Review: With 'Vibes', Dutch drum & bass/jungle outfit Cat In The Bag temporarily let the feline out of the case, yet they still retain enough integrity, and rein in the shellage, to the extent that the cat is nonetheless seduced back in after a certain time. Such is the art of alley-cat drum & bass, comparable in mood to "rollage"; it's all about a fine balance of hard-hitting impactfulness and careful vibe-restraint, else the mog'll arch its back and dash off elsewise. No wonder the first tune's called 'Level Vibes'; Dial-M and Msymiakos achieve an intricate, intelligent mood of levity, a belief-suspensory dread zone in which level-headedness serves as a proxy for the execution of a skittish agility, as of a cat. Our feline reccy no less reliably scours the 'Frontline'; amens penetrate hard garrisons of bass and atmoss with relentless keratinous claws, proving retractable paw-blades really can break walls. The B-siders, 'Warehouse Dub' and 'Dub Rock', provide more novelty appeal, preferring to build sound(e-)scapes that both build upon and take flight from the warpath.
Review: KRaeK steps onto Flexout's main label with a striking debut EP, collaborating with Ukrainian artist NickBee. Their music emerged from an intense creative connection forged in the chaos of war. NickBee's contributions, crafted amid the turbulence of his homeland, give each track a visceral weight, charged with survival, anger and flickers of hope. This EP stands as a raw, uncompromising expression of friendship and resilience, capturing an experience that transcends beats and basslines. It's a sobering reminder of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and a show of solidarity with those still enduring.
Review: Certified 'badmen of 2022', Atlanta's Nikki Nair links and London's DJ ADHD link up once again for four furious breakbeat jams. As you'd expect, it's naughtiness from the off as they pair guide us through a whole maze of bass and series of shells. Highlights include the rampant garage thrust and flex of 'Whaa', the wonky grit and rumbles of the EP's title track 'Golden Monkey' and the bashy dystopian radar ripples and eastern string stabs of 'No Pulse'. You'd have to have no pulse to not be feeling this. Go for gold.
Review: Trust us: we know when a reissue has been done lovingly and not in a meritless way. Vinyl Fanatiks fall into the former category, evidencing their ability to turn us to fanatical vinyl proselytes in turn, with this new edition of Nexus & Blowback's 'The Cat's Whiskas'. First released on the UK label Stranger Recordings in 1992, this 12" was just one of two records to ever grace the outlet's decked-out halls; label owner Sam Tierney was also behind the short-lived fixator alias, Obsession, the other releasee on the imprint. As if to put into words the emotions and affects attached to certain lingo native to the early breakbeat hardcore scene, track titles like 'Totally Cabbaged', 'Dinosaurus' and 'Law Of The Jungle' suggest a viviparous vive, their brisk breaks, colic choirs and explosive pianos making explicit the aliveness of a ravebound youth. Also pairing the music with allusions to animalia and the jungle wilderness, the EP grows increasingly experimental as it progresses both through the thicket and back in time, with 'Dinosaurus' serving up a triassic extinction event by the hand of catastrophic synth-struments, such as buzzing square waves and nuclear breaks.
Marjan - "Desert Of Heart" (Ramtin Niazi rework) (4:35)
Artoush - "The Curse" (Ramtin Niazi rework) (4:22)
Review: Today's Youth is a collection of Ramtin Niazi's reworkings of some of Iran's best loved songs. Here the Iranian artist - and key component part of such storied Persian rave music groups as Ben & Jerry, Kahkli Cru and 1000PA - breathes fresh, shape-cut life into the music of Googoosh, Kourosh Yaghmaei, Marjan and Artoush, refitting them for the abandoned warehouse rave. This is a real eclectic record, taking after well-established dance styles like speed garage, jungle, and dembow, but each track is nonetheless arranged with a gauche left hand, so gauche as to abstract each one from its stylistic reference point enough to sound lytic: unmoored from any total obligation to their origins, be they Iranian or Western European.
