10 Years of Shogun Audio

Friction’s Shogun Audio are celebrating 10 years in style with a massive bundle of new tunes. The 10 Years compilation features brand new beats alongside remixes of some Shogun classics, and comes in a beautiful six piece vinyl box set.

Dancefloor tech is well represented among the new tracks with beats from Icicle & Prolix, Friction, Joe Ford and Fourward all bringing the hard and nasty vibes. There’s also rolling liquid from LSB and Technimatic, a new genre bender from Rockwell and something a little unusual from Spectrasoul in the form of Ben. On the remix front, Spor’s anthemic Aztec gets a pretty hyperactive rework from Calyx & Teebee, Aliz Perez and Spectrasoul get the liquid refix treatment from Calibre and Etherwood respectively, and Fourward turn in a chunky new mix of Dark Days. Last but by no means least, Total Science & S.P.Y bring us a new VIP of another back catalogue fave – 2010’s Gangsta.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, the set also includes a poster, stickers, 3 CDs and a DVD; the CDs provide the new tracks in digital form, a selection of classics from the Shogun back catalogue and a fresh mix from Friction, while the DVD features a 10 Years documentary. There are only 500 copies of the full bundle available so head over to the Shogun Audio store pronto if you want to bag one, or save your wallet and grab the CD or digital package.

Prolix – Transcendent EP [Trendkill Records]

Fans of Prolix will know what to expect from his latest output – the Transcendent EP sees him teaming up with some of the biggest names in the neurofunk scene for an all out assault on your senses, and the results are pure dancefloor destruction. Highlights include the supreme midrange aggression of the titular Transcendent (with Neosignal’s Misanthrop), the hard snares and off kilter riddims of Vital Condition (with MC Coppa on vocals) and the big gnarly stomper that is Next Level (featuring Offkey alumni Meth).

Check out the clips below and grab this one from Beatport now.

Noisia – Purpose EP [Vision]

It’s difficult to imagine that anyone can have missed this given the massive pre-release hype via UKF, Noisia’s Facebook feed and many other channels, but in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks and haven’t heard the news, Noisia are back with a brand new EP of hefty neurofunk.

Featuring 8 tracks including new collaborations with Phace, Prolix and Evol Intent, the tunes all display the classic Noisia hallmarks of incredible sound design, monstrous bass and general production sheen. Some of the more dancefloor-oriented tracks like Asteroids and Stamp Out veer close to jump up territory, prioritising bass heft over notions of subtlety, but thankfully this isn’t the case everywhere. Evol Intent collab Long Gone proves surprisingly restrained, with atmospheric pads providing just as much of the tune’s character as the heavy snares and bass swells.

Other highlights come on the eerie techstep groove of Leopard Slug, the predictably robotic but nonetheless immensely satisfying workout of Purpose with Phace and the hefty reese and rolling breaks of Running Blind, which brings back warm memories of the classic 2005 era neuro sound which made Noisia stars of the scene. Overall if you like it hard and heavy you can’t go wrong with the Dutch legends! The release is out now on Beatport and you can pre-order a rather deluxe 4xLP package direct from Noisia’s own store – watch out for this shipping later in the month.

Gridlok & Prolix – Slingshot Remix [Project Trendkill]

Slighshot was undoubtedly one of the highlights of Gridlok & Prolix’s 2013 Project Trendkill LP so the news that it’s getting a cheeky remix will surely be welcomed by connoisseurs of rowdy time D&B bangers everywhere. The new mix doesn’t disappoint either, taking the memorable riff work of the original and amping it up with a new set of filtering and some energetic drum edits. Check it out below and grab it from your favourite digital outlet now.

Headroom EP Part 5 [Viper Recordings]

Viper Recordings serve up the latest installment of their Headroom EP series with fresh new tracks from tech and neuro producers across the scene. Sadly Prolix’s Ringtone Raver proves a bit one dimensional (especially compared to the superb tracks on the recent Project Trendkill album) but elsewhere we’re treated to solid dancefloor business from Trei, NC-17 & Soulculture and Insomniax.

The highlight of the EP by a big stretch though comes on KG’s Woodblock Riddim, combining a tribal percussion line (with, you guessed it, woodblocks) with some tasty mid bass growls and some excellent atmospheres. Check out all the tunes below and grab the release from your favourite digital store now!

Prolix & Gridlok – Project Trendkill LP

Longtime collaborators Gridlok and Prolix have teamed up once again for a hefty 8-track album entitled Project Trendkill (from the owners of Project 51 Records and Trendkill Recordings…yeah imaginative guys, hah). Names aside, the album packs punch and detail in equal measure with a mixture of tearout neurofunk rollers like Slingshot and other less obvious productions like the melody driven jungle breaks of Snowed In and the off-kilter rhythms of Lounge Act.

