Hypno – Go Shorty / Sunkin

Following on from his debut EP on PTN, 17 year old Icelander Hypno drops his second release on RAMP Recordings. Moving away from the more common Funky leanings of his debut, Hypno takes a slightly more experimental approach and all in all produces another excellent EP. The a-side, Go Shorty, lands somewhere in the middle of contemporary bass music with juke vibrations of Chicago and a left of centre house vibe. It’s an eerie track which straddles the corners of the dancefloor – not quite the big club banger but will definitely have a crowd worked up. The track journeys the path of producers like Joe; stripping back to the basics and chopping up the sample over woven garage patterns.

Sunkin treads a technoid wood-block path with a tighter groove and again making using of stripped down percussion. A warm sub-bass line laces the clipped drum patterns and woozing synth sounds echo throughout…

Read the full review at Data Transmission…

SOME Night – November

Over the next few weeks London’s weekly bass dedicated night SOME will be showcasing the best talents of the scene. SOME seem to be opening their doors to the wider spectrum of music and artists currently making headway, going beyond the generic dubstep line-up in favour of a more forward thinking approach and diverse range of artists.

November 17th sees, what I beleive to be, SOME’s best line-up so far – with sets from Julio Bashomore, Pariah, Marus Nasty, Me (Laizi) and more…Each known for there superb selctions and productions of the best in house and ukfunky. Julio Bashmore has had a string of recent bass fuelled house bangers like ‘Battak Groove’ and ‘Footsteppin’, whereas Pariah’s recent ‘Safehouses EP’ schooled us all with every track getting rinsed and individually destroying dancefloors.

The following week, November 24th, The Pitch Controllers takeover SOME with the best ion grime and funky – featuring sets from Rinse FM’s JJ, Spyro, Maximum, Vectram, Butterz boys Elijah & Skilliam and Funk Butcher, with live PA’s by P Money and D Double E. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a mighty big line-up!

So if you’re in town and don’t mind staying up late on a schoolnight then make sure you head to The Den (18 West Central Street) for either or both of these mid week rinse-outs.

James Blake – Limit To Your Love

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the nest part of the year, I’m sure you have heard of James Blake. 2010 has been an immense year for this young artist; with his The Bells EP getting rave reviews across the board and similarly the CMYK EP released on R & S an absolute underground smash.

His music tinkers on the fringes of dubstep with a fusion of leftfield electronica and splicings of garage. Ealier this year we saw his second release on R & S; the brilliant Klavierwerk EP drop to further critical acclaim and this gave us an insight into how James’ future works may sound. Sampling and cutting up his own vocals to infuse an emotive edge to the track and giving a nod to the soon to be full vocal work of Limit To Your Love.

This release of Limit To Your Love showcases James’ amazing soulful voice alongside his excellent production skills; it’s possibly the best male vocal of the year and definitely…

Read the full review at Data Transmission…

DJ Dom – The Mind of DJ Dom

Previous knowledge of DJ Dom is a little scarce; with my own only extending as far as Brackles dropping a few choice cuts and giving shout outs on his Rinse FM show. DJ Dom is in fact the uni mate of Brackles and Shortstuff; both of whom have been championing his work for a short while. This debut EP drops on PTN; the label that’s previously put out releases from Breach, Doc Daneeka, Hypno and Hackman. The Mind of DJ Dom seems to fit extremely well with PTN and sits nicely in line with the label’s other releases – like the others this EP takes the current sound of London’s funky and pushes it to the deeper side of house.

The opener, Boss Mode, is a real percussive slice of deep house, with subtle melodic synth lines and elements of acid creeping in. Computer Love has an altogether different feel; elements of Berlin-esque techno and minimal are given the once over as DJ Dom teams up sparse percussion with a deep plucked bassline and chopped vocals. This second track is a definite highlight; any fans of Floating Points’ style house (and who isn’t) are most likely going to fall in love instantly.

Plastic People hits home with shuffling beats and morphing synthwork, whereas the final track from the EP, Untitled, is another real deep number with sweeping synths and a little nod to days gone bye with a squelching acid lead…

Read the full review at Data Transmission…

T. Williams ft Terri Walker – Heartbeat

T.Williams is one half of Deep Teknologi, a collective who have been stirring things up in UK bass and house music for short while. With their own label and a string of quality underground house releases, they are a respectable force and although T is venturing out with solo stuff, there is no indication that Deep Teknologi will be leaving us anytime soon.

The Heartbeat EP is T’s second outing on new London label Local Action, the first being the superb T. Williams EP which was championed by everyone from SInden to Kode 9 to Joy Orbison. This new record is most probably his best release yet, teaming up with the mighty songstress Terri Walker who earlier this year signed an album deal with the US giants that are Roc-a-fella Records.

