Review: Peddling heavy, sweet subs that ooze out of the scoops like syrup, Portuguese low end maestro 3WA makes his debut on Infernal Sounds with four utterly stinking brouhahas. 'Scavenger' starts the commotion on a deep but stern note and things get more and more twisted throughout the EP... 'Minotaur' grunts and growls with a over-sized toxic bassline while 'Mutt's flips from cosmic and percussive to straight-up deranged. Last but not least 'Wandering' finishes the EP on a last lingering groan. Refreshingly woozy.
Review: London trio Damos Room serve up their take on dub-inspired bass music on this new EP which emerged from a rare collaborative session in Elijah Minnelli's loft. 'Commencement' opens with a deep, droning bass groove that's topped with a stream of conscious muttering to create a moody and hypnotic sound. 'Mineral Blend' brings a laid-back dancehall vibe with dreamy echoes of past sessions and remixers Gonjasufi, Lewi Boome, Dome Zero and Polyop individually infuse the tracks with dub techno, acid and experimental twists best highlighted by Gonjasufi's haunting transformation of 'Commencement' into a misty, immersive bit of sonic menace.
Review: .Following rumblers and shakers on the likes of Well Rounded and Low End Music, Jackson makes his debut on Liverpool imprint LDH. Proffering some of his wooziest brews so far, the whole collection smacks of 3am liberty. From the moment the creepy opener 'Genie' wafts into view until the very last stench of triumphant hypnosis on the bruk influenced 'Power' leaves your brain, the whole collection is an assault of the vibe senses. The tumbling organs and heavy harmonicas on 'Shakey Shakey' and the trippy boom bap of 'Static' can't go unrecognised for that matter. Shake what your Jackson gave you.
Review: We've always been hip to deep dubstep and Naan does it better than most. Their latest transmissions is from Zha who offers up an eclectic EP that seamlessly fuses Bollywood, dubstep, UK garage and breaks. The genre-defying journey begins with 'Quit Dreaming, Grow Up' which serves as a heartfelt ode to artists navigating the delicate balance between crafting their work and the fleeting nature of its consumption. Both a celebration and a reflection, the rest of the release captures the tension between creative passion and the relentless pace of modern music culture, so is impactful on many levels at once.
Review: One of the most interesting artists to have emerged from the Czech and Slovak based crossbreed movements that dominated the first decade of the century on the harder side of d&b, Forbidden Society has evolved and morphed with the times to a much deeper, emotionally-wrought but still hard-assed sound. This seventh studio album (released on Noisia's iconic Vision imprint) is the best version of his fusions so far. From the dark industrial strength dubstep swagger of 'Wish' to the sci-fi hurricane of cuts like 'Deception' and 'Reaching Zero', this is an incredible body of work from an impressive and unique craftsman.
Review: Inner Echo's latest venture dives into dub's atmospheric underbelly with an ear for intricate detail and deep emotional resonance. Basslines don't just anchor the compositions but ripple through them, creating a sense of movement and weight. Vocals surface like apparitions, haunting but never overpowering, while percussion glints at the edges, sharp yet restrained. The production leans into space and silence, allowing melodies to linger and decay in equal measure. There's a timeless quality here; it's dub imagined not just as a genre but as a state of mind, with every element fine-tuned to pull listeners into its reflective core.
Review: Since 2018, the Marble Elephant duo has been colliding drum & bass, deep dubstep and future garage into suns that are both physical but rife with emotion. Truth is a full length which goes deep into their style and shows how versatile they can be. There are atmospheric, immersive sound worlds like the title cut next to glitchy, skeletal garage workouts with sunny melodies like 'Believe', ambient jungle soothers like 'Serenity' and Burial-esque late night cuts like 'Discovery'
Review: Brittle bass music from 1985 Music, who present the first edition of Fragment, their new V/A albums series focusing on dubstep, drum & bass and experimental oddities in between. Convoking names both old and new, well-established and less so, this fiendish silicone collection bottles ten headtop hitters onto a single 3xLP gatefold record, channelling a whole uncountable host of aggressive intentions in the process. When it comes to being whacked round the head, we're not talking sugar glass either: with tracks from mainstays Headland, Drone and Visages, all the way up the cullet pile to 1985 label boss Alix Perez with the relatively chic 'Bloomsbury', all tracks herein command the utmost polish, shrillness and pressure, never failing to push us to the edges of our seats.
Review: This double trouble slap of vinyl features two standout tracks from each of the four Duploc Off Limits compilations and they have been pressed at 45 rpm for optimal loudness. Die By The Sword opens with the low-end menace of 'Til Death', Argo layers up old school dial tones with swaggering dub low ends on 'Shakedown' and 11th Hour's 'Move Over' is a dark, heavy dub stepper with grime bars and late night edge. A fitting tribute to DUPLOC's legacy, this drop offers fans a tangible piece of the iconic compilations complete with high-energy grooves defined by precision and clarity.
Review: A vrooming new V/A comp from London's bass music bacchanals 1985 Music, following up a sellout show at the Roundhouse earlier in 2024. Helmed up by pensive liquid purveyor come bass musical all-rounder Alix Perez, the label now compile several star tracks from throughout the year, setting them side-by-side on wax for the first time. Including trax by Perez, Drone, Cesco, Visages, Hijinx and Onhell, the general movement is from sociopathic grimescape though to bear trap tricksiness, shortly tied up in an extended jungle and d&b coda on the B; Paige Julia's 'Indisputable' is as brazenly fearless as Flowdan's opening flows are, though a continual liquefaction occurs therefrom; the best element heard towards the end has to be the erratic bubblegum cutups heard on Visages' 'Dol Guldur'.
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