DAWL Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Breakbeat brederen unite for another sermon at the altar of Dawl who brings the chaos to this new 12", Slice & Dice. The title track kicks off with some mad old school scratching before fresh breaks bounce along and a ragged bassline joins in the fun. 'Let's Go For A Ride is another percussive workout with snares and toms all flapping away at high speed and 'Sonic Boom' keeps up the madness with slick, high-speed beats and corrugated bassline. Last but not least, 'Ready To Go' completes the picture with another fresh collision of breaks and scratching.

Review: Fear Of Dog invite techno-breaks producer DAWL to join them for a four-track EP to propel each listener to the stratosphere and beyond. Toothy and rubbery come the basses and breaks of '12 Hours Rush', while the ensuing resonances and acid licks of 'Pulsar' poke and titillate. Expect nothing less than piping-hot heaters - surely more effective than your boiler this coming winter!

Review: Amen Brother asked Darren Woolard aka DAWL, said to be a regular customer of Vinyl Fanatiks from the hardcore generation, to use his knowledge of the scene to create 'a proper little rave induced banger' and here are the results. Four ravey breakbeat numbers await you on the Pump Up The Noise EP featuring the euphoric, Mentasm-laden energy of 'Moonstruck' which kicks things off, followed by the title track which is packed full of Todd Terry style motifs mixed in with MC chants and rewinds. Over on the flip, it's all about the proto jungle vibe of the menacing 'Freak Of Nature'.

Review: Since debuting as Dawl nine years ago, Tone Dropout co-founder Darren Woollard has become one of the most trusted producers of revivalist '90s fare, with a trademark sound that mixes and matches elements from various vintage styles of techno and electro. That attractive, mind-altering personal sound is much in evidence on this EP for Unknown To The Unknown, which wholeheartedly pays tribute to the turn-of-the-'90s Yorkshire bleep & bass sound. Those versed in the style's history will notice a few knowing winks to various underground classics - the title track sounds like an unreleased track from Richard H Kirk and Rob Gordon's short-lived XON project, for example - while the important ingredients (deep sub bass, alien bleeps, unfussy house-tempo techno drums and crunchy hardcore breaks) are all present and correct. A delicious blast from the past from a genuine student of the style.

Review: Born Abstract is a debut album from UK bleep and breakbeat master DAWL aka Dropout main man Darren Woollard on the Childhood Intelligence label. It's an intergalactic trip back to the future, with computerised melodies and heavy drums on 'Quadrant 6' then more manic techno stomps on 'Red Sky.' Elsewhere things get deep on 'Recon' a slippery and supple track with rich acid. 'Quantoum Jam' heads into electro territory and then it's an old school rave on 'I'm Confused'. Born Abstract is fun, fulsome, fantastic and as good as retro-future techno gets.

Review: Since making his name as part of the Tone Dropout crew a few years back, Darren "Dawl" Woollard has become a go-to man for labels looking for on-point doses of sweaty retrofuturism. Here he makes his debut on Cardiff-based Haws, sprinting his way through acid/electro/breakbeat fusion (fantastic opener "Break It Down"), bustling, hip-house influenced early breakbeat hardcore revival (the stab-happy rush of "Subject 91") and bleep-sporting acid-house heaviness ("Proton", which may well be the EP's standout moment). To round things off, Kosh reworks "Break It Down", reinventing as a throbbing slab of booming techno rich in fizzing drum machine beats, low-slung bass, cyber-sonic melodies and intergalactic chords.

Review: For the uninitiated, Dawl is the alias of one Darren Woollard - a London based producer in charge of Tone Dropout since 2013. He has also served up some great releases of late on Berlin imprints Libertine and Klasse Wrecks. His new Infected System EP is for Shadow Play, a Paris based operation run by veteran DJ Le Loup (aka Hold Youth) and Pura. Classic UK rave aesthetics of yesteryear are catered for on "Bring It Back" with snarling 303 acid accompanied by fierce breakbeat action. On the flip are he pays homage to Yorkshire techno on the tunnelling banger "Parranoia" which uses more of that signature TB-303 sound and the deeply emotive hypnotism of "Cosmic Drift".

Review: When it comes to retro-futurist, analogue-rich gems inspired by turn-of-the-'90s electronic music, there's no more reliable outlet than Tone Dropout. The label's latest drop - their tenth multi-artist extravagana - is once again packed with cuts that sound like they could have been made in 1990 or '91. Boss man Dawl kicks things off with a cracking fusion of punchy electro and bleep & bass ('Into Andromeda'), before Escape Earth deliver a dash of acid-flecked breakbeat hardcore ('Impact Event') and Kiddmisha explores acid-electro pastures on 'Retrodance'. The body popping fun continues apace on side B opener 'Evolution 1', a punchy electro club cut from The He Men - before Marino draws things to a close via the rumbling bass, skittish breakbeats and moody chords of 'Rave Alarm'.

Review: The second release of Flight Mode has landed with four artists from four different countries. On the A-side, Dawl delivers 'Microbe', a sleek acid slow burning that truly stalks the listener, before Kiddmisha ups the speed and the eerie moodiness with 'Anxiety'. Acid Charlie's 'Por La Paz' has the most old school favour of the quartet - even before sirens hit - underpinned by a thunderous drum machine. Then the mysterious producer SPAC closes the single with more cunningly employed acid shenanigans.

Review: Klasse Wrecks is one of the quiet workhouse sou the European underground - never really in the headlines but always there with quality, effective club sounds in a range of different styles. Cybernetik Synergy is their latest and it's a collaborative affair between Dawe and Luca Lozano that brings out the best in both. 'Data Transfer' is electrified broken beat techno with fizzing synth malfunctions, wispy stabs and fractured vocals for raw rave vibes. 'NRG' is a more stripped-back but no less edgy sound, with spare hits riding a slick broken beat and mournful pads adding atmosphere. There's a remix and further rugged techno on the filpside with 'Virtual Space'.

Review: In the world of Tone Dropout, the rave never stops. It's this wholehearted 90s-inspired retro-futurism that makes their compilation style EP releases such a good listen. This ninth volume in the series packs a punch, with highlights coming courtesy of The He-Men (the trippy acid-psychedelia of saucer-eyed early morning workout "A-Train"), the weighty Yorkshire bleep and bass-meets-Italian dream house warmth of Ascot and WW's "Marelli Bleeps", and the deliciously quirky hip-house-meets-breakbeat hardcore-meets-acid bustle of Bufo Bufo's "Ectotherm". Arguably best of all though is Dawl's sleazy, alien and off-kilter acid-electro rub "Human Experiments".