Picks Of The Week (12.12.20

0. Zombie Cats - Mutation LP [Zombie Cats]

Recommended if you like: Techy, Vibey neurofunk and reading pages upon pages of my writing

Before I get into this week's picks, I want to mention that other thing I did over the last few weeks: My full-length album review of Zombie Cats - Mutation LP. If you like neurofunk or techy stuff or just want to learn everything about Zombie Cats, go check it out!

1. Gancher & Ruin - Lying Machine EP [NMA]

Recommended if you like: Gydra, Merikan, Counterstrike

Let's start this week off nice and slowly, with some crossbreed-esque neurofunk from Russia!

It's no secret among my DnB friends that I don't particularly like the "hardcore" subgenres bass music over 150bpm has to offer. From Hardcore to Gabber to Frenchcore to Crossbreed, I'm just not a fan. Everything riiight below that point though and I'm all ears. One of the artists that are skirting these exact lines between neurofunk and crossbreed are the Russian duo Gancher & Ruin. The identical twins from Saint-Petersburg started producing way back in 2007 and have since then become regulars on labels like PRSPCT, Eatbrain, Future Sickness Recordings or Othercide Recordings. Even though most of their releases nowadays are straight-up neurofunk, the Crossbreed origins and influence can still be felt hard. Anyone who has seen of their amazing, very russian livestreams can attest to that. They also have a more laid-back scifi-focused side to them though. Since 2018 they teamed up with ambient producer Eyescream to form their retrowave sideproject 3FORCE. So if you need some more background music for your Cyberpunk 2077 playthrough, check those crazy russians out! But we're not here to talk about Retrowave or Cyberpunk, we're here pop open our vodka and smash our heads together to some banging neurofunk!

With this EP the devilish duo are continuing their case file series on their self-established label NMA, on which they aim to uncover all the greatest conspiracies of our time, double single after double single. Whether it's finding out what actually happened at Roswell or uncovering who the Big Boss behind it all is, Gancher & Ruin are on the case! This time, the detective duo want to expose the Lying Machine that is plagueing our civilization, piece by piece. Or overthrow the government or something, I don't know, point is, there are conspiracies to be theorized about!

One of the first leads in this case comes from a newly established contact. They say to investigate the weird condensation trails that have been reported all over the country more and more often, also known as Chemtrails. "I know you're gonna dig this", he says. If he only knew how right he would be. I definitely dig this song a lot. Its simple yet massively catchy high-octane driving force of a drop never fails to get my head moving. There's new elements coming in all the time during the drop and every one of them makes me want to move around even more. Man, I love Neurofunk from Russia.

Our detectives investigate further. They find an audio recording of a big shot CEO of a mobile communications company talking to his advisors. If their plan succeeds, this world could be theirs for the taking. They only need to install those 5G towers everywhere and soon enough it'll all be over. In the words of the unknown CEO: "We are the future". This story really gets heavier and heavier. You know what's also heavy? The track the story is based on! 5G is probably the track closest to their Crossbreed roots, with a drop that feels like someone is bashing your head in, but in a good way. Not sure how that can be interpreted in a good way, but just listen to it, you'll hear what I mean. In the second drop they go even further and forgo the standard dnb rhythm for a few seconds and go straight 4x4 before a singular typical crossbreed drum brings us back to syncopation.

Clearly this whole thing is bigger than our protagonist duo expected, which is why they decided to bring in help from their trusted friend Cod3x, who has worked on similar stories in the past. By bringing together the information they have gathered, they finally cracked the code. The last missing piece in the puzzle of who is ruling this world we live in. It's not just Chemtrails and 5G that are controlling us all, it's those damn vaccinations! On Anti-Vax the dynamic duo and Cod3x uncover all there is to uncover. With a big neurofunk banger. While 5G was the closest to Crossbreed this EP went, Anti-Vax is on the opposite end of the hard neuro spectrum. Still hard, but different. Even if you didn't know it was a collab, you'd hear the difference in sound. In fact, you can hear a lot of Cod3x's influence on this, all those fast-paced little elements, from the drums to the bass stabs, feel very much like his style. Combined with Gancher & Ruin's storytelling and pure energy, this makes for quite an interesting combination.

