Picks Of The Week (16.12.23

Ho ho ho! I want to say I've done something special for this festive time, but to be completely honest, I just picked two of my favourites, like any other week. Oh well. Happy holidays everyone!

1. Curious Mind - Run [LFTD GLOBAL]

Recommended if you like: The Outsiders, Niallo, Artino

Time for yet another edition of "Dutchies really have this DnB thing figured out"!

This time, I want to take a peek at the inquisitive brain of Guido Bosmans. At only 20 years of age, the odyssey through the musical jungle he started in 2019 has already lead him to all sorts of different sounds and genres. While Hip-Hop was his first major destination, it didn't take long for him to reach the electronic territories of the musical world, where he remains to this day. As Guido B, later expanded to just Guido Bosmans, he explored the rich cultures of House, Trap and all sorts of other Spinnin' Records type beats, even participating in local re-spinnin' rituals held by the likes of Afrojack, Galantis, Silque and Sabai. There was one genre, hidden far away from the EDM lands, that peaked his curiosity though, which surely is the reason why he rebranded to Curious Mind around that time. The trip wasn't like his previous ones though, it was simply too dangerous, even with the new name. Luckily, he stumbled upon musical travel guide Ruud van Rijen, founder of legendary Dutch Eurodance band Twenty 4 Seven, who taught him all he needed to know to make it.

Around 2022, he did finally make it! With bootlegs of Mick Mazoo and Mr.Bill & Skope and remix contest entries for Laxcity, MEGAN & Single Spark and Finnet, the last of which actually stood so tall above the competition that it won the whole thing, he slowly but surely acclimated himself to this strange new way of living. Sure, for his collaborative work with Zach Fox he travelled back to the non-DnB parts of the world, but he was soon back in full force, with releases on YosH Bass and Don Diablo's FUTURE, regular sets at the Nebula events in Eindhoven and a couple more collaborations with fellow Liquicity DJ competition winners UNTIL DAWN. Now, he has joint forces with Canadian label LFTD GLOBAL, which stands for Light From the Dark in case you have a curious mind of your own, to deliver his newest creative creation: Run!

In short: Lovely. A vocal so strangely yet beautifully Hyperpop-ily processed you can't help but pay attention, synths both so fantastically futuristic and so satisfyingly staccato that they scratch your brain in all the right ways, and drums swaying left and right so heavily your neck gets quite the workout from all the headnodding you're gonna be doing.

Not much more to say, to be honest. Another curiously delightful, mind-bending composition!

Other lovely things from this week:

Various Artists - Liquicity Winter 2023
Mohican Sun - Green Silk
Drawn Moon - Mirrors EP
Ivy Lab - Idols Fall / Snap 101

2. Subdue - Go Slow EP [Transparent Audio]

Recommended if you like: Thread, Rizzle, Invadhertz

Now that we had our share of some good ol' Christmas delight, let's take it a little leisurely, with something more.. sombre.

And who would be better to deliver such toned-down vibes than Exeter-based deep liquid aficionado Subdue? Following the Ghost Of Christmas Past through his magical portal, we can see that Thomas Hancox, the man behind the lushness™️, had his start not just a mere 5 years ago, when his Subdue project first appeared on the internet, but a couple years earlier, as mix master VERGENT! That's really all I know about that part of his past though, so I'll just jump ahead to 2019 again. Shortly after subdebueting (not my finest work) on Soul Deep Digital, Thomas's digital, deeply soul-soothing music started spreading all across the scene. Not only was he one of the main reasons why I loved the late and great Riddim so much, he also blessed us with all sorts of vibes on Skankandbass, inHabit, Soulvent, Onyx, Guidance, Terra Firma, Impact Music, DLT9 and Transparent Audio. Seriously, the man was relentless for a while, gotta give credit where it's subdue. Wait, back up, why is Bristol-based Transparent Audio bolded? Well, after appearances on the label's free download series in 2021 and on its second Refractions compilation in October, he is now finally back for a full-on solo three-tracker! After a rather quiet 2022, he really was (sub)due for a comeback, after all.

With his Go Slow mini EP, Thomas is once again reaching deep into the vibey, dark and atmospheric cookie jar. EP opener Distant eases us into the cavernous abyss with hypnotisingly ticking snares, a purring bassline, some haunting vocals echoing in your mind and distant bass explosions. While title track Go Slow ironically goes quite fast with its rolling drums, its subtle bassline movement and satisfying progression, full of all sorts of bassy horns going off and a lovely soulful vocal providing the vibes, do actually earn the track its title. Lastly, Vapour pulls out some truly nebulous smoke machines lulling you into the false sense of security that this is gonna be just another stompy minimal tune. It does start like that to be fair, with a proper fonky rhythm and some minimal bass action. But then, both a vibrantly vibey vocal and a rather creepy mosquito jumps onto the riddim, and before you know it, you're hit with a proper bass bombshell. It's got a real enjoyable progression, is what I'm trying to say here!

I honestly can't get enough of Subdue's vibey rollers, I just love them so much. Let's hope he's not reaching his (sub)due date anytime soon.

Other deep and dark things from this week:

Telm & Wilson - Hit That
SMG, Trex - Jelly Cat / Pond Affair VIP
HØST - Giant / Alive
VRUM - Meteorite 💎