Picks Of The Week (28.11.20

1. Droptek - Symbiosis Remixed Part 2 [Korsakov Music]

Recommended if you like: Something for everyone tbh

Not much time this week, so let's get through it quickly!

The first pick of the week is the second of three installments of the absolutely humongous remix album of Droptek's 2019 debut album Symbiosis. If you don't know him yet, Droptek is a London-based producer that began his producing career in 2012 on the electronic music behemoth Monstercat, where he became a regular over the next few years. In 2019 he joined the incredibly underrated dutch event-series-turned-label Korsakov Music for his first release Flex, before releasing the above mentioned debut album in the same year. On it he demonstrated his ability to produce a wide range of unique styles while still maintaining a super high quality. The selection of producers he and Korsakov managed to get together for this remix project and what they all came up with are similarly diverse and of similar high quality that the remix album will be one of the best dnb remix albums out there, even if it was just the first two parts.

Due to no time, I'll just quickly go through my favorites of this 10 track partial album. First off I want to mention the two very fun Illusions remixes, one by Polygon and one by High Maintenance. Illusions was pretty much my favorite track of the original album so I was happy to see it getting a rework by two artists I rate very highly each in their own style. While Polygon's remix is very much in line with most of their uplifting dancefloor style (no complaints though, I love that stuff), High Maintenance goes more into the hard-hitting dancefloor direction, mostly comparable to his recent AL/SO collab Hypersonic.

Austrian Best Newcomer 2020 nominee Wingz took on the short and slow yet hard-hitting original The Spire and transformed it into probably the vibiest track of the remix album. Funk masters Mean Teeth chose the intro track The Expanse and somehow managed to morph the one minute intro into a full-length new-school neurofunk track, complete with multiple sections and 4x4 parts. Honestly, that first 4x4 part get me hyped up every single time.

Lastly, Korsakov also got their very own best newcomer 2020 and probably my favorite dnb powercouple at the moment PRFCT Mandem to remix Cyclic. As expected from them, they took the track to places you would have never thought of before. A technoid foghorn that sounds like a scream from a cyborg beast, a Current Value-esque distorted techy main melody and loads of muted drums that sound like my sink is leaking going berserk. You know, normal stuff. Smashing remix.

All in all, very much recommended!

The album is super diverse, but for the other recommendations I'll just focus on the Neurofunk and techy aspects of it. So here's all the great neuro/techy stuff from this week:

Zombie Cats - GRRRRR
Synergy - Intervals / Continuous
Circumference - Inconsistent
Exept, IHR - Inertia / Neon Rising
Mewone - Moonless

2. Amoss - South Of The River EP [Flexout Audio]

Recommended if you like: Halogenix, Fre4knc, Data 3

Next up: Amoss' ridiculous new South Of The River EP!

For people who like aggressive and deep drum and bass (like me), there's no way around Amoss, the London-based duo that apparently turned into a one-man show some time in the last 12 months, if his socials are to be trusted. I would actually consider his/their output on Dispatch and especially Flexout Audio essential listening to anyone who takes a liking to that subgenre, it's just that good. And I can honestly say that this newest EP on Flexout might just be their best work yet.

The titular South Of The River is a perfect representation of Amoss' sound: Dark, rolling, with multiple more aggressive sections that all try to throw you off your toes while still maintaining the overall vibe. I love it. Magnum Meal retains the overall Amoss signature characteristics but plays around with it a bit more. The "drop" starts off as a more minimal take on the sound and with each passing 4 bars gradually evolves into the aggressive rolling sound we come to expect from him.

GHCB, which probably stands for Garlic & Herb Chicken Breasts, is what you get when Amoss tries his hands at a foghorn track. Unlike the more common two-step foghorn tracks, this one actually kind of deserves the "roller" label though. With the help of very fun break-heavy drum loop and various other melodies running throughout the track, this track manages to feel like one big energetic section while keeping it fresh the whole way through. Also, that gunshot pause that is interrupted by the three dog barks is just super fun.

Last but absolutely not least we've got the Grey Code remix of one of Amoss' biggest tunes so far: Speed Shades. Well, let's just say I was already considering Grey Code to be one of the best and most interesting producers out there at the moment and this remix solidified that belief massively. Somehow, the Bristolian has improved on the already incredible track and thus created nothing short of one of the best tracks of this year. The way he rearranged the various different parts of the original and formed new melodies with it is just incredible. Insane.

Absolutely massive EP overall!

