Bassline charts

Review: The always naughty Sneaker Social Club label taps up D3U5E for this fresh bass fiver tracker. It's a celebration of the UK's rich heritage of electronic music with the plunging bass and massive thwacking hits of 'Quasar' kicking off. There are dusty jungle breaks to 'Dust Particle', twisted dubstep contortions on 'HAL9000' and fizzing broken beats with a real urban menace on 'Deckman.' Closer 'The Abyss' is a collab with Gav that rides a more zoned-out and atmospheric groove and completes a varied and vital EP once more from this crucial underground label.

Review: UK garage goes increasingly wonky on DJ Jackum's latest EP for Time Is Now. Working in Skrillexy sound design - nasal growls, puffy metal snares, thin but heavy mixes - the enigmatic Jackum makes a real racket of a debut here, delivering four genre-poking bangers of a difficult-to-peg style. 'Vibe' is especially anthemic, being a rare example of a garage tune centred largely on the second and fourth beat handclap and not the kick; 'Push Dat' veers more into hooligan rave territory, pushing the to bass bus to redline; and the final 'Pimpin'' offers a crazed shuffle and vocal sample; this is a bold and creative expansion of an existing sound.

Review: In Taijiquan, the principle of "fang song" represents balance, with heaviness sinking and lightness rising. Littlelake, who is a devoted Taijiquan practitioner, brings this concept to his new EP across four tracks that blend deep, heavy bass with playful, light elements. 'Tonight's the Night' kicks off with a nimble 2-step beat over weighty bass and playful vocal cuts. 'Passing By' delivers a monster speed garage vibe and 'Watch Your Mouth' mixes funky tribal breaks, soulful strings, and clever sampling. 'Lost' contrasts jackin' 909 rhythms and dub sounds with a dark Reese bassline for a gripping groove.

Review: Since delivering his vinyl debut on Tdsr in 2021, Lewis Williamson AKA LWS has established himself as one of UK techno's genuine rising stars. His dark and twisted trademark style comes to the fore on this Can You Feel The Sun label debut, starting with the dystopian brilliance of title track 'Palloon' - a polyrhythmic techno epic marked out by doom-laden, end-of-days motifs, twisted stabs, weighty sub-bass, trippy electronics and shards of fleeting sonic bliss. 'Steady On' is a more robust and forthright slab of distorted techno insanity - all stomping kick-drums, bouncy beats, rumbling low-end pressure, creepy melodic motifs and leaping one-note stabs. Elsewhere, 'Faster, Dryer' sounds like Autechre and Peverlist stuck in a lift, while 'Unstuck' is a bittersweet, end-of-days delight with added peak-time weight.

Review: A captivating mix of deep house that effortlessly moves between groove and soul. The opening track, 'Real Love (Remi Mazet Twist),' sets the stage with its understated percussion and bassline, building a smooth, infectious vibe that pulls you in without overpowering you. But it's 'Speed Garage From Jupiter' that really grabs your attention. It has that heavy, classic speed garage punchidriving, raw, and full of energy, yet still feels current. It's no surprise it's found its way into Ben UFO's sets, where it clicks with the crowd in a way that feels both nostalgic and fresh. The EP closes with 'Ca C'est Ca C'est Sassy,' a track that adds a playful sophistication to the mix, showing Bulwer's versatility and confidence as a producer.

Review: Warehouse Tools takes listeners on a nostalgic journey through the vibrant world of UK house music, showcasing the iconic sounds of Hooj Choons. Opening with Farayen & Liam Parkins' 'Where Do We Go (Jamie Unknown Remix)', the track blends high-energy euro house with New York-style house rhythms, offering a dynamic trip back to the early 90s. Dan Newman's 'Movin'' follows with a melodic Balearic progressive house gem, featuring heavenly piano moments paired with a serious beat that creates a dynamic vibe. On the flip side, Dean & Di After's 'Wicked Dreams' brings retro energy to the forefront, evoking the essence of house music's early days while offering a fresh perspective. Finally, Shade Guevara's 'Ted or Dead' delivers a piano-driven breakbeat, showcasing a vintage sound that encapsulates the roots of house music. This compilation is a well-crafted tribute to the genre, perfectly balancing nostalgia with contemporary energy.

