release sheet w/c 21-02-11
New D&B Releases
SOM011 – Black Sun Empire, State Of Mind & Bulletproof / NC-17, Telekinesis feat KC – Roulette / Micronaps – 12″ Vinyl
SOM 011: State of Mind, Black Sun Empire and Bulletproof – Roulette – State of Mind and Black Sun Empire are back on SOM wax. This time around Bulletproof gets in on the action, and the result: the mighty Roulette. Roulette is unashamedly heavy but at the same time super smooth, and it has been doing the damage all over the world in the sets of some of the scene’s biggest names. NC-17, Telekinesis feat KC – On the other side Micronaps is just as crisp. Labels from all walks including Virus, BSE and C4C were literally begging for this tune but somehow SOM got ahold of it. What more is there to say than this tune absolutely smacks it: A real underground favorite. Here is what some fans have to say about this great 12 on soundcloud: ”This is amazing, must own this”. ”Flawless production! It sounds super open and clean, couldnt have been better!” ”There should be a download button about here…” ”Thats a hell of a 12 inch”
a Black Sun Empire, State Of Mind & Bulletproof – Roulette
b NC-17, Telekinesis, & KC – Micronaps
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
SUBTITLESUK006 – Lenzman & Treez Ft. Jo-s – Stellar / Stuck – 12″ Vinyl
Soulful D&B by Lenzman & Treez plus great vocals by Jo-s equals a Massive 12” Emerging from relative obscurity Dutch producer has started making serious waves of late with his deep and soulful take on Drum & Bass. Influenced by Hiphop, Soul, Jazz and life in general Lenzman’s music combines the organic grooves of yesteryears with the energy and forward thinking attitude of Drum & Bass music. His productions are currently being supported by some of the scene’s most influential figures, including Pendulum, Goldie, Fabio, LTJ Bukem, Friction, Marky & Marcus Intalex to name but a few. The Dutchman has music out on and forthcoming on respected labels such as Integral, CIA, Metalheadz, 31 Records, & Shogun Ltd. Also he is currently working on various high-profile remix projects and has a possible album in the pipeline. To put it short, the future is looking bright for Lenzman…
a Lenzman & Treez Ft. Jo-s – Stellar
aa Lenzman – Stuck
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
DMND001 – BTK – Things I Do / Things I Do (Spectrasoul Remix) – 12″ Vinyl
Brazil has turned out some of the world’s greatest D&B ever since DJ Marky was discovered by Bryan G and his V Recordings camp. From Marky XRS and Patife to one of Brazil’s other great D&B talents, BTK, you know that you’re always getting quality music with something special injected into it. Drawing from his love of Metalheadz and classic drum & bass, BTK lends ‘Things I Do’ a nostalgic feel that’s undoubtedly going to get dancefloors fired up, but has a refinement and class that comes with maturity. Shogun warriors Spectrasoul step up for remix duty on the flip, taking BTK’s original and smoothing it out to its very barest elements. It’s a mystery how Spectrasoul manage to make a few minimal parts fit and move together effortlessly, but this remix is further proof that they’re on top of their game. This is the first release of many from the brand new Swiss label Demand Records. To throw in a junglist cliche – don’t sleep! Support from DJ Lee, John B, Simon Bassline Smith, Nicky Blackmarket, Flight, Storm, to name a few..
a BTK – Things I Do
b BTK – Things I Do (Spectrasoul Remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
JC007 – Deekline & Ed Solo – King of the Bongo – 12″ Vinyl
Bouncing, party Jungle music. 2011 brings a new Deekline & Ed Solo. Deekline himself has worked and continues to work with heavyweight producers such as Tim Healey, Wizard, Ed Solo, DJ Assault, DJ Fresh, Stanton Warriors, Arthur Baker, Freestylers, and Fort Knox Five, not to mention vocalists Ivory, Yolanda, Wiley, and Top Cat.