Other deep and liquid stuff that happened this week:

Alibi - Mind & Soul / Found You
Satl - All My Life (Tokyo Prose Remix)
Tatora - Faded
High Contrast - Notes From The Underground LP
Bru-C - Smile LP
Leniz - Love In Excess EP

3. V O E - Giants [NCS]

Recommended if you like: Koven, Magnetude, NCT

This is the point of the thread where I'm actually bummed out that I don't have more time to talk about the background of the artist more.

V O E is an Australian drum and bass duo consisting of Tevlo and CARZi that I'd describe as "If Koven had an extra large serving of Neurofunk for breakfast". Having formed in 2018 they have quickly risen to one of the big breakout newcomers with releases on Global League, Blackout and Liquicity, with plenty to come soon enough. With both members on the vocals and productions that range from "Running And Crying"-type dancefloor anthems to just straight-up bangers like Regret And Repeat there's never a dull moment with these two. I swear I will follow up on more V O E very soon, they have become one of my favorite artists lately and they just generally deserve to be talked about more.

The latest release Giants is the winning entry of the Track And Build 2.0 competition by Jägermeister, Koven and NCS, a competition that allows producers to get their (unreleased) track featured in an upcoming video game. For this opportunity the dynamic duo from down under combined both Tevlo's and CARZi's vocals with a catchy as hell guitar-heavy instrumental whose main melody is giving me serious Pendulum vibes, in all the good ways. This isn't just your run-of-the-mill male and female back-and-forth vocal performance though, the vocals are actually layered on top of eachother creating honest to god chilling harmonies everywhere. And you know I can't get enough of those.

Very very much recommended!

Other recommended dancefloor stuff from this week:

Dimension - Offender
Kanine, T-Man - All Goes Wrong
Amaryllis - December
Various Artists - RAM Rave, Pt. 4
Toronto Is Broken - Gunfingers (S9 Remix)

4. Notequal - Diving EP [SIN.FULL MAZE]

Recommended if you like: IMANU, Synergy, Buunshin

No time, Hidden Gem Of The Week™, go!

For this week I have chosen the newest EP of one of the most underrated newcomers of this year: the Slovak trio Notequal! Even though Absu_NTQL, proxer and LONGMAN only started putting out music under the Notequal alias a few months ago, they are already starting to make name for themselves. With releases on this year's Delta9's From The Streets compilation, and EPs on Watchout Music and Hyperactivity Music, their output has so far been ridiculously high. But they're not just putting out anything, with each new high quality release it becomes clearer that the three of them are above all great producers.

The label this EP is released on is the newly established SIN.FULL MAZE. Similarly to Notequal's career so far, the Czech label has only been established in 2019 but has consistently shown to be a source of some of the best "techy"/new-school neurofunk the scene has to offer. You just have to look at the massive Assembly Assault compilation LP to know what I'm talking about. Having featured the likes of Freshney, Holotrope and Subtension, it is safe to say they know how to curate their releases.

While I have enjoyed most of Notequal's output a lot so far, this new Diving EP is another step up from the rest in my opinion. Descend starts off the EP with some serious 4x4 vibes that simultaneously work as a full-on drop but also as a buildup for the more syncopated second half. Said second half switches the production up into a more "traditional" continuous techy drum loop used in the "newschool" subgenre with loads of unique sounds and brr's giving you a serious feeling of speed and energy from the drop. Synchronen goes for a more steppy rhythm but features a lot of the same techy elements. What keeps it fresh are all the various different sections that the drop goes through. The sometimes just straight-up weird sounds used in this one are probably my favorite part. And the german vocal sample.

Dissolution already feels slightly faster than Synchronen, but is not quite as energetic as Descend. While the drums are similarly fast-moving, the trio takes the focus away from the drums and instead draws your attention to the arrangement of atmospheric background melodies and loudly distorted asian instrument (wish I knew which one). Lastly, Set Point takes the opposite approach and focuses heavily on the forward-moving drum loop. With loads and loads and loads of distortion added on top and a few very techy but also in-your-face large horn blasts that sound like they could come from the abstract elephants the cover art depicts the trio manages to get me moving every time. For the last drop Notequal go full circle and work a sneaky little 4x4 section into the track before switching back for last little bit of the previous drum loop.

Big recommendation, especially for techy sound lovers.

Also, that cover art is just sick.

Other Hidden Gems of this week:

Kolectiv - Give Nothing Remixed (the Insacred Remix especially)
Janosh, T Base - Recovery
Various Artists - onesevenfour Vol. 1
Various Artists - Alignment, Vol. 1
Variants - Flight