Review: There's lots to get your teeth stuck into on this new and blistering collection of electro from Adepta Editions. And don't let the title fool you - it's not all accessible summer festival fare, in fact none of it is. It is all head down and serious tackle. 7053M4R14's '4 N3W HUM4N' is a driving, dark, visceral sound with raw breakbeats powering through the cosmos. Rec_Overflow offers a moment to catch your breath with some slower, dubby rhythms on 'Pocket Dial' and Pauk explores twitchy future synths capes and post-human transmissions on 'Shiawasena Fukushu'. Promising/Youngster shuts down with a sense of optimism and hope with the airy melodies and slithering electro drum patterns of 'Arbey.'
Subarctic Signal - "Subarctic Signal" (Subwave remix) (5:37)
Review: Five new elysian liquid come techfunk tracks from Rotterdam's Fokuz Recordings, the cornerstone of Dutch drum & bass since 1999. A relentlessly dreamy energy is immediately conveyed on the pragmatically named 'Remix EP', led up by Alpha Rhythm, Ritual and Rezilient with 'Venus Fly' and 'One Day At A Time' on the A-side and Etherwood, Subwave and Natus on remix duties of former releases 'From The Ashes', 'Subarctic Signal' and 'Tranquility' on the B. This is liquid drum & bass of a certain character; the handicraft is impeccable, each track giving off an ultra-sleek yet still impactful post-singularity character.
Review: Hyaku marks the 100th vinyl release for Samurai Music, so shout out to the crew for staying dedicated to the format. It also celebrates nearly 17 years of dedication to quality music and timeless design and, for this milestone, the label has assembled producers who epitomise the current Samurai sound. Each track offers a unique take on that from the crunchy breakbeats of ACS to the relentless energy of Sam KDC's 'Mutilate.' Together, these contributions form a diverse collection that highlights the artistry and innovation of this talented crew while also reflecting the journey Samurai has been on for all these years. Here's to many more.
Dead Man's Chest - "Living Real" (Artificial Red remix) (5:41)
L Own X Response - "Rumination Cycles" (7:59)
Eusebeia - "Affinity" (5:44)
Esc - "Hot Hands" (7:11)
Review: Dead Man's Chest is about to unleash all kinds of breakbeat mayhem with the third volume of Western Lore's Blunted Breaks series and here's a little taster of the full flavour experience to expect. Artificial Red kicks off with a hazy-but-heavy remix of DMC's 'Living Real' before L Own & Response's 'Rumination Cycles' enshrouds us with rasping tendrils of acid and loose live drum breaks. Flip for two more breath-taking moments in (blunted) breakcraft as Eusebeia captures that early Good Looking magic on 'Affinity' and ESC closes the EP with the powerful, cobweb blast celebration of hardcore's influence on 'Hot Hands'. Get blunted!
Review: Vinyl Junkie catapults a brand new label into the universe and his intention is loud and clear - Badass authentic jungle craftsmanship for the ages. He's rolling neck deep with kindred soldiers; Radiokillaz and Fleck get wild on the breaks on 'Lakes On Saturn', Riffz dusts off the detuned rave stabs for that aggy hardcore flavour while VJ himself whips up some delightful breakbeat switchery that melts into a dubwise breakdown for momentary respite. Radiokillaz close down the EP with a touch of soul on 'Time Again', a poignant space jazz joint laced with mournful strings and a yearning vocal. Meltdown.
Review: If you like your drum & bass hardcore then add this one to the basket immediately. It's a banging fifth outing from the Oldschool Shoes crew that comes in the form of a three-way collaboration between Flex Luthor, Msymiakos and Riffz. Opener '777' is brain-fryingly intense with a barrage of rusted drums, snares and drilling baselines all set to explore any set. 'Abyss' keeps the pressure on with more manic drum programming and 'Ripples' then explores more stripped back but no less kinetic patterns. 'Delayed Response' shuts down with thrillingly dark soul.
