Author: James Mernagh

Ogonek – Too Loud EP [Estética Cibernética]

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Ogonek - Too Loud EP

Ogonek - Too Loud EP

Dark as a black hole and dirty as a Victorian abattoir, the new EP from Bulgarian legend Ogonek is taking absolutely no prisoners.

The Too Loud EP is just that, a sadistic exercise in synth torturing drum & bass. Whether it’s the conventional, but impeccably executed, neuro of ‘Radio Noise’ and ‘Breathless’ or the boundary-breaking industrial mechanics of ‘PA23’ and ‘Vall’, Ogonek is on fine form – if by fine form you mean fucking up speaker cones.

A leading leader in the Bulgarian drum & bass scene, Ogonek has been operational for nearly 20 years, and since falling in since 1996. In the mid 2000s Ogonek hooked up with the biggest music movement in Bulgaria – HMSU – has rubbed shoulders with the genre’s big dogs – the list is the length of a large intestine, but includes the likes of Noisia, Black Sun Empire, Roni Size and Goldie.

30% of the proceeds from this EP will be donated to RAINN, the largest nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization in the United States.

The Too Loud EP is out now on Estética Cibernética.

www.soundcloud.com/ogonek
www.facebook.com/Ogonek.Official

Mitad and Alexis K vs Unsub bend genres on NexGen Music

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Fighting with Fire by Mitad [NexGen] and The Misadventures of Pilbourne Delaney by Unsub vs Alexis K [Pure Heart Dirty Mind]

Big things are happening over at NexGen Music, where two new records are taking a blowtorch and bolt cutters to genre boundaries – it’s all gone a bit anarchy, and that is absolutely okay.

Fighting with Fire is the debut EP from international duo Mitad, made up of Sal Lo Cascio on production and Katherine Downham on vocals and formed after the pair were brought together by an online talent website. Mitad means half in Spanish, so Fighting with Fire is mitad drum & bass and mitad house – both genres are lovingly hand-crafted, expertly represented and perfectly timed ahead of festival season, with the record dropping in May on NexGen Music.

Click here for more info and to hear the tracks.

Then in comes the cavalry in the form of the expansive The Misadventures of Pilbourne Delaney by Unsub vs Alexis K, the first record released on NexGen sub-label Pure Heart Dirty Mind Records (PHDM). This new imprint is run by Lily Luck, who also masterminded the whole of its first release – Unsub and Alexis K are both aliases she uses (as is n0isemakeR).

The result of this self-collaboration is a whirlwind of genres thrown together and ripped apart – wonky basslines go up against jazz-fuelled drum & bass one minute, heavy metal guitar riffs drive dubstep tracks the next and antidotes are provided in the shape of ambient downtempo – it’s an intense 13 tracks, put it that way.

The Misadventures of Pilbourne Delaney is out now on Pure Heart Dirty Mind Records.

Dushi – Love & Happiness Remix EP [Urban Wildlife]

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Dushi - Love & Happiness Remix EP [Urban Wildlife]

Dushi - Love & Happiness Remix EP [Urban Wildlife]

Dushi’s soulful track ’Love & Happiness’ gets the remix treatment after stealing the show on Urban Wildlife Vol. 3 earlier this year.

The compilation, put out by German label Urban Wildlife in May, ran the gamut of drum & bass and amongst a churning ocean of 170bpm gems ‘Love & Happiness’ proved the biggest hit – and now it’s been handed over to three producers for a remix EP, released at the end of November.

The EP gets underway with Dushi’s magical original, before the track gets deconstructed and rebuilt as a liquified half-time banger by Smuskind. Next up, T:Base runs with the original’s sky-high approach, opening things out further with lush pads and atmospherics, then Ly Da Buddah shuts things down with a no-nonsense minimal jump-up take.

Listen below…

www.soundcloud.com/urbanwildlife_dnb

Dushi: https://www.facebook.com/dushidushidushi/
Smuskind: https://www.facebook.com/smuskind.music/
Ly Da Buddah: https://www.facebook.com/LyDaBuddah/
T:Base: https://www.facebook.com/TBaseMusic/

Dispondant – Acid Jazz EP [Defrostatica Records]

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Dispondant - Acid Jazz EP [Defrostatica Records]

Dispondant - Acid Jazz EP [Defrostatica Records]

Leipzig imprint Defrostatica Records spreads its tendrils to London with the label debut from Dispondant, a near-future soundtrack bristling with paranoia and chopping moments of beauty with razorblade synths and serious 303 business.

With a footwork shuffle throughout, the Acid Jazz EP works from the bipolar ‘Death’ through the laser-gun chaos of ‘Controller Weapon’ and out the other side into the rain-drenched reflection of the liquified ‘Sanctum’, which more than lives up to its name – the twisted calm after the dystopian storm soundtracked by the rest of the record.

