After 4 succesful EPs for Lobster Theremin and Sneaker Social Club, Chavinski releases his first 12" on Myor, fusing '92 style rave ethics with early noughties garage vibes.
Multi-faceted artist Calibre today shares his sixteenth studio album "Feeling Normal". The album is out now to pre-order on Vinyl, CD and on digital platforms via his own independent imprint Signature Recordings.
The record is his first bonafide 140bpm record and a staggering body of work that shows the genius levels of one of electronic music's most respected auteurs. Across the 13 tracks, he transcends through space and time, creating music that will take the listener on a weighty sonic journey. The album announcement is accompanied by two dub versions "Bad" and "Badder" deconstructed from the track "Badman" with DRS from Mark Ernestus available via his Hardwax store January 29th and Bandcamp February 12th. "Getting to work with Mark Ernestus is a real honour, I collected Basic Channel, Rhythm & Sound and his other work for many years and still do. It's hard to avoid the influence of this guy in electronic music across genres and so it is a real pleasure to have him do his thing with the Badman tune which I think sounds closely related."
All of the tracks on the record have been road-tested in Calibre's DJ sets over the last 2/3 years with many of them being sought-out by his hardcore fans. It was only a matter of time then that he put them out for all to consume. With a nod to the dancefloor, the clear idea for the album came about following the release of his most personal album to date "Planet Hearth". "It still works in the headspace but ultimately it's been written for the sweaty club experience we miss now, also after an album like Planet Hearth it felt very liberating to do," he remarks. When writing albums, he often just puts it down to the general chaos of life, not citing any one influence but generally just waits to see what comes. With one of the tracks on the album written 7 years ago on the island of Valentia, It became a project that he spent the intervening years collecting tracks for, not really knowing when he was going to put it together as an album. "The whole album is special to me, everything on there has import and meaning beyond for me, I have spent much time on all these and hope they are special for other people too."
Belfast-born, Berlin-based Calibre - AKA Dominick Martin - shows no sign of slowing down. As a producer, DJ, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter, he is one of the most unique and inspiring living artists. With a career spanning two decades, his ability to remain underground whilst being one of the most-respected is testament to who this enigmatic artist is. To this day, he has never been remixed and has a seriously impressive amount of unreleased music under wraps. With everything on hold and gigs on the backburner, this record is exactly what the world needs right now.
Kicking things off with a lot of finesse and power, EP opener "Far Out" merges Digital Mystikz dub hauntologies with the UK-centric breakbeat styles of Leftfield circa "Africa Shox". Lift-off comes in the shape of the second track "Temptation", a number that's sure to nail ravers down to the ground of many a discerning techno moshpit; dub echoes mingling with cavernous clangs, Detroit pads and elegant beats roll over tons a' relentless bass. A3 cut "Bassforce" brings in the LFO-style creepy strings to good use while technoid, broken riddims erupt in a way that references golden age dubstep, jungle and raw T++ tunes.
Swaying all expectations thus far, fourth track "Drowned" sends us into shiny anxiolytic bliss, with its crunched-down beats, dripping-wet soul samples and Maria Amor's dreamy textural vocals. Label mum-sweetie Violet takes a left turn into metallic electro rambunction with sub-bass wobbles, trancey stacks of synths and a breezy sense of melody. Closing down the EP in the best possible way, we've got none other than naive's main girl - and utter twitter champion - Ilana Bryne also on the remix, condensing a liquid breakbeat roller that sounds like the offspring of LTJ Bukem and Wookie; meditative and atmospheric airs of hope and mystery float over lean, funky kicks, snares and subs, irradiating healing vibes galore.
Following a stellar run of jungle and breakbeat-oriented releases including the foundational Foul Play Origins set and the visionary proto-retro styles of X-Altera, Sneaker Social Club welcome a true master of drum science.
As Paradox and Alaska, Dev Pandya has been setting standards and breaking new ground in breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum & bass since the dawn of the culture. He was right there at the start of Moving Shadow, has graced seminal labels like Reinforced, Good Looking and Metalheadz and steered his own Paradox Music, Esoteric and Arctic Music as vessels for a huge body of work. Still toting his Amiga for live gigs and putting out bonus 12”s loaded with samples for producers, Pandya’s passionate commitment to the culture is evident in everything he does. Nowhere does that shine through more than in his needlepoint flair for break editing and drum programming – the calling card of the Paradox sound.
It’s a huge honour to host two original Paradox tracks on Sneaker. We’re treated to full-fat Paradox percussion alchemy on “Octa4” as he teases out the intensity around a salvo of dancehall toasting samples, trickling each progressive layer of rhythm into the mix with the patience and poise of a true master. “Proceed” leans on dub techno atmospherics and a taut funk break that occasionally cuts loose into a ride-splashing fill, but once again the message here is one of heads-down restraint. Across both tracks the emphasis is on the fine print – each composed drum hit and subtle shift of FX – while riding deep in a masterfully constructed groove. Proof, if ever it were needed, why Pandya is the king of understated D&B excellence.
