BASS RECOMMENDATIONS BEST OF 2016

Review: Burial's first multiple-track release since "Rival Dealer" three years ago: "Young Death" takes the lead with weave of deep, scratchy and evocative human textures while soulful vocal shards yearn and flutter over soft faraway beats. "Nightmarket" takes an even more introspective meander through the shadowy unknown with fractured arpeggios, distant whispers and thick graininess that envelops almost overwhelmingly. As forward, unusual and unique as ever, Burial remains in a league of his own. Limited.

Review: JD Twitch's Autonomous Africa series is something of a rarity. Each annual 12" single, which features modern electronic music influenced by African rhythms, sounds and styles, is used to raise money for a different African charity. Proceeds from this third 12" in the series are destined for Tanzania's Mtandika Mission, a charity run by Midland's parents. It seems fitting, then, that he kicks things off with "Safi", a heavyweight slice of future voodoo that expertly blends analogue electronics and bombastic African rhythms. General Ludd go deep, psychedelic and off-kilter with their brilliant "Burning Mack", while Auntie Flo delivers a stripped-back vocal cut with echoes of his recent material on Permanent Vacation. Finally, Twitch steps up to deliver "Maya", which sounds like LFO's "LFO" re-made by African musicians.

Review: Woof! Hyperdub bring together two of the most recognisable and enigmatic artists of recent times on this 10", as Zomby and Burial square down ahead of the former's new album for the label. Zomby's Ultra LP is undoubtedly one of this year's most anticipated albums and "Sweetz" suggests it may be a very moody affair indeed. Whilst rooted in UK dance, Zomby and Burial do look elsewhere for inspiration too. Just under seven minutes long, "Sweetz" veers through various sub-heavy soundscapes with intermittent rhythmic patters and a distinctive looped vocal sample whose pitch changes with dramatic effect.

Review: First surfacing in impressive fashion with two heavyweight records for Hessle Audio and Livity Sound offshoot Dnuos Ytivil in 2014, Bruce has been carefully considered in his output since then with just the odd remix here and there. It is Hessle Audio that signals his return, issuing the highly sought after "Steals" which has been burning a hole of expectation in the internet for the past six month. Naturally, "Steals" hogs the A-side, peppering a moody post-bruk, tribal-minded groove with distorted electronics for the pleasingly percussive opener. He explores deeper pastures on "Relevant Again", fusing fevered electronics and exotic sound effects with a dub-wise, hip-hop tempo groove. A fine EP concludes with "Petal Pluck", an ambient/IDM excursion that puts a contemporary spin on mid 1990s Aphex Twin.

Review: Kevin McAuley is certainly affiliated with a generation of pioneering UK Bass producers who have since moved into the techno realm. With previous releases on Hemlock, Hessle Audio and Hotflush, his origins have definitely remained a strong aspect of his style ever since. On the In Drum Play LP, he can be heard dabbling in obtuse and disjointed low end theories such as on "Bulb In Zinc" or "Let It In" while there are some inventive takes on techno; such as on the dynamic opener "Rotor Soap" or the adrenalised stomper "More Is More To Burn". For us, the highlights were "One By One" (where his take on breakbeat techno would make the likes Shed or Stenny stand up and notice) and the oddball body basher "Skips Desk".

Review: The mighty Hessle Audio delivers its' first 12" of 2016, and it's not from one of their established names. Instead, it marks the debut of previously unknown newcomer Ploy. The mystery artist begins with "Sala One Five", a heady, intoxicating brew seasoned with fluctuating bass, whizzing electronic stabs, steam-hammer textures and throbbing, floor-friendly percussion. Flip for the deeper, bongo-laden trip that is "Move Yourself" - all swirling, psychedelic noises, sampled tribal rhythms and deep space chords - and the Actress style, experimental electronic mechanics of "Helix". It's this track, with its' hard-to-fathom construction, befuddled textures and dream world chords, that shows the most promise.

