12"/10"

The semi-regular round up of random platters in my record bag returns with some heavy weight excursions in bass.

Zomby – Digital Flora Part 1/Part 2 [BRAiNMATH]
Maybe just maybe the best slice of Zomby yet, pure psychedelic dance floor material. Pt. 1 is spaced out while Pt. 2 ups the groove.


Instra:Mental – Watching You Ft.dBridge/Tramma [Nonplus+]
Killer minimal d’n’b cut with heart wrenching vocals, it’s made me buy 170bpm for the first time in years. Tramma drops to 140 and keeps things warm and minimal.


A Made Up Sound – Wire/Bounce/Dicsonnect/On & On [Clone Basement Serries]
2562 on a techno tip, dropping some warm sounds that bump and bubble.


October - Elephants/Medium [Immerse]
Some seriously early proto-dubstep from 2003 that sounds like techno gone eski-grime. Really raw and rolling, it just builds and builds.


Terror Danjah – Industry Standard Part 4 [Planet Mu]
Zumpi Hunter comes on like a grimey G-Funk workout, with Swindle adding even more musicality of his own distinct style. The flip ups the hype and drops like an energy rush, 4x4 builds and 8 bar rallies. Essential.


Spiders – Spiders [BRAiNMATH]
Mysterious dark and rootsy material, I can’t stop mixing it with Bury Da Bwoy by Mala. So much atmosphere and tension built with minimal beats and tweaked out production.


Hyetal – Pixel Rainbow Sequence/Peverelist Remix [Reduction]
Incredible Bristol transmissions, A-side hyped and euphoric with twisting synths and bumping beats. Pev takes it on a freaked out techy psychedelic tip, flowing synths and bubbling arpeggios.


Dorian Concept – Trilingual Dance Sexperiance/Tropical Hands [Affine]
Deranged trance inducing face smashing hip-hop wonk-out with a funked up slow-mo house rendition on the flip, it sets fire to dance floors.

12”

Back again with a mini round up of records from my bag, check out more in-depth pieces including interviews and mixes on the badass Sonic Router.

Gatekeeper/Appleblim & Gatekeeper – Hades/Tomb VIP [Immerse]
Dark doom fuelled steppa with a jungelist vibe and the ghost of Skull Disco looming near, you really can hear the original spirit of dubstep on this platter: Immense from Immerse.


Pearson Sound – PLSN/WAD [Hessle Audio]
It bleeps and bounces like a squirrel trapped in a box on the dance floor and is easily one of the most addictive 12”s around. PLSN goes a little deeper and WAD keeps it funky.


Karizma – Neccessarry Maddness/Drumz Nightmare [R2]
Some broken funky house with a raw edge from the US, the A side comes on like a sugar rush with its bleeps and breaks the flip takes things on a more soulful tip.


Goth-Trad – Dark Path/S.A.T.U.R.N [Deep Medi]
Big soundsystem bangers from Japan, one mellow and spaced out while the other one is on an intense techno-like tip. The more I listen the more I get hooked.


Shorstuff - A Rusteling/Stuff [Ramp]
Incredible first solo outing on a 12” from Shortstuff, A Rustling is so broken it hurts (in a good way), the bass is fucked and both tracks come on like a shot of adrenaline to the heart.


Spamchop & Geiom – Cave Rave/Sirius Star [Berkane Sol]
Speed boating into focus like a mutant techy garage hybrid, it wouldn’t be out of place on a SNES racing game, while the other side Cave Rave gives a broken energetic bleep out with an awesome bass drone.


Rustie – Bad Science EP [Wireblock]
Killer EP from Glasgow’s finest imprint, low swung crunked out bleeps and bass that sounds like your copy of Mario got a virus that gave it a mind of its own and it turns out he’s a bit evil. The title track comes on like Zombie Nation era electro trance being kicked down the stairs by Terror Danjah.


Unknown Artist – Space Invader/Human [Dancing Demons]
Mysterious 12” yet again from this new label, Space Invader jabbers and pummels you with bass before having to load up Atari style in the drop. The flip is deep and has one hell of a switch up after the drop.

Kontext – Convex Curved Mirror / Hometown Swamp 12” (Immerse Records)

Originally written for the Sonic Router but we went for MLR’s Resident Advisor version in the end.

If you’re on a minimal infused future garage tip with plenty of glitch and deep vibes then the forthcoming Immerse Records 12” by Russian resident Kontext is the one for you. Techno arpeggio riffs glide over a 2-step riddim and big bass on ‘Convex Curved Mirror’ while the flipside, ‘Hometown Swamp’ dubs it out real deep; it’s a perfect blend of ambient electronica, minimal and dubstep.

Kontext has a sound somewhere between Pole’s electronic yet organic glitches and 2562’s punchy and skippy dubstep techno, with a hint of the more subtle end of minimal maestro Gabriel Ananda’s flowing grooves via the prevalent Basic Channel spaced out dub techno. The bass weight is sold too, with a kind of rhythmic punch to it. He really makes it his own style though with a hypnotic feel and melancholic warmth that oozes quality.

His last EP for Immerse was a killer and this is no exception. Both tracks are subtle builders for the more discerning dance head; let the drums move your feet as the synths take you into a meditative headspace. Sublime.

http://www.immerserecords.com/public/

http://www.myspace.com/kontextkontext