Picks Of The Week (07.11.20

1. 1991 - Power [Pleasures]

Recommended if you like: Culture Shock, Dimension, Sub Focus

I'm always struggling to choose my four picks, but it feels like this week the choice was even harder than usual. But there was one track that I was absolutely sure I had to include as soon as I heard it. And that track was Power by 1991.

Even though his popularity has deservedly exploded over the last few years, 1991 is still kind of a new name to the scene. In 2016 he barged into the scene with some of the cleanest productions around and, thanks to Seb from Skankandbass, immediately got the attention of Chase & Status, who instantly signed him so he could release said bangers on their very own MTA Records. Right off the bat. Soup-port (no that is not a typo, I was just trying to insert a bat soup joke in here somehow, allow me) from other legends like Sub Focus (fuck, Soup Focus should have been the dumb pun), Dimension or Culture Shock right at the start of his journey catapulted him into the realm of the big names of the scene in record time. With the 2017 Drum & Bass Arena Best Newcomer Award to his name, he decided to release his Trap and Future Bass infused productions on his own. Soon enough he joined forces with his early big-name supporters and formed the hottest boyband in DnB right now, also known as WORSHIP.

Earlier this year, Mr. 1991 started the Pleasures series. Is it an album? Is it a new label? No, it's actually.. I don't know. All that I could find on the internet is that Power is the second Volume of it, whatever "it" is. Even if it is "just" a series of singles that share a theme or sound, it's a fitting name.

Let's get to the track itself. If you have listened to the first entry in the series, Pleasure, you will probably notice that Power features a very similar siren sound throughout its drop, seemingly a recurring element for the series. While the siren in Pleasure adds to the explosiveness of the track, the same siren was reworked ever so slightly to instead transport us back in time to a more funky era of music. Instead of the usual influences from Trap or Future Bass that you usually hear in his tracks, this one goes more into the French House territory. The 80s Miami Vice vibe that these sounds and influences create is underlined even more by the short music video he created, in which he takes his vintage red car with popup lights out for a spin in the night. The ever-so-sweet cherry on top is the perfectly fitting vocal performance by BullySongs. This becomes especially clear in that buildup before the second drop, when the productions is completely stripped back and the focus is mostly on the vocals, my favorite part of the track for sure.

All in all super lovely. Cannot wait for what else Mr. 1991 has in store for us!

Other recommended dancefloor/heavier drum and bass releases this week:

Zombie Cats - Mutation (watch out for more on this in the future 👀)
Workforce, SP:MC - Overnight Express (Break Remix)
Delta Heavy - Space Time VIP / Take The Stairs VIP
TC - Edge Of Chaos
Bare Up, Soljer - If You Want Me
REAPER - BARRICADE (Remixes)
Buunshin - Abrasion EP
Disaszt, Manta - Laser Raptor
Picota & Kumbh - Run EP

2. Various Artists - Rooibos (High Tea Music Presents) [High Tea Music]

Recommended if you like: T & Sugah, Dossa & Locuzzed, Polygon

Rooibos tea isn't just a healthy beverage that has been consumed in South Africa for centuries and is now gaining popularity around other parts of the world. It's also the name of the newest High Tea Music compilation!

On their compilation albums dutch label High Tea Music likes to mix the different styles of bass music they represent into one sick blend. From liquid to all kinds of dancefloor dnb or even future bass: As long as it fits the vibe, everything goes! Even though Rooibos is touted as a great caffeine-free tea alternative, their latest release sporting the same name is definitely one of their more energetic blends they have put out.

Before I start, a little fun fact: As far as I can tell, all of the featured tracks on this compilation, with the exception of Rex Hooligan's, Psynchro & Whalespruce's and Coastal's, got in because they sent their tunes in for the Tea Time Talent Show back in April. Neat, right?

Okay let's start off with some happy vibes, my favorite. Rex Hooligan continues to stun me with his talent for melodies. After Anywhere on the previous High Tea compilation, Caffeine Rush 2, he gives us the just as, if not even more, catchy and mood-brightening All Right on this one. Takes me back to Liquicity Festival. The happy vibes continue on METHOD's first track of the album You Started A Fire whose melody is so catchy I'm slightly worried it will just get stuck in my head forever.

Next up we have two contributions that finally give us an answer to the age-old question: Who got the funk? The answer is the Austrian bredren Frank Lemon and Skyfade, of course! Frank, who you might remember from my very positive review of his Hanzom Music double single, shows us on his track what a certified Funkster he is. And just how a banger par excellence should sound like. His fellow countryman and regular collaborator Skyfade gives him some serious competition in the area of funky drum and bass with Switch Funk. That perfectly executed four-by-four section in the second drop could put him over the top at the end. Let's just say it's a tie.