All in all, banging EP!

P.S. Obviously this is all just a bit of fun storytelling about conspiracies. Should go without saying that I don't believe any of this, but you never know lol.

Other Neuro stuff from this week that I'd recommend:

A.M.C, Phantom - Specialist
Killbox - Beaker
Computerartist, Kryptomedic - Downfall
Neonlight - Wave (2020 Remaster)
BLVCK CROWZ - LIKE THAT (more neuro-jumpup I guess)

2. IMANU - Re:IMANU EP [VISION Recordings]

Recommended if you like: Skantia, Buunshin, BOP (who would have thought lol)

Alright, enough conspiracies, remixes time.

The shooting star of the underground scene, one of the faces of the new wave of techy neurofunk, a regular on Noisia Radio, the fan favorite for best newcomer on the Drum and Bass Arena Awards. But enough talk about Buunshin, this is IMANU's EP. I don't think I have to explain who IMANU, formerly known as Signal, is at this point. Anyone who has followed the DnB newcomers the last few years has heard at least some of the incredibly fresh tunes he has brought to the scene or heard a track that was very much influenced by him. And in all seriousness: Those things I attributed to Buunshin earlier, they also apply to him. love ya bby.

Anyway. For this year's last release on VISION IMANU has brought together one hell of a diverse lineup of incredible producers to remix some of his biggest tunes to date.

The first track is already a special one. Probably one of THE best and most anticipated remixes of the year: Nonplus (Skantia Remix). It all started with a cheeky Skantia dub called Crave Synergy that began circulating early in the year, which a lot of people, very much including me, went crazty over. After a few months of everyone commenting how much this sounded like Nonplus v2, Skantia and IMANU got together and decided to turn it into an actual Nonplus remix that was premiered during Blackout's livestream event in June at TivoliVredenburg. Let's talk about the remix though. It starts out very similar to the original, but as soon as the drop is being teased in the buildup you know something's up. After half of the first bubububu's (that's a technical term) Skantia comes in and straight-up slashes the whole thing in half with a big phat bass (scientific term: BRRR), turning it into a neat call and response thing. That's not all though. Even in the first drop still Skantia plays around with that formula quite a bit, slowing and pitching both the bububu's and his BRRR's down. And then the second drop hits, oh boy. This is not just one of those copy-pasted second drops, oh no no. Even less bububu's and eheheh's, which Skantia plays around with even more, which then go straight into the slowed and pitched down version again. What a tune.

Next up, we got IMANU's good friend Buunshin on remix duties. More specifically, it's Music To Stay In Your House To (Buunshin's Go Outside Remix). This track doesn't just have the best and most mixed messages conveying name ever, it's also quite an awesome remix. The original is the first of a few tracks IMANU created using only sounds his Patreon subscribers sent him. If you know him and his fanbase, you might know that the quality of the sent in samples was astonishingly high. From random eh's and ah's to sea shanties to samples telling you you're less-than-alpha man whose wife committed adultery. It's a glorious track is what I'm saying. Buunshin took all of this and turned into something that truly feels like his own work. All the eh's and ah's were perfectly utilized to create a leading melody for what is now, at its core, quite a neurofunk banger. He might hate that I'm saying this, but he's not reading this anyway soooo. The outro features some really beautiful strings and atmospheric vibes that make me wish Buunshin produced some liquid from time to time. But I'm already very happy with what we got here, I really recommend you to check out this remix. I just wish it was longer.

Now for something completely different: A Noir remix by russian microfunk wizard Bop! I've said it many times before, Russian drum and bass just hits differently. That doesn't just apply to the more typical russian in-your-face neurofunk, but also the liquid and ambient parts of the genre. Bop is just one of many great examples of that. Case in point, on this remix he managed to turn the heavy-hitting trap banger Noir on its head into something that could be added to a "dnb beats to relax/study to" playlist. Atmospheric, mysterious, the chillest of the chill. Really lovely remix.

