Picks Of The Week (31.07.21

1. Linksview - Falling Together 💎 [onesevenfour]

Recommended if you like: Nelver, Aperio, Telomic

Would you look at that, it's been more than 2 weeks without me featuring some new Australian producer! Obviously I can't let that trend go on, so let's see what they've been cooking up down there.

For the first pick of this week we've got none other than Subreddit Native Linksview, from Sydney! I've been waiting for new music by him ever since that great debut release of his in 2019, All I Want / Lurch on Liquid Brillants, which I only found because he proudly shared it here. Back then I was still very much just lurking the subreddit, pretty much never interacting with any post whatsoever. However, I liked this one so much it actually got me to break out of my shell and actually upvote something for once. After another, more mellow and break-y offering on Liquid Brillants last year, he's now back with a new single! This time he chose to release with the wonderful up-and-coming label onesevenfour, whose releases are also very much a regular sight on this very subreddit. Don't get me wrong, the single is awesome in its own right (we'll get to that in a bit) and that was still the sole reason for why I wanted to review it, but I think it's still nice I've now got the opportunity to feature some regular r/dnb folks on here too. Oh yeah, as you might have guessed, this release is my Hidden Gem Of The Week™!

Wait, you haven't heard of onesevenfour yet!? Alright, let's quickly go through their history for the uninitiated among you. Ever since being founded in 2017, onesevenfour has been an Australian one-stop-shop for all things DnB: events with international headliners and local talent alike, the The Show and Feature Mix mix series' featuring the likes of Document One, IMANU or Turno, and finally, their very own label to release music on, founded in 2020. Ever since their debut release, the massive 20-track VA compilation onesevenfour Vol. 1, they have been consistently putting out tune after tune by underrated producers from all over the globe, like Artsea, Supercurve or Mountain.

And now, Linksview joins the gang too!

Right from the get-go, his new single Falling Together lets you know that you're in for one hell of a lovely liquid roller. After the initial rush of quick-firing drums has waned off, we're treated to a wonderfully atmospheric piece of buildup, with a great vocal sample keeping things interesting. Not only does the warm bass of the drop keep your ears warm in this Australian Winter, Linksview also effortlessly introduces various little melodies that really take you on a journey. In the first drop we've already experienced so many different kinds of beautiful elements and rhythms that you might think that's all that's going to happen here, but think again! The second drop jumps in with an absolutely lush, almost Nelver-esque melody that I honestly can't get enough of.

In short: A beautiful piece of music, by someone you should definitely keep an eye on in the future!

Other great liquid from this week:

Maduk - Stay Like This
Fred V - Already Disappeared
Operate, Degs, Duskee - Diamonds
Sonic Art, Mityadrive, Chillhomers - Lost All My Memories 💎
AUDBL - No One Like You / I've Been Thinking
Artsea - Finding Solace / Path To Never
Royalston, Jaynee - Won't Go
CELO - Ninety-Nine
Smote - I Feel Alive EP
Need For Mirrors - Game Of Tones EP

2. Various Artists - FLAVA - THE REMIXES 💎 [Zombie Cats]

Recommended if you like: Despersion, Transforma, Traced

You know what else I haven't featured here in a while? A release by the Zombie Cats!

As the German-Australian duo infernale are gearing up for their remix album dropping later this year, they decided earlier this year to let the community get a chance to be featured on it too. And thus, the Flava remix contest was born! Wait, a whole EP? I thought it was just one track that would be featured on the album? Well, once the jury consisting of Vigilante from Artists & Relations, Rohaan, Felix Raymon and of course the Zombie Cats themselves saw how many great remixes had been submitted, they decided to release their five favourites as an EP ahead of the full remix album, on which only the 1st winner will be featured. I could of course wait until the album drops to review this, but the 2nd to 5th price winners are just too good to not share here. Alright, we're counting down!

On the fifth place we've got a remix by Symbioz, whose productions have been as unknown to me as his name is ungoogleable. Seriously, I can't find anything about him/her/them. However, who needs a backstory when you've got a tune that's this good? Symbioz took the classic Neurofunk slapper that is Flava and transformed it into an equally heavy but way more deep, dark and moody roller. Not the foghorn kind, of course. And when I say it's still just as heavy, I mean that if you heard it live it would shake you to your core and won't let go until the 5 minute runtime is over. Massive remix.

