Category: Reviews

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Dancefloor Smashers Neurofunk Reviews Techstep

Add This Weapon

Current Value - Deadly Toys
Current Value - Deadly Toys

Current Value brings your the Deadly Toys LP

It’s been an amazing ride as we watched Current Value grow throughout the years. His sound design is masterful and a testament to his name. He surely represents the current value of drum & bass production. His Deadly Toys LP on Noisia’s Invisible contains a plethora of massiveness. While mixing noise, bass, synthesized drums and mastering techniques only he can be familiar with CV brings you through a whirlwind of sound. This LP is surely one of the best out there and will be a classic to listen to 20 yrs from now. Get the album here!

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Dancefloor Smashers Featured Releases Jungle Liquid Reviews

There is love, Kove!

Kove - In From The Cold
Kove - In From The Cold

Kove brings you In From the Cold

United Kingdom is the home of our Drum & Bass soul and they stay true to the sound and the journey in it’s progression. UK native, Kove, is consistent with this feeling in the his latest release. ‘In From the Cold’ EP is a testament to real UK D&B. Kove demonstrate a talent true to only the best producers in the scene. “Ain’t No Love” is a track that can be in any feature film, listened to on the radio, and enjoyed world wide by everyone! This track transcends time with his old school jungle drums, reese bass-line, and beautiful synths. This track connects 2002 and 2050. So odd the hook is “There ain’t no love here anymore” when all I hear from the music is love and passion. Get it 11/24!

The 4 track EP (not including a radio version of Ain’t No Love) has our favorite track on there. A simple bass-line, simple drums, and simple structure than for some reason or other, makes you feel so complex. This song ascends you to another plane of existence. It allows you to look onto the world below and reminds you are more than just human. ‘Valkyrie’ is our pick for this release! Jeez, Kove… You’re a badmon! Get your copy of Kove ‘In From The Cold’ EP on Drum&BassArena, NOW!

 

From the EP: ‘Dig It’

https://soundcloud.com/drumandbassarena/sets/kove-in-from-the-cold-ep/

Check out new releases from Drum&BassArena here.

And Fire this up for quick access to your favorite distributer.

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Dancefloor Smashers Featured Releases Free Download Jump Up Jungle Labels Liquid Music Neurofunk NeuroHop News Reviews Techstep World News

iluvdrumandbass We all Love It!

iluvdrumandbass
iluvdrumandbass

iluvdrumandbass is the bee’s knees!

Whoa! So over the past few days, a wave of community has surged online. Several pioneers and drivers of the Drum & Bass sound got together and discussed the importance of reaching out on social media platforms. They are absolutely correct. All of the fans of Drum & Bass are certainly biased that the sound is amazing. However, one of the problems our sound has is the lack of viewership of the average listener. This has held us back and has kept our business from growing as big as other top level genres. Some factors have pushed us to the back of the room and seclude us from the rest of the club music seen. We simply don’t have a public “visual” look to show how professional our sound is. We have let our rebellious hard heads stay in the raver attire we grew up with. This, along with, drugs within “rave” culture (as portrayed by the media), has made all people steer clear of our scene and dub our sound “techno.” Which angers me btw! And now to the birth of iluvdrumandbass.

I’ve said this needed to be changed for ever ago. But to this day, it hasn’t, for everyone outside of England, anyway. But times are changing and the artists are using the limitless power of the world wide web to create a community where we de-segragate our sub genres and have one full playlist where all labels and artists will have the chance to be heard. Check out the latest from labels such as RAM, Hospital, Technique, Viper, Breakbeat Kaos, Formation & Playaz’s, Liquicity, Eatbrain, Critical, Santoku and more!

Check out Spotify’s newest Drum & Bass playlist I ❤ DRUM & BASS here.

I ❤ DRUM & BASS represents an unprecedented act of unity and a coming together of Drum & Bass labels from all over the world. An acknowledgement of the genre’s diversity and multifaceted strengths by creating a definitive musical resource, a constantly updated playlist from all the scenes label’s and artists.

Spanning all sub-genres and being inclusive of all participating labels and artists ranging from RAM, Hospital, Technique, Viper, Breakbeat Kaos, Formation & Playaz’s, Liquicity, Eatbrain, Exit and Critical.. and that’s just for starters!

The concept emerged in October 2017 on a special message board originally set up to celebrate Grooverider’s birthday, with DJ Fresh sparking a conversation about the importance of adapting to and embracing streaming platforms. This line of thinking inspired Simon Bassline Smith to come up with the concept of a definitive drum & bass playlist for everyone’s music to feature on as soon as it’s released. A playlist with all forms of drum & bass from across the globe, self-organised by the scene itself and curated by the labels, with each label picking 1 track per week to be included.

