Garage | 2Step | UK Funky | Bassline 227 Items

It's always a good day when the Blahh label rises up from the streets to drop a new bit of true school garage. This is a various artists release which brings together core label members Beforethebeatsbreak, Ronaldo and Crazy Bank, who have all served up their own solo EPs before now. It's the latter who kicks off with the tightly coiled bump n grind of 'So Good' before Ronaldo gets your feet moving on 'Get My 319', another dry, clipped garage shuffler with pent up energy to spare. There are good time piano-led vibes to Beforethebeatsbreak's B1 then 'Why You Wanna' from Crazy Bank is defined by its pitched up vocal sound.

A name that keeps bubbling up from the current UK industrial techno scene, Conrad Pack . . . .he's packing some fire on this one. No messing about. TIP!

Cntrl presents his latest EP, "nrg BRKZ," a captivating exploration of the UK garage sound fused with minimalistic broken beats.

Opening the EP is "GT DWN," an track that features a athmospheric choir. It sets a grandiose tone, instantly captivating listeners with its powerful energy and rhythmic drive.

Moving to "8cl NRG," Cntrl infuses the track with breaky energy, masterfully blending broken beats and mesmerizing synth stabs. The result is an infectious and irresistible groove that will have listeners moving to its compelling rhythm.

"ndrstnd" takes a more stripped-back and deep approach, showcasing Cntrl's versatility. It features a solid foundation of minimalistic beats, allowing haunting melodies and subtle harmonies to create an introspective and ethereal atmosphere.

Closing out the EP is "BRKZ," a homage to UK garage. Cntrl expertly layers broken beats, driving sub basslines, and spooky atmospheric synth work, paying tribute to the genre while infusing it with his unique touch.

Club Of Jacks digs deep here to serve up some classic tracks from the archive that have not been available on vinyl before. First up is UKG royalty Jeremy Sylvester with a remix of 'Waiting For You' that is pure party. The drums and bass bounce and plunge low with sustained chords and a honeyed vocal getting the vibes going. A deeper, dubbier and more laid back but still emotive 23 Remix follows then Plastik People boss Marc Cotterell serves up a soulful remix of 'All That Shaking' that is full of steamy sax and sunny day goodness. A Club of Jacks 23 Refix brings a deep vibe to close a superb EP.

Midnight EP brings another four heavyweight cuts from the London based Club of Jacks production duo showcasing their varied sound. 'Midnight' opens up with deep, haunting chords and a lush reworked vocal laid over a smoky 2 step beat. 'Let It Ride' brings the 4x4 house vibe, mixing infectious synths, catchy lyrics and a rolling bass groove. On the flip, 'Remember This' digs into the garage house sound, infusing jazzy organ chords and solos with skippy drums and tasty vocal chops. To finish off, 'Smokers Dub'' takes us into a darker, speed garage inspired vibe, with weighty bass and dub reggae flavour.

Chief Cabasa is back with a collection of belters with indecent amounts of bass.

The A-Side houses the epynomous Oody Fnk, sporting a mystical nostalgic arpeggiated synth, laser bleeps, thick kicks, riddim, and scatting. Yes, scatting. Bear with us.

On the B-Side, things go faster and thicker still. B1 Moonra is a breaky tech-housey stepper, with a subaquatic feel. An uplifting deep dive, spookily playing with that one break we all know. But from really far away.

B2 Grad has 2-step garage feel. One for the MCs. Erratic, energetic, hectic. But with a reassuringly repetitive bassline.

Introducing "Solace", a captivating 6-track EP by dubstep virtuoso Bukkha. Crafted amidst the stillness of 2020's turmoil, far from all the noise pollution of everyday life, each track is like an unique demonstration of Bukkha's emotional state throughout these tumultuous times. "What came out was not forced and was just a very natural and fluid process" said Bukkha about working on this EP. "Solace" also features an exclusive collaboration with soulful Drum & Bass artist Redeyes. Embark on this heartfelt musical journey where Bukkha's passion and authenticity resonate through every note. As Bukkha eloquently puts it, ''I have always found comfort in music. I hope that the people listening to this record will find solace in it as well.''

