Tuff Culture – Circles

Despite something of a revival of late, the TIWWD inbox isn't troubled by as much UKG as I might like… so to get a whole album of the stuff that's as good as this, is something of a rare treat.

There are ten tracks here, that between them take in most shades of garage music the UK has ever produced. I Wanna Hold You is a jerky, twitchy 2-step number with cut-up vox inna Todd Edwards stylee, It's Me & You is a bassier affair with ragga vocal flourishes, Need You Around is smoother, more commercial 2-step, Walking In Ecstasy works a classic vocal over big, bassline house-ish backing, there are more bassline-y vibes on the R&B-vocalled Temptation (featuring Miss Rhodes), Like A Star takes us back to the SG glory days (complete with a few cheeky, very familiar samples) and Enigma Dubz collab Maris flirts with future garage/post-dubstep flavas.

Consistent enough stylistically to feel coherent, yet varied enough not to get same-y, this is a must-check for UKG fiends.

Out: This week

About: This comes on LU10 Records – find 'em on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Steven J AKA Wobblejay – Groove Your World EP

Only the fourth release here from fledgling Leicester-based imprint City Fly Records.

Steven J is better known as a member of Creative Swing Alliance, who had the CSA EP out on City Fly last year. Here, he serves up three original tracks plus a remix of the title cut from Medlar. Groove Your World in its original form is synth-y, contemporary-style deep/tech bizniss, while Let Me Know has a little garage-y swing in its veins and You Got My Time takes us back to the old school with its raw-sounding kicks and vocal samples.

It's all good, as they say, but the standout for me is Medlar's refix, a deep, organ-fuelled jam sitting somewhere between deep house and (future) garage. Niceness!

Out: This week

About: You can find City Fly on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Enigma Dubz - How It Is EP

This is one of the bits I didn't get round to last week, but a) I'd been feeling bad about that, cos it's really rather good, and b) the Geddes rub of Raffa L has put me in a garage frame of mind. So here we are.

In its Original form, How It Is is probably best filed under 'future garage', with its long, dreamy intro, looping, cut-up male vocal sample and busy, 2-step-ish rhythms, though unlike a lot of such tackle it's also pretty energetic and upbeat.  Elsewhere on the EP, Feelings Gone operates in more typical late-night future garage territory while We At War is perhaps better described as UK bass/post-dubstep. Rounding out the EP, Dancing In The Dark is an excursion into the dubbiest of late-night pastures, and one to melt into the sofa to.

A very strong EP all round.

Out: Last week, but what's seven days between friends?

About: This comes from the slightly mysterious but always checkable Four40 Records, who can be found on Soundcloud and Facebook.

James Silk & Jobe – Baby Baby

And from one of TIWWD's most-tipped of 2012 (Dave James) to another, James Silk, whose latest for Form-and Function doesn't disappoint one iota.

In its Original form, Baby Baby is all chunky bass, crisp kicks and earnest male vocal… a big room peaktime vocal anthem in the making, quite possibly. It also wouldn't have sounded out of place on Cleveland City circa 1994! But it's actually the flipside refix from Liam Geddes that's exciting yours truly more.

With the vocal cut down, chopped up and recycled in stab form, this is as chunky, sumptuous and beautiful a slab of, let's not beat about the bush, UK garage music as you'll hear this month AT LEAST. A proper locked-down underground soul bumper for the deep heads, don't sleep!

Out: This week

About: You can find Form-and Function on Facebook and Soundcloud.

**UPDATE 13/9: Please note Jobe is co-producer of this record and NOT the vocalist as I suggested yesterday!

Everyman – Take The Block EP

We stay on a kinda post-dubstep/future garage tip now with the latest from the slightly mysterious Four40 Records.

The standout of this four-tracker for me is No Doubt, which comes on like the bastard love-child of Never Gonna Let You Go and Show You Love. Which was never going to fail to please this reviewer! But elsewhere on the EP, the title track fuses dubstep with fierce and firing tech-house, Let It Up wears influences from early jungle and the sparsest of two-step proudly on its sleeve while the chipmunk-vocalled Player has echoes of both bassline circa 2003-5 and, of course, classic rave.

This is one of those records that manages to sound simultaneously like A. everything you ever heard all at once and B. the future. You need to check it out. Review ends.

Out: This week. Oh yeah, and it's a Juno Download exclusive.

