Picks Of The Week (03.04.21

1. Various Artists - 5 Year Anniversatea 💎 (High Tea Music Presents) [High Tea Music]

Recommended if you like: Metrik, Hybrid Minds, Dossa & Locuzzed

If only I had known that I would cover another High Tea Music release this soon, then I wouldn't have used up so many of my Tea puns on the last review already. They even put a tea pun in the title of this compilation, it's as if they are tea-sing me!

The mighty High Tea Music label, based in the Netherlands and one of my favourite labels for the lesser-known sides of everything from uplifting dancefloor to beautiful liquid, is celebrating 5 years of existe(a)nce this year with this awesome 11-track compilation. Let me tell you, label founders T & Sugah have once again done a perfect job of blending together High Tea regulars like Phonetic or Rex Hooligan with label debuts (tea-buts) by high profile producers like Protostar and completely new faces. These completely new faces are the reason this is one of the many Hidden Gems Of The Week™ this week!

We've got a lot to talk about today, so I'll just focus on my favourites for now.

While I enjoy a lot of different kinds of dnb, well-made emotional liquid will always have a very special place in my heart, even more so if it has a piano in it. For these reasons, my first favourite of this compilation is Phonetic - In Your Arms. Compared to his last few releases on High Tea, namely Gravity and Release Your Mind, the Innsbruck-based producer turns it down a few notches, energy-wise. While I immensely enjoyed his high-energy releases, I also very much welcome this expedition into piano-driven liquid territory. The vocal might be simple in its lyrics, but they transport so much emotion in just those few lines. Even the occasional uhh's and aah's add so much to the atmosphere, the whole package just perfectly works together. I can't stop singing along to this one.

Next up we've got another emotional one, Houndeye - Goodbye For Now. First of all, who even is Houndeye? If you simply search for the artist name, you'll find literally only this one track and a bit of promo for it. If you look for his real name (I swear I didn't stalk him that much, he put it in his artist bio!), you will find that this is a side project of Felipe Pereira, Audio Designer at Obsidian Entertainment and Blizzard! Not only that, before he joined the gaming industry 2014 the producer from Huntington Beach used to be a part of the mostly-dubstep duo City 17 (source)! Huh, not the typical back story for an artist.

After a long absence in the music scene, he now returns with this drum & bass passion project and immediately smashed it out of the park. Goodbye For Now could most easily be described as a "9000 Miles" or "Time To Let Go" type track. Incredibly dreamy guitars, sparingly used but utterly beautiful strings, a perfect vocal and a huge amount of different little sounds and melodies that come in at exactly the right moments all work together to create one perfect piece of art. I wish I knew who did the vocals, I want to follow that person around everywhere. Very very highly recommended, it really is a perfect journey of a tune.

Last one of my favourites is Crash Comet - Feeling. Saying something like last but not least wouldn't do this track justice, Feeling is pretty much the main reason I decided to review this album. The London-born but Bangalore-based producer (who I covered more in-depth a few weeks ago) has come out with a track so beautiful that I can't help but get emotional every single time I listen to it. Everything is perfect, the piano melodies, the warmth of the bass, the stunning vocal by Emily Makis... I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Everything is just so damn smooth and dreamy. That's not all though: Feeling was the first track Crash Comet has ever written about his wife and that's honestly the most wholesome trivia I have ever heard about a track. That little piece of info elevated this masterpiece even higher in my books, which I didn't know was possible. Please please shower this track with love, he deserves it.

Don't get me wrong though, I really like the rest of the album too. Whether it's the happy dancefloor bangers by T & Sugah & Quoone, NZ newcomer Mylen and Californian producer Richter, the beautiful liquid tracks by UK-based Phloem and Swiss Rex Hooligan, or the more unique bangers by shooting star Protostar, Ukrainian royalty VovKING and Austrian funk master Skyfade, it's really high (tea) quality throughout. On to (at least) five more years!