Listen to the EP below or head here to buy.

www.defrostatica.bandcamp.com
www.soundcloud.com/defrostatica

Jaskin & Uneven – ‘Woodlands’/’Lost Ends’ [none60 Records]

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Jaskin & Uneven - 'Woodlands'/'Lost Ends' [none60 Records]

Jaskin & Uneven - 'Woodlands'/'Lost Ends' [none60 Records]

Jaskin & Uneven announce their arrival on none60 Records with the cavernous double-hit of ‘Woodlands’ / ‘Lost Ends’, two sophisticated low-down rollers bristling with might and muscle.

‘Woodlands’ is all taught power, as much about what’s happening below the surface as it is the unfolding atmospherics up top, while on the flip ‘Lost Ends’ opens things up with a freshness which perfectly counterbalances the darkness on side A.

‘Woodlands’ / ‘Lost Ends’ drops in the wake of the new album from label bosses Silent Dust.

Listen below and head to none60’s bandcamp to buy.

https://soundcloud.com/dannuneven
https://soundcloud.com/jahskin
https://none60records.bandcamp.com

Detroit’s Filthiest – Honor Among Thieves EP [Defrostatica Records]

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Detroit's Filthiest - Honor Among Thieves EP [Defrostatica Records]

Detroit's Filthiest - Honor Among Thieves EP [Defrostatica Records]

Ghettotech pioneer Detroit’s Filthiest lives up to his name on his latest Defrostatica release, a boisterous blitz through the raggedy breaks which make up his own take on his hometown’s signature sound.

It’s a hat-trick of nimble dance floor missiles on the Honor Among Thieves EP, which slots perfectly into the Defrostatica stable despite originating across the pond from the forward-thinking Leipzig label. After the three whiplash-speed tracks comes the BSN Posse’s lowdown remix of ‘Secret Sauce’, which itself escalates into a break-fuelled workout, albeit one less raw than those coming from the Baghdad-born, Detroit-made musician.

Check the record out below, and head to Defrostatica Records to buy.

And while you’re at it have a gander at his guest mix for Nest HQ here.

www.soundcloud.com/defrostatica
www.defrostatica.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/defrostatica

 

Silent Dust – Listen to the Night [none60 Records]

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Silent Dust - Listen to the Night [none60 Records]

Silent Dust - Listen to the Night [none60 Records]

The new album from Silent Dust has finally arrived – seven years after the last one – and it’s another deep dive into the bass music cosmos.

Silent Dust, who run none60 Records, give drum & bass a slightly reduced role on Listen to the Night, instead moving through experimental half-time and atmospheric quasi-trip-hop on the way to painting in a new colour over the course of some six collaborations with vocalists – including DRS, Terror and SelfSays – which introduce hip-hop elements into an already intoxicating Silent Dust mix.

Head to www.none60records.bandcamp.com to buy or listen below.

www.soundcloud.com/silentdust

Chilling on the Couch .03 [Scientific Records]

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Chilling on the Couch .03 [Scientific Records]

Chilling on the Couch .03 [Scientific Records]

Pulling together 15 glacial tracks from the likes of Bungle, Mav, Parheila and Eissi, Scientific Records are back with another Chilling on the Couch compilation.

The Dutch label is no stranger to dishing out 170bpm massages for the brain and it’s another stellar selection here, each track a deep dive into oceanic bass swells flecked with atmospheric sonics and downtempo beats to blur the lines between drum & bass and trip hop.

The Chilling on the Couch .03 LP dropped on 7 September – head to www.scientificrecords.bandcamp.com to buy, and listen below.

www.scientific.nl
www.soundcloud.com/mav
www.facebook.com/scientificrecords

 

 

Maltin Worf – City of Meth II EP [Defrostatica Records]

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Maltin Worf - City of Meth II EP [Defrostatica Records]

Maltin Worf - City of Meth II EP [Defrostatica Records]

Defrostatica Records continue their relentless promotion of the finest tracks drawn from Leipzig’s left field music scene with the new EP from Maltin Worf.

On City of Meth II the Leipzig producer returns to the hostile environment he constructed with the first EP – itself only two and a half months old – and continues to look out from an introspective bubble blown right in its centre.

Maltin Worf boils down footwork and jungle over the flame of his b-boy past to craft four more haunting 160bpm cuts built on shuffling juke beats with miles of atmospherics soaring overhead.

Listen below, or head here to buy.

www.soundcloud.com/defrostatica
www.facebook.com/defrostatica

K.I.M.E drops debut track ‘From The Estate’

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K.I.M.E drops debut track 'From The Estate'

Manchester MC K.I.M.E is putting Moss Side on the map with his incendiary debut track ‘From The Estate’.

With Pezmo on production the track melts down garage energy and grime nastiness to sink a lead-heavy base for K.I.M.E’s vocals, delivered with a swagger seldom seen on a maiden release. Carrying the torch for that signature Manchester lyricism – “You’re gonna be flabbergasted, when I assist like Fabregas did” – K.I.M.E looks to his day-to-day for inspiration. “It’s about where I grew up,” he says of his debut track, “I’ve lived there all my life.”

‘From The Estate’ is the first cut taken from ShellyAnn Season, the joint release from K.I.M.E and fellow Mancunian p1caps.

www.twitter.com/kimeraps
www.instagram.com/kimeraps
www.soundcloud.com/kimeraps