Emperor – Begin EP [Critical]

The mighty Emperor drops his debut EP for Critical! Opener Begin features beautiful melancholy synths and a great vocal from Georgia Yates (who many will recognise from her appearance on the Enei LP last year) followed by a healthy drop into some dirty bassline action. Over on the flip of the vinyl release She Said delivers a stepper with some serious groove and an utterly infectious main lick.

The digital exclusive tracks don’t disappoint either; Emperor teams up with partner in crime Centra for the absolutely massive Solar, while Radar and Precursor both deliver insistent, semi-hypnotic beats in that Critical style we know and love. Check out all the beats below and grab a copy from your favourite outlet now!

In The Mix…Hydro

To celebrate his forthcoming 12″ with War and Mateba for Horizons sub-label Inside, Hydro has put together a tidy wee mix for the horizons podcast series. Full of deep, dark, tribal beats, atmospheric sound design and tasty new dubplates, this is definitely one for the heads. Check out the mix below and watch out for the Black Light 12″ dropping soon (or grab yourself a white label test press here).

Sunchase & Detail – Nathnennia / Green Rain [Utopia]

Mako’s Utopia Music delivers another top notch 12″, showcasing yet more proof of the labels refusal to be pigeon-holed to a single style of D&B.

Sunchase steps up first to deliver a super chilled, ethereal piece of 170 that would feel very much at home on Blu Mar Ten music. This one’s up there with Bungle’s recent masterpiece for Soul:R, truly beautiful music.

Over on the flip Detail comes in with a more dancefloor-oriented number, bringing growling low end and hefty kick drums, punctuated with double time distorted amen bars to keep the crowd on their toes. Beauty on the A-side…beast on the B-side!

Classic Track…dBridge & Vegas – True Romance

dBridge & Vegas’ True Romance is undoubtedly the best flipside in my vinyl collection, not to mention one of D&Bs most iconic and recognisable tracks. Despite being from a period where some might argue the genre was in something of a slump, the track showcases the Bad Company production talents without the savagery of earlier tracks like The Nine, and would ultimately point towards the musical direction dBridge explores now. Elegant in it’s simplicity, from the warm bass to the crisp, clean, unvaried break and instantly identifiable from the chiming melodic chords, this is a track that just never gets old.

In The Mix…Xtrah

To celebrate the release of the rather excellent Shock Treatment 12″ Xtrah has dished up a tidy little 30 minute mix for SGN:Ltd featuring a great run of techy selections. Emperor’s new cuts for Critical and the tasty Break remix of Cyrax (c’mon Break, release it already!) are some of the highlights in a mix full of great tracks, smoothly blended for your listening pleasure. Check it out below and grab a free download!

Chroma – Intermission / Knock Knock [CIA]

The latest in a series of D&B supergroups sees Phobia, Sato & Tyrone team up to present Chroma. Fresh from releases for Renegade Hardware and ProgRAM, their latest endeavours will be dropping on Total Science’s CIA imprint late this month.

It’s not hard to see why Total Science signed these tunes; both have the classic CIA roller vibe to them, with Intermission on the A side bringing the warm sub while Knock Knock on the flip brings a slightly tougher beat and some very Photek-esque stabs to the party. Old school vibes with new school production, top notch!

Watch out for the release on vinyl and digital from May 20th.

Mob Tactics – Dredd / Outun [Tactical]

Mob Tactics continue their excellent run of self-released singles via their Tactical imprint with a pair of bouncing dancefloor stompers. Dredd borrows a cheeky sample from the recent Karl Urban film outing before a heavy duty drop with some warped bassline action on the go, but for me it’s all about Outrun on the flip, stripping the bass back ever so slightly and keeping it techy and rolling, with tons of deft touches. Attention to detail!

Check out the previews below and grab these from your favourite digital outlet, out now!