Premiere: Sense MC – State Of The Art

Safe to say we’re more than a little excited for this one…we’re proud to present an exclusive from one of the finest MCs in the game, back from almost retirement last year and dropping his debut album for Diffrent Music!

State Of The Art sees Sense’s distinctive rhymes set to a dark and brooding beat courtesy of Coma and the resulting blend of dark D&B and hip-hop swagger is a potent mixture! Watch out for the album The Elephant In The Room dropping from Feb 14th via the Diffrent Store.

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Top 5: Still

Russian producer Still has really impressed us with his latest EP for Diffrent Music; weird and wonderful soundscapes, crazy sound effects and hints of techno play into a truly innovative selection of electronica on the fringes of the D&B sound. We caught up and asked the man for his Top 5 influences; check it out for a walk on the weirder side of the sonic spectrum.

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Premiere: Greazus – Braise

Vancouver’s finest bass experimenters touch down on Dexta’s influential Diffrent Music with a fresh EP and we’ve got the exclusive on deep sub rumbler Braise! Sparse riddims, spooky textures and tons of low end flavour; yes please. Look out for this dropping at all good digital outlets on the Greazus <3 U EP from Sep 28th, with an exclusive CD edition available to pre-order from Bandcamp right now.

Greazus:
Facebook → www.facebook.com/greazus
SoundCloud → @greazus
Twitter → www.twitter.com/greazus

Diffrent Music:
Facebook → www.facebook.com/Diffrentmusic
SoundCloud → @Diffrent
Twitter → www.twitter.com/Diffrentmusic

Dexta – SE4 EP [Diffrent Music]

Diffrent label boss Dexta is back with a six track EP of his unusual riddims and once again those that like their bassweight a bit less formulaic and bit more wonky are in for a treat.

Kicking off with the constantly lurching swing of the positively undanceable Flaming0 before moving into the deeper and steadier riddims of Secondlife and atmospheric Coma collab Dissolute, there’s plenty of variation to be found here.

Amping things up a bit for a more dancefloor worthy flex, title track SE4 (The Ends) hits heavy with an angular selection of heavy kicks and jungle snares set to an absolutely throbbing bassline; this one is sure to provoke some screwfaces in the rave! Last but not least there are a couple of CD only flavours in the form of hyper-active 170 garage flex Cheater and the stalking, grime influenced vibes of Slew Dub. Wicked stuff.

As usual the EP is available at the Diffrent Bandcamp, but move fast if you want a copy on CD, only four copies left at the time of writing!

Mtwn – Embers EP [Diffrent Music]

Belgian duo Mtwn return to Diffrent Music with a fantastic new release featuring top class production and some really interesting ideas. Embers kicks the EP off with a cracking progression from deep, sombre half-step with a cheeky riff that sounds like a 90s hardcore line run through the washing machine a few times, before morphing into a frenzy of break chopping that brought an instant smile to this reviewer’s face!

The Diffrent family get involved on the oddly titled Tales of a Tonka Truck Driver, with Arkaik, Dexta and Mauoq all lending their studio chops to an angular and moody slice of halftime D&B driven along by super tight percussion. Spinal Groove sees Mtwn continuing that theme, contrasting darker bass and drum elements against soft, ethereal pad sounds to great effect. Last up, Four brings a sparse but effective groove that should get more than a few heads nodding along at the speakers.

The release is out right now via the Diffrent Bandcamp so check the clips below and go grab it!

DNB Dojo Mix Series 22: Mauoq

MixSeries22_Mauoq

Our latest exclusive mix comes from Italian producer Mauoq! With releases on Diffrent Music, Terabyte, Absys, Dispatch Ltd, Nurtured Beatz and his own Mauoq Music imprint, Mauoq has been blazing a trail across the deep, dark spectrum of D&B for some time. He’s put together a quality selection for our latest mix including tracks from his brand new Fabricate EP and dubs from Survey, Last Life, Facing Jynx and more. Yes yes!

