Cloud Boat - Lions On The Beach

1. Lions On The Beach
2. Bastion

R&S continues to delve into the bass-heavy unknown on its next single release, looking hard for the James Blake perhaps? To be fair Cloud Boat aka Tom Clark is his own man and ‘Lions On The Beach’ is aa strong statement of intent, its punchy 2-step rhythm sheathed in shimmering guitars and indistinct vocal swoons. Nice. ‘Bastion’ is out-and-out pop music with the vocals foregrounded, undeniably recalling Blake’s brand of hollowed-out bedroom torchsongs. It might sound soppy were it not for the cavernous reverb its pushed through and the monstrously heavy bottom-end it’s supported by. Promising stuff...www.boomkat.com

DJ Rum - Mountains EP

1. Undercoat
2. Mountains Pt. 1
3. Mountains Pt. 2 & 3
4. Turiya

Strong and diverse single from DJ Rum, following a killer remix of LV and Message To Bears with a mixture of hi-Tech Rollers, Juke and emo Garage with detailed compositional flourishes. 'Undercoat' sets the tone with low-lit pads and vocals giving way to sleek stepping rhythms, finely balanced for club or home play. The centrepiece 'Mountains' shows a keener Technoid vocabulary, with Part 1 exhibiting flash, fluid Techno steppers programming with warm, jazz touches hitting the mark between Scuba and Shifted, while Parts 2 & 3 merge loping HipHop into quickstepping Juke momentum with swirling atmospheres, kinda like Blue Daisy jacked up on meth. 'Turiya' is sweeter cool-out 2-step joint with textured Burial-esque finish applied to crisp, classic-referencing 2-step Rave...www.boomkat.com

Hackman - Close

A1 Close
A2 Satisfy
B Your Face Pulling My Hair

Close is as sunshiny a release as this summer has seen, but it's also cannily predicated: expansive and appealing in ways that don't seem pandering. The title track is lovers' dubstep, straight up, with a smeared, lovelorn soul shout, its faded patina giving the whole thing a memorial feeling. It's remarkably chaste, too, despite Hackman having originally posted it on SoundCloud as "I Just Want Your Clothes." Alicia Keys' refrain of "I just want you close / Then you could stay forever" echoes early-'60s Brill Building pop like "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," and even surrounded by all those right-now bells and whistles it seems timeless.

"Satisfy" goes for another, more deliberate R&B allusion, grabbing what it needs from Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way" a cappella and fitting it to a synthed-up mid-tempo nu-disco thump that gains force as it goes, thanks to the way those synths get soundtrack-like without cheese. It's vampy enough to fit on the next Thievery Corporation mix CD, but the production's dryness, and its deliberate pace, make the track not seem merely gimmicky.

The only gimmick on "Your Face Pulling My Hair" is the title. Smartly, Hackman lets the last track, rather than the lead one, get the joke name—the phrase comes from vocals taken off Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," and that phrase drifts from left speaker to right over a bustling house four, a fizzy synth line and very assured subs. There's nothing new about this approach except the energy and freshness Hackman approaches it with. That's plenty...www.residentadvisor.net

My Nu Leng - Fireflies EP

1. Find You
2. Fireflies
3. Bubba Ho-Tep
4. Bubba Ho-Tep (Kaiju Remix)
5. Falling

Stepping up to provide the 3rd EP for MindStep Music are the exciting production and DJ duo Tommy Rukus and Jammo from London & Bristol respectively, collectively known as My Nu Leng.

Both are relative newcomers to the UK garage/dubstep scene and because of their fresh ideas and interpretation of underground bass music, they are already drawing attention from some key players, such as Distance (Rinse Fm / Island Records / Dubstep Allstars Vol 8).

Opening the EP, Find You has a melancholy but soothing intro, broken 2 step beats easing out from under what could be the chirping of digital birdsong. Haunting, cut up vocals bring the elements together to form a deep lament, pure vibes!
Next comes the old skool garage-esque Fireflies; sub aquatic FX and staggered, marching percussion rolling into the drop where lurching, cavernous bass and stomping percussion explode! This track will set any dance off and is sure to become a DJs favourite.

The third track, Bubba Ho-Tep, begins with a dreamy blissed out feel and percussive pitter patter – real meditation vibes! The 2nd drop reveals soft pads, strings, reverb drenched vocal FX and a rolling kick that produces a warm roller… Also featuring on this EP is the significant talent of Kaiju, providing a stripped back, spacious interpretation for their Bubba Ho-Tep Remix. Taking a more subbed out approach, they supplement the sparse soundscape with rasping bass licks and progressive percussive hits, forming suspense, and a somewhat darker mood than the original.

Lastly, Falling is a deep-rooted and tribal dub-techno roller, setting the scene for some sort of ancient battle. Equally powerful in the club or in headphones during a long journey, it gracefully brings the debut outing from the Leng boys to a close...www.mindstepmusic.com

CDBL - Vices

1. I Need You
2. Rich
3. Back
4. I Need You (Kidnap Kid Remix)
5. Back (Chaos In The CBD Remix)

Late night Future Garage rollers from a new player, CDBL. 'I Need You' is sweeter, frothier 4/4 with a disco-driven edge, while 'Rich' is tilted to pitch-bent 2-step with lush and unadorned R&B vocal, and 'Back' a tuffer, sample-infused 808 roller. Kidnap Kid splits 'I Need You' betwen smudged 808s and lathered electronica like a Visionist cut, and there's also a more laidback version of 'Back'...www.boomkat.com

