CARL LOBEN,
carlloben@hotmail.com
QUICKIES Calvertron
50,000 Watts EP Jack Knife 8.0
Nine tracks on this EP by Calvertron, with the hype rave bass cut ‘50K’ leading the way. Should be ever-present at many of the festivals this summer.
Fog
The Hood Bass EP Bass=Win
6.0
‘Disrespect’ utilizes more trap squelch than all the welly boots at Glasto. Stormtrooper doomstep with screaming synths characterizes ‘Grenades’, while personal fave ‘Vybes’ is more percussive, with less emphasis on the excruciating synth.
Fatboy Slim Love Island (A9ent
Oran9e Remix) CDR 7.5
The Kent-based DJ/
BREAKBEAT/BASS MUSICREVIEWS Backdraft
producer, who has a weekly Friday show on NSB, sends Norm’s late ‘90s cut to the palm tree-lined beach for a gurgle on a cocktail and a sunbathe on a lilo.
Kid Panel Beat Goes (The White
Riots Remix) Distortion 7.5
Boom! With zippy electronic sideswipes, popcorning and bouncy bass, The White Riots turn Kid Panel’s piece into a loveable breezy breaksteppa.
Reaction feat NFinnerty Dubtastic Dubplates
Vol 1 Dubtastic Music 7.5
Definite Lamb vibes on lead track ‘Feel This Way’ and also ‘No Escape’, singer NFinnerty’s emotive vocal woven atop the beats and acidic squiggles. ‘Ulterior’, meanwhile,
I Know Where You Live! Botchit & Scarper 7.0
Backdraft have been at it for a while, although their northern base has possibly counted against them - unjustifiably so. Starting as tear-out merchants, they’ve lunged for greater accessibility in recent times, and this album sampler demonstrates where they’re at in 2013. ‘Love Without Limit’ features Elisabeth Troy and a wub-wub dubstep bassline before it goes all future jungle in the breakdown. ‘I Wanna Rock’ involves neat interplay between MCs Solja and Lima Lean over some nagging breakbeat bizness, and ‘Peppapot’ featuring Fox begins like Floyd’s ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ before zipping into an accessible electro-breaks cut.
In The Rough
Curbcrawler EP Apexape 8.5
In The Rough are a kind of bass music supergroup made up of members of Soul Circuit and the mighty Urban Knights, and here they bring the debut release on the new Apexape label. ‘Sewer Skank’ is kinda tropical future garage put through a blender with a dose of funky percussion and bashy beats; ‘Elephant Man’ runs around the streets of Whitechapel with a broken bag over its head; the title track is future funky in excelsis; and ‘Boss’ bosses it with dramatic strings, air-raid sirens and a doom-laden bass over precise polyrhythmic beats.
Kwah DEEKLINE RAT RECORDS
01. DEEKLINE & HARDY HARD ‘Can’t Hide It’ Rat Records “This one is my favourite tune off our ‘Bounce & Shake’ album.”
02. MUTANTBREAKZ ‘Creation (Kid Panel Remix)’ Rat Records “Nice solid breaks mix from the king of the Hungarian bear hunters.”
03. GORGON CITY ‘Real’ feat Yazmin Black Butter “Could do with a 2-step mix. Vibes are sweet, reminiscent of my garage days.”
04. BAAUER ‘Dum Dum’ Lucky Me “Nice addition to my ska reggae set. The part of the spectrum of trap that I
dig.” 05. ED SOLO & DEEKLINE FEAT MILLION DAN ‘Champion No.1
(Deekline Remix)’ Rat “I smashed out some ska vibes, not sure which one of the million genres to place this in but it bangs!”
06. MARTEN HORGER ‘Let’s Get Fucked Up’ Instant Vibes “Really nice manual parch to ghetto Dutch breakbeat vibes.”
07. SCRUFIZZER ‘Rap Rave (Adam F Remix)’ Ministry “Reminiscent of old Prodigy vibes, Adam F gives this current tune a unique
twist with his awesome production.”
