With life sometimes getting in the way, we’re no longer rushing out releases to tight deadlines or expected timeframes, but we continue to always be sticklers for doing things our own way, in our own time. It's been an eventual journey, but we're hoping the almost year-long wait for the follow-up to our debut physical release is worth it. We've already got 003 almost ready for mastering, so the next one won't take as long...
“We're back. We've got another record for you and, we think, FKOFv002 is full of wall-to-wall bangers. Sheffield's finest, Dark Harmonics, are rejoining the fold (after their heavyweight FKOFd18 way back in 2015), alongside Subaltern Records' bossman Otz, who we welcome to the family for his debut release. Their collab, the mighty ‘Voidwalker’, has been doing the rounds for a hot minute, with support from a number of our sound's champion selectors. It's monstrous. The A-side wraps with 'F*cking Spiders'. One listen of its second drop and we knew it was for us. Absolute goosebump material.
"You know who the legendary J:Kenzo is, and we're proper proud to have him also joining the FKOF family with his sublime remix that leads the B-side. Beau at Ten Eight Seven has, once again, tweaked the tunes to perfection with his awesome mastering effort. We're really pleased with FKOFv002, and we hope you are too..."
a1. Dark Harmonics & Otz - Voidwalker
a2. Dark Harmonics - F*cking Spiders
b1. Dark Harmonics & Otz - Voidwalker (J:Kenzo Remix)
On the back of their debut release, Subtle Recordings is at it once again bringing some heavy weight from the shores of New Zealand with bad man Ebb taking the reins. As always, exquisitely imprinted ‘no holds barred’ by the masterful Optimal Media in a full art sleeve, 180 grams, vinyl only, no-repress recording. Standing strong as another pillar of foundation to the future sound of bass music.
Ebb draws on a wide variety of influences - from early roots in punk and experimental metal to Techno, Dubstep and Jungle. His productions sculpt dark, menacing atmospheres, powerful sub work, fluid, impactful drums and otherworldly sonics, taking the dancefloor on a journey to the unexplored areas set between established genres. Ebb’s arsenal, which includes vinyl releases on Le Chatroom and Fox and Hound Recordings and digitals from Averted Vision and District Sound, shows increasing evidence of a burgeoning music career pushing the more experimental side of electronic music. These efforts to explore new ideas and sounds have earnt him regular support from influential Djs such as Pinch, Loefah, Walton, Sicaria Sound, Madam X, Orson.. Ebb continues his creative envisions with Subtle Recordings latest release with the two precisionly crafted tracks, Surface Tension and Bokkei.
Albion Collective ends its single-digit days with soundsystem vanguards, LSN. Joined by AxH, the trio carve pathways in raw weight, deep progression and colour-submerged rave in ALBION009.
‘I Don’t Know What That Means’ grinds the earth to a halt. Silence suffocated by sub-bass effervesces with ghetto sirens, otherworldly electronic languages and London’s post-apocalyptic soundsystem underground.
‘Oscillator’ wobbles, ritualistic in its Far-Eastern, off-kilter melodies and occult lyricism. Tribal, patient steps and expansive world-percussion draws the dancefloor together on a higher plain.
The pre-eminent AxH joins LSN on the EP’s flipside, pouring grit into the bio-mechanic mixer of ‘Gone For Never’. Distant cybertronic growls stretch deep into heavyweight caverns. This collaboration hits as hard as it progresses, sure-fire for deep-rolling nights and drop-after-drop sessions.
Picking up the pace, ‘Rubberhands’ unveils neon tendrils and a slimy neurofunk appetite. The ready-to-rave half-time drumbeat and gun-finger-raising bleeps coincide with rough twists-and-turns into teeth-gritting mosh pits.
Albion Collective has established itself as a forefront 140 imprint over just nine releases. LSN and AxH round off the label’s formative years in style, before it plunges deep into double digits with ALBION010.
The syndicate manifests its sonic potential in full glory. Giving rise to this collection of colossal heavyweights, Sentry demonstrates its spotless record of selecting certified heavyweights for the discography once again, twenty-fold. Stepping into the ring are some of the scene's most prolific artists alongside a plethora of promising, choice newcomers. Boasting more than an hour of supercharged sound system pressure with names like Caspa, Truth, Bukez Finezt, Nomine and Youngsta himself on the controls - the subsequent inferno proves to be an authoritative display of quality bass music, that is sure to reach roaring stacks of speakers all around the globe for years to come."
