Drum-and-Bass

Seven tracks that trace the arc of internal warfare - from the first confrontation of self vs. self, to something beyond victory. This is bass music distilled to its fiercest core.

The fight begins with “Battle Yourself” with nu-skool breaks and searing bass that demands your attention. “Acid Workout” shifts into 80s electro territory, a floor routine of beats and bass preparing you for what comes next.

“Into the Chaos” hits with raw, aggressive drum and bass that refuses compromise. The atmosphere thickens. “Focal Point” breaks through the noise at mid-tempo, a moment of clarity in dream pop breaks before the final confrontation.

“Last to Fall (Omega)” is the convergence point, with chunky basslines that declare a dominant victory. But winning comes with weight. “Immortal” closes with euphoric, melancholy synth lines - happy hardcore sensibility meets the strange sadness of living forever.

A sensual new Drum and Bass mix, spanning decades and emotional range.

Club Control is a bold new statement.

The title track leads with assertive attitude, a shot of heavy tech-house that gets totally spaced out in the middle. The bassline thumps through the whole way, leading some more atmospheric elements of the track until the end.

This took a lot of time to develop right. While this stands well on its own, I needed a second half to this single.

The B-side then became the “Dream and Bass” remix. This remix takes the original and flips it on its head. The dramatic turn is something like a misremembered, intense view of the original - just like a fleeting dream, and just as vivid in the moment. There’s something very different here, but it’s profound.

Evening / Things You’ll Need to Know revisits in extended single form, two of my favorite tracks from Existential Funk. Within this release are some new remixes along some older ones; undoubtedly the stars of the show are the “Modern” mix of “Evening” and the so-called “Deeper” mix of “Things”.

To highlight these two remixes in particular:

“Evening (Modern mix)” is a note-for-note re-creation of the original, but brings the unrestrained style to something a little more precise and distinguished. This is sort of a more foggy take on nu-breaks compared to the ravey original.

“Things You’ll Need to Know (Deeper mix)” is titled so because it has a drastically different soundset than the original, and a little more “depth” in this version of the drum and bass track. Like “Evening’s” new take, it is a nearly identical arrangement (with a little different take on the intro) but has a BIG new bassline at the breakdown. The original didn’t skimp on this, and this is a fresh take in a different direction.

The original “Dawn of the Dread” came out in 2015, but was re-released in this single in 2021.

I wanted to have the remix in time for a Halloween 2020 release (which would have put it at about 5 years to the day after the original), but it just didn’t happen. After getting a little more time to bake, the remix gave this slow-roller breakbeat track some “oomph” with a proper drum & bass remix.

I had always thought this would be a good translation. Like Mirror-world, the remix sources many samples from the original work, while turning those elements into something slightly different.

“Shocking” could now be considered an older favorite of mine (Way back from 2013!), having been a central part of the mix SHOCKED. Although there weren’t enough originals in this mix to warrant an EP release, I really liked this track.

I had been thinking about this track a lot recently, and got inspired to create a drum & bass remix. This fits in really well with the original’s electro style while updating it with some more energy and modern touches. I think the remix is the high point of this release, but I also still like the original.

Shocking is available wherever you listen to music, but is cheapest from Bandcamp. Check it out by clicking through the player.

As a young child, I read a children’s book which covered a number of natural and scientific topics. There is a part which particularly interested me which talked about the death of our Sun, to occur in 5 billion years. I would read this again and again until I was overcome with dread. Looking back this is probably a bit ghastly of a topic for 5-year old readers. As an adult, I have maintained a fascination with space, and find myself with a similar fixation on black holes.

Into the Void is presented as a concept EP in two parts, with a vision of travelling a great distance from Earth to a black hole. Starting from the excitement of beginning a journey, this moves to feelings of dread and timelessness near the end.

The first part of the EP is an exciting and fast-paced set of breakbeat tracks. In the second half, dark, spacy drum and bass takes over, including “Titan”, one of the most dramatic of the entire EP (for that matter, recent memory).

This album started with a simple concept: a series of tracks centered around common instrumentation. Bells were the centerpiece for all of these songs; they differ drastically, however, in style and tone.

There’s a bit of everything here. Starting with “Nightmare”, which gallops into the album with heavy basslines and a solid 4/4 rhythm; “Trigger Warning” brings the breaks with 808-style beats; “Apex Predator” is an agressive drum and bass throwdown; “Prism” closes up the “main” album with a slice of synth-heavy dream-pop. There’s also a remix of “No Greater Love”, one of the first tracks I ever produced.

There are two VIP mixes for a couple of my favorite cuts on the album, “Prism” and “Apex Predator”.