Beats News

6blocc "Thuggish" (Bone Thugz N Harmony) Stick Bubbly & Hydee "Forgot About Dre" (Canadian duo knock West Coast anthem outta th park) 6blocc "How High" (blunted refix w/Method Man & Red Man) 6blocc - Fu Gee La (Tha Fugeez).

Throwing Snow remix and Glitterbug's Pink Snow Ball Remix

Kalbata is Ariel Tagar, is a bass music pioneer from Tel Aviv. Regardless of genre, his distinct musical approach comes through in everything he does - a deep affection for the lowest of frequencies and a collection of vintage effects and instruments which guarantee his razor sharp beats will always have a warm analogue feel, floating in a pool of endless ripples and echoes. Kalbata spent the naughties in east London and was a part of the city's squat party scene. His first productions fusing tuff electro bass and techno made their way into Dave Clark and DJ Hell's sets. Witnessing first hand the beginnings of grime and dubstep, Kalbata was taken by these new sounds, connecting the dots between his ravey start and his deep involvement with London's reggae sound system culture. The inevitable link quickly found its way to his own productions and soon enough, his studio skills became in demand with a line of big remixes for artists such as Roll Deep, Spank Rock, Fat Freddy's Drop, Jacoozi, Sunship and more. In 2009, Kalbata was the man behind the mysterious 'Ninja We Ninja' white label, championed by the likes of Toddla T, Benga, and N-Type (who included it in his Rinse:09 mix-CD). His recent dub release on Soul Jazz won support from heavyweights such as The Bug, Freq Nasty, RSD, and Sinden. This year has also seen the release of Kalbata's 'Wallabee' on Double Science, a dark garage chant featuring a brilliant remix by Cosmin TRG. His latest outing, for Yellow Machines, finds Kalbata paying true tribute to his hardcore roots, mixing it up with a dub and future garage vibe, and both tracks have been secret weapons in many DJ sets for a while now. 'Artikal Youth' delivers pure dancefloor damage as a garage shuffling beat builds to the drop, unleashing the heaviest dub bassline that will slay the crowd in any rave, and bleeps work their way in and out of the track to set up a future rolling ride. On 'Helem', staggered 2 step killer tech rhythms offer a glimpse of a twisted vision of future garage. Robotic bleeps and hair-raising wood percussions build up to the drop, then a squelchy and dense bassline winds through the tech infused landscape, where elements of old school hip hop can also be heard.

With some killer releases under it's belt, including 16 Bit's "Jump" which features on the latest Nike advert with Rooney & Torres, Southside Dubstars has decided to release a double CD with some bangers from the past and lots of new material aswell with some tasty exclusives too!

Southside Dubstars Greatest Hits Volume One is an unmixed double CD with tracks from Benga, Skream, 16 Bit, N-Type, Plastician, Wiley, Mundo, Kromestar, Mr Keys, Nevamiss, F-One, Hatcha, MRK 1, Slaughter Mob, Droid, Bad Influence, Cyrus
and last but not least Soul Sinners!

The CD contains 5 tracks which are exclusive to this release from:
Wiley (2) - Droid - MRK 1 - Mr Keys

Amoss - 'Glurg Monster' The atmospheric environment takes you on a journey that steadily rises & then falls into melodic breakdowns. There's an extreme contrast of slow warping, deep & dirty sublow basslines that gives this track a general dubby style, overlayed with fastpaced complex percussion patterns and face slapping snares. The Glurg Monster's been released! aa. Amoss - 'Create More' The flip side is quite minimalistic & glitchy, yet it's still dancefloor & rolling. The tune's intelligent progression builds all the way to the second drop, with steppy punchy kicks & snappy snares, bleeps & techy effects, intricate percussion & harmonious strings. Currently receiving heavy DJ Support from Spectrasoul, Loxy, Data, Outrage, Doc Scott, Sunchase, AMC & many more!

Auxiliary is the new label from ASC. It's goal is the continuation of the Autonomic sound, that has risen to popularity over the last year or so. US based ASC has just released his debut LP on Nonplus Records entitled 'Nothing Is Certain' and he now feels the time is right to launch his own label showcasing his unique sound.ASC has always been involved with the more experimental end of Drum & Bass having released music on such influential labels as Offshore and Warm Communications inspired by the works of 808 State, Art Of Noise, The Prodigy, Blame, Odyssey, Future Sound Of London, Slowdive, Monolake, Polar & Autechre.Starting out with what has to be one of the most eagerly awaited tracks this year, The Touch finally sees a release. It's become a bit of an Autonomic anthem and Vaccine's lush 140 retake on the flip enlists the vocal talents of Riya, and makes sure that this plate gets maximum exposure from heads pushing different tempos.

