Picks Of The Week (11.06.22

1. Various Artists - YANA50 LP [YANA Music]
Recommended if you like: Jon Void, Rebel Scum, Prdk

Releases by Toronto Is Broken's YANA Music have become such a regularity in our DnB releases list (and also my Beatport shopping cart) that I sometimes forget that they're still quite a young label. Through tireless work by the YANA team, above all my brother from another mother Christian himself, they have managed to feature over 50 artists from all over the scene, in only 3 years! For their 50th (!) release, the whole YANA family, with some exciting new additions, came together to reimagine the biggest releases of the label over the years. The perfect opportunity to talk about some of the most exciting new Dancefloor talent around at the moment. So let's talk about YANA50, YANA's anniversary remix album. Or should I say, YANAversary?

As always with albums in this format, I will focus on my favourites from the 14 remixes, but don't worry, I will still briefly talk about the other ones in between. While YANA mostly specialises in all things Dancefloor, the label has hosted quite a wide array of different sounds over these last 49 releases. Which is why I'll try to cover each different style present here with one in-depth pick each, starting with VIPs. Wait, VIPs are not really a specific style of DnB. Shhhh, attentive reader, just enjoy the ride!

My first pick comes from the one and only Mr. Vypes, who brings his long-awaited VIP (VYP?) of his YANA debut Brand New to the table. Before we plunge into the madness that is this VIP though, let's give you some context to the mastermind behind it. Vypes is the alias of Rotterdam-based producer, DJ and guitarist Neil van Kleeff. Based on my research, he has been active in the electronic music scene since around 2014, both in the event industry itself via his in-depth involvement with the Blendits (RIP) event series slash label and as a DJ slash producer. Back then still known as Viper Striker, he was mashing up the dance everywhere with his Dubstep, DnB and Trap, anything goes motto. Sadly the very early works of Neil are all deleted nowadays, but he was definitely grinding away for a while on SoundCloud. Then, in 2018, The Rebrand™️ happened, complete with his first officially released tune, Into The Light, followed by a quick-fire series of mixes exploring all his different styles. His productions took a step back for a bit until he returned with all kinds of new and fire tunes in 2020, one of them being his YANA debut Brand New. Since then he has become a regular on the YANA roster, while still occasionally branching out to other labels like HYBRID BLAK or Dimensional Music.

Remember when I said he's a guitarist? I didn't just say that because he knows the chords to Wonderwall or something, he actually graduated as a guitarist from the Herman Brood Academy. Not just that though, he is also currently enrolled in Electronic Music Production at the Rockacademie Tilburg, does guitar lessons here and there and used to play in a band called Raise The Ace for quite a while! This expertise in all things guitars doesn't just bleed into his productions, which often feature him going crazy on a guitar solo, he also uses it to enhance his live performances with some sick live shredding!

Anyway, back to the VIP. Vypes took the already punchy and catchy as hell original and injected 10cc of pure, raw energy into it, in the process turning it into a 4x4 force to be reckoned with. This brand new flavour of Brand New is a perfect example of how to give an already quite banging track the VIP treatment. The speed at which the dubstep-y synth is whipped at you is increased tenfold, reaching quickness levels so high that it almost feels like it's glitching out at times, thanks to the 4x4 rhythm the bouncability is cranked up from 100 to off the charts and somehow the incredibly catchy Brand New Flava vocal sample is even more infectiously earwormy than ever before in this new, chopped-up state. Not to forget that little cheeky switchup in the second drop! Just an insane track that I want to throw into every mix I do from now on.

Is it more VIPs that you seek, wanderer? You are in luck then, because Brrrrrighton-based Chris Merison, better known as Tengu, reworked his already quite large tune Ready For The Heat to be somehow even larger. Would you rather want some chill VIP action? Alright, oddly specific, but MYKOOL got you covered with his atmospheric reimagining of the melancholic I Miss You, the second single for his upcoming album on YANA!

Alright, next category: Basically Neuro. Who would be better as the face of this amazingly-titled category than Perplex? Since the alias' inception in 2010 (!), Exeter-based Grant William Johnston has been busy mixing and cooking up some big beats under the name, starting with Dubstep mixes and then using the expertise gathered during his studies at UWE Bristol to create a whole bunch of his own tunes that have sadly been deleted everywhere. I'm sensing a pattern. After a few of years of being busy with family (oh just uneventful stuff like being a lovely father for his two sons), he came back stronger than ever in 2019 with an array of great releases on Nu Venture, Bass Rabbit, Grand Theft Audio and, of course, YANA! During these few years he also transformed the Perplex brand from a solo act to a two-man show, with London-based deck magician Andy Wilson, also known as Poindexter, completing the picture.