About: You can find Four40 on Facebook and Soundcloud.

J Cub feat BiBi – Crying Over You

If I ever did a list of the Top 10 Most Under-Rated Albums In Dance Music, then featuring highly on that chart would be Donna Dee's Spellbound from 1998.

I mention this now because this could have been lifted straight from said album, featuring as it does the same combination of fragile, slow-moving, garage-derived beats, lush chords and wistful female vocals that – shock! – actually say something. And I don't say that in a "derivative rubbish, heard it all before" way but in a "this is ruddy marvellous, why don't more people make music like this?" way. Just so's we're clear.

Remixes come from RNDM and BJNJM*, with the former adding some extra bottom-end warmth, the latter additional percussive elements. I'd say RNDM's rub works slightly better for me but both are playable since neither, thankfully, fucks too much with the overall sparse, soulful feel.

But it's the Original that stands out, all the same. It's an absolute killer.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Huxley and Jimmy Poster's v. hip Saints & Sonnets label… find 'em on Soundcloud and Facebook, or check out their shows on Pulse Radio.

*wht s t wth ths ppl? r thy frm Bsn r smwhr ls wth n vwls?

P-Note – Cosmic EP

Three tracks of deep and moody post-dubstep here from LU10 Records.

Ronin opens proceedings, alternating between sparse, twitchy, toppy rhythms and a jagged, wobbling sub-bassline. The other two tracks are credited to P-Note & Aftee: Drama goes down a slower, dub techno-informed route and is the pick of the EP for me, while finally Souljam takes us into more cinematic, bordering-on-ambient pastures, making you suspect P-Note might have one or two System 7 or Tangerine Dream records in his/her collection…

Three quite varied cuts, then, but those in search of cutting-edge sonic explorations won't be disappointed.

Out: Today!

About: LU10 don't give a lot about themselves away but you can find 'em on Facebook or at their own blog.

Seraph – The Rush EP

Not sure whether you'd want to call this 'future garage' or 'post-dubstep' or what, but you get the general idea!

Just the two tracks on offer. The Rush itself is big, sparse and steppy, its frenetic, twitchy rhythms overlaid with warm orchestral strings and echoing female vocals. The Climax, meanwhile, leans more towards the dubstep side of things, with wobbling bass and snips of rap vox but not, I should stress, in a stoopid gnarly electro kiddy kinda way.

All told: forward-thinking stuff that you should really check for yourself…

Out: This week

About: This comes on LU10 Records, who you can find at their own blog or on Facebook.

Morcee – It's You

A trip into garage/dubstep territories now, with the latest from Four40 Records.

In its Original form, It's You fuses elements of dubstep and vintage rave, with a vocal that owes a great deal TO but isn't, I don't think, sampled FROM Onephatdeeva & Lisa Millett's Bad Habit. The Lakosa Remix is a deeper, darker and dubbier pass with lashings of sub-bass, while Majora's Unorthodox Mix veers towards dubstep's more experimental fringes with its chopped-up beats and heavily treated vox.

If pushed it's the Lakosa mix that's doing it best for me, but all three mixes are very respectable and, most importantly, not one of them feels the need to get all stoopid and gnarly for the sake of it. Excellent work.

Out: This week

About: You can find Four40 Records on Soundcloud and Facebook.

Ben Dean feat Bryony Matthews - Find Me

From one Ben to another… this one's called Ben Dean, and is a Manchester-based Kiwi who now returns to the label where he made his production debut some nine years ago, Al Bradley's 3am Recordings. And the prodigal son doesn't disappoint, with a sterling slab of straight-up deep house in five mixes.

The original's a mid-paced affair with Chicago-esque bass and a yearning, soulful vocal from Ms Matthews. Remixes then come from the pick of the UK deep house crop. Label boss Al serves up a dark and moody dancefloor dub with a big fat bassline that comes remarkably close to 'bassline' territory (or at least 'bassline house' territory, before it went all cheesy and urban-electro). Long-term cohort Carlo Gambino takes us on another deep, dark n' dubby ride, but this time one that's more suited to home listening/post-club play, Rob Clarke keeps the vocal intact but beefs up the beats and ups the tempo a little while finally, Ben himself dons his Backfoot guise for a steppy, laidback, garage-y pass.

Classy stuff all round, with Backfoot and Al sharing the honours for me.

