Time Is Now Germany レコード& CD

Review: Time Is Now operates at the darker end of the garage spectrum, with menacing 2sep sounds and plenty of hefty bass sounds. Stepping up and stepping in with the latest offering is Bakey, a newly emergent artist in this genre and someone with considerable skill. 'Bring It Back' is a real bass bin botherer with rinsing jungle breaks and screw-face bass. 'Vibing Season' cuts loose on lithe bass with some hard bars from Slay then 'No Name' explores a silky soul on bumping beats. 'Reduced Vision' is a sublime glitch-step and 'Poison Dart' comes on heavy with the hyper minimalist jungle riddims.

Review: Garage innovators Time Is Now show they are a long way from done yet with another raw and essential 12" to kick off 2024. This one comes from Network and kicks off with 'Lose Control', a track that has it all - the bass-heavy low end, dusty percussion and alluring r&b vocal. 'All Night' is another that will pop right off with its zippy synth lines and seductive female coos, 'Falling' is more fractured in its digital melodies and chopped-up vocal refrains and the flipside keeps the good times coming. 'Desire' has warm and steamy, 'Be There' is an old school number and 'This Ain't Love' is a sixth sizzling cut with more original vocals really making the tunes standout.

Review: Toby Ross joins the Time Is Now family with four massive bass-driven bangers. Clean yet raw, airtight and hermetic breaks come among slews of laser faller SFX, sampled David Rodigan hypeups, and offbeat bubbles on 'Foundation', while the ensuing 'Stamina' prefers to wobble away next to "rudeboy!" shouts and patois murmurations. The B-side's 'Sekkle' takes a deeper dark garage turn, wresting our attention with "yos" and "yeahs", not to mention a massified sub-bass; finally, MC PAB delivers a wonderfully laid-back flow over the top of 'Make It Thru', getting at the quintessential character of UK breaks and garage today.

Review: A veteran of the scene, Jeremy Sylvester makes an unprecedented appearance on a relatively new local label, Timeisnow, for a wicked new five-track speed garage selection. 'Flashback' is led by the track '90s Man', which lays claim to an identity couched in a certain time and exposes the direction of the EP to come - knocking rims and deep Reeses dance about a criss-crossing 4x4 speed beat like carefully-slotted pegs in holes, as a grainy but stylish image of a sunshaded selector is conjured in our heads (and on the record cover). The title track, followed shortly by 'In The Morning', evoke nostalgic visions of a beachside rave that ekes heavy into the morning, at least transgressing the 10am range.

Review: Time Is Now is one of the most prolific, but also on point labels out there right now. Dealing in bumping nu-garage sounds, they have a wealth of talent other roster - as well las cheeky white label off shoot for the more playful slammers they put out - and now welcome rising UKG act Y U QT for a fine collection of dance floor heaters. 'Be Real' is a breathless groove with noodling keys and retro stabs, 'Keep On Lovin' Me' is a real banger with great height and drop in the kicks and face melting bass. For darker, more late night and menacing vibes check the thrilling 'Hardly Keep It Inside.' Tip!

Review: The Time Is Now crew are just unstoppable, and as if you needed more proof here's a new batch from their Allstars series. These 12"s give serious bang for your buck, with six heaters packed in, all guaranteed to get the dance going buckwild. Y U QT leads in with the sneaky stepper 'Pick Me Up', followed up by the slender, sophisticated 2-step delights of Cortese and Prozak's bright, bold and bouncy 'Next To You'. On the flip the prolific Yosh drops some dexterous breakbeat damage like only he knows how, Main Phase gets into the cheekiest of club smashers and Groovy D offers up something moody and soulful.

Review: Few other labels have been as instrumental in the garage revival as Time Is Now. Everything they do has hit a perfect sweet spot - never too nostalgic and reverential to the DOGs, and always with something fresh and future facing to enjoy. Yosh once again strikes that perfect balance on this handy four tracker. There is booming sub bass to sink into on the deep 2-stepper 'Show Me' then 'Principle' ups the pace with more percussive clatter, jungle breaks and rude boy bass stabs. 'Point Blank' pulls back again to a dark and atmospheric late night riddim and 'Take Down' is a nawty little number with sick neon chords.