Xenon lands back in our premiere spotlight with a driving slice of techstep goodness. Eerie bleeps and acid tinges characterise a track with an exemplary dark groove, harking back to the classic era of dark rollers on labels like Offkey and Citrus. Wicked tune! Look for this coming Nov 27th via Humanoid Berlin!
If you like your D&B on the menacing side and you’re not already familiar with Fortitude then this release should be more than enough to whet your appetite. His latest work for Russian imprint Harder & Louder provides a miniature tour of the harder styles of D&B, and the tracks on show are top notch all round.
Red Shift kicks things off with a slice of dark, breakbeat-driven tech reminiscent of the golden era of Dom & Roland. Sci-fi-tinted pads, crunchy bass and tough but precise percussion; yes please! Incumbent ups the ante, bringing the bass to an animalistic snarl and adding a layer of distortion to the chaotically chopped breaks.
Last but by no means least, Succeed Control provides a dirty little roller that harks back to the time when neuro meant dirty bass and funky drums, not the level of precision and sheen currently associated with the genre. Nice! Check out the clips below and hit up your favourite store to grab a copy right now.
To say that Current Value has a pedigree in the hard D&B scene is something of an understatement; the German producer has been knocking the fuck out of sound systems worldwide for almost two decades and judging by his latest work for BSE’s Blackout imprint he’s in no danger of losing his touch.
Our pick of his latest EP for this week’s Dojo Damager is the appropriately punishing Pulverized. Bringing together a classic technoid bleep melody with savage bassline pressure and a relentless drum line, this tune does exactly what it says on the tin. Ooooooft!
MachineCode (aka Current Value & Subsistenz boss Dean Rodell) are back with another EP of tough edged, technoid D&B blending the groove of hard techno with the savage bass of neurofunk. The tracks on show here are all pretty belting but the rapid fire stabs and intense build up of Forward Gravity mark it out as the Dojo favourite. Check the clips below and grab this one from all good stores now!
After nine strong years organising D&B events in the capital Tech:nology are branching out and starting a record label, and for their first release they’ve secured an EP from Raiden, who returns to the scene following something of an absence while he concentrated on techno production under his Kamikaze Space Program alias.
The EP sees Raiden blending elements of techno, hard drum & bass and industrial noise to great effect, and while all four tracks are a treat, the harsh noise and clattering amens of 657 are the pick of the bunch to my ears. Check out the clips below and watch out for the EP dropping from March15th.