London meets Tokyo as A Sides & Makoto team up for an LP several years in the making and packed with rollers. The work here is definitely more D&B traditionalism than out there experimentations but it’s plenty enjoyable if not the most innovative record you’ll hear this year.
Here at the Dojo we found the album at its strongest on the lighter, more melodic tracks, particularly the vocal collabs with Riya and Robert Manos. Makoto’s expertise at crafting dancefloor liquid rollers shines through wonderfully here, with warm bass, tight breaks and uplifting melodies a-plenty. Darker tracks such as Breathe prove tough and relentless but ultimately less interesting than the wealth of melodic tracks.
The LP holds a couple of surprises in the form of the appropriately titled (and supremely funky) Street Level Funk and the audacious, almost cabaret style leads of Hurt My Soul, and there’s a tasty little remix from DJ Marky on the end for good measure. If you’re looking for dancefloor D&B with plenty of melody you could do a lot worse than Aquarian Dreams; check out the clips below and hit up your favourite store to grab a copy now!