Other liquid stuff from this week:

Winslow - Mad Flavours (<3)
LSB, DRS - Faded (Calibre Remix)
SoulDR!P - Free Mind EP 💎
Elixr - So Good 💎
Dan Guidance - The Monster EP
Submorphics - Newport Magnetic
Rita Lee - Caso Sério (DJ Marky Drum And Bass Remix)
iZo Flight, Venuz Beats, T.R.A.C - Worlds Away 💎
Nymoz - Phoenix Ascending EP 💎

Other dancefloor stuff from this week:

Smooth, DC Breaks - Out There EP
Bruno Be, Tom Bailey - Hot Sun (Kalixto Remix) 💎
Pirapus, Christina Harrison - Need You Now 💎

2. BorkerBrothers - Panic Room RMXD - Room 1 💎 [Hanzom Music]

Recommended if you like: Buunshin, Disphonia, Notequal

Welcome to Hanzom Music feature #2952! I keep saying to myself No, I won't feature them again, let other labels shine, but then they come out with a banging EP like this. How can I resist there?

This is the first half of a remix EP for the incredible Panic Room EP by the devilish duo BorkerBrothers from Münster, Germany. I talked about the original EP a lot last year, it was one of my favourite releases of the year. When I heard there was a remix EP coming I was a bit hesitant to get hyped, because who knows if the remixes could live up to my high expectations from the original? Well, of course they did it. Those bastards. Also, since most of the remix artists featured on here fit the criteria, this is also the second Hidden Gem Of The Week™ of this week!

The first remix comes from Swiss techy neuro maestro Noizesplitter. He took on my absolute favourite of the EP, ID. To say I was skeptical before listening would be an understatement. However, Noizesplitter has been pumping out awesome remix after awesome remix lately, so I had hope. Right off the bat you hear that the remix isn't going into a completely different direction, but that it is refocusing the energy somewhat. The very atmospheric intro of the original is spiced up with some slower, but more heavy-hitting drums, while background horns give each bar more of a punch to it. This approach, keeping the atmosphere intact but cranking up the energy levels, becomes especially obvious in the insane drop. That drop man. It slapped me into the next decade. I would probably instantly collapse on the floor if I heard this tune on a big system. That's not even all yet though! Noizesplitter just had to go out of his way and make a brain-rewiring second drop too! I think I have never heard a drop that was simultaneously massive and this glitchy at the same time. Incredible remix.

Next up we've got Finalfix from Belgium, who you might remember from the great Tremors EP that was featured on here, on remix duties for Perception. Finalfix took some of the background elements of the moody forward-marching original and amplified the hell out of them. The little secondary melody that comes in half-way through the original's drop, has been transformed into a barrage of super speedy newschool neuro (IMANU/Synergy/MISSIN) 16th's and is now the main driving force of the first drop. The main bouncy bassline has also been put through a lot of interesting changes and now acts as a constantly-changing backdrop to the main 16th's madness. The second drop puts the focus completely on the reworked crunchy bass, with even more variations and added elements that keep your attention all the way through. I think there's a change in arrangement or rhythm every 16 bars or so, it's a super diverse track.

Next on the list is No Way Out, remixed by Australian-born and now Bristol-based Transforma! The, in my opinion, vastly underrated producer has reinvented himself a little bit during the past year, going from mostly neuro productions to dancefloor and even some liquid territories with Marianna Ray on the vocals. While this remix stays more in line with his previous sound, you can still hear the artistic evolution shine through in the now more techy than usual sound. No Way Out's broken breakbeat drums have been transformed (or should I say Transforma'd?) into a more straight-forward drum beat, while the massive slow bass wobbles have been focused into sharp, more controlled bass attacks. It is really interesting to compare the two versions, both use the provided elements so differently but are still both bangers in their own right.

