Garage | 2Step | UK Funky | Bassline Vinyl 404 Items

2XM are back on our shores with another sun kissed and emotive EP.
Four new tracks covering 2-step garage, deep percussive house and synth laden electronic grooves with a powerful vocal performance from rising star Neil Macleod.
These two are really developing their own signature sound and we’re all in.

3v1l Gl0b4l1sm is a sound journey to consciousness, which invites us to dedicate ourselves to a sensitive reflection on the progress and dehumanization of this capitalized society.

Four cuts full of rage and freshness, capable of immersing us in the perfection of the chaos through industrial breaks and delicate melodies guided by the brutality of their synthesized sounds.

7053m4r14 is the architect of this project published by the Black Quasar Records label, with which also shares his previous work. The multidisciplinary artist who converges between numerous genres and akas, such as C-System or Spectrums Data Forces, opts for this album for a fusion of styles ranging from IDM, Break Beat and Electro.

The pristine mastering by Koschitzky is what finishes signing this piece.

Weighing in with more of the deadly payloads that make systems weep, Alan Johnson return to Sneaker Social Club to finish what they started on 2022’s The Stillness EP. Gareth and Tom’s sharp instinct for the fundamentals of crushing half-step pressure remain undiminished on this latest EP. Their sound palette reaches across contrasting strands of music culture, and every bar is teeming with micro details of sound design which give the tracks a living, breathing quality.

Ten Year Tonnage splits the EP open in whipcrack snares, DMZ flutes and a thick bed of sub, constantly shifting and teasing roots drops before opening up the mids and letting the low end snarl.

The chord hook on ‘Shapeshifter’ nudges towards some bold rave shapes, but there’s restraint and poise in the way the sounds get deployed. The Johnson way is one of suffocating space and uneasy tension, which obviously creates the best kind of dancefloor drama. As ‘Muay Size’ ably demonstrates, the likely lads are happy to pare a tune back to a skeletal framework and keep dancers waiting. When the pay-off comes, it’s not what you might expect, and that’s precisely why their sound is fresher than yours.

‘People Of The World’ goes even further out as it staggers and stumbles through skewed jazz samples and snatches of drums being thrown across the room. For all the splaying angles, there’s still a rock solid weight to the tune which proves Alan Johnson are more than comfortable taking things out to a weird fringe without losing their swagger.

Weighty Ways strongly believe that every now and then the Universe aligns a series of elements that leads to the uprising of a unique talent. Enter the Room 'Alfredo Romero', alias of Alfie Aukett, Music Extraordinaire hailing from West London. Alfredo Romero is the byproduct of where a philosophical understanding of the sonic landscape meets all its capabilities. With little regard for the restraints of traditional music theory and drawing influences from improvisational genres such as Jazz (which Alfie studied to a molecular level at Leeds University) makes for a superior musical tapestry woven by a man far beyond his years. Alfie's quest for musical enlightenment started at a very young age as a Chorister and experimented with a plethora of musical instruments. This profound musical understanding is evident in "Retrain Station", a four track EP born from the ashes of a desolate 2020. A collection of seamlessly flowing production with tones drawn from the musical nuances of Jazz, Blues and Classical through to the ever evolving face of the electronic music scene from both sides of the pond. Strong on all flavours from Jungle to Jazz. A magnificent EP from a truly special individual.

Never Sleep welcome Scottish duo 'Alia' into the fold with the Circa 90 EP. Liam Robertson (Clouds) and Andy Graham (Sei A) join forces for devastating effect and blowing the doors wide open on that beautiful middle ground between club and ambient. A mesmerising body of work that spans electronic genres effortlessly and compounds a cinematic quality to every avenue of sound design. 'SunLight' leads the effervescent charge with driving percussion and explosive dynamics whilst 'Circa90' breaks the deconstructed barrier with tones of rave, full bodied bass and pulsive symbiotic breakdowns. A hybrid sound from a contemporary duo that are continuously hitting the right notes. Neil Landstrumm and Stina Nordenstam field record outdoor Fairlight CMI in the Allean Forest.

Seminal UK-Rave act Altern 8 drop first single in 27 years. Entitled ‘Hard Crew’, the release has been a fixture of Altern 8’s live sets for the past five years and is the first release since 1993’s ‘Everybody’ on the legendary Network Records imprint. Accompanied by remixes from Denham Audio, Samurai Breaks feat DJM and Mechanizm & Kin, the unabashed UK hardcore track is being released to help fund the WeAreViable campaign which seeks to pressure the UK Government into supporting the arts and events industry during the Coronavirus pandemic. Altern 8’s impact on electronic music cannot be overstated with Mark Archer and former member Chris Peat first pairing up as Nexus 21 before donning their trademark dust masks and shaping the nascent UK rave sound while simultaneously achieving international commercial and critical success. Altern 8’s ‘Hardcrew’ is released on Stafford North with a percentage of profits going to the WeAreViable campaign.

" a brutal rap + jungle 7" from DC's own Amal, who is a part of the rising international trio Black Rave Culture, along with James Bangura and DJ Nativesun. This 7" is a preview of things to come, Amal's LP Madness is forthcoming on FT later in 2023. "A New Dance" is vintage crushed jungle with two of DC's finest rapping on top. THE Khan & Model Home's Nappynappa trade smooth barb-wires over flayed audio delightfully smushed on 7" wax with a killer photo sleeve. A ruff sound system slicer. Instrumental on the flip." TIP!