Lost City Archives is back with a massive 4 track EP from Japan’s own Stones Taro. Delivering a trifecta of quality Garage, Breaks and Jungle, certain to peak the interest of any serious underground aficionado.
Multi-genre industrial bass that's equally at home in the underground of Berlin and the low-end-leaning dancefloors of the US and UK. With 'Warp Crawler' on the exciting YUKU imprint, Chrizpy Chriz finds a mature groove in the bass spectrum that deviates between restrained and tearing at its own seams. A must for open-minded purveyors of exploratory electronica with teeth.
Bristol's Jurango kicks off 2021 in fine style with the 'Retreat Ites' EP for the Livity Sound Reverse series.
From the paranoid echo of the title track to the dark mutant dancehall of 'Theeves', Jurango crafts heavyweight ice cold drum and bass rhythms exploring the outer reaches of soundsystem music in true school Bristol fashion, placing him amongst peers such as Laksa, Batu and Lurka.
Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.
After the brilliant E-Unity’s CD-ROM-1, Intramuros invite 2 new artists on a perfect split EP for eclectic DJ’s. 4 different vibes & tempos.
On A-side, Basic from Positive Education / St Étienne (FR) with 2 fresh & untemporal bass music anthems, he opens with Blaze, a loud bass roller, and kills you with 66 Order, his personnal vision of dubstep.
On B-side, Cabasa from Eclipse Tribez / Brussels (BE) opens with Good Trauma, a sublime deep electro track, then Algo Mod Arp, a crazy track exploring fields between metallic & mental drummy sounds and Aphex Twin, for the 170 BPM crew.
Here are a few sonic fragments of the experiments leaded between early and late epoques. Audio may have been affected by time-travel. A.L »
Debut EP for First Epoque, electronic dancehall and techno leaning from several times. Each tracks project are an ancient and new epoque like a logbook.
Already premiering by Insert : « it’s clear to see that First Epoque is influenced by Hessle Audio or Livity Sound, switching from Electronic, Dancehall and Techno. Emphasizing a certain sound-design aspect in his music.
There was a rumble which echoed as it emerged from the murky depths of the cave. Deep down in the tomb below was the sound of distant drums which banged and roared with pride and promise as they began to wake the dead from their long slumber. Few had ever imagined that they'd rise again, the stories told of ancient ruins and magical creatures had long been deemed irresponsible nonsense told to scare children and for fireside tales. Now, it seemed as if they were wrong, very wrong indeed...
Ramses is set to release a new EP on Dill Dodos Recife (serie of Discolored Field’s label focuses on club reflections), a Lyon based record label with a promising future. The EP is a weird, mutated assortment of heavy hitting club sounds and low end weight.
Hijinx (aka MR.K) delivers a 3-track EP for his second Navy Cut release.
A side ‘Venom’ is a track that has mutated every sound system it has been played on. The B Side comes with the low end shuffle of ‘TRU’ and the anticipated dub ‘Addict’ . Hijinx has many sides to his production style and he has delivered a truly faultless EP for bass music fans.
Following on from his EP on Livity Sound, Al Wootton comes home to TRULE with the Maenads EP. Four percussive, textural rhythm tracks. Sparse and weighty, psychedelic but focused, and scattered with dub echoes. Al’s core influences of UK Garage, techno, dub and drum and bass are organically reshaped into new forms that never lose sight of dance floor functionality.
UK-based Corticyte returns with EFAX008 on Art-E-Fax, a characteristically eclectic 4-tracker laden with heady bass and raw frequencies. Opener ‘Integrate 2 v5 (126 BPM)’ hits hard with a dark pulse, whilst ‘Waveguide (107 BPM)’ taps out mutant ambient soundscapes. For the B-side, ‘Horn (126 BPM)’s tripped out breakbeats and glaring horns are pure rave madness, whilst closer ‘Final Drop (128 BPM)’ will bring a fogged-out euphoria to any set. Corticyte harnesses his trippy production skills with this bold multi-layered cut.
The First Second Label family return for 2021 with Housebreaker, the highly anticipated return of ELLLL following her much loved Febreeze EP from 2019. Comes with an ace Slo’ Motion refix from Parris!
Haunted, scattered breaks loom over the title track, a modern apocalyptic Hardcore journey where rave sirens puncture the feverous rinse-out tension throughout. The Alantis Dub flips the script, doubling down on the atmosphere while upping the tempo to screw-face the chaos within its experimental D’n’B fever dream. Both tracks showcase ELLLL’s exceptional production chops with its nuanced textural trickery & immersive sound design skills. London’s Parris then rewires the OG, simmering the tempo down low to 110bpm for a sinister nocturnal skank for the night fiends who thrive when entering into first light.
