V.I.V.E.K. – Feel It EP [Deep Medi]

Four track double pack from one of Deep Medi’s finest new signings V.I.V.E.K. It comes on the back of his first Medi release last year ‘Kulture/Meditation Rock’ and countless dubplates that you can hear when you go see him play or tune into some Anti Social Entertainment on Rinse FM. He fuses digidub soundsystem deep bass culture with some seriously rolling percussion, a hint of Berlin techno and those Medi vibes, eyes down, blissed-out, heavy weight music.

The title track kicks things off in fine style, ‘Feel It’ has some of the most infectious rolling Tablas, the percussion is sublime. A vocal sample declaring the weight of your bass and the largeness of your soundsystem is all you need to usher in a chest thumping sub sonic bass tone and the track is off, there is no way back you’re sucked into that soup of sub bass frequencies. Tick-toc its ‘Grandfather Clock’ a big track, the clock counts down to a dance floor meltdown when the metronome-like sample, half tempo drum patterns and hefty bass melts into blazing techno buzzes that just keep coming, it’s those killer synths that make it, they come from nowhere. It’s one for the big rooms.

The deeply blissful ‘Motherland’ is one for the eyes down crew, subtle but weighty bass pulses roll off half stepping rhythms, Tablas and all that good stuff all accented with Indian vocals instrumentation. It’s so deep, minimal and all round good vibes. It would make Youngsta proud. The final track ‘Strategy’ is a roller with a garage kind of swing to it, it skips along with big room dub techno chords twisting in and out of the bumpy beats it really comes alive and picks up the pace. The Feel It EP is pure vibes all the way: Subtle, heavy weight music from V.I.V.E.K.

http://www.myspace.com/vivek321
http://www.myspace.com/deepmedi
http://deepmedi.com/

Originally written for Sonic Router.

12”

The return of the semi regular, ‘randomly selected platters from my record bag that I’m really feeling right now’ blog post, maybe it needs a catchier name…

Joy Orbison – BRKLN CLLN/J.Doe [Doldrums]
Two 12”s, a few remixes and all the hype in the world. His first release on his own label, Doldrums, shows he deserves it too. BRKLN CLLN is the subtler cousin of Hyph Mngo, just as catchy and full of blissful energy. J.Doe takes the diva samples and throws it down old school house style.

Geiom & Shortstuff – No Hand Signals/Wardenclyffe [Planet Mu]
Tag team antics from two heavy weights, Geiom’s music is always special and Shorstuff makes some of the most exciting stuff around and together we get hyper coloured house variants built to move you. There is something grimy about Wardenclyffe, its like eski-acid house. No Hand Signals picks up the tempo but keeps the funky bump.

ASC – Porcelain/Focus Inwards [Nonplus+]
More Nonplus+ I can’t get enough… having missed the d’n’b boat entirely this is the first label that’s getting me excited about the sound. Super smooth half stepping d’n’b that’s so minimal it sounds like electro being fed through a wormhole. The flip takes in dubstep a tempo, big up the multi tempo 12” crews for pushing DJs to think and ride that pitch shifter!

Headhunter – Prototype (Modselektor remix)/Sex At The Prom [Tempa]
This 12” sounds massive: Modeselektor return the remix favour and make their own take on dubstep, which sounds like big room techno with a dark edge. Sex At The Prom goes deep with acid bubbles and hypnotic bass. It’s like Berlin and Bristol are tearing each other a new one on the same 12”.

Starkey Ft. Badness – Ok Luv/Ok Luv (instrumental)/Multidial [Planet Mu]
Taster of things to come from Starkey’s next album ‘Ear Drums and Black Holes’ due March 2010: super smooth hyper soul with grimy undertones and epic colourful melodies. Multidial, heads right to the dance floor with robo-bass and energy surges, killer.

V.I.V.E.K. – Kulture/Meditation Rock [Deep Medi]
Big room material from V.I.V.E.K., dub techno undertones pulled off in a very Deep Medi way, your soundsystem will shake. Things get ravey with Kulture,the filtered stabs re-live the hayday and make you want to loose it in a field outside the M25. But there is something else here too, an eerie blissful dub vibe... Which is where Meditation Rock picks up from.

Joker – City Hopper/Output 1-2 [Tectonic]
These tracks aren’t even the catchiest Joker tracks this year but I still can’t shift them from my head. He keeps it grimy and techy for Tectonic, Output 1-2 especially. City Hopper makes you want to roll around the city with your windows down, swaggering funk and irresistible melodies that somehow remind me of the circus.

Instra:mental/Skream – No Future (Skreamix)/Minimalistix [Nonplus+]
Minimalistix is THE one here: Skream takes it into tech infused stripped back and subtle roller territory while No Future tears the dance a new hole. It’s like the evil twin of his Zomby Float remix and will have to do until that drops fingers crossed…