Beats News

Edition Akasha launches with 'Forest Beams' by Eira Haul, proudly presenting a sonic crosscut of the Berlin artist's captivating take on UK textures and tempos, fused by a visceral feel for bright melodic touches.

Dark is the forest and deep, and overhead
Hang stars like seeds of light
In vain, though not since they were sown was bred
Anything more bright.

Edition Akasha launches with 'Forest Beams' by Eira Haul, proudly presenting a sonic crosscut of the Berlin artist's captivating take on UK textures and tempos, fused by a visceral feel for bright melodic touches.

As the rude bass stepper 'Forest Beams' rubs shoulders with the jovial, off-kilter techno of 'Oak', and the trance trip 'Cosmic Body' takes flight towards the introspective halftimer 'Kilim', euphoria and melancholy waltz in harmony atop soaring beats throughout this nod to Akasha Festival's Forest floor. At midpoint, Tornado Wallace compliments the tour de force that is EDAK001 with his 'Lights Off Mix' of 'Oak' - a cheeky balearic breakbeat rendition bringing summer firmly into focus.

Another UK Garage classic on Dark Grooves by the King Jeremy Sylvester, under the moniker of SLY.

Probably the ultimate detroit's filthiest record on casa voyager. A1s Only.

Massive debut release for UK producer Social Rhythm on new blockchain art collective Oblivious Transfer! + spot varnish sleeve and poster insert by London street artist The Real Dill, with digital download card included. The record highlights rave and sampling culture, whilst paying homage to previous innovators across multiple genres. Hot tip for the 90's Intelligent Drum & Bass enthusiast!

Back by popular demand is DJ Crisps with his third solo contribution to the Time Is Now catalogue: the fierce 4-tracker which explores the many flavours of garage and justifies the Rotterdam producer's ever-growing ubiquity in today's UKG circuit.

Kicking off proceedings is "Keep It Up" - a high-octane speed garage banger, prepped with intervals of slamming reverse sweeps which carry their own rhythm. After "Alright's" unique blend of old skool grime samples and diva-esque vocals which play in dialogue beneath a sharp two-step beat, "Today" strips things back a little with a modest bassline melody and ragga vocals. Finally, with pitched-up, syrup smooth vocal licks "Bounce" captures UKG at its most soulful.

Haron's Taxa EP dips into a world of fizzing electronics and draws from it four potent club mutations. Having explored spacious ambient on 2018's well-received Wandelaar, the Dutch producer shifts his attention to full-body rhythms. These newly prepared compositions, the first club release on Queeste, are dappled with synthesised colour and unexpected timbral shifts, aligning the producer with global bass permutations while maintaining his own playful course. The skittering dancefloor percussion of opening track 'Drosera' immediately signals this shift in direction, leading effortlessly into the tightly coiled drums of 'Benthos' whose name is taken from the community of organisms that dwell on the seabed. In a nod to Wandelaar's serene tones, the track ends with weightless ambience alongside snippets of human voices, a single moment of stillness on a release elsewhere defined by movement. 'Pantala' is pristine computerised dancehall teeming with disembodied samples and impressionistic swirls of noise before Taxa ends with 'Pincertail' whose bustling syncopations recall UK funky at its nimblest. No less evocative than his beatless work, on this release Haron has crafted his own idiosyncratic abstraction of club music, one imbued with joyful melodies and a giddy, pleasingly destabilising sensibility.

UK label Wisdom Teeth closes out 2021 with a synchronised double drop from label heads Facta and K-LONE.

K-LONE’s Zissou follows on from where his 2019 EP Sine Language left off, bringing together the four corners of his broad yet coherent style. The title track is a ruthlessly efficient Baltimore club tool driven by duelling vocal chops and rolling sub-heavy kicks. Next up, Airtight is bustling and bright, with a winding bossa melody rolling out on top of a wildly syncopated percussive groove. On the flip, K-LONE continues his exploration of UK garage and proto-dubstep styles with Deluxe - a warping, hi-tek 2-step banger that reimagines the early Tempa sound with a newly refurbed hi- spec gloss. To close, Softie contrasts vast dubtechno chords with a bone-dry woodblock beat and nimble microhouse edits.

