Picks Of The Week (14.10.23

1. Pirapus - Circuit Dreams EP [Lowly]

Recommended if you like: Andromedik, Artino, Montee

If you are at all into Dancefloor and keep up with releases a bit, you probably already stumbled upon the absolute gorgeous carnage that Benjamin Hollamby and George Murray have come up with these last few years with their Pirapus project. Whether it's because I keep mentioning them here, due to their high-calibre collaborations with the likes of Andromedik and Primate, or as a consequence of huge platforms like UKF uploading a bunch of their frankly ridiculous releases, they are basically everywhere at this point. Except for Europe, apparently. Promoters, if you read this, please get Pirapus over here as soon as possible!

Anyway, why are we talking about them again then? Well, they just released their second-ever EP and it turns out I'm utterly obsessed with it (again) and I have to share my passion for it with every single one of you or I'll explode! It's really, really good, is what I'm getting at. For this follow-up to their debut EP Nomad, they decided to reach out to the good people at Lowly (also known as Lowly Palace), Trap Nation's sister label focused on bringing light to the great music that's coming out of the musical underground. In May, the Pirapus bois have already joined the likes of William Black, Said The Sky and NGHTMRE on Lowly with the highly addictive, one might even say explosive, banger Dynamite, but now it's time for something more ambitious and perhaps a teensy bit more introspective: their CIRCUIT DREAMS EP!

We launch into the stratosphere of electrical dreams with the EP opener STAR MVCHINE, featuring Indy Skies, of Ride Or Die fame, on the most wonderful vocals. Both her lovely lead and her heartbreaking, masterfully multi-layered contributions to the breakdown are intricately interwoven into the incredible instrumental, blending into the dreamy atmosphere, acting as a response to the cronchy synth call and eventually disintegrating into the machinery bit-by-bit the closer we get to the drop. And man, are those synths ever satisfying to the ear! Speaking of, let's shoot over to the second stop on our journey through the most loveliest of galaxies: LOST WITH U. With fellow Kiwi shooting star Brody Leigh delivering an almost outrageously outstanding, eminently emotional vocal performance, the Pirapus bois basically already had their work cut out for them, but they somehow managed to elevate it to a whole 'nother plane of excellence with an instrumental that is so exceptional I honestly think it's impossible to properly convey how lovely it really is in my limited vocabulary.

Doesn't mean I won't try though! After an atmospheric intro that's soothing in all the right ways, with a ton of heavily reverberated nature sounds, soft clock ticking and tiny glimpses of what's to come, we are treated to a simply mind-blowing display of sound engineering. Not only is the synth itself absolutely stunning, it is then also staggered and arranged in such a way that some of the delayed hits bouncing back slightly overlap each other, creating this overwhelmingly beautiful, pure ear-candy, one-of-a-kind melody that has been living in my head rent free since the day it was first teased. An honest-to-Andy-C masterpiece.

Next we've got the comparatively chill SUMS, featuring the gentle debut performance of Scottish-Aucklandian "wannabe crooner" Roddy Campbell. However, not only are the vocals more relaxed, the Pirapus bois have also taken a chill pill: Old-timey saxophones are bleep-blooping the lead melody as if recorded from a grammophone, audible audio crackles, a couple lush synth hits, one might even expect a whole liquid tune from them after that intro. Instead, the Kiwis opt for the House-y 174BPM 4x4 route! Warm yet donky kicks, a bit of syncopation action and some sweet vocalisation from Roddy, leading to the inevitable DnB drop, where the bouncy bass unfolds itself into this lively, vibrating bassline with its own little melody going on. Absolutely lovely all-around. We finish things off with SO HIGH, with yet another delightful, albeit uncredited, set of vocals to take us over the finish line. For this grand finale, Pirapus once again crafted a most magnificent set of synths, this time plucking about and growing in size until they become absolutely sense-overwhelming - which is when the full weight of the drop hits. The synths keep plucking, but are accentuated by these phenomenal, heavily vibrating bass outbursts and a couple vocal chops in the background to fill in the gaps.

Compared to their debut EP, whose sing-along anthemic vocals and unabashedly heavy drops made it the perfect representation of the Stadium DnB sound they have been developing since the start of the project, this follow-up is vastly more introspective and stripped-back, with the boys instead focusing on creating a futuristic, dreamy world full of uniquely stunning sound design, exactly as you would expect from the title and spot-on art direction. It's not just the visual art that's bang on though, the vocal performances are, as always to be fair, out of this world, the production is not just heavy and clean as hell, but also emotionally-charged in a way that could make any grown man cry, and every single melody is as catchy as can be. They simply know to perfectly execute an idea, no matter which direction they go. Excellent, in every single way.

Other Dancefloor from this week:

Zushi&Vanko - EXMACHINA (big recommendation there!)
Kanine, INDI - Release Me
Calvin Harris, Sam Smith - Desire (Sub Focus Remix)
Maozon - Ascension LP
Artino - All Because Of You
Synergy - Reload
Ruzer - UND3RGROUND

2. TANTRON - HORIZON EP [Hanzom Music]

Recommended if you like: REAPER, SCARFIE, YUSSI

NOW FOR SOME PROPER NOISY STUFF!