a Deekline & Ed Solo – King of the Bongo
b Deekline & Ed Solo – Stickybuds Guaranteed
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
SHB010 – Panic Girl – Panic Girl Remixes – 12″ Vinyl x 2
Finish copy promo. For over six years, shadybrain is forcing innovation in Drum and Bass. With it’s 10th vinyl this is made clear more than ever. ‘The Panic Girl Remixes’ join various high profile artists who have never been combined on a release before: dBridge, Phace, Duo Infernale, Skyence, as well as newcomer Sone. The base for all their remixes was Panic Girl’s ‘Burn And Rise EP’, a trip-hop release which was published on shadybrain in early 2010. Phace gets the EP going with his trademark machine-funk sound twisting up the title track ‘Burn And Rise’, while Duo Infernale burn a deep but dancefloor oriented fireworks of Panic Girl’s ‘Hide And Seek’. dBridge himself then extracts the essence of ‘Blue Lights’, taking the listener to a place dark as eternal night. The release is completed by two non Drum and Bass tunes by Skyence and Sone, the first one delivering finest electronica with a wonky groove, while Sone is unleashing a monster of mashed up Dubstep. DJ Support from: Pendulum, Doc Scott, dBridge, Noisia, Phace, DJ Flight, Loxy, Klute,C4C, Kasra, Cern, Misanthrop, Counterstrike, and many more..’
a Panic Girl – Burn And Rise (Phace RMX)
b Panic Girl – Hide And Seek (Duo Infernale RMX)
c Panic Girl – Blue Lights (dBridges Don’t Panic Mix)
d1 Panic Girl – When It Hurts (Skyence Remix)
d2 Panic Girl – Midnight (Sone Remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
MENTALLY005 – Cooh – Are You There / Express – 12″ Vinyl
As roll onto release 5 of the Mentally Disturbed Series already we thought it be nice to crack your skulls on a bigger and wider scale.. None other than the almighty Cooh racks up a devastating 12 for Mentally after wreaking havoc on labels like PRSPCT, Position Chrome & Genosha.. He keeps his standards high with ‘Are You There’ a thrashed out sound system destroyer.. Once this one drops cooh unleashes the big bass line pressure combined with his garbage bin breaks. With one blow he sends you through shipping yards & industrial warehouses so you better be prepared to pack the punch. ‘Express’ takes you for a ride on the demon train from hell.. there are no stops, changes or delays.. this is a one way ticket to the underground itself. With 500mph it will storm through any PA and crush anybody that stand in its way. Cooh again shows there is no stopping his relentless rampage across the dnb scene and is determined not stop any time soon..
a Cooh – Are You There
b Cooh – Express
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
New D&B Promos
DIS042 – Break & Survival / Survival – Your Time Will Come / Harsh Language – 12″ Vinyl
Dispatch unleash the first single release after the ‘Transit One’ album which features Break and Survival. Additionally this is Break’s first release after his own ‘Resistance’ album on Symmetry. The A-side “Your time will come” is pure dancefloor damage all over and is being supported frequently by the likes of Marky, Alix Perez, Nymfo, AI, C4C, Noisia, Cern, Octane & DLR, EBK, Dkay & IllSkillz, Jubei & Kasra. On the flip sees Survival go solo and deeper on “Harsh Language” – anyone who loved Matrix’s work in the late 90′s will find this one sits right alongside nicely.
a Break & Survival – Your Time Will Come
aa Survival – Harsh Language
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
WARM018 – Seba – Vanity / Nostalgia – 12″ Vinyl
Not many producers in drum & bass or music in general can have the sort of career where every piece of music that comes out of their studio is pure excellence. Sebastian Ahrenberg is one of the few musicians that fits easily into the category of excellence. This is his fourth release with Warm Communications and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results! A. VANITY – This is a proper bass workout from the man. Things kick off with super snappy breaks with amazing effects layered on top! Dark atmospheres creep in giving the tune amazing tension leading into what the tune is all about….bass! Distorted, thunderous bass leads the tune into some balanced keys giving the tune that perfect balance of rough and smooth Seba is known for! AA. NOSTALGIA – If you’re a fan of Seba’s uplifting, spine-tingling pieces…then this tune is for you! A solid, rolling break leading into uplifting synths and a guitar-like melody while the pulsating bassline will give any soundsystem a run for it’s money! This is a truly “hands in the air” kinda vibe that we know and love from Seba!
a Seba – Vanity
aa Seba – Nostalgia
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
GEN175005 – Switch Technique – Did / Exo – 12″ Vinyl
Switch Technique is the first artist to get a solo release on The Outside Agency’s groundbreaking crossover label One Seven Five. So, what does this mean? It means that he has pulled off that which only very few can manage: he mixed hardcore kickdrums and drum & bass snares into what has become known as crossbreed.. and he made it sound good. DID is a deep dive into the mind of a psychopath, continuously hammered by gutwrenching kickdrum one hundred and seventy-five times per minute. EXO on the flip strips the crossbreed sound down to its bare exoskeleton. Go on, put on the exoskeleton and see for yourself!
