Om Unit delivers us a late festive treat in the form of his remix of Jay 5ive & Kromestar’s Wishful Thinking. Much sought after since being featured on Om Unit’s XLR8R podcast back in 2011, the track features a deep half-step groove and massive, spacey synth leads, and is very reminiscent of the tracks on the Aeolian EP. Check out the beat below and head to Om Unit’s Bandcamp for a free download.
When forces as legendary as these collide, you know you’re in for a treat! Dom & Roland touches down on the mighty Metalheadz with a massive 12″ that has been tearing up the dance for months now. Unofficial Jah kicks the release off with some monstrous bass sweeps before dropping into a stomping, sub infused half-step beat that’s reminiscent of Amit’s work on recent singles like Human Warfare. Just when you’re getting comfortable Dom kicks things up into double time with a full rinse oldschool techstep beat…oooft.
Over on the B-side we’re treated to Outta Endz, a track that has seen heads bawling for the rewind time and again. Infectious and instantly memorable, the cut up vocal hook of “Straight Outta London” couldn’t resonate more with the Metalheadz crew. Watch out for this dropping on vinyl and digital from November 18th.
Manchester label NB Audio are gearing up for their third release with two brand new MC-led VIPs from Snap Shot. Dooms VIP combines a dubby half-time skank with the unmistakable vocal talents of Chimpo, while Dark Shadow VIP sees Tonn Piper taking up the mic on a rolling slice of dark jungle, all brooding bass and hard snares. Check out the video below for a taste of the beats and watch out for the release on Juno from Monday and elsewhere the week after.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ubDKv2X94]
To celebrate the release we’ve teamed up with the label to give away two NBA ‘Skull’ t-shirts and two CDs of the label’s output so far, and the label will ship to winners anywhere in the world! To be in with a chance of winning a CD and a tee, all you have to do is like DNB Dojo on Facebook, like NB Audio on Facebook and drop an email to dnbdojo@gmail.com with the subject line “NB Audio Competition” and your name. Winners will be drawn at random on Friday 15th November.
SGN:Ltd’s run of top quality darker beats continues with a double-A side from Austrian production quartet Fourward. Black Tooth Grin delivers the kind of warped, gnarly neurofunk we’ve come to know and love from Fourward, who have arguably some of the best bass action in the game right now.
Over on the flip Guilty Pleasures strips things back, delivering a menacing slice of splintered half-step. Think Fracture versus Noisia and you’re somewhere close.
Watch out for the release dropping October 6th. As if that wasn’t enough, the boys have compiled a tasty promo mix for the fifth installment of the SGN Mix Sessions series; packed full of tunes from Noisia, Phace, The Upbeats, and of course plenty of their own productions, this is straight up neurofunk badness. Check it out below and grab a free download!
Deep liquid maestro Dominic Petrie returns with the first in a new mix series entitled Modus, exploring the deeper more experimental side of D&B. The mix features a tidy selection from the likes of dBridge, ASC, Instra:mental, Data, Morphy and Photek and is all drawn from Dom’s extensive vinyl collection. One for the heads!
It feels almost redundant to be reviewing this but just in case anyone has somehow slept on what is definitely one of the best compilations of 2013, then feast your ears on Mosaic Vol. 2. Bringing together some seriously deep and innovative cuts from thirty different producers and spanning four plates of vinyl for the wax enthusiasts, Exit have truly outdone themselves.
Among the standout tracks (and this is a tough choice given the quality on show from all concerned) are the glitchy madness of Rockwell’s *)*[808], the lush halfstep liquid of Synkro’s The Way and the classic Fist Level 2B from Insta:mental (only been waiting three years for this one guys…)
Elsewhere Kryptic Minds deliver a fantastic slice of moody halfstep with Burnt To Ashes (a rare return to the 170 tempo since their exit to Dubstep realms several years back), Om Unit and Sam Binga collab on some deeply hip-hop/footwork influenced business, and Fracture & Dawn Day Night bring us the sounds of the ghetto on Sick Wid It. Check out clips of every track below and watch out for this one dropping on digital July 29th with vinyl following on August 5th.
Following hot on the heels of his excellent release for Blu Mar Ten Music, Thing has put together an hour long mix featuring some great cuts from the deep, dark end of the D&B spectrum. Including tracks from his own catalogue alongside selections from Stray, Clarity, Mtwn, Skeptical and Ruffhouse, it doesn’t get much grittier than this. Brooding halfstep lovers should definitely give this a listen.
To celebrate his forthcoming 12″ with War and Mateba for Horizons sub-label Inside, Hydro has put together a tidy wee mix for the horizons podcast series. Full of deep, dark, tribal beats, atmospheric sound design and tasty new dubplates, this is definitely one for the heads. Check out the mix below and watch out for the Black Light 12″ dropping soon (or grab yourself a white label test press here).
Om Unit continues his travels into all things not quite D&B with another pair of excellent 170BPM explorations for Cosmic Bridge entitled Om Unit Edits Vol. 2. Weird and wonderful synths and frantic half step syncopation are the order of the day here, blended into a musical tapestry like only this man can. Check it out and grab yourself a copy from the Cosmic Bridge Bandcamp page.
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While drum & bass is well known for it’s dark side, it’s still unusual to hear of tracks inspired by real-life tragedy. Gridlok‘s latest release for his own Project 51 imprint came about via a rooftop suicide heard from his studio; doesn’t get much darker than that.
Gridlok’s original delivers a melancholy roller which is well worthy of your attention, but the remixes are even better, with the best coming from Sinistarr who delivers a chopped up jungle-esque edit, SPKTRM who brings out the industrial half-step darkness and Mesck who drops the tempo for a warped, gritty dubstep refix. You can even pick up the SPKTRM remix as a free download.
Check out the previews below and grab the release from your favourite digital outlet.