Review: Dead Dreams Don't Die Vol 1 is the first release from the new label Half Grand Records, which we're told will be focused on no-frills, raw talent electronic music. And so it proves on this split EP which brings together a diverse bunch of names. Nimam kick off with the jungliest breaks and fizzing future energy of 'Cilinger Slobs' before Jon Doppler mangels synth modulations and more airy breakbeats on his 'Feel Like.' On the flip, A Stantz brings the darkness with raw, frazzled electro stylings on 'Vags Ande' and Cracktros closes out with 'Deosil' which is a deeper techno cut with star-gazing synth leads.
Review: Oi oi, gun fingers and glow sticks at the ready for this one, which is a jungle, d&b and hardcore fusion that throws it back to the good old days. 'Feel The Magic' has it all and then some with blistering amen breaks and killer vocal stabs, 'Wheel Up' keeps on the pressure with more irresistibly funky breaks, spin backs and prying synth tone and 'Come Inside' hypnotises with a mystic flute lead before the devastating drums drop once more. 'Breakage #6' shuts down with another lively rhythm that will turn any 'floor into a rave den.
Noise Factory - "Can You Feel The Rush" (The Power mix) (4:54)
TDK - "Baby Plane" (5:05)
TDK - "Illusion Of Balance" (4:54)
TDK - "Bonus Beat" (5:06)
Review: Throwback proto-jungle glitz from Noise Factory reissued by Kemet Music, the revolving-door ragga jungle collective mainly owned and operated by label owner Mark X. Just as it was with its original release on the label in 1993, we hear Noise Factory's original 'Can You Feel The Rush' - first surfacing on Ibiza Records that same year - followed by three stonkers from DJ, producer and emcee TDK. This is an EP that overflows with legitness, its liquid tsunamic runovers of energetic vibe pouring forth from NF's 'Power Mix' as well as the subsequent key-mapped demon choir hellscape, 'Baby Plane'. All tunes here bear that raw, much coveted yet never quite totally replicable rasp sound, endemic to the early-to-mid 90s. Feathers don't get ruffled as much as they do get ruffed, on the closers 'Illusion Of Balance' and 'Bonus Beat'.
Review: Scene veteram - if not downright originator - Nookie returns to Metalheadz with his latest offering, which as the title suggests, finds the London-based d&b producer embracing the creative process as a means of surprise and discovery. Nookie himself calls the tracks on Improvisions "the best I've ever written," and we'd be hard pushed to disagree. Ruth Royall becomes a central figure within the record's story, her voice ringing out over Nookie's jazz-laced, soul-drenched production on 'Part Of Me' especially. There is plenty of dancefloor energy to be found on the likes of 'Over & Over' as well, but vitally this is a d&b artist album from someone whose inspiration continues to flow prodigiously.
Review: Opus One digs into the vaults with this one. It is a new 12" with a pair of old-school remixes of gold-standard Nookie originals. First up is the Makoto remix of 'Natural Experience' which is a soul-drenched, feel-good and upbeat roller with silky vocals and oodles of sunny charm. On the flip is a Nookie (aka Cloud 9) remix of 'Innerspace' that takes the cut into cosmic territory with slapping and slamming amen breaks, thrilling snares and bleeping synths that work as well as head as they do on heart and heel.
Review: It was way back in 1994 when original rave hero and genuinely foundational DJ Ellis Dee (real name Roy Collins) offered up his one and only 12" as Norty But Nice. 31 years on, that two-tracker returns to stores in remastered form via this coloured vinyl reissue from Vinyl Fanatiks. Lead cut 'Do You Want It' is spacey, intoxicating and - as you'd expect - breathlessly energetic, with Collins placing piano riffs, vocal samples and intergalactic electronics atop a jungle-style hardcore breakbeat and booming bass. On flip-side 'Give It To Me Baby' he opts for more deep space synths, rolling bass, deeply layered breakbeats and more rushing piano motifs. Both tracks are, of course, genuine breakbeat hardcore classics.
