Adam F seems intent on hypnotizing the dancefloor. The man pays particular attention to every sound (transformed old school hip-hop samples, sinuous upright bass riffs, R&B snippets) in his diverse and choppy tracks. That‘s a good thing ‘cause when his manic drums and hooky dropouts are rendered to vinyl, DJs and dancers reap the rewards of Adam‘s sharp ears. “8 Ball” hits the corner pocket dead on with all the above-game over!
DJ C & Quality Diamond Let It Billie
Boston‘s DJ C finally issues his mashed-up d&b rework of Shinehead‘s “Billie Jean.” One of John Peel‘s (RIP) fave cuts on dubplate, C‘s 7″ single comes in both straight-ahead and rough jungle versions. Quality Diamond really nices up the mic on this one-“Clean mind clean heart” he chats before launching into a double-time lyric. The dancehall/d&b vibes and limber DJ toasts should get any sideline posers to hit the dancefloor.
Task Force Big Smoke
Task Force (a.k.a. Chester P Hackenbush) and Farmer Gilles have been causing a minor storm on the London underground. They‘re always poignant and on-point, whether they‘re rapping about social injustice, racism, drug running, inner city life, or the beauty of butterflies, monsoon mountain biking and tornado skydiving. Can‘t quite think of any other rap group anywhere in the world who can do that.
Solo Los Solo Todo El Mundo Lo Sabes
Solo Los Solo is DJ/producer Griffi and Juan Solo hailing from Barcelona. Production-wise, Griffi is one of the sickest and most slept on producers with complex, musical patterns not too dissimilar to JayDee-meets-Ammon Contact-meets-Madlib, but on another level.
Hocus Pocus 73 Touches
Hocus Pocus hails from Nantes on the west coast of France and is made up of rapper/musician 20Syl and C2C (the two-time world DMC team DJ champions). This isn‘t a mix of relentless madman cuts and shouting but something extremely musical and lyrical with subtle scratches, atmospheres and reflections.
Simon Gray The Gal?ctica Suite
Based in Hamburg, Australian Gray is a keyboard wiz who‘s toured with Incognito and remixed Everything But The Girl. That experience pays off on a funky track featuring live horns from The TinMen, swirling keys and bouncy drums-a full arrangement that evokes Earth, Wind & Fire‘s exuberant “September” era. “The Gal?ctica Suite” brings the heat.
Madvillain (Four Tet & Koushik Remixes) Madvillain
‘Tis a game of two halves as they say. I‘m only a casual Four Tet fan; intrigued, but not a fanatic. However, after the jazz hooligan madness of “Meat Grinder” I look forward to more of the Four Tet-with-vocals formation. While Stones Throw has the balls to team-up the masked one, the mad one and Four Tet, it‘s unfortunate the Koushik mixes didn‘t score so well, missing the high standard of the originals.
Digital Mystikz Haunted
This track is by Coki (one-half of Digital Mystikz), which-to those in the know-means that you best steady yourself for the sonic onslaught that will inevitably ensue. It opens with an ugly percussive-sounding synth which filters down into nothingness before a wall of sound explodes. In my experience, it‘s never got past eight bars before someone presses the button to reload.
Skream I
“I” is for incredible. Incredible bass, incredible beats, incredible melodies, incredible energy. A pad that lies somewhere between Blade Runner and Friday The Thirteenth builds a perpetual tension, coupled with a clockwork yet sparse rhythm that keeps the track‘s momentum upbeat.
Digital Mystikz Neverland
“Neverland” has been around on dub for over a year now and, if you‘re lucky enough to have a copy, is a standard in any dubstep set. It‘s got 808 beats, layered strings, percussion, and a bassoon-like sound provides the hook. It captures the same ambient dreaminess as LTJ Bukem‘s classic “Music.”
