Today Only: Breakbeat sale vinyl

Review: Yes, yes, one thousand times yes. Cryptobitch resurrect track ideas and stems originally formed in 2010, as if only to prove the fact they were well ahead of the curve back then. Packing plenty of IDM nuances, while everything here is very clever indeed it's also a prime example of why the hybrid dance revolution is so infectious and all-encompassing.

Call it drum & bass, call it bassline-infused techno, it's fast but funky, littered with rough riding breakbeats and absolutely inescapable. Futurism on record, you might say. From the acid-inflected jungle style 'DDoNK CrySyS' to the bouncing and jacking 'I Heart Hacking', the lush, opiate waves of synth juxtaposed with the flairs of snare-topped drums on 'Emotet (D Monica), to the compressed, crunching stepper 'Zero Day Demon'. Exceptional stuff that should be in everyone's bag. Or box.

Review: Proper early hardcore sounds from Brussels' Koma, whose 'Ity' EP released back in march of 2023 but whose vinyl edition now hits our shelves. As suggested by the nostalgic familial image on the front cover, the EP tells the implicit story of a life encoded in the cipher of rave; of Koma's earliest experiences and choicest memories magnified via ecstatic breaks propulsions and fantastical digital audio tricks. In Koma's world, piano stutterings poke through monstrous basses ('Conifurious'), while transitional stop-starts hint at bygone memories ('It's Your Track'), experienced in the dance and left there.