Review: Fresh from his maximal debut album 'Unbearable Lightness', Colombian Rachiid Paralyzing returns to an older project that he's been incubating since 2018. Essentially the sound of him refining his signature and focus, both cuts are more functional than his more experimental stuff now but both still defy the usual tropes and typicalities of breakbeat music. 'Mi Mama Dic K No' subverts ideas of electro as shades of melody morph, mutate and overlap over growling bass while 'Run Miami Run' is an all-out acid/breaks riot jam. A very interesting release - especially if you're still recovering from the mind-exploding matter of his recent album. Run come get some.
Review: Now well into its eight year and still on a mission to bridge the gap between drum and bass and classic dub and reggae, the Rasta Vibez label now has a firm place in our affections. This one from the in house crew kick off with a tune packed with wellborn samples over a variety of beats from high speed drum & bass to digital dub and back again. 'Warning' then builds the tension with a blistering, speaker busting drum & bass on slaughter speckled with lasers, ragga tones and and samples.
Review: Rasta Vibez is a focused outlet for fresh twists on the ragga jungle tradition, with a generous dose of feel-good flava thrown into the blender to reach across the divide and get everyone skanking hard. 'My Sound' is an insanely catchy, chirpy flip on the usually moody approach to ragga jungle with raw fire toasting and some anthemic chorus licks to get hands reaching skywards, just in time for the late summer stretch of festivals. 'Another Hit Song' is a rolling workout which keeps things punchy and on-point, teasing the energy on the breakdown before ripping back into the jump-up styles that get bodies popping off.
Review: Tim Reaper, modern-day jungle maestro and head of the Future Retro label, kicks off Best Intentions with a killer four-track EP. Known for his razor-sharp production and deep reverence for jungle's golden era, Reaper delivers exactly what fans crave: fast-paced breaks, intricate rhythms, and dark, atmospheric layers. The EP opens with Energy Movements, a frenetic yet polished track that showcases Reaper's signature fast-paced, rolling breaks. The Juggernaut follows, living up to its name with heavy basslines and relentless energy. On the B-side, World Of Shadows plunges into darker territory, while Fusebox brings an electrifying, bass-heavy groove to close things out. It's a masterclass in modern jungle that proves Reaper's legendary status in the scene.
Review: Roffa than ruff! Netherlands craftsman Mike Redman (AKA Deformer) unites local MCs Bigman Scep, Swift and Dart for this big singalong skank-out. Tailored for festivals, it pays homage to the roots with big party energy. Meanwhile on the remix front we're bombarded with an all-star cast as UK OGs Bizzy B and Ed Rush both get stuck in alongside Mike under his Deformer alias. Bizzy is all about the modern rave twist while Ed Rush gets an old Bad Company style and Deformer goes all-out breakcore. Elsewhere on this double 12" opus we see Mackadena get the breaks on, Rotterdam Terror Corps go full hardcore and Akira teasing us with a little twist of gabber. High grade Dutch business.
Review: Lukid's ravey jungle side-alias Refreshers has been going steady for a good deal of time now, and this fresh one 'Bugged' is no exception to his usual rule of tricksy breakwork, exemplifying a mastery of the nuskool-oldskool time dilation heard in much modern jungle. A-siders 'Bugged' and 'High In Me' seem to contain multiple layers of breaks per track and phrase, treating the bedrock of the breakbeat almost like a harmony. Cetacean moods play out on 'High In Me', which continue on 'Make Me Feel So Good', which recall the chirpy chipmunk movements of Doss or Orca in recent years. Closer 'Off My Mind' is much darker, and an eclectic experiment in any case.
Review: More moody grooves from this long-standing Northern partnership as they lay down four wide-ranging cuts on their own Northern Front imprint. The first release on the label this year, it's big old statement as they flex across the spectrum. 'Criminal' hits with a Metalheadz headbutt, 'Dominion' swaggers with a venomous bounce that you could imagine coming from a collab between Amit and Total Science. Then we have 'Muscle' which is an exception piece of breaks that nods heavily at the foundation but keeps a contemporary twist. Finally 'Catastrophic Disclosure' closes with a hard, noisy Dillinja dig in the solar plexus. Savage scenes. This is some of Response and Pliskin's best work to date.
