We imagine you will be joining us in willing the end of March to hurry up and arrive with the news of a forthcoming Night Slugs White Label release from Pearson Sound.
We’ve teamed up with Bang The Box – the pop up party run by the organisers of the Lovebox festival – to give away two tickets to the upcoming Night Slugs showcase at XOYO.
The votes are in and have been counted for this years edition of the Dubstep Forum Awards with David Kennedy, the artist formerly known as Ramadanman, winning the coveted title of Best Producer.
Night Slugs have announced details of their first artist album, with Egyptrixx stepping up to the plate to release Bible Eyes on March 7.
The hard working chaps and chapettes behind the Lovebox festival have announced a brace of parties to take place at London’s XOYO venue in early 2010, featuring the Night Slugs and Ed Banger crews.
What makes a good record label in 2010? There are, of course, multiple answers to that question: some of our favourite imprints this year excelled because they lovingly dug up unappreciated gems from the past, restored them and made them available to a new generation, while others were totally focused on exploring hitherto unexplored terrain with new and exciting music. What unites them is passion; a group of hard working individuals who put a focus on quality over quantity (although some manage to do both), with painstaking attention to detail put into every lovingly packaged release. Without further ado, we present the Juno Plus top 5 labels of 2010.
Rookie label Night Slugs has had one hell of a year, accomplishing what most labels hope to achieve in a lifespan in its infancy. There’s been constant praise from media outlets such as Pitchfork, Fader, Xlr8r, Dazed and Fact, and they’ve been unwitting recipients of elephantine amounts of hype for each release from peers and fans alike, often months before they are available to purchase. Surely the greatest compliment to lay on the label overseen by Alex ‘Bok Bok’ Sushon and James ‘L-Vis 1990’ Connolly is that a standard of quality has been maintained in every single release this year that fully justifies that hype.
All Stars Vol. 1 is a highlight reel of what has made Night Slugs so groundbreaking, containing 13 tracks that showcase the label’s mutated UK funky, grime and post-dubstep mélange of sound. This much is evident from the opening gambit, Mosca’s “Square One (VIP)” which incorporates Baltimore club breaks, ragga-ish vocal sampling and some grimey synth squiggles without ever sounding crowded and over the top. It’s a high brow banger with streetwise sensibility, which is matched by Jam City, whose “Arp Jam” plays out with a twisted concoction of Detroit techno and cinematic grime.
An integral part of the Night Slugs success story has been the willingness to gather up some of North America’s best and most forward thinking producers such as Brooklyn’s Kingdom, who lends a Ballroom Diva inspired take on Dutch Bubblin’ in his contribution “Bust Broke”. Toronto’s Egyptrixx premieres a track taken from his upcoming Bible Eyes LP in “Liberation Front”, while Montreal producer Jacques Greene delivers a highlight amongst highlights with his much vaunted track “(Baby I Don’t Know) What You Want” – an utterly delicious amalgamation of sultry R&B and twilight house full of analogue synth warmth.
Whilst this compilation is not comprised of 100 per cent exclusives, those previously available tracks included have been remastered and definitely benefit sonically. It’s fitting that proceedings should end on Girl Unit’s “Wut”, proclaimed by so many as the definitive track of 2010, with an overwhelming sense of anticipation for what Night Slugs might achieve next year as the track’s lazered radiance peaks.
Markus Garcia
To date, there’s been an aura of mystique and anticipation surrounding the music of Jam City. Purported to be ridiculously prolific with his output, unreleased Jam City tracks have been a staple of the charts, mixes, DJ sets and weekly Rinse FM shows of BokBok and L-Vis 1990 all the way back to before Night Slugs was a label entity. Hell, the young producer has even composed a film soundtrack and was featured on the risible Guardian column occupied by Paul Lester over a year ago!
The Jam City Refixes EP, released earlier this year on the NS White Label offshoot gave mere mortals an auspicious glance at his musical talent. As the label approaches the end of to a truly memorable first year of business Night Slugs reveal the real Jam City gold in the shape of “Magic Drops”.
Anyone with a semblance of attending night clubs will have heard “Magic Drops” murdering the dark spaces of dancefloors in recent months and will instantly recognise the pressurised crunk grind meets blissed out keys and sludge drunk synths of Jam City’s tribute to Eski beat. Away from these sweat filled environs what truly impresses is the richness in sonic detail throughout – you can listen to you can listen to “Magic Drops” ten times in a row and find something different to captivate you.