Review: The giant energy of an early 90s rave meet classic hip hop beats straight from the dusty SP-1200 on Cazion's debut record:

"Rap music runs very deep in my veins; by the time I was fourteen I was making mixtapes and obsessing over the huge, funky, bombastic sounds of late eighties hip hop," says Cazion's Photocall. "I still aspire to capture the snap and the bigness of the kind of sound you'd hear on a Paul C record, a Public Enemy record, and I still use the the same machines those guys used to do it," he adds, gesturing at the wealth of vintage gear cluttering his retro spaceship of a studio, The Escape Pod. "When you hear the first bar of this song, you might expect some dude with a cameo flattop to start rhyming about the Benzi Box in his Suzuki Samurai at any moment."

"We wanted to take it all the way," adds Maheras, from the depths of a glowing neon couch. "Some people shy away from using certain sounds because they're afraid to sound cheesy - but they forget to have fun. I'd rather have so much fun making a song that I forget to worry."

"Like the dancers we sampled," Photocall agrees. "The vocal snippets are from a British video that was shot on New Years Day, 1993, the morning after a giant rave. It's the middle of some field, people are pushing their cars out of the mud, and this one couple is still dancing their asses off. They don't care that there's no music playing; they're totally in the zone. My man DJ Duane happened to send us the link as we were programming the drums for this record, and something just clicked. We knew we were making this record for those two crazy kids, wherever they are. Possibly still in that field."

Review: Doncaster's foremost expert on all things rave, Mella Dee, steps up for the latest release on DEXT. He's got a hard act to follow after 'that' Hodge remix of Callahan on the previous DEXT missive, but Mella Dee proves he's more than up for the challenge with this Deep Soul 12". Indeed DEXT are calling it his strongest fusion of house, techno and jungle yet and we can't really find any cause to disagree. The title track sets a thunderous tone, throwing down a crucial melange of filtered amens, chopped-up vocals and Reece bass lines that will grip hold of your affections immediately. From here, Mella veers off into straight up jacking house territory on "Universal", whilst "Circular" is there for the heads down crew. Sandwiched inbetween is a rather moody refix of the title track from Endian.

Review: Following their free compilation last year, Biome and Madam X's Kaizen imprint finally goes legit with this anvil three tracker from the big B himself. "Griddled" begins as a salubrious tribal swinger, all crisp production and polished elements, but as the bass becomes more dominant we get murkier and murkier. "Squelch" fuses rim shots, acid and downpitched vocal rhythmic elements while "Bush" closes the show on a slo-mo moody two-step. Imagine hotstepping to UKG knee deep in glue and thinking it's the best thing ever. Yeah.

Review: The steady rise of Joe Cowton has been such that Utility, his long-awaited debut album, is arguably one of the most hotly anticipated techno sets of 2016. Happily, it's a fine set, brilliantly showcasing his instinctive way with booming, stripped-back drum patterns, sparse textures, and alien electronics. While there are forays into more house leaning pastures - see the dreamy, metallic shuffle of "Scido" - and cascading ambience ("Some Cats" and "A Bluish Shadow"), it's naturally the album's more bombastic, club-ready stompers that really stand out. These include two subtle reinventions of early British bleep techno ("Balance" and "Shots Fired") that aptly showcase the London-based producer's Northern roots.

Review: Cousin is a hyped duo Sarf London duo aka Mia Mouse & Mani Festo. Aside from their own projects doing art and design and stuff, they also make some bass music with an urban edge. Here they drop a two-track banger on 81 (a spin-off of Swamp81), which is all about the atmospherics. The title track sees distant vocal snippets riddled with steppy, anxious beats. Digital B-side "4got" however is perkier with moody vibes giving way to some swingy ghetto bounce.