Going into heavier realms now. Den Haagian (that's got to be a word right) newcomer METHOD also blessed us with a second track of his, Hefty. A track name as simple as it is fitting. Carrier lives up to his name and delivers the hefty banger Matroska to your ears. I'm still unsure if the track title is a reference to the file format or the russian dolls. Maybe both? Who knows! Lastly, YANA Music newcomer Coastal presents us his musical Evolution of his sound to the heavier side of dancefloor.

Let's chill out for a bit now, starting with Russian neurofunk trio Psynchro. Well, not just them, they have Southhamptionian producer Whalespruce with them too. And when those two artists collide, the results are exactly the opposite of what you'd expect from Psynchro solo. Instead of neuro, their track Cherish It is a very laid-back atmospheric one with a very cute vocal sample talking about love. Vibes. Last but not least we got two vocal driven soul-soothers with Aperio's Did You Call and Josh Lewis's Make It Count.

All in all, super varied and super fun!

Other happy dancefloor/dnb I'd recommend this week:

Fred V - Apeldoorn Jamming / Atmosphere
I guess that's it lol

3. Koherent - Bliss [Shogun Audio]

Recommended if you like: Low:r, Hugh Hardie, Subwave

While we're talking about chill stuff, I definitely have to mention Koherent's new release, Bliss.

The now Bristol-/Nottingham-based duo, previously known as Subdivision and Precision, first got together in 2017 after Precision moved to Leeds, where he met Subdivision. After a successful collaboration EP on Soul Trader, they thought to themselves "Okay this actually kinda works" and formed a new alias together. First on SGN:LTD, the sister label of Friction's Shogun Audio, then on Dispatch, Medschool and Flexout, and then finally on Shogun itself.

Well, what can I say? This track is pure bliss. Instead of their usual deeper, broodier sound they went for the chillest of the chill vibes ever. And man, I am loving it. The vocal sample is just pure drugs to my brain, I am completely addicted to it. Also, those drums. Also, those wubs in the drop, for lack of a better word. Everything about this is just putting my mind at ease. Hoping for a full EP of this.

Blissful af.

Other recommended liquid releases:

Fluidity - Still Hope EP
Mohican Sun - Don't Walk Away (definitely gonna talk about this once the whole release is out)
Humanature - Since I've Known You EP
The Caracal Project - Watercats (get it? Water is a liquid hehe)
T.R.A.C, Submorphics - Life In Motion (Carlito & Addiction Remix)

4. THIR13EN - Jackin / 19 by 6 [ProtoCode]

Recommended if you like: fun vibes with a whole lot of brr

This week's Hidden Gem Of The Week™ comes from none other than THIR13EN, whose posts you might have seen in this very subreddit!

This second ever release by the Russian newcomer, shortly after his awesome debut on Kill Tomorrow, is Jacking / 19 by 6. Judging by his SoundCloud he has only produced for around a year or so. Complete madness, I tell you. This madness is released on the Perth-based label ProtoCode, one of my favorite labels for underground neurofunk from all around the world. Sounds like I'm sponsored by them, but no, really, I love them. They have a really great taste in the artists they select for the label and the tracks they choose to release. Esym, Instinkt, Xeomi & Kaiza and Bold Theory are just a very small selection of the sick artists they have featured over the two years the label exists so far. If you don't know any of them, check them out!

Anyway, back to THIR13EN, also known as THIRthirteenEN. The first of the two bangers is Jackin. A fun little vocal intro lulls you into a false sense of security and makes you think this is gonna be a fun little uplifting dancefloor tune. Then, bam, the BRRRR hits you. Right in your face. I hope you were sitting down while listening to this, otherwise this might have knocked you out of your socks. It's one of the best examples of a track switching vibes at the drop of a hat that I can think of, on par with That Smile. 19 by 6 is less of a surprise drop, but is still very much a banger. Darker, more funky vibes. A bassline is to die for. Beautiful.

All in all, two very unique neurofunk honkers. Check it out if you like your dnb in-your-face!

Other Hidden Gems in this week:

Revan - No Royalties EP
Funkzelle - Hotel Kennedy / Timelock Remixes (was last week, but I missed it and it deserves a shoutout)
Avalon Rays - I'm A Believer EP
Auris - Cold Feet EP
Xylym - CORRIDORS OF DEATH PART 12