Tag Archives: Soca

Indifferent – Cardboard Refuge EP [Free Love Digi]

Posted on by
Reply

After the storming success of the Versus LP Free Love Digi are back with a fresh new EP from new label signing Indifferent and it’s a four track treat of eclectic influences and unusual rhythms. Reggae, hip-hop and soca are all thrown into the melting pot with a healthy dollop of D&B and the results are playful and full of character.

Starting with funky jungle on Boom Shackle and the irresistible, wobbly, skanking vibe of Cardboard Refuge before moving to the eccentric breakbeats of Stokah and out into the techier, more rolling territory or Watch Da Bizness, Indifferent keeps things interesting throughout. Unashamedly dancefloor oriented but at the same time experimental, we’re challenging you not to rock out to these tracks! Check out the clips below and hit up your favourite digital outlet to grab the EP now.

Fixate – Pum Pum / System Malfunction [Diffrent Music]

Posted on by
Reply

Diffrent continue their excellent trend for pushing the boundaries of 170BPM music with a weird and wonderful new single from Fixate. Pum Pum melts down soca, ragga and dub influences into an infectious head nodder driven along by it’s hypnotic and hyperactive vocal cut. Pum-puppa-pum-pum-puppa-pum!

System Malfunction on the flip explores similar drum patterns and repetitive elements, with a melodic rather than vocal sample taking centre stage to provide the soundtrack to a crazy rave in someone’s mainframe. Pure D&B heads will doubtless hate it, but that’s just how the Giraffe-steppers roll. Check out the clips below and grab yourself a copy from the Diffrent store now!

Mistabishi – Safari [Noh Music]

Posted on by
3

I’ve never been hugely enamoured with Mistabishi‘s drum & bass output; most of it fell a bit too close to the jump-up bandwagon for my taste, so when his first release of 2013 arrived in the inbox I was fully expecting to bin it and swiftly move onto other things. How wrong I was!

It seems the Hackney-based producer has moved off and onto more interesting things, and his latest output merges soca, dancehall, UK funky and good old fashioned drum & bass to excellent effect. The rhythms bring to mind the recent explorations of Dawn Day Night, though the tone of the compositions is much different (and distinctly less juke/ghetto-tech influenced).

The tracks ultimately sound like a fusion of dirty half-step drum & bass and UK funky or soca, drawing the basslines from the former and the drum lines from the latter. Ultimately the music is full of the darkness and energy that made jungle and early drum & bass so dynamic and exciting, mixed with a diverse array of other influences. The style is doubtless to prove almost as “marmite” as the explosion of footwork…so check it out for yourself. Previews and pre-order up at Surus or iTunes.