Asusu is a west-country producer with roots in hip hop, whose style has developed and evolved over time to take in current flavours of garage, dubstep and dub techno. You can immediately hear the 2 step garage influence in the drum lines on this 12'. Asusu perfectly couples ticking, skipping beats with bass thump and looping machine melody to produce two tunes with incredible pace and drive. However, more than simply bolting extra elements on to a garage framwork, Asusu finds a place of fusion where bass weight and techno motifs are as integral to the track's vibe as the flickering elasticted rhythms on which they ride. Both sides are deep and meditative but still very much built for for the dancefloor

The label's sixth release is no exception. DVA's remix of Cooly G's 'Dis Boy' turns an already seductive track into a spaced-out dream: in the place of Cooly's stripped down production it's got all the psychedelic electronic subtleties and twists you might expect to hear in a Berlin techno tune, but actually brings her sophisticated vocal melodies more to the fore than the original version. The rhythm's syncopations, meanwhile, move along in lazy leaps as if dancing in lowered gravity. Bok Bok and L-Vis 1990 perform a similar job of total transformation on DVA's own 'Jelly Roll'. They play the original's cheeky, cheery melody backwards, forwards, sideways and upside-down, bouncing it off itself in a hall of audio mirrors and allowing glassy synths to slide between the beats and bass. It's a strange, slightly sinister and intoxicating reworking - one to get lost in. Bonus track '32Da4~ is something else entirely; as you may guess from the title it's in 3 time - a bizarre, slithering dubstep waltz that flows out of the speakers and around itself in unique style. Lesser producers would build whole movements on such an innovative tune, but for DVA it's just another step in a compelling musical evolution.

Doc Daneeka just got a new pair of shoes. In his infinite wisdom, he decided to release an EP of brand new music to go with his shiny new daps - so here it is! The Television EP is a four-song release that finds the tunesmith continuing work on his strain of post-garage, which includes a collaborative song with one-fourth of production outfit C.R.S.T., fellow Welshman Rodski.

Right from the word go, when Simon 'sHack' Shackleton created Elite Force the moniker became synonymous not only with gilt-edged class but also with the ability to deliver guaranteed club carnage time and time again. Straddling styles and riding roughshod across genre lines, both as a DJ and producer, Elite Force has carved an enviable reputation as an innovator, never staying still creatively long enough to be pigeon holed or trapped in a single scene.

As sHack puts it himself: "I decided to embark on a whole new extension of the re-edit idea looking at creating a number of brand new tracks out of components taken from older tunes... proper mash-ups. Some were born out of simple live jams that evolved into finely tuned studio creations, whilst others were ground-up rebuilds where I was effectively writing new pieces of music using samples from other tracks. There was no fixed way of working and no sacred cows that went un-plundered."

The result of this new approach is Re:Vamped a seamless excursion through Elite Force's unique record bag taking in artists as diverse as Danielle Papini, Hugg & Pepp, Classixx and Bassbin Twins. Kicking off with the pounding kicks of Final Whistle sHack takes to the task with relish fusing French funksters Popof and Delon & Daclan with Lee Coombs & Dylan Rhymes before slipping into the euphoric energy of Red Lights & Lasers. Barbar Blaze's bouncing b-line takes no prisoners as Palmer Brown's searing a capella from Blaze's 'Do You Remember House~' takes the track into the realms of uncharted mayhem, Harness The Nonsense sees sHack doing just that, entering heads down territory for a run of superlative cuts reassembling recent clubbing history into a whole that effortlessly transcends the sum of its parts. Dissecting elements of Propellerheads, Blatta & Inesha, Wolfgang Gartner and Meat Katie and assimilating them into a world of fierce subs, cavernous beats and incessant leads, before stitching them back together with consummate ease, Re:Vamped is brought to a heavyweight close with a re-reading of Bar 9's Shaolin Style that underlines Elite Force's musical vision faultlessly.

NIGHT HUNTER is the debut release from FIS-T on new south London UK hybrid label '502 Recordings'. 502 represents new sounds born out of the collision of many modern forms of UK underground music. Taking a focus on the new hybrid sounds of dubstep, grime, house and garage, 502 brings North London house and funky producer FIS-T forward with his underground haunted-house smash Night Hunter. The track has been bubbling on the underground for over a year now with noted support from some of the UK scenes top DJs. Originally released digital-only through iTunes in November 2009 by FIS-T's 'Boom Ents' label, 502 bring it to you fully mastered on 12~ 180g vinyl and digital re-masters to follow.
Bok Bok [Night Slugs / Rinse FM] - 'You know u have my full support on this. Been playing Night Hunter in every set, what a massive tune. The first tune in a long time to draw for wobbles and get it 100% right.'
Ben UFO [Hessle Audio / Rinse FM] - 'Yes. Been looking forward to this!!'
Jackmaster [Numbers] - 'Full Support!'
Ramadanman [Hessle Audio / Swamp 81] - 'Big!'
Greenmoney [Ministry of Sound / Brooklyn Radio] - 'BIGGGGGG UP FIS-T, NIGHT HUNTER IS BIGGGG'
Jon Rust [Phonica] - 'Definately one to bring out when I want to kick the kids in the guts'
Radio support also from: TODDLA T, DJ NG, ROSKA.

