Tracklist:

1. Fort Romeau - Night's Bridge [100& Silk] 
02. Mosca - Murderous Dub [Forthcoming Hypercolour] 
03. Nick Harris - Feel Like Movin' [Stoned Immaculate] 
04. Huxley - Feel What You Want [20:20 Vision] 
05. Maya Jane Coles - Not Listening [!K7] 

06. Kidnap Kid - Be More (James Fox Dub) [Forthcoming Black Butter] 
07. RJ Fletcher - Double Down (Rick Wade Remix) [Tact] 
08. Tech Trax Inc - Tech Trax Inc (Nicholas Remix) [Needwant] 
09. Lee Jones - Closed Circus (Nick Hoppner Remix) [CityFox] 
10. Audiojack - Stay Glued (FCL Weemix) [Gruuv] 
11. NY Stomp - Can You Feel It? (DJ Aakmael Dub) [Illusion] 
12. George FitzGerald - Child [Forthcoming Aus] 
13. Morning Factory - Looking [XMasters]

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For some not-so-traditionally summery sounds, check Anstam's predictably bass-driven and rhythmically interesting new, diverse mix. It includes cuts from artists as diverse as Loefah, Andy Stott, Venetian Snares, and Warlock. For nostalgic reasons I loved the inclusion of DZ's 'Strong on Ya', a dubstep tune I used to smash out a few years ago, that uses the Amen break brilliantly.

Tracklisting:

1 - Andy Stott - We Stay Together (Part One) 
2 - Patrick Moraz - Primitivisation 
3 - Venetian Snares - You Discovered The Secret And Juiced It For All Its Majesty 
4 - Automat - Black Star 
5 - Harmonic 313 - Problem 3 
6 - Nautiluss & Lord Skywave - Ultraviolet 
7 - Anstam - To All The Voices 
8 - Anstam - Handsome Talks The Talk 
9 - Loefah - Jungle Infiltrator 
10 - DZ - Strong On Ya 
11 - Warlock - Dogstep 
12 - Clatterbox - Agogo 

13 - Optimus - Aggravated 
14 - Zomby - Gloop 
15 - Anstam - Statical 
16 - Lung & Maxx Roach - Booty Call (Randomer remix) 
17 - Lando Kal - Maneuver 

18 - Andy Stott - We Stay Together (Part One)

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Finally, not a mix, but an epic, awesome, clutch of them: every Radio 1 Essential dating back as far as the series' inception in 1993. I've been particularly enjoying Rhythm Masters' energetic stomp out from December '96.Thank the uploader, 'das-boy (his other set on soundcloud, 'Metropolis', is full of amazing mixes and live sets too).

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Gwyn

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This came out recently, and we neglected to mention it. Soul Motive are a label who have been pushing great dubstep, garage and stuff ever since Skream & Benga were consistently good, and are one of Bristol's most singularly interesting labels. With the inauguration of sub-label, 2 Floors Down, they have abandoned themselves to the eclectic. It would be hard to define a manifesto for their increasingly diverse release schedule, but there is a premium level of quality control.

This third release comes from a hitherto unknown, Bristol-based group of musicians. The Coltrane-esque track titles are not, in fact, misleading - this record is strongly focused by jazz aesthetics and dance music rhythms. In 'Al Fattah (The Opener)', wistful brass and chiming arpeggios create a sublime longing, forming a crescendo which erupts with anthemic brass licks, sizzling crashes of live drums, all guided by soundsystem-informed wads of bass pressure. A majestic weaving of jazz, ska, and bass. 'Emanations' is reminiscent of Red Snapper at their most soulful, as fat, crispy bass-thumbing meshes with stark wide-eyed sincerity of the strings and keys. Finally, 'Emergence' - actually a club-friendly track - hinges on a broken beat rhythm (actually laid down by Futureboogie signing, Typesun, a key member of 7 Arrows). A terrifically angry reese bassline starts riding with the kick drums, and the whole comes off like a combo of Photek and Altered Natives gone accoustic and meditational, with Kuedo adding some laser-bursts of synth at key moments.