Review: After putting out a free compilation last year, Biome and Madam X's Kaizen label attained a sense of legitimacy in 2016 when they started putting out vinyl. After Biome took care of the first 12", Kaizen turn to Brotherhood paring Silas & Snare for this second offering, a killer two-track exercise in modern bass science. Title track "Biometric" demonstrates how well this Leeds duo utilise the sense of space in their productions, all elements crisply and sharply executed and built around that laser-like bassline. Complementing this, "Patience" sees Silas & Snare bring their percussive structures to the fore, all brushed textures shooting in intricate patterns for a fine club tool.

Review: Having paused for a breather following the release of the deliciously rugged and bass-heavy Modern Warfare album on XL Recordings, Paul Woolford once again dons the Special Request guise for further adventures in retro-futurist bass music. "Track 1" sees the Leeds producer tone down the hardcore and jungle influences of old, instead dropping a pirate radio-friendly two-step garage excursion full of thrusting, speed garage-era sub-bass wobbles, and typically soulful vocal samples. Flipside "Transmission" is an altogether more sedate, beat-less interpretation of the same track, with Woolford smothering the original's weighty, pulsing bassline in shimmering strings and ambient chords.

Review: The latest stop on Lamont's concurrent ascendency in the world of leftfield bass prodigies is none other than 81 UK. Here the label enables him to deliver a searing two-track reminder of why he's boss in bass. "Titanic" is an apocalyptically doom-ridden ghetto joint, all sparse beats and creep FX. "Eyes Closed" on the other hand, is an intense sonic melodrama set to some seriously serpentine trap rhythms and taut orchestral flourishes.

Review: Fresh from his excellent ebm-influenced debut album, UK producer Julian 'October' Smith October looks to a more reflective approach. Working with his long-term collaborator and fellow Bristolian Appleblim, he lays down an lurching, acid-soaked bass and jittery drums on "Other Side of the Sky". These elements complement the melodic chord sequence that flutter their way through the arrangement. On the flip side, Appleblim delivers a remix; retaining the mellow chords but replacing the backing with a stepping, dub-wise rhythm, it makes for a gloriously blissed out take on the dance floor-based original version.

Review: Zomby returns to Hyperdub with his first album in three years, trailed in high profile fashion by that Burial collaboration "Sweetz." That particular tune is one of Ultra's headline attractions, alongside eyebrow-raising collaborations with Darkstar, Banshee and Rezzett. What really impresses, though, is the skewed, left-of-centre nature of the mask-wearing producer's heavy, post-grime rhythms, sparse but sparkling synth work, and the breathlessly cut-up R&B vocals dotted throughout the set. Interestingly, there are subtle nods towards new wave synth-pop, ghetto-tech, spacey ambient and alien IDM, making Ultra Zomby's most intriguing and consistently on-point album to date.

Review: Following last year's sudden reappearance on Trusik, Tony Williams (most commonly known these days as Addison Groove) has clearly rekindled his love for 140 music in a major way. Not only with brand new originals, but the re-launch of his hugely respected Transistor imprint. It's a fittingly delicious release to relaunch with, too... "Atijo" is a rolling techno-influenced jam with gritty analogue edges to the relentless bass while "Ina" follows the similar energy but with very subtle African folk samples and lilting piano vapour trails. Welcome back Headhunter!

Review: Ploy is a new project from Bristol-dweller Sam Smith, who previously impressed as Samuel via 12" singles on Idle Hands and Not So Much. This EP for Batu's increasingly impressive Timedance comes hot on the heels of a stellar Ploy 12" for Hessle Audio. He begins with the jazzy cymbals, spooky textures, heavy bass, ghostly electronics and metronomic techno pulse of "Iron Lungs", before exploring African style tribal rhythms on the ethno-techno drum workout "Number 24". Another superb three-tracker concludes with the blazed, bass-heavy broken techno shuffle of "Footprints In Soil", where Smith makes great use of quietly weighty sub-bass and pleasingly crispy snare hits.