A project with no political or corporate agenda, that exists purely to provide a home for the sounds of this global movement. A place where fans of the genre can explore the diverse sonic landscape of the music they love, or for those who want to explore the genre to immediately have access to the full spectrum. Without the bias of major label ownership and curation.

Driven by the strength of the idea, soon a core following of Dan (DJ Fresh), Simon Bassline Smith, Mickey Finn, Grooverider, Brendan Futurebound and DJ SS excitedly invited label heads from all over the world into a telegram chat room and I ❤ Drum & Bass was born.

Hundreds of players and labels have come together and committed to the concept from across the scene to bring you a place where the latest music is added daily by all the labels and artists you love. Including long-running institutions, hype and fresh labels and also niche imprints. Even unsigned releases and Drum & Bass releases from outside the traditional Drum & Bass labels are represented.

I ❤ Drum & Bass represents an evolving attitude in one of the most consistent and present genres of club music, bringing a new unity and energy to the table that’s set to invigorate the genre and inspire the world of music.

We need your help to spread the word. So please get on Facebook / Twitter/ Instagram / Snapchat and help us spread the message #iluvdrumandbass

I ❤ Drum & Bass is at…  http://bit.ly/iluvdrumandbass

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Dancefloor Smashers Featured Releases Jump Up Liquid Neurofunk Reviews Techstep

All American Drum & Bass

Altered States LP - Flex Records UK
Altered States LP - Flex Records UK

Flex Records brings you the Altered States LP

altered-states-full-2400

L Double’s Flex Records brings it big this time with releasing a fantastic release of immense proportions. The label that hails from UK got a group of artists and signed some of their best tracks for an good ol’ All American party! We were excited to hear about this from its conception. This gave an opportunity for these artist to mingle and grow as producers. It also shows what is to come in the future of American Drum & Bass. The land of the free and the home of the bass!

Lets be real here. I’m biased and I think my tracks on the LP are the best. HA! But in all honesty I had to choose my top 5 from the plethora of talent that comes through this EP.

DNBMAGAPPROVED

Glitch

#1 is the intro track Glitch & Pish Posh “Before Adam.” This is what neurofunk is all about. The track brings you back to the days of Kemal, Rob Data, etc. The erie atmospheres, stabbing filtered synths, tight bass stabs and smooth neuro drums hit so well on a big system.

Space Journey

#2 is Space Journey’s “Arcturi.” While I wish the track was a little meatier in the midrange the drop wobble is so sick! The switch
is so much better! That switch hits super fast with the synth stabs flying you through the maze of bass! Great track if I do say so myself. And… I am. *wink*

#3 is Pish Posh “Programmed to Ignite.” This track was certainly programmed for something. That neck breaking grunge facing neuro crunker standing in the middle of the dance floor not giving 2 f*%ks about anyone else. Deep into the beat and the bass line.

Liminal

#4 is from the one we know as Liminal and his track “Frozen.” The offbeat amen style drums, the baseline, and that smooth vocal takes this track home. Gotta love this liquid sound here. Fantastic mix down and just an over all feel good track.

#5 and certainly not least is The Burner Brothers & Liminal with this AMAZING track called “Good Life.” This track speaks for itself… You need to get in if you haven’t yet.

 

 

A major shout out to all Artists involved. Pish Posh , The Burner Brothers , Space Journey , Liminal & Bengal ,NoizeKomplaint , Mixed Media & iIl Omen, HammerZz & Glitch.

 

https://soundcloud.com/spacejourneyofficial/sets/altered-states-lp-out-now

Categories
Featured Releases Neurofunk Reviews Techstep

MachineCode LP #DNBMAGApproved

MachineCode - Mechtropolis LP - Eatbrain
MachineCode - Mechtropolis LP - Eatbrain

mclogoMachineCode comes through.

We were blessed once again with a promo. Shout out to Eatbrain, Terminal, and Promo.ly for the hook up. I have been waiting for this LP for sometime. The Mechtropolis Sampler definitely has one of my favorite tracks to date, Speaker. The MachineCode duo consists of Dean Rodell & Current Value. This tag team has put forth consistent quality Drum & Bass since there conception. The LP Sampler released earlier this year was certainly a taste of what was to come. Read that review here.
Now, in our review we touched on the feeling we were left with when listening to the release. The feeling of needing more. Ever feel like your meal was great but the food was not enough? Kind of like Kentucky Fried Chicken. Tastes great but not filling. We were left loving “Speaker” from that release but wanting more.

Did we get what we wanted?

