Picks Of The Week (16.10.21

1. Mandidextrous - Techno On My Mind /Move Faster [ProgRAM]

Recommended if you like: 4x4-DnB hybrid carnage

It's an exciting time to be a DnB fan, especially if you enjoy the weirder subgenres. We've got the cross genre e-boys like IMANU or Buunshin putting out what some would describe as lofi crossed with festival trap, people like Annix or Simula pushing their hybrid jump up sound and newcomers from all over the world putting their own spin on established genre tropes. One particularly fun thing that a lot of these new-wave developments love to incorporate: the 4x4 drums! It's not even much of a niche thing anymore, it's gotten so big that even Netsky and Dimension started dabbling in it on multiple occasions. However, there's one person who is more experienced in the fast-paced world of non-syncopated rhythms than any of the above: Mandidextrous! And, as you might guess, they just put out a new banging release, so let's talk about them for a bit, shall we?

Mandidextrous, aka Mandisha Gordon, started their journey in the scene way way way back in the late 90s - early 00s, when they DJed Techno and DnB at and organised loads and loads of free parties all around the London area. Mandi loved both Techno and DnB a lot, but when they played it out they always had to choose between the two. There was little to no fusion happening between the two genres, or at the very least simply not enough. That's why around 2008 they refocused their musical career by dropping the rave organisation part and putting a way bigger focus on producing exactly that type of genre hybrid music.

What followed was the creation of their label AMEN4TEKNO around 2010, a platform on which Mandidextrous and a whole lot of like-minded producers were able to further the cause of 190+ BPM 4x4 carnage. They might not have been the originator of Jungle Tek or Ragga Tek, as the subgenres are actually called, but they have certainly been very early pioneers of it and managed to become huge names inside that niche. I mean, at some point Mandi was even crowned the Queen Of Jungle Tek! That title was defended at raves all around the UK, with their biggest headline shows probably being Boomtown, where they were not just a regular act but at some point even became involved with running the Scrapyard stage. Oh, did I mention that they're also openly trans and non-binary?

Let's jump ahead a bit to last year. Like a lot of people, Mandidextrous struggled a lot during the first few bits of lockdown. Even without that pandemic-induced forced income shortage and mental health problems, they felt like they'd reached the peak in their career inside this quite specific niche and were ready to just let it go. However, before taking that final step they wanted to try out that new EQ50 mentorship program for womxn of the DnB scene that was kickstarted in the middle of the year. Can't help to try out what being mentored by DJ Flight, Mantra, Sweetpea, MC Chickaboo, Alley Cat and Jenna G is like! Not to mention being connected to huge labels of the scene like Critical, V Recordings, Shogun, RAM or Function.

Spoiler: they got the role and they loved it! They got paired with none other than Andy C's RAM Records, which helped shape the evolution of Mandi's sound we're now witnessing. Instead of blasting everyone away at 190 beats per minute, they are now aiming to slow down to the 170s, while still very much keeping the multi-genre 4x4 aspects intact. Along with that Mandi is now opening up a whole new label for that new hybrid sound, aptly titled Speedbass. Not to forget their new rave series Rave Monster and TEK U! Certainly an exciting time to be a Mandidextrous fan. This week saw the first double single of a long series of releases, Techno On My Mind / Move Faster, on none other than RAM-sister ProgRAM, so let's talk about that!

Techno On My Mind, featuring Bristol bad boy Bish, immediately announces itself with a brass-y melody that's both epic and scary, making us feel as if we're witnessing a box champion approaching. After the titular vocal sample, which is way more catchy than it has any right to be by the way, is introduced, we're lead to a heavy half-time section. From this short but sweet warmup we're thrusted right into a drop full of psytrance-y 4x4 madness. With each passing 16 bar block, the bass psy triplets morph more and more into straight-up DnB drums, and even abandon the 4x4 rhythm at one point, only to return right back to it at the end of the drop. This might sound a little wild, but don't forget, wild is exactly where Mandi thrives. Even though it's honestly a wild smorgasbord of genres in many ways, they still managed to mash it up together seamlessly. And did I mention that it's just so much fun?

Secondly we got Move Faster, a command my body definitely wants to follow when listening to it. Similarly to its predecessor, it mashes up various bass genres together with DnB until one perfectly crafted 174 hodgepodge emerges. This time we've got elements of Russian Hardbass flying around, most prominently those drums that go bonk. You know which ones. Hopefully. My favourite part(s) has got to be all the slightly delayed transitions from buildup to drop, from the 4x4 bonkage drop section to the more DnB inspired parts. However, that part where the background claps begin going crazy fast is also truly excellent. Pure fun!

