Back catalogue: UK Garage

Review: Crosstown Rebels compere Damian Lazarus teams up with fellow musician and singer-songwriter Jem Cooke, with new track 'Searchin'': a primeval precognition of the big bad boss man's upcoming fifth album on the label, Magickal. Though it's been released digitally with a focus on Bullet Tooth's remix on the B-side, this blue-innered vinyl edition compiles all three of the track's versions, also clocking a sure-to-be much-spun Radio Slave remix on the B. The original is an FM-led brooder with posterities of bleep techno and darkside fidget house. Cooke's vocals belt searchingly against burbling synthwork, while Bullet Tooth's remix takes a tempting dark garage turn, risking briar-shod paths of bass as Cooke's refrain is made gothic. Slave's version is, as ever, hardly slavish, preferring a more tensile daytime vibe of subtle piano and muted vox.

Review: The Craft Music label is back after a one year break with some fresh new cuts by resident Marco Lazovic. It's an EP inspired by the sound of the English club scene in the nineties and noughties, labels like Good Looking Records and artists such as Mike Millrain. Opener 'Losin Control' sure is a compelling mix of electro and breaks that soars on cosmic lines with euphoric vocals in the distance. 'Come To London' has a distinctly garage feel to it with its crisp broken beats and there is more high energy but melody-rich breakbeat action in 'Dark Gravity' while 'Space Jazzy' is s super sweet and deep jungle cruiser.

Review: Hidden Folder label head Christopher Ledger is back with another slamming outing, this time in the form of his NRG 12". For this one he draws on a love for and understanding of breaks, garage, house and tech and kicks off with the filthy dirty and brilliantly sleazy 'NRG' with its wub-wub bassline sure to get lips curled in mock disgust. 'How Do You Like It' is a more prickly and spaced out dollop of industrial tech house, 'Back 2 Bass' is a thrilling blend of tightly programmed beats and big chord stabs and 'This Way, Please' is cruising party pumper. A Donnie Cosmo remix of that cut close with more excellent sleazy garage house bounce.

Review: Next up on the To The Rock label are four firing remixes of the Danny J Lewis tune 'Best Friends'. The original is a real UKG classic but any measure and one of the tunes of the year back when it first landed back in 1999. It's got plenty of London swagger endnote of that is lost in any of these reworks. Chicago's Garett David opens up with some dancing chords and tight, shuffling drums, newcomer Late Nite City then slips things back and goes a little deeper with his more seductive take and and multi-instrumentalist Mom Tudie layers in the soul with his more heartfelt version and funky guitar twangs. The Dominic Spreadlove remix might be the best of the lot with a nice pitched up vocal hook and dry as you like drums.

Review: In Taijiquan, the principle of "fang song" represents balance, with heaviness sinking and lightness rising. Littlelake, who is a devoted Taijiquan practitioner, brings this concept to his new EP across four tracks that blend deep, heavy bass with playful, light elements. 'Tonight's the Night' kicks off with a nimble 2-step beat over weighty bass and playful vocal cuts. 'Passing By' delivers a monster speed garage vibe and 'Watch Your Mouth' mixes funky tribal breaks, soulful strings, and clever sampling. 'Lost' contrasts jackin' 909 rhythms and dub sounds with a dark Reese bassline for a gripping groove.

Review: Since delivering his vinyl debut on Tdsr in 2021, Lewis Williamson AKA LWS has established himself as one of UK techno's genuine rising stars. His dark and twisted trademark style comes to the fore on this Can You Feel The Sun label debut, starting with the dystopian brilliance of title track 'Palloon' - a polyrhythmic techno epic marked out by doom-laden, end-of-days motifs, twisted stabs, weighty sub-bass, trippy electronics and shards of fleeting sonic bliss. 'Steady On' is a more robust and forthright slab of distorted techno insanity - all stomping kick-drums, bouncy beats, rumbling low-end pressure, creepy melodic motifs and leaping one-note stabs. Elsewhere, 'Faster, Dryer' sounds like Autechre and Peverlist stuck in a lift, while 'Unstuck' is a bittersweet, end-of-days delight with added peak-time weight.

Review: The latest from Burnski's Vivid label is a three way split, six track affair with Oldboy, Xander and Longeez each dispatching a pair of tunes in the label's trademark roughneck breakbeat style. - Oldboy kicks off proceedings with the speedy junglisms of 'Blackbird' before the chunkier, funkier and a little more traditionally paced breaks heft of 'Walrus Party'. Xander's 'If I Tell EM' and 'Get To The Point' both plays off two step rhythmic twists and menacing bass against dreamy synths and more breakbeaty flourishes, before Longeez closes proceedings with the slightly sparser 'Evermore' - super sharp hi hats and echoing rasta dialogue - and the appropriately spinback-peppered 'Wheel Up'.

Review: Pangaea and Leonce's collaboration feels like a natural evolution of their respective sounds. 'Dusted' takes the more energetic route, drawing from UKG's signature drum patterns and crisp, chopped-up vocals. There's a weightlessness to it that feels characteristic of Pangaea's style, with the track riding that fine line between chaos and precision. It's rapid but controlled, capturing the essence of the UKG sound without resorting to tired cliches. On the other hand, 'Stuck' leans into a more understated vibe, pulling from the foundation of 90s US club music. It's relaxed, more patient in its progression, with a warm, spacious quality that contrasts nicely with the jitteriness of 'Dusted.' The contrast between the two tracks showcases the range of both artists: while they're clearly rooted in different scenes, they've found a way to merge their influences in a way that feels both fresh and familiar.