Tag Archives: Warm Communications

Spirit – Reality / Babylon Call [Warm Communications]

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Warm Comms bring us a great new 12″ from Spirit, who some of you should recognise as Digital’s regular partner in crime on their Phantom Audio imprint and beyond. A side Reality brings the old school techstep vibes with crisp drums and a big bad old school bassline that is sure to shake a few sound systems nicely.

Babylon Call on the flip dials down the aggression but keeps things on a retro tip, with some nice old school hoover action and a deep, dubby vibe. Check out the clips below and grab this on vinyl or digital from November 24th.

Break – Coming 4 U [Warm Communications]

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Warm Communications return for their 30th release with a top notch double A side from the legendary Break. Coming 4 U brings together beautiful melodies on the intro, that signature Break rolling drum work we all love so much and a warm, sizzling bassline; equal parts dancefloor heft and summery musical shine.

The flip sees Break giving the remix treatment to Mako’s What A Little Moonlight Can Do. Iconic samples from the original are retained but the new remix lends the song a techier edge than the original’s floatier, more atmospheric vibe. Once again the drums here are just pristine! Check out the clips below and grab this on vinyl and digital from September 8th.

December Mixtape Roundup

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With so many good mixes touching down over the past few weeks it seemed only right to do a wee roundup of the best we’ve heard here at the Dojo. So in no particular order…

Joe Ford presents the 41st episode of the London Warehouse Events mix series with a short, sharp selection of dark techy D&B from the likes of Noisia, Maztek, Mefjus and Nickbee, including some new (and unlisted) tunes. JF dubs perhaps?

Mikal celebrates the impending release of his Immaterial EP for Metalheadz with a 30 minute promo mix featuring tracks from the EP alongside beats from Jubei, DLR, Villem and more. Watch out for the release dropping from December 16th.

Chris Renegade presents the 23rd episode of the Lifted Music podcast featuring brand new cuts from Aeph, Memtrix, Prolix & Gridlok and more, alongside a new dub from Inward Phase, a classic from the Konflict vaults and plenty of random half-cut banter.

While actually recorded back in October the audio from Fracture’s appearance at the Boiler Room Machinedrum special has recently surfaced on Soundcloud, and as usual it’s an eclectic treat. Definitely one for the deep heads to scope out.

To celebrate the recent release of his M-Theory EP for Renegade Hardware, Maztek brings us a 30 minute mix packed full of top class techstep and neurofunk belters.

Warm Communications head honcho EHL has recorded a nice mix of all things deep ahead of the labels latest release from Mako.

Finally The Upbeats celebrate their recent appearance at Japan’s Hangover D&B night with a mix full of tidy D&B belters and a few unexpected surprises.

Get To Know…Warm Communications

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Established back in 2001, US label Warm Communications has long flown the flag for high quality, leftfield Drum & Bass. Early releases from ASC, Equinox, Seba and Banaczech explored deep liquid and drumfunk, with producers experimenting with the less dancefloor oriented styles of D&B.

Looking back over the label’s discography, it seems founder EHL was in no hurry, and still isn’t – despite the labels twelve year tenure it had only notched up a relatively modest release catalogue. The upshot of this however is that the releases are of a consistently high quality, with plenty of genuinely classic and interesting tunes to choose from.

Certain classics stand out from the pack, such as the effortless ambience of ASC’s appropriately titled Highbrow, the epic cinematic drumfunk of Fanu’s Footsteps Concealed and Seba’s brilliantly idosyncratic This Is Our House.

All of this brings us up to the present day and hot on the heels of a sublime 12″ from Seba and Blu Mar Ten comes another solo single from Utopia head honcho Mako. A Break From Ritual explores ruff, tough drum programming with a huge mashup of different breaks kicking in and out of the mix over dark bass stabs and samples pillaged from hip-hop, rave and more.