And who best to deliver exactly that than one of the most exciting and most high-energy new names Huge Jobse, better known as TANTRON! Straight outta Tilburg in the Nether-to-the-lands, the relentless hype machine has been living out his musical itch in various ways for ages, from playing drums and absorbing all sorts of different electronic and classical music growing up to starting production when he was only 12 (!). As Torro, Hugo tried his hands at basically anything and everything, from Bass House to Dancehall, from Dubstep to Trap, with the occasional Moombahton excursion. While most of his output from back then has sadly been taken offline by now, we can still deduce that he used to dabble in remixing, for example for KSHMR's JAMMU remix competition in 2016, which he sadly didn't win, and for JVRDY's When I'm With You in 2018, which is actually the only Torro content you can actually still consume that isn't toy tanks or "Premium Leather Accessories for Tech & Lifestyle".

While the tank association would certainly work for music as heavy as Hugo's nowadays, his full-time switch over to the drums and basses in 2019 certainly required a bit of a rebranding to work properly - and so, TANTRON was finally born! Equipped with only the heaviest Jump Up screeches, Hugo unleashed his first couple of bangers right away, including a a self release, a couple of collaborations with serial cover creator BLVCK CROWZ, his winning remix for Moksi on Yellow Claw's Barong Family and a feature on Slaugherhouse, with the earliest use of that now-overused "Switch!" vocal I've stumbled upon so far. 2021 came to be defined by his remixing talents, with tunes from the likes of Ricky West, ELLE RICH and Zombie Cats being transformed into cracked-up versions of themselves. That last one was actually where I first became fully aware of him - I still clearly remember Ross and Rouven instantly loving his entry for their remix competition for managing to combine truly epic classical compositions with straight-up nasty Neuro drops, leading to their "Disney on crack" and "Hans 'TANTRON' Zimmer" comments.

While "shouting loudly" is definitely the energy level he aspires to most of the time, like on his tune with the one and only gladde paling or his 2023 anthem for WTF, he was also able to focus on more technical productions with more classical elements, with the best example being QUICKSAND on VISION's MISSION 02 compilation. Even if you hadn't heard any of these, however, there's a good chance you have still come across his music - of course I'm referring to his now infamous bootleg of the biggest tune of 2005: The Black Eyed Peas - Pump It! Still doesn't ring a bell? Well, let's give HORIZON, his debut EP, released on the certified Best German Label™️, the one and only Hanzom Music, a listen then, shall we?

In case you didn't quite understand what Ross and Rouven meant by their comments, the EP opener and title track HORIZON is immediately a perfect example of the sheer orchestral splendour and scale that TANTRON is capable of, while still delivering one hell of a banger in the process. We already start off with epic, brassy womps being contrasted with a more cheeky, whimsical little melody in the intro, but even the heaviness of said womps won't prepare you for how insanely supercharged the whimsical part becomes in the drop, resulting in the most in-your-face bass attack on your senses I've heard in a while. Over time, more and more classical elements join in on the mayhem, from the fun little melodies in the backhalf of the drop to the orchestral masterpiece that is the breakdown. This progression is topped off with the second drop somehow going even crazier, with only the most ridiculous of screechy BRRR's and all sorts of rhythm and drum pattern changes. Truly insane.

Speaking of insane, next we've got the mother-effing APOCALYPSE on our hands! Trumpets, strings, choirs, the sheer grandeur on display in just the first bits of the intro is simply ridiculous, but TANTRON somehow manages to top that right away with a supremely catchy back and forth between these euphoric trumpets, each hit amplified 120% by the drums, and a flurry of Hardstyle-inspired womps. Said womps then become the main lead in our drop, with the only breaks between this auditory assault being overtaken by the most elephantine of basses, before we violently pivot back to the bouncy call-and-response structure of the buildup. And the second half sports even bolder orchestrations, and even more hype-inducing moments like that screamer of a delayed drop! Lord have mercy.

Mercy is not on the schedule though, as we now descend into the pyramids of Nesyamun, on MUMMY. With TANTRON placing less emphasis on the orchestral part of the usual experience and opting for a more of an atmospheric intro here, he was able to include something its predecessors simply did not have the space for: the absolute best sample ever. After Nesyamun hits us with those ÉÉÉÉÉxtra sick bars from beyond the grave for that sweet, sweet delayed drop, Hugo unleashes the most rancid, disgusting, outrageous BRRR yet, before repeatedly slapping us across the face with the most wonky bass stabs ever. A single Hardstyle-esque hit, machine gun fire stabs, a large bass explosion, wonky bass stabs - and that's just like 5 seconds of this experience!

Elefantastic basses, scorchestrally hot arrangements, sheer cryptdiculousness. What a release!

Other Neurofunk from this week:

ABIS - Grains Of Suna
Teddy Killerz - Fight Me
Mefjus - Step Back
The Clamps - Conviction
Nuvertal - Nine, Speedrun
BADVOID - MUTINY