Velvet Velour makes his EP debut on the 2nd outing for Scratch Discs. Each records comes with a scratch card and prizes to be won!

Leeds twosome Soul Mass Transit System have been one of the success stories of the last 18 months, with their bass-heavy blends of UK dance music styles old and new gracing such labels as Timeisnow, Warehouse Rave and Dr Banana. Their latest EP, the pair's second outing on Instinct, is another strong offering. They begin with the seductive, sub-powered two-step revivalism of '1 ofa Kind', before reaching for darker sonic textures, serious wobble bass and echoing ragga snippets on 'Extremely Dangerous'. 'Never Turn My Back' is a pleasingly bouncy chunk of bassline-influenced two-step heat, while 'Turn The Lights Down' ratchets up the low-end pressure while showcasing chiming melodies and ultra-dreamy pads. High-grade garage business that should be an essential for anyone who loves two-step.

Shall Not Fade champions its hometown of Bristol for this next release on the Time Is Now White Label series; Daffy has built a name for himself on the local scene putting out forward-thinking garage on labels to watch like Dim Sum Records and Equal People. This will be his first full vinyl EP and it's not one to miss.

Run Around EP builds up the tension throughout; starting off with "Put Your Feet Up", a ghostly atmospheric piece with a sparse beat, sprinkling of ear candy and crescendo of headsy melodies. The title track oozes a growling bassline beneath staccato vocal snatches - it's a deconstructed style of garage that maintains tension while adding a dreamlike quality. More tension encompasses "Nerves" alongside teases of low end wobbles and harsh breaks that coalesce into a punishing jungle track.

"Lost Again" brings in the B-side with this same energy, an explosion of rolling breaks forming the backbone of this rouch and ready Metalheadz style crowd pleaser, calling out to the rave. "Mishap" serves up ragga vocals, impenetrable sub bass and pouncing two-step ripe for a reload, all rounded off with "Wasp's Nest" - a raucous, no holds barred climax to the EP.

Cressida has carved a space in the hollows between UK bass culture and Berlin's techno heritage, skilfully siphoning the finer side of breakbeat, garage, grime without ever falling into lanes of predictability. This sonic identity he's built has firmly levelled up with "Can You Sleep Like This" - his most personal record to date. This is Cressida not just paying an ode to UK electronic music lineage, but cementing a place within it.

The unstoppable force that is Interplanetary Criminal returns to Time Is Now teamed up with up-and-coming DJ Cosworth. The Mancunian, one of the first artists to release on the imprint, and the Londoner making his debut, pack a punch with three chest rattling tracks making up Ruff EP.

Hyper two-step underpins 'Trust Me', a stuttering unconventional bassline stinker which sets a tone of unpredictability. The high octane breaks that explode from 'Ruff (Hyper Mix)' catch the listener equally off-guard, Ripgroove-style drop added for good measure. 'Jumpin' feels minimalist in comparison, with just hints of a thunderous sub-bass for tension building heads-down business.

Ruff EP drops 3rd December via Time Is Now.

Joining us for the 5th instalment of the Lost City Archives volumes is the one and only Main Phase. Going from strength to strength in the UKG scene. He's put together this EP showcasing his versatility over an array of styles.

Two ruffneck jungle dance floor killers, an Eski 2 step edit & for good measure a piece of 140 reminiscent of early DMZ. Safe to say this one will fly out

Please welcome to the Time Is Now family one of the scene's most exciting talents. London-based drum specialist, Bluetoof, brings the heat with a multigenre 4-track EP, featuring a weighty refix from the likes of Manchester badman, and close compadre, Interplanetary Criminal. A multi-faceted EP to keep its listener on their toes. The title track gets things off to a steady start with a minimal bassline and complex percussion, inspired rhythmically by breaks but textured by layers of hollow drums which lend it a more organic sound. Next up, "Perilous" takes things on a darker, more bottom-heavy turn with a traditional two-step beat and a womping bassline, suited to the club's early hours. As to be expected, "That Got Dark" continues in the same vein. The focus remains on percussion with a skipping, half-broken rhythm which is interrupted momentarily by breaks overtaken by a stomping 4/4 beat. Finally, enter Time Is Now family member, Interplanetary Criminal, who extends the 4/4 propulsion to create a pacey speed garage banger.

