Imanu – Cheren [Vision]

IMANU’s music has gone from strength to strength since moving away from his previous Signal moniker, and his latest work for Noisia’s Vision imprint sees him branching out into more experimental pastures.

Nagow and Cheren deliver the heavyweight neuro workouts that have become his trademark, with the former bringing a more colourful vibe via some deft melodic touches; Cheren by comparison pursues a more industrial aesthetic for pure sonic punishment.

The back half of the EP takes in some tempo drops; Whatever It Takes explores vaguely dubstep-adjacent territory with crunchy beats and grimy bass that’s sure to get your head nodding. After all that stiff competition it’s a pleasant surprise then that closing track Music To Stay In Your House To is potentially the strongest on the EP. Beautiful sound designs, wonky vocal textures and crazy drum rhythms combine on a genre-defying track that blends everything from hip-hop to IDM into a joyously chaotic melting pot.

IMANU’s new title (and doubtless a lot of encouragement from Noisia) seem to be inspiring some of his best work yet this year, and we can’t wait to hear what he comes up with next. In the meantime, you can check out the Cheren EP below – hit up your favourite store to grab it right now.

Nymfo – Forbidden Planet EP [Dispatch Recordings]

For those unfamiliar with his work, Nymfo cut his teeth on pretty much every important label under the sun: 31 Records, Innerground, Commercial Suicide, Renegade Hardware and Metalheadz to name only a few – no one can argue with that pedigree. With a long back catalogue of bangers spanning over of decade, the initiated shouldn’t need an introduction, but his latest EP on Dispatch is worthy of one.

Nymfo’s sound largely lurks at deeper end of the spectrum, yet there’s still plenty of variety on offer with this EP. There are stepping tunes like title track Forbidden Planet and Everything Will Be; tracks that roll – albeit unconventionally – like Breach; down right weird ones like Cold Mission; and some signature Nymfo qualities in tracks like Pathfinder with longstanding Dispatch general Hijack MC.

Throughout there is a definite nod to the techstep era of the late 90s and early 00s. The EP feels raw in a way that minimal, techy numbers of the last 5-10 years have often lacked. Perhaps this record will be one of several marker points in the months and years from now that show the pendulum swinging away from technology-focused beatmaking, and back towards focusing on the overall vibe. That focus on vibe helped carve out the techstep style in the earlier eras of drum and bass, and it’s EPs like this that help cement the style’s status amongst the D&B pantheon of sounds.

The Forbidden Planet EP is out now at the Dispatch Store – all other stores follow Oct 16th.

Written by James Austin

DNB Dojo Podcast #47 – Sep 2020

Another month, another podcast! Hex brings you the usual dose of D&B flavours including new music from Bold Theory, HLZ, Sinistarr, Drumcatcher, Spor, Break and many more, plus a host of unreleased dubs…check it!

As always you can check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.

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Spor – Anachronic [Sotto Voce]

New music from Spor is a fairly rare treat these days, with the main focus of Jon Gooch’s time being his lower-tempo Feed Me alias, but what he lacks in quantity he certainly makes up for in quality. Anachronic lands four years after the Black Eyed EP and five years on from the Caligo LP, but if you’re looking for detailed, cerebral neuro that still packs enough punch for the dancefloor this will certainly scratch that itch.

In Rixa opens the EP with a Ghost In The Shell-esque intro before crashing into a helter-skelter of heavy hitting percussion and roaring basslines, maintaining that chaos until the final minute when the track drops into a more conventional rolling breakbeat. Beam Cannon picks up that energy, keeping things simmering along nicely with call and response patterns jumping between funk bass hits, synth growls and melodic flourishes.

Title track Anachronic brings a rock aesthetic to the table; snatches of distorted guitar intermingle with weighty drums and some characteristically twisted bassline modulations for possibly our favourite track from the EP. Things then take a left-turn for Your Mind is Water, which channels old Photek records into a deep and ominous journey through sub pressure and intricate drum programming.

Turning that energy back up to eleven for the finishing salvo, Cohesion provides the most obviously dancefloor-focused track, with a hooky bassline riff and pounding drum line. Finally Count My Blessings heads off into full pop & bass anthem territory with a vocal led number reminiscent of some of Pendulum’s later output. This one will probably prove divisive; certainly in danger of stepping over the line into outright cheese, it is nonetheless a very well-constructed tune.

Whatever your thoughts on Jon’s rock-star aspirations on the closing track, this is another varied and interesting release from one of the finest producers in the scene. Who knows when we’ll get more, but fingers crossed it won’t be another four years. Check out the tracks below, and hit this link to grab the EP on vinyl or digital from your favourite outlet. We’d also thoroughly recommend checking out Spor’s mix for UKF Hyper Vision, which features a number of tracks from the EP alongside some lives modular jams and as-yet unreleased material.

DNB Dojo Podcast #46 – Aug 2020

Hex returns with over 90 minutes of new music on the August edition of the Dojo podcast! Beats inside this time around from Duoscience, Survey, Wreckless, Joshua, Tuscan, Quentin Hiatus and many more…

As always you can check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.

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DNB Dojo Podcast #45 – Jul 2020

Hex returns with a bumper episode of the DNB Dojo podcast featuring nearly two hours of new music! Beats inside this month from Friske, Kelle, Hiraeth, Resomnia, Mark Dinimal, The Outsiders, Philip D Kick and many, many more.

As always you can check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.

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DNB Dojo Podcast #44 – Jun 2020

Hex returns to the Dojo decks with 75 minutes of brand new music, including tracks from Imanu, Fixate, DLR & Script, Mage, Lynch Kingsley and many more. There are also dubs inside from The Faraday and Layton, plus two of Hex’s own new releases.

As always you can check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.

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Premiere: Droptek – Bloodline (Madster Remix)

Madster lands in our premiere spotlight today with a cracking new remix for Droptek! Twisting up the funk laden halftime of the original into a tight stepper, this one is all staccato rhythms and playful drums including some fantastic 4/4 switchups. Deadly. Look out for this coming alongside a grip of other remixes from Droptek’s Symbiosis LP via Korsakov Music from July 3rd.

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Premiere: Livid Cheese – Pretty Simple Music

Detached Audio celebrate five years in the game with the first of a series of EP releases this month, and we’ve grabbed the exclusive on Livid Cheese’s contribution Pretty Simple Music. Featuring some fantastic sound design, the track combines jazz influences and slap-bass instrumentation with warping neuro basslines and hefty drums; putting the funk back into neurofunk! Hit up Bandcamp to pre-order the EP now ahead of the release on Friday 29th.

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DNB Dojo Podcast #43 – May 2020

Hex returns with 90 minutes of fresh D&B as summer begins to peak its head around the corner. New beats inside from Kings of the Rollers, Henry, Mahakala, Kutlo, gyrofield, Konstructor and Ricky Force, plus many more – crossing all the styles of D&B as always.

As always you can check out the podcast via Soundcloud below or head to Youtube or iTunes to stream. You can also grab a download from Google Drive.

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