Review: Nu:Tone is a drum & bass giant and a longtime mainstay of the legendary Hospital label. He hasn't put out any solo material since his last album way back in 2014, so this new two tracker is a big deal indeed. After all the classics on that record he has a lot to live up to but does so, with both tunes showing this artist's pioneering approach to drum & bass . Opener 'Sweeter' is the heartfelt and super soulful cut we all need right now with London-based singer and songwriter Maiday providing the icing on the cake. Do It Right' is a nostalgic roller with big rave pads, Av it.
Review: The Time Is Now label single-handed ushered in a new era of garage if you ask us. That was a few years ago but the label continues to lead from the fort here with a new EP from Samurai Breaks & Napes who make their label debut in explosive fashion. They are skilled studio talents who are nudging at the boundaries of the current UK bass sound and here they hybridise bassline, jungle and garage. You won't easily be able to fit these into one stylistic box but they will do damage on the floor, from the ghetto restlessness of the opener to the manic melodies of 'Correct Technique' and onto the turbocharged 'FrogMob'. Thrilling stuff.
Review: Ma?h is based in Berlin but makes occult techno inspired by Tikal, which is the ruin of an ancient Mayan city in Guatemala. He creates a sense of ancient ritual, tribalism, primaeval drums and otherworldly atmosphere across five fantastically evocative and escapist cuts here. They all go deep, with rubbery rhythms marbled with wordless vocals, chanting, eerie FX and absorbing mysticism that is all expertly done and hugely authentic. 'Acat' is a standout with its lolloping bass and tom-peppered beats, while 'Exorcismo' is more intense and heady. 'Caiman Ritual' is a humid and intense dub techno bumper, and it rounds out one of the most original EPs we've heard in ages.
Review: Four years on from his second album, 2, Hospital's go-to Belgian bass connoisseur Netsky returns with his third long player, the cunningly-titled 3. Boris Daenen has the fine art of the album down to a tee and there is a real sense of occasion about this 11 track epic. Last year's festival favourite "Rio", the Digital Farm Animals-featuring, Brazilian DNB-style is a fine example of the Netksy sound right now and it features prominently here, a beacon to coax people in and experience the further delights of 3 with Chromeo and Emeli Sande also among the cast of contributing names. 3 is energetic, brash, a reflection of its producer's discography, and yet something new entirely simultaneously.
Review: Nia Archives has burst through and made a gigantic impact that now stands her at the forefront of the latest jungle era, and pretty much has done since she first made waves in 2020. Her collagist soundscapes have brought an all new sense of energy and rejuvenation to the genre that has in turn brought in plenty of new fans. While some may label her a revivalist, she emphasises that that aspect of the genre has never really gone away. The 24-year-old's debut album has been much anticipated by fans who have fallen in love with her weightless jungle tracks and intense basslines and they aren't let down here as those sounds resonate throughout.
No Need 2 Be Sorry, Call Me? (feat Maverick Sabre) (4:40)
So Tell Me (5:04)
Conveniency (3:14)
Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall (3:22)
Review: Owing to recent appearances at festivals across the country as well as the world, Nia Archives is a rising star of the UK's underground hardcore scene. The Londoner's music fuses elements of grime, garage, and jungle with introspective and socially charged lyricism. Nia's latest LP, 'Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against The Wall,' naturally touches on themes of social justice and self-discovery, a reminder of afterparty headaches and familial estrangement, not to mention the confusion of it all. Tracks like 'Headz Gone West' and 'Goodbye' are energized analyses of mental health and toxically flippant relationships, set against the ever-present backdrop of jungle.
Review: Unstoppable next-gen junglist Nia Archives presents Silence Is Loud, her forthcoming debut album following an introductory onslaught of bangers such as 'Crowded Roomz'.AIn keeping with the contemporary torch-bearer's take on jungle, Archives' sound is cuter and, dare we say, more original than many Terminator-helmeted old-heads would dare allow themselves. Lead single 'Silence Is Loud' demonstrates this as much, with its expository beat drop marking a return to and cogent awareness of, jungle tekno, with its 4x4 undergird topped up by a floaty trip-hop vocal line, its lyrics evoking city reminiscences and staying afloat in troubled times. Promising both banger delivery and sentiment, Silence Is Loud is poised to pave the way for the very next incarnation jungle.
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