UK Garage / 2 Step Recommendations August 2012

Review: We're not sure how he manages it, but amidst the stripped down sonics, Beneath has managed to conjure up vibes of old school acid house, formative Detroit techno and proto dubstep (think early noughties when garage took a mad swerve for the underground) while ensuring the sounds on offer are totally distinctive and very much 'his own'. Each cut smacks with funk and mixability but if we're going to pick a highlight it'll be the title track "Send". Warm, hollowed bass tones and instant swinging groove, there's very little else like this being released right now.

Review: One of two EPs from the Sheffield-based man of mystery Beneath. With ruthlessly stark sound design, it's difficult to categorise this in any other way but 'heavy'. Four-to-the-floor beats, early dubstep darkness, UK-funky swing, techno-flavoured minimalism, it's all in the melting pot, and it's well worth investigating. There are four tracks in total, each one of a similar, addictively mixable flavour; the highlight for us on this EP was "Trouble" thanks to its cheeky reverberated 8-bit skank in the background. That said, the raw tribal elements to the beats on the title track were an instant hook for us too. Check it and find out yourselves.

Review: This conspicuously named EP - Mosca's first for Hypercolour - ranges from the title track deep house madness to more sub-bass-centred frequencies such as "Accidentally" - a thumper of a track featuring none other than Robert Owens. Murderous has got two cuts, a vocal and a dub: the former is a subtle house-UK garage hybrid with some soothing R&B vocals, whilst the latter breaks the beat into two and adds a much welcomed flurry of delays - it's a London ting...

Review: Soul Motive have always been representative of the current strains of Bristol's ever flourishing tapestry of music scenes so it makes perfect sense that the label would call on the Young Echo collective sooner or later. After some notable releases for fellow Bristol hubs Idle Hands and Punch Drunk, Kahn steps forth with another example of his undoubted talent for making music that spans the shades of the bass music spectrum with the rowdy yet soulful 2 step bump of "Angeles." This is Kahn in smooth mode, demonstrating his prowess at weaving vocals so that they form an integral part of the rhythm. Fellow Punch Drunk acolyte Superisk ensures it's an all Bristol affair with a remix that dampens the soulful nature in favour of something altogether darker.

Review: After their debut last year for Beats In Space, French electro-pop duo Paradis are back with a new EP on Tim Sweeney's label. It's a sensitive kind of disco they ply their trade in, calling to mind the fragile voice and heart-warming charm of Erlend Oye and The Whitest Boy Alive. "Hemisphre" is especially soothing, and yet not afraid to be a little funky with a crafty break at the end of every eight bars. "Je M'en Nuit" instead has a quirky swing to it, and given the title the atmosphere is more logically aimed towards the night time rather than the gentle Sunday morning climes of the first track. Highly recommended.