A fine, fine release, worthy of great acclaim. Buy via the soundcloud stream below.

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Gwyn

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Serbia's most illustrious music festival is less than two months away. It takes place on a huge fortress on the Danube, and began life as a student protest against Milosevic's regime, I have just learnt. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

In terms of 'bass music', as a dodgy definition of a genre (this site was named before all that thankfully), the festival's 'Happy Novi Sad' stage is all killer, apparently picked from just two of the scene's leading labels; it features Space Dimension Controller, Lone, Pariah, Teengirl Fantasy, and The Chain, George FitzGerald, Locked Groove, and Sigha.

Also featuring are very 'current' house heart-throbs like Azari & III, Art Department, TEED, Eats Everything, Claude Vonstroke, and Maceo Plex, and a bevy of the biggest British D'n'B acts. Further up the lineup are a clutch of names from more mainstream pop, dance, and techno, such as Erykah Badu, Laurent Garnier, Hercules & Love Affair, Kenny Larkin, Little Dragon, Richie Hawtin, The Gossip, and Buraka Som Sistema. It's also refreshing to see some big, rarely spotted artists like New Order, Felix Da Housecat, and Suicidal Tendencies.

All in all, not a bad proposition - especially if you win our 2 x tickets... which you can do just by ansering the following question:

All the artists on the 'Happy Novi Sad' stage are signed primarily to just two labels; which two labels are they?

The winner of the two tickets will be selected at random. Answers must have the word COMPETITION as the subject header please, and send them by email to thebassmusicblog@gmail.com ... good luck!

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Gwyn

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The Bristol R'n'Bass bigman returns, his vivid, tightly-controlled halfstep still more crystallized and belonging to no one but himself. This is dubstep with a welcome touch of the sincere and the feminine to it, notably in the subtle, almost-slinky marriage of rhythm and sub-bass. 'Flow' is a slightly acidy 'purple' stepper with an organic feel in the sound palette: an idiosyncratic but effective mix of analogue-sounding bleeps, grime strings, and more homely live cymbal patter and gentle chime flourishes. Guido's characteristically exhilarating melodic story is well restrained here, so as not to overpower Jay Wilcox's clipped rhymes and sultry crooning. For me though, the instrumental mix suffices (also on the release, though not included in the clips below). B side 'Africa' is on a very different tip, similar to Superisk and Mala's wonkier moments (such as the latter's 'Learn'); a really visceral stepper in the truest sense of the word. Buzzing synths cut through the murk of unsteadily-stacked breezeblock beats, but as always with Guido, the mood is never dark-by-numbers but always calls to mind some epic moment of heroism and action. Peerless. 

Digital is out now, and the vinyl release will be dropping in June.

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Gwyn

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Got a few for you this week. First up are a couple of Bristol-based selectors doing completely different things.

Hodge just delivered a new mix for Hyponik, featuring some fleshy, dank cuts of house and techno muscle, some real earworming rhythms that wind about in the shadows - a couple of the finest moments are the opening and closing tracks, both brand new and unreleased bits from Hodge himself: 

http://hyponik.com/2012/05/hyp-079-hodge/

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On a totally different tip, another hardworking chap in the Bristol music scene drops a heaty extravaganza of bashment and a bit of house and funky. Over sixty tracks deep, this will have you daggering yourself blue. Follow us to the mixcloud page for direct download links and tracklisting.

http://www.mixcloud.com/djfiremansam/fire-man-sam-spring-bashment-2012-this-mix-is-wukked/

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My love for South African house and kwaito sounds has been quite well documented on this blog, and this new mix from Okzharp does it properly. If you haven't heard of him, this is Gerv from LV's new solo project, and very exciting it is too; I can't wait to hear what he's producing, as LV have always been totally on-point but really underrated.

http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/return-of-okzharp.html

He'd done a mix before for Blackdown, that I always remember because in the accompanying notes Gerv talked about the way that music is transmitted via taxi in South Africa, and that they are the best place to hear the freshest tunes - some of the key producers and DJs are also taxi-drivers themselves! That first mix is here too:

http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/okzharp.html 

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Lastly, got to throw up the new mix for Sonic Router from Peckham soundkilla Altered Natives - this guy's been operating on his own frequency for years now with no regard for pleasantries. The mix is totally comprised of his own tracks, much like his sets, and offers a few tastes of the upcoming third piece in his Tenement Yard series of albums... exciting and intimidating in equal measure... check it:

http://www.sonicrouter.com/2012/05/sr-mix-130-altered-natives-eye4eye/

Have a good weekend readers! Be safe.