Review: Drew Lustman's longstanding FaltyDL moniker makes a welcome return with a debut full length record for the eminent Central Processing Unit label. In The Wake Of Wolves deconstructs Lustman's usual rough dance sound for a less predictable album-length breakdown, retaining his usual arid textures while playing up the more sound-designed and maximalist ends of his craft. In the pithy words of CPU: "This could pass for Four Tet or even Hannah Diamond at points, the steady build of pulsing synths and looped vocals recalling a more mysterious version of the PC Music sound." Whether you totally agree, you'd have to agree FaltyDL has at least taken on something of their contemporary future-pop/digisonic aesthetic and incorporated it into his own; this is most evident on the glassy pirouettes and gladiate complexities of 'Minds Protection', or the tenebrous post-punk descensions of 'New Friends', or many maximized IDM trap-doors and toolroom hard-clips of 'Workout'.

Review: Josi Devil's debut on Hessle Audio is a natural step forward for the label, expanding its sound in a way that still feels unmistakably its ownithis release adding a layer of tension and subtlety to an already diverse catalog. Hailing from Bristol, Josi has built a reputation with labels like Innamind and Nervous Horizon, known for his raw, unrelenting style. But here, he takes a step into slightly murkier waters, layering euphoric vocal snippets with deeper, atmospheric textures that give the track an interesting push and pull. 'Make It Better' kicks off with swung breakbeats that quickly dissolve into a blend of chopped vocals and rumbling sub-bass, offering moments of pure euphoria while maintaining an underlying tension. There's a certain balance here, as the energy ping-pongs between light and dark, but it never feels out of sync. Josi manages to hold onto a grounded, gritty feel, all while pulling in atmospheric elements that make the track feel spacious and immersive. On the flip, things get darker with 'Restless Sleep' where muffled drums and deep, growling basslines add a sense of foreboding as shadowy Buchla tones weave through. The UKG-inspired samples mix with the heavy low-end, creating a sense of unease without ever feeling too overbearing. It's a track that knows when to hold back and when to let the tension fully break looseishowing off Josi's knack for creating complex, layered sounds that still pack a visceral punch. This release feels rooted in the underground but offers something fresh for the forward-thinking listener, leaving a lingering impression long after the first listen.

Review: ACME is Jerome Isma-Ae and WJ Henze and they first wrote their 'Soul Of Life' EP in 1998, back when tech house was still new and exciting. It was one of the genre's biggest tunes at the time and has remained ever popular in the years since for the way it draws on sped garage and techno for its vibes. This faithful reissue offers up the tune in three related but distinctive parts so that you have whatever you need at whatever point in the night you may be. We like 'Part II' with its more balmy and heady cosmic chords.

Review: The label with the finest catalogue number naming convention in all of dance music is back with another fresh slab of wax. This one from Purple Kush mix up US house and UK garage starting with the swinging sounds of 'Let The Spirit Flow' which has a beautiful organ line and heart wrenching vocal. 'La Bahia' is another one with throwback organs and a fat bassline over low slung and well swung drums. 'Make Your Mind Up' goes deep with chopped up vocal fragments and plenty of 90s house vibes and 'Purple Kush Theme' is a stoner reggae downtempo delight.

Review: Mint Condition is exceptionally good at reissuing genuinely buried treasure, with their frequent vintage UK deep house and formative tech-house selections being particularly potent. They've hit the spot once more here, too, raiding the vaults of legendary UK tech-house imprint Oblong and returning with a killer 2002 single from Spincycle (AKA Dave Clements and Andy Davies). A-side 'Making Faces' is a great example of London tech-house from the period - all starry, echoing synthesiser motifs, dreamy chords, smooth bass and hypnotic beats - while flip-side 'Twister' sees them reach for bowel-bothering hoover bass, speed garage-influenced drums and undulating, Swag-style melodic motifs.

Review: Set to be a collab for the ages, Special Request (Paul Woolford) and Novelist (Kwadwo Kankam) team up to capitalise on the cultural residues of bassline, grime and house with 'Sliver'. Pairing Novelist's unmistakable cadence and flow with classic grime square-waves and booty house-esque drums, 'Sliver' has been a highlight of both Special Request and label boss Peggy Gou's recent sets, climaxing in a tempo change designed to turn the dancefloor inside out. As potent in intimate dark rooms as it is festival main stages, you'll be hearing this one all summer and beyond.

Review: Squid Recordings is a dead new label that is only onto release number two with this one but a great one it is too. It takes the form of a remastered reissue of James 'Nylon' Thomas aka Nylosphere's 'Kalahari Sunrise' which first landed more than two decades ago. He has released on the likes of Rush Hour, Velocity and his own Nylon Recordings, and is now back with new music having first retouched this classic. It features a pair of quite different tunes, both well produced and punchy with twisted sonics and analogue driven sounds that still cut it today.