USB - 2024

NC007 // Hassan Abou Alam - Mesh Mafhoom EP

Definite Party Material

Released on Roska Kicks and Snares
April/May 2011

Predator

Bad Habits

Breathe Deep

MEMORY WALK

GABS003 sees Bristol's Works resident Portway join the label’s roster. With previous releases on TRAX HAVEN, Moon Rack, excess, Duckland and JUKE BOUNCE WERK, ranging from 100bpm chuggers to tearout jungle, Portway has established himself as a genre-defying chameleon. His forward-thinking sound design and innovative drum programming has gained recent support from LCY, A.Fruit, Skream and many others.

Portway takes a walk down the more percussive route in his contribution to our recently launched 2-track singles series, inspired by the likes of Sinjin Hawke, Scratcha DVA, Two Shell and Atrice. “Dropshipping” opens with a precautionary melody, descends into a flurry of metallic antiphony and is then quickly pierced by a formidable bassline complimented with intricately manipulated grime vocal samples. “Lithium Souls” combines shimmering pads with considered vocal chops and crackling drums. Beware of the second drop!

https://gimmeabreakrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dropshipping-lithium-souls

https://soundcloud.com/portway-portway-portway
https://soundcloud.com/gimmeabreakrecords

PREMIERE: Portway - Dropshipping [Gimme A Break Records]

Available now:

elicitrecords.bandcamp.com/album/connected-01

Artwork by Deborah Mora
Mastered by @kess1er

Portway - Proto

Hassan Abou Alam is next to step up to the unconventional Nerve Collect label with six tracks of futuristic club-ready chaos. The finely crafted EP arrives in Aug and comes on 12" vinyl and via all digital platforms.

Hassan Abou Alam has established himself as one of Egypt's most innovative underground musicians over the last 10+ years. His music is a meeting of disparate worlds - organic and synthetic designs, digital and analogue tools, the traditional and the futuristic, and it has come on the likes of YUKU, Rhythm Section, Banoffee Pies and Casa Voyager. His versatile sound pulls apart existing genres and reconstructs them as something entirely new.

Opener '3asabi' is a stylish sonic assault with thumping rhythms and trippy oscillations that will get any dance floor bouncing. It's fun yet functional, serious yet seductive and 'Basha' Ft. ZIAD ZAZA, Ismail Nosrat & Aly B is another kinetic fusion of hand claps and complex drum funk, Egyptian vocal gymnastics and punchy bass. 'Ghalat' has lurching drums and plunging bass driving on beneath mangled synths, odd vocalisations and percussive splatters drawn from a unique sound palette. The drilling low ends of 'Khalsana' Ft ZIAD ZAZA are offset by fluttering percussive details up top while spare but booming kicks shake every bone in your body and the bassline devastates. There is no let up on 'Mesh Mafhoom' which is a ritualistic workout with moments of melancholic synth soul shining through the jumble of tin-pot percussion and crashing hits. Closer 'Zein' is more body-popping brilliance that channels ancient spirits into warped synths and rhythms so complex they melt the mind.

Hassan Abou Alam's blurring of the lines between the real and the imagined is second to none on this EP. It's a sub-heavy mix of the human voice, machine-made sounds and inventive rhythms that make for something new, weird and wonderful.

Product Toss joins the NHS for 'Plug Gulp,' a 4-track walk through the springy, sonically-gouged production style that the Newcastle-based artist has offered to the electronica world over the past few years. Disparate in BPM, structure, and inspiration, drawing idiosyncratically from Dubstep, UK Bass, and UK Funky, the vibe is profoundly dynamic and versatile in its engineering. Occupied with mid-frequency hums and inflections, bouncing against tight, syncopated percussion made seemingly from hollowed-out origins.

The journey across the collection follows the progression of mood and atmosphere akin to leftfield club music nightlife, with the artist drawing inspiration from their own experiences across many moments found only after dark. A desire to capture the evolution of such tracks' natural habitat is what informed Product Toss throughout their conception, and the 4 tracks nestle comfortably into this space - functional, DJ-ready tracks destined to influence movement.

