Corrupt Souls (aka Impulse & Telemetrik)- Wicked Life EP (MSXEP29)
Corrupt Souls aka Josh ‘Impulse’ and Marcio ‘Telemetrik’ are two of Drum and Bass’ main players from the US. Both hailing from the suburbs of Washington DC they have collectively released tracks across a number of varied labels including Renegade Hardware, DJ Trace’s DSCI4, Teebee’s Subtitles, No U turn and Skynet’s Invision. They continue to burst into the limelight of the international scene with this upcoming EP which looks set to place the Corrupt Souls name firmly into the headz of drum & bass fans worldwide. 'Wicked Life' has dreamy atmospherics drifting in and out as a rough, rhythmic break hits you from all directions. A sinister quote precludes the dangerous drop and then it’s onwards. This tune takes the sound back to the late 90s as bongo rolls and pressure-building synth stabs ascend and descend. 'Seppuku' (Translated; Seppuku means ritual suicide by disembowelment btw!) features tight drum work, suspense-filled breakdowns, and over the top twisted midrange. Did we mention big bass? Watch the second breakdown where the atmosphere becomes even more schizophrenic, and stick around for the outro where the melodic influences become prevalent. The second twelve of the pack contains 'Autoerotica' - A thick and running break with a thudding repetitive groove that's impossible not to move to. The bassline in this track drives you away from the speakers before rapidly reeling you back in. Inventive synths squeeze in and out of the funk and make sure the pace and progression doesn't let up. Flip the vinyl and you have 'The Singularity' dropping into solid industrial percussion after opening with dark vocals and a steady ride. It doesn't take long though for this beast to show its fangs. A rough-edged bassline sets the groove by swelling and dropping rapidly, while jagged synth stabs cut through the mix in orderly chaos.
Muffler - Cold World EP (MSXEP30)
Konsta Tuomas Mikkonen aka ‘Muffler’ is Finland’s new breakbeat prodigy who has already notched up releases on many of the Drum and Bass scenes most respected labels including: Formation, Hospital, Urban Takeover, Heavy Rotation, Spektrum Audio, M*A*S*H, Alpha Magic and Invader. As you can probably tell by the array of different labels he has written for, Muffler’s tracks are difficult to pigeonhole. So when he approached Moving Shadow with an array of fresh beats we immediately wanted to release an ep of varied flavours to showcase his talents. Hence the ‘Cold World EP’ a double pack of sublimely produced dancefloor bombshells that is bound to have something for everyone’s tastes. From the chugging, pulsating, robotic beats of the dark and rolling title track “Cold World’, the swerved up liquid funk of Fabio backed ‘Bad Jam’, through to the lush vocals and soaring synths of sublime hypnotic opus that is ‘Falling’, and finally something for the jump up crew with the distorted, twisted funk step of 'Moving’. This EP display’s Konsta’s production skills at their finest and features four superb tracks that span the spectrum of drum and bass.
Culture Shock - The Vega EP (MSXEP31)
Brought to the stable by none other than Mr Dom & Roland himself comes new up and coming wizkid James Pountney AKA Culture Shock. As we keep up our endless mission to bring the freshest new talent to the scene let’s just mention that James must have been Dom’s Jedi (or should that be sith?) student. His debut release the ‘Vega EP’ comes correct with four huge tracks that would lead you to believe that he’d been releasing tracks since ‘back in the day’. One of the tracks - ‘Flightpath’ was snapped up even before it had been signed (and consequently credited to his original guise ‘Dub Faction’) by none other than Damien ‘Dieselboy’ Higgins for the latest instalment of his bestselling U.S. mix series. As for track highlights on this EP it's hard to pick one over the other - The stuttering bass behemoth that is ‘Vega’? Or the jacking beats; shivering basslines and splashes of Rhodes in ‘White Knight’. Maybe the deep, brooding space epic ‘Alarms’ or the throbbing subs and slicing amens that form the backbone of the Dieselboy endorsed ‘Flightpath’. One thing’s for sure - Culture Shock's got the force and he doesn’t care what side he’s on.
Kaiser / Rawthang - Nu World Order EP (MSXEP32)
Even more heavyweight EP action forthcoming on Shadow as we continue our quest to bring you the freshest sounds from the worlds freshest up and coming producers. Here we have two of the very finest untapped production outfits out there at the moment in the form of Puerto Rican DJ/producer Kaiser and Oslo’s Rawthang duo. The first 12 on this double pack comes from Kaiser who has been part of the global underground scene for sometime now and has only just started to receive the attention he deserves. Having already clocked up a couple of releases on Friction’s Transparent recordings and with forthcoming releases on Trouble on Vinyl / Renegade Hardware and Technical Itch / Freak recordings - it’s no surprise that Kaiser has gathering high profile fans. Optical, Tech Itch, Trace, Dom & Roland, Pendulum, Cause4Concern, Dylan, Concord Dawn, Kemal & Black Sun Empire among others have been turned on to Kaiser’s rolling technoid DnB and subsequently have been giving his tracks some heavy rotation. The same goes for these two new slices of breakbeat warfare that we snapped up from this burgeoning talent – 'Nazgul' with it’s high riding cymbals, morphing synths, airtight percussion and crunching bass; and the cinematic ‘The Ark’, that shifts and phases through an intricate sonic landscape as the heavy breaks roll through. Trace, Kemal Cause4Concern & Pendulum are currently all digging these out of their crates. On twelve inch number two of this EP is the Norwegian duo Rawthang who are similarly being heralded by some of the scene’s heavyweights garnering worldwide acclaim since their remix of Shy FX & L Double’s ‘The Sh*t’ on Flex Records back in ‘99. Rawthang signed two singles to the widely respected Black Sun Empire collective that gained them support from the likes of Bad Company, Dylan, Dieselboy, Teebee, Ed Rush, Skynet and Trace. The guys drop here with two heavy tunes; the techy roller ‘Genome’ that gathers momentum as it’s basslines rumble and edgy breaks shuffle ahead; and the blistering amen onslaught ‘Darkness’ - both surefire adrenalin shots for dancefloors the world over. ....This is the nu breed.
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