Hyper Critical – Ear & Drum Session 83

It’s been a long time since I’ve done an all label mix here on the the Ear & Drum, but I figured it was high time to give one of my favourite labels a spin. Ever since their original releases Critical Recordings has always been on of those labels you could rely on to put out interesting and well produced music. Brainchild of the ever present Kasra, the label’s exceptional quality control and cutting edge producer roster has seen it become one of D&B true modern day success stories. Even when vinyl labels were dropping like flies a few years back, Critical has managed to not only survive but grow stronger in the face of adversity.

Having seen such producers as Vectorburn, Mathematics, Ill Skillz, Calibre, Breakage, Chris SU, Bungle, Silent Witness, Icicle, Spectrasoul, Break, Rockwell, Stray, Sabre & Enei all put out quality tracks on the label, their stable list reads like a who’s who of modern D&B production. This mix covers the last 2 years of output from the label, but if your are interested in catching up on the back catalogue then I strongly suggest you look into purchasing their recently released Critical X compilation which celebrates the best releases from the past ten years.

Hyper Critical – 1hr of Critical Recordings

Rockwell – Underpass
Sabre, Stray & Halogenix – Oblique
Seba & Paradox – The Light
Bladerunner – Back to the Jungle
Enei & MC DRS – Obsession (Foreign Concept Remix)
Enei feat. Eastcolours – 2012
Enei feat. Kemo – Saligia
Kasra & Enei – So Real
Dub Phizix feat. Fox – Never Been
Calibre – Smooth Baby
Sabre & Riya – Injustice
Foreign Concept & Riya – Affliction
Enei & MC DRS – Obsession
Kasra & Jubei – the Rift
Lenzman – More Than I Can Take (Enei Remix)

Burn It Down – Ear & Drum Session 82

Those that follow the blog will know by now that big smashers aren’t really my cuppa. But once a year or so I do like to collect up the hard and the heavy tunes that do light my fire and mash them down. I big chunk of this mix is dedicated to S.P.Y’s new album What The Future Holds, which holds up very well considering it has come out on Hospital. Also featured are some classic big, bad producers from back in the day like Dom & Roland, Chris SU & Falcon and Black Sun Empire.

If you only download one heavy D&B mix by me this year. This is it. 😛

Burn It Down – 1hr of Hard Edged D&B

Dementia, Regula & Cain Mos – Imprint
Level 2 – Conquest VIP
S.P.Y – Analogue Dreams
S.P.Y – Hammer in My Heart
Black Sun Empire – Dawn of Dark Day (feat. Foreign Beggars)
Dom & Roland – Strobe
Rido feat. Thomas Oliver – Twisted VIP
S.P.Y – See the Light
Stray – Timbre VIP
Chris SU & Falkon – Studio 54
Telmo A – Between Two Worlds (Phil Tangent Remix)
MC Fats, HLZ & Chef – True Born Souljah
BC – Captured in Time (Chris SU Remix)
Cyantific – Walking Away
S.P.Y – Adrift

Out of Nowhere – Ear & Drum Session 81

Back to the D&B with this mix of dubby and deeper beats. On the dubby side we have The Burb’s – Generations which is a killer take on the dub D&B sound and Flatliners’ – Babel and Morphy’s – Rainy Day Dub getting the nod well and truly going. On the deep end (don’t say the ‘minimal word) is Royalston’s killer Test VIP from the Med School label, plus the usual suspects in Enei, Data, Rockwell and Naibu.