a Switch Technique – Did
b Switch Technique – Exo
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
SUBVI006 – Current Value – Hitman / Target – 12″ Vinyl
Current Value steps up with probably the two most anticipated tracks to be released on Subviolenz to date ‘HITMAN & TARGET’ Two awesome cuts of brutal percussive mayhem controlled and manipulated by the owner of this genre. Supported by every rotten filthy floor destroying subhead known to man and machine ..!!! The future is Violenz !!!
a Current Value – Hitman
b Current Value – Target
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
UNION002 – Machine Code / Cooh – Heisenberg / Gerdan – 12″ Vinyl
UNION Recordings proudly presents the Hybrid Series – part two. On the A side you will find Heisenberg. Powerful track by Machine Code aka Current Value & Dean Rodell which consists of two legendary electronic music producers from Germany. When they get together, they make some of the most innovative and masterpiece sounding music you can ever imagine. Now they are ready to come full force with a brand new super-fresh and unique Machine Code style with Hardcore and Drumandbass elements in tune called Heisenberg – this is going to raise heads throughout the scene for sure!!! Flip it over for side B which contains Gerdan made by brilliant Bulgarian producer COOH. Hypnotizing stabs, industrial hardcore kicks and this amazing destructive snares makes it awesome example of dancefloor devastation. Receiving extensive support worldwide, Gerdan is the track that you have heard in every club, from all the top DJ’s like a The Panacea, The Outside Agency, Limewax, Switch Technique and many many others. Then for the C side, exclusive only in digital version UNION002 – Cursed Angel reworked by its owner! Yes this is it what each of you was waiting for a long time! Amazing Hardcore parts and his perfect sound makes that track coming to life again. Once again UNION Recordings made epic release which is heavily recommended to all fans of harder drum & bass and hardcore genre.
a Machine Code – Heisenberg
b Cooh – Gerdan
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
D&B Restocks Vinyl
SIG006 – Calibre & Singing Fats – Drop It Down
SIG007 – Calibre & High Contrast – Mr Majestik
FEM001 – Zarif & Danny Byrd – California
31R043 – S.P.Y. – The Boy Who Cried Wolf
BRD007 – Telekinesis – Déjà vu / Lithium
BRD006 – Gemini – Down / Electric Rain
CRIT051 – Rockwell – Aria EP
New Bass Music releases
DISF012 – Phaeleh – Falling – 12″ Vinyl
‘Falling’ Disfigured Dubz kick off the New Year with this single by Bristolian producer Phaeleh, hot off the back of his debut album ‘Fallen Light’. With this offering, he sticks very much to his trademark style. An intricate and ever progressing drum track provides the spine for the thought provoking cloudy atmospheres, glittering melodies and moody chords. He somehow manages to catch a similar vibe to early hardcore and acid house with its feeling of optimism and a new found freedom. Vocal snippets of ‘Life is so crazy ‘ and ‘let you go’ give the track a sense of meaning and compliment the musical elements perfectly. ‘Falling (Kulture Remix)’ On the flipside we have a remix by fellow Disfigured Dubz artist Kulture. He’s obviously picked up on the hardcore vibe and pushed it even further in that direction by adding an amen which automatically makes it sound like a lost hit from the early 90s. Beefing up the bass line and more vocal processing turns the original calm inducing track into an absolute dance floor destroyer but without over complicating it. An interesting insight into how dubstep could be taking dance music full circle.
a Phaeleh – Falling
aa Phaeleh – Falling (Kulture Remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
BOKA033 – Skinnz – Keep It Gutta / Euphorbia – 12″ Vinyl
12” YELLOW VINYL – Ltd to 500 Copies Worldwide. Bristol based Skinnz unleashes his debut solo release after more than 5 years in the game! His productions date back to an appearance on a Destructive Recordings compilation back in 2005 alongside the likes of Skream, Toastyboy, Distance and Vex’d. More recently his collabs with I.D have seen releases on labels such as Pinch’s Earwax and Double Science. “Keep It Gutta” features soaring synthetic soul chords, like Joker’s ‘purple wow’ sound with aggro elements sublimated into a crisp urban elegance. “Euphorbia” strays into Martyn/Joy Orbison territory, its fizzing drone chords and soul vocal samples compressed around a bassier but Grime-inclined beat to breathless effect! Currently receiving heavy Radio1 / 1Xtra support from Mistajam and Ras Kwame, along with Mary Anne Hobbs, 16bit, Kito, Pinch, Mensah, I.D, Baobinga, Akira Kiteshi, Jayglo & more!