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Gwyn

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Sleek, functional explorations on the techno/garage axis here from Infrasonics boss Spatial on the varied and stimulating Well Rounded record label. Rhythmically interesting and well executed, these tracks are sure to be great dancefloor devices - looking forward to playing these out.

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Gwyn

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DMX Krew's latest release emerges on a new label, and clubnight offshoot, Wavey Tones (organisers of this recent, phenomenally good lineup in London). 

Complex, multi-layered machine funk vies for attention with some really quite accomplished and emotive melodic synthesizer programming. Though this EP consists of real, detailed, almost challenging 2012 electro-funk, the producer's affinity with genuinely touching and affecting tunes pulls it into the territory of 'proper songs' (that's lazy, but you know what I mean).  Fans of Todd Terje's latest quirky crowd-pleaser 'Inspector Norse' will lap up the trundling, grinning arpeggios of opener 'Mustard Parasol', while 'Decaying World' displays some unashamedly Drexciyan DNA in its yearning and discofied electro groove. The defining moment, for me, is on 'Flat Rate'. The 'difficult' melodies and monumentally odd but satisfying synth hooks, create a very Drexciyan atmosphere; this is the sonic equivalent of playing Abe's Odyssey on the Playstation. More so than with much of his recent work, the AFX influence is plain to see here, especially on the closing track, 'Three Days of Entropy'. Overall, DMX Krew pulls off everything here with magnificent, gleaming results - massive tip. Drops in June, on vinyl and digital.

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In case you hadn't noticed, Jim 'Om Unit' Coles has been blazing quite a trail lately. Never afraid to take it really slow, or really fast - ever since his unprecedented and ahead-of-its-time 2010 release on Plastician's dubstep and grime label Terrorhythm - his productions seem to have a weird gravitational pull, dripping with bass weight and beautifully-wrought synths. Apparently defined by a love of sci fi atmospherics and stone cold grooves, and the guy has yet to produce a duff track, also embarking on collaborations with Baobinga (on the latter's recent album), and explorations in the jungle/juke axis as Philip D Kick and Dream Continuum (with Machinedrum). All this considered, its pretty amazing that Jim's had time to inaugurate his own label, Cosmic Bridge Recordings, with a handful of high quality releases from Kromestar, himself, and now Moresounds.

This latest release goes off on another tangent, at times moving far away from the epic space-thug sounds of the previous few records. 'Weeda' is a stocky, spliffed out digital dancehall rub - no faux-dreadlocked cheese, but a seriously legit steppa. 'Analog Steak' gets gritty with some analog synths and stumbling, crunky hip hop drum patterns, almost everything soaked in angry distortion. Indeed, a few of the tracks on offer travel on a similar tangent to Rustie's latest work, albeit with a more 'head-down' and unsociable mood; 'Shtrakstep VIP' even recalls Skream and Benga's earliest efforts on Big Apple in its paranoid aggression. 'No Coke' reverts to the digi-dancehall template, but crosses it with Kromestar wobbles, making for an unhealthy concoction of raw, black hole funk. Release date is 21st of May, stream samples below:

Coinciding with this announcement Moresounds has recorded a new mix of "digi-dancehall junglist juke & dubbed bass beats", check it here:

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Gwyn

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Lone's new LP is quite a beauty. Fans of Matt Cutler's synthesizer magic won't be disappointed; the album seems to glow, drip, and sparkle with fountains of molten colour - the only possible parallel would be Rustie's Glass Swords album.. Every track is hedged with the whirls of blissful melody, rainfall or just elated whooshes; this is a resolutely sensory work. Cutler's earlier output, from woozy, post-Boards of Canada slump-hop, to kaleidoscopic, rushing, yet oddly watered-down warehouse techno has all been absorbed into an all-inclusive rhythmic mix, with aspects of classic house, garage, dubstep, and juke all becoming perceptible at times, certainly in the rhythm sections. Highlights for me are the gleaming, rotational-sounding synth and beat construction of 'Lying in the Reeds', and the psychotic, glorious energy of 'Crystal Caverns 1991' - which seems to insufflate every single 'moment' at every rave of the '90s. Available to buy at all the usual outlets, or to stream in full here:

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Gwyn

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Ed and Sam are in Leipzig right now (playing at Basstival at Distillery club, if your inna di area) so I'm going guide you through my picks of some recent DJ mixes that are worthy of attention. 

In a characteristically arrogant and self-indulgent manner, I'm going to begin with one of my own. With my cohort Shaun P we've just recorded a promo mix for a brand new inner city festival taking place in Bristol in a few weeks; check out the festival here. We took it from disco, through house, garage new and old, US and UK, techno, electro, what can only be described as 'bass music' and some weird things in between. For the tracklisting and download link follow the link below.

http://www.kmag.co.uk/editorial/blogs/dancefloor/love-saves-the-day-preview-mix.html

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Second serving is Om Unit's new mix. Will post about his upcoming releases on his label Cosmic Bridge very shortly, but this is an amazing showcase of his mindset and vision; he's one of the real originators at the moment. Tracklisting's in the link again.

http://finestego.com/2012/05/11/om-unit-the-world-is-simply-a-mirror-mix/

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Thirdly let's have a live one. Mr Beatnick, previously a very much hip hop tempo producer (and a fine one) has recently turned his talents to more straight up house, notably on his amazing release for Don't Be Afraid. Recorded at TB2 club in Bristol for the great Headrush clubnight (they've got BNJMN on the 19 May at the same club), this contains a great and surprising range of flavours - from R'n'B tinged swagger and jacking bleep sounds to jungle and classic dubstep (love that phrase). 

http://soundcloud.com/tb2_bristol/mr-beatnick-headrush-tb2-14-04

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Gwyn

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The next monster lineup Crazylegs brings to Bristol assembles in Blue Mountain club this Saturday, the 12th of May, and is as varied as they come, and supplemented beautifully by Headrush's inclusions of Samoyed, Outboxx and support in the second room. Crazylegs' Blue Mountain events have a tendency to get a bit epic, and this promises to be no different. Devised as the launch party for hotly-hyped Dimensions festival (Outlook for house heads), there's a competition running to win two tickets to the festival if you head to the Crazylegs fan page here; all you need to do is 'like' the image and turn up!

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For some more Bristol-related tip offs, be sure to check the ever-dependable Steak House show on Hivemind FM tonight 8-10 UK time; the special guest is Okzharp (part of LV, blogged here) showcasing his new take on Kwaito-informed dance music (also see my previous posts on Jumping Back Slash). 

"Okzharp is Gervase Gordon of LV's new project, focusing on his South African house influences. Originally from Capetown and settled in London, he brings a unique twist to the genre, mixing it with UK funky, footwork, and other styles. He was the essential cog in the hype surrounding LV's 'Boomslang' release and continues to delve further, warping the genre into something new."

I am excited.

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Lastly, Donuts, Bristol's cutting-edge fashion emporium, has just opened its mid-season sale. Affiliates of Crazylegs as well as having run important and vibe-heavy parties over the last few years, the guys who run the shop have their fingers on the pulse. If you're in Bristol this weekend, these guys are DJing at The Bell pub's fantastic Sunday session, Boundary Object.

This way to the sale.

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Gwyn

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OH91 is the Bristol young gun tipped by some to be 2012's answer to Joker, in terms of youthful prodigiousness (is that a word?). His house, garage and grime productions are turning heads at the moment; look out for this guy because I think he's going to be going places.