Review: Since 2010, and coming out of the whole post-dubstep scene, Manchester's Alex Coulton has been among the best of the UK bass artists. His skills being the mixing board have seen him travel from label to label, stopping off at the likes of Idle Hands, All Caps, Livity Sound, and even the mighty Tempa. Coulton returns to the latter with a follow-up to last year's "Recall" bombshell, and he's in no mood to mess around here. "Ambush" is a tribalesque tech-house number with a rattling percussion that renders it UK through and through; "Direction" sees the producer return to his more usual mood by serving up a broken bundle of drums and percussion curling around loose melodies and a dubbed-out makeover. For fans of Hessle output - what that bassline, son! Hot!

Review: When they first emerged at the turn of the decade, Praveen Sharma and Travis 'Machinedrum' Stewart's Sepalcure outfit were responsible for the softer, more experimental side of the Hotflush Recordings discography. Some five years on from their eponymous debut album, the duo returns in a notably boisterous mood. While their dedication to melody and beauty remains, Folding Time is a much more upbeat and soulful affair, drawing more heavily on broken beat and UK garage, particularly the kind of jazzy "future garage" once promoted by the likes of Phuturistix and Landslide. The result is a sparkling, colourful and hugely entertaining set, notable for its' gleeful positivity, impeccable production and bass-heavy thrust.

Review: Bristol label Idle Hands maintain the high standards set by last year's array of releases with a killer 12" from Soundman Chronicles boss Parris. It's fair to say that Parris was not a predictable reach for Idle Hands, although label boss Chris Farrell explains that their connection reaches back to when Soundman Chronicles first started, and Parris came into the shop with copies of J. Robinson's The Maasai / Misread 12" to sell. Any regular visitors to the label's bricks and mortar location will have undoubtedly found Farrell pumping grime mixtapes with a passionate intent at some point, and on the Burr / Blue single Parris has ably nailed the crossover between alien bass transmissions and low-end tilted 4/4 in a sparse and captivating way.

Review: For the fourth release on their promising Wisdom Teeth imprint, founders Facta and K-Lone have turned to the combined talents of old pal Alex Coulton, Italian produer Chevel, and fast-rising studio boffin Simo Cell. Coulton kicks things off, delivering a deliciously heavy and floor-friendly concoction that sits somewhere between broken techno, contemporary bass music, and the kind of comforting deepness more associated with hazy house productions. Chevel does an excellent job of calming things down, layering up bleeping electronics and ambient textures to create something reminiscent of mid '90s IDM, before Simo Cell attempts to "Escape The Fate" on a creepy cut that combines fizzing hi-hats and wonky ambient melodies, with drum programming and musical touches borrowed from EBM and industrial

Review: Along with DJ Nigga Fox, DJ Marfox has been the emblem of Principe's rise to fame, the Lisbon label that has been causing a stir in the house and techno world thanks to its new and quirky take on the genres. More than anything, it has been the injection of African rhythms and all-round craziness that has earned these rhythms such fame, and thankfully this test EP by Marfox is just as bold and curious as the rest. "2685" is a flute-driven monster that has more in common with a tribal dance than a techno cut, and the same goes for the ear-shattering bullet percussion chops of "Unsound". "Tarraxo Everyday" slows the momentum down to a steady pace, "Kassumbula" oils the machines back up and gets the motors going for the heavy pounding that features on "Cobra Preta", while "B 18" takes us down the final hurdle, a broken groove with plenty of tribal fury and Marfox's inimitable pace. Unmissable.

Review: Established in 2012, Beneath's No Symbols label has been a home for some of his most hard-hitting productions. "Giv Sum", the title track from the hotly-tipped producer's first EP of 2016, is an undoubted late night treat, with cut-up, hardcore-era vocals whipping up a frenzy atop powerful sub bass and a rock solid, broken techno groove. It's simple in arrangement and construction, but hugely powerful. There's a similar feel about the skittish, snare-heavy "Sprung", which offers a denser, arguably wilder interpretation of the warehouse-friendly A-side. Proper club music for dark basements and sweat soaked tunnels.

