PARADOX Vinyl & CDs

Review: Few things are certain in life; death, taxes, politicians lying and Paradox guaranteeing to slap your very soul with every single release he ever carves. Paradox Music 040 is no exception as 'Soviet' buries you under a savage iron curtain while '7Arc' is just Dev showing off his digging chops as he makes a whole range of breaks and cuts chat and bubble away in conversation. Pure breakbeat magic as always. Big up Paradox.

Review: Swedish junglist Seba continues to dive into the back catalogue of his Secret Operations imprint and offer up EPs that feature remastered (and sometimes lightly remixed) versions of some of his classic cuts. On this second volume in the 'Secret Operations Reissue' series, he raids the catalogue of tracks he produced alongside Paradox in the mid 2000s. On side A you'll find a re-wire of their 2004 classic 'Wakeup Call', a punchy but deep, sub-heavy and atmospheric roller featuring fantastic lead vocals from legendary house vocalist Robert Owens. Over on the flip there's a chance to cop two cuts from 2005: the 'Apache'-sampling, rumbling sub-bass-propelled workout 'Fire Like This' and the punishing, jazz break-sporting sweatiness of 'The Dribbler'.

Review: Break digging king and all-round legend and scientist Paradox sees his 2013 classic getting a timely reissue. 'Scorpius' rattles and wriggles with stacks of space between each element. Harrowing yet soothing, it's a classic example Paradox living up to his name. Flip for 'Crate Logic' as Dev gets his funk on with a classic vocal shot and a series of breaks that he flips between with such ease and charm you'd swear he was in the same room with the drummer. Precision break science.

Review: Seba and Paradox return to offer up twin atmospheric, deep and breaks-driven drum & bass gemstones, 'I'll Wait' and 'Hexagon'. Quietly powerful and with enough drive and soul to shatter windows like terrestrial sonar, the A-sider 'I'll Wait' is a masterfully crafted track, proving that, while many drum & bass tracks might technically fit the bill, it takes a much greater deal of extra care and attention to really perfect the style's pacing. B-sider 'Amara', meanwhile, is much looser, albeit no less trigger-happy on the vocal oneshots, and it comes with a entrancingly time-losing rhythm to boot.

Review: Breakbeat will never die, and we know this for a fact, so long as EPs like 'Breakbeater' continue to be released. Homing on the style's audiophilic edges, producer Paradox produces something squarely in the middle of classic breakbeat hardcore, drum n' bass and breakstep here, with the title track needing little but womping kicks, ultra-designed breaks and the occasional whispery vocal sample and bass lick to satiate our cravings for the sound. The B, 'Detronic', deconstructs the trope even further, dubbifying the break's metallic 2-stepping edge by plunging it into Basic Channel-esque ricochets.