Out: This week

About: Find 3am Recordings on Facebook and Soundcloud if you want to know more – you can HEAR THIS at the latter too.

Kaua – Spuma EP

Some serious deepness here from Switzerland's ever-excellent Acryl Music and Japanese producer Kaua.

The title track Spuma itself is the most obviously dancefloor-oriented of the three tracks on offer, a deep n' moody groover topped off with dreamy, floaty, proggy twiddles. Next up, Abelia is a late-night, sofa-surfin' kinda thang with ambience galore, periodic injections of fat squelchy bass, mournful brass and glitchy broken/two-step beats.

But while those are both very cool, the killer to these ears is Owni, which is as fine a slice of heavy dub-inspired deep house/deep techno bizniss as you'll hear all week. In fact it's probably closer to straight-up dub than anything… but that's by no means a problem, obviously. Crucial vibes, seen?

Out: For a couple of weeks on Beatport, but getting a full worldwide release this week.

About: Find Acryl Music at their website, on MySpace and on Soundcloud.

Toyboy & Robin – Loving You EP

Another week, another new label… this week's new arrival being Cool Kid Music, run by London boys Toyboy & Robin themselves.

This first release from the label is a three-tracker, with two mixes of Loving You plus bonus cut Don't Stop. In its original form, Loving You is a meandering, slightly proggy cut with a pitched-up sample from Donna Allen (or Strike if you're an old cheesy quaver), while the TCTS Remix takes us into jerkier, chopped-up territory – one for the future garage crew, methinks, particularly once the spastic rhythm settles down into a pacier groove topped off with some delicious M1 (?) drops and a warping b-line. And then finally, Don't Stop is a soulful, broken-beated workout that samples Luther and puts him alongside some almost trance-y arpeggiating synths.

It's interesting, genre-agnostic stuff… interesting rather than stone-cold essential, perhaps, but it's always good to see someone new giving it a go. So show some love and check it out for yourselves!

Out: This week

About: Cool Kid Music seem to mostly live on Facebook at the moment. Oh no, hang on… here they are on Soundcloud as well.

ALBUM VVV - Across The Sea

Bit late on this one, admittedly… but a) I did promise I'd post a review and b) it's too good to ignore.

It's being billed as 'future garage'… so, about that. It's a term I struggle with a bit, even though I've used it myself on occasion, cos much of what I've heard touted as 'future garage' tends to fall into one of two camps. To me it either sounds like 1. UK garage, basically, with nothing particularly 'future' about it however good it may be. Or 2. Strange downtempo, dubby EDM bizniss that might be futuristic, I might even like it, but it doesn't particularly have a lot to do with any form of 'garage' that I know. So I can't find much higher praise for Across The Sea than to say that this genuinely does sound like a fresh, modern take on the UKG blueprint – and for that VVV are to be applauded.

This has already been in Mixmag as 'dubstep album of the month' so a lot of you are probably very aware of it anyway, and as such I won't bang on too much. But cast your mind back to the late 90s/early 00s… there were hints – and by hints, I mostly mean Donna Dee's Spellbound, for my money one of dance music's most under-rated long players of all time – that UKG had the potential to mature into a music that was as suitable for home listening as it was for the dancefloor. Then the whole 'crews' thing happened and the whole scene descended into a fiasco of 'attitude', braggadocio and gunplay. Which was a shame.

Well, with Across The Sea, it's like that potential has at long, long last been realised. Moving seamlessly from heavy bass epics like Stuck Between, Under Control and Retreated, to the twitchy, glitchy two-step of All That We've Been Through or Across The Sea, from energetic hip-shaker Aisle Sea to the dusty, melancholic loops of Someday and Thick, this is an album that needs to be heard in full, several times, before it really starts to sink in.

But when it does, you'll be hooked. VVV good stuff indeed.

Out: Now… I'm not sure how long for, cos the website says December but I was told 23 March?! Anyway, see above.

About: This comes on Scottish label Fortified Audio, here's the usual links: website Facebook Soundcloud.

Oh yeah, and VVV are from Austin, Texas… which isn't as surprising as you might think given that, as I recall, Texas and Poland used to be about the only two places UKG ever made much impression outside the UK. Funny how these things work, innit?

