Survival & Silent Witness – Trust No One EP [Dispatch Recordings]
Dispatch return with another top class techy release and this time it comes courtesy of Survival & Silent Witness. As you’d expect from these two the release offers up chunky slabs of tech funk with plenty of groove and bassline pressure; title track Trust No One edges it out for us as the Dojo favourite, but Cutter is no slouch either, slicing up the dance with an ominous bline and crisp snares a plenty.
On top of the two fresh tracks the EP also features the results of the recent remix contest, with Renegade Hardware’s Minor Rain serving up the winning remix of Fletcher alongside the minimal drum workout stylings of Depth Mode’s remix and Diecast’s atmospheric 140 flex. Can’t say fairer than that really!
As usual you can cop this one on vinyl and digital from the Dispatch Store right now; general release to follow from Monday. Get to it!
Silent Witness – Black Raven EP [Triple Seed]
Silent Witness brings the fire once again on the latest release for his own Triple Seed Recordings imprint. Gutter Level and Black Raven provide crisp, rolling tech with tons of detail and plenty of bassweight, while Rising Sun amps up the melodies for a crisp liquid roller. Tasty stuff all round! Check out the clips below and hit up the Triple Seed store to grab the EP now.
Invisible 012 [Invisible Recordings]
Noisia’s Invisible imprint close out the year with another cracking EP featuring another four tracks from producers across the D&B spectrum. Silent Witness turns in an absolutely tearing tech smasher on Being Human while Volatile Cycle and Subtension explore slightly less aggressive but nonetheless upfront territory. Last but by no means least, Sabre & Safire team up for the superb Genie Method; deep, moody liquid with the atmosphere turned up all the way to 11. Check out the clips below and grab this from your favourite store on vinyl or digital now.
Horizons 10 [Horizons Music]
Horizons Music celebrate 10 years in the game with an excellent new compilation featuring 14 fresh cuts from names that will be familiar to anyone who’s been following the label in recent times. The compilation takes a look back at the label’s very first release, with Jubei and Amoss both turning in remixes of Skitty’s 10 Steps, but for the most part they’re looking forward with new material from some of the best names in the scene.
It’s difficult to pick highlights from such a strong selection, but a few stand out from the pack. Silent Witness brings a perfectly balanced combination of melodic elements and rolling, dancefloor tech on Fields, Amoss explore their deeper side on the subby liquid of Piano Licks and DLR turns in a trademark chunky stepper on Outta Time. The whole LP is well worth a listen, so check out the clips below and head to your favourite outlet to grab this on CD, vinyl or digital now!
Silent Witness – The Arc Light EP [Dispatch]
Silent Witness returns to Dispatch Recordings for a solo EP packed full of rolling techie goodness. The titular Arc Light kicks things off with a big bad bassline and a precise break withsome lovely hi-hat work.
Lost keeps the energy flowing with a rapidly moving bassline that has a hypnotic, faintly technoid quality to it. Out into the digital exclusives, FMB strips things right back, letting sci-fi samples breath in between the sparse beats and bass swells. Last but not least Aura lulls us into a false sense of security with a beautiful guitar led intro before the bass and beats smack down for another lesson in who to write rollers.
Pre-order your copy from the Dispatch Surus store and watch out for the release from Feb 3rd.
Get To Know…Dispatch Recordings
Leeds-based Dispatch Recordings have been a steady part of the D&B scene for well over a decade now, with a well deserved reputation for releasing tough, rugged tracks from some of the best names in the scene. Never compromising their integrity in favour of current trends, the label has truly gone from strength to strength over the past few years with a couple of massive LP releases and a slew of singles and EPs to boot.
Early releases on the label saw tunes from the likes of Hidden Agenda, NOS and Q-Project taking centre stage, not to mention a rather tasty collaboration between Chris.Su, Stress Levels and Ant TC1.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXN3P3OssZs]
Having gained this momentum, 2008 saw the label step up a gear with their first release from the mighty Break (collabing with Survival on the Sick/Warnings 12″). From here on in the discography speaks for itself, with a massive selection of great tracks from the likes of Hybris, EBK, Amoss and Octane & DLR (who’s 2012 LP Method in the Madness was widely hailed as one of the albums of the year).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rDt5LiA_nw]
All of this brings us up to the present day and the rather excellent release last month of Survival & Silent Witness’ LP In From The Wild. Every bit as high quality as the Octane & DLR album last year, and lavishly released on both vinyl and CD formats, the tracks below speak for themselves.
So if you don’t know Dispatch, sit down and have a browse of the back catalogue!
Break Presents…The Other Side [Symmetry]
Symmetry Recordings, the label owned by drum & bass legend Break, have been gearing up for a while now to release The Other Side, the label’s third album and the first to feature tracks from artists other than Break. Ahead of the release we caught up with Break for a quick Q&A about the album.
DNB Dojo: Since this is a collaboration album, who would you do a collab with if you could pick any musician alive or dead, and why?
Break: Its very hard, the list could be very long…would love to work with Marlena Shaw or Sade, they’re two of my favourite singers.
Ooh or Seal if it was a guy!
DD: Was there a deliberate decision to shift the output of Symmetry away from your own productions and onto releasing more tunes from other producers, or did it just evolve that way organically?
Break: A bit of both…I have been releasing tracks from other artists for a little while, but so many great tracks were getting sent, it seemed right to do an album. Could probably do another one soon, there’s so many good producers Im feeling at the mo.
DD: What’s your favourite track out of everything you’ve ever written? For me it’s probably between Is This What You Want and Too Much, though I also have a lot of time for Our World (from the Breakout EP you did for Eastside back in 2003)
Break: Bit like the first question pretty hard to say. Pleased you remember Our World, that was one of my favourites at the time, sounds a bit gnarly now, but the vibe is rolling. I really like Let it Happen, Last Chance Remix, Love So True, and Evil Twin. Lightspeed also gives me goosebumps everytime…there’s not many DnB tunes that do that for me…Think I’m more into the musical ones with heavy bass, my favourite combo.
DD: What’s next for the label after this album? Any exciting future plans you’d care to tell us about?
Break: We will be releasing some exciting remixes from the album, and there are several tracks that I’m trying to get my hands on, so a few more singles to come soon as well.
Ive been working on a non Dnb album with the singer Kyo, the band is called “Degrees of Freedom”, watch out for the first single coming soon. I’ts basically everything we’re into that isn’t DnB.
DD: The album features a nice variety of styles from more liquidy stuff to the really hard hitters like Kicked To Death. Which styles of drum & bass do you find it more fun to write, and to DJ?
Break: It kinda is 6 of one half a dozen of the other…Kicked To Death totally smashes it in every rave I’ve played, but it was designed to do that, after working on that in the studio for a while, can give you a bit of a headache… it’s so loud and lairy…whereas working on Who We Are, which is one of the more liquidy tracks on the album, I find more enjoyable and satisfying… basically I’m more into piano than synths!
DD: Any tips for budding drum & bass producers? What can make a track great rather than just good?
Break: I think there is an element of hit and miss. Not every tune can be amazing….you can’t expect to be able to do that…..whenever I try and make my best ever tune it’ss totally rubbish and contrived! When you nail a vibe that you’re really into, that usually will come through in the music. Often less is more….I find that all you need is 4 or 5 tracks in your arrangement to have a killer….any more is usually just filler.
Check out previews of the album below and grab yourself a copy from your favourite shop on digital and vinyl, out now!