On fourth place we've got my favourite upcoming Neurofunk duo: Kaizen Flow! If you are unfamiliar with the shenanigans of Nick and Shane, I can recommend you a review of their tunes Grind and Wastelander on the Korsakov compilation earlier this year. Yes, it's my own review, what did you expect? As expected from the two, they turned the original into an unbelievably twisted and face-contorting banger. I mean, just listen to that machine gun fire in the second 16 bars segment of the drop, this shit is going to mow down every single raver when it hits live. While I very much live for that machine gun fire segment, the dynamic duo have way way way more in store for all you listeners. Variations upon variations upon variations, each more twisted than the other. And then the absolutely disgusting second drop hits. Jesus effin christ. I'm struggling to find the right words, my brain is too busy processing the absolute carnage the two are causing in the second drop. Nick and Shane, if you are reading this, please never stop making music. Until I stumbled upon your music, I didn't know my brain needed this regular sonic rewiring and you guys are some of the best in the game for that. I fully mean that. It's ridiculous how good this remix is for a duo that is still so new to the scene. Stupidly good remix.

Yes, most of the remixes are on the heavy side. However, every remixer has their own unique take on the genre and every remix has its own thing going for it. No remix makes this more clear than the one by dutch hype machine TANTRON, coming in hot at number three. The 19-year-old up-and-coming creative has set his target on producing "hyperactive DnB with orchestral influences", which you'll find is a very apt description. Both as a solo artist and as a regular collaborator of masked Jump-Up duo BLVCK CROWZ, he has been putting out some ridiculous music. Imagine belgian jump up, mixed with a pinch Neurofunk influences, and then cranked up to 1000%. For his remix of Flava however, he changed the formula up a bit. With a heavy focus on the orchestral part of the bio description, the classical conductor TANTRON takes you on a journey into the realms of a fantastical fairy tale dimension. One that is quickly destroyed by the aforementioned ridiculous hyperactivity of the drop. In a good way. While the steamrolling bass and the drums cause a whole lot of chaos, it is the Burr Oak-esque distorted growls that bellow from below that really sell the "the monsters have overrun the magical forest" atmosphere. If you enjoy contrast between beautiful orchestral storytelling and ridiculously banging carnage, this remix is for you.

Number twooooo! For the penultimate remix we've got none other than the Perth original Killer Industries. Since more than ten years, he has been releasing music on his SoundCloud, featuring every genre under the sun. Dubstep, Eurobeat, Minimal, Neurohop, you name it. However, the most prominently featured electronic genre among the honestly impressive amount of tracks he has accumulated over the last decade is obviously DnB. Sometimes crossed with Metal, sometimes straight-up Neuro, sometimes very Pendulum-esque, always Killer. (Industries). Soon after the launch of his solo SoundCloud adventure, he founded a new alias. Together with his mate Neural he became WARHEIGHT, which was later expanded to include a third unnamed mate. Well, he has a name, I just don't know it. Releases on labels like Kosen, Forbidden Society and Close2Death followed over the years. Legend has it that he sometimes even performs his and WARHEIGHT's songs live, with an actual band. I heard he's also often producing together with a certain upcoming producer called Hello World that I'm dying to feature here. Hello World, if you're reading this, please release your stuff to the world already, the DnB world needs to hear more of it. Aaaanyway, where were we? Ah yes, the Flava remix.

As you might expect from the name, this thing is all Killer and no chiller. The man of a thousand productions took the original's energy and flow and pumped them both up until they reached "oi fuck off mate" levels. Together with a pinch of Perth-ian, almost Pendulum-ian, synths, Killer Industries managed to craft one hell of a banging track. In the second half he cranks it up one last time by bringing in some Crossbreed-y elements to bash your head in just that tiny bit more.

And finally, the number one: Cyntax! Of course it was him. As soon as I heard that he entered the race, I knew he'd come up with something great and my intuition did not let me down. You don't know Ollie Kaye's phenomenal Neurofunk production work yet? In a way I'm slightly disappointed you didn't check him out when I featured him here a few months ago, but in another way I'm excited for you to get to know such a talented new producer. So what did he come up with to win the grand prize? An obscenely well-fitting rearrangement of the original's flow into a whole lot of funky triplets, some of the hardest-slapping snares known to mankind, all mixed down so well that it caused Rouven Zombie Cats to jump up and throw his water bottle across the room during the official listening session. I might have done the same. Honestly, that triplet flow fits the track so well, it just seems like such an obvious choice in hindsight. Not just that, all his other production choices, from the bass melody creeping up in both drop's second 16 bar block to the tiny bit of 4x4 in the second drop, literally all of them, fit together perfectly. If Cyntax wasn't on your to-watch list for Neurofunk producers before this, he certainly will be after.

One remix more banging than the other, while still each having their own signature sound. If you liked these, feel free to check out some of the other remix competition entries as well, there were too many great entries to count really.

Other great Neurofunk from this week:

Phace, Synergy - МЕХАНИЗM
Ripple, Neonlight - Goin' Hard
Volatile Cycle, Dropset - Hoodrat / Stronk
Neonlight - Sprech Funk (Remixes)