J KENZO Vinilo y CD

Review: Forever flipping through the tempos and the styles, Artikal bossman and all-round legend J:Kenzo has the honour of being the launch artist on Alternate Recordings - a brand new label from longstanding Bristol party crew. Hot on the heels of his Metalheadz release, Kenzo keeps things d&b with both of these raffish, rugged cuts. 'RawZ' bashes and bumps in all the right places, aided by shimmering percussion and a sweet vocal stab placed at all the right moments. It's backed up by the sultry, sexy 'Typhoon' that flexes on a halftime groove for most of the track and features a smouldering vocal you'll instantly recognise. Stunning.

Review: J:Kenzo is known more as a dubstep pioneer, but it's always refreshing to hear producers such as him break away from their pre-established style - in this case, the revolutionary sound is drum n' bass. 'Zegafunk' locks in four new heaters for Metalheadz (it's his debut for the legendary drum n' bass label), establishing a no-nonsense throwback to the earliest incarnations of jump-up and techstep, only repackaged for the present day. In the words of Metalheadz, there's a real classic feel to it, with the unendingly dystopian and robotic sound of late 90s drum n' bass shining through; 'Tiger Moth' and 'Kalibrate' are cases in point, with conveying moods of unswung menace and malicious awe.

Review: French label Artikal Music revisits J Kenzo's work with a couple of fresh remixes from it by a couple of cutting edge drum & bass artists. Coco Bryce is a firm favourite here and he flips 'All In' into a rugged rhythm that is softened by the silky bass and synths. It is both physical yet emotional and that duality is sure to lead to plenty of high profile plays. On the flip side is Specialist X who works his magic on 'Broken Dreams.' This one is a more heads down and dark number for the dead of night, with menacing and stepping drums and sci-fi sound design. This is the first of what will be a series of remix EPs and we're already looking forward to the next one.

Review: Jay Fairbrass aka J. Kenzo has had a steady succession of great releases on his own, Kent based Soul Shakerz imprint and Artikal, which he runs with Mosaix. Not to mention several EPs and an album for dubstep pioneers Tempa in addition to appearing on d:Bridge's Exit and Roska's Kicks and Snares. "Sykura" is by now one of several releases thus far for Doc Scott's respected 31 Records. The track's immaculately programmed breaks accompanying an almost cinematic and suspense filled atmosphere are reminiscent of classic Photek or Optical from the mid to late noughties. On the flip is "Assemble", a more straight ahead techstep stomper that attacks you head on with stealth measure; this one too is reminiscent of classic sounds: in this case Ed Rush & Optical.

Review: Artikal head honcho and all-round deep maestro flares up the tempo and dusts off his jungle spectacles for this stunning Cosmic Bridge double-tracker. Flipping between classical amen weaving and thundering halftime stomps, "Stakka" is Kenzo at his naughtiest and heaviest. "Alight" sees him flicking through his Moving Shadow collection with icy synths before dropping into a straight-up stop/start break jam that wouldn't have gone amiss on No U-Turn back in the day. Serious jungle.

Review: Usually found on the 140 side of the spectrum dub demonstrator Kenzo steps over to Doc Scott's ThirtyOne for some serious stripped back jungle business. "Rum Punch" is a straight up roller with a wasps nest bassline and barbed wire two-step. "Airwalk" nods towards the Ruffhouse or Clarity style of minimalism with an almost dancehall dynamic to its sparse drums. Finally "Durge" drops the tempo a tenner for a really wonked-out halftime bass jam that rips into some incredible amen splashes midway. Applying everything you love about his dub science to D&B, Kenzo's just opened up a whole new book... And we can't put it down.

Review: As you'd perhaps expect, the second part (or "plate") of Artikal's The Architects Volume 1 compilation is full of deep and weighty treats. Fittingly, label boss J:Kenzo steps up first, offering Resound the chance to turn "Intallek" into a crunchy, snare-heavy revivalist jungle treat. TMSV take an altogether deeper route on "Sprite", peppering a tribal dubstep rhythm and moody sub-bass line with clandestine electronics and foreboding effects, before Compa slows things down via the melancholic bass science of "Lampin". Arguably best of all, though, is Argo's pleasingly melodious deep dubstep roller "That Fresh", which fittingly rounds off a fine EP.