Dan Styles - Smokey EP

In honour of the UK government's ridiculous ban on tobacco displays in shops… here's the latest from Essex-based Hype Muzik. It's a two-track affair so I needn't detain you long, so you can get on with trying to guess which shops sell fags and which don't.

Smokey itself is a deep, minimal techno joint, with a spacey, tripped-out kinda feel. Meanwhile on the B, People Say operates in similar territory, but this time with a female vocal and enough funk flowing through its veins that it could appeal equally to deep house or even future garage floors.

However, as the powers that be would no doubt much rather you listened to Nicki Minaj, One Direction and other bland corporate shite instead, expect legislation pushing quality, head-centric electronic music like this under the counter any day now.

What did you think this was, a free country or something?!

Out: This week

About: Hype Muzik is of course part of Norman H's Stripped Muzik empire.

Detroit Swindle – The Wrap Around EP

Only the second single from Saints & Sonnets but with their debut release, Ethyl & Huxley's 3 Feet High, having done so well last year, you know all eyes (and ears) are gonna be on this one. Thankfully, SAS002 doesn't disappoint.

As well as being the label's second release, this is also the very first ever release from Detroit Swindle, an Amsterdam duo who go by the names of Lars Dales & Maarten Smeets. The EP opens with The Wrap Around itself, a chugging, midtempo houser notable for its insistent bass riff and disembodied soulful male vox. Next up is Pain Tomorrow, which is deeper, slower and bassier… bordering on beatdown territory, in fact. Using a similar vocal approach to the EP's title track, it's got something of a 'future garage' feel to it and would make a perfect warm-up cut. And then finally, there's a Pattern Select mix of Pain Tomorrow that beefs up the beats considerably for the tech-house floors.

A very strong EP all round, then.

Out: Wednesday (7 March)

About: Saints And Sonnets is run by Huxley and Jimmy Posters. Find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud, or check out their podcasts and live shows at Pulse Radio. And thanks to the magic of Google, here's an interview with Huxley all about the label at Deep Absurdum – a website I've only just stumbled across but that I'll certainly be checking from now on...

James Silk - Sweet Turning Sherbert EP

"It's that man again," as 1930s radio comic Tommy Handley used to say*. I was just saying last week how you need to be keeping an eye on Mr Silk and now here is once more, with a very varied three-tracker that shows just how versatile he can be.

Opener Sweet Spot is an abstract, ethereal and at times near-ambient offering with a female vocal, that could appeal equally to fans of deep house, deep techno and the more esoteric end of the future garage spectrum. Something of a home-listening delight, then. Orange Sherbert is a more obviously club-friendly affair, still very deep but with a fat, funk-fuelled Chicago-sounding b-line that should get booties shaking nicely.

And then finally there's Turning Over. This starts out sounding like yet another midtempo East London tech-house workout… but then after a couple of minutes slowly starts bringing in elements of boogie. Soaring strings, squelchy synth-bass and, eventually, a heavily filtered male vocal inna D-Train/Atlantic Starr kinda vein (it's probably a sample and I should probably recognise it, but you can't win 'em all) all join the party, making for a cut that starts out in darkness and ends in bright sunshine.

Quality stuff from Mr Silk once more, nuff said.

Out: This week

About: This one comes on a brand new label, Form And Function… which turns out to be yet another imprint under the Endemic Digital banner.

*Although how I know this, I'm not entirely sure.

Huxley – Let It Go

And from Deso, we move on to Huxley, who last week did such a fine job of remixing the former's She Loves Deep. This week, he steps up in his own right with an absolute MONSTER of a house tune that, if there's any semblance of decency left in the world, you'll be hearing from now till Xmas.

“An emotive cut which duly warrants the oft-overused term 'anthem',” reads the hype sheet, and for once the hype is justified. Like Luca C & Brigante's Different Morals last year (a personal tune of 2011 for sure), this sees contemporary deep, techy house getting its soulful, vocal groove back in style. It's one of those rare beasts that brings all the energy and drama required for the bigger floors, yet without shedding an iota of its underground credibility in the process… this record deserves to be HUGE.

And speaking of underground credibility, it also comes complete with a remix from the hotly-tipped Eats Everything, who take us into more esoteric pastures with a stripped-down rub, based on more militant beats, that chops and loops the vocal and synths to head-frying afterhours effect. Which is nice, obviously.