For this project they chose Corrupted Mind and Chaos' underground anthem Save The Rave, taking the already ridiculous energy of the original and giving it their very own Perplex stamp of Neurofunky goodness. The fast-paced breaks are turned into simple but all the more heavy and stompy snares, the all-encompassing relentless growl is distilled into a menacing Neuro reese and matched up with a funky yet evil-sounding melody to form a catchy call and response, even the tek tek tek tek tek tek switchup gets the bass treatment to make it all the more diabolic. Great stuff all around, in short.

How about some more Neuro? Alright alright, we've also got Tenerife-based newcomer MV putting a heavy spin on Dance by Luca, which makes sense considering Ed Rush & Optical liked to play out the original a bunch, and Mini A.M.C, better known as Reece Mason, even better known as Corrupted Mind, absolutely ravaging Aktive's anti-establishment anthem Obey Or Die.

Okay Neuro is great and all, but we're here to celebrate a (mostly) Dancefloor label, so let's focus on that from now on, shall we? My first pick in this broader "heavy Dancefloor" corner comes from Russla Ashley, or more commonly known as just Russla. Sure, some of you might know him as one of the promoters behind Subsoil, a now-defunct event series that used to bring all kinds of Dubstep and DnB to Bournemouth back in the day, but chances are you probably know him better from his work with Brian, also known as "Dubba the Slut" (sorry but this name was just too good not to mention) from Dubstep alias Dubba Jonny. They produced quite a bunch of bangers together, first as Glass Cobra, most prominently featured on A.M.C's Titan Records, then later rebranded as No Concept, with most of their bangers coming out via Drumsound & Bassline Smith's Technique Recordings. That is, until they disbanded in mid 2021 and Russla decided to try this DnB thing on his own again, this time under his very own name again, i.e. Russla. Since then, he's become a regular on Play Me Records, was part of one of the HEADSBASS compilations and has now also joined the YANA family!

For this label debut he chose to remix Every Nite by YANA golden boys Lateral. If you've followed Russla's or his previous projects' releases so far, you know what style you'll get from him: Heavy Dancefloor, with the occasional Jump Up elements sprinkled in for good measure. If you've enjoyed this style before, you will be happy to hear he's now bringing this exact extremely danceable and bass face causing energy to this remix of the catchy original too. The simple but unforgettable vocal sample is pitched down a bunch, the snares still punch you in your face with every hit but in entirely new ways, even the already quite dark main melody is transformed into a twisted version of itself. Banging all the way.

Still want more heaviness? You should definitely go check out the aforementioned wonder boy duo Lateral's remix of Battletek's 2020 label debut Distant Love then! Want something even heavier, Jump Up-y even? Good thing this album also features Aktive's wonderfully heavy reimagining of London-based Mojay's vocal-driven stomper Back Again Dub.

Alright, one last category: Dancefloor niceness. One of the nicest atmospheres in the entirety of the sprawling YANA back catalogue has got to be the emotionally charged journey that is 4 Walls by Zeal and LUCA. So who is assigned the hard task of remixing this incredible original? Samuel Foxx Conlin, better known under his artist name Sam Foxx! I wish my name was cool enough to make an artist name out of. While originally from a "really small town in Central California", Sam moved down to LA to study in music school in 2016, which gave him enough of a basis to start releasing music officially in 2020. His first actual release, Fade Away, was self-released, but not long after, certified legend Reid Speed recognised his musical talent and offered him a space on her very own label Play Me Too Records, where he's now become a regular. Since then, he's also become a part of the Patrol The Skies discography and, of course, the YANA family.

So how did Sam do on the remix, then? Splendidly! While the original manages to pull of its incredible vibes with a unique minimal Liquid-Dancefloor hybrid production, Sam instead takes these very same vibes into a more direct Dancefloor direction. The soulful half rap, half sung lyrical performance still hits just as well, with blissful piano melodies supporting the emotionality excellently. These very same piano chords are slowly but surely morphing into a beautiful synthy version of themselves, which later on become our main drop melody. One high-pitched, almost screechy, for lack of a better word, melody dances a masterful dance with a similar, but less in-your-face synth, creating this captivating back-and-forth that just sticks in your brain. While it's hard to beat the original's greatness in my eyes, Sam certainly did an amazing job with his interpretation of it.

