BASS RECOMMENDATIONS AUGUST 2013

Review: The newly revived Dance Mania gives another shout out to the juke scene it inspired in its first incarnation, hooking up with Traxman for six low brow rough riders that sport a direct lineage back to the ghetto house roots of the Chicago-centric sound. The oft-visited rave staple Pacman gets a look in here with a simple edit approach that twists the theme to a tom-heavy juke context, while "Getting Da Hoe" goes for a more swung kind of slammer that rests heavy on the vocal sample. It's not all primal drum machine freak-outs though, as "1976" beautifully attests with its perfect chopping up of funk hooks that oozes a finesse not common in juke, but don't worry as "Acid House" sets the phasers back to annihilation swiftly after.

Review: As one of the more anthemic cuts from Apple Pips a couple of years back, Arkist's "Rendezvous" gets two varying remix treatments from Scuba in his more technoid SCB alias after undergoing some thorough road-testing from label boss Appleblim. The "2013 dub" is a po-faced affair that keeps the mood simmering through a measured layering of rhythms in that most functional of ways, gradually reaching a zenith once the solid bass synth comes bleeding into earshot. The "2011 edit" is a more stripped and sassy house version that lets more of the melody from the original play in the mix, while keeping that rigid construction favoured for SCB material intact.

Review: **REPRESS** Bringing his madcap colourful styles back to R&S once again, Lone has another slice of sunkissed wonderment to impart, this time in a concise two track single. "Airglow Fires" leads in on the most joyous choral pads, only to be surpassed by even more bright and bold chord stabs which tell you this is going to be a party rocker. The beat comes ripping in to bounce off that opening riff and of course it flexes with a dexterity of unconventional means that reassures you Lone is in no danger of going soft any time soon. There is perhaps a more linear flow to the track which is no bad thing, making for a more focused and reliable party starter whilst retaining that inimitable Lone kink. "Begin To Begin" is less outre in its intentions, but equally funky as it hops around on a snagged house groove while the melodies chime out all around the depth and breadth of the mix.

Review: With previous releases across Audio Culture, Numbers and Dirtybird, the Belgian pair Goldffinch fit snugly into the category of Bass music "up & comers". Already firmly ensconced in the Saigon Recordings familia with two previous EPs, the Brussels based peacock fans Gilles and Yoann return for a third offering here in the shape of The Volume EP. The title track finds Goldffinch at their housiest and has been heating up the midnight request line ever since Paleman included it in his F/\CT mix earlier this year. Flipside opener "Point Du Vue" meanwhile has the soaring pads and skittering garage drums thing on lock down whilst "For the F*" is the sort of track Loefah drops mid set at Swamp nights.

Review: Props to Planet Mu for making this one happen; Interplanetary Prophets sees Hieroglyphic Being and Ital combine on record for the three track Zero Hour EP. This collaboration came to fruition as part of last year's Unsound in Krakow, with festival organisers especially commissioning the performance from Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss and Ital's Daniel Martin McCormick. Despite being intended as a one off live performance, Planet Mu seemingly coaxed the pair to commit some of the material to record. The Zero Hour EP features three dense, extended pieces that were edited down from a series of studio jams that Moss and McCormick recorded earlier this year and whilst it's much closer to something you'd hear on Mathematics rather than 100% Silk, there's plenty of evidence to suggest they have used the points of overlap in their previous work as a jumping off point for fresh explorations of techno's burgeoning hinterlands. More please!

Review: Still the Night Slugs series of floor-wrecking singles continues unabated, this time given over to Hysterics - a more floor-focused moniker of Girl Unit - who wastes no time in throwing down an industrial tinged malaise of the most banging quality. "Pleasuredrome" moves through various rasps and grunts of drum machine hits, all focused around a strict staccato thud and coming on like and Art Of Noise jack track. "Code Switch" may reach for some similar sound sources, but there's a more skewed purpose at work as defined by the hyped up crescendo of percussive pulse rising rapidly in pitch. The "Club Mix" of the track is a thoroughly different beast that loses itself in a dry-ice fog of atmospheric noise, with just snatches of the original making it in to this marginally steadier version.

