Machinedrum – A View of U [Ninja Tune]

Machinedrum’s evolution over the years has been fascinating to follow. Active now for nearly 20 years, Travis Stewart’s musical journey has taken in most shades of what you might consider “bass” music; low-end weight and syncopated beats run throughout, but style, tempo and tone have varied wildly across many releases.

While previous releases have certainly flirted into the realms of 170, notably Vapor City (and some of the excellent remixes around that release from the likes of Om Unit), this is possibly the most “drum & bass” album we’ve heard yet from Machinedrum. Wait 4 U delivers silky rolling D&B soul, while Sleepy Pietro combines yearning piano with skittering drumfunk drum rhythms. We’re also treated to an effortlessly beautiful liquid roller in 1000 Miles with none other than Sub Focus on board in the studio.

Other tracks take in halftime, hip-hop, funk and plenty more for a colourful ride with plenty of ups and downs, and the album has been on heavy rotation here at Dojo HQ as a result; equal parts boom and beauty. A View of U is out now everywhere – check the clips below and hit this link for a vast selection of stores.

The Qemists – No More [Ninja Tune]

The Qemists aren’t a name I’ve paid a huge amount of attention to over the years – the last time their work excited me much was 2007’s Stompbox, and it was the Spor remix I rinsed out the most. Their rock-infused take on D&B, while undeniably stomping has always felt a bit lacking somehow.

New single No More sees them treading fairly familiar ground stylistically and while the original mix is a bit too “cheesy rap-rock” for my ears the VIP has the heft and grit that I always loved about the Spor remix of Stompbox. Unfortunately you can’t hear it yet, so check out the teaser video below and keep your eyes peeled for the clips when they drop later in the month.