"Vintage flavours transmute into fiery low-end excursions in 'Sun Ra' as Onhell reigns with fire and brimstone and makes way for what's to come. Rolling on, Taso lays waste with dimly lit half-time flows as we enter the smoke-filled mansion of Argo's meticulously crafted 'Since Then' - a prime cut of hip-hop infused breakbeats and bass. Abstrakt Sonance & Substance set the heater into overdrive and blunts aflame as we proceed into the shelling of 207's 'Gypsy Dub' - then promptly being crunched to bits by 'Crocodile' - encapsulating Dayzero's cold-blooded dance floor armaments. Brace yourself for battle as we step to the drums of Caspa's tribal warfare, full-frontal assault engineered for the club. Unrestrained power surges propelling us onwards in Coltcut & Ourman's decidedly high-grade collaboration as listeners march through Khiva's haunting sound system belter 'Teeth' and a zealous dosage of Dubstep as envisioned by Truth. Led through eerie alleys and pressure-ridden environments with LSN on the buttons, the onslaught proceeds with the relentlessly driving 'R U Broke' in Mr. K's signature style. Opus merciless injects straight fury in an auditory form in the spiked 'Lime Pickle' - Bukez Finezt keeping pace with a murderous Cembalo-ridden thug anthem, lunacy! Minimal instrumentation to its fullest effect, Sukh Knight's 'Modulate' keeps it spicy - as does the claustrophobic sub-bass chiming by Leftlow. Thanom ignites what's left of the residual air in 'Tumble It' - dangerous goods. The subsequent time bomb armed by A:Grade & Feonix, cast into the abyss that is Nomine's space-bending 'Judas' - big speaker business. The clock strikes its final hour - Youngsta & Cimm finish off the survivors with a no-holds-barred showdown, the 'Last Judgement' executing its massive verdict.
Arguably the Netherlands’ most prominent grime artist, JLSXND7RS’ name is synonymous with some of the most iconic productions around, with a vast back catalogue including collaborations with Wiley, Footsie, Rocks FOE and Discarda. For the debut vinyl release on his fledgling label, Dark Knight, he’s brought out a long-awaited fan favourite alongside two gargantuan reimaginations.
From its brassy opening notes, “ Marching” is instantly recognisable – a minimal, yet menacing instrumental which has enjoyed countless plays from esteemed DJs including Slimzee and Sir Spyro since it first surfaced on the airwaves in 2016. It also comes with Mala’s seal of approval; the Digital Mystikz legend has cut the track to dubplate for use in his sets.
On side B1, dubstep royalty Caspa pares back the original to its base elements, instead introducing gritty basslines, mesmerising percussion and a grimy harmony to bridge the gap between the two genres.
The release concludes with a remix from Brighton innovator and Sector 7 signee J ook, which Outlook festival-goers will recognise. His melodic interpretation of the song includes swelling reversed synths, shuffling drums and cinematic breakdowns.
Bun The Grid catapults into Fall with its second North American signing, Brooklyn’s Doctor Jeep. After several years exploring the West Coast festival halftime sound, Jeep returns to his love of Bristolian polyrhythmic club tools.
“Vault of Glass” channels underwater atmospherics in a dark, broken- beat, warehouse style, while collaborator and tour partner Fixate joins the fray on “Dorado” - summoning disembodied voices and frantic breakbeats to hypnotize late-night ravers. Switching the energy with a modern DnB-meets-Dancehall vibe,
“Emergency Broadcast Test” features Washington DC’s Cirrus. On the flip, two remixes add an uptempo flavour to “Vault of Glass”: hyper-active juke from London’s Hyroglifics, and a punishingly-heavy hip hop twist from Calgary-via-Detroit veteran Sinistarr.
Early support from J:Kenzo, Fracture, Roska, The Librarian, and more.
a1. Doctor Jeep - Vault Of Glass
a2. Doctor Jeep & Fixate - Dorado
a3. Doctor Jeep & Cirrus - Emergency Broadcast Test
b1. Doctor Jeep - Vault Of Glass (Hyroglifics Remix)
b2. Doctor Jeep - Vault Of Glass (Sinistarr Remix)
12” Vinyl limited to 350 copies Worldwide and housed in a custom printed reverse-board sleeve designed by Robby Mulpalah & Qori Hafiz. Mastered by Beau at TenEightSeven.