The 18th offering from Instinct features four different acts, each with their own take on moving the dancefloor. Pinder P has a funky house/UK garage flavour to it but laced with wonderfully deep bass heavy and shaky enough to dislodge fillings. Papa Nugs' 'Super Beagle' delves even further into the raw aesthetics of early hardcore and especially the reggae-tinted futurism of Shut Up & Dance, Ragga Twins and Hype. DJ Crisps has arguably the least retro sound, relying on very steady and sturdy, more US garage-slanted beat foundations, before the EP is rounded off with the bubbling, skippy 'Only You' from Yosh, re-connected with a subtle reggae flavour to its UKG swagger.

4 bits of top tackle from one of ukg's finest, DJ Perception.

The mix features an introduction by Wesley Joseph and exclusive tracks from friends and collaborators Skee Mask, Or:la, Gaunt, Avon Blume and Ehua as well as the playful and energetic new track from Vynehall himself 'Sugar Slip (The Lick)'.

Vynehall effortlessly traverses across genres from spoken word and ambient, to breakbeat, gqom and afro-house.

"The output of fabric's label holds a special place for me. During my teens into early twenties the musical landscape I was exposed to broadened, and my taste diversified greatly; going to shows, making music, and swapping new finds with friends. fabric had a huge part to play in shaping what I heard and was exposed to via their mix & compilation series. The first two I heard were Swayzak's 'fabric 11', and James Murphy & Pat Mahoney's 'FABRICLIVE 36'. Both these CDs helped open the door to a wider palette of sounds. Not only did I delve deeper into the compilations post & prior, but I learned about what I enjoyed when it comes to DJing - dynamics. That was the aim of my entry into the fabric discography. A dynamic mix with a cohesive sonic narrative running through it with the club in mind. I feel incredibly lucky to be putting forward my take on something that helped to shape how I approach what I do when I DJ."

Leon Vynehall will be taking over fabric for a personally curated night of live music and DJs on Friday 8th April 2022.

Repress 2017 Anniversary Reiissue of this Oizo Cult Classic EP Tracks

REPRESS!

London’s very own; Lavonz, Perception, Ollie Rant and Ell Murphy link up for an extra special project. Their ‘Beat City’ collaboration delivers everything you need and more for your 2021 ‘Summer of Love’.

First up on the A side, 2 vocal UKG slammers, featuring stunning vocals from Ell Murphy, before the flip takes you into the slightly darker side. Classic 2-step for those peak time dancefloor moments…

Toma Kami returns to Livity Sound for a third EP of provocative, experimental club gear. At the helm of his own Man Band label the French producer continues to explore a hybridised style which favours fractured beats, playful samples and occasional psychedelic flourishes.

Compared to the busier sound of previous releases, minimalism informs Toma’s approach on LIVITY053 as he sits his crunchy drums and weighty low-end in a tangibly spacious mix on ‘Amapicante’. Even within a stripped-down context, his unique approach shines through as ‘Later To The Bone’ progressively ramps up in scratched and scuffed sonic interference and ‘Mzecal’ trips over its own fragmented found-sound drum formations.

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.

Soul Mass Transit System returns to Time Is Now with the weighty ‘Blocked’ EP featuring a collaboration with legendary vocalist Killa P.

Mysterious producer Soul Mass Transit System has been pumping out some serious twelves this year, with killer cuts on labels such as Warehouse Rave, Time Is Now & Rhythm & Vibe. His latest outing ‘Blocked’ EP is the rising producers weightiest work to date, lead track ‘Blocked’ featuring legendary ex Roll Deep member Killa P does some serious damage, backed with three rolling UKG cuts of groovers and movers, best played loud.

