Picks Of The Week (14.11.20

1. DC Breaks, Eva Lazarus - We Never Slow Down [RAM Records]

Recommended if you like: Loadstar, Friction, Kove

Artists more often than not undergo a transformation over time. Trying out new styles, sounds or genres even, just getting out of the comfort zone a bit. Some are able to apply their signature sounds to new styles, while some others are not as fortunate. DC Breaks is definitely a case of the former group.

The London-based duo Dan Havers and Chris Page has been active since around 2005, but their chapter is far from being Done or Closed. In fact, this year they started their 15-year anniversary project DCXV. A very Difficult-to-understand and Confusing name, since they are not even close to being 615 years in the game. Anyway. For this Delightful Celebration they gathered a whole bunch of new DC Breaks originals and remixes of Downright Classics from the likes of Technimatic and Skantia. Fun fact: One of these originals, Back For More, was used by Arsenal for their game recap!

Their newest entry in this series is a Dynamic Collaboration with rudegirl Eva Lazarus called We Never Slow Down, a most fitting title. Straight out the gate I have to mention just how fun the vocals are. The instrumental itself is already quite energetic, but Eva just gives the whole track so much more energy with her vocal performance. Will be a Direct Competitor with Enter The Warrior for most hype and fun vocals this year for me!

As some of you know, DC Breaks had started a collaborative project with Loadstar a few years ago called OPPOSITION. Apparently they had a whole album laid out, but had to scrap most of the Dear Cooperations, because the project was cancelled. All of it? Not quite! Turns out the instrumental for Never Slow Down is actually taken from OPPOSITION's track Higher. So there's still hope for the rest of the album, in one form or another!

Anyway, I'm very glad this instrumental got to see the light of day, because this is just such a good tune. Paired with the incredible Eva Lazarus it instantly became one of my favorites this year. Great stuff!

Okay I'm gonna take a break from all the DC puns now. A DC Break, if you will. Hehe. Some other dancefloor-y things that happened this week:

Fox Stevenson - All Eyes On Me
Rude Boy, Nami - Illusion (Mage Remix)
Annix, A Little Sound - Overload (I just count that as Dancefloor)
ReauBeau, Ekko & Sidetrack - Higher (Freaks & Geeks Remix)
Subsonic - Need Me
TREi - Space & Time / My Eyes
Droptek - Back 2 U
Idun Nicoline - Lost Without You (Boxplot Remix)
Ex Duty - Occulation
Exploid - Nobody Like You

2. Unknown Artist - Jungle Ride EP [Fokuz Recordings]

Recommended if you like: Macca & Loz Contreras, Lana Del Ray, Jorja Smith

Next up, we have my favorite new artist: Unknown Artist!

Yeah yeah, I know that's not actually their name. Every now and then dutch liquid powerhouse Fokuz Recordings contacts the producers of some of the best liquid bootlegs out there and releases the ones they get the permission for under the Unknown Artist moniker. For legal reasons, I guess. That's also how Edlan's bootleg of Need To Feel Loved, as heard in Pendulum's recent Spitbank Fort livestream, got to be released!

It's not always easy or even possible to find out who the "original" bootlegger was. For instance, the first track of this new Unknown Artist EP, Jungle, is definitely a bootleg of the original Wankelmut and Emma Louise track My Head Is A Jungle. But god knows who did the bootleg. In any case, whoever it is did a phenomenal job. It's such an incredibly melancholic vibe and my god do I love those. I've probably listened to it 50 times by now. Usually I would look the exact number of listens up on my last.fm account but apparently "Unknown Artist" tracks are not scrobbled. Sad times.

Speaking of melancholic: Next up we have a bootleg of Lana Del Ray - Ride, the queen of melancholy. As just a casual listener of Pop (i.e. only when I listen to radio and my phone is dead), I never expected her nostalgy-fueled gloomy vibes to work at a drum and bass tempo. The sad piano notes just makes the vibe complete. For this one I could actually find the artist, it's UK-based producer Macca!

Speaking of Macca, he and his partner in crime Loz Contreras are the creators another track on this EP: Blue Lights, a bootleg of Jorja Smith's track with the same name. I've said it after listening to High Contrast's Emmy-nominated remix of one of her tracks and I'll say it here too: We need more DnB tracks with Jorja Smith on the vocals. The dreamy vocals are complemented perfectly by Macca and Contreras' wonderful instrumental. Especially the breakdown in the middle of the track when Jorja's vocals are put front and centre is just perfect.

After all this melancholy Mr. Unknown Artist presents us with one last, more uplifting bootleg of NxWorries - Lyk Dis. I really don't know much about the artists involved in the original or the bootleg here, but one thing is for sure: It's fun as hell! A nice hiphop r&b vibe with some fun-sounding but in reality super sexual lyrics and some fast drums, what more do you even need?

All in all probably one of my favorite EPs of the year, which I honestly didn't expect before listening to it.

Some more liquid stuff that happened this week:

Brainwork - Had It All (just got on Spotify so I had to shout it out again)
Nu:Tone - Sweeter / Do It Right
Snse, Frankie Valli - Goodbyes (released last week, but only got around to it this week)
Bank - Breathless EP

3. The Clamps, Opsen - Illegal Instinct [Code Smell Music]

Recommended if you like: Burr Oak, Nais, Teddy Killerz

You know what this review thread needs? Some Neurofunk.

Good thing french neurofunk royalty The Clamps and Opsen have new music for us! What did you say? You don't know who they are? First of all, shame on you. Second of all, okay that was maybe a bit harsh, not everyone knows everyone. Let me introduce you.

