Alaska – Solace / Earthloop [Arctic Music]

UK producer Paradox has just released his latest 12″ single under his more chilled-out pseudonym, Alaska. While Solace is a sparse, sort of liquid drum and bass track with funky vocals and Paradox’s omnipresent jungle-style drums, Earthloop is a downtempo, almost trip hop-like track with slow, jazzy snares and beautiful, wintry synths. Paradox himself calls Solace “a sequence of sad violin loops set the tone over fast breaks and strings”, which is certainly accurate, but Alaska fans should be sure to check out Earthloop as well for its complexity and incredibly clean production.

Paradox as Alaska has created something really special with this release, conjuring a completely different vibe from his more well-known releases, and his continued dedication to high-quality 12″ presses makes this single as highly prized as anything else he’s put out under his main moniker.

The Solace/Earthloop single is already sold out in vinyl form on the Alaska Bandcamp page, but it appears to still be available on the Samurai/Arctic Music Group website. Check out the clips below and go grab a copy while you still can!

[bandcamp width=100% height=208 album=3440888304 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=small]

Written by Layla Marino
Blog: (Dropping) Weird Science
Twitter/IG: @dropweirdsci

February Roundup Part Two

Once again we’ve been inundated with quality music in the Dojo inbox and despite the bonus extra day February has vanished before we could write it all up! Here’s some coverage of the best of the rest including new music from Alix Perez & Ivy Lab, Calibre, Hanover, SCAR, Bone and more…

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Alaska – Jasheri / Zoranine [Arctic Music]

Paradox kicks off the year with a slice of beautiful, atmospheric drumfunk under his Alaska moniker. Jasheri is truly lush, soaring strings and understated sub-bass punctuated by crisp, elegant drum breaks which while heavily syncopated convey no sense of impatience whatsoever. Despite the tempo, this is music to lose yourself in, not music to lose it to.

Zoranine heads for even deeper territory, swapping the uplifting synths of the A side for equally lush but slightly more melancholy tones. Flute, oboe, xylophone and subtle touches of guitar all play into a true musical masterpiece, laid out to a downtempo back beat.

As usual with Paradox’s releases you can pick this up on beautiful limited edition snow-white vinyl, available to pre-order now from Surus. Watch out for the release dropping from January 10th.

In The Mix…Paradox [Samurai Music]

To celebrate their 20th release from the mighty Paradox, Samurai Music have convinced the man himself to present their official podcast, and he comes correct with a quality selection of drumfunk including both sides of the aforementioned 12″, Crate Logic / Scorpius. With funk drum programming so under-represented on the scene these days, it’s good to see Paradox is still flying the flag and resisting the temptations of other more fashionable sub styles. Check out the mix below and look out for the limited edition marbled 12″ from 25th Feb on the Samurai Surus page.