Review: Off to a firing start last year on the likes of Foundation Audio, FKOF, Crucial and 786, Portuguese darksmith 3WA has the honour of launching Earth & Stone, the new label from Subtle FM's Chalcraft. Taking off where the likes of "Viagem" and "Black Marsh" left us, the "Altair" EP is awash with spooky harmonics and eerie, creeped out textures and trippy off-beat drum patterns. The title track sets the parameters with its folding tubular bass that shoots up an octave or three when you least expect it, "Laser Lords" follows with a stern lesson in percussive persuasion wrapped up in a raffish Coki style bassline before "King Of Style" signs the deal off with a swaggering groove and techno attitude. 3WA? 3WOAH mate.
Antonio Zepeda - "Mexico Tenochtitlan" (6Blocc remix)
RAW - "Sensi"
Screechy Dan - "Boomin' In Your Jeep" (RAW remix)
RAW - "Dub Fi Dub Medley"
Criminal Mindz - "Baptized By Dub" (Skanx remix)
Solo Banton - "Babylon Coke" (Skanx remix)
Skanx - "Distant Dream 2013"
Review: Some call him R.A.W, some call him Skanx, others call him 6Blocc. Here at Juno we call this LA low-end veteran a 'badman'. Flipping through the tempos like vinyls in a dusty crate and flexing his bass muscles with depth and dexterity on every release, he's renowned for flicking the style switch at the drop of a fractured amen. Declassified Dubplates acts as a cool potted CV with cuts like "Sensi" and "Booming In Your Jeep" show his breakneck full throttle style, cuts like "Babylon Coke" and "Distant Dream 2013" showing his lower nu-jungle skills and cuts like "Viaje Al Mictlan" and "Mexico Tenochtitlan" showcasing his mesmerisingly deep, dubby styles. An accomplished collection to say the least.
Review: In between brief dalliances with Swamp81 and 3024, Addison Groove shows some hometown support with this essential twelve for Pinch's Tectonic imprint. "This Is It" could only come from the sonic palette of Tony Williams, with steppy juke heavy 808 riddims ripping out of the speaker cones at 138bpm amidst a barrage of expertly spliced vocals and rubbery rave bleeps. Amidst the rowdiness, there's a distinct progression to the track which makes it a worthy successor to last year's triumphant "Footcrab". "Make Um Bounce" slips down the tempo scale a notch or two for a more standard 4x4 flex that's brimming with enough bass and rasping percussion to find a place amidst Jackmaster's forthcoming excellent mix for Fabric. Big tip!
Review: Following his soundtrack to the Roki game and appearances on the likes of Monstercat, Aether returns to his spiritual home Fent Plates for the first time since 2017. The wait has of course been worth it as 'Fragments' takes us back to the Scottish deepsmith's finest elements; stirring, poignant chords, foggy, disarming textures long lingering-but-tender notes. From the opening airy pads and trembling keys of 'Luna Awaits' to the final slo-mo plod and echo of the finale 'Worlds Apart', it's Aether doing what he does best; conjuring up emotions you didn't even know you were feeling while making you feel like you're in an impenetrable bubble. Beautiful.
Review: Since first dropping on wax five years ago, Aether's Fent Plates debut, Viraha, has become something of an in-demand EP online - hence this timely reissue. We'd argue that it remains the Scottish producer's most potent and musically detailed work, wrapping atmospheric and alluring melodic elements - think twinkling, melancholic piano motifs, manipulated female vocal samples and emotive chords - around the deepest of dubstep beats, head-nodding trip-hop grooves and hazy aural textures. Throw in a couple of fine ambient tracks and you have a brilliantly blissful, contemplative EP that's tailor-made for sofa-bound post-club plays and escapist afternoon daydreaming.
Review: Coming up on Innamind, Killa Sound and Moonshine Recordings, Ago has been flying the flag for soundsystem innovation in the scene where dubstep still pushes forwards and the connection to traditional dub values remains at the forefront of the practice. It makes perfect sense he's now been snapped up by V.I.V.E.K's System label then and he arrives on the label with four outstanding cuts pushing at typical 140 forms and offering something wholly unique. 'Your Eyes' keeps plenty of space in the half-step rhythm, but the springy synth out front runs with an urgent double time which elevates the impact of the track. 'Crippling' is a more claustrophobic pressure cooker, while 'Eight Times Eight' turns out a leftfield strain of steppas before 'Riverwind's techy propulsion brings the record home in outstanding fashion.
Review: Basel-based experimental labels Amenthia Recordings and A Walking Contradiction join forces for their first collaborative release here in the form of the Flash Crash/Hack Crash EP. Both labels are known for pushing boundaries within their close-knit creative circles and this one features Agonis' heavy stepper and Konduku's whirlpool of low frequencies on the Amenthia side, while Lemont continues the low-end, tripped-out vibe. Varuna represents A Walking Contradiction and delivers swampy, slow-motion sounds in their signature style. This release embodies both labels' commitment to daring, unconventional electronic sounds.