Elsewhere “Scene Girl” retains the industrial pressure style percussion, but lays down saw tooth synth wash that positively bullies its way to the forefront, whilst “2 Hot” drops some half step menace courtesy of the massive cloud of outergalactic synth tension.
It seems redundant to ram home once again the high quality of a Night Slugs release, everyone expects it and they never disappoint, however it is nice to finally hear the first fruits of what appears to be a truly talented producer. 2011, can you start already so we can hear some more?
Tony Poland
Designer, label owner, producer, DJ, possessor of a finely crafted moustache.
All of the above can be used to describe Alex Bok Bok Sushon, co founder of the Night Slugs imprint along with James L-Vis 1990 Connolly which has enjoyed an imperious first year of business since launching with some white label action from the latter in January . In the months that have followed Alex and James have introduced the world to a cast of production talent from both sides of the Atlantic with essential releases from Mosca, Egyptrixx, Kingdom, Girl Unit, Cubic Zirconia, Velour and Jam City.
Equally integral to the Night Slugs success story is the distinctly neon tinged art work that adorns every release courtesy of Bok Bok, whose design work has been matched by production and remix output this year with a handful of pristeen productions for Monkeytown, Enchufada and Blunted Robots complemented by remixes of Modeselektor, Scratch DVA and Chrissy Murderbot amongst others.
Already proclaimed by many to have released the track of the year in Girl Unit’s “Wut”, Night Slugs are set to end 2010 on a high note with the soon to drop All Stars Vol 1 compilation and vinyl sampler featuring that Jacques Greene track, along with the long awaited debut release proper from Jam City, so it seems an almost too perfect time to tap Bok Bok for ten of his best right now.
Yet more reason to feel excited about music in 2011 comes in the shape of new material from Bristolian Julio Bashmore with his Everyone Needs A Theme Tune EP the inaugural release on fledgling imprint PMR Records.
Former Radio One stalwart Mary Anne Hobbs has announced some of the names who will be appearing on her showcase stage at next year’s Bloc Festival with L-Vis 1990 and Roska amongst those playing.
Night Slugs, the label run impeccably by Alex ‘Bok Bok’ Sushon and James ”L-Vis 1990′ Connelly will round off whats been an almost perfect first year with a thirteen track compilation entitled Night Slugs Allstars Vol.1.
It’s been rinsed on, erm, Rinse, talked about vociferously across the forums, hailed as one of the singles of the year and now it’s finally arrived in the shops. It is of course, Girl Unit’s “Wut” – the long-awaited follow up to the London based producer’s “IRL” 12”, which dropped on L Vis 1990 and Bok Bok’s Night Slugs imprint back in April.
So what of it? The title track brings uplifting trance-like synths together with swathes of hazy atmospherics and shimmering, shrieking vocals calling out the hypnotic riff. It’s reminiscent of those scenes in Human Traffic where they trip out after getting back from the club; all post-euphoria glow, hands-in-the-air bliss and warm, ecstasy induced fuzziness encapsulated into sonic form. Tipping the balance at seven minutes long, the heavy bass booms ground it in reality and jungle horns delicately placed towards the end herald the grand finale, before we move fluidly into the next track. “Every Time” is all whinnying vocals, a more recognisably dubstep rooted swinging beat and jarring stabs. The track swiftly moves from its schmoozy, reverberating intro into a more detached, explorative synth-led section, with whirring strings in full flow in the background, in manner of Rustie or Hud Mo, before ending with a chiming shimmy of xylophone sounds, lilting synthetic keys and squeaky SFX.
Finishing with the aptly named swooning “Showstoppa”, Girl Unit pulls out all the stops as we near the end of the 12”. Slushy instrumentals wade across a luscious soundscape with crushing percussion and a sinuous bassline, punctuated by urbane lyrics calling “hey!” and the blowing of a shrill whistle. The swirling pools of synths are hypnotic and drag the listener along with Rustie style digital sounds and a touch of Ikonika right to the very end. Outstanding.
Belinda Rowse
From one of the most vital and consistently jaw-dropping labels on the planet right now comes this brand spanking new set of futuristic funky bangers from NYC’s Kingdom. Already rightly lauded for incredible releases like “Mind Reader”, his Fabric promo mix and remix work for Egyptrixx amongst others, he brings an R&B obsession and a distinctly warped Stateside twist to Night Slugs’ trademark sound.