Legendary Chicagoan General Juke aka Gant-Man returns with Distorted Sensory, his brand new acid house adventure. A longtime veteran who’s been behind the decks since before he was even a teen, he’s been an essential part of Chicago dance music history since the Dance Mania days in the mid 90s, and a major pioneer in jumpstarting the juke movement that followed. This new single, and his debut solo releaseon the Teklife imprint explores the time honored tradition of jacking, channeling the very essence of house music though a modern lens.
Employing an enigmatic 303 bassline that mutates and breathes as if it were alive, Gant plays malicious melodies that run up and down octaves in a freaky, hallucinatory manner. Squelchy synth movements are met by eerie FM tones, reminiscent of Cajmere’s classic Chicago staple the Percolator. A rugged 909 drum kit bangs the track along in true jacking fashion, making it the perfect tool for shaking the floors of dark, sweaty warehouses. In addition to the original, two of the UK’s finest contribute remixes as well.
Hyperdub boss Kode9 puts things into overdrive with his 160 BPM warped vision of Gant’s acid, sliced up to appeal more to the footworkers and fans of psycho tempos. Dubstep pioneer Loefah strips back the original percussion and lets the 303s float over a cloud of deep sub bass, adorned with lovely splashes of rolling snares and micro percussion.
With an array of stone cold classics under his belt, from ghetto house anthem Juke Dat Girl to his brilliant collabs with the late DJ Rashad Heaven Sent and Juke Dat Juke Dat, Gant-Man is a true renaissance man. For over 20 years, he’s consistently shown the world the complexity that makes up his city’s dance culture, never sticking to one area or tempo. Distorted Sensory is a beautiful celebration of Chicago house music, a return to its true raw design, and a reminder of just how timeless an art form it really is.
a1. Gant-Man - Distorted Sensory
a2. Gant-Man - Distorted Sensory (Kode9 Remix)
b1. Gant-Man - Distorted Sensory (Loefah's South Side Remix)
Childsplay presents the debut release from ghettotek’s sweetheart DJ MELL G and her first collaboration with rising Russian industrial ghettotek superstar destroy as...
‘Chemz’ is hooky, rushy and loved-up - both an unhinged premonition of unleashed post-pandemic joy, and a demonic flashback to past ecstasies in a hardcore style perfected in the UK. ‘Chemz’ is a 12 minute rave monster that has ingested several tracks and incorporated them into its distended body. At the other end of the Burial bi-polar spectrum, ‘Dolphinz’ is a desolate oceanic love letter to our underwater friends.
Long time friends and collaborators DJ Swagger & DJ AEDIDIAS join forces on their first full length collaborative vinyl EP, showcasing their love of UK Garage. This killer four track dance disc delves deep into all things feel good and fun, 2-step laden drum sequences meet catchy vocal hooks and pulsating bass tones.
"For us, the Start Taking Note is a marvelous Frankenstein of sonic fragments. Foley, samples, ethnic instruments and late night synth jam sessions put together over solid UK Grime Influenced beats, bring together a sound of multiple generations of music and musicians together, to create this unique adrenaline shot.
We always strived to distinguish ourselves from the generic sound of the club scene, and we consider EP to be the foundation of our audio/visual identity.
Belgrade's urban underground music scene and the urban graffiti art is something that brought us all together, and will always stay a purest form of inspiration.
We also very grateful for Killa P's guest appearance on the EP title track. His career, tunes and artist he worked with amongst the core influences of our sound."
Hailing from Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, Gacha Bakradze is one of the national scene’s leading electronic music exponents. He returns to Lapsus Records with his new album 'Obscure Languages', his second release for the Barcelona label.
Following the superb LP 'Word Color' [Lapsus Records, 2018], which appeared in several ‘album of the year’ lists for publications such as Pitchfork and XLR8R, the prolific producer now presents 'Obscure Languages'. This new piece of work could well be described as a sound continuation from his previous album and maintains a powerful narrative at its core.
‘Obscure Languages' delves into the world of cinematic soundscapes, replete with microscopic details and fragments that showcase a luscious IDM style audio palette, laced with ambient, avant-techno, bass and sound design.
Breaks 'N' Pieces returns with another cut of bass driven dance music from rising producer DJ Sunroof.
Australian DJ / producer DJ Sunroof has had a killer year with notable dance discs on imprints such as Nerang, 3 Feet Deep and contributing to the recent Breaks 'N' Pieces Vol.3 various artists release to top . His debut full vinyl EP via rising UK label Breaks 'N' Pieces hits the stop, weighty breaks meet chest rattling bass on this 2-step laden cut.
Shall Not Fade welcome Rotterdam based producer Kessler to the family with six weighty jams for their ‘Basement Tracks’ series.
Rising Rotterdam based producer Kessler has been bubbling over the past 12 months with a string of high quality releases on labels such as Yellow Island Records and his own KESSLER TRAX imprint. His first full vinyl outing sees him serve up a bass driven masterpiece for Shall Not Fade’s new ‘Basement Tracks’ series. Ambivalent EP is nothing short of spectacular, weighty breaks meet dreamy synth patterns on this killer dance disc.