Krystal Klear / Arethis - Green Silver / Rugged Angels

a. Krystal Klear - Green Silver
b. Arethis - Rugged Angels

Cooly G's Dub Organizer label flexes some serious vinyl muscle with deadly yet divergent cuts from Krystal Klear and Arethis. Hanging on a Boogie tip, Hoya:Hoya resident and renowned electrofunk master Krystal Klear drops the heat-seeking vibes of 'Greensilver', the kind of scorching soul track we could imagine Foot Patrol controlling the floor to down at the Moss Side leisure centre on a saturday night in '86, only given a lick of subbass and some buffed-up synth gloss for 2010. The vibes quickly get more urgent on the flip with 'Rugged Angel' from North Carolina's Arethis, switching to international future garage mode with a superbly restless 2-stepper built from potent techno stabs and the kind of quicksilver syncopation that takes no prisoners. For rude girl/bad boy DJs only!

Africa Hitech - Hitecherous

01 - How Does It Make U Feel
02 - Said Speed
03 - Lash Out
04 - Boingy
05 - One Two
06 - One Two (Instrumental)
07 - How Does It Make U Feel Alt Intro
08 - Too Late
09 - Too Late Instrumental
10 - Too Late Dub
11 - Too Late Dub Instrumental

Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek don their pressurised dashikis on a trip to unimagined African futures. We were given three recon images of their mission on the brilliant 'Blen' 12", and the seven-track 'Hitecherous' gives a detailed status report until the full album lands in early 2011. The eight-minue odyssey 'How Does It Make You Feel' grabs the groove with two hands full of dusty acid sequences, salty bleeps and scuffed post-garage syncopations mellowed out by Spacek's soul vox, while 'Said Speed' runs out spiky digital rhythms and speed garage bass like SND versus Mr V. 'Lash Out' goes wild with staggered synthlines and clacking Grime snares, and 'Boingy' lurches like zebedee on two zoots and half a bottle of Moet. The best has gotta be the dynamic dancehall minimalism of 'One Two', launching the kind of subs liable to buckle your speaker cones under insectoid bleep scuttles and a heavily JA flavoured vocal from Mista Spacek. For all digital heads, there's also the dub-sculpted 'Too Late' featuring a mellifluous vocal and syrupy horns to balance the concrete digital weight of the bass and icy shards of percussion. Pedigree wares!...www.boomkat.com

iTAL tEK - Midnight Colour

01. Neon Arc
02. Talis
03. Moonbow
04. Babel
05. Satellite
06. Subgiant
07. Black And White
08. Strangelove V.I.P.
09. Moment In Blue
10. Heliopause
11. Midnight Colour
12. Infinite
13. Restless Tundra (feat. Anneka)

iTAL tEK follows his warmly received 'cYCLiCAL' album with another clutch of techy IDM-driven post-dubstep forms. 'Midnight Colour' expands his rhythm palette of 2-step and lurching halfstep to include slower hiphop vibes similar to label mate Kuedo's crushed patterns or well measured electronic R'n'B swing vibes like on 'Babel' or the zappy 'Subgiant'. His florid and highly melodic take on this style should be lapped up by anyone into Boxcutter, Kuedo or Von D...www.boomkat.com

Matt Kowalsky - Code

1. Slideshow
2. Supertwarz
3. Its All Right
4. Wiseman (ft. Kroke)
5. Code
6. Asteria Station
7. Znowu Nudzisz 2009
8. Raketlonista
9. Rock The Casbash
10. Summer Trace

Matt Kowalsky known as HiQ Koval, Maciek K. ex Dynamind real name Maciej Wojciech Kowalski. Music producer, club DJ, composer, remixer and sound engineer represents Polish clubbing scene.

Released more than 20 CDs: albums, singles, 12" and compilations on the market. Wrote tracks for films ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Inheritance", "The Tower", "Expecting Love"].

The album contains a characteristic of his style and the creator of the low-sounding bass lines, powerful and sophisticated bit melodies mixed with jazz improvement. Dance rhythms, interesting vocals, good production, doprawiony jazz club atmosphere. It includes 10 songs.

dBridge - The Gemini Principle

01. Seven Year Glitch

02. Blush Response (Feat. Instra:mental)

03. A Lost Cause

04. Ponderosa (Feat. Calibre)

05. Creatures Of Habit

06. Mr. Malcontent

07. The Question

08. Desire Line (Interlude)

09. Pure Elegance

10. Cast A Cold Eye

11. The Yearning

12. Mourning Dawn

13. Mana's Lamen (Outro)

What's going on? Two utterly sick D'nB releases in one week! With the sort of credentials some producers would kill for including releases for everyone from Trouble on Vinyl to Soul:r, the man like D-Bridge counts none other than Burial amongst his biggest fans and it's clear to see why when you've listened to this album. Initiating itself as the best D'n'B album since Breakage's 'This too shall pass', 'The Gemini principle' comes laden with eight cuts and not a duffer in sight, certainly a hell of a lot more than we could say for a recent comeback album from a certain celebrity jungle producer. The mood is brilliantly uncompromised by any commercial factors here, instead just cutting straight to the chase with a selection of certified dancefloor heaters sounding like the best of a massive range of our favourite hardcore/jungle/D'n'B heads from Paradox and Dillinja, to Breakage or Foul Play, but never once slipping into feeble imitation or homage and instead forging a headstrong and highly effective sound. Fans of any of the aforementioned producers must check this out, it's proper corker. Essential Purchase...www.boomkat.com