Audio Soul Project is back with their latest vinyl-only EP, Simurgh. With a title inspired by the mythical Persian bird, these four tracks fuse elements of house, R&B, dub, and drum & bass to create an ecstatic and hypnotic experience. The EP kicks off with "Deliver Me," a dreamy house track with warm filtered chords and bouncing synth bass. R&B female vocal ad libs pepper the groove and the refrain "Deliver Me" adds a sense of yearning. The percussion, including morphing 4x4 and breakbeat drums, piano and synth stabs, nod to the cerebral Detroit and Chicago house compositions of the mid 90s. "Azizam Dub" takes a more stripped-down approach with a subsonic bass line bump and Juno 106 stabs. Frantic percussion and deftly cut vocal samples accent the ebbs and flows of the arrangement, making for a dynamic and engaging dance. The B-side of the record starts with "Internal Vybrations," a bass-heavy drum & bass track that winds and jumps with multiple layers of deep, fluttering bass and ambient pads and strings. Percussion layers like hi-hats, shakers, and maracas lift and relax the rhythm in parallel to the rest of the composition, making for a hypnotic and trance-inducing vibe. The B2 track on the EP, "Celebration Dub," is a bass-heavy swinging house track with ecstatic diva "Whooo" samples that punctuate the ups and downs of the groove's energy. Classic reggae and dub-influenced vocal samples and heavy tape delay on certain key instruments add to the joyful and uplifting vibe of the track. The keyboard and string section can transport a dancer to other realms of consciousness if they let themselves go to the groove. Simurgh is a masterful fusion of various genres that showcases Audio Soul Project's production prowess and ability to create an entrancing sonic journey. TL;DR: Audio Soul Project's Simurgh EP features 4 tracks of dub-infused house music. Deliver Me has dreamy chords and female R&B adlibs, Azizam Dub is stripped down with subsonic bass and vocal samples, Internal Vybrations is a bass-heavy drum & bass track, and Celebration Dub is a swinging house track with reggae and dub vocal samples. Everything by Maziar Namvar except where indicated below Mix on Deliver Me and Celebration Dub by Brian Boncher Mix on Azizam Dub and Internal Vybrations by Tim Vitek Mastering by Dietrich Schoenemann

Avalon Emerson & the Charm is an evolution. Created during an extended break from the hectic blur of her life as a touring DJ, the album is a personal statement of intent from an artist who’s long looked beyond the club for inspiration. It’s also the first time that Emerson has put herself, her emotions and, most notably, her voice fully into the spotlight.

Having spent her entire career working more or less alone, Emerson purposely sought out a small cast of like-minded artists to help bring the album to life. A Chief among them was UK avant-pop savant Bullion, who executive produced the record and, most importantly, shares both Emerson’s predilection for shimmering pop melodies and her boundary- less approach to music-making.

Working together, they cracked open her head and heart alike, creating a space where she could intimately reflect on the people and places she’s loved and left behind.

The first Azu Tiwaline's album, after been acclaimed by DJs like Lena Willikens, upsammy, Shanti Celeste and a bunch of electronic medias (Bandcamp, RA, Crack), is now remixed by a Lyon-Bristol-Berlin trifecta of similarly minded rhythmic innovators - twisting and warping her work into new shapes, featuring Don't DJ, Laksa & Flore reinterpretations. Nothing happens overnight. Behind every emergence, there’s years of work, thought and preparation - both intentional and unconscious - that’s gone unseen. So the past year might have been a ‘breakout’ year for Azu Tiwaline, but it was really built over two decades of experimentation, soul-searching - both creative and personal - and exploration. “A new name for a new spirit” as she likes to say, but with an unmistakable identity rooted in her history and ancestry. On her debut album as Azu Tiwaline, Draw Me A Silence, a record released in two parts with her family at I.O.T. , she fused together two halves of her own heritage, inspired by a new home in the desert. Personal history collided with family heritage: half step rhythms from a career in bass music met the warm winds and wide open silence of El Djerid in Tunisia. When music is sincere and honest, it tends to reverberate more widely, and deeply. The tracks written for the Magnetic Service EP were sent to one label and one label only, Livity Sound, who picked it up instantly. Something about the spacious, yet dense sonics - crafted with the help of percussionist Cinna Peyghamy - resonated with listeners starved of both the community of the dancefloor and the space of the outside world. The EP became one of the Bristol label’s most heralded releases of 2020, featuring in end of year coverage from Bandcamp to Resident Advisor. Beneath the calm of her productions, a restless spirit inhabits Azu, born out of months and years spent on the road. In 2020, it was her music that took her places. She put together a series of podcast mixes that echoed the percussive, rhythmic curves of her own productions, for Boiler Room, Dekmantel and Crack Mag. She distilled Fazer Drums’ percussive experiments into dubby downtempo with a remix, and contributed her most rooted track yet - Violet Curves with Cinna Peyghamy - to On the Corner’s Door to The Cosmos compilation. This will be followed by the Extended version of the album with a gorgeous ambient bonus track “Eyes of the Wind”, accompanied by a video clip directed by Azu Tiwaline, shot in her desert lands. This track will be appearing in a digital reupload reunifying Draw Me A Silence Part.I and II. As a sort of final chapter of this debut album. As for the rest? We’ll see what 2021 has to offer for both the world and Azu Tiwaline. In the meantime, take inspiration from her music: keep the tempo steady, let some light in, and listen for the silence.