Out: 15 February (tomorrow)

About: This comes on Hypercolour, who surely need no introduction from me by now…

Enigma Dubz – Hard To Smile EP

Okay, time to flip the script a bit now and get on a future garage tip.

Well, I say 'future garage' but TBH, there's nothing particularly future-y about opener Between Me And You… with a roomy, boomy bottom end, heavily swung beats that verge on two-step, lush, lingering chords and snippets of barely-there soulful male vocal, this could have come out back in the late 90s/early 00s UKG glory days no problem. That's a compliment, by the way!

Hard To Smile is a more obviously contemporary affair, sampling Tupac's Smile for the vocal and laying it over a typical UKG backing at first, but then bringing in a (whisper it) trance riff. And at first you're thinking, oh no! – but you know what? It actually kinda works. It comes across like the trance riff's being used as just AN Other sound source, the way for instance Massive Attack might use an orchestral synth stab… as opposed to just someone chucking in a trance riff for instant get out of jail free idiots-at-Glasto appeal. I can think of a few bigger names in the grime/dubstep/etc sphere who could learn a thing or two here… softly does it!

So yeah, Hard To Smile has you worried for a minute but it all turns out fine in the end. And then there's Issues, another old skool-sounding cut which rocks a huge bassline and ragga vox, and sounds like the kind of thing I used to pick up from Release The Groove back in iDJ's earliest days*, back when I was just the garage reviewer!

As a good friend posted on my Facebook the other day, "It's all gone 1997 blud!". Some of us would say that's no bad thing :-)

Out: This week

About: This comes on Four40 Records, sister label to LU10 and Lepento and always worth checking – they do a lot of gnarly tear-out stuff that's sometimes a bit too full-on for this blog but they do turn out deeper gems like this as well.

You can find Four40 on Facebook, Tumblr, MySpace and Soundcloud… by the miracle of which, here's the EP…

Enigma-Dubz Hard to smile ***Out Now*** by four40records

*Shouts out at this point to Neil, Jeremy, Marcia, Angel, Adamm, Chas and the one and only Gary D!

Crump - Broken Thoughts EP

Don't seem to have had any dubstep on here for a while… people keep sending me lots of silly kiddly gnarly chavstep bizniss. But here's an altogether deeper and more satisfying dubstep/future garage EP to wrap your ears around.

Opener 5am sounds to me like how dubstep might have sounded like if it had been invented by Warp Records circa 1991, as resonating bass chords and glitchy, D&B-influenced percussion do battle with bleeps, analogue synth sounds and tons and tons of reverb. Broken Thoughts is a more melodic affair with a highly distorted, resung vocal refrain from Simonelli's garage classic Do You Feel Me? (released as NY's finest, and which in turn sampled it from Zhana's Sanctuary Of Love) over frantic snares and technoid rave-y bass. And then finally I Don't Want You is a big, dramatic stomper with almost Ibiza-eque pop/electro touches.

The first two have the edge for me, I think, but overall this is an EP that proves there's still plenty of fruitful exploration yet to be undertaken in this particular part of the electronic music spectrum.

Out: This week

About: London-based LU10, sister label to Four40 and Lepento, can be found on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Matt Prehn feat Lu Chase - Still Got Love

Oh God, where do I start with this one? Because the South African house stalwart has here served up a little belter of a tune, with mixes to suit a range of tastes.

The original's a gentle soulful house affair that wouldn't sound out of place on Om, or on Naked back in the day. The Nutritious Mix sticks to the soulful house vibe but with a more sumptuous feel, DK Watts (of whom more in a mo') serves up Dub and Instrumental passes (so there's even something for the vocal haters!) that are pure deep house dancefloor bump, and Chemical Warfare (AKA 3am's Al Bradley)'s mix will delight lovers of old skool US garage… specifically lovers of those big sparse organ dubs. And then finally, Eric Sharp's rub takes us into spaced-out future garage-esque territory, with quick n' clicky beats underpinning a very big and echo-y mix.

Whatever flavour of deeper house grooves you're into, then, you're likely to find something to please here. More likely, if your tastes are anything like mine then you're gonna be spoilt for choice. Go seek.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Bounce House, the label run by the Short Bus Kids of whom DK Watts is of course one-half. I've said how good Bounce House are so many times, both on here and in iDJ, that it's getting quite embarrassing now… but what can I say, this is another bomb! Anyway, here's their website.