Head over to Get Some to check some decent words with the guy; the tunes are linked here ('after the drop' as people seem to enjoy saying - *shudder*):

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Gwyn

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A few years back, in those heady days of about 2007, I was playing a gig at a cafe in the bus station in Plymouth. I know, I know - you think I just make up these impossible tales of glamour to make myself look cool. But it did happen. Anyway, afterwards, I was introduced to this dude Phil Banks, who's a local DJ who gave me a couple of mix CD's. And they were wicked - house, disco, italo, cosmic synths - pure summer music.

So ever since I've kept an eye out for mixes by him, and a new one popped up this week - recorded live at Maggies (a tea house in the train station? I dunno) but it's wicked and I've rinsed it 3 times already. All slow-mo, swinging house, chunky swagger and blissed out atmospheres, mixed tightly too - definitely worth a download. Cop it below:

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ed

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Had a quick listen to this, and it's great - Subp Yao has been doing his thing for a hot minute, and it's a really interesting blend of aquacrunk, hip hop, juke, dubstep and all that good stuff, but done with loads of character and style.

If you like what you hear, check out his label Saturate for more goodness on a similar tip.

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Binga.

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Anyone had a play with this yet? Looks like a lot of fun - one of those times you wish you had an iPhone. For about 70p it's got to be worth a shot though - fire up the phone, run it in through your desk, drive it hard to get it clipping horribly - grime for the smartphone generation? I want a go!

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ed

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Quick splash to let you know about the next Gutterfunk release, which pulls together some of Bristol's finest talent for some bass-heavy tempo mashing. The A-side is Interface and Minus on a DnB tip, and anyone who's heard some of Interface's forthcoming stuff will know he's been on a real run of form lately. This is no exception; crisp beats atop a bed of hand-cooked sub, richly layered in organic dub FX. The flipside sees Mensah and Die team up for a breaksy 140ish outing, and very effective it is too; check both tunes below and cop them pon release next month:

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ed

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Alright, this compilation looks to be one of the most essential things released all year if you're into house music, or dance music in general really. Featuring two discs of underground club tunes from the creative heyday of the UK acid house scene, there's no obvious hits here, but just killer music, made all the better by the fact that if you weren't raving twenty years ago, you'll probably not have heard most of it.

In spite of the title, the tracks compiled are naturally a reaction in many ways to the sounds coming out of Chicago at the time. What I love about them though, and what defines the ever-mutating and amalgamating aesthetic of UK rave that we see in its infancy here, is the absorption of ideas and atmospheres from dub, pop, and trance, and the busy plastic vibrance felt in the rhythms and melodies.

To take one example, Ability II's 'Pressure Dub' is ostensibly a dub tune, but with a beat that jacks, and a bassline that prefigures the cartoon-like, jaw-shaking attitude of '94 jungle.

You can peep most of the tracks on Youtube, and you should buy this on the tenth of July when it gets released on Strut, a sublabel of !K7.

CD1
01. Bang The Party - Bang Bang You're Mine (Full Vocal Remix)
02. Window Smashers - Free To Be
03. Julian Jonah - Jealousy And Lies
04. Baby Ford - Crashing
05. Man With No Name - From Within The Mind Of My 909
06. Rio Rhythm Band - Cuba Jakkin'
07. Playtime Toons - Shaker Song
08. Jail Break - Mentality
09. Exocet - Safety Zone
10. Return Of The Living Acid - Twin Tub
11. Cxx - The Comfort Of Strangers (Mix By Rhythm Doctor)(Richard Sen Edit)
12. Julie Stapleton - Where's The Love Gone (Remix)
13. Rohan Delano - Inflight

CD2
01. Sly And Lovechild - The World According To Sly & Lovechild (Andrew Weatherall Soul Of Europe Mix)
02. Ability Ii - Pressure Dub
03. Static - Iron Orbit (J. Saul Kane Mix)
04. M. D. Emm - 1666 (Pyro-Maniac Mix)
05. Colm Iii - Take Me High (Mansion Mix)
06. S.L.F. - Show Me What You Got
07. Paul Rutherford - Get Real (Happy House Mix)
08. Bizzare Inc - Technological
09. Us - Born In The North
10. Annette - Dream 17

Digital Only
A Guy Called Gerald - Specific Hate
This Ain't Chicago - Ride The Rhythm

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Gwyn

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