Garage | 2Step | UK Funky | Bassline 7 Items

Established Berlin based producer Carsten Aermes, aka PHON.O, delivers his latest EP ‘Afterglow’, bringing the Vorsprung Durch (to) Tectonic. Having dropped a number of acclaimed releases on Modeselektor’s dynamic imprint 50 Weapons over the last several years, PHON.O has also had a variety of singles and EPs for the likes of Kompact, BPitch, Shitkatapult and Detroit Underground, as well as remixes galore.

‘Mercurial’ kick starts the EP at 137bpm, melting the boundaries between techno, dubstep and footwork with effortless grace. The track sets a mood with an initial sense of ominous tension, before embarking on a strange, cosmic journey, narrated by polyrhythmic layers of percussive interplay. Kick drums bounce, snares crack, hats and the melody builds with mysterious intent.

Flip over then for the first of two further tales in dubwise beat science. First up is ‘U8 Phunk’, taking it’s name in part from a Berlin underground metro line, it represents a tougher, harder edge to the EP. Recalling echo’s of jungle music alongside techno sensibilities, ‘U8 Phunk’ follows on again at 137bpm with a series of hyperactive drum hits and twisting percussive manoeuvres, charged with a reese-like bassline and grimy bass stabs.

‘Bell Blender’ closes off the EP, further developing themes of broken breakbeats and grimy sci-fi atmospherics, this time at a tempo more accessible to techno dancefloors. Dubbed and spacious, smattered with crashing remnants of breakbeats and scorching synth sonics - it’s a fine way to round things off!

A must for every jungle fan new and old.

Essential club pressure from Her Records, courtesy of label co-capo, MM (fka Miss Modular), including a dancehall flip of CYPHR’s Brace and arriving hard on the heels of Kid Antoine’s Bodypaint killer.

Uptown, with Why You All In MY Face, he essentially picks up where their last white label, Fraxinus’ flip of DJ Diamond’s B-More classic Hey You Knuckle Heads left us; warping a bouncing B-more chassis with eye-quivering FX, handbrake turns, and the kind of sustained subbass tremors that make your clem fandango.

Downtown, he performs dancehall voodoo on CYPHR’s Brace, screwing the ting to a slower tempo meshed with I-Octane & Bounty Killer’s vocal to Double Trouble for maximum danger.

Trust these are tried and tested for all DJ and dancer...

2 track 12"release from Silas & Snare, on new label Kaizen.

One-off collaboration with Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh.

Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies including hand-silk-screened poster by Vladimír 518.

Inspired by a long lost tale from dark and cold northern lands, written many ages ago, ‘Neida‘ is the story of a young boy who one day noticed an eerie call, so peculiar and odd that he could not resist but to follow it. While it resonated through remnants of ancient settlings, the boy had to overcome many obstacles and solve numerous quests, journey through mystical forests, foggy mountains and ghostly villages, battle the forces of nature and lose himself in this adventure. Finally reaching the ocean after an exhausting voyage, a mysterious invisible force drew him closer and closer to it, suddenly entranced in a state between consciousness, floating underwater, lured by the siren of the sea.