Kmag Presents residents NSD and Nultiply round-up of the best drum & bass singles and albums released in August.
NSD
Task Horizon – Ocean of Sound / Dharmakaya Light (Evolution Chamber)
Now if you know me, read my reviews or see how excited I get about fierce tracks and think Task Horizon equates mental sounds… think again. This release is something else, something special, certainly to my ears. Ocean of Sound with Ingrid Lukas on vocals has simply blown my mind. This is just a beautiful piece of music let alone Drum & Bass. The vocals, coupled with the pure euphoric sounds, make this my stand-out track of this month and possibly more. Dharmakaya Light, again fantastic vibes, wonderfully crafted electronic music that happens to have lots of drums and bass.
Handra – Coat of Dust / Stay Away (Addictive Behaviour)
Coat of Dust is a dreamy, liquid-ish track that progresses into tech more as the track plays out and the production and vibe really is excellent. Techy roller Stay Away again progresses excellently and there’s plenty of variation in the track. Not my usual banging selection but when you check the quality you’ll see why once again Addictive Behaviour is a serious label right now. Get to know!
Mob Tactics – The Answer EP (MTA)
Mob Tactics’ EP is full of their trademark energetic sound. Alcatraz is a firing dancefloor banger, no prisoners taken here!! The Answer has received plenty of DJ support and for good reason. Great vocals, piano and uplifting bassline with enough bite that you know it’s Mob Tactics at the drop. Big tune! Mirror Mirror is my kind of tune: pure energy, dropping heavy into a twisted sampled laden banger. Savages, possibly my favourite track on the EP, is just pure neuro filth! Heavy basslines, hard beats and no mercy shown to the dancefloor.
Trilo – Enterprise / Prozac – Baracks Digi (Renegade Hardware)
Trilo is making some waves right now and this release shows why. In Enterprise he has crafted a serious future D&B tune that continually progresses and has so much variation. Putting the funk right back into the neuro genre, this is some tune. Prozac has futurescape sounds cranking the pressure to the drop! The bass again has so much variety and progression it’s difficult to explain. So much detail and layers in the track makes this an excellent piece of D&B. Lastly, Baracks. Saving the best for last, haunting intro, simple and used to devastating effect as the Bass drops. Pure Neurofunk and I mean FUNK!
VLTRN – Dirt Signal / The Ride (Formation)
The legendary Formation Records introduces VLTRN to us in some style throwing two filthy tracks right at you! Dirt Signal, as the title suggests, is just an outright filthy banger. Hard and justifying its use of dirt! The Ride is a high energy, acid fused tear-out. The energy in this track will smash up the dance. It’s Formation, need I go on?? VLTRN is one to keep an eye on.
Nultiply
Tokyo Prose – Presence (Samurai Music)
I actually compared this album to Calibre the other day and that says it all! Amazing album of deep intelligent music from Tokyo Prose. I’ve been struggling to pick which tracks to include in my sets recently ’cause it’s just that good. The list of collaborators isn’t half bad either with the likes of Lenzman, LSB, Synkro and Riya involved. This is a must-have for any lover of the deep side of dnb and let’s hope there’s more to come from Tokyo Prose.
Various – Vintage EP (Soul Flex Digital)
Very pleased to say Soul Flex is a label I recently got involved with and I love label owner DJ Dubsta’s ethos for their output. If you’re looking for new talent in the liquid drum & bass scene Soul Flex is quickly becoming the go to place and this album perfectly represents that. A mammoth 22 tracks of solid rolling liquid including a wide range of producers such as Physics, Al Menos, Radius and yours truly to name just a few! I know there is plenty more in the pipeline from this label so keep your eye out!
Submorphics – Long Been Gone / Rosewood (SGN:LTD)
Two great slices of liquid from US producer Submorphics on Shogun Audio’s sister label. Already with some solid releases under his belt on the likes of V Recordings, Innerground and Spearhead, Submorphics shows no sign of stopping now and, from this evidence, is only getting better! Was particularly chuffed to see Long Been Gone land in my inbox after hearing it in a couple of podcasts recently, great to see it get a release.
Beta 2 – 2nd Page EP (Metalheadz)
Beta 2 gives us three completely different tracks for his Metalhedz EP. 2nd Page with vocalist Steo is a lovely rolling piece of liquid with big bass whilst N.O.D is a darker number and Time Traveller is a downtempo number. So, all round, a bit of something for everyone but all tracks are totally solid.
Nymfo – ElectroSmog EP (Commercial Suicide)
A great three-track EP from Dutch wizard Nymfo, which any self-respecting drum & bass DJ should have in there armoury. All tracks have the high standard we’ve come to expect from Nymfo and will fit perfectly into the sets of liquid, dark, tech and possibly even jump-up DJs!