Full Dose is back! Once again exporting their distinctive brand of mutated dub directly from Glasgow's Southside. The label's 13th release is the work of a new name: Brollachan - "a shapeless darkness that craves bodily form". As the name would suggest, the music itself evokes a certain eeriness. Brollachan fuses this with the metallic textures and airy rhythms commonly heard on Full Dose records. Tracks like "Hall" could well be written by a smoked-out mythical being, with deep subs and spring reverb-laden tones throughout. Quality stuff. This juxtaposition of influences continues throughout the release. "Graze" has a particular aquatic feel. Sonar-esque synths punch through the haze and sustained synth sounds keeps the track in midwest territory. Despite the obvious variety on show here, Brollachan of course keeps fans of the Full Dose sound on-side. "Mad Dawg" is a grimey take on this. General Midi style sounds appear throughout the intro. This is complimented by intricate drum programming and a growling bassline, to give us a track straight from the 22nd century. 13 releases in and the tight-knit crew behind Full Dose continue to promote a sound that is both unique and reliable - Brollachan is no exception!

Harry Wills drops a nasty 2-step EP under an alias. High-tension strings and big basslines: brazen indeed.

Pitch language - Modular synth wizard Blawan brings his brand of distorted, syncopated electronic productions. Toast introduces the EP with a playful head bopper with ethereal sounds and menacing overtones. One of the biggest acts in dance music playing international festivals such as Pitchfork 2022, ADE, Nuit Sonores. Plays from Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC 6 music and coverage from Resident Advisor, Pitchfork, Dekmantel, Crack, The Face “losing himself in modular synthesis without ever sacrificing soul for science”

Montreal duo Biochip return to Central Processing Unit with their new LP Crux Alley. The pair of Melissa Speirs and Julian Kochanowski turned plenty of heads when they first rocked up on the Sheffield label back in 2019 with debut drop Synthase. Synthase found Biochip twisting up Braindance, IDM and electro to their own ends, and Crux Alley is an album which hits similar sonic sweet-spots.
It's clear from the off that Biochip have brought their A-game here. Opener 'Mind Bubbles' has no time for pleasantries, dropping the listener straight into a nocturnal IDM-electro groove where bass dances nervily around shadowy synth pads. 'Mind Bubbles' is followed-up 'Polymorphic State', a tune whose laser-gun synth-bass plumbs even more energy into the pair's Rephlex-indebted sound. It's a hugely arresting way to begin an album, and the bold sonics here align Crux Alley with recent CPU releases like Bit Folder's Silicon Frontier and Annie Hall's Fum.
Other tracks on Crux Alley ease up on the frenzied feel of those opening numbers. Take 'Orbital Rendezvous', a cut which is still full of zippy melodies and keening keyboards but whose contemplative strut recalls the legendary electronic music duo referenced in the track's title. There's also a distinct cyberpunk flavour to this track, and this is brought out further on the vivid 'Dopamine City' and 'Tower 13' - it is at these points where Biochip most resemble the work of fellow CPU act B12.
Biochip record their music straight from the mixing desk, an approach that gives their tracks a spontaneous energy and one which sometimes leads Speirs and Kochanowski into novel sonic terrain. Crux Alley's 'Antagonist Part 6', for instance, is a spiritual successor to Synthase's 'Acid Billy' in how the overload of electronics almost pushes it into industrial-techno territory. Furthermore, while most of the LP draws on the Detroit electro continuum of Drexciya, DJ Stingray et al, 'Neutral Current' obliquely recalls the jazz-tinged house of Theo Parrish - although the wobbling synth chords and reverb-laced drums make 'Neutral Current' sound more like an extra-terrestrial reimagining of the Motor City legend's music.
Biochip continue to mark themselves out as one of contemporary electro's most exciting new acts with the Crux Alley LP.
Riyl: Cygnus, B12, Annie Hall, Orbital, Silicon Scally

Big Hands marks Blank Mind's twentieth release on ‘A square, a circle’. A product of “the loopy miserable life in the big city which we are forced to live; and the need for metaphysical meaning, deep feelings and the tribalistic aspects of early folk music”.

In other words, this EP is a contemporary urban blues that echoes in the austere realism of London. The recursive patterns and melodies haunting the sound groove like a spirit, and twist inside an echo chamber and tape machines. The ‘square’ and ‘circle’ in the title are symbols of simple abstraction that can generate multiple figures in nature and culture, as well as in the gyration of geometric play. As maintained here, his minimal sound palette shapes the elegant freedom of unexpected behaviours of the machinic ensemble. ‘A Square, a circle’ is an invitation to experience the geometrical liberation of sounds.