The Clamps, also known as Julien Carbo (yes just one person), is not just very confusingly named, but more importantly also one of the most ridiculous neurofunk producers the scene has to offer. His first few releases as The Clamps were more Hardcore or Crossbreed oriented, but from 2015 on his productions went more into a drum and bass direction with releases on the french label Kosenprod and Prolix's Trendkill Records. He went on to release on labels like Mainframe, Titan Records and Eatbrain, to name a few. As a Toulousian himself, the Toulouse-based Kosenprod was still his home though. He went on to form a few side-projects you might have heard about, namely The Third Colony (for more atmospheric electronic stuff) and Burr Oak, a collaboration project with Opsen. Hey that's the other guy!

You might also know Opsen, a frenchman himself, from his work in the french neurofunk trio Signs. After four years of being signed with Signs, he resigned from the group, with all signs pointing to a solo career. Just like his fellow frenchman The Clamps he mostly released on Trendkill and Kosenprod in the following years. Additionally, he worked on a few collaborative efforts with ex-Signs member Le Lutin, as Cecil Hotel, and, you guessed it, with The Clamps as Burr Oak.

But this is no Burr Oak release, this is a double single with one track from them each. This is also not a release on Kosenprod or Trendkill, no no. This release is on the newly established label Code Smell Music. Even though it was founded just a few months ago by danish producer Bytecode, also known as one part of Instinkt, the young label has seen some promising releases so far. From Disphonia to Transforma to The Prophecy to, well, The Clamps and Opsen, they have proven to have quite great taste in what they shine a spotlight on.

Speaking of, let's talk about the actual release for a bit here. Opsen's track Global Instinct takes no prisoners at all, the brrr-per-minute meter is off the chart. As is becoming customary in new neurofunk releases, the breakdown switches over to a 4x4 beat that instantly makes me feel like I'm in a bunker in Berlin. The Clamps goes a similar route on Illegal. In typical Clamps fashion the song features variation upon variation in its drop that all try to top eachother with their ridiculousness. I love it. Halfway through the track the song also switches to a 4x4 beat, while a sample of an interview with 69db, also known as part of the Spiral Tribe crew, about electronic music of the 90s can be heard in the background. A nice nod to Julien's roots. After that it's back to straight tunage. Highly illegal indeed.

All in all, sick as hell.

Other happenings in the neurofunk world this week:

Tobax - Steinhagel VIP (was on Beatport earlier, but didn't get around to it yet)
Billain - Codename EP

And also deep/techy stuff:

IMANU - Fuji
Droptek - Devoid (Levela Remix)
DLR, Break - Hit The Target / NADS
Emperor - Rangefinder
GEST, Quadrant, Iris - Sequential
CELO - Learn To Fly / Break It
QUIX, Juelz - Chicane (Kumarion Remix)

4. Various Artists - Yo Bro LP [Drum Army]

Recommended if you like: Bredren, Was A Be, Rizzle or any of the 20+ featured artists

Breaking news: We have chosen a new Hidden Gems Of The Week™!

This week's pick is the Yo Bro compilation on the up-and-coming label Drum Army. This album is the third entry in the Yo Bro saga, also known as the best-named release series ever, after the Yo Bro EP and the Collab Bro collab EP in 2019. For those who don't know, Drum Army is a relatively new swiss label showcasing some of the best that the local, but also global, deep drum and bass scene has to offer. As is often the case with labels, Drum Army first started out as an event series way back in 2014 and only became a full-fledged label in 2017. Just one year later, they were already nominated as best newcomer label in the Drum & Bass Arena Awards. And that nomination didn't come out of nowhere. With releases from artists like Monrroe, OaT, Nemy or Invadhertz, they have certainly earned that high praise.

For this project they have reached out to artists from 8 different countries on three different continents, from insider tips like Smuskind or missledz to more established artists like Zombie Cats or Invadhertz. With that much diversity, you will certainly find something you like in there! Provided you like deep dnb at all, I guess. But even a good friend of mine who doesn't like that style of dnb at all found something in there they like, so who knows.

We (well, I) don't have all day for this so I'll quickly go through my four favorites:

First off, Smuskind. The german dnb duo have always been sort of my favorites on the label and to my delight they have contributed not just one but two tracks on this massive project. The first one is Bräd, a track full of weird whistle samples presented in a rhythm that is so catchy I honestly can't enough of it. The bounciness of it all makes it seem like they have listened to a lot Bass House tracks recently and I'm here for it. It's so bouncy in fact that even the protagonist of the music video is a big bouncy ball! The second track from Smuskind is a collaboration with Invadhertz called Ghosts and takes us into the deepest depths of the deep sea. I'm fairly certain this tune would cause an earthquake when played on a system.

Next up we have Felix Raymon, another german newcomer from the Ruhr area, presenting us his 2020 with Bomsh on vocal duty. The track is full of psytrance influences, from the occasional "bwoarm" in the background to the 4x4 rhythms during the verses of Bomsh, who's flow and voice gives me huge MC Mota vibes. Definitely one of the more unique tracks on the LP! Sidenote, check out Felix Raymon in general, he's one of my favorite underrated artists right now.

Last but not least there's Zombie Cats! Okay who am I kidding, they are not unknown at all. I'm just a huge fan okay? Their contribution Creatures is yet another sick roller with high production value everywhere. Honestly, they've pumped out a crazy amount of tracks this year (and it's not even over yet!) and they still manage to deliver consistently high quality. Best year ever for a Zombie Cats fan. This one even features a nice half-time drop in the second half, for all of you halftime lovers!

All in all, I give this LP Yo out of Bro stars. In other words, I love it.

Hidden Gems

Hydrae - CONSTANT EP
Archaea - System Malfunction / Can You Feel It
Ex Duty - Occulation
Embers Of Light - Everything Changes LP
Streetz Of Rage - Orbital Decay EP