ISHAN SOUND Vinyl & CDs

Review: It's time to step into the Bristol shadows with Sector 7 once again as label co-runner Boofy invites Young Echo to the fray for two instrumental grime / dub hybrids. "Roll The Dice" pelvises with its dense subs and shimmering atmospheric textures while shattering trap snare roll and a mystic melody and skippy drum arrangement flicker in and out of the foreground. "Cane Sword" is a little more on the pure grime tip with some superb drum momentum, breathless atmospheres and cool samples that skid to a halt when you least expect them. Roll again...

Review: Talk is cheap but these sounds are rich. A big moment from Ishan Sound as he lays down the smokiest of steppers beneath Dread MC and Rider Shafique. A true graveyard creeper loaded with enough feels to get the undead raising their lighters, it's one of the biggest 140 moments this side of lockdown. The vibes continue with a crisp instrumental and the sharper instrumental bumper "Red". Power sounds. Less talk, more listening.

Review: As part of the Young Echo posse and all round dubwise Bristol music fraternity, Ishan Sound has already been wowing the most switched on heads with his strongly rooted soundsystem craft, popping up on ZamZam Sounds and Tectonic for singles in the past couple of years. Now his style is properly documented with this double pack release on Peng Sound, finding his authentic digi-dub sound represented across eight deadly cuts. There's chirpy bounce aplenty in "Elemental (Part 1)", dread-filled drama on "Kala", and captivating steppers business on "Wickedness", contributing to the fine lineage of dubwise music that continues to emanate out of Bristol.

Review: Coming out of the ever-growing Young Echo collective in Bristol, Ishan Sound gets snapped up by Pinch for a bout on Tectonic that brings their mystical system-testing pressure to a wider audience. "Namkha" lurches forth on a distinctively swung half step rhythm, adding a curious lilt to the pan pipe synths that pea out of the track. "NN Special" takes the same theme and delivers an alternative version, keeping that nagging groove in place. Young Echo cohort Kahn steps up for a remix of "Namkha" that feeds some more gnarly soundsystem stylings into the mix, with a drop that's utterly understated and immeasurably malicious.

Review: Peng Sound return to Clash Of The Titans, their debut release from Young Echo member Ishan Sound and sound system veteran Ras Addis with this pair of remixes from two more Bristol figures in Kahn and Hodge. In original form, "Clash Of The Titans" was a superlative dancehall tee-off between riddim and vocalist, yet Kahn and Outboxxer Hodge are up to the task of reworking the track with their remixes having apparently been rigorously road tested in dubplate form by the respected selectors like Mala, Kowton and Pinch. Kahn is in Bandulu mode a remix that pays reverence to the original's heavy stepping rhythm, whilst Hodge takes elements of Ishan Sound's production and applies them to a 125bpm template, with the results sounding weirdly like Egyptian Lover making UK Funky.

Review: The force is strong in Bristol as the Peng Sound operation surface in style with a second release helmed by Young Echo member Ishan Sound. Arriving roughly a year after the debut, hand stamped release from Gorgon Sound and Dubkasm, the dedication to soundsystem culture and bassweight has very much been maintained on Clash Of The Titans. Soundsystem veteran Ras Addis looms large, his portrait adorning the cover and his voice offering some commanding, authoritative words on justice and equality atop the unforgiving rhythmic work of Ishan Sound. Dubkasm maintain their Peng Sound 100% appearance record with a B Side re/version that coats proceedings in a tough digidub sheen. Lovingly mastered via 1/2inch tape, pressed onto hand-stamped, heavyweight 180g vinyl and presented in a hand numbered special edition of 500 printed sleeves designed by Tape-Echo.

Review: Hotline continue to channel the most exciting sounds to be dissipating from the Bristol locale with their latest release a double pack from the mighty Ishan Sound! Chris Ebdon is evidently sitting on a wealth of Ishan Sound dubs with this double pack for Hotline following on from a self-titled Peng Sound release of a similar nature earlier this year. Presented in striking yellow, these six cuts find Ishan Sound working with the rolling vocal style of Rider Shafique, and sees Ebdon bring his more club-orientated style to the fore. Heavy steppers vibes through and through from the Young Echo man!

Review: Having recently notched up 100 releases, Tectonic begins a new era by offering up a suitably weighty collaborative release from Peng Sound regular Ishan Sound. On side A, the Young Echo member joins forces with Hodge - owner of the nicest hair in techno - for the deep and dreamy dubstep shuffle of "C5", where fluid riffs dance above a blazed but powerful beat. Muttley lends a hand on flipside cut "Still Smoking", an altogether livelier and more aggressive - if still suitably deep and hazy - 140 BPM workout that comes complete with stabbing, grime style riffs and some serious subsonic bass.

Review: Twist up the papers, sit back and get lost in the smoky plumes of this next level DNO dispatch. Linking Young Echo MCs Manonmars and Bogues with forward-thinking producers Ishan Sound and Neek, the results are four woozy, post-modern bluesy takes on futuristic hip-hop fusion that carries the same flame Wild Bunch and Massive Attack did over 30 years ago. From the shiny, interstellar sheen of opener 'Cool Runnings' to the eerie sci-fi wound licking flares and flurries of finale 'Burning Paper', this lives in a league of its own.