I give this release a bonk/10! Nah, but seriously: this is some really well-crafted and most importantly fun 4x4 madness with all sorts of genre hybrid things going on keeping things fresh and interesting. Big ups!

There's not a whole lot similar stuff out this week, so I'll just recommend some general danceable stuff from this week, starting with Neuro:

Pythius, Coppa - Hand Grenade
Gydra - Lava Run (Gridlok Remix)
Zombie Cats, Sinister Souls, Chris.SU- Mutation Remixed - Sampler 3
Prolix - Ready
Seekraze, Tao Maffa - Cholia 💎

And some awesome uplifting dancefloor because why not:

Polygon, bvd kult - I Got You
Andy C, DJ Rae - Ghost
1991 - Odyssey
Mazare, Nick Luebke - Spirals
Sly Chaos, Matisse - Run to the Unknown
LUCA - Better With U 💎
Synth System, AL/SO - City Lights / Extra

Sources

2. Hybrid Minds - Reflections EP [Hybrid Music]

Recommended if you like: Technimatic, Fred V, Netsky

Yes, I know this was released last week already. Yeah, this is also pretty much the opposite of a "Hidden Gem Spotlight". Hybrid Minds are arguably one of the biggest DnB acts at this moment, as evidenced by the fact that one of the singles of this EP is already sitting at nearly 4 million plays on Spotify. However, what can I say, their output is just too good to not feature here.

To make things more interesting, let's dive into their history for a little bit first. Hybrid Minds consist of british producers Matt Lowe and Josh White. Matt got into DnB as early as 2002, but it wasn't until a few years later that he started putting his own spin on the genre. From 2008 on he started making the rounds on all the best underground Jump Up labels as Sensa. Soon after, he met Josh, who was also pushing the harder sounds as Haste, through doing the Ruthless Soundz radio show. Around that time, Matt started getting frustrated with the direction his musical journey was going. His music taste started drifting towards the mellow, more melodic stuff, something Josh had already been passionate about for a while. In 2011 they decided to link up and produce a track like that together, just to try it out, with no strings attached. However, fate had different plans apparently. And when I say fate, I mean UKF. They uploaded the track, The Place, to their channel and it took off.

Well, that's what the articles I've read have told me at least. It has since then been taken offline, due to an uncleared sample. However, it still gave them the foot in the industry's door they needed. In 2012 they debuted their new Hybrid Minds alias, which also included the regular collaborator with the voice of an angel Grimm for a while, on Shimon's Audioporn Records with their self-titled EP. Lost off of that very same EP became their first big hit, with UKF once again sharing it with the masses. Things weren't looking grim(m) at all. That same year they went on to release on Mainframe Recordings and the Fokuz family of labels. However, the plans for their debut album Mountains on BCee's Spearhead Recordings were already set in motion. Shortly after its hugely successful initial release in 2014, the duo got legendary producers from all over the scene together for the Mountains Remixed album, with names ranging from Lenzman and DLR to Teddy Killerz and Neonlight.

Like a lot of their contemporaries at the time, Matt and Josh realised they already had enough connections in the scene to set up their own label, giving them full freedom to do whatever creative endeavours they put their (hybrid) mind to. Subsequently, the duo unveiled their very own Hybrid Music label in 2016, together with the first single of their second album. A little tune called Touch, you might have heard of it. With one massive single after the other, each accompanied by a remix by another big artist, they fiercely marched towards the full release of Elements in 2017. At this point they were pretty much unstoppable. Next to their self-released works, including more remixes of the non-singles from the album, they put out a sheer endless stream of releases and remixes on big players like Liquicity, UKF, Viper and Bad Taste. A personal highlight was their collaborative effort with InsideInfo on Drum&Bass Arena in 2018, which resulted in a super unique blend of their incredible talent for emotional vocal-heavy atmospheres and the diverse producer's unique knack for the weightier sounds.

