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Picks Of The Week (19.08.23 - 25.08.23)

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1. Various Artists - The Foundations Of Yamatai Vol.1 [Yamatai Records]

Recommended if you like: Overview Music, Flexout Audio, Onyx Recordings

I usually don't talk much about label retrospective/remix compilation projects here. Not because I don't enjoy them, I definitely do, but because there's usually either not enough newcomers for me to showcase or simply too many artists involved to really dive deep into any of them. While that is certainly also the case with Kent-based Yamatai Records' first remix project, The Foundations Of Yamatai Vol.1, it is just too sick of a release not to feature it on here!

I hope you remember the label backstory part from my review of Ewan Bristow's release on there last year, because I sure as hell won't be repeating any of it. We got a 14-track compilation to go through, after all!

Right away, we're treated to a rizzdiculously great remix of Nuke's The Devil You Know from the UK Overview Music veteran Rizzle himself. Rowdily rolling, veraciously vibey, deliciously deep, rizzing it up real nice, working in the dramatic melody from the original really well, yep, that's a banger alright. Next, we've got mister rootie-tootie himself, Dutch boat co-owner and Rueben's roommate Waeys, taking on XAETIS' frankly disgusting original Disgust and transforming it into a superbly stompy, heavily distorted and rather loud minimal banger. We follow this up with the terrific Cardiffian producer and owner of the formidable Kynetic Sound Kyrist, who decided to mess with Yamatai mastering engineer R3IDY's original Mess Up by placing a greater emphasis on the fantastic vocals and injecting the instrumental with her signature (former) Bristolian flair for the deeply wobbly. Speaking of wobbly, the next conceptual alteration comes from London-based 140 aficionado and professional drum and wobbler ABLE, taking on Altered Concept's Menace and steering it into a direction full of even more hostile wobs and sub bass.

Next, Jersey-based newcomer Pine's first big hit on the label, Memories, gets the memorable and clinically produced yet straight-up disgusting (in a good way) treatment from Bristolian-based founders of Truth Hertz and all-around scene veterans Ill Truth. With the following remix, we're finally taking a little break from all those Bristol-based peeps, instead going all the way over to Thailand, where Russian multi-genre producer Black Barrel, who you might also know under his various aliases Leo Cap, Innerline or Yougeen, resides nowadays. This time it's Altered Concept's Read Between The Lines that gets the rewiring, with the barrel enthusiast taking the melodicality and groove of it all to new heights. Speaking of heights, next we've got Austrian multi-talent and co-founder of Symbiotik Records Screamarts delivering a screamer of a remix for eFly and Chuck UK's Charging Bottles, with all sorts of sound design magic and a bassline so deeply ear-massaging that they'll feel completely reborn after listening to it.

Next up, a rework of Pine's You Know, this time coming from frankly one of the most underrated artists out there, Italian duo Invadhertz. With so much extra well-placed and well-polished oomph put into the smooth and soulful original, you can't help but fall in love with it. After all this straight DnB madness, fellow Italian Disprove takes us on a little detour with his groovy Breakbeat remix of XAETIS' Take Me Somewhere, before we jump right back into UK wobble action with Bristolian minimalist and Lost The Plot Records owner Creatures and his remix for Resslek's and Katon's Bizon. Jumping over to London, we've got the multi-genre, or rather "auditory experimentation", enthusiast HØST giving Kalane's Change a rather big make-over, complete with erratic rhythms, sensory overload causing waves of bass and even a bit of 4x4. After this whole host of weirdness, we can count on Porto-based Sofa Sound regular Molecular to (comparatively) Keep It Straight with his minimal yet absolutely wall-shaking remix for R3IDY's tune with the same name.

Just two more! Firstly, we're jumping back to London again, with the grand wizard of all things magically minimal, Arkaik, performing his sorcery on Resslek's Scope. And last but absolutely not least, we've got Bristol/Leeds-based duo Revaux, another one of my favs, revamping MAXØ's massive original Back In Town by combining the initial drop and its rather big switchup into one truly vicious back-and-forth.

Do I even have to say anything else? I mean, just looking at the names you can infer that this is a must-listen for anyone who has even the littlest bit of interest in the deep and dark subgenre! Honestly incredible.

Other deep and dark stuff:

  • Aaron Payne, RMS - Time To Heal / Isn't For You
  • Rueben - Subtle
  • Wingz, Koherent - Not Here / Satisfy
  • Framer - Around You / Pulse of Desire
  • Skylark - STARGAZER

2. MIDNIGHT CVLT - Bloodfire EP [Eatbrain]

Recommended if you like: Vizzen, Magnetude, Nuvertal

Have you accepted Neurofunk as your lord and saviour yet? No? Well, if religion is not your thing, maybe you are interested in a cult instead? A MIDNIGHT CVLT, to be specific? What was that, now you are just confused? Alright, allow me to introduce you to the hottest new cult around then, hopefully replacing your current state of perplexity with one of bewonderment and admiration!

