Bass

Review: Lyra Valenza's second EP for Petrola 80 (the first, a co-release with Black Opal, dropped in 2018) is a suitably giddy and action-packed affair, with the duo gleefully melding shimmering, vintage-sounding synthesizer sounds and bustling bass music elements to create a quartet of ear-catching cuts. Perhaps the most obviously peak-time ready number is sub-heavy, cut-up breakbeat number "Sport Mode" - think pitched-down, early Good Lookin' style drum and bass, and you're close - though the sparkling, sun-drenched jungle shimmer of "Nightshade Edition" runs it close. Elsewhere, opener "Blind Spot Monitor" is the kind of jumpy, kaleidoscopic concoction that reminded us of some of Luke Vibert's best work, while "Low B4" is rushing, saucer-eyed, breakbeat-fuelled IDM of the highest order.

Review: Acid Waxa drew plenty of positive heat for carrying Roy Of The Ravers amongst many other respected braindancers, but now Hot Chip drummer Sarah Jones is getting the remix treatment on the label for her Pillow Person project, with some wild results. It's great to see Bogdan Raczynski back in action and bringing some gently wonked, emotional acid meanderings to "On Your Way", while Lechuga Zafiro makes an art out of aping footwork, and more specifically "Footcrab" while making it sound like someone just stubbed their toe and got stuck in a loop. IYDES however turns "In My Game" into a deconstructed but utterly bloated pop beast, and then Oliver Coates whips "Go Ahead" into a woozy, highly strung daze with billowing synths underneath Jones' vocal.

Review: Beating Heart has shared the late Hugh Tracey's archive at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) with contemporary producers and keeping in line with Tracey's vision, all proceeds will be used to assist people in the areas where the music was originally recorded. This time, Warp Records and all round UK electronica legend Luke Vibert gives us the delightful oddball groove that is "Africable", Italian DJ Clap! Clap! Gives us the African polyrhythms via Detroit high-tech soul on "Kulira" while Los Angeles duo With You give us the sublime "No Resistance". Each 1500 albums sold will feed a school of 500 forever! Support a great cause and feed your ears with some wonderful music while you're at it.

Review: Another edition of the Honest Jon's Shangaan Electro remix project arrives with suitably illuminating results as Villalobos & Max Loderbauer and Peverelist tackle the Tshetsha Boys. Ricky V's collaborative take on "Nwa Pfundla" with Loderbauer is as stripped back as you'd expect, though as the dubby gurgle develops familiar strains of the energising original emerge, but never quite escape the scratchy electronic fuzz. The accompanying revision from Punch Drunk boss Peverelist is even more removed from the uptempo origins, commencing in dramatic fashion with dubby industrial textures before settling into a crashing 4x4 flex poised at circa 120bpm. Gradually snippets of Tshetsha Boys melodies emerge and meld the Peverelist rhythms which gain some energising impetus when those hats lock in.

Review: This debut release from footwork crew Teklife's label sees them pay tribute to DJ Rashad, the late, great innovator who passed away in the spring of 2014. Afterlife gathers together a collection of DJ Rashad tracks co-produced by Rashad's close friends and associates, including DJ Spinn, Traxman, DJ Manny and more. As the label themselves state, this 14 track album really conveys the wealth of musical influences and knowledge Rashad possessed with soul, hip-hop, house, techno and many more all brought together at 160 BPM. "Afterlife is our tribute to our friend and our inspiration. Rest In Peace DJ Rashad," Teklife write. Enough said. A must for all fans of Rashad.

Review: The 90th installment of the long-running FabricLive series comes from Kahn & Neek, AKA Young Echno members Joe McGann and Sam Barrett. The 28-track mix-up is naturally heavy on material from friends and collaborators (Jabu, Pinch, Ishan Sound, Gemmy etc.), plus a swathe of their own productions and remixes. It offers a whirlwind tour of the Bristol duo's influences and inspirations, taking in paranoid, dubbed-out ambience, stoned trip-hop, sub-bothering grime, post-dubstep intensity, hard-to-define madness (Gantz's brilliant "Temple Meads"), dancefloor-burning ragga revisions, and mutant, wide-eyed post-R&B (the fantastic "Dial Ton" by VMOS and Boofy). In other words, it perfectly encapsulates the duo's club-rocking DJ sets, not to mention where Bristol's bass scene is right now.