Title track “That Mystic” is an absolute monster, working in ominous one-note drones, Baltimore kicks and claps, stacked Miami Bass hats and an incredible dread-melody that’s augmented with sinister childlike vocal samples. Kingdom’s arrangement skills absolutely shine through, keeping you hooked and on your toes for the entire tune. “Bust Broke” on the other hand comes over a little lighter, with Roska-esque percussion floating in and out of the mix with some canny LFO filtering added at points to give it amazing dynamism. Floaty female vocals get brought in and filtered up beautifully half way through for a truly standout break. “Fogs” sports a punchy half-step rhythm that’s peppered with classic 808 snares, while “Pang” busts out some simply huge descending bass notes that’ll rattle the walls of even the most sturdy clubs. The EP rounds off with the chopped R&B funk of “Seven Chirp”, which spins a series of acoustic guitar samples into a truly weird place, all the while backed up by yet another perfectly sequenced beat. Yet another essential release from Night Slugs and yet more genius from Kingdom. Oliver Keens
Absolutely untouchable at the moment, L-Vis 1990 just can’t put a foot wrong it seems. His Night Slugs night run with house titan Bok Bok is a world-renowned haven for the current bassy fusion of garage, electro and UK funky. “United Groove” received the accolade of being the ‘it’ tune that everyone wanted to remix last year, and having had releases on Mad Decent, Dre$$ to Sweat and Sound Pellegrino, this essential new EP comes via his own Night Slugs label.
“Forever You” featuring Shadz on vocals is possibly the most poppy thing yet from L-Vis, but that’s not a criticism in any way – it’s an absolutley vital slice of dance floor heaven with Shadz locking his chorus into the groove perfectly by staying locked in one note, matching the stabbing chords beautifully. It’s a real treat, and hopefully could tip L-Vis into the mainstream over the coming months. On a slightly more laidback tip, “Into The Stars” keeps an arpegiated lead running constantly while a melange of beats are chopped up underneath in an outrageously funky way, and a loop from the acapella of the Pharcyde’s “Passing Me By” bubbles away over the top of it all. “Do You Remember” comes over as a more militant sister of “United Groove”, featuring the same style of anthemic, spoken word vocals but this time anchored to a vicious acid-line that gurgles and rises over a sparse soca beat. “Reprise” however keeps things simple and focuses on a clap-filled beat along with some added sparkles of technicolor synthwork that are subtle yet incredibly impressive at the same time. This goes for the EP itself – L-Vis doesn’t overreach in any way, keeps the beats and arrangements razor sharp and the results are frankly awesome.
Oliver Keens
Despite having a moniker which sounds like an all-female pop outfit from the 90s, you’ll be glad to hear that Girl Unit, is, in fact, nothing of the sort. A house aficionado of the highest calibre, the South London based producer blends elements of UK funky, 2-step, house, garage, Chicago juke and shades of dubstep with an iconoclastic irreverence for genre boundaries. Appearing on Bok-Bok and L-Vis 1990’s label, Night Slugs, the I.R.L EP marks the third release for the burgeoning young imprint, which was established earlier this year.
The EP – incidentally one of the most hotly tipped records around at the moment – begins with the title track. A dramatic, cinematic intro (rather reminiscent of D&B producer Rockwell’s “Noir”) initiates the proceedings with a thumping statement of intent and screechy, sliding synth embellishments. A hollow, clip-clop beat underpins the track, moving from dark, moody moments to more mellow, Mount Kimbie-style sections with masterful ease. DVA takes things down a tougher, rougher street with the tapping, grinding synthetics and raw industrial edge of his ‘Hi Emotions’ remix, whereas Young Gunz crew member, French Fries tunes in to a funky vibe, with shuffling rhythms, a nod to soca and lashings of sun-drenched tropical exoticism.
“Shade On”, the next track on the EP is a delicious, smouldering synth-led number, complete with slowly pulsating energy, and tapping, scattered drums. The gently rippling, chiming melody is complimented by snippets of hazy synths and moments mesmerizing atmospheric bliss. Rounding things off with perfectly articulated, sonorous piano keys, murmuring vocal snatches, fuzzy sonics and rumbling bass, ‘Temple Keys’ acts as the conclusive utterance from Girl Unit, on this absolutely outstanding EP.
Review: Belinda Rowse
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