Ivy Lab – Missing Persons EP [Critical Music]

Ivy Lab - Missing Persons EP

Ivy Lab return to Critical Music to build on the success of their initial singles with an EP showcasing their depth and versatility. Predictably the EP kicks off with a deep, soulful roller featuring the vocal talents of Frank Carter III, but this is by far from the best track in the release. It’s a bit of a shame that the trio is so reluctant to put their name on anything without at least one trademark track of this style, but it’s still well enough executed to be forgiveable.

On to more interesting things, Live Your Smile combines the depth and atmospherics the Lab are so good at with a sexier vocal and a more insistent drum pattern; smooth, sure, but with an edge that gives the track character and a hint of the autonomic vibe that dBridge employs so well.

Pepper sees Critical stablemate Emperor joining in for a collab with unusual results – there’s more than a hint of techno to this one, between the hypnotic drums and the faintly acid lead line. Dark and deadly! Finally Sunday Crunk delivers the oddest (and arguably best) track on the EP, kicking in some seriously swung half-time beats and a big bad bass riff that’s sure to get you nodding your head.

For the digital buyers Pepper also gets a tasty glitched up remix from Deft which is well worth a look. Check out the clips below and watch out for the EP dropping on general release from Feb 24th. For the vinyl enthusiasts there’s also a super limited edition vinyl release with handmade artwork dropping from the 17th…check out the Ivy Lab website for more on that.

Underground Sonics LP [Critical]

Critical Music are back with a vengeance with the Underground Sonics LP, a various artists compilation straddling all the styles of Drum & Bass via 18 tracks of cutting edge 170 BPM production from the label’s extended family. The compilation sees many artists exploring new territory away from their usual styles, to interesting effect.

Dub Phizix turns in an unusually mellow and unusually rolling beat in the form of The Clock Ticks, while Ivy Lab up the ante compared to their previous releases with a tougher and more energetic beat paired with the musicality we’ve come to know and love from the trio. Foreign Concept teams up with DRS to turn in the dark, skanking, hip-hop influenced halfstep of Falling Stars while Sam Binga and Redders blend trap, footwork and ragga to great effect on Lef Dem.

Elsewhere we’re treated to two surprising collaborations from tech heavyweights, with InsideInfo and Mefjus turning in a surprisingly minimal slice of tribal tech with Repentance while Noisia & The Upbeats put aside their usual aggression for a hypnotic deep liquid roller on Little Fling. Fans of brutal tech need not worry though – Stealth and Phace are both on hand to provide the dancefloor darkness, as are Emperor & Centra with the huge digital exclusive The Saboteur.

Enei and Kasra turn in a selection of characteristically heavy hitting beats, while Stray and Halogenix look to the experimental/hyperactive end of the spectrum with their individual takes on frantic drum syncopation with a footwork bent. Finally Blocks and Escher give Enei’s Thinline the old school tech workover with a huge beat and some serious menace on the low end.

Overall it’s hard to argue with this as the first essential release of 2014. Check out the tracks below and grab yourself a copy now from the Critical Surus store.

Ivy Lab – Afterthought / Brat [Critical]

Early last year Kasra’s Critical imprint put out a tasty little 12″ from Sabre, Stray and Halogenix featuring the beautiful tune that is Oblique. The material was released to much critical acclaim and was generally lauded as one of the best tunes of the year (amongst some impressive competition too). Since then the trio have been quiet, mainly focusing on their individual solo activities. But just recently they announced the formation of a new alias for their collective work; Ivy Lab. Naturally this announcement also came with news of a new release, which is due out on Critical Music Feb 4th.

Afterthought on the A-side brings back the vocal talents of Frank Carter III to great effect, and is a beautiful (if somewhat predictable) soulful, understated roller. Very much Oblique-the-second. Over on the flip, Ivy Lab prove themselves far from one trick ponies with the dirty, weird, robotic half step sounds of Brat. To round the package off, those that pick up the digital release get a rather tasty House rework of Brat from South London Ordnance, taking the excellent sound pallet of the original and bringing it down to a slower, more methodical beat.

Check out the tunes below and watch out for the full release from your favourite vinyl or digital outlet!