Review: It seems fitting that the hundredth and final volume in the "FabricLive" mix series should also be its most hotly anticipated. Coming from heavyweight heroes Kode9 and Burial - whose previous back-to-back mix for Mary-Anne Hobbs' show eight years ago has reached near mythical status. The album is a wonderfully full-throttle and mixed-up affair, with the shadowy bass lieutenants giddily flitting between quick-fire sections focusing on South African gqom, footwork, Juke, vintage hardcore, early jungle and more contemporary dancefloor experimentalism, each broken up by typically blazed and paranoid ambient interludes and the occasional surprise selection. There's a lot going on throughout, but that only adds to the fun. In other words, it's a triumphant finale to a landmark mix series.

Review: It seems fitting that the hundredth and final volume in the "FabricLive" mix series should also be its most hotly anticipated. Coming from heavyweight heroes Kode9 and Burial - whose previous back-to-back mix for Mary-Anne Hobbs' show eight years ago has reached near mythical status. The album is a wonderfully full-throttle and mixed-up affair, with the shadowy bass lieutenants giddily flitting between quick-fire sections focusing on South African gqom, footwork, Juke, vintage hardcore, early jungle and more contemporary dancefloor experimentalism, each broken up by typically blazed and paranoid ambient interludes and the occasional surprise selection. There's a lot going on throughout, but that only adds to the fun. In other words, it's a triumphant finale to a landmark mix series.

Review: 19 years ago, DJ Technics oversaw the production of Queens of Baltimore Club, a double album of weighty B-More club tracks built around female vocals and vocal samples. Originally copies are now extremely hard to find, so the newly launched Butter Notes label has decided to press up a single slab of wax featuring some of the album's most potent jams. Highlights include the cheeky B-more-does-classic-hip-house hedonism of Kotton the Cutie's 'I Just Wanna', the heat and heavy intensity of Mz Thang's 'Shake Ya Dick', the stab-sporting sweatiness of Ms Mocha's 'Not The Boss' and the heavily-edited, build-heavy hype of Lady Shanuda's 'Stuck', which packs insane levels of excitement into four action-packed minutes.

Review: There's sadly no Summer Dance Forever festival in Amsterdam this year, so instead Super Sonic Jazz has teamed up with James Rudie and EVM128's Dance Regular label to offer up a tenth anniversary set showcasing some of that label's impeccable artists. The 10-track selection is, somewhat predictably, superb, offering a whirlwind tour through contemporary jazz-fuelled UK tackle that brilliantly mixes and matches elements of broken beat, UK funky, bassline, nu-jazz, instrumental hip-hop, soul-fired house and 21st century jazz-funk. While none of the artists involved are yet household names, all are undeniably rising stars, while the quality of the music is never less than superb. Do yourself a favour and check out the clips ASAP!

Review: Having firmly established Convex Industries with a series of artist focused EPs and album projects from Alex Smoke, Femme En Fourrure, label boss Jon Convex signals a widening of scope with the launch of Zero Point, a new series of mixed artist releases. The debut transmission, deftly called Zero Point One, sets the standard for the series with Jimmy Edgar, J Tijn, Wraetlic, Sei A and Convex himself featured amongst the six tracks. Lead track "Move" sees Convex and Edgar join forces with typically bombastic results, as Edgar's slightly sinister voice intones "Move Your Body" over a vicious, bass heavy tech throb. "Incapacity Benefit" from Wraetlic finds Alex Smoke in stripped back mood which contrasts nicely with the building euphoria of Convex's solo cut "Day After Day". Productions from Turbo duo Sei A and J Tijn lend Zero Point One some broken grit with the latter's "Rough Edges" perhaps the outstanding contribution.