More niceness? Man, you are insatiable today! Luckily, MYKOOL got another goodie for you, in the form of his remix of Coastal's Don't Want Your Love. If that's still not enough for you, Jordy Beckers, also known as Dutch uplifting Dancefloor maestro Battletek, also contributed an incredibly vibey remix of Perplex - Play Me.

Okay, one last quick category: New interpretations of Toronto Is Broken classics! Of course, the man who started it all had to be remixed a few times too, otherwise this would just feel incomplete. Slovakia's master of all things Dancefloor, Changing Faces, took on Pressure, Christian's collaboration with Deuce & Charger, and gave it a proper modern spin, with a big focus on vibes. Speaking of, one vibe that is usually not present on YANA is the deep kind, until now that is: Cannes-based Hyperactivity Music regular Gunston took one of the very first YANA releases, Lose Control, and plunged it into the deepest, roller-est depths.

So there we have it. Great remixes from all across the YANA spectrum, from already established family members and new faces alike.

Other Dancefloor things from this week:

Solomon France, Oli Scott - On The Weekend
Sigma - Hope LP
David Guetta, Becky Hill, Ella Henderson - Crazy What Love Can Do (Grafix Remix)
Maduk - Transformations Remixed Volume 1
Blue Marble - I Feel
Rameses B, Florenza - Cold Heart (Jikes Remix)
Ruzer - I Won't Be Turning Around EP
Ripple - Yesterday
Jack Rush, Cruze - Butterfly (Jon Void Remix)
BVRNOUT, Mia Vaile - Take It Easy - DNB Edit

2. [BORDERS] - Phenomena EP 💎 [ProgRAM]
Recommended if you like: Niallo, Synergy, Notequal

Okay I've clearly already blown past the usual review lengths here, but this one simply deserves a mention too, even if just a short one. Oh yeah, before I forget: this is also this week's Hidden Gem™️!

Introducing: [BORDERS]! There's not a whole lot known about Jaimey Borgers, the Hellevoetsluis-based (in other words: close to Rotterdam living) producer behind this project, but that's okay, because I don't have the characters left to discuss anything like that anyway. What I do know is: He has studied at the Herman Brood Academie in Utrecht and used to go by some mysterious previous alias, which might have been Jaimz, but since that account is basically completely nuked now there's no way to know for sure. Sure, I could just ask him, but that would mean being social and stuff like that and it's entirely too hot for that right now here. As is often the case lately, I have gotten to know this particular artist from his genius All172Things mix. However, since then he has also released his debut single on In The Lab Recordings, In A Dream, managing to hit the numero uno spot on the Drum & Bass charts on Hypeddit in a very short amount of time. Deservedly so!

Just a few weeks later, he now debuts with his incredible brand new four-track EP Phenomena on none other than ProgRAM! We start things off with the enormously powerful Geyser blasting the listener off their socks and/or seats with a futuristic flurry of satisfying staccato stabs, which undergo a ton of rhythmic variations that will always keep you on the toes you have been thrown off of earlier. Jaimey follows this up with Paradigm, which scales back on the melodic aspects of the EP opener to instead focus all energy into the sheer power of each of this track's relentless stabs. What I found really interesting on this one was the way he changed arrangement of these main elements around a bit in the second drop, making each stab feel more wet, for lack of a better word, in the process, reminiscent of that new-fangled Colour Bass thingy.

Next up, Imperium ups the ante on the cinematic scale of it all. After a grandiose string-heavy intro straight out of a movie, we are treated to an eclectic assortment of strange sounds arranged to form one hell of a funky rhythm. The most obvious strange sound is probably the high hats giving off feelings of water droplets falling onto your skin, but the real star of weirdness here is the way the main rhythm is constructed. Out of several different melodies, each futuristic-sounding on their own already, [BORDERS] cuts out small snippets and rearranges together in an erratic fashion. Sounds strange, but works super well. Lastly, we've got Seraphim, the emotional closer of the EP. That's not something I just say for no reason, this track simply oozes cinematic emotionality all the way through. Not just that, it's also produced so insanely well, that "insanely well" still feels like an understatement. I mean, there's even a BPM switchup for the third drop!

An honestly insanely well-produced EP, full of futuristic sounds and emotionally-charged atmospheres. Just an incredible debut EP altogether.

Other techy things from this week:

Synergy - Obsession
Horde - Airframe 💎
NOVALU - Overgrown 💎