Banoffee Pies Records release their 10th edition to the Original Series with "Move Tools". One of many channels within the BPR umbrella which dedicates itself more closely to left field dance floor cuts, this time in the form of a solo EP from production master Interplanetary Criminal. The 4 track collection hosts three UKG delights which are bound to disrupt dancefloors all over with their weighty UK feel and extreme sub workouts.

The other tracks come as a tried and tested DJ Tool "Move" on the A2 which comedically slips between a joyous disco sample and a bruising 4x4 laser beat. In nostalgic form the B side closes with a dusty and euphoric, late night garage cut full of emotion.
BP x

A new label from the team behind the "contemporary jungle" imprint Repertoire. Rave styles from the UK garage, hardcore and techno continuum.

The next ten-inch cut of the Time Is Now series comes courtesy of Nicky Soft Touch. These four tracks are a taste of things to come, handpicked from an as-yet-unannounced double LP the
Bristol native has had in the works since 2019.

Nicky Soft Touch's recent outings include two dusty hip-hop dubplates on London's Ghost Notes Worldwide; for Lonely City Sampler he explores a more British sound. Using a tape deck and a pile of old jungle tapes, cut-up snippets were crafted into an audio collage balancing ambience with rave style crescendos. Driving dubwise bass dominates 'Lost In A Sea Of Rolling Eyes'
while disrupted breakbeats meet stuttering chords in 'Lonely City Cut 4'. The closing track's
garage-inflected UK techno beat is haunted by spaced out diva vocals, a melancholic mover for
city nights.

Lonely City Sampler drops December 10th via Time Is Now.

Taking a quick break from their usual STRWB sales, Fraise proudly presents a two track 10" EP from the tool traders themselves D&P.

After many years of saving the mundane dancefloor with their up-beat crowd pleaser productions, They've finally let us into their toolshed to bring you two tracks built for all types of soirées.

We hope you're ready to move to D&P's Party Tools

Shall Not Fade is cultivating a tight family of producers for the Time Is Now imprint, showcasing some of the freshest garage and breaks - London based DJ Yosh is well-established within that family now, returning for his second EP of 2021.

Like the last,expect killer cuts of breakbeat madness, built for the darkest clubs and the wildest nights. Tactics EP opens with the rough and ready "Strike Back", harsh percussion and screeching rave stabs that make the heart race and sets the tone for the record. Returning to a more classic sound on "Just Like That", Yosh smatters syncopated samples with UKG elements to create a throbbing dance track.

"Drifted" catches the listener off-guard - chilled out pads that give way suddenly to layers of breaks that make for a dark and dirty jungle breakdown, pushing at breakneck speed into "Hypnotise Me", a rolling tool inflected with garage-esque melodies. EP closer "Gen 1" feels like the wind-down of a rave, stuttering breaks and echoed vocals slowing to a sweaty, satisfied end.

Almost exactly a year after Tower Block Dreams' Time Is Now debut and the launch of our white label series, the UK-born, Madrid-based producer returns with a club-ready 5 tracker which fuses together the most danceable facets of UKG, grime and breaks.

The opening track "Bare Dubs" pays tribute to UKG's antecedents in pirate radio with sporadic MC vocal samples and a womping bassline. The product: a soundsystem banger with a disjointed, yet fiercely controlled two-step rhythm and grimey, extended basslines a la So Solid Crew and early Scratcha. Flip over the record and the A-side's cold rigour is swapped out for a sultry groove.

Euphoric piano stabs and playful R'n'B vocal chops energise "If You Want The Reload" and video-game-esque bleeps lend "Last One From Me" its blissed-out melody. But don't get too comfortable. The aptly-named "From The Top" sees a return of the opening tracks' grime sensibilities and introduces an FM static atmospheric to take things back to the old school.

Time Is Now White Vol.12 drops 25th February 2022 via Time Is Now.