Over on the flip we’re treated to a deep, dubby roller in the form of What A Little Moonlight Can Do, taking things down a notch but still placing the emphasis on intricate drum programming and unusual sampling. Watch out for this one dropping on vinyl and digital from December 2nd.

Seba – Shades of Me & You [Warm Communications]

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Seba and Blu Mar Ten tunes hold a special place in my ever expanding collection of D&B records. Both artists have proved time and again across decades of production that while other artists in the scene may only be interested in the drop and much of D&B is aimed at the dancefloor, there is space in the genre for true musical expression. More than that, they prove that melody can be used without “doing a Fresh” and heading straight for cheese-tastic euphoria territory.

Predictably then, the latest 12″ on Warm Comms went straight onto my “must buy” list (if only labels would send me vinyl promo…a man can dream). Seba sets the tone on the A side with absolutely lush pad work over a soft, deftly syncopated beat and a warm liquid bassline that you could curl up in for the winter. Vocal snippets echo in and out of the mix to provide the final icing on a beautiful liquid-funk cake.

Not to be outdone, Blu Mar Ten turn in a shimmering remix drenched in reverb and characterised by their signature melancholy synths. Something about BMT’s mellower tracks is almost trance-inducing; the hypnotic combination of rolling yet muted beats and minor key chord progressions with wholesome sub bass always hits the spot.

Check out the previews below and watch out for this dropping on vinyl and digital from August 26th. You can even pre-order a copy from surus. Go on, you know you want to.

Mako, Villem & Fields – Whatever Whatever [Warm Communications]

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Warm Communications returns after a 6 month hiatus with a tidy little 12″ from Mako and friends! Whatever Whatever sees him teaming up with Villem and Fields to deliver a masterwork of skittering breaks and growling, warped low end. Seriously schizophrenic percussion is definitely the highlight of this tune!

Over on the flip Mako serves up a solo outing that dials back the breaks in favour of pure groove and hefty sub hits. Tasty half-step banter for the heads. Watch out for these dropping June 3rd!

DNB Dojo Mix Series 02: Enorme

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DJ Enorme steps up to deliver the second episode of our exclusive mix series! Enorme started building his rep in the UK scene under the guise of Doom Boy and soon started making regular appearances around the north of England warming up for names like Andy C, Shy FX, Noisia, TC and more at nights including Turbulence, Curves, Bass Militia, Lockdown and the now defunct Syndicate.

Since moving to The Netherlands, Enorme now represents the deeper side of Techstep, holding down a residency at Drum Addict in Amsterdam and presenting the Blackdub podcast with regular mixes from upcoming and established artists alike. For this mix he’s dropped a tidy selection of forthcoming releases alongside some older classics, keeping things simmering nicely with deep but rugged beats. Check it out below and grab a free download from Mediafire, or check out the mix over on Mixcloud.

Chris Octane – Synthetics [Forthcoming CO:RE]
Arclight – Pluroform (Raiden Remix) [Forthcoming AutomAte Tech]
Cern – Hollow Moon [Dispatch Recordings]
Andy Pain & Z Connection – Outsider [Demand Records]
Hybris – Face Of Change [Dispatch Recordings Freebie]
Freeze – Calm Your Ego [Proximity Recordings Freebie]
Nymfo – Air Jacks [Commercial Suicide]
Naibu – Use Of Weapons (Fracture & Neptune’s Astrophonica Remix) [Warm Communications]
Clarity – Cold Blank [Samurai Music]
???? – ???? [????]
Isotone – Trip [Obsessions]
L33 – Ironic [Syndrome Audio]
Icicle – Dreadnaught feat. SP:MC [Shogun Audio]
Cause4Concern – Paranormal [Cause4Concern Recordings]
2Sides & Kije – Black Planet [Structured Music]
Survival & Silent Witness – Speedbag [Dispatch Recordings Freebie]
FD – Blue Sky Research (Sun & Bass VIP) [Sun & Bass Recordings]
Zero T – Tavistock Dub [Nu Directions]