Review: New Zealand-based producer and DJ Akcept smashes onto Juan Forte with a huge limited release. Limited to 900, this double single features some crazy deep dubstep and techno vibes throughout. 'Deflecting' is a more deconstructed and tribal sound, much more contemplative and brooding than its bubbly techno counterpart 'Always Bittersweet' - it's very much a day/night situation housed in a really dope looking art sleeve based on comic strip aesthetics.
Review: Blimey, if this isn't major meeting of musical Midas minds then we don't know what is. Alter Echo, E3 and Headland all collaborating with legendary dub flautist Diggory Kenrick. "Temple Duel" sets the scene in deep underground chambers, untouched by the sun. Reverb space is our only guide and ritual combat is the only way out as we make our way through subsonic 808 bass foundations, a near-industrial mid-range bass guitar groove, stiff snares, stick-fighting percussion and Diggory's torchlight melody. A truly fluid hypnotic narrative that arcs through the dark, if you're looking for an even foggier route flip for "Temple Dub" where the torch is extinguished and you have nothing but your sonic wits to take you home. Only Diggory knows if you make alive or not...
Review: Egregore Collective's second outing is another serious one that brings together five specialists from the world of deep dub music. Another Channel opens and plunges into a cavernous oceanic abyss with 'East Slope Dub' before Mantsche's 'Unknown Dub Story' (feat Bishop) has rippling chords that disappear to an infinite horizon while the paddy drums churn slowly below. There's an authentic dub feel to the endlessly wide open spaces of Masis's 'Mount Zio' and the flip brings more dark but delightful dub from Stefan Dubs and Stacktrace.
Review: Deep dubstep explorations are very much back in fashion of late. LDH is a new label that is tapping into that world and now welcomes Argo for a quartet of emotive new cuts that also do plenty of damage when played nice and loud on the right sound system. 'Desaccord' is a tender one with a pained harmonic lead and jittery beats, 'Gramz' has grime vocals over the crisp, glitchy, tech-y drum work and 'Cortizoid' invites you to sink deep into a wobbly synth and stuttering kicks. 'Transmitted' is a more suspensory sound with ambient cosmic pads that are warm and cuddly.
Review: Ilian Tape have been sympathetic to the sound of UK bass for some time now, but this new drop from Atrice leans even further into the pervading energy of dubstep as a source of club pressure. The Swiss duo first appeared on Ilian Tape with Q back in 2021, and they're sounding stronger than ever on this latest missive. If 'Multiplex' brings a cybernetic sheen to headsy 140, then 'Is It Warm' does similar work with techy d&b as the pair dice up breakbeats with precision and drape exquisite, shimmering pads over the ruffness. There's also space for crafty techno propulsion on 'Broke' and high-tempo trippiness on '83 Steps', making this a versatile, consistently brilliant release from a rising force in the scene.
Review: Episcopalian dub (by an artist called Bishop, no doubt) graces our ears in a manner in which we never thought it might; this is 7" number 13 for furtive dub label Challenger Deep, and it truly is a vibe. The interdependent tracks, 'Dub De Societe' and 'Flutes Of Bhutan', provide alternate trakes on the modern, steppers and dubstep incarnations of the dub plodder form, and also inserting emotive underhands through the womp and cohesion. The former outlines a blueprint for the nominal dub diocese, with papally swung drums and synaptic pad surrounds/wavers; the latter track goes snareless, meanwhile, preferring the tricky movements of 'passed 808s and complementary ambiences.
Review: The Bitter End label and eponymous production outfit is back with a new and limited 12" of brilliantly dazzling electro, disco and some other unnameable sounds. It's fresh in its fusion of the new with the old and opens with 'U Up', an electro-tinged cut that glides through the cosmos with characterful synth sounds and plenty of colour. 'U Dancin' then brings wispy pads and smeared vocals to a twitchy technoid groove and 'U Perfect' brings out some spangled metal sounds and dubbed out low ends before 'U Burnin' closes with lurching beats and hefty bass under raw percussion. It's experimental body music that cannot fail to get you going.
Review: It was only a matter of time before Boofy landed on Pinch's Tectonic. Both Bristol. Both magnetised to the fringes. Both responsible for untold low end hurters like these... "Back In The Box" is a heavy pressure cut with pneumatic kicks and ominous stretched brass textures while "Herbie" is a highly strung piece that's stripped back to just drums, subs and an eerie faltering lead and builds and twists when you least expect it. Flip for the churchy chords and rattled percussion of "In My Head" before "Perfunktion" closes with jazzier chords and a stone cold steppy kick arrangement. Classic Boofs.
