Friday, July 24, 2009

Miss Fitz - Woods / Dementia


1. Woods (Original Mix)
2. Dementia (Original Mix)


On her second EP for Contexterrior, Miss Fitz returns with two spaced-out tracksthat continue her exploration of natural timbres within the tech-house domain.

Since her production debut just three years ago, Miss Fitz has made quite a namefor herself. Especially fruitful for her was 2008, with her Nina Simone-samplinghit "Drifting On", a third EP for Raum Musik, and a full-length under her birthname Maayan Nidam for the Japan-based Phantom Sound & Vision. She also paired upwith Vera to debut the project Mara Trax on Love Letters from Oslo, and workedwith Lee Curtiss and Shaun Reeves for their sophomore EP as Uli Kьnkel. Whew!

Now, for her tenth 12" release as Miss Fitz, she continues to weave organicelements into hypnotic soul food for hungry dancers. These two cuts show Nidam'sknack for infusing imagination into her work "Dementia" features a distortedvoice whispering the track's title, backed by a distinctive wind instrumentmelody, plus lots of primal percussion. It's detached, yet in-yo'-face. On theflip, "Woods" offers more of a bounce and thump, encouraging the listener to
"work!", "jack!" and "boogie!" -- a jam for roller skating rinks on prehistoricNeptune.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia - Pain Disappears


01 Always You
02 Apologies
03 Dead Souls
04 Hold Me.
05 I Don't Want
06 Mon Ange
07 Lost.
08 No Name
09 No One.
10 Reason To Stay
11 Always You (Ewan Pearson Remix)

French duo Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia are set to release a debut longplayer on Buzzin' Fly. 'Pain Disappears' arrives in February.

Rex Club and Pulp resident DJ Mlle Caro and composer-turned-DJ Franck Garcia first popped up on radars last year via their single 'Far Away' on Crosstown Rebels. Its moody vocals and vintage electronics caught the ears of Ben Watt, who has decided to put out an album by the pair, the first longplayer on his house label Buzzin' Fly.

'Pain Disappears' arrives as an eleven-tracker that blends minimal house, electronica and indie-pop. "They are uniquely gifted. It is all so simple, but very moving and dignified. The words, the dual voices, the guitars versus Moroder. It all fits," beams Watt like a proud dad. Expect some big remix twelves to follow. Ewan Pearson has remixed the first single 'Always You' while Radio Slave has had a stab at the second EP 'Apologies'...www.residentadvisor.net

Hatcha & Kromestar - Brothers Grim


01 Ragz
02 Movin'
03 1919
04 Bruce And The Buscuits
05 Persi-Needs
06 Mmmmm
07 Great Escape
08 Minimum


Hatcha and Kromestar's previous couplings have produced some deadly outings with their 'Twins Towers' EP cutting deep for a vein of cartoonishly gothic dubstep that was a whole lot of fun. The pair reunite for 'Brothers Grim' with Hatcha reigning in Kromestar's recent wobble freakout tendancies to come out with the sharply produced riddims he's known for. Over 8 tracks the pair move through varying shades of true-skool dubstep darkness, with tracks tied together by a unified sense of the grim but most definitely cut for the floor with the bassline intensity of 'Bruce and the biscuits', or 'Great Escape' primed for big room deployment. The dark garage influence of Hatcha bleeds through distinctly on 'Movin' and the wriggling 'Mmmmm', so it's a must for any fans of the older dubstep sound looking for a fresh update from two of the scene's longest serving patriots.

Pearson Sound - PLSN / WAD


a. PLSN
b. WAD


We've only just recovered from his Soul Jazz 12" the other week, but David Kennedy aka Pearson Sound has no intention of easing the pressure with another, and dare we say even better, release for his own Hessle Audio imprint. Both tracks here are infused with a glowing rave soul positivity that's bloody hard to resist either on your headphones or in the dance, where these cuts are specifically headed. It's also becoming clearly apparent that there's a need to separate his slightly tougher and techier Ramadanman alias from these productions, as the 90's house spirited 'PLSN' displays a lighter and more female friendly groove built from bubbling woodblock patterns and slow burning chord sequences that's not as easily categorisable as dubstep anymore. The accompanying 'WAD' moves even further from the dubstep shackles towards UKF territory with a crafty rhythmic framework of bright carnival percussion set at a shuffling 127bpm tempo with echoes of garage vocals, hypnotic rave syncopations and bashy bass bumps to certify this track's status as one of the smartest Funky mutations in circulation. If you love twisting your hips to owt from Kode 9 to Lil' Silva or Apple this will do you serious damage. Hugely recommended!...www.boomkat.com

High Rankin - No Money For Guns EP


1. No Money For Guns
2. Break Street
3. Bubble & Squeak feat. Gyto
4. New Messiah
5. The Tale Of Clarence Baskerville
6. The Tale Of Clarence Baskerville (Full Vocal Mix)


The 'No Money For Guns' EP is clearly rooted in the Dub-step camp, but to my ear sound more like a fusion of rave, breaks and garage….. (So Dubstep it is then)

The lead track ‘No Money for Guns’ is a brash, bassline driven, half step affair which is undoubtedly great stuff, if a little imposing, and sets the tone for the majority of the EP.