As usual you can check out the mix via Soundcloud below or head to Mixcloud, Hearthis.at or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.

Mauoq – Your Own [Mauoq]
Survey – Light Source [Flexout dub]
Last Life – Poisoned [Cylon dub]
Natt – Without Purpose [Clear Conception]
Jaydrop – Underlay [31]
CJ Weaver – Scrolls [Translation]
Tns & Dr Roman – Dancehall Ram (Deleted Soul Remix) [Elastica]
Quadrant, Kid Hops, Iris & Reise – Pleiades [Commercial Suicide]
Mauoq – Fabricate [Mauoq]
J Kenzo – Airwalk [31]
Dbr Uk – Hexton (feat. Skeptical) [Dispatch]
Mauoq – Voids [Mauoq]
Facing Jinx – Never Too Late [dub]
Seba – Jungle Music [Secret Operations]
Metro – Scrap Metal Man [dub]
Lurch – Long Road Back [Flexout]
Bokeh x Lowquid – Jelly Tip [Sweetbox dub]
Mtwn – Embers [Diffrent]
Mauoq – Escalate [Mauoq]

Lakeway – Don’t Stop / Coke & Cola [Diffrent Music]

We’re big fans of Lakeway’s footwork-tinged 170 sound here at the Dojo so naturally news of a release for Diffrent’s Giraffestep series got us a little excited! Don’t Stop brings the heat with frantic vocal chop ups, insistent percussion and big bad bass hits, with a sprinkle of jungle FX icing the sonic cake to perfection.

Over on the flip Coke & Cola pulls a fantastic bate and switch with full roll D&B breaks giving way to slouching hip-hop bassweight, with AZ’s Sit ‘Em Back Slow sampled to great effect. Expect some serious bassface in the rave when this gets dropped!

Check out the tracks below and hit up the Diffrent Bandcamp to pre-order the release ahead of the July 13th release. Boom!

Fearful – Premonition Remix Contest

Fearful has been a busy man of late! Between releases for Diffrent, AutomAte and a fantastic mix for DNB Dojo, Chris has also found time to craft a fresh bit of techno in the form of self released track Premonition. The producers in the Dojo readership should be interested to hear that he’s running a remix contest around the track, with first place netting a white 12″ DIFF025 vinyl and runners up treated to early copies of Fearful releases on digital.

You can check out the original track below in all it’s brooding glory; head over to Soundcloud to grab the stems and get your remix in to the Soundcloud group by September 21st 2015 to be in with a chance of winning.

 

Fearful – Mechanism EP [Diffrent Music]

Fearful returns to Diffrent Music with a great new EP exploring dark and experimental rhythms. Since the last outing on Diffrent nearly two years ago Fearful has moved from a duo to a solo project, but remaining member Chris’s output hasn’t lost any of its edge.

All four tracks carry a distinctly brooding vibe, with eerie pads, grimey bass and a general air of tension coming together to create soundscapes steeped in darkness and suspense. The whole EP is strong, but the hard edged percussion and tempo bending finale of The Lurker edge it out as the Dojo favourite (closely followed by haunting Amoss collab Carcosa).

Check out the previews below and hit up the Diffrent Bandcamp for a copy right now.

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Conduct – Vanguard [Diffrent Music]

Diffrent continue to expand their “Giraffestep” sub-imprint with a fresh new EP from Conduct, who follows up recent releases for Blu Mar Ten Music and Lifestyle with a militant selection of half-step badness for Dexta’s esteemed collective.

Vanguard opens the EP with a sludgy, stomping drum rhythm and grimey bass under layers and layers of ominous atmospherics. Residuum meanwhile proves an abstract, almost beatless study in reverb and ambience, echoing almost serenely around the stereo mix. Last but by no means least, Confrontation clatters around with steely drums, robotic FX and plenty of attitude. Danger! Check out the clips below and grab this from the Diffrent Bandcamp right now, with full release following at all good digital stores from Feb 23rd.

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