Out of Nowhere – 1hr of Deep & Dubby D&B

DuoScience – Perfect Time
The Burbs – Generation
Consequences – Noisy Spirits in this Soul
Tokyo Prose – Echoes (Synkro Remix)
Royalston – The Test VIP
Mindmapper & June Miller – Woods
Enei feat. Eastcolours – 2012
Enei – Saligia
Reza – Shaman
Data – Tapeworm
Naibu – There
S.P.Y – Wall of Mirrors
Mindmapper & June Miller – Bermuda
Rockwell feat. Kito & Sam Frank – Childhood Memories
Flatliners – Babel
Morphy – Rainy Day Dub

Phat Ride – Ear & Drum Session 80

As the name suggests this is a bass stomping, heart thumping beast of a mix with some heavey hitters across the breaks, house and dubstep genres. A lot of these are oldies but very goodies with a few new tunes like Killawatt’s – Sidewinder (Ipman Remix), Shu & Edna’s – Fattle Bield (Driftkong & Zmokingz Remix) and Dreams’s mighty – This Isn’t House (Topher Jones Remix) thrown in for good measure. I’m not normally one for hammering out the heaviness like this, but the quality of these tunes speaks for themselves and they just had to be thrown down.

This mix is also the first mix on my new set up since I’ve moved to Tasmania so hopefully the sound quality is still up there with my previous mixes. I’ve changed the recording set up around a fair bit, so comments on quality are welcome and appreciated.

Phat Ride – 45mins of Heavy Bass Music

HumanLeft – Arnaud & Bernard
Killawatt – Sidewinder (Ipman Remix)
DJ Fresh – Heavyweight (Benny Page Remix)
Jamie Vexd – Radiant Industry
Mistabishi – Printer Jam (Barbarix Remix)
Hudson Mohawke – All Your Love
Shock One – Adachingara’s Theme
Orbital – Wonky
Magnetic Man – Anthemic
Psy:Am & Stinkahbell – Don’t Tell Mum About Ibiza
Shu & Edna – Fattle Bield (Driftkong & Zmokingz Remix)
Dreams – This Isn’t House (Topher Jones Remix)
Magnetic Man – Karma Crazy

Call the Ambience: Ward 1 – Ear & Drum Session 79

So this one goes out to my mate Dan who is recovering in Ward 1 after some heavy duty surgery. There’s all sorts of chilled out and floaty D&B running through this mix, and if you are a fan of ASC, Synkro, N4m3, etc then this should float your boat.

Dan you are an inspiration and I hope this helps get you back up and cooking.

Call the Ambience: Ward 1 – 1hr+ of Ambient D&B

Oscillist – Flourish
Command Strange – Love Beam
Tokyo Prose – Echos (Synkro Remix)
Oscillist – Thrown to the Wolves
Venture – Together We Fall
ASC – Scanners
N4m3 – Thirty Three Hapiness
Synkro – Dwelling
ASC – Locus Solus
Blu Mar Ten – Last Life in the Universe
Bulb feat. Tiiu
N4m3 – Empty Planet
N4m3 – Neat Hussar Seeking His Goose
Stray – Follow You Around
Roygreen & Protone – Concentration
S.P.Y – Bass Terror
Stickman – Pressure
Synkro – Progression
Plug – Flight 78

A Little Bit of Bass – Ear & Drum Session 78

Hitting up the funkier side of the Bass phenomenon this time around, there are some great tunes in this mix. Spectrasoul’s – Away With Me is killer no matter who is remixing it, The Nextmen’s – The Lion’s Den brings a pure party vibe to proceedings and of coarse Photek gets heavy rotation with M25fm, Levitation, Totem, 101 and the massive Fountainhead. Some of this is Dubstep, some is House and other bits are more Breaks or Garage. But no matter what it is called it is quality.