But it the stand out second track ‘Beak Street’ that gets my vote.

‘Beak street’ combines a full 2-step garage beat reminiscent of the ‘golden age’ of ukg, electro squeaks n bleeps that would make the plump ones proud, and a big wobbly bass that’s bound to get pulses racing, and well and truly bridge some of genre gaps.

Track three ‘Bubble and Squeak’ keeps with the same 2-steppy vibe, but doesn’t quite hit with the same impact of ‘Beak Street’ while the remainder of the tracks (New Messiah and The Tale Of Clarence Baskerville) take us back to full blown sample driven dub step vibe of ‘No Money for Guns’ all in all good stuff, with one killer moment!

This EP is gonna get some serious rotation!

Silkie - City Limits Volume 1


01. Concrete Jungle
02. Turvy
03. Spark
04. Sty
05. Quasar
06. Purple Love
07. Planet X
08. Cats Eyes
09. Head Butt Da Deck
10. Techno 22
11. Mattaz
12. The Horizon
13. Beauty


Deep Medi offer something a little more substantial than their usual 12"s with the debut long player from Antisocial Ents' Silkie. It's fair to say the dubstep scene has splintered and refracted into myriad Sub(bass)styles over the last couple of years, but at the epicentre of the scene are a few artists who have maintained the original spirit of the style while alloying it successfully with influences that were always hovering on the edges, but never fully integrated. Silkie is one of those artists, hailing from the hotbed of South London, he's heated elements of deeper house and synth driven soul around the glowing core of DMZ's bassbins to create one of the lushest fusions in the scene. 'City Limits' is a collection of 13 tracks, including the brilliant 'Purple Love' and 'Cats Eyes' exploring this style with velveteen synths descended in the tradition from Larry Heard to MJ Cole and so forth till they're meshed with the rattling patterns and insistent bass pulse of dubstep. This is dubstep music with one (respectful) eye on the ladies and the other on the floor and for those reasons it's a brilliant summer heater and the perfect example of the congruity of house and dubstep. Fuck it, it's all dance music innit?! Top album. Tip!...www.boomkat.com

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Von D - Coquine


A. Coquine
B. Truth (Tes La Rok Remix)


Smarter rave drops from Von D backed with an ace Tes la Rok remix. D's 'Coquine' initially sounds simialr to his 'Echolow' cut, which is no bad thing, with dub chords building over a powerful sub driven riddim chassis. Things get interesting after the second drop which literally inverts the common dubstep practice of harder-is-better with a lighter roll out and skipping pattern, a kind of sunshine after the rain if you will. Tes La Rok's effort is also up to Von D's high standards, sidestepping the rave with a deeper and more involving dubtech cut that puts his lauded production knowledge to very good use. Clever 12" for them that know.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Karizma - Neccessarry Maddness


01. Neccessarry Maddness
02. Drumz Nightmare


US house lynchpin Karizma controls the floor with two outstanding cuts ranging from Broken flavours to kinked Funky on the latest R2 plate. Karizma's house music has a massively wide appeal, his broken and beautifully kinked rhythms have a universally infectious (well, unless you're a Celtic Frost fan, maybe) effect which have seen them deployed in sets from many players involved with disparate strands of the house diaspora. On this plate he offers two varied tracks, 'Neccessary Maddness' built for the DJs to take on bashy swung 'apache' breaks and tucked bleeps lending an underlying tension that works wonders on the floor. 'Drumz Nightmare' on the flip is a moodier groove, tripping out wih subliminal bass surges before sparkling harp samples and choppy strings lick into each other and about 5 different drum tracks coalesce into an irresistably twisted beat made for skilled dancers. Essential tracks for fans of Cooly G, Roska or Martyn...www.boomkat.com

Delete - Les Funk Del Jazz EP


a1 Les Funk Del Jazz
a2 Omelette
b1 Pas La
b2 Les Funk Del Jazz (Remix by Seuil)


Delete aka Sergio Muñoz is back on safari after his huge remix of Johnny D last summer !!! The challenge was big for him to do this third Ep on Safari Electronique. We can say that he did an amazing job on this one. Groovy, teky , housy all done with a smart creativity. Seuil (Eklo / Moon Harbour) made a powerfull remix dark and groovy with a short voice that makes the difference.For sure this Ep will stay with you for a long time.Don’t miss it!!!!...www.mbeat.de

MRI - El Castillo de los Monstruos EP (reworked)


1. El Castillo de los Monstruos (Fluxion Remix)
2. El Castillo de los Monstruos (U.E.S. One Million Modulation Remix)
3. Rough (Original Mix)


Great remixes..

Silkie vs Mizz Beats - Purple Love


01 Purple Love
02 Test


Following excessive demand for the ltd one-sided version, Deep Medi have done the good thing and pressed up more copies of
Silkie's anthemic 'Purple Love' backed with a lethal new cut 'Test'. You should really know 'Purple Love' by now, probably one
of the hottest dubstep tracks of summer 2009, but not many will know it's evil cousin on the fipside. 'Test' balances out any
fluffy vibes from the A with a tonne of overwhelming bass pressure and a heavy-industry dubstep pattern built from wrecking ball kicks and girder cracking snares. There's a hint of jazzed niceness in there somewhere, but it's a fierce track for sure.