Banoffee Pies Records 19th release in the Original Series lands with a very special solo EP entitled "Static" from Melbourne based Producer/DJ, Pugilist. Alex has been making incredible selections of bass infused, UK and Dub tinged music for many years. A fitting welcome on BPR as the label hits it's 8 year anniversary since its inception in 2014. The platform continues to evolve with an ever growing number of releases representing different sounds across its sublabels and many blossoming side projects alongside.

To honour the frequent mood changes and feelings of relative isolation experienced in the last 2 years, the A side aims to reconnect those lost moments with "Déjà Vu" & "Future Retro" - both tracks channeling a UK centric sound for the dancefloor and a further proof of the depth and quality found across Pugilist's back catalogue. The B side flaunts a completely parallelled sound palette with "Static", a down tempo dubby track partnered by the beautifully stylish "Sky Blue". A combination of anthems and cloud hopping ballads for the record collectors. Much love, BPR. X

Mastered: Optimum

Distributed by: KUDOS Records

Pressed: MPO

Northern stars of the Time Is Now series, Soul Mass Transit System, are back for their fourth full-length outing on the popular garage imprint with All I Need. The duo, both established producers in their own right, bring infectious grooves and cheeky samples to shake off the winter blues to.

Sax-infused opener "Freak-ee" serves up shuffling two step and retro vocals - gentle diva intonations giving a housier edge to the sound. "Show U Love" criss-crosses between crooner samples and a classic, dirty dub-driven delight for late night punters.

Skippy snares and cleverly glitched up samples make an earworm melody in "All I Need (Deepa Inside)", before the tempo is pumped up speed garage style for the closing track "The Message". If the rumbling dubwise melody doesn't control the dancefloor, the tantalisingly elongated second drop will.

The debut release from Time Is Now - originally released as a Bandcamp exclusive. Four cuts of UKG goodness.

Four heavy weight steppers sourced from the streets of Leeds, for them dark basements and early morning afters, brought to you from two new bad bwoys on the scene D. Jason & Baby J.

DJ Python’s Worldwide Unlimited net Lisbon legend Blastah for a bag of sensuous, playfully animated dembow, drill and kuduro mutations that sit ever so sweetly beside the label’s gems from Sangre Nueva and Henzo.

Blastah blesses his debut firmware with a dreamily memorable set of six concise, lowkey burners that hover around reggaeton’s 100-110BPM brackets. Over the years he’s developed an online penpal relationship with Brian Piñero aka DJ Python, naturally leading to this shared conception of romantic club music with a mutable bent that lends itself just as easily to end-of-night slow jam sections as low lit bedrooms.

The vibe is perfectly sensuous and set in woozy soft focus, from the Elysia Crampton-esque, dusky fusion of R&B pads and soundsystem stabs on ‘Raining’ to the neck-caressing nod to Timbaland and Timberlake in its ‘Closer’. A heartical deep house dembow sound is echoed on ‘Cendres’, and a prime fusion of US drill softened with subtropical appeal shapes ‘Unknown’ and the slinky, subbass-gilded minimalism of ‘Call’, while ‘Fish Friends’ most clearly betrays his taste for late night Lisbon tarraxho.

Up-to-the-moment, inch-tight, timeless pearls for the dancehall lovers.

YOUTH serve the club with heavyweight chops by Kampala’s Authentically Plastic and Paris’ Emma DJ & Toma Kami to set the label’s 2022 schedule on the bad foot.

Scanning the contemporary dancehall for wayward mutations, ‘Y16TH’ hails the “free form femme f uckery” of Authentically Plastic for their first shot beyond Nyege Nyege Tapes’ celebrated comp ‘L’Esprit De Nyege 2020’, while producer-of-the-moment Emma DJ displays their mutability beside fellow Paris native Toma Kami. It’s a surefire switch from YOUTH's run of long players in 2021, giving the contemporary club what it needs with two template-crumpling takes that rove around the edges of dancehall science.