That very same year they also debuted their special Outline Show, with Charlotte Haining and MC Tempza hosting, at DnB Mecca Let It Roll's Portal stage. As someone who was there, let me tell you, that was something special. Hearing a packed tent chanting the lyrics to Touch is something everyone should experience once in their life. The fact that the tent was as packed as it was makes the whole thing even more impressive, considering the Let It Roll's crowd reputation for preferring the harder sounds. From then on they jumped from achievement to achievement. Once again in collaboration with InsideInfo, the duo were part of Let It Roll 2019's massive opening show, and in 2020 they sold out their Printworks headline show in a mere 24 hours, faster than any DnB act ever before. Even Andy C took a few weeks to sell out that venue! Obviously that show had to be postponed, but they didn't just sit around doing nothing during the pandemic. Not only were the two recruited by KISS FM as their Monday night hosts, they also put out a sublime remix for Above & Beyond and fulfilled their career-long dream of collaborating with none other than Pendulum. All this time they didn't budge to any outside pressure and simply kept on doing what they felt was right, simply (hybrid) minding their own business. An attitude that seems to have paid off in spades.

All right, enough history, let's talk about this new release!

The EP kicks off with the massive hymn that is Bad To Me. Man, how do I even begin to describe how much I adore this track. While Josh and Matt's incredibly warm piano-focused production is certainly a big part of why I love it so much, I just have to give both the songwriting and performance by UK singer/songwriter Grace Grundy a shout-out here. She managed to hit that topic of being in a bad state of mind mentally, of being in an abusive relationship with one's self, so damn well that it gives me chills just to think about it. That's not even all though, she then went on to perform this already great "raw material" in such a harrowingly beautiful way that the vocal instantly became one of my favourites of the whole year, and with it, the track itself.

As if that wasn't already good enough, they follow this up with the equally amazing Blame You. This time they've employed the wonderful talents of Suffolk-based singer Dylan. No, not Bob. No, not the Freak Recordings guy either, why would you think that, that Dylan doesn't even sing. Anyway. Even though Bad To Me and Blame You share that reverb-heavy piano-based "emotional Hybrid Minds hymn" vibe, the former feels a bit more melancholic and depressing, while the latter is a straight-up cathartic experience. As Dylan sets up the scenery of the abusive relationship the track is about, the production is still very minimal and distant in a way. During the chorus, both the vocal and the instrumental shoot up so far in their energy levels that they reach truly chilling heights. The way everything comes crashing down on you once the "Look at what you started" line hits is just perfect. Goosebumps all around.

We continue our emotional journey on the even more sombre and melancholic Fire, featuring the wonderful vocals of UK singer Stevie Parker. This time we're delving into the world of relationships, admiring someone but not being able to take the next step with them due to them being involved with someone else, and everything that comes with that. Fire isn't really the track that will instantly cause you to have an emotional breakdown like the two that came before, it's more of a grower. The more often you listen, the more both the production and the vocal hit you in the feels.

Let Go is about the next step in that same dynamic. It's about knowing that things could've worked out in another life, but accepting that the circumstances in this one just weren't right. Letting go of someone you care about deeply, even though it hurts. Obviously being heartbroken that it's coming to an end, but being glad it happened anyway. Those are just some of the emotions Hybrid Minds and their long-time collaborator Grimm manage to convey here. The heavenly synth and piano melodies construct a melancholic yet uplifting atmosphere, which, when combined with a percussion that's as soft as it is decelerating and, once again, a vocal performance that further amplifies the vibe the instrumental is going for, perfectly represents that "closing of a chapter" feeling.

However, the EP's chapter isn't quite over yet. We got one more afterparty beauty left: Dance Forever, featuring the lovely Everyone You Know. In many ways this one is the track that was most influenced by this pandemic-ridden life we've been living since March 2020. During the various lockdowns Hybrid Minds took the time to experiment with and explore all kinds of slower tempos, which now culminated in this Breaks anthem. Additionally, the lyrics are not just directly referencing the long-awaited Return To The Dancefloor™, they are also performed in such a nostalgia-filled, Chase & Status-esque way that you can't help but reminisce about the earlier rave days. Super lovely way to end this release.

What a (Hybrid) mind-blowingly amazing EP. Even after more than 10 years of working together, the two manage to raise the bar further and further.

Other liquid stuff from this week:

Monty, Visages - Vibin'
Tatora - Confessions
Simple Souls - Winter / Cold Breeze
Rizzle - Twilight Tones LP
VA - Endless Summer EP [Liqüid Series] 💎
SMP, Exult, Sydney - Disconnected
Rezilient, Sola, pyxis, Sammie Hall - Headsbass Volume 7 Part 3
Bert H - Colibri

Sources