In short: MIDNIGHT CVLT is the multi-faceted project of Spanish multi-talented producer Miguel Blanco. With influences ranging from Space Laces and Joyryde to Fox Stevenson, it's clear why there is so much diversity to be found in his sound. However, even though the cult only started spreading its deliciously destructive doctrine in 2019, the rabbit hole actually goes much deeper than that. First off, he has been causing some major carnage in the Breakbeat scene as the similarly dangerously titled Destroyers since 2007, with a lot of the destruction happening on his very own label, Elektroshok Records, founded around 2009. While he has seen some great successes with this alias and has continued steadily breaking all dem beats all the way up to today, he was also very interested in the whole Bass Music scene.

That's why, in 2011, Miguel actually started doing exactly that as the less threatening, literal English translation of his name, Michael White! Ever since his emergence on the Bass scene, Mr. White had been cooking up the wildest tunes all across the whole EDM spectrum, from Bass House and Trap to Future House and Drumstep. After earning the coveted Demo Of The Week title on a 2014 episode of the legendary Hardwell On Air radio show, Miguel went on to release all sorts of bangers of up to 99.1% purity on the likes of Kinphonic, MA Music and, where perhaps most people know him from, NoCopyrightSounds. Miguel wasn't quite satisfied with his artist name though and felt a rebrand was in order. One might even say it wasn't the white name for him anymore.

With a whole new synthwave and cyberpunk inspired aesthetic, Miguel (mostly) anonymously returned to the scene in 2019 with a mysterious new name on the opposite end of the brightness spectrum, MIDNIGHT CVLT. Via the now-defunct Daily Earfood, early supporters of sweet dreamy boi of the hour Blooom, he started putting out his debut EP Join Us, before finally returning to NCS just a couple months later. Through his solo work and of course also the various collaborations with the likes of LeKtriQue, Subshock & Evangelos, The Brig, Titus1 and many others, he managed to put his unique auditory stamp on everything from Dubstep and Halftime to Trap and Future-, Bass- and even plain House in a wild flurry of releases across labels like Circus, Uprise and Stratos Union, with guest mixes for Kannibalen Radio, XO RADIO and All Music Spain to top it off. However, it took until 2021 for them to make the jump towards DnB production, with the first fruits of said labour appearing on their multi-genre Strike Back EP on Dub Elements' DEM imprint!

While he would still pursue all the other genres religiously (cvltishly, even), DnB would start taking up more and more spots on his release schedule. For example, together with the aforementioned canine-loving Spanish duo, Miguel actually made his debut on Eatbrain earlier this year! Now, it is time for the sequel, the mid-point of what hopefully becomes at least a trilogy later on, the CVLT Strikes Back of the saga one might say, the Bloodfire EP!

We confidently kick things off with the thunderous EP opener Fear. With Sevilla-based Neurofunk newcomer Hackwaves by his side, Miguel takes us to the battlefield, on which we become witnesses to mighty, goliathan bass roars crossing swords with the comparatively davidian but equally high-energy, fast-paced drum actions. Now that we're introduced to this central conflict between these forces of drum and bass nature, we explore it even more in-depth in the next chapter of our saga, Bloodfire. This time an amazingly disturbing, hauntingly beautiful choir melody goes head-to-head with the second-to-second reality of the battlefield, in the form of an all-out auditory assault consisting of aggressive bass stabbing, lasers and the choir sample being sliced up into pieces. Even when we zoom out a little further, the cries of the battlefield, in the form of a spacey version of this main theme and a more wobbley, drum-focused response, keep haunting us until the very end.

Even on our third stop, the Whispers of war keep a tight grip on us. Together with the tremendously talented Spanish up-and-comer and NCS regular Vizzen, also known as one half of CODE BREAKERZ, Miguel takes us on one hell of an intense ride. Not only are we treated to a thick, menacing atmosphere full of mysterious flutes and ominous choirs, the duo also fires off incredibly huge walls of basses destroying everything in its path, which are only interrupted for a few swift bass stab attacks and the surviving flutes. After taking a brief breaky detour focusing on the (perhaps surprisingly) still alive and well flute-y boys, the aggressor launches one last Hail Mary "Victory Or Death" attack: A full-on 4x4 switch-up! After this massacre of a tune, we switch the vibe to something a little more peaceful, with the EP closer To The Edge, featuring Gloucester-based possibly-reptilian singer-songwriter REEBZ. Her signature simply spellbinding vocals are supported by a tight framework of continously rolling drums, warm bass lurking in the shadows underneath and quick, quirky melodic flourishes, resulting in an unique experience of a tune you don't necessarily hear often on a label like Eatbrain.

Rarely has an EP title been as accurate as this one. All four tracks, straight fuego, absolute Feuer, bloody fire. I am beyond excited to hear more DnB coming from him in the future!

Other Neuro stuff from this week:

  • DC Breaks, Prolix - Purge
  • Myselor - Liquid Crystals
  • Sinister Souls - Arrival in the Future / Never 2 Late
  • Transforma - Only Cans / Trigger Warning