Review: After previously dropping the Rollin' doublepack on Hyperdub earlier this year, DJ Rashad is back with more of that tweaked footwork business, pushing the sound into fresh headspaces while staying true to the roots of the sound. The potty-mouthed title track is a fractured workout that lets a nagging bleep line take centre stage while a plethora of cinematic cusses float around it, the beats coming in stop-start spurts. DJ Spinn joins in for the smoother "Brighter Dayz", which rides on a more steady beat and revels in soothing pads to offset the rapid-fire vocal hits. Freshmoon gets involved on the junglistic "Everybody" which plunges into a positively surreal take on the footwork ethic, and DJ Manny chips in for the delirious "Way I Feel".

Review: The distinctively fragile tones of Sampha have been such an omnipresent emotive force in recent pop history that it's somewhat hard to fathom this six track EP for Young Turks is his debut release proper. Though the singer and producer, real name Sampha Sissay, released a limited handsprayed Sundanza CDr online through Young Turks back in 2010, it's through a series of collaborations that he's become more widely known. That same year he paired up with SBTRKT for an EP on Ramp, later featured prominently on the masked producer's hugely popular debut album, and has also collaborated with Jessie Ware and Lil Silva. Having further strengthened his collaborations CV with an EP as Short Stories alongside Koreless on Young Turks earlier this year, Sampha returns to the West London label with the glorious Dual EP. Allegedly some 18 months in the making, Sampha worked on the six tracks in-between his touring duties as part of the SBTRKT live band, recording at his childhood home in Morden, South West London. Everything on the EP was sung, produced and mixed by Sissay himself, and includes a new version of the demo track "Indecision" first heard back in 2011 along with five new tracks.

Review: Long-serving Spanish electro techno progenitor Marc Ramirez is the latest artist to get snapped up by the ever-expanding Halocyan Records, and he comes correct with two forthright cuts of peak-time fist pumping tackle that display all his tendencies in a neat and focused release. "Atica" surges forth on a growling bassline designed to work huge crowds into bigger frenzies, and chucks some '90s stabs and a brief breakbeat breakdown in for good measure. "Multipass" is more complex in its make up, working an intricate groove packed full of funk and force and letting soothing pads elicit a false sense of security before ripping back into the driving rhythm once more.

Review: The on-point Pedestrian follows up his subversive "Hoyle Road" on Zabiela's Born Electric with this unique fusion co-lab with Jasperdrum. With its benga rhythms, metallic sound palette and off-beat bass "Kalakuta" is the type of tune that would look just at home in a Peterson set as it would that of Jeff Mills or Jimpster. "Ndizi" is much more full-frontal thanks its up tempo-charged riddim and heavy layers of percussion. Seriously unique, there's nothing pedestrian about this at all.

Review: The Belfast based Unknown emerged last year with an internet shaped tidal wave of intrigue and second guessing surrounding his productions and identity, a fair bit of which was whipped up by Champion Sound, the label he was signed to. After releasing two 12"s of untitled productions for the Irish label, Unknown returns with a fuller take on his trademark approach - think waves of sub-bass, swung percussion and tense atmospherics - teaming up with vocalist Gemma Dunleavy on the title track "I Try". Evidently Unknown's decidedly morose style is well suited to a vocalist, especially one with a mastery of sorrow like Dunleavy. There's the astral garage of "Blame" and "Lucid" to contend with too; the latter priming Unknown for potential future moves in housier directions. The so prolific it hurts Ejeca lines up before the run out groove with a remix of "I Cry" for the UK house heads.

Review: Thankfully nothing to do with the faddy US micro genre of the same name, "The Trap" sees our wily protagonist Fantastic Mr Fox successfully try his hand at house music, with the results pleasantly oddball, mixing up heat treated soul vocal hooks from a Colonel Abrams classic with mechanised drums and some deft chord work. A similar feel pervades the flip cut "Jackal Youth" which essentially means the producer, real name Stephen Gomberg, has finally outed himself as the person responsible for that killer Reduction plate way back then. Big return from the Black Acre boss in the shape of The Trap which is only trumped by the news the producer is beavering away on a debut full length LP.