Bell Curve's new EP Obelisk for Berlin's Sspb provides a daring evolution of her soundworld, channeling the bristling intensity of her previous work into a more expansive headspace. Alongside six mesmerising new tracks from Bell Curve, the EP features a remix from Hessle Audio rising star Toumba. Obelisk compiles Bell Curve's most compelling and enthralling work to date. Reveling in dazzling repetition and delicate sonic nuance, it is a cathartic and defiant statement in an industry that increasingly demands hollow immediacy and caters to short attention spans - an homage to struggles and affirmation of strength and self-belief, while equally offering euphoric escape for those willing to spend time inside its mystic whorl. Club sonics are here plucked from their original contexts and expanded outwards - icy rave stabs on "Staircase" ascending into the heavens or the astral breaks and springy bass of "Hope It Gets Better". Subtle shifts in tone and texture guide the listener through the trip, reverb tails slowly extending into lysergic drift or rippling grain and feedback rising from pulsing bass tones. Jordanian producer Toumba amps up the tempo on his remix of "Staircase" while maintaining the original's emotional core, bolstering the track's dextrous rhythms with distinctive Levantine timbres. Obelisk captures a constant push and pull between emotional states - from anxiety and melancholy to joy and euphoria, working through turmoil to find transcendence. Tracks like "Dance Skeleton Dance" particularly invoke this duality, drawing catharsis from darker sonics, reconfiguring bass pressure and anxious percussion into a humid dancehall stepper. "Without U" contains emotional struggle as part of the very circumstances of its making - written while working through heartbreak, its delicate repetitions and searching tone reflecting the process of reconnecting with oneself. Title track "Obelisk" forms the emotional core of the EP, coalescing from weightless vapors into dramatic synthesizer motifs, evoking euphoric memories of complete immersion on the dancefloor and our ability to find ecstatic experience even in the contemporary hellscape.

Batu returns to A Long Strange Dream for a deep dive into otherworldly ambient soundscapes, after infusing his interest in beatless forms in recent releases.
Drawing inspiration from the ambiance of chill-out rooms and their ability to channel the intense emotions of rave, he presents an entrancing voyage into post-euphoria, where self-exploration lives at the border of lucid dreaming and reality.
By recontextualizing his signature studies of the frontiers between organic and synthetic sounds outside of dancefloors, the multi-faceted producer displays a blissfully radiant and emotive side throughout an ecstatic journey.

Following up on his much acclaimed debut album ‘Opal’ released in 2022, Batu heads into a new year introducing A Long Strange Dream : a new imprint dedicated to his spontaneous musical explorations, conceived with the aim to follow curiosities and share his own music in a back-to-basics and spontaneous fashion. The inaugural release « For Spirits » is packed with some of the Bristol based producer’s most psychedelic dancefloor studies to date. Flowing seamlessly as a whole piece, this long-form EP showcases Batu’s versatile and deep personal sound, as well as a riveting talent for electronic experiments ranging from trance-inducing ambient to peak-time techno wreckage.

Released in 2016 on double splatter color vinyl (one is yellow and the other is light blue), this 15-song album is full of dubstep, EDM, & larger than life electronic beats. Includes "paracosm" with THE Glitch MOB. Stock due in 1-2 weeks.

2022 repress

Four heavy weight steppers sourced from the streets of Leeds, for them dark basements and early morning afters, brought to you from two new bad bwoys on the scene D. Jason & Baby J.

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.

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.

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

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.

Next up on BPitch's sub label UFO Inc is a hyperactive package of sonic oddities from Alex Wilcox. Having arrived in Berlin by way of Dallas, Texas, Alex continues to build a name for his truly eccentric production style and genre-defying DJ sets. 123 is an ascending spiral into the weirder corners of electronic music by a producer who is unafraid to let the wheels come off. Deranged, delirious, and surreal, it's an essential package of eccentric techno.

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.

Ends Meet envisions a different kind of future, that while not necessarily utopian, feels less tense and more celebratory in the capture and release mastery of its syncopations. Through seven percussion workouts summoned from hard hitting kicks, flinty hand drums, darting rhythmic excursions and traditional flute-like synth melodies, 3Phaz creates a set of raw and ever-intriguing dj tools for adventurous dancefloors that escape the mere functionality associated with the term to bristle with a life of their own.
Stripping away some of the dankest & darkest layers that made his debut album - Three Phase - such a dystopic proposition, Ends Meet envisions a different kind of future, that while not necessarily utopian, feels less tense and more celebratory in the capture and release mastery of its syncopations. Through seven percussion workouts summoned from hard hitting kicks, flinty hand drums, darting rhythmic excursions and traditional flute-like synth melodies, 3Phaz creates a set of raw and ever-intriguing dj tools for adventurous dancefloors that escape the mere functionality associated with the term to bristle with a life of their own.