Submorphics - "Daydreaming" (feat Big Brooklyn Red - Echo Brown remix) (4:34)
Zero T & Unitsouled - "Slightest Moment" (feat KSR - remix) (4:53)
Lenzman - "Walk On By" (Satl remix) (4:55)
Redeyes - "Untitled Soul" (4:10)
FD - "Top2Bottom VIP" (6:27)
Review: The North Quarter label serves up nine exclusive tracks on this superb double LP which is the culmination of many years friendship of Lenzman & Dan Stezo. The former lays down the seamless flow while the latter delivers perfectly introspective lyrics in a heart aching falsetto and all the tunes are solely from The Northern Quarter associates. The liquid drum & bass grooves are soulful and soaring, with plaintive pianos draped over the silky sequences. It's a warm and emotive listen for days at home as well as once dance floors open up again. Favourites include Zero T & Unitsouled's frictionless 'Slightest Moment' and FD's deep diving closer 'Top2Bottom VIP.'
Review: Halogenix's label levels up in a major way here as he invites a whole troupe of talents over to Gemini Gemini for some heavyweight underground bubblers, bangers and bliss-outs. Those on the hunt for dreamy deep cuts should head for Fonts introspective stepper 'L.U.V', Azotix's 'Back Seat' and 'Monty & Indira May's 'The Motion' while those looking for something a lot darker and meaner will be all over the pure growlage of Koherent's 'Mercurial' and Quartz's thundering 'Strike Anywhere'. Complete with tracks from the likes of Zar and Verbz, Satl & Styke and En:vy, this is a very promising series from one of d&b's most authentic and consistent operatives. Resplendent in its white splattered vinyl. Join the club.
Review: Those interested in the roots of UK bass music have been well-served of late, with a number of books and compilations focusing on the first wave of British dance music in the late 80s and early 90s. Soul Jazz's latest compilation is a superb addition to this growing list. It showcases music made in the post-bleep and early breakbeat hardcore period, where basslines got bigger, drum breaks faster, and ragga influences started to come to the fore. The selections are on-point throughout from the dub-wise rave rush of Babylon Timewarp's "Durban Poison" and the bleep-and-breaks-meets-proto-jungle shuffle of DJ Dubplate's "Tings A Go On", to the rave-rap goodness of The Freaky's "Time & Age" and the heavily edited darkcore/early jungle insanity that is Krome & Time's terrific "Ganja Man". In a word: essential.
Review: The North Quarter has always done a fine job of offering up widescreen drum & bass sounds that are often heavy on soul and based silky grooves. Their second State of Mind compilation is another caesura in point as it draws together four sides of fresh riddims from plenty of contemporary talents. Alexx A-Game opens up in funky fashion as remixed by Satl, then the good time grooves carry on with Lenzman & Redeyes's 'Hold Tight Girl.' Further highlights come from the jazzy depths of Channell's 'Intrigue' and Note's fathom-deep 'Affirmative Action.'
Winston Curtis - "Be Thankful For What You've Got" (5:35)
Trevor Hartley - "It Must Be Love" (3:24)
Shut Up & Dance - "Java Bass" (3:51)
Brown Sugar - "Black Pride" (3:25)
The Terrorist - "RK1" (6:26)
Black Harmony - "Don't Let It Go To Your Head" (7:18)
Pebbles - "Positive Vibrations" (3:46)
The Ragga Twins - "Ragga Trip" (4:36)
Funk Masters - "Love Money" (6:30)
Cosmic Idren - "Compelled" (3:36)
Harry Beckett - "No Time For Hello" (8:44)
Janet Kay & Alton Ellis - "Still In Love" (3:31)
Sandra Reid - "Ooh Boy" (3:47)
Tabby Cat Kelly - "Don't Call Us Immigrants" (5:46)
Brown Sugar - "I'm In Love With A Dreadlocks" (3:24)
Review: The latest collection from the mighty Soul Jazz draws together a myriad of different styles favoured by black British sound systems, not only reflecting the roots of different communities reaching these shores but also the UK twist that that music has received as result. Reggae forms the backbone of the collection, from the blissful consciousness of Pebbles' 'Positive Vibrations' to the more protest-orientated Brown Sugar's 'Black Pride' and Tabby Cat Kelly's 'Don't Call Us Immigrants'. But the presence of Shut Up & Dance, Ragga Twins, Ray Keith aka The Terrorist and Digital Mystikz helps show the uniquely British areas into which sound system culture evolved - rave, breakbeat, jungle and dubstep.
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