Lastly, we've got Never Let You Down, remixed by Hannover-based Smeerlapp, also known as Hanzom Music's mastering engineer! Let me tell you, this remix is a vibe. The original was already quite a melodic way to end the EP, relatively speaking here, but Smeerlapp gave it even more of a smooth touch in this reinterpretation. The stepping drums of the original gave way to the new effortlessly rolling yet still quite techy drums, the atmospheric sounding elements are cranked up by a lot, Smeerlapp even chopped the vocal up a bit a few times. Really well-made rolling tech vibes in this one.

Another slam-dunk by Hanzom Music. If you enjoy neurofunk, especially the more modern variants, you will find some real gold in here!

Other deep/techy stuff from this week:

Wingz - Affection EP
GEST - Huaxi
A K A - Correlation EP 💎
Mystic State - My Own Private Island - Remixes
Heu - Dragonflies / Tamepohe 💎
Minor Forms, Kublai - Toulouse / Glides 💎
Zombie Cats - Let Go
Swayed - Breach / Vanquish 💎

3. Saint Robbers - Quality Train / Happy Day 💎 [Evolution Chamber]

Recommended if you like: Magnetude, Zombie Cats, Gydra

Put on your balaclava, we've got a train to rob.

My last, but definitely not least, pick of this week comes from the up-and-coming producer duo Saint Robbers! Based in Saint Petersburg and established just last year, they are yet another example of the exciting new talent coming through from Eastern Europe. After releases on Timeofnight Recordings and Ozriderz, and their incredible remixes of Phetsta - Intergalatic and Teddy Killerz - Shine, Magnetude caught wind of their productions. Impressed with what they heard, the Magne-dudes immediately snatched them up for a release on Evolution Chamber, the ever-inventive label the Anglo-Russian duo are running together with Task Horizon and Receptor. And this is that release!

The release kicks off with the story-driven neurofunk banger Quality Train. In true Evolution Chamber style, the name isn't just randomly chosen, this track could actually be the soundtrack to a train heist. Right from the get-go you've got big horns introducing the scenery by playing a funky James Bond theme-esque melody. The plan's all laid out, the train is closing in on the location, it's time. They knew they needed to act swiftly and without mercy for this to work. Similarly, in the real world, the track wastes no time after the introductory heist theme song and quickly goes in with some incredibly heavy neurofunk goodness. Not only is the bass heavier than the freight trains the Robbers are sampling in the drop, it's also so bouncy it really emphasizes the funk part of neurofunk.

After the very successful train heist in the first track, it is now time to celebrate this victory with a ride towards the sunset! A train ride, that is. This feeling is perfectly encapsulated in the second half of the release, Happy Day. Just like the train on their escape route, the track chugs along continuously. Usually I would say something with a rhythm this steady is a roller, but the rhythm is so bouncy and heavy that chugging actually seems more fitting, not just from a story perspective. This bouncy heavyness is contrasted with the laid-back I am so happy chopped up vocal melody and the super catchy almost cute melody coming in the second half of the drop, creating a truly unique vibe. I'm not just saying that either, I truly wouldn't know how to properly classify this one, which is a rare enough occurrence that I feel it should be specifically highlighted. Really lovely unique journey of a track!

All in all, a great label debut! Hopefully followed up by even more unique goodness soon, but the promotional material makes me hopeful that we won't have to wait for long.

Other neurofunk from this week:

Various Artists - UTM, Vol. 6 💎
PAV4N, Somatic - ALL ON BLACK - REPRISE
Picota & Kumbh - Give Me The Flow EP

4. Burr Oak - Dark Age [Eatbrain]

Recommended if you like: Redpill, Malux, Zombie Cats

One more thing.

I can't continue on with my life without talking about the new Burr Oak EP. The french duo comprised of the legendary neurofunk (and more!) producers The Clamps and Opsen have been incredibly productive lately. Just in the last year, they've released on Trendkill Records, where their collaborative journey started in 2019, Eatbrain and Blackout. Not just once on each label, nope, twice. More importantly, they are still constantly pushing the sound of neurofunk further and further into some of the weirdest soundscapes imagineable. It's not even just weird for weirdness sake, the strangeness is an integral part of the cinematic experiences they are creating.