Review: Long dormant has laid the tried but true practice of dubstep and garage artists sampling classic horror movie dialogue, pre-drop. We're thoroughly happy to hear that new Peaky Beats sublabel Brainjuice have gone and resurrected this zombie for us. This four-tracker from the label hears label heads Peaky and Vel carefully and creatively work in as-yet unknown samples to the stew; some kind of Frankensteinish exclamation on the dubstep A1 laments the feeding of a monster "human brains", while the breakstep A2 'Bacon Dance' hears more timestretched, dystopian vocals amid wobbles. 'Don't' leans more into the kind of melodic dubstep that likes to sample R&B acapellas, and is the most refreshing of the lot.
Review: Peaky Beats is a great name for a label that serves up such irresistible house and garage jams as it has so far over its first eight EPs. This ninth outing is no less desirable, coming from the in house production team in collaboration with Breakfake. 'Life In Stereo' hits a perfect note between kinetic drums and soulful, jazzy chords deigned to melt the heart. 'Rat City' is more filthy - a warped bassline screws about beneath more sleazy broken beats. 'Chapel Town' brings low end dubstep wobble to the party and 'Dub The Acid' is another filthy dirty skanker with echoing hits and mutant bass.
Review: Although Rhythm & Sound and Basic Channel man Mark Ernestus has worked with or remixed many different artists over the years, we didn't expect him to join forces with D&B scene stalwarts Calbre and DRS. Yet that's exactly what's on offer here, as the Hardwax founder delivers two typically deep, dubbed-out techno outings crafted from portions of the pair's collaborative cut 'Badman', which is due to feature on Calbre's forthcoming sixteenth studio album, Feeling Normal. Both 'Bad' and 'Badder' are typical of Ernestus' ultra-deep and hypnotic style, with snippets of the duo's original instruments, beats and vocals echoing in and out of a warming, all-encompassing, sub-heavy groove. In a word, it's superb.
Melatron & Ancient Artefact - "I Get My Kicks" (6:53)
Review: The latest compilation album from COD3 QR is, as always, focused on eclecticism, open-mindedness, divergence and non-conformity, featuring the usual wide range of electronic music, all handpicked by Laurent Garnier and Scan X. The vinyl edition of this very latest edition of the compilation series - which was embarked upon in not long after the longstanding but mysterious label was revealed to be the fruits of the labours of this legendary duo, who had until then ran it incognito - comes as a condensed version of the digital, on which a terse seven tracks from the likes of Calibre, Seroplexx, Costello, Marcelus, Subground 3000, Lee Trax, Jim Rivers, Melatron and Ancient Artifact all appear. Though the label has set a high expectation with their admonition against "all expectations and all prejudices", they actually do extremely well to fulfil that aim. Most contributions here - from the steppy, sloppy 'Sump Dub to the just-plain-monstrous 'I Get My Kicks' - tend towards on the uncategorisable and unpigeonholeable, at least in terms of overtly boxed-in genre norms.
Review: We're delighted to be bringing you this one - after a couple of years away, Madam X's KAIZEN label is finally back in business with an updated look and a new wave of sounds from the future. It is the fast-rising Manchester talent of Cartridge that takes the reins here with two superb tunes. 'Banada' is first up with its Eastern-flavoured melodies snaking their way through a vast and cavernous space powered by drilling bass. It's delicious dark room music for the body and head. On the flipside is a collab with Biome that is more sleazy and dirty. The metallic bassline and punchy 808s make it ripe for bass face and gun-finger salutes.
Review: We shall always have a soft spot for deep dubstep that is done right, and that's exactly what we have here. Catrtrdige is the one in control and opens up this trip with a nice meandering late-night sound scape that slowly snakes and chromes its way into your affections with soulful vocals helping up top. 'Valentine's Thing' has a romantic mood as you might expect from the simple and innocent melodies and 'Sweetheart' marries darker, more brooding bass with pitched-up and angelic vocals. 'Voyage' is another one rich in melody, with screwy bass and xylophone-like ripples bringing the tenderness.
Review: Causa and Pharma link-up for one of Locus Sounds' rare vinyl outings and the vibes are set as high as ever. Two originals from both, each one remixing each other's tunes, Causa kicks off with 'Kreamy', an industrial weight growler that's given a dubby touch by Pharma on the rub. Meanwhile on the flip, Pharma heads in an easterly direction with the intense pressure and swagger of 'Shift' before Causa charges the groove up with a bulbous, funk-oozing bassline. Kream if you wanna go faster.
Review: Following jams on Bowlcut and Monk earlier this year, Cesco returns to the 1985 mothership with this mighty fine mixed bag of 140/174 treats. 'Rattler' says it all. Curmudgeonly and grizzly, it sizzles out of the speakers with pure venom. Elsewhere on a D&B tip En:vy gets mucked in on tippy harmonics of 'Esoteric' while 'Pity' is all jazzy, slinky and full of tension. Meanwhile on the 140 flip 'El Guapo' is proper hammer jam with a most unruly bassline Q&A while 'Juan40' will have you speaking Spanish before you can say 'wheel up the bloodclart'. Rattle and roll!
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