The LP drops 9/5/2016. We had a chance to listen to this album and did so 4 times in a row. We wanted to give this one a fair shot and we’ll tell you why. There are some situations that require a second chance. We all love new technology! We’re always waiting for the latest smartphone, the next ribbon tweeter, or the newest midi controller. When we get a hint of whats to come we paint an image in our heads of how awesome its going to be. Then the newest iPhone drops and you look at it and its just like the one you just bought. We almost felt the Mechtropolis LP was the same at first listen…

And then I realized, I’m on laptop speakers, my kids, TV was going, the fan was on, and I’m cleaning my room looking like Aunt Jemima. What the [expletive] am I doing?! I laughed and I headed to my studio to give proper attention to what I found to be an amazing LP. Had to give a proper listen on my Adams.

MachineCode - Mechtropis LP
MachineCode – Mechtropis LP

The Delivery

MC Coppa
MC Coppa

I sat through the album another 3 times as I cleaned up the studio. Boy, some of these tracks were so sick. The album starts off with “Imagine” featuring the famed MC Coppa. This one features some great effects, high pitched vocals, and kind of reminds me of Karl K, Kaos, and Jae Kennedy and some other releases from circa 2005. Great intro track to kick off this LP.

They I was brought in to the world of Mechtropolis. A neo-dystopian society run by machines. Somewhat reminded me of Aeon Flux or The Animatrix Renaissance Part 1. The intro lets you in with great atmosphere and pads. Then the that Eatbrain style synth and the AWESOME vocal sample. “There once was a species called Human Being.” This took me in and then the drop was so deep. Now, this is not your romper stomper of a track that meant to make the dance floor jump up and down blowing whistles. This is a mind track. The synths and the effects that continously grow in the tracking wrapped in tight drum hits and a whisper by a sweep white noise / ride effect just keep it all going deep.

We dig it for sure but our “Ooooh” Moment was when we listened to “Skaro”. This is by far the best track on the release. Every track on this album was crafted with precision and we will certainly rep this album as a featured release on DNB Mag.

Have a listen below. Link to the sites to buy the release when it drops!

Categories
Neurofunk Reviews Techstep

Current Value comes again!

Current Value
Current Value

Current Value is surely a force to recon with.

As we know, Current Value’s Drum & Bass is unlike any other. His tracks truly stand out in their creativity and surely in the production value. His tracks contain some of the nicest pads and then in to some gritty bass lines. Our favorite part of his production is the drums. Tim (Current Value) is one of the few who can distort their drums but keep them sounding clean & punchy. We are true fans of the Current Value sound.

Our friends at Terminal who are the collective label of Bad Taste, Meth Lab, and Eatrbain release the “Partition” EP this Friday 7/11/2016 on Beatport. Current Value surely is a pioneer in Drum & Bass and Terminal made a great selection for this EP. This EP brings it all. From grime through to some sick distorted synths. We must say this EP is great.

Keeping it Balanced:

“Balanced Armature” is our favorite track on the “Partition” EP. This track starts of with some simple tight drums with a great atmospheric pad in the background and then it grows to add some rides and hats that are so fitting to the track and Current Value style. What gets us is the synths. OMG The synths! We love that retro rave style glitching stab. When the track drops it brings you in so deep. Deep into concentration, deep into the mental vortex spun from the womb of a galactic spider threading together our very existence. The distortion on the bass is so nice, it keeps the bass deep. The second drop is where its at! Its simple and adds some filters sweeps of the main synth… You must hear this song! While its not your typical dance floor banger, it truly does justice to the term “neuro.”

 

Have a listen to the full EP below and don’t hesitate to buy this EP. 

 

Categories
Neurofunk Reviews

Bring Back the Mecha

Eatbrain releases the latest in their onslaught of sick Neurofunk. Drum & Bass magazine is always impressed with Eatbrain releases and this one is no different. The artwork is as always awesome with Trinyo Art representing his talents as one should. We at DNB Mag LOVE when he draws up mecha influenced artwork.

While this is a sampler and surely doesn’t promote the sickest of whats to come on the Mectropolis LP, this EP is definitely worth the buy. Our favorite track is surely “Speaker.” This is one of those few times where you can hear beauty in a grime filled track. It rolls smoother than the starts through our night sky. Great ambience, effects, and some familiar sounds in between. The rest of the album is dope for sure but this one sticks out.

From the EP description:

Eatbrain welcomes back MachineCode to their roster, a pair of pioneering producers (Current Value & Dean Rodell) who have torn a deeply unique path through the D&B sphere. With the sampler for the MECHTROPOLIS LP, MachineCode demonstrate a small slice of their powers of experimentation with the dnb form – delivering 4 hard-hitting and precisely engineered neurofunk tracks with TEST RUN, SUBMERGED (featuring Coppa), MANOUVER & SPEAKER. Demonstrating their commitment to forward-thinking electronic music, Eatbrain unveil the foundations for the architecture of an elaborately built sonic city, built by a pair of the finest musical machines alive.

Have a listen:

Categories
Featured Releases Neurofunk Reviews

Noisia Reaching Outwards

Categories
Featured Releases Neurofunk Reviews

L33 Kicks Your Face In!

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