Review: Originally debuting early last year on an eponymously named sub-label of Editions Mego, Mark Fell's Sensate Focus project was started as a way of exploring and recomposing '90s house music with a rotating cast of fellow producers. Limiting himself to a small number of soft synths and samples, the results are simultaneously clinical and enveloping, with results that combine strobing kickdrums with irregular percussion and warm, sensuous chords. The producer's latest subdivision of the original Sensate Focus integer (the first release was number 10 and has been split into increasingly smaller numbers since) is 1.66666, and sees Fell and Sasu Ripatti aka Vladislav Delay take the Sensate Focus project into unexpected musical territory; unlike the more obvious house influence of previous records, both the "X" and "Y" sides of 1.66666 seems more indebted to the stuttering rhythms and madly cut-up vocals of footwork, getting progressively more frantic as the vocals are pitched to breaking point.

Review: Machinedrum heralds his next album on new home Ninja Tune with the Eyesdontlie single, introducing the Vapor City concept the producer said was inspired by a recurring dream . Fans of his stellar 2011 album Room(s) will be glad to hear his signature sound incorporating footwork and more experimental elements is still intact, though the lead track here seems steeped in dreamier textures. The B-side track "Body Touch" however is a different beast, harking back to his earlier hip hop-inspired productions. An excellent single that bodes well for the album...

Review: The title for West London producer Ikonika's second album Aerotropolis supposedly refers to a city centred around an airport, and was apparently chosen because the album is "about height, getting high and become distant". It supposedly underwent more significant polish than her previous productions and it shows; lead single "Beach Mode" sounds like a classic '80s house track, while "Mr Cake" glimmers with all the sheen of classic US boogie and the shimmering arp of "Eternal Mode" shows hints of disco in its DNA. But Ikonika's connection to the darker strains of UK dance music still shine through; the thick bass and syncopated rhythms of "Manchego" are pure grime while the monolithic "Mega Church" sounds like futuristic, high concept dubstep. Incredible stuff.

Review: In his career thus far Rob 'Airhead" McAndrews has been closely tied to celebrated school friend James Blake; the pair are regular collaborators, McAndrews plays guitar when Blake steps on stage and both are involved in the clubnight/label 1800-Dinosaur. Evidently a talented musician in his own right, the promise shown on some decidedly weird Brainmath material and more recent R&S releases is expanded here on For Years, the debut Airhead LP. The ten track set might finally see Airhead gain recognition without the need to mention Blake; there's certainly an accomplished approach here that focuses on willowy textures and slow builds and owes as much to post rock as it does post dubstep.

Review: Lo Note UK return here, uncovering the unheralded London producer Tum Hulbruk to man the controls for the second journey into the darker recesses of Bass experimentalism that is their Excursions 10" plate series. Sitting decidedly on the stripped back side of matters, Hulbruk seems like a perfect fit for Excursions with opening cut "Dimens" showing him eminently capable of highly pressurised rhythms and suffocating bass movements as well as an awareness of space some other Bass producers could take note of. "Dharma" goes tougher with a great downwards slanting groove and mutant vocal sampling that adds an element of dancefloor unease.

Review: Following the runaway success of "You/Me", Rob Burns returns with his most comprehensive release to date. "AFDW" engages with a cool deep house groove before roughing up the melting pot with fractured beats and rich, butter-like sub bass. "Tough Luck" punches its way with a syncopated 4/4 that palpitates with the bass before timeless de-pitched pianos and a sensual vocal barge their way into the mix. "Bag Of Snakes" continues the shiny vocal textures and more subversive riddim dynamics while "Always Something" slows down the groove Bondax-style utilising a well-known vocal sample in the process.

Review: If you're enjoying the bountiful beat creativity found in the grey area between juke, jungle and ghetto tech then you'll already be well acquainted with Dutch dynamo H Sik. "Sonic Rage" is a fractured fusion of splice breakbeat magic, stuttering bass and strange vocal textures. "No Promises" is a slice of subversive soul thanks to skittish drums and yearning pads that seemingly weep on the fills, singing harmony with the subs as the track develops. Sik beats for sick times.