BASS RECOMMENDATIONS JUNE 2015

Review: **Triple coloured vinyl edition** In Colour is of course the long awaited debut solo album from The xx's in-house knob twiddler Jamie 'xx' Smith, arriving through regular home Young Turks backed with a whole host of guest appearances. The more obsessive Jamie xx fans out there (of which we wager there are many) will no doubt already have burned out their laptops and retinas basking in the all too colourful pre-release streams of In Colour, but it's always nice to grip an album in your hands. The eleven tracks on In Colours come across like a low key ode to the rave from Jamie and pals, with Four Tet, Romy & Oli xx, Young Thug and Popcaan featuring, and yes there is also plenty of steel pan. "Hold Tight", which sounds like Jamie's attempt at forest techno, is a definite highlight! Young Turks have popped in a CD edition of the album too.

Review: Following on from their statement b2b mix CD, Pinch and Mumdance have been back in the studio together to cook up this rough and ready single for the formers Tectonic imprint. Riko Dan brings a savage Jamaican swagger to the title track with his fired-up MC turn, while the beat keeps the pressure high from start to finish. "Lucid Dreaming" provides the moody alternative to that party-starting manifesto with some of that Pinch-esque iciness, a deadly restrained menace lingering over the track without ever needing to resort to big drops or crescendos.

Review: Woah.... Dego's 2000 Black pull out a most unexpected treat with some productions from the studio of Dominic 'Domu' Stanton!!!! The music world was a lesser place when Domu decided to retire from production duties citing creative burnout back in 2009, but he's evidently found new inspiration in his sound which has resulted in these killer Sonar's Ghost cuts! Opening track "Where Was I?" is most appropriately titled, rolling out on a bed of chopped up breakbeats and swerving synth lines that sound like vintage Domu. However, the marauding bassline that comes in midway offers a sense of freshness. "Cennes" sees Stanton toy around with drums at a blistering footwork tempo, the ferociousness offset by some delicious harmonies underneath, whilst "Who Loves You?" expertly chops up a vocal sample over some frenetic drum programming.

Review: Jimmy Edgar and Travis 'Machinedrum' Stewart cross swords once more as JETS, having graced Berlin's Leisure System collective with a pair of EPs between 2012 and 2014. The latter saw UK soul singer Jamie Lidell lend his distinct vocals to a cover of "Midas Touch" and he also features on this four track 12" The Chants. Issued through Edgar's Ultramajic label, the four tracks demonstrate that JETS is a more confident production partnership these days. The hyperkinetic title track is a superb blend of RnB and Bass music, whilst Lidell's vocal is the perfect foil for the downtrodden purple funk Edgar and Stewart conjure on "UNI". Jesse Boykins III appears too, wedged deep into the machinery of "Pyrite Blue". "Pink Beat" rounds out the 12" in heat treated fashion, the luminescent tones augmented by some skilful footwork style drum programming.

Review: Nomine; a university lecturer frequently found flexing on Tempa gets busy on Amit's ever-developing imprint Amar. "Closed Doors" takes the two-step equation and flips it with deep bass maths. "Empty Rooms" is a lean, minimal affair with echoes of Detroitian dystopian detuned synths and stop-motion percussion. "99' Aachen" sees Nomine adding to the grime narrative. Ardent kick/snare patterns, stark strings and rifle voicing from 9er, file under murker. Finally we hit "Voodoo Native", a militant march in the unknown powered by tribal drum thumps and a bass tone that plays the perfect drill instructor, eking ahead of the drums with pernicious authority.

Review: Loefah's 81 imprint originally promised this way back in December. But in true Swampy style, the delay has only made its arrival all the more exciting; two unique shake-ups from Manchester don Bias, "Couch Life" is a slow, sludgy breakbeat jam that tips deft nods towards both classic electro and UK garage. "Chokehold", meanwhile, is a percussive blunderbuss where a mesmerising groove is created by the dampened steel drum ricochet riddim and gurgling, slug-like LFO bass. Heavy.

Review: M&P continue to deliver sterling bass dynamite - both on their own label Materials and Redlight's Lobster Boy imprint. This is no exception; with sinewy beats and soulful vocals, it comes on strong like a Deetron cut while its bulbous, ominous subs give it a late '90s Layo & Bushwacka veneer. "Blue Suede" is more tech-minded in its make-up thanks to rolling hi-hats, snares and clipped vocal shots. One for the hands up crew, one for the heads down crew - M&P have delivered something for every occasion right here.

Review: Future-focused deep bass house music: If you don't know Callahan yet, think Melee, think My Nu Leng, think Breakage, think Wen. Think UK underground music full stop. Across this hefty four-tracker expect slow-burning two-step bubblers ("Got Me"), angular, granular sheet metal clanging soul ("Amalaya"), deep warehouse-shattering mechanical techno ("Basement Serial") and thundering minimal breakbeats ("Armshouse"). Bulletproof.

Review: After a string of releases for Numbers, the intermittently active Deadboy makes a welcome return with some plush, emotive tones for Local Action that show him to be in a thoughtful mood, not least on EP opener "White Moon Garden". Cascading, glossy synth lines are the order of the day, with a strong dose of magic and mystery woven in for good measure. "Rye Angel" meanwhile melts Burial-tones down to a hushed murmur and "Sad Sniper" equally calls out a spacious lament peppered with momentary flurries of rhythm. It's "Copwar" that shakes the EP up at the final hurdle with a more energised construction that keeps the synths intact but works a greater sense of urgency into the drum lines.

Review: A new release from Bass Clef is always something we enjoy here at Juno, with the latest finding Ralph Cumbers adding emergent Belfast concern to his storied discography. Humming Blurs is actually the first 'Clef joint of 2015 and it finds the pun loving producer in fine fettle, channelling two distinct moods across the pair of productions. Leading the way, "Humming Blurs" pairs sprightly, swung percussion and thunderous bursts of hi hats with delightfully chiming melodies and strings and kind of sounds like vintage Four Tet pulled into the 21st Century. On the B-side "Chanson Du Ricochet" is a smeared modular delight with a rhythmic freneticism that is most infectious.

Review: On her 1Xtra show, 22-year-old tastemaker Monki (AKA DJ Lucy Monkman) has earned a reputation for mixing it up across the bass music spectrum. She continues that trend on her contribution to the FabricLive series, delivery a club-friendly mix-up that impressively joins the dots between UK garage, UK funky, techno (see the bombastic throb of Robert Hood's Floorplan project), acid, dayglo rave revivalism and even a dash of bleep (DJ Haus's 89-90 tribute, "I Can Feel It"). While the mix has plenty of new and recent cuts present, Monkman isn't averse to slipping in bona fide classics, pepping things up halfway through with DJ Spen presents DJ Technic's "Gabryelle", and finishing with the hands-aloft rave-era genius of Frank De Wulf's remix of The Golden Girls' "Kinetic".