a Skinnz – Keep It Gutta
aa Skinnz – Euphorbia
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
PTN008 – Hackman – Made Up My Mind / Bam Bam – 10″ Vinyl
Hackman surrenders his last single before his album drops. Moving from his technicolour funky / grime hybrid of his first PTN excursion, ‘Made Up My Mind’ & ‘BAM BAM’ descends into solid house beats and hefty basslines. Look out for his forthcoming album on PTN in 2011.
a Hackman – Made Up My Mind
b Hackman – Bam Bam
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
PL012 – The Subdivision / 501 / HLZ – Open Your Eyes EP – 12″ Vinyl
The SubDivision return home to Paradise Lost with the Open Your Eyes EP: epic vibes, hypnotic bass work, and complex programming manifest themselves as what might be considered their best work to date, and surely a production which defines their unique style for building cinematic tracks of epic proportions. For variations on the Open Your Eyes theme, Finnish mercenary 501 was brought in and produces a devastating, sinister, half-stepping remix monster. This version utterly destroys the dancefloor in usual 501 fashion, but adds a twist of darkness. HLZ (worked for Drum and Bass labels Chronic, Soul:R and Liquid V Recordings) was recruited to offer up his own unique take on Dubstep for a second variation on the original. He uses signature bassline science combined with smacking, dancefloor-friendly drums, then tosses in an epic breakdown-buildup combination followed by a monumental drop that’s sure to get the dance jumping.
a The Subdivision – Open Your Eyes
b1 The Subdivision – Open Your Eyes (501 remix)
b2 The Subdivision – Open Your Eyes (HLZ remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
TEC047 – Illum Sphere – Dreamstealin – 12″ Vinyl
Manchester’s Illum Sphere makes his debut for Tectonic, the young producer unleashing his finest work to date with two killer cuts that demonstrate a wealth of musical influences while setting new directions and expectations for the post-dubstep generation to look towards. It’s a fresh start to the year and a taste of the way Tectonic is moving in 2011. The lead cut is ‘Dreamstealin’, a powerful, twisted track that opens with a dramatic, tense intro – a soundtrack to enormous alien machinery grinding into action. A demonic cello forms the backbone to the piece, warped into a cybernetic frenzy and sounding like nothing you’ve heard before, scrambling into a bit-crushed radio frequency sweep at the drop. Then, in comes the frantic drum pattern – high energy movements in a heavily swung style, with hints of J Dilla or Flying Lotus as the tune builds up again by means of a demented, brooding melody. Eventually it peaks and slips into a more relaxed, funked up vibe, easing down from tense build. Dark energy for the leftfield dancefloor at its finest. Flip to ‘Blood Music’, an equally dreamy affair, though less tense and foreboding. Silky melodic lines run over heavily grooved but rolling beats with a friendly nod to the sound of Burial with its post-club come-down “melt in ecstasy” vibe. Finally, an excellent remix of ‘Blood Music’ by friend and fellow Mancunian Indigo pushes into a ghostly new incarnation with swooping bass and more broken, fragile beats.
