The Unearthed Sounds crew members have compiled their weekly picks containing collectively, in no particular order, our favourite tracks/releases of the week.
Here are the selections individually from the crew:
The Time Is Yours - A year in the making, and Dogger & Mindstate’s return to 1985 Music.
After the brilliant response from their Broken Home E.P last year, Dogger & Mindstate have been working hard to make sure they achieve the high bar they set. This is a fantastically musical EP and is proof that hard work is the cornerstone to their ethos and beliefs. This EP also features the legendary vocalists DRS and Liam Bailey, as well as Anile and [ K S R ]. True to form, they have excelled themselves once again. Out 3 July On vinyl and digital.
The fourth instalment in the Dancing People series offers two huge re-works of West African gems, jacked to the max with extra horns, driving percussion, crisp production and huge bass.
Given the first 3 releases have sold out immediately, receiving worldwide plays on dancefloors and airwaves alike, this is not one to be missed.
As ever, strictly limited edition, vinyl only release. Mastered to perfection and cut loud in glorious stereo.
a1. Dancing People - Ekila (Nick XOA + HWRD edit)
b1. Dancing People - Afe Ato Yen Bio (Nick XOA + HWRD edit)
To celebrate 100 years of the Theremin, super producer Gaudi and friends have created an album of Theremin infused dub.
Developed in 1920 by Russian physicist Léon Theremin, the Theremin is an electronic device which works with magnetic fields and consists of one metal antenna controlled without physical contact. Predominantly a fairly niche instrument, it has featured in several styles of music since its creation, from classical works to sci-fi movie soundtracks, pop and rock.
Gaudi was supported in this tribute by five of the world's top dub producers - Mad Professor, Adrian Sherwood, The Scientist, Dennis Bovell and Prince Fatty. All hugely respected individuals who have been representing the best of international dub production for the last 50 years, they have provided the riddims that underpin Gaudi's Theremin playing on this astonishing project.
As a solo artist, Gaudi has recorded over 20 albums, while as a producer he has hundreds of productions under his belt. In his 30 year career he has worked with legends of the reggae and electronic music worlds including Steel Pulse, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Horace Andy, Michael Franti, Deep Forest, Zion Train, Dub FX, Youth, The Orb, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Trentemøller.
As a Theremin player for over 25 years, Gaudi has often combined his passion for the instrument and for reggae music, playing it on several of his albums, but until now he has never dedicated an entire release to it. Known and lauded for putting his "dub-take" on many musical genres, '100 Years of Theremin (The Dub Chapter)' is Gaudi's brainchild.
Listening to this blissful out-of-body-experience of an album, where roots reggae meets the enigmatic and ethereal sounds of sci-fi, is a deep and pensive experience. Haunting and mellifluous melodies meet earthy, bassy grooves in an unlikely yet undeniably successful union. Despite the individual styles of the producers involved, the album has a unified quality, the cinematic feel of a soundtrack with the narrative being the distinctive voice of the Theremin.
Main Phase returns to Warehouse Rave with a four tracker 12" that shows the Copenhagen native take on both 2-step, grime and breaks. The release, Cool Down EP, sees the rising garagehead Main Phase explore the murky and dark areas of 2-step with direct nods to the grime scene generals as well as early rave sounds and euphoric breaks.
First cut on the 2-step dominated A-side, "Eski", sees Main Phase go dark with tight syncopated beats, heavy basslines and a little help from the godfather himself.
Staying in grime-ish areas, "Bluku" delivers clear nods to the grime-scene with icy synths and sirens while still maintaining the freshness of 2-step. Oh my gosh!
The B-side of the record opens up with the title track "Cool Down ('93 Mix)", an homage to big raves, hefty breaks and slashing reeses.
From slashing reeses to gully subs, the final track of the record, "All of the People" sees Main Phase make breaks workout side-by-side with playful synth melodies and mc-samples from way back when. Hold tight!
Release Date: 3rd July 2020Italian DJ and producer Lynch Kingsley returns to Inperspective Records with new album Death Cycles, out 5th June.
An eleven-track release, Death Cycles is a slow-burning journey that sees Kingsley craft rich, atmospheric soundscapes informed by his D&B background. The first half of the record is characterised by downbeat, ambient breakbeat exploration, with tracks like ‘Rites of Passage’ and ‘Distance Between Soundwaves’ expertly setting the scene. In the second half, both the tempo and intensity rise gradually, most notably with the pounding, rapid-fire breaks of ‘Acid Dream’, before things are closed out with the sophisticated liquid D&B sounds of ‘Reach Through Meditation Pt. 2’.
Hailing from Rome, Kingsley has built a reputation around his complex, cerebral brand of electronic music, which is equal parts emotional, raw and intimate. Making his debut on Beat Machine in 2014, he has since released a brace of records on Inperspective, ‘Eden’ in 2016 and a Void’ in 2018. Closely associated with the ‘Dreamers’ crew in Milan, alongside the likes of Neve, he established himself as a frontrunner in the underground italian breakbeat circuit.
An expansive, complex collection of tracks, Death Cycles sees Lynch Kingsley kick off the new decade in scintillating form.
a1. Lynch Kingsley - Estranger (Sequence 1)
a2. Lynch Kingsley - Heart of Thorns
a3. Lynch Kingsley - Inner Vision
b1. Lynch Kingsley - Rites of Passage
b2. Lynch Kingsley - Distance Between Soundwaves
b3. Lynch Kingsley - Kigoku ft K4LL4X
c1. Lynch Kingsley - The Blind Ronin
c2. Lynch Kingsley - Aqtiquity (ft. Resound)
c3. Lynch Kingsley - Acid Dream
d1. Lynch Kingsley - Reach Through Meditation pt.1
d2. Lynch Kingsley - Reach Through Meditation pt.2
After a successful dive into the wonderful world of vinyl back in August last year, Locus Sound is back. As always, they come bearing gifts in the form of some of the freshest up and coming dubstep and only rightly giving it the vinyl treatment. Hailing from the dungeons of the Zelda universe, Lord Jabu heads up Locus Sounds' return to the foray with the El Molino EP. A selection of three heavyweight tracks, full of all kinds of dubstep flavours.
After a weighty 2019, Tyrone returns to Guidance Music for another two barnstormers.
The Newcastle based producer has been steadily cutting his own niche for big and bold dancefloor funk for the last couple of years, with last year’s ‘Severance EP’ gaining him plays and attention from a wide cross section of the scene. He now returns to the label to drop two new trademark tracks in the shape of ‘The Disciple’ and ‘OG’s’.
‘The Disciple’ is classic Tyrone. Setting the scene with deep yet mysterious atmospherics, it’s soon paired with a bold filter opening bassline, producing a big characterful roller. The track develops and crosses a broad range of territory, yet always manages to maintain its sense of both power and meaning.
‘OG’s’ takes a slightly different approach, entering with tight 90’s drums, but heavy 2020 bass. A deeper and gnarling roller layered with unusual sci-fi fx, the track keeps levelling up as it flows further on, making it an excellent DJ tool.
Both Tyrone and Guidance continue to grow and develop their own individual sound, avidly pursuing their artistic journeys and personas and constantly pushing and forming where the music is heading in the future.