Review: At this point Okbron is a byword for the best atmospheric d&b coming out these days and while they may have drawn people in with their archival and reissue offerings, they're just as vital for platforming new music. Response & Pliskin represent the best of Manchester's d&b scene, and they've delved into a particularly mellow sound world for this release. 'Soon Forgotten' is a dreamy, subtly haunting roller with a clean, crisp beat and fulsome subs you can just float on, while 'Mainstream' deals in more layered, evolving pad tones and diced up breaks without losing that light, airy feel you want from a proper atmospheric release.
Review: Contemporary drum & bass bringers Response & Pliskin take a break from their pressurised plus-170 numbers for a dreamy foray into atmospheric breaks and liquid jungle. 'Live Ur Life' is a varied EP, beginning with the opening new age breaks of the title track, upon which we're geysered on high over humid rainforests of sound, while an ascendant vocalist - capable of wingless flight and incorporeality at will - accompanies us on our aloe vera-doused journey. Once we approach our quest's mythical, live-giving source, we're met with 'Virtuous' and 'Over The Hill', two raw yet revelatory Pandora's boxes uncovered somewhere deep in the heart of said jungle, and which both channel a dialectically calming yet ominous sound. Closer 'Hate Is Reality' refuses to deny hate as a fundamental composite of our lives, healthily channelling this extreme affect into a measured but heavy amen riffer.
Review: Polish party vibes courtesy of Riffz. 'Twilight Rhythm' brings the ephemeral rave feels with its big airy pads and big sweeping jazzy breaks. It's in good company; 'Why' asks all the hard questions over some tightly rolled drums and dank, slimy aesthetics, 'Second Thoughts' switches up the drums into a much fresher, cosmic brew while 'Game Over' (with Subreachers) closes on a poignant, thoughtful note. Deep jungle perfection.
Review: The superb Kniteforce label takes no prisoners once more with a blistering new EP from The Rood Project that is a perfect time-warp back to the heyday of 90s rave. The Crack Of Dawn 12" actually dropped in 1993 and is an experimental jungle techno mash up for peak time listening. It's dark, energising and packed with great samples about being high. And that's just the title track - 'Scary' is like a rollercoaster that breaks free of its rails and 'Crimestretch' is a cacophony of dark, brutal breaks and drilling bass.
Review: Toby Ross sure does explore some Tuff Breaks on this new EP for the faults Time Is Now label. The title cut is a fury of steely metallic sounds, crashing hits and devastating breaks with plenty of jungle signifiers also thrown into the mix. 'Barracks' is another high octane thriller with more old school jungle and rave motifs and 'Anarchy' keeps the rawness coming, this time with some chopped up vocals stabs thrown in over the relentless, crushing drum pressure. 'Voyager' shuts down with the sort of wire, intense electronic collisions that blow brains.
Review: The Paper Cuts label has been doing a fine job in putting out head-tripping club and chill-out styles for a fair stretch now and following the Ivy mixtape released earlier this year they're back with this outstanding split release from Roza Terenzi and Furious Frank. Terenzi takes the A-side with her trademark line in electro-minded machine funk rhythms powering gorgeous back room moods, keeping the mix dubby and with plenty of ambient sparkle on top of the punchy drums. There's even space for a little d&b trippiness on 'Total Recall', which also features Noff. Furious Frank gets busy on the flip with 'Splash', a blissed out beatdowns with more than a little Balearic magic in its bones, while 'Moss Rock' turns the heat up for a distinctly 90s slice of acid trance. 'Dripp' seals the deal with another low slung roller from the chill-out room of your dreams.
Review: Experimental artist Matthew Rozeik turns his hand to jungle with the start of a new series 'City Spectre'. An intense voyage back to the blueprints with echoes of Reinforced and early Metalheadz, but done with his own vision, Rozzer slaps us silly from the off... 'Abducticate' is all about those gruelling Amens a la No U-Turn while 'We Must Come To Earth' has much more of a spacious sense of tension that's comparable to Soul In Motion era Krust or classic Photek. Flip for ice cold brutalism in the form of 'Cold Metal' before 'Dust Storm' takes us far away from this wretched planet on a rocket made of pure Prototype-level tension. Bring on Volume 2.