A Illum Sphere – Dreamstealin
AA1 Illum Sphere – Blood Music
AA2 Illum Sphere – Blood Music (Indigo Remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
New Bass Music Promos
ROTTUN007 – Downlink – Biohazard / Zombie Apocolypse – 12″ Vinyl
Downlink has been punishing dancefloors all over the planet with his heavy brand of dubstep. With roots in Jungle & DnB, he is no stranger to the vile side of subsonic dance music. Growing up in a cold industrial town in British Columbia, Canada, he was first introduced to dubstep in 2007 and soon after took to production. While maintaining an appreciation for the sparse and laid-back vibes of the old school, Downlink set out to explore a more frantic, adrenaline fuelled style, influenced by everything from heavy metal to astrophysics. His first two releases charted at #1 on several popular online music stores and soon he found his way onto Rottun Recordings which seemed a suiting place for his music. While consistently coming up with sick material time after time, he has gained DJ support from the likes of Nero, Excision, Datsik, Rusko, Dieselboy, Crookers and many more. Downlink is not one to be pigeon-holed and is constantly on a quest to evolve and refine his sound. With this in mind, one thing will always remain constant – a pure unadulterated heavy listening experience…
a Downlink – Biohazard
b Vaski – Zombie Apocolypse
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
KAP006 – L-Wiz – Straitjacket / 4.42 OZ – 12″ Vinyl
Kapsize kick starts 2011 with 2 fresh cuts from a new label artist: L-Wiz. While L-Wiz is new to Kapsize, the Swedish duo are in no way new to the dubstep scene – drawing attention with killer tracks like ‘Girl From Codeine City’ and the classic ‘Girlfriend’, the production pair have been making high quality dubstep tracks since the early 2004-5 days, even launching the first ever release on Dub Police! It is with pleasure that we announce ‘Straitjacket’ and ’4.42 Oz’ find a home on Kapsize! Keeping in the spirit of Joker’s own melodic productions, L-Wiz take a different angle from their previous output – pushing layer after layer of perfectly produced synth lines in harmonic syncracy. ‘Straitjacket’ is the more dancefloor focussed of the two cuts, with a sleazy, low-slung take on the ‘purple’ sound we all know and love at Kapsize – while keeping it heavily weighted to provide bass fans with plenty of satisfactory rumble! Flip for the equally melodic ’4.42 Oz’ which takes a more relaxed approach in vibe, taking things in a futuristic direction while simultaneously referencing the past. Beautifully produced elegant music that you will keep coming back to. DJ support from everyone from Plastician to 2562 as well as of course being a main staple in Joker’s own sets last year.
a L-Wiz – Straitjacket
aa L-Wiz – 4.42 OZ
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
SPEAKS004 – Emvee / Graphics – Future Runnings EP – 12″ Vinyl
The power of youth is being felt all around the world right now, as dictators fall and governments wobble in the face of youngsters fighting against apparently dark futures. Here, Shifting Peaks harnesses some of that energy for a split 12” double header from two of the most promising young producers around. We’d like to think 18 year old South Londoner Alfie Macgibbon aka Graphics has been out there sticking it to The Man whilst jumping around to POW! and keeping the Old Bill on their toes. But we don’t hear much from him tbh, and from the depth and quality of these two future-steppers,’ Blue Top’ and ‘Brian Said to Me’, we reckon he’s been hidden away, quietly building his own vision of the future while real life goes on elsewhere. Birminghams’ Emvee’s is of an age where he doesn’t need to worry about the Tory Millionaire clubs further education plans, having established himself way back in the heady days of 2009 with his landmark ‘Glitch Dub’ on NMBRS. Now he unleashes a tropical banger in the shape of the percussive floor shaker ‘Windrush’ and a driving, Funky-tech bumper ‘Strength’. Two young producers, 4 tracks, a world to win. Keep the fires burning brother and sisters.
a1 Emvee – Windrush
a2 Emvee – Strength
b1 Graphics – Blue Top
b2 Graphics – Brian Said to Me
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
HRMN014 – Pavan – Holy Volt – 12″ Vinyl
You’re about to experience the first long-playing album of Pavan, the originator of Skweee-music. Skweee, also known as the synthetic Scandinavian funk, is a worldwide phenomena hailing originally from the frosty alleys of Stockholm and Helsinki. The raw, unpolished electronic funk tracks of this album were recorded in 2003-2006, when the term itself didn’t yet exist. Now, half a decade later, these rough diamonds finally see the light of day. This magnificient album is sprinkled with analogue synthesizer magic, extraordinaire soundscapes and body rockin’ grooves tight as spandex. But don’t listen to us, judge for yourself. Take a trip through the electro ragga of ‘War’ and ‘Buttons’ and simmer down with the trippy krautness of ’1000 Years’. In this world overpopulated by soulless throwaway electronic music it’s very rare and touching to hear something as pure and honest as ‘Holy Volt’.
