The Manic Brothers six track EP begins with ‘Praying Mantis’; a deep techno offering using a swelling bass line that rumbles under the track whilst the distinctive synth phrase shifts the groove of the track. ‘Voices’