The rest of the remixes are quite multi-genre and I'm woefully unequipped to deal with anything other than DnB so i'll just quickly go through them. Enigmatic multi-genre producer Kimyan Law took on Bloom and transformed it into a joyride through all the genres, from half-time to dubstep (??) to drum and bass, every rhythm and tempo is represented. Speaking of dubstep, Australian producer Herzeloyd remixed Whatever It Takes and as far as I can tell, it's quite a unique remix. Lastly, UK-based producer ATRIP took on Monchou and made it into quite a vibey breakbeat track.

Definitely worth checking out completely!

Other unique/techy/deep stuff I'd recommend this week:

The Caracal Project - Encore & Intoxicated
Various Artists - Overview Part 3 [Overview Music]
HVDES - Fallout
Framer - Pledged EP
QZB - Unforgiving

3. Various Labels - Yearly Compilation [RAM, YANA, North Quarter, Dispatched]

Recommended if you like: Catching up on what's happened this year and finding underrated new producers

It's that time of the year! All kinds of labels are releasing end of the year compilations and unleashing loads and loads of tracks onto the scene. Or sometimes they just bundle up old stuff into a neat package. Let me show you what the big labels have to offer this week!

First up, we got the legendary RAM Records with its RAM Drum & Bass Annual 2021 compilation spanning 60 (!) tracks. Let that number sink in. The best thing: it's not "just" tracks released during the year, which would be quite nice still but probably ultimately underwhelming, no no. 18 of those 60 tracks are actually new ones, exclusive to this compilation! To be honest, I never expect much from those end of the year compilations, but I was very pleasantly surprised with this one. Loads and loads of new tracks and a lot of them were dancefloor and quite a few of those had neat funk influences to them, which I always love. Perfect for me in other words! Highlights for me would be Dr. Apollo & Finni - In Colour, which would fit right in on a Liquicity release and is probably one of my favorites of this week overall, V O E - If You Want Me, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has seen my dissertation on them last week and now that I think about it is also very much a Liquicity/Polygon-type track, Polyrom - Movement, which is one of the aforementioned funky upbeat dancefloor tracks and was produced by a complete newcomer to the scene, and The Arcturians, Hyukari - Your Touch, which is a track so unique I'm struggling to find the right words for it and also deserves a full listen from every single one of you reading this right now.

Next up, YANA Music's compilation YANA2020! The newcomer dancefloor label founded and run by Toronto Is Broken was originally just a playground for him to release his own tracks on, but took on quite a way bigger role this year and included tracks from all over the underground dancefloor scene. Just like RAM's compilation, this one also features a nice mix of already released tracks and new exclusive additions, this one even features a neat album mix at the end! My highlights for this release are Toronto Is Broken, Nvrsoft - Body Dem VIP, which I waited for since like half a year and is by far the most ludicrous dancefloor bangers of the year, Volition - Missing You and Battletek - Tipping Point, which are both very neat "happy vibes" catchy dancefloor tunes, and Vypes - Blast Em, a track whose name is very fitting and might make you go oi a few times.

But it's not just dancefloor left and right, this week also saw the release of The North Quarter's NQ State of Mind compilation album. Liquid vibe master Lenzman brought together some of the best his label has to offer and sprinkled some remixes of old classics and new original tracks to create a compilation that is not your standard yearly recap, but more of a snapshot of the label's state of mind. Hence the title! I recommend checking it all out if you like the kind of hip-hop liquid of The North Quarter, but just for you I'll list some of my highlights. They are Submorphics - Daydreaming (Echo Brown Remix), which is an incredibly unique remake of my favorite Submorphics tune, transforming the hip-hop vibe of the original into more of a deeper one, KinKai, Saffron Grace - Plantain & Champagne (Lenzman Remix), a lush rework by the label master Lenzman himself on which he shows off his talent for the chill hiphop type of liquid, and Lenzman - Walk On By (Satl Remix). As if I would walk on by a remix by one of my favorite liquid artists Satl! Big vibes.

For some deep vibes there's also the Dispatched 2020 compilation on, you guessed it, Dispatched Recordings. This one is mostly a yearly compilation, but they still included two new reworks of older classics, namely the 2020 VIP's of Black Barrel, Nymfo - Get Stuck and Nymfo, Philth - Infection.

