1. Work Them
2. Fall ShortRamadanman continues to blaze a trail through 2010 with a highly anticipated drop for Loefah's Swamp 81 crew. Working with a similar palette of 808-driven beats as Addison Groove or Girl Unit, he references Chicago juke and Dutch bubbling in 'Fall Short', arranging economical and hugely effective patterns that land outside the zones of dubstep and Funky, yet complement them beautifully. With the flipside joint 'Work Them' he also nods to the similarities between B-More and UK Hardcore, twisting out rumbunctious breakbeats and flashing stabs that have been sending crowds loopy in the hands of Kode 9, Bok Bok and Ben UFO recently. The quality and effectiveness of these tracks simply speak for themselves...www.boomkat.com
01 The Let Down
02 WeaknessGeorge Fitzgerald first appeared on our radar with his 'Don't You' cut on Scuba's Sub:stance mix. Fast fwd a year and he's got his first release on Hot Flush, dropping the future garage soul of 'The Let Down' and a luscious dubtech gem in 'Weakness'. It's hard to escape the fact that both sides strongly remind of Joy Orbison, but that's a really obvious comparison to make considering that he's got tunes lined up for release on Doldrums! The pair simply share a keen sense of garage & house-warmed melody and a thing for clipped 2-step patterns with big bottom end. If you're into Instra:mental, Mount Kimbie, James Blake or J** Orb**** you could do a lot worse than this!...www.boomkat.com
1. When I Rest I Rust
2. The Next Meal
Over the last 12 months Al Tourettes has impressed with his release for Apple Pips and the excellent remix of Luke Slater's 'X Speaks To X', as played by DJ Pete and Subeena. His 140bpm tech-step modification on 'When I Rest I Rust' is one of the toughest cuts we've heard from the If Symptoms Persist imprint, wriggling electric eel-like to sharply clipped 2-step tech patterns and grizzly darkside digital textures. 'The Next Meal' however, finds a niche between electroid Breaks and dubstep under dynamic, shadowy pressure systems. Fans of Elemental or Appleblim should give this some attention...www.boomkat.com
01 Unexpected
02 Pop Pop Epic
03 Mountain Dread March
04 Eyez
05 Livin Different
06 Return II SpaceAs half of the Digital Mystikz production unit and label, Mala has practically revolutionized UK dance music. The reverberations of those earliest DMZ platters and their subsequent evolutions have now spread virus-like into new stylistic hosts, with mutant traces assimilated into everything from the new M.I.A album to the Berlin nightscape. With ultra-high production values indebted to the dub and soundsystem culture he grew up alongside, Mala re-encoded the subbass memes of Jungle, Garage and Dancehall into a new form of half-timed pressure, putting emphasis on a slower, dread-infused style of dancefloor tension, now known as Dubstep. For many 'Return II Space' is the most anticipated album of the last half decade, a definitive statement from one of UK Bass music's most venerated practitioners, loaded with exclusive dubs previously only heard in his presence at the weighiest dances. Split over 3 heavy 12"s, each marked with individual DMZ catalogue numbers, the album rolls with it's own sense of space and pace that's incredibly unique to Mala's imagination. The delicate contrast of glassy keys and skull quivering subs in 'Unexpected' starts the dance according to his mantra of "Meditate On Bassweight' before turning to the sci-fi darkside with the extraordinary dreadnaught vibes of 'Pop Pop Epic', a hulking ten tonne stepper staring red-eyed and ready from yer quaking speaker cones. The scrunched synth and visceral pressure of fan's favourite 'Eyez' makes an appearance on the second plate, backed with the creepily affective special 'Mountain Dread March', and a final disc presents the tentatively probing keys of 'Livin Different' replete with Ital subbass harmonics and finally the gargantuan skank of the title track, built fi dem wha' do. Perhaps our only gripe with the album is that he could have flexed out on a wider range of tempos, but that's really only a small concern as the tracks we do have are f**king outstanding. Highly recommended...www.boomkat.com