Review: Archie 'Romare' Fairhurst is a productive chap. This sophomore album appears barely 12 months after his acclaimed debut full-length, Projections. It sees him revisiting a theme first explored on 2013's Love Songs: Part One EP on Black Acre. According to the press release, it's a musical journey through affairs of the heart, moving from the gentle sensuality of melodious beat jam "Who Do You Love", to the sexually-charged dancefloor thrills of restless house cut "New Love", via the gooey-eyed spooning electronica of "L.U.V", and the sweaty, post-punk disco blues of stand-out "All Night". As usual, it's tricky to pin down musically - Fairhurst has always had a thing for darting between sounds and styles at will - but is immaculately produced and hugely entertaining.

Review: Making the leap from 50 Weapons (RIP), German darkmonger Phon O makes the logical leap to Tectonic. And he does so with three barren break-based constructs: "Mercurial" is all about the deep space breakbeats and groaning high-end bass slurs, "U8 Phunk" carries classic electro elements in its synths while the au-natural snare rolls suggest more of a militant march, finally "Bell Blender" takes the bleak dynamics established throughout the previous tracks and repurposes them in a modern day jungle amen-shattering framework. The results are beyond satisfying.

Review: One of the earliest wave ambassadors to enjoy large label accreditation, Sami Baha delivers his first full Mu EP and doesn't disappoint: "Mavericks One" is laden with so much sub bass it's clinically obese while its topline remains slim-line and floaty. Deeper into the EP we're seduced by oriental charm throughout; "Still" and "Dough" massage the soul while "Tozko Paran" twists the senses with trippy Q&As that shouldn't work but really do. "Cataphract" plays the consummate slow-trap club bumper while "Chunk" pays homage to all the fatties out there with its restrained energy and delicate arpeggio-led dynamic. A stunning debut EP for Mu.

Review: Fresh from a killer debut on Unknown To The Unknown, Leeds duo Mak & Pasteman continue their irregular series of Me-themed singles for Lobster Boy with the two-track 12" smack down Call 2 Me. Honing in on that craftily effective bass heavy house sound, Mak & Pasteman lay waste to speaker systems everywhere on the title cut which features some nimble-fingered synth playing! Face down and "Le Freak" sees the pair indulge in a more manic brand of dancefloor devastation with a massive drop that will have suitable effect on those who encounter it in the club.

Review: Gqom fusion fire as Okzharp and Manthe return to Hyperdub to build on what they demolished with 2015's "Dumela 113". The rich diversity and range is instantly distinctive as "Teleported" bangs with ping-pong bass tech funk while "B U" soothes the soul with startling futuristic soul. "Maybe This" is a brilliant beat-driven roller that's spurred by Manthe's scattergun hype vocal while "Piki Piki" sends us packing on a cool poppy flex - all bright light and harmony underpinned by the perfect balance of weight and bass. An immaculate EP.

Review: There's little info at hand regarding DJC, the latest contributor to the Night Slugs Club Constructions series. Some are saying its Jam City working under an alias, whilst there is also the possibility it's an unknown producer who put his music forward after the label's open call for music back in 2014 with the Club Constructions Community. If the latter is the truth, it's easy to see why Bok and LVIS 1990 were impressed by the producer's sound, with this 12" brandishing a quartet of precision tooled instrumentals that will offer the more skilled DJs the chance to bring the tempo down and get those hips rolling. Big boom bap business!

Review: Having previously delivered two out of the three releases on Timedance himself, boss man Batu has decided to rope in old pal Lurka for 12" number four. The Bristol-based bass head predictably hits the spot. "Beater" is as rhythmically interesting and sparsely produced as previous outings, with a handful of elements - drum machine hits, rubbery bass and occasional whispers of melody - being worked hard throughout. The result is a typically raw and moody dancefloor jacker. Flipside "Density" is even heavier and arguably more impressive, with Lurka cleverly layering bleeping melody lines and Motor City chords over a loose-limbed rhythm and booming sub-bass line.