08. KEITH MACKENZIE & FIXX ‘Let Me See You Work It’ Rat Records “Chicago-born outfit kill it again with solid production and hooky riffs.”
09. STANTON WARRIORS ‘Can’t Hold Back’ Punks “Stantons definitely seem to be moving with the times, and here bring the heat
with this big room bass mix.”
10. MIKE DELINQUENT ‘Champion No.1 (2-Step Mix)’ Sludge “It’s got a ruff garage 2-step undertone and just sounds quirky.”
Lucas
Razor’s Edge EP Held 2 Ransom 8.0
One of the leading lights in the future jungle scene, Lucas not only runs the top drawer Top Drawer Digital label but is also
Sentient Technology EP Broken Robot 7.5
The title track begins all Teutonic and menacing, serpent-like stabs entwining around a flittery bassline for a psy-breaks stormer. It gallops into the heliosphere after the drop, but your hack’s only issue with this track is: where the hell in the UK could you play it? Can think of about five locations — max. ‘Species’ swallows more hallucinogens so that it sees aliens at No.23, and ‘Readjust The Dust’ fizzes and squiggles in all the right places too.
Wizard
a mean producer too. The title track here is quite moody, but not too moody, sorta Spring Heel Jack down the dole office in May. ‘Overdosage’ is denser, polyrhythms reverberating at all angles, with old skool Blim/T- Power mutoid sci-fi samples peppered throughout, and ‘Small Beginnings’ begins all filmic before entering the rave breakbeat arena.
NAPT
The Dockers EP OWSLA 9.0
It makes perfect sense for NAPT to sign to Skrillex’s label, as their forward-thinking production has always been second-to-none. ‘The Dockers’ is an amazing track that launches with a fanfare, a cut ribbon and muted foghorns — literally like a ghost liner setting sail — before jaunty, freaky trap noises come into play. ‘55 East’ begins all harpsichord-like before unfolding into a bouncy basement house groove, and ‘The Return’ featuring Roxy P is all warped old skool piano and effervescent diva vox. The experimentation here is sure to be really tickling Skrillex’s Aphex sensibilities.
Plump DJs
Super Imploder Grand Hotel 9.0
The Plumps are lobbing out dancefloor bombs at the rate of one or two a month at the minute, and as ever the production here is totally on-point. Utilising incessant springy pepper- grinder bass and delightful disco stabs, ‘Super Imploder’ whizzes through its hors d’oeuvres before switching into cheeky fidgety electro territory. The hip-hoppy vox helps it build to a killer acidic crescendo before it slams back in. Another phat Plump cut.
PYRAMID
www.djmag.ca
Phenomenon One EP Sub Slayers
9.5
The aptly-named Wizard has been busy recording some of the finest names in underground UK sound system culture — Tenor Fly, Rebel MC and Daddy Freddy on lead track ‘Mind Control’ here. Serving as a paranoid steppa’s delight, with mad builds and attack-attack bass bizness, it’s complemented by the title track featuring Rebel MC and Lady Chann. The swaying ravey junglist outcome here is astonishing: starting all dubsteppy, it unfolds into a dynamite drumstep piece that’ll slay dances all summer. Benny Page’s d&b overhaul is pretty tasty too, and there’s even a hype chip-tune trap mix
Zap Box/Dangerous Funkatech
8.5
Inchy from PYRAMID is another brilliant producer who can turn his hand to anything, and ‘Zap Box’ here with cohort Ken Mac starts off how a ‘Human After All’-era Daft Punk track would — all disco inflections meet ‘Robot Rock’ electronics. Develops into a growly electro big room monster that you can imagine the Skrillmau5es of this world dropping — good EDM, basically. If that’s their Vegas tune, then ‘Dangerous’ is the one that should have them rocking across America. Wise up to their energy.
The Freakazoids Body Freak/Impact (The Earth
Is Burning) Thrust 8.5
Lee Coombs and the Drumattic Twins/Shades Of Rhythm guys Nick and Lanx combine here for a sweet double-header. ‘Body Freak’ is a juicy slab of body- poppin’ ‘real’ electro — none of
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