Well, they've outdone themselves with their new Dark Age EP on Eatbrain, the story continuation of their Roots Of Evil EP from last year.

The duo slowly welcome you into their world with the insanely atmospheric EP intro track Machine Replicate Your Body Language. During the whole first minute or so you are simply floating away, as the beautiful and heavily reverberated melodies guide your thoughts. A shrill sound lets the listener know that this peace of mind isn't meant to last. Immediately after, a pounding technoid beat knocks us out of our slumber. A glitchy mechanic voice speaks up, explaining the intentions of the machines to us. They need us, the future is inside us. This leads us into a more standard syncopated rhythm, full of glitches and weird sound artifacts, interlaced with some signature Burr Oak distorted bass. This state doesn't last long either though, soon the beat goes back to a techno-type beat, before it slows down a lot for the breakdown again. A computer voice repeatedly tells us about Polyneurons, with its voice slowly dying as time goes on, as if running out of battery. For the last part of this journey the track goes back to the drum and bass section of the first drop, but significantly more distorted and in a way, broken.

The journey continues on No Light Will Shine On. Now that we're fully inside the Burr Oak machinery, there's no holding back anymore. While the intro might seem harmless enough at first, the fast drums and massively distorted bass stabs that are breaking through more and more often as we get closer to the drop let us know that we're in for a wild ride. In signature Burr Oak fashion, the drop features a lot of wild drums that all work together to create a uniquely catchy flow, further enhanced by the menacing synths flying through the soundscape left and right.

We arrive at the next track, Barbarian. Soon after we enter this track's realm, we hear alarm sirens in the distance. They are joined by multiple distorted droning sounds, which all together make it quite clear that something evil is marching towards you. Compared to the previous track, this track's drop features a more straight-forward metallic snare, but it still features so many other well-produced and well-arranged basses and sound effects that the energy is still kept quite high. As with a lot of Burr Oak tracks, the track undergoes several different phases and transformations that keep you moving all the way throughout.

Next up we have Dark Age, featuring a great performance by Lifesize MC. As the fast-paced drums roll along, the vocals tell a story about a Dark Age, where the world is controlled by greedy prophets profiting off of lies and misinformation. The anger in Lifesize's performance is mirrored and amplified tenfold in the instrumental. Immense basses burst up all throughout the track as if a beast inside the planet's core has been woken up from a deep sleep and is now fighting back. The combination of massive basses, rolling drums and great MC performance make this my clear favourite of the EP.

This massive tune is followed up by Dissent. With muted techy drums and sparse but effective high-pitched chirps the intro prepares you for the glitchy, technical adventure we're going to embark on here. As we enter the drop, the techy drums are coming out in full force and are paired with menacing basses and otherworldly melodies. In the few free spaces of this tightly interwoven arrangement a women's voice orders the listener to dissent, adding further to the dark atmosphere of the track. The french duo once again transform this drop into multiple different versions of itself over the course of the track, each iteration completely different from the previous one. Even when the melody from the first drop comes back in the second half, they rearranged all the other parts and created a completely new version out of it. Incredibly diverse track.

Lastly, we've got The World's Spark. While it might start off simple enough with a relatively simple, but hard-hitting drum beat, you should know that this is just the beginning. The first drop arrives quickly and with it comes a earthquake-like pulsating bassline, contrasted by a quick high-pitched musical cue right out of a horror movie. The pulse rate slows down a bit, while still causing a lot of damage, before we enter the short breakdown. What follows is an exceptionally produced explosion of energy. The more conventional neurofunk drums are replaced with chopped up breaks that are constantly changing rhythms, sometimes even skipping a beat or two, while an supernatural sounding melody will make you feel like the world as we know it is ending. A worthy closing track for this masterpiece of an EP.

If you enjoy neuro, this is a must-listen.