Heartbeat is a really special track; it’s a beautifully composed house tune that rolls with a deep thumping bassline and poised vocal. Nothing is laid out obtrusively; it all feels expertly crafted and delivered with a subtlety that draws on elements of minimalistic house and techno yet also being catchy and full with the vibes of more obvious, heavier UKfunky anthems. The melodic toms and intricate weaving of percussive elements are all finished off in impeccable style with Terri Walker’s exposed vocal…

Read the full review at Data Transmission…

Katy B and Ms Dynamite – Lights On

Produced by Geenues this one is set to blow up! The two biggest ladies in the scene collaborating on a huge track. Look out for it smashing the charts very soon…

MJ Cole Ft. Wiley – From The Drop

Complete with a big warning, flashing lights and pretty girls…

Deviation’s 3rd Birthday @ Cable

Deviation is Benji B’s long-running midweek bass bash that has been a staple of the beats & bass scene for a while now and always features eclectic line-ups with the best selectors from across the spectrum. Over the course of three years, the night has seen the likes of Madlib, Floating Points, Dâm-Funk and Actress all grace the decks. offering their own take on house, bass and techno. Benji has recently made the move from 1Xtra to take over Mary Ann Hobbs’ Experimental Show on Radio 1; further cementing his importance in showcasing what bass music has to offer and as a lynchpin of the U.K scene in general.

Deviation’s third birthday celebrations take place over two nights; the first party took place earlier this month at the night’s home, Gramaphone, and featured the US’ turntable genius J.Rocc. Tonight’s second party, held at South London’s Cable, is set to maintain the party’s diverse music policy with sets from Hyperdub boss Kode 9 and Detroit techno legend Theo Parish. So with a line-up like that, it’s only right that we went down to check it out.

Getting to Cable for around midnight, we’re in time to catch the final hour of the main man Benji B’s set. Walking into the main room we’re instantly greeted by Lone’s superb Pineapple Crush; filled with deep house vibes, cutting 808 percussion and the whole crowd already going for it. The track gets the first pull-up of the night…

Read the full feature at Data Transmission…

Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner

Originally hailing from Chelmsford, Essex, Gold Panda is in good company – the town has produced a fair few impressive electronic musicians over the years, including The Prodigy and Squarepusher. Perhaps the Essex mentality adheres to creativity; this album is a clear indication that Gold Panda has a bright future ahead of him.

Being relatively new to the scene, GP spent the early part of last year building a reputation with superb remixes for the likes of Little Boots, Telepathe, Bloc Party, Simian Mobile Disco, Health and The Field. He has since gone on to release three EPs of his own material, live performances soon followed and his invigorated head-hunched style quickly established him as an electronic artist who can really play live.

This debut album is an excellent piece of work – taking on board a huge array of influences, including everything from hip-hop to minimal techno and creating an all encompassing atmosphere. It’s kind of hard to put your finger on why but the album oozes a Japanese vibe right from the offset: clearly Gold Panda has been heavily influenced by his two years spent in the country learning the language.

The opener, You, kicks things off with a heavily sample based hip-hop vibe that feels similar to the down-tempo, bassy electronica currently in vogue due to works from the likes of Mount Kimbie and James Blake. Vanilla on the other hand instantly takes a different route – harking back to old house and techno rythms; with head nodding lead stabs and…

Read the full review at Data Transmission…

Adventures in Dubstep and Beyond

Ministry of Sound aren’t exactly known for their risk-taking and forward-thinking approach when it comes to compilations, or even nights, however this new comp is a real breath of fresh air. Although things are getting better the scene is still plagued by obvious compilation packages put out to satisfy the never-ending stream of dubstep converts who want nothing but the biggest wobble tunes and ‘classics’ from over a year ago. But the tracklist for Adventures in Dubstep and Beyond instantly offers up something different. With tracks from the more underground and relatively unknown producers like Sully and VVV, this compilation brings together styles from across the bass music spectrum. Elements of house, 2-step, dubstep and garage are all expertly chosen and mixed by Joe Muggs.

The first disk offers up a superb collection of garage influenced bass; tracks which are going to be appealing to the more knowledgeable heads as well as those getting their first taste of the new dubstep mutations currently at the forefront. Highlights include the excellent opener; Ikonika’s remix of the Night Slugs anthem The Only Way Up from Egyptrixx, the outstanding garage goodness of Svpreme Fiend’s Downfall and El-B’s This Thrill. The 2-step bangers are coupled with some more familiar hits of dubstep, like the collab between Benga & Goldilocks on Green Eyes and Fused Forces’ What’s Goin Down. These tracks may be on slightly more recognizable ground but Joe Muggs has definitely maintained a sense of the underground and not…

Read the full review at Data Transmission…