'Bile' enters with a swung force characterized by pushing sub pulses, sparse drum patterings, and dripping, fluttery notes, both organic and inorganic in nature. Sensuous and dubby, the piece maintains a healthy homeostasis, shifting subtly with a droning layer of low-end that feels wholly reminiscent of Master Chief's shield recharging. Perhaps appropriate given the track is a weapon.

@ptoss
@nostro-hood-system

Buy:
https://nostrohoodsystem.bandcamp.com/album/plug-gulp

Plug Gulp

PREMIERE: Product Toss - Bile [Nostro Hood System]

Out 26th July.

@theotheorist

Buy:
https://theotheorist.bandcamp.com/

PREMIERE: Theorist - Tall Order

Faux Poly welcomes more newcomers to the label this summer, this time with a heady collaboration between Vancouver’s underground mainstay Max Ulis and Bristol-based Nina (aka 1/2 of DE-TÜ), featuring a bonus track with Adam 2.

Their EP Mythra was born out of opportunistic collaboration in Vancouver, while Nina was in town for a show. 

Finishing off the EP is the stellar dubstep curveball Testify, a collaboration between Max & Adam 2 using the unique Soma Enner synth alongside vocals from Nina.

@maxulis
@adamtwo
@nina_wav
@fauxpoly

Buy:
https://fauxpoly.bandcamp.com/album/mythra-ep

Mythra EP [FP010]

PREMIERE: Max Ulis & Adam 2 ft. Nina - Testify [Faux Poly]

Hassan Abou Alam is next to step up to the unconventional Nerve Collect label with six tracks of futuristic club-ready chaos. The finely crafted EP arrives in August and comes on 12" vinyl and via all digital platforms.

Hassan Abou Alam has established himself as one of Egypt's most innovative underground musicians over the last 10+ years. His music is a meeting of disparate worlds - organic and synthetic designs, digital and analogue tools, the traditional and the futuristic, and it has come on the likes of YUKU, Rhythm Section, Banoffee Pies and Casa Voyager. His versatile sound pulls apart existing genres and reconstructs them as something entirely new.

Opener '3asabi' is a stylish sonic assault with thumping rhythms and trippy oscillations that will get any dance floor bouncing. It's fun yet functional, serious yet seductive.

Hassan Abou Alam's blurring of the lines between the real and the imagined is second to none on this EP. It's a sub-heavy mix of the human voice, machine-made sounds and inventive rhythms that make for something new, weird and wonderful. 

@hassan-abou-alam
@nerve-collect

Buy:
https://hassanaboualam.bandcamp.com/album/mesh-mafhoom

NC007

PREMIERE: Hassan Abou Alam - 3asabi [Nerve Collect]

Vancouver’s Destrata returns to Scuffed Recordings with three new tracks on his Keepsake EP, backed by a remix from SUCHI.

Originally appearing on London-based label Scuffed in 2023 with his Mutationist EP, Destrata picked up support from the likes of Leon Vynehall, rRoxymore, and Anz among others. Having also released with a ‘who’s who’ of electronic labels in his short career including 3024, SPE:C, and Of Paradise, Destrata was also named an artist to watch in 2024 by Mixmag.

Now returning with his Keepsake EP, Destrata describes his latest work as being altogether more melodic than his previous releases, while keeping drum work front and centre - or as he puts it, “My bass music friends think I make techno & my techno friends think I make bass music.”

Destrata’s melodically-focussed outlook is obvious from the outset, with lofty synths and vocal chops contrasting warping bass and skippy percussion across the EP’s three tracks.

@destratavan
@scuffedrecs

Buy:
scuffed.lnk.to/Keepsake-EP

PREMIERE: Destrata - Keepsake [Scuffed]

Cairo’s @hassan-abou-alam unveils six entropic collages of bass, breaks, and techno for Dutch label @nerve-collect

‘Mesh Mafhoom’ is out 23rd August on 12” vinyl and via all digital platforms – have an exclusive first listen to the title track

More info: https://djmag.com/listen/premiere-hassan-abou-alam-mesh-mafhoom

Premiere: Hassan Abou Alam ‘Mesh Mafhoom’

for the headzzz 🥴

platform curated by Ian DPM 🥷

dpmsounduk@gmail.com

PREMIERE: Hassan Abou Alam - 3asabi [Nerve Collect]

definite party material