Lastly, Viper Recordings also released the first sampler for their annual 2021 compilation this week! The full release should follow in January. The first sampler track is V O E - We Go On, yes, another V O E compilation track. Told you they're going to flood the scene with releases! Safe to say, I'm loving it. Just from these two releases this week you can see how diverse they are, great stuff as always. The second track of the sampler is Halflight - The Bodysnatcher and shows the filthier side of Viper quite well. In multiple ways it's the exact opposite of V O E's melodic and uplifting anthem. Judging by these two, this compilation is going to be quite interesting!

Other dancefloor stuff I'd recommend from this week:

Various Artists - Wreck Out [NCS]
Rogue - Rattlesnake (Pegboard Nerds Remix)
Various Artists - GENESIS [LUX Music]
Mista Trick - Bristol To Minneapolis (<3)

Other liquid stuff I'd recommend from this week:

Terror - Rivers EP
Subdue - Told You Once / Changes
Mage - Crossroads
Krust - It's A Lot (Calibre Remix)

4. Various Artists - Destinations, Vol. 2 [Pilot]

Recommended if you like: Fox Stevenson, Edlan, Maduk

Oh boy, hidden gem spotlight time!

This week's Hidden Gem Of The Week™ might not quite be as "hidden" as usual, as it is released on UKF's Pilot label, but some of the featured artists are so unknown and deserve the spotlight so much for this release that I decided to still go through with it. The release I'm talking about is Pilot's Various Artist project Destinations, Vol. 2. After the success of the first installation back in 2018, which according to UKF is the point where Pilot really took off (wordplay stolen from UKF themselves, sorry to disappoint), they decided to take a different route for the second edition. Instead of bringing together some big names of the scene, they instead assembled one experienced dnb veteran and three pretty much complete newcomers that sent in demos via the UKF discord.

First off, we have SØL with their track Too Much, who was recommended to UKF by Fox Stevenson! Usually, I'd say the 19 year old from Australia would fall into the new wave of unique jump up artists all over the world, but with this release he has shown that he wants to do much more than that. Just like his jump up productions, this too is a very unique take on the Liquicity-type genre he has taken on here. It's almost like he fused his jumpy stuff with the melodic Liquicity vibes, the end result being something between Fox Stevenson and Used. Reminds me a bit of Subsonic's latest stuff. Also can I just say that I love this vocal?

Next up, make some waves for WAVES and their first release ever Daydream! WAVES, also known as Dan Scott, is an up-and-coming UK based producer that I can't really tell you much about, because, well, this is his only release. Don't let that scare you off though, Daydream is one of the vibiest tunes I've heard all year and is probably one of the most fitting names for a track ever. With all the minimal and soothing guitars leading us through this dreamscape of a song, it really feels like if someone took chill indie music and turned it into a liquid track. Soothing as fuck.

In between all this newcomer goodness there's also a very special track by russian liquid master Bert H called Lost Universe. Supported by the heavenly vocals of Elle Chante, he continues the vibes of the previous track effortlessly. Also sidenote, this is like the third time I've mentioned a russian producer today, could have nearly made a whole special out of it. Oh well, too late now! Aaaaanyway. Lost Universe is such a chill vibe you don't even notice it's 7 minutes long! It's so chill it will calm down even the most stressed out people in no time. Or, well, 7 minutes of time. Really really lovely tune.

Finally, we raise the energy levels one last time with Hyukari, Moon Jelly - Escape! If you have a great memory you might recognize Hyukari from my compilations text above, they were the ones that collaborated with The Arcturians on the RAM compilation! And once again, they delivered another quite unique vibe, this time going for an uplifting happy, almost anime vibe. I was already sold on Hyukari as an producer after the RAM collab, but this track made me want to follow them everywhere. A big part of the big happy atmosphere are the vocals though and I have to give a big shoutout to Moon Jelly there. They really took the already great instrumental to a whole new level with their performance. Just puts a big smile on my face.

Other Hidden Gems of this week:

Rift - Suppress
A K A - Unity EP
Various Artists - La Espiral LP
Cecil Hotel - Sour
AnnGree - Black Babylon