Hooversound Recordings Vinilo y CD

Review: It's metallic sound effects and mech whirrs aplenty on this new Deft release for Hooversound; such are just a small descriptive sample of the many crazy sound effects worked into their take on the electro form. Billed as a "familiar favourite" on their roster, 'Burna' hears Deft do exactly what it says on the obi strip, blazing a trail of serious apocalyptic heat by a five-way exploration in breakbeat. Though here, the palette is overhot and liquid-metallic; it's as if it weren't a human being at the creative controls, but rather a decepticon, in constant transformative flux at the mere promise of future breaks carnage. Seemingly no boundaries between ideas of "drum & bass" and "breakbeat" are felt - any initial sense of separation between the two is ultimately collapsed by the EP's use of temporal / metric variation.

Review: Let's get a little slimy this season... Hooversound regular DEFT invites Manni Dee over for some superb slo-mo sludge. All flexing around the 100 mark, there's some serious swagger to be savoured across the five cuts. Highlights include the incessant insectoid buzzes of 'Busy Bee', the sudden jolt of euphoria of 'Charged' and the gut-wrenching twistedness of 'Creep'. Elsewhere 'Witchlead' pushes the drama buttons while 'Greedy' ends on the slowest tip of all as we dip down to 90BPM and get mangled to some faraway cries. Swampy is as swampy does.

Review: Samurai Breaks is the alias of Sam Langley, who's been throwing down some wild style rave gear for the likes of Sheffield's Off Me Nut amongst many others. Having graced Hooversound last year alongside Nova Cheq in 2022, now he's going alone with this six-strong testament to the frenetic new forms rave is being moulded into. The breaks, the hoover stabs, the MC samples - it's all in there, but there's a twitchy modernism to the way Langley juggles his source material which feels incredibly fresh. You can hear the whisper of footwork influence in the needlepoint rhythmic flex of 'Mystery Wobbler (dub)' while jump up casts its influence over gnarly shocker 'Skippy' and of course there's plenty of jungle vibes flying around this madcap EP from a fierce new talent.