A Little Bit Of Bass – 1hr of Bumping Bass Music

Dustmite & Kuru – Kare
Photek & Pinch – M25fm
Netsky – Come Alive (Submerse Remix)
Spectrasoul – Away With Me
Photek & Kuru – Fountinhead (DJ Kicks Remix)
Sepalcure – Taking You Back
Spectrasoul – Away With Me (Kito Remix)
Photek – Levitation
Makoto, Danny Wheeler & DJ Go feat. Kathy Brown – Expression
RacknRuin – Midnight Loving (HeavyFeet Remix)
Boddika & Joy Orbison – Swims
Moby – Lie Down In Darkness (Clouds Remix)
The Nextmen ft. Ms Dynamite & Andy Cato – The Lion’s Den (Sigma Remix)
Photek – Totem
Photek – 101 (Boddikas Drum Machine Remix)
RacknRuin – Deep & True (Rudimental Soulful Remix)

Sub Sampling – Ear & Drum Session 77

Hitting the deeper and darker spectrum of D&B again this time around. There is some really great deep darkness about at the moment if you know where to look. Shogun Audio and Med School are obvious trail blazers, but some of the smaller labels such as Ingredients, Critical Music & Vibration Records are also punching way above their weight with the help of production talent such as Krakota, Enei, Kasra and Alcrani.

The great thing about this sound at the moment is it’s ability to keep a moody streak whilst still being diverse in terms of influence. Some tracks come at things from a minimal perspective, others melodic and others still with the stripped back half-step MC driven sound but all sound like they were made for each other and make for good fun when it comes to making up a track selection.

Sub Sampling – 1+hrs of Deep and Dark D&B Vibes

SpectraSoul – Coals
Alcrani – Inversion of Control
Krakota – Tunnle Vision
Utah Jazz – Crossing Frontiers
June Miller – Isis (Silent Dust Remix)
Joe Syntax – Bassline Sinker
ASC – Glass Walls
Scott Allen & Deeper Connection – The Need In Me
Silence Groove – Carried By Clouds
Flame – Tragic Kingdom
Craggz & Parallel – Hurt You
Able Danger – Asteria
Kasra & Enei – So Real
Joe Syntax – Pull It
Utah Jazz – Slice of Nature
SpectraSoul – Light in the Dark
Enei & MC DRS – Obsession (Foreign Concept Remix)
SpectraSoul – Shackles
Bass’Flo – Poseidon (Physical Illusion Remix)
Rudimental – Feel the Love (Fred V & Grafix Remix)
Technicolour – We Were Always One

Bass Fishing – Ear & Drum Session 76

Session number 76 sees something new in the repetiore with my first attempt at a Bass Music mix. WTF is Bass Music I hear you ask yourself, and what happened to the Drums? Bass Music is a mixture of (mainly UK) House, Techno, Dubstep and Garage. I say mainly UK because it seems to be the UKs reaction to Dubstep being stolen by Skrillex in the US and turned into some screachy festival music for bros & hoes. This sound is much deeper, and groovier and has a good smattering of the real Dub and Reggae roots dubstep originally had when it first came out.

For me this stuff is super fun to mix, and the chance to blend all sorts of styles, beats and tempos together reminds me of the good old days when there weren’t really any defined genres. It was all just dance music. I think the other thing that is great about this stuff is that it can be as deep you like whilst still feeling fun and making you move. Something D&B seems to have forgotten with it’s super slick production and super sped up beats. Although if you check the set list carefully you’ll notice that a good chunk of the producers in this mix do have their roots in D&B production.

Oh and the other reason it’s called Bass Music because it really is heavy on the bass. So turn it up and tear it up.

Bass Fishing – 1hr+ of Deep Bass Music

Greg Packer & MC Assassin – Sound Kriminal (Killafoe Remix)
Lennie De Ice – We Are IE (Caspa & Rusko Remix)
DJG – Here Come The Dark Lights
Barefoot – Murmurs
Ill Skillz – Eternity (feat. Dub FX) (DJ Edit)
Amit – RBMK 1000
Lynk feat. Fats & Seed – Revolutions
Sepalcure – Taking You Back
Photek – Levitation
Tokimonsta – Mileena’s Theme
High Contrast – Not Waving, But Drowning (feat. Lung & Jessy Allen)
KeOSz & Trilo – Last Hope
Unquote – Cold Tenderness
Skream – Where You Should Be feat. Sam Frank (Original Mix)
Tali – Love Runs Deep (vs Atlantic Connection)
Eveson – Life In The Balance (140 Reprise)
Tali – Signs (vs Skism & Do The Math)
Noisia – Tommy’s Theme

A Long Summer Sumthing – Ear & Drum Session 75

It’s been a long time since I did a long mix and seeing as we in the Southern hemisphere are starting to heat up after a particularly cold winter, and those in the North are seeing the last of their warmer days I though it was about time to drop a mix of Summer tunes from this season. Now when I say Summer tunes I don’t mean Festival & Bass style stuff (not my style), I mean proper Summer rollers with a good vocal or two to sing a long to.