a1 Pavan – War
a2 Pavan – Punt Kick
a3 Pavan – 1000 Years
a4 Pavan – 7 To 4
b1 Pavan – Holy Volts
b2 Pavan – Quantasy
b3 Pavan – Afrika
b4 Pavan – Crank Up
b5 Pavan – Buttons
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
DUBLINE008 – Tomba – Jaws – 12″ Vinyl
Dubline presents their latest hot signing from Israel: Tomba (Buygore, Rottun, Basspunch Records). Started together with Borgore and grew up in the metal scene he is known for his raw party style dancefloor tunes. Ready for some serious demolition work? Slab this piece of vinyl on the turntables and you’ll be ready in no time!
a Tomba – Jaws
b1 Tomba – Inglourious Bastards
b2 Devnik – 5 Point (Tomba Remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
CIV017 – Reso – Valken EP / War Machine – 12″ Vinyl
Forever spawning the next generation of bass mutations, Civil Music’s Reso brings an unsurpassed low-end density and textured sound that decidedly makes genres redundant. Wobble, hypercrunk, glitch, hip hop, dubstep, industrial and D&B all blend together for a concoction that only Reso can create, and one that consistently redefines the electronic sphere. In-between working with Hospital Records (with Slap Chop) and remixing the likes of Drop The Lime, Foamo, Qemists and dEbruit (among others), with ‘War Machine / Valkan’ Reso is setting the precedence for 2011, giving the bass world a fierce blueprint to follow. Make no mistake: ‘War Machine / Valkan’ is not a record for the faint-hearted. It’s certainly not suitable background music, and probably should come equipped with an explicit NSFW label. It will, however, be a record for discerning listeners who appreciate the subtleties and complexities that go into high-tech productions that carry this much conceptual and compositional weight, as is always the case with London’s chameleonic and many-masked mastermind. This is the sound of the end of the world, of machines breaking and technology folding, when all that’s left is carnal rage and chaos. A forceful onslaught of sound, the four tracks on Reso’s ‘War Machine / Valkan’ EP intricately mesh high amp leads and emphatic beats that entrance any dancefloor into riotous frenzy. Brutal rhythms command and frequencies drop as ‘War Machine’ kicks things off: a most fitting title for the ominous sounds of all hell breaking loose, where nothing – and no one – will remain in one piece. The rugged sonic explosion is carefully measured, as tearing beats fly recklessly like vicious shrapnel slamming against tough, concrete bass walls. ‘Expansion Ratio’ teases with elements of a break from the chaos, and then slams back down with bumping melodies and hyperactive leads. ‘Syndicate’ takes a page out of the tech end of the D&B book, but with drum patterns that change so unexpectedly, heads will be thrown into another bass dimension. A mastery of rhythm and warm synth-laden fills, the EP does tease with a wash of hope, with his expansive ‘Aethra’ conjuring the peaceful feeling of the early atmospheric tracks of Photek and Bukem. Yet a calm shuddering bassline serves as a foreboding reminder of where the EP has just come from, and that perhaps the peace may not last long. We’ll just have to wait and see what lies await in Reso’s next project: his debut album due later in 2011 on Civil Music.
a Reso – War Machine
b1 Reso – Aethra
b2 Reso – Expansion Ratio
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Bass Music Vinyl Restocks
HF021 – Mount Kimbie – Maybes
CHST006 – Distance with Benga & Cyrus – Chokehold / Surrender
EX7002 – Excision & Datsik – Swagga
KGO002 – Space Dimension Controller – The Love Quadrant
ROTTUN005 – Datsik & Excision – Retreat (Excision Remix)
ROTTUN006 – Excision & Datsik – Boom (SkisM Remix)
HES014 – Joe – Claptrap / Level Crossing
CHST009 – Distance – No Warning / Jungle Fears
EX7004 – Datsik / Datsik & Funtcase – Mechano / Brock Out
DMZ021 – Digital Mystikz – Education / Horrid Henry
EX7005 – Excision & Downlink – Heavy Artillery ft. Messinian / Reploid
RS1007 – James Blake – Klavierwerke EP
SEPTIC1 – Shackleton – Man On A String Part 1 and 2
ATLAS01 – James Blake – Limit To You Love
DVSN007 – Noisia / Excision & Datsik – Alpha Centauri
ATLAS2LP – James Blake – James Blake LP
![Coming soon – Guido “Anidea” LP [Punch Drunk Records]](http://www.stholdings.co.uk/wp-content/themes/bloggingstream25/functions/thumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/2010/04/drunk-logo.jpg&w=64&h=64&zc=1&q=90){kind=logo}