Review: Original No U-Turn crew! Ruffkut's 'I Can't Take It' originally landed as one of the earliest releases on Tim Reaper's Future Retro. Deep, spacious and laced with the type of shimmering hypnotic dubby vocal you might expect to rattle your soul at Rupture at 4am, it enjoys two crucial remixes; Deep Jungle bossman Harmony whips up the breaks and gives it more of an icy edge but the Reaperman goes full-on militant with his energy. Back to 93!
Review: Following releases on Meditator Music and SFR, RUNDR now hits hard on Sonic Force with these four junglistic gems. Pure breakbeat science, loaded and coded with the type of dynamic drama you might expect on Astrophonica or Phantom Audio (Spirit RIP) each cut digs deep into the foundations with class and high energy. Highlights include the beautifully unhurried intro and build of the title track 'Westbound' and the mesmerising chimes and harmonics on the opening cut 'Roll On'. Rundr-full.
Review: Razat has made an art form of distortion and saturation. The latter is what lends its name to this new eight-tracker on Saturate. After a fuzzy and textural opener the tumbling and brilliantly fluid rhythms of 'Overdrive' get you to the heart of the dance then 'Clipping' lurches backward and forwards on low-end oscillations and 'Bit Crush' closes the a-side with eye-watering hiss and fizz over crunchy drum slaps. Two further tunes on the flip find Razart manipulating sound and bass in his own unique way with two remixes adding extra bite to an already very useful EP.
B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition
Distortion
Overdrive
Clipping
Bit Crush
Fuzz
Saturation
Clipping (Vorso remix)
Fuzz (Shield remix)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***
Razat has made an art form of distortion and saturation. The latter is what lends its name to this new eight-tracker on Saturate. After a fuzzy and textural opener the tumbling and brilliantly fluid rhythms of 'Overdrive' get you to the heart of the dance then 'Clipping' lurches backward and forwards on low-end oscillations and 'Bit Crush' closes the a-side with eye-watering hiss and fizz over crunchy drum slaps. Two further tunes on the flip find Razart manipulating sound and bass in his own unique way with two remixes adding extra bite to an already very useful EP.
Review: Juan Rico, who also known as Reeko and Architectural, presents Urmah, his debut LP at the eye-watering pace of 170 BPM for Samurai Music. Expanding on his two previous EPs with the label, Reeko has become essential to its sonic identity and Urmah embodies this synergy with the label by both its and his artistic boundaries. Across the record, Reeko dives deeper into hypnotic grooves and layers lush textures and subtle breakbeats into an entrancing and meditative work. The producer's deft touch for blending techno's intensity with gentle psychedelia shines through as he demonstrates a mastery of new tempos and evolving sonic landscapes.
Review: Force by name, fierce by nature; Irish jungle craftsman Ricky cooked up this mini album on Tim Reaper's Future Retro back in 2023 and it's getting a new run if you missed it. Kicking off with the iconic tones of Stevie Hyper D (RIP) on 'Sensi', everything is in place for a series vibe marathon as we're taken from fracture to fracture, chop to chop. Highlights include the bone shaking 'Extreme Change', the big rootsy rumbler 'Baked' and the lightnight finale 'Spinning Lucky'. Timeless jungle magic.
Scared Of Love (feat Ray Blk & Stefflon Don) (3:21)
Summer Love (with Rita Ora) (4:19)
They Don't Care About Us (feat Maverick Sabre & YEBBA) (4:36)
Do You Remember (feat Kevin Garrett) (3:41)
Leave It For Tomorrow (feat Elli Ingram) (4:25)
Adrenaline (feat OLIVIA) (3:58)
Review: Rudimental's third full-length, "Toast To Our Differences", was originally slated for release back in September, but ended up being delayed. So was it worth the wait? It's certainly a colourful, vibrant and expansive affair, with the quartet drawing on a far wider palette of influences than were evident on their previous albums. Check, for example, the title track's glistening, South African style tropical pop, the piano-powered cheeriness of "These Days", the soaring power pop of previous single "Sun Comes Up" and the auto-tune heavy EDM-house stomp of "Scared of Love". Given their superstar status, it's unsurprising to see an impressive cast list of guests and collaborators - Major Lazer, Rita Ora and Ladysmith Black Mambazo included - while this "Deluxe Edition" includes a trio of extra tracks.
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