I have to mention some of the big albums of the (Northern) Summer. The very under-rated L.A.O.S released their debut which everyone must have been hanging on because they titled it Finally. Full of big sounding lush liquid tunes this is a belter and well worth the asking price. Next up is Atlantic Connection – Love Connection. I always love their albums as you can be guaranteed a diverse range of music brilliantly produced and with a Cali vibe to it. And last but not least Utah Jazz with his Groove Therapy LP which I have already banged on about on this blog. His Conrad Funk tune of this is my favourite track in this mix and has that amazing old Good Looking vibe with updated production quality meaning it hits even harder.

So set up your sun lounge, get the stereo in the garden and kick back with some rays and enjoy a rinse of a long Summer sumthing.

A Long Summer Sumthing – 1.5hrs of Summer Tunes from 2012

Random Movement – The Note From Next Door
LSB – All Of My Love (Technicolour & Komatic Remix)
BCee feat. Messy MC – Captured In Time VIP
Maduk feat. Veela – Ghost Assassin
Dynamic – Midnight Heat Thing
Atlantic Connection – Warm Regards
Phors – Shining Star
Dynamic – Modal Suite
Hybrid Minds – Leaving
Alix Perex – Contradictions
DRS featuring Lenzman & Jehst A – Holding On
LSB & Sian Sanderson – Overthinking
SpectraSoul feat. Tamara Blessa – Away With Me (Calibre Remix)
DJ Clart – The Grind
Culture Shock – Protection
Utah Jazz – Conrad Funk
Intelligent Manners – Acting, Thinking, Feeling
nClear – Only Way
Contract Killers – The Life Moments (Soundwall VIP)
Undersound & Missy May – Headfirst & Foolhardy
L.A.O.S – Hush Now
L.A.O.S – Break My Heart (LP Version)
Rudimental – Feel The Love (Fred V & Grafix Remix)
Silence Groove – Eat Me Softly
Dynamic – Blueberry Nights
The Burbs – Desire
Rowpieces – On My Mind
LSB – Some Disco

Tide Turning – Ear & Drum Session 74

Another new mix up this time focusing on the harder and deeper side of things. Kicking things off with Marcus Intalex – The Guillotine, a track destined to kick off many a set in the future. J Majik & Wickaman manage to remain on form, this time with the help of SunddenDef on their colab Hologram and Seba returns to rotation with his uber deep roller Nightraider. The half step revolution continues with Jubei doing a Marka with his track Say Nothin’ and the originators Dub Phizix prove it wasn’t just a fluke with their follow half stepping monster Never Been.


Tide Turning – 1hr of new Deep D&B for 2012

Marcus Intalex – The Guillotine
Submotion Orchestra – All Yours (S.P.Y Remix)
J Majik & Wickaman vs SunddenDef – Hologram
Komatic, Technicolour & Jayma – Stay
Loxy & Resound – Metro
SpectraSoul – Light In The Dark feat. Terry Walker
Seba – Nightrider
Jubei feat. Flowdan – Say Nothin
Able Danger – Asteria
Dub Phizix feat. Fox – Never Been
Logistics – 2999 (Wherever You Go)
Kodo – Affirmative Action
Hybrid Minds – Drifting
Duoscience & Scott Allen – Astral Travel
Bungle feat. Ayah Marar – The Siren (Bladerunner Rollers Remix)