Boka Records hit release number 30 and they've delved deep into the Dubstep archives on this one. Innasekt's 'Cluster' has been around on Dubplate for well over a year now with the Dubstep heads still demading it's release, it's finally here! This one packs a punch, ultra deep and heavy basslines with Innasekt's signature technological atmosphere's. Backed with their remix of Sumone's (Planet Mu) track 'Zombie', a voyage into deep and atmospheric drumstep. It's been a while since Innasekt's releases on Rottun Recordings and the rumour is this could be their final release under this name. DJ Support coming from the likes of Scuba, Faib, Bunzer0, Matt-U, Moldy & Truth.

Fans of the Itchy Robot sound will go mad for this release as it has all his trade mark production technics glitchy beats and deep b-lines rule, are you ready to funky is the cry you hear from the intro. Then from the drop the drums take over and with the screeching synth and power bass matched for effect. Esoteric Sound delivers a similar sounding track although it rolls along a bit smoother with a pounding driving b-line, and echoed out One beat vocal hook.

b - Etching Not Audio!
limited one side with art on the bside ;-)

To celebrate the 4th Robots release, we locked Martin Kemp in a small room and told him to make a club smasher like Citizens Dub A week later, we let him out, only to find he'd spent his time making more weird House mutations and sampling tribal men. We wouldn't want him any other way. DJs showing love include Loefah, Brodinski, Seiji, Jackmaster, Joy Orbison, Ben UFO and MA1

Monsta kicks the EP off with Selassi, as the name suggests dubby vocals and stabs are the order of the day. A wash of sweeping pads are clutched with a tight groove and under pinned by a killer sub that will shake and bake any unexpecting bin.

As with most things, the most interesting things happening in the monolith of a genre that is dubstep are happening at the fringes. cinematic second release for the brand new Berlin label One4Ho. Borrowing syncopation concepts from other genres and combining them with eerie vocal samples, One4Ho creates a mixture of dubstep that's almost new genre in itself Using the mournful vocal and drip-drop sample from Ann Peebles' track of the same name, the wobble in 'Can't Stand The Rain' sounds like a massive industrial turbine in some torrential dystopian deluge. Dark, heavy and relentless. This tune has been receiving play from the likes of Falty DL, Starkeyand Clark, who also provides a soul crunching remix that seems to flip the original track's concept of memory, love and loss into a 3 and a half minute masterpiece of dream like emotional manipulation.

2x red coloured vinyl !!!

Bringing yet more total refreshment is Kasra's Critical movement with what is yet another example of superlative A&R'ing skills. Stray is a name that's surfaced previously on the Critical Sound album and more recently as a bonus remix on Sabre's LP but this is his first solo single release and as you can imagine with fans like Gilles Peterson waiting in the wings, it's most definitely a keeper. 'Locked Up' is a welcome shot in the arm for drum & bass heads and electronic fans alike. Fusing techno and 80's sensibilities over a razorsharp break workout, it's absolutely phenomenal. Balearic, beautiful and thoughtful music that manages to straddle the dance floor/home listening divide with ease with its soothing piano lines, simple lead and rumbling bass. One to sit and watch the sunset to, then get up and dance once the lights go down. Things get darker on the flip with 'Erase'. A life-support bleep rings from the start under cinematic strings and pads with a sparse break until an eerie soundscape dropout creeps us all out. Then back comes that break and a walking bassline as Stray starts to play with our minds dropping in some fierce old-skool edits and a synth line straight out of a horror film to make for an utterly compelling slice of experimental drum & bass. DJ support from Goldie, Logistics, Kasra, Nutone, Spectrasoul, Friction and many more.

* Strictly limited to 500 units

In the space of only 9 months, Black Box has become a buy-on-sight label for many dubstep fans, with a reliable combination of well-known artists and quality beats making it a must for everyone's record bag.

Given the amount of quality unsigned music now circulating, here at Black Box HQ we've found room for a sister label 'Box Clever', through which we plan to push cutting-edge tunes by newer artists. Each release will be sleeved in the new custom die-cut Box Clever sleeve and limited to 500 copies only for extra collectability.

