Xtrah – Shock Treatment / Going Deeper [SGN:Ltd]

SGN:Ltd continue their run of heavier tunes, with a new 12″ from the mighty Xtrah! Following on from Optiv & CZA’s big bad dancefloor business on the last release, Shock Treatment brings the darkness, combining some pretty gnarly low end with tight, varied percussion, skittering hats and snares filling in the tune and giving it tons of movement.

Over on the flip Going Deeper defies the standard B-side convention and goes heavier rather than deeper! Clattering amens and some hefty kick drums give this tune just as much weight as the A-side, though the composition stops short of full-rinse, retaining some subtlety. Look out for this one dropping April 22nd on digital and vinyl.

Critical Music on Tour!

The mighty Critical Music have just announced a slew of dates across the UK and Europe, with big line ups featuring the likes of Kasra, Phace, Xtrah, Emperor, Foreign Concept & Mefjus. The Critical crew will be hitting Milton Keynes, Nottingham, London, Bristol, Brighton, Portsmouth, Brussels & Linz over February and March and will be destroying dancefloors all the way. Check out their events page for all the details.

Xtrah – Discordance [Critical]

Xtrah and Critical continue their excellent 2012 with another top notch release. Soundclash on the A side delivers the goods, but for me it’s all about Discordance; crisp drum rolls and bass stabs combined with one of the sickest D&B vocal hooks I’ve heard in a while. “I know it sounds deep”…not half!

Xtrah – Set The Levels / Regain Control [Modulations]

Xtrah‘s latest release for Critical sub-label Modulations is serious business from a producer who’s been making waves on labels like Subtitles over the past year or so. Set The Levels with Codebreaker on vocal duties is all grime and viciousness, with the sort of bass throbs that you can feel in your chest when you hear the song on a club system. Regain Control on the flip doesn’t disappoint either, delivering moving bass synths and a shifting, skittering beat that brings to mind some of Break‘s best work.

Watch out for the full release on May 7th.