The duo have taken the current economic climate in their stride and taken to Kickstarter to fund pressing the album to vinyl. They’ve already passed their initial goals to press the album to both vinyl and CD but being generous folks they’ve just announced stretch goals to release free sample packs from the album if more money is raised! Check out the beats below and head on over to the kickstarter to support the cause (and preorder the album on your format of choice).

In The Mix…Esion

Automate head honcho Esion gets on the 1s and 2s to deliver a stomping 75 minute mix of wall to wall neurofunk bangers. The tracklist speaks for itself really with beasting tracks from the likes of Prolix, Black Sun Empire, Break, The Upbeats, Noisia, Spor and Ed Rush to name just a few. Check it out below and grab yourself a free download in 320!

In The Mix…DJ Dara

New York’s DJ Dara gets behind the decks to deliver a concept mix packed full of tunes both old and new, with one underlying theme – memorability. Featuring classic cuts such as Digital’s Deadline alongside modern anthems like S.P.Y’s remix of In The Waiting Line, Dara blends liquid, tech and dancefloor styles to great effect. Check it out and grab a free download below.

From The Shadows (Remixes) [Black Sun Empire]

The upcoming remixes of Black Sun Empire‘s From The Shadows material are beginning to trickle out, and so far they are sounding more than healthy!

Lifted Music’s latest wunderkind Memtrix serves up some seriously energetic neurofunk with his remix of All Is Lost. If there was any doubt as to who the pretender to Spor’s abdicated thrown as the king of this sub-style was, this guy is busy dispelling it.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1p49-ruXGo]

Not to be outdone by the young upstarts, gritty tech pusher Prolix has come correct with a stereotypically filthy refix of the Foreign Beggars imbued Dawn of a Dark Day. Leading with a huge bass throb before the breakbeat smashdown of the drop kicks in, this one is serious business.

Watch out for these dropping sometime in March!

Break Presents…The Other Side [Symmetry]

Symmetry Recordings, the label owned by drum & bass legend Break, have been gearing up for a while now to release The Other Side, the label’s third album and the first to feature tracks from artists other than Break. Ahead of the release we caught up with Break for a quick Q&A about the album.

DNB Dojo: Since this is a collaboration album, who would you do a collab with if you could pick any musician alive or dead, and why?

Break: Its very hard, the list could be very long…would love to work with Marlena Shaw or Sade, they’re two of my favourite singers.

Ooh or Seal if it was a guy!

DD: Was there a deliberate decision to shift the output of Symmetry away from your own productions and onto releasing more tunes from other producers, or did it just evolve that way organically?

Break: A bit of both…I have been releasing tracks from other artists for a little while, but so many great tracks were getting sent, it seemed right to do an album. Could probably do another one soon, there’s so many good producers Im feeling at the mo.

DD: What’s your favourite track out of everything you’ve ever written? For me it’s probably between Is This What You Want and Too Much, though I also have a lot of time for Our World (from the Breakout EP you did for Eastside back in 2003)

Break: Bit like the first question pretty hard to say. Pleased you remember Our World,  that was one of my favourites at the time, sounds a bit gnarly now, but the vibe is rolling. I really like Let it Happen, Last Chance Remix, Love So True, and Evil Twin. Lightspeed also gives me goosebumps everytime…there’s not many DnB tunes that do that for me…Think I’m more into the musical ones with heavy bass, my favourite combo.

DD: What’s next for the label after this album? Any exciting future plans you’d care to tell us about?

Break: We will be releasing some exciting remixes from the album, and there are several tracks that I’m trying to get my hands on, so a few more singles to come soon as well.

Ive been working on a non Dnb album with the singer Kyo, the band is called “Degrees of Freedom”, watch out for the first single coming soon. I’ts basically everything we’re into that isn’t DnB.

DD: The album features a nice variety of styles from more liquidy stuff to the really hard hitters like Kicked To Death. Which styles of drum & bass do you find it more fun to write, and to DJ?

Break: It kinda is 6 of one half a dozen of the other…Kicked To Death totally smashes it in every rave I’ve played, but it was designed to do that, after working on that in the studio for a while, can give you a bit of a headache… it’s so loud and lairy…whereas working on Who We Are, which is one of the more liquidy tracks on the album, I find more enjoyable and satisfying… basically I’m more into piano than synths!

DD: Any tips for budding drum & bass producers? What can make a track great rather than just good?

Break: I think there is an element of hit and miss. Not every tune can be amazing….you can’t expect to be able to do that…..whenever I try and make my best ever tune it’ss totally rubbish and contrived! When you nail a vibe that you’re really into, that usually will come through in the music. Often less is more….I find that all you need is 4 or 5 tracks in your arrangement to have a killer….any more is usually just filler.


Check out previews of the album below and grab yourself a copy from your favourite shop on digital and vinyl, out now!