Ramadanman & Appleblim - Justify


01 Justify
02 Justify (Will Saul & Mike Monday Remix)


Latest hookup from Appleblim and Ramadanman, once again displaying the uber-crisp production vibe these two are so fond of, sounding twice as loud as almost anything else we've played in the office today. 'Justify' paces along at a relatively chilled 110bpm, built around a flexed halfstep routine with a nicely technofied sound palette and the requisite low-end pressure that always elevates these productions beyond the ordinary. There's a big synthy breakdown halfway through which shimmers and builds nicely as the track almost imperceptibly gains momentum before it all comes to a sudden stop. The pair's affiliation with Will Saul's Aus labels continues over on the flip with a tidy remix from Will Saul & Mike Monday delivering a more dancefloor friendly version complete with treated toms and squashed bongos that must have worked a treat at all those off-sonar beach parties the other weak. Solid summer vibes - get checking!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Skream & Cluekid - Sandsnake / Movin Snares


a. Skream & Cluekid - Sandsnake
b. Skream - Movin Snares


After much speculation the debut release on Skream's very own "Disfigured Dubz" is finally with us - and its a blinder. The a-side collaboration with Cluekid revolves around a looped Amen Break and demented bass that are both so loud and crisp that it puts to shame anything else that's spun on our decks today - and that's before you even bring those shocking stabs into the equation. "Moving Snares" on the flipside finds our man operating solo and taking a few measured risks - primarily with the dense Technoid structure that dominates the track, enforcing those myriad rumours that the twin engines of dubstep and techno are soon to be conjoined into a single heaving generic mass that's going to take over dancefloors the world over. On the evidence given on this track - here's hoping. Killer twelve - upfront copies!

Hug - Greatest Hug's


01 The Platform
02 Fluteorgie
03 Wet Summer
04 The Happy Monster
05 Gas
06 The Chopper
07 Raido
08 Birds
09 Faceless Is More
10 The Angry Ghost
11 Singalong


It's one thing to not know how to use apostrophes, but it's quite another to misuse them in such a massive font. Perhaps John Dahlback can be excused for this on the basis that he's a bit foreign (Swedish, to be more specific), but you could equally excuse him based upon the blisteringly high quality of this singles collection. In this package you get such incendiary dancefloor shakers as 'The Platform' and 'The Happy Monster', applying the sort of economical, brain-meltingly distorted synth riffs that can't help but make you smile, On top of that there's garishly good fun to be had with tracks like 'Wet Summer', 'The Chopper' and 'Singalong', all of which set feisty, crispened up beats alongside massive, slavering electronic melodies. Elsewhere other highlioghts arrive via the bloopy arpeggios of 'Raido' (suggestive of fellow Scandinavians Royksopp), and the surreal oscillations of 'Birds' (which goes a bit Alter Ego). There's nothing here that could be described as a slouch - no filler, just an orgy of stripped down dancefloor high jinks.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Clubroot - Clubroot


1 Low Pressure Zone
2 Embryo
3 High Strung
4 Dulcet
5 Lucid Dream
6 Birth Interlude
7 Talisman
8 Nexus
9 Sempiternal
10 Serendipity Dub

Fans of Burial, take note. Lo Dubs come correct this week with a hugely enticing and anticipated album from Clubroot. Clubroot has apparently been producing for the best part of the decade, initially constructing tech step D'n'B indebted to the likes of Nico, Ed Rush and Optical but shifting his palette to the dominant dubstep style in recent years. To sum up Clubroots sound as succinctly as possible, it's like the perfect hybrid of Burial and Kryptic Minds, taking the mood driven atmospheres and quicksilver slink of Burial and alloying it to dynamic basslines and intricately produced rhythm structures. This combination is explored through ten tracks united by a singular rhythmic vision in thrall to classic darkside dance music and operating under the cover of severely occluded atmospheres. With Mary-Anne Hobbs fully on his case and forums across the interweb quickly catching onto his sound it's not going to be long before he's soundtracking every channel four ident so make sure to get in early! Essential recommendation for fans of Burial!!!

16Bit - Cobra


1. Cobra
2. Jump
3. Can You Show Me What Head Is

Three thunderous dubs from 16Bit launched from Kromestar's Southside Dub Stars imprint. Lead cut 'Cobra' picks Indian tablas and sitars as its source material before mangling them into shape on a rugged display of dynamic halfstep for the rave. 'Jump' on the flip is our pick of the bunch, setting the riddim with skanking piano stabs which 16-Bit duly fills in with growling synthlines while managing to keep a heavyweight flow. 'Can You Show Me What Head Is' flips this formula inversely for a out-and-out nasty riddim flecked with ragga samples to provide a neat textural counterpoint. Nasty, Nasty, Nasty...www.boomkat.com