Authentically Plastic pit the queered club sound of Kampala on ‘Strakka’, hammering out a martial sort of Congo tekno woodblock tattoo in the bone rattling percolations and sweltering industrial clangour of ‘Strakka’ - a strong tip for fans of Crystalmess and Slikback. On the flipside Emma DJ follows their mixtape for UIQ and a VTSS hook-up on a more squashed collaboration with Livity Sound’s Toma Kami, nimbly stepping in the cracks between grime and new Central African styles with sharp-cut but warped cyberdub tekkerz.

The deadliest YOUTH in a hot minute.

Kobe JT showcases his sonic malleability on TINWHITE011: a tight 4-track EP which guides its listener assertively around the scene-defining avenues of UKG, from melodic garage house to dark two-step swings.

Blissful piano chords, vocal chops and skipping house rhythm imbue the opening track, "All I Do" with a soulful, uplifting groove. Equally as driven by melody, "Next DJ" makes room for more dynamic lower-ends as Kobe teams up with Northern force, The Phat Controlla, to deliver a club-ready speed garage banger.

The record's second half exposes the darker underbelly of Kobe's sound: hostile sub groans shade the stripped-back stepper "Lost In The Club" whilst the fragmented vocals on "Hope" lends the EP's full-bodied closer with an uneasy intensity.

If you start with a tune like Keep On Movin’, more a national treasure than simply a classic, you really have to do something special with the remix. As you’d expect from the team that brought you the original song back in 1989, Funki Dred Records have revisited their triumph in four unique mixes the bring it right up to date, while celebrating the legacy it left and the heritage that surrounded it.

The Zepherin Saint Go-Go mix has all the pulsating rhythm of that DC vibe, but cushioned with horns and keyboards for an almost orchestral, very Soul II Soul street-meets-sophistication arrangement – if they start making blaxploitation films in again, this is where you’d look to find a theme song.Booker T takes a very different approach, as the urgency of the vocal pushes the tempo yet never gets too frantic as the whole thing is anchored by a trancey reading of the original’s melody, which keeps feet on the ground while making them move. The Satta Dub Mix is a dub masterclass that doesn’t simply strip the elements out, but opens the tune up with the precision of a scalpel to reveal the intricate layers of the melody lines and how the rhythm was stacked beats and chords to create patterns you just can’t ignore with enough bounce and echoing dub technique to keep everybody on their toes. The Salsa Mix, however, is the most exciting and will be a joy for not just Soul II Soul fans, but anyone who appreciates music with a no limits approach. North London meet South America in a explosion of salsa swing and Funki Dred beats, that brings the best out of each - there’s even a flamenco guitar and talking drums.

While this Latin-flavoured mash-up is the epitome of Jazzie B and Soul II Soul’s 40-year history of making moves other people might not have dreamed of, all four of these remixes celebrate daring but meticulous approach to everything they did. And it’s this attention to detail as they reapproach one of Soul II Soul’s finest moments, that ensures each of these tunes lives up to the famous motto “A happy face, a thumpin’ bass, for a lovin’ race”

Hypho is a producer fast building acclaim for his rowdy late-night cuts, stirring a melting pot of genres that exemplify British dance music sounds and catching releases on renowned UK labels like Swamp 81. After his collab with label favorite Interplanetary Criminal on Time Is Now Allstars Vol.3, the young Mancunian returns with a white label full of rumbling bass hits.

Opening on a sparse garage beat which explodes into distorted sub madness, 'London Tower Blocks '94' is ready to tear up basement dancefloors. Interplanetary Criminal's stormy refix hits hot'n'heavy on the ears, dub siren ringing out into the rave stab-infused 'None Of Them', featuring hypnotising flows from Logan. UKG workout 'Get Bun' closes out the EP, pulling no punches with pacey bassline ruffage.

Remixes of select tracks from Bella Boo’s highly regarded 2019 debut album Once Upon A Passion
- from top UK beatmaker Shy One and Norwegian sensation Karima F as well as Studio Barnhus
supergroup Off The Meds and label co-founder Kornél Kovács.