To launch our new label Box Clever, we've got two tunes from one of the breakthrough artists of 2010 - SYNKRO - recently signed to dBridge's Autonomic label, as well as Med School and Blackout Music.

'Reservoir' opens with a lush soundbed of tabla and glassy pads that leads onto a hypnotising drop - rolling halfstep drums, clockwork percussion and rising swells of bass pressure, laced with LFOs and light-touch edits.

'Just Say' is introduced by soulful chords that hang in the air, joined by tough swinging drums, 808 subs and sensual vocal snippets

First single from Soul Jazz Records' new Future Bass features exclusive brand new track from Untold plus his heavyweight 'Fly Girls'. Super loud, super heavy pressing!

Compound One started as a concept while they were at the pioneering Dubstep club night FWD. Fracture had been checking out the emerging Dubstep sound and Qualifide was then hosting a weekly show on Rinse FM and had begun to mix dubstep in with his usual garage style. The timing was right, the studio session was booked...'Get Loose' was unleashed!
LANDSLIDE REMIX: What can be said about this remix~ It's next level! Landslide has done what only he can do and has managed to completely change the vibe of the track by taking it down a more bouncy, jazzy, garage route but at the same time keeping the low end and vibe of Get Loose in tact. Layers upon layers of Landslide's trademark chords & sound FX, intricate programming & solid drums cause this classic remix send shivers down your spine!
FRACTURE & QUALIFIDE 170bpm REMIX: Compound One revert to their original aliases and totally flip the script with a back to the roots deep Drum and Bass remix as a salute to their heritage. With the boundries between D&B and Dubstep slowly blurring they thought it would be the perfect time to write their first D&B collaberation since 1996! It features all the rudeness of the original but ups the tempo to give the track a new pace and feeling.

TRG drops the bpm but stands tall for his first outing on Hemlock. Eschewing any notion of 'feminine pressure' in favour of a new stripped-back, brutalist sound. A- Side 'Tower Block' Straight-estate and 808s. This is the sound of Croydon, Sheffield and Detroit past, demolished and re-built in Cosmin's unique style. On the flip 'Beton Brut' Let's get brutal. An unsteady climb through some seriously dark space towards a pounding climax. Straight-up his most bare and jacking tune to date.

Goosebumps EP feat remixes from Jamie George (Wonderful Day vocalist) and Bristol Dubstep don Gemmy. This is DJ Naughty's second release on the Kicks & Snares. Deep subs driven Funky with lustrous bass offset by hard snares and synched to dubby organ stabs to help hone your Marcus Nasty look.

Possibly one of the most anticipated tracks this year, Funtcase & Southbound Hangers have well and truly smashed it with this 'Wizard Sleeve. People have been goin bananas in pyjamas for this. Also featuring another two Funtcase brain-cell mauling tunes.

Essential,Essential ,Essential!. Wreaking havoc globally, NumberNin6's rich schizophrenic sound enjoys support by international dubstep titans including Skream, Rusko, N-Type, Plastician, and Bassnectar, as well as BBC Radio 1 DJ's Mistjam and Annie Mac. NumberNin6 (aka Nishant Parikh) whose production began in trance scene, is a master of dichotomy who meticulously fuses stark contrasts -aggressive vs. mellow, darkness vs. light -into dancefloor napalm. 'Garbage' intros with menacing lyrics and a series of warning bass stabs that evoke a grimey ghetto scenario. After the drop, all hell breaks loose with a wicked NumberNin6 signature bassline and cracking snares. This is an absolute dubstep anthem and has done it's fair share of destruction worldwide. For real. Coming with a literal double A-side, 'Hunt You Down' begins with a haunting flute melody that winds it's way up the mountain, then unloads with a massive barrage of machine gun bass stabs guaranteed to cause speaker damage and crowd destruction.

The man Ramadanman, the Ramadama-ding-dong, the Ramadizzle... on Loefah's Swamp 81 label. You know the deal, funky wonky and with extra electro boom!

Loxy & Keatons' label returns. Sunchase are making deadly, deep and hypnotic D&B, Do not sleep! Eastern Europe used to conjure images of bleak, snow-bitten landscapes and vodka-drinking Cossacks wrapped up in the remains of a bear. Up until a few years ago, it would never be a place where you instantly assume a thriving drum & bass community exists but like the rest of the world, Eastern Europe has taken a bite and got itself hooked. Sunchase has obviously pressed the right buttons because with tracks signed to Revolution, ELP and Moving Shadow amongst others, it seems his production prowess hasn't gone unnoticed. It was 'Remember Me' that really catapulted him to the ears of the D&B masses, and in particular Latvian singer Yana Kay's haunting vocal caused the likes of Concord Dawn, Fresh, Pendulum and John B to take notice.