Picks Of The Week (16.01.21

1. What a massive week, wtf

Recommended if you like: basses and drums

What an incredible week of releases we've just had!

However, just as luck would have it, this week is also a week where I barely have time to write one of my usual reviews, let alone multiple. So let's just go through everything important real quick, shall we?

First up, Dancefloor. The biggest thing that happened this week was probably DC Breaks' new DCXV 15-year anniversary album! Just like their last album Different Breed, this one is released on RAM Records and filled to the brim with bangers. Take one portion already-known banger singles like Club Thug or We Never Slow Down, a good serving of reworked OPPOSITION (the cancelled DC Breaks x Loadstar project) tracks like Arkanoid and Control The World, two dashes of special XV Mix VIP treatments like Move Closer (XV Mix) and Get Down (Liquid Mix), a few banging completely new tracks like Euphorium or Tardigrade, ...baby, you got a stew going. Big album.

But that's not even all. We've got Dimension with Alive, the last single before his album Organ drops in March, T & Sugah showing us what their favorite fast food is on French Fries, and Luton-based duo S9 taking us on a vibey ride on Get It Right. Not bad for one week.

The DnB world doesn't just revolve around Dancefloor though, what about some good old Neurofunk? Good thing you asked, because this week has been a huge neuro week too! From Teddy Killerz' VIP treatment of their Blackout tune Assassins, to the new Slicer EP by MNDSCP, to the masterpiece of an EP that is Equinox by Traced. More on that last one further down.

Let's stay in the general territory a bit and give a quick shout to a few of my deep/dark/techy releases. The first release in that category, that every single one of you should listen to, is the enourmously large Dusk EP by Vowel on Overview. I would like to buy some more Vowel's please. Something for the Spotify gang: This week also saw the global release of the Azimuth EP by Glÿph and Hystatus, which is full of awesome tracks, and SIN.FULL MAZE's awesome Christmas compilation SIN.FULL SANTA FIGHTS SOME MONSTERS (real name), a real treasure trove of hidden gems.

Liquid? you betcha! The lovely single City Angels by Mitekiss from his upcoming EP on Hospital, Rezilient's double single Lost Together / Positive Reaction on Liquicity sister label Galacy, Cranium coming in hot with Holding On (featuring Sammie Hall on the vocals!), the Winter Soul Various Artists EP on Liquid Series that I forgot to mention last week, and Monrroe remixing In The Moment by Bcee, Charlotte Haining and Tempza!

Phew, that was quite a bit wasn't it? Oh yeah, one more thing...

2. Traced - Equinox [Kill Tomorrow]

Recommended if you like: Black Sun Empire, Malux, Merikan

There's always enough time for the Hidden Gem Of The Week™!

This week's pick comes from one of my favorite way too underrated neurofunk producers: Traced! The Guildford-based producer with a knack for the melodic madness has been creating music for more than 20 years at this point. After jumping from style to style for years, he eventually decided to focus on one of them: Neurofunk. Thanks to the years of experience in all kinds of other musical directions, his first official track as Traced in 2014 already showed the world what to expect from him. Well-produced, atmospheric-intro-having, absolutely banging neurofunk. In other words, exactly the Neurofunk I love. You hear that, world? I need more.

However, it's not just me that loves his stuff, a whole host of labels relatively quickly took notice of him. After his first release on Cymbalism Recordings, he went on to release on Red Light Records, Close 2 Death, Trendkill Records and Kill Tomorrow, which is also the home of this new masterpiece of an EP. For those who don't know, Kill Tomorrow is the label of danish producer Bytecode (formerly known as Tomtek). I know it sounds like marketing-speak, but I honestly mean it when I say they are laser-focused on only the best neurofunk by some of the best lesser known producers around.

The best example of that is sitting right in front of us: Traced's Equinox EP!

Kicking it off with the titular Equinox, it quickly becomes clear that Traced is not taking a single prisoner today. None. As advertised above, he kicks it off with an incredibly atmospheric intro that just instantly teleports your mind to outer space. Not long after, Traced shifts gears into maximum overdrive with a drop that will get you moving whether you want to or not. His mission statement of "madness with melody" is out in full force on this track. Every part of the track, from the high-pitched lasers, the main melody or the underlying bass, works together perfectly. Then comes the switchup. Trust me, you're not ready. Traced pulls out the machinegun and just fires directly into your ears while the atmospheric melodies from the intro lurk in the background. Absolutely massive tune.

You think this ride is already over? Hah, not even close! Next up we've got Just Close Your Eyes. The title doesn't even have to tell me that, my face did it on its own because of the huge bassface I was pulling while listening. While the intro is of course also super atmospheric, the heavy bass of the drop already roams around in your ears, telling you that is something big is coming. After exactly 3.2 seconds of the drop you know what that big thing is, it's those massive high-pitched stabs that pierce through your skull. That was the point where I decided that I had to write something about this release. After a bit of back and forth, the track continues to accelerate straight into madness through all kinds of different variations, each of them madder than the other.

I hope you're still with me. Because this next one is special. So are the other two, but still. I'm talking about the EP closer Manipulate, of course. Somehow, Manipulate is even grander and even more epic (for lack of a better word) in the way it builds itself up. Right from the get-go, you hear big, heavy steps slowly approaching while a booming trumpet (something brass-y at least) informs us of the imminent attack on us. Almost as if the tracks tells us to prepare our bassfaces. And oh man, is that warning ever needed.

I don't even know how to describe the madness of the drop, you have to experience it. There's so many moving parts and every one of them is sick. My favorite has got to be the additional fast-moving drum sample. The super quick ones with the funky rhythm. Man, I wish I knew music words. But that's just one of many many great things about this drop. After all this fine-tuned chaos, the track switches it up completely by taking one of the main in-your-face elements in the first drop and slowing it down into a completely new genre. Out of nowhere. Soon enough, it slowly increases in speed again until we end up at our normal speed again. What a sick idea for a buildup man. To top it off, he brought back the funky rhythm drums from earlier and used them to delay the second drop just ever so slightly, causing me to literally jump out of my seat. Not just once, every time. It's just that effective for me. Man, I love this EP.

If you like Neurofunk at all, please check this out. It's a must-listen in my opinion.

Other Hidden Gems of this week:

Various Artists - Vibrations VII [Grand Theft Audio Recordings]
Rezilient - Lost Together / Positive Reaction
a lot of the ones mentioned in 1. are quite unknown