Gydra – Snake Monastery [Eatbrain]

Russian neurofunk badboys Gydra come of age this month with their debut LP for Eatbrain. With releases for basically every major neuro imprint in the scene since their arrival in 2015, they’ve already established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in high-octane, futuristic D&B primed for the dancefloor. So what fresh delights does Snake Monastery have in store?

The answer, in short, is a big old pile of aggy, bassline focused neuro weaponry. What elevates the selection here among the horde of neurofunk hitting the digital stores every day is the relentless focus on detail and groove – every snare slap, bassline growl and FX sweep has been primed and poised for perfect impact.

The Gydra boys have more than a knack for a catchy riff to boot; tracks like Lava Run and Stoning give the likes of The Upbeats and Cause4Concern a serious run for their money. Special shout out too to for the deliciously funky breakbeat vibes on Poison Track; taking things back to the rave roots with a neuro twist!

Anyone expecting subtlety or reservation definitely won’t find it here but if you need something to stomp around your kitchen to in these dark times then Gydra are delivering the goods in spades. Hit up your favourite digital store to grab the album right now, or check out the Neuropunk store for a rather fetching wooden-boxed USB edition.

NickBee – The Gears EP [Eatbrain]

Ukrainian producer NickBee has had a busy year, with releases for Invisible, Ignescent, Mindtech, Concussion and many more, and now he brings his latest work to Jade’s Eatbrain imprint on The Gears EP.

For the EP we’re treated to two instrumental cuts and two more featuring vocalist Joanna Syze. While The Gears and Together With Future are perfectly accomplished hard-edged dancefloor rollers, the two tracks with Syze undoubtedly steal the limelight.

Nowhere To Run builds tension with sparse drums and Syze’s distinctive vox before moving into a rollout featuring unusual melodic touches and more of those haunting vocals; definitely a bit different than your average neuro roller, but more than capable of moving feet in the dance nonetheless. Second vocal cut We Fight closes the EP in style, with a euphoric build-up and more of those lush vocals giving way to a trademark stripped back NickBee banger.

It’s great to see artists pushing the more musical side of D&B while keeping their eyes firmly on the club, and NickBee has always trodden that line well; here’s hoping for more Syze collabs! Check out the clips below and hit up your favourite digital store to grab a copy now.

July Roundup

Real life has been getting in the way of the important matter of blogging about D&B lately here at Dojo HQ, leaving us with a glut of worthy releases in need of coverage. Without further ado then, here are some of the finest new beats from the last few weeks courtesy of Redders, Straying Reality, Gancher & Ruin and more…

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Q&A – Jef Methlab

With a fresh compilation EP dropping on Bad Taste today and a host of new ventures recently announced, Methlab continue to make powerful moves in the neurofunk world. To find out more we grabbed the agency boss Jef and Kloe from Bad Taste Recordings for a chat about why he started Methlab, collaborating with Bad Taste and his thoughts on the neuro scene today. Check it out…

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April Roundup Part Two

Another month has slipped by and another quality selection has crossed the Dojo inbox, so it’s time for the best of the rest, or as Deficit put it last time “Its like Top Of The Pops but better”. Read on for the latest from Inception Audio, Eatbrain, Syncopix, HLZ and more…

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Dojo Damager: Agressor Bunx – Dangerous Materials

With the slow festive period now over and the release cycle back in full flow it’s time for our first Dojo Damager of 2016! The ever reliable neurofunk powerhouse that is Eatbrain are back with new beats from Ukrainian upstart Agressor Bunx and his Dangerous Materials is Damager material through and through.

Massive beats, crunchy bass textures and a stab lead that gives Audio a run for his money; hefty business. Check out the track below and grab it as part of The Order EP, out now at Beatport with vinyl due to follow in February. Urggggh!

Dojo Damager: Billain & Kodin – Feed For Speed

As regular readers will be aware we’re big fans of the hard hitting end of the D&B spectrum here at the Dojo so to celebrate all things dark and nasty we’re starting up a new weekly feature where we put the spotlight on the best of the hard-edged tracks to land in the inbox. For our first in this series we couldn’t think of anyone more fitting than Billain, who conveniently enough has a new EP out on Eatbrain packed full of seriously heavyweight neurofunk.

Feed For Speed sees the Bosnian badman team up with Croatian producer Kodin to produce a neurofunk ode to combustion engines that is absolutely relentless; from the acid-tinged intro/breakdown riffs to those trademark hyper compressed drums and into the scuzzy filtered bass, this one is precision engineered to hit like a punch to the gut from an 18 wheeler!

The production geeks amongst you may find it interesting that the basslines in this track were all made from heavily filtered and processed car engine recordings! The dedication and engineering involved in the creation of this style of music is staggering at the best of times but Billain truly takes things to the next level. Check out the track below and hit up Beatport to grab the whole EP right now.

Signs – Naked Lunch EP [Eatbrain]

If you’re familiar with Signs or Eatbrain you should know exactly what to expect here; grotty neurofunk riddims a plenty! Interzone and Percuss provide the stompers while Black Meat and Vermin go a little deeper, exploring less rolling drum patterns and atmospheres.

Eatbrain boss Jade gets in on the action too with a massive remix of Vermin, flipping the track on it’s head for a peak-time dancefloor workout. Check out the clips below and grab the EP from Beatport right now, with full release to follow from May 18th.

L 33 – Scream EP [Eatbrain]

Following on from big releases last year for Addictive Behaviour and ProgRAM, Bulgarian producer L 33 drops his latest work for Jade’s Eatbrain imprint. As we’ve come to expect from Eatbrain the release is packed full of energetic dancefloor-focused beats, though it stops short of the tearout mayhem we’ve seen from the likes of Kung in the past.

The tracks on show have much of the precision and rapidity that makes Phace’s work so compelling, though that’s not to say the tunes feel copycatish; a solid homage perhaps. All four tracks should do the damage on the dancefloor with the punchy drums and filtered mids of Digital Sound proving the Dojo favourite. Check out the clips below and look for this dropping at Beatport from March 23rd, with general release to follow from April 6th.

Kung – Devil’s Finger EP [Eatbrain]

Jade’s Eatbrain continue their quest to bring us the biggest, baddest neurofunk in the game with four huge new tracks from Spanish producer Kung. Fans of the label’s output know what to expect here – precision engineered neuro tearers locked, loaded and primed for the dancefloor. Check out the clips below and watch out for the EP dropping on vinyl from November 3rd, with Beatport release following on November 10th and full worldwide digital release from November 24th.