“In some ways this might be the release we’ve always wanted to put out. It ticks all the boxes for us - Atmosphere, spaciousness and killer snares. Hopefully the timing is good too, dubstep may be going through a(nother) transitional phase, finding a new identity. These 4 tracks by Gremlinz & AxH strip things back to the raw basics and put the emphasis back on primitive top-notch production.” - JonBoka
The tune ‘Strength’ was written for my partner Bozanne Evans. This EP is dedicated to her.
Side note: The tracks ‘I’ and ‘Strength’ were originally going to be released as UNITY006 on the label ‘Unity Through Sound’ before they folded after their fifth release.
I didn’t want the release to go to waste so decided to put them out on my label taking advantage of the 12” format by including a personal favorite of mine ‘Life’ and Ill_Ks monstrous remix of ‘I’.
This is my most personal release to date and I hope you enjoy it.
EARTHTRAX was formed in 2016, taking inspiration from many styles but with a shared focus on high quality bass driven music. Our musical productions can vary and span across many genres, including Dubstep, Reggae, Dancehall, Jungle, Techno, Electro and Ambient, but are unified by a common approach to production. We care a great deal about how we present our music and physical formats are integral. Externalising ideas and making song concepts manifest through art, both sonic and visual is imperative to us as a label. We aim to provide a platform that supports creative freedom and encourages artistic expression regardless of medium or form.
The ETX series focuses on sound-system oriented and vocal material. To kick off the series this first release consists of two tracks from two of the guys behind the label, Obeah & Prynox, longside Rider Shafique.
Track A 'Fix Up' is propelled by militant drums and thunderous baselines which support the sublime vocals Rider Shafique. Both the vocal and instrumental deliver a contemporary but authentic sound
Track B 'Influence' is undeniably of a UK sound with references to Grime and Dubstep, but holds on to strong Dub/Roots characteristics which are key to the ETX series.
This is the first in a series of remixes of tracks from Dubkasm’s acclaimed 2018 LP, Rastrumentals. The 10” opens with Alter Echo and Zam Zam/Khaliphonic label co-head E3, who have an impressive list of previous collaborators including Lee Perry, Pinch and The Bug. The Portland, Oregon duo have taken the driving roots energy of ‘Lei Áurea’ and used pounding drums, flurries of aggressive foley and veering synth attacks to flip it into an apocalyptic dancehall banger.
Side B comes courtesy of recent Bristol arrival Om Unit, a truly unique producer and DJ, headlining shows around the world, and collaborating with artists as diverse as Goldie, Joker, and Machinedrum. Always impossible to classify, his remix of LP opener ‘Eco do Jongo’, , dives deep into dub territory, its ethereal, stripped-back nyabinghi drumming, crystallised synths, and a slipstream of horns bringing Ras B’s righteous message to the fore
This release has been expertly mastered via 1/2” tape by Lewis at StarDelta, and is backed and distributed by Unearthed.
a1. Dubkasm - Lei Áurea (Alter Echo & E3 Remix)
b1. Dubkasm - Eco Do Jongo feat. Ras B (Om Unit Remix)
TRUSIK travels eastward again to meet Back to Chill mainstay HELKTRAM whose technoid dubstep constructions have been operating under the radar with just two releases from Banana Stand Sound and Encrypted Audio back in 2016. That is until now.
Sounding like the production line of a steel plant, “Suggestive Effect” gallops with metallic sonics and coilgun snares as the low end ripples and undulates speaker cones apart in its single minded purpose.
“Insecure” fizzes with electromagnetic hum, airlock whispers, clinical atmospherics, and the sonar blips of techno while remaining firmly within the dubstep realm, that is, until midway through when the bassline morphs into something more fluid than the half-time stomp of most dubstep.
Finally, “Iron Box” is a dyed-in-the-wool wobbler. Possessed only by a simple, mindvirus melody, the track lets the sub handle the heavy lifting with the immediately groovy low end science that is within dubstep’s DNA.
Having seen major support from Joe Nice and Goth-Trad across the years, HELKTRAM and Japanese dubstep in general needs more praise for their tireless work in making dubstep a truly global genre. With their eighth release, TRUSIK hopes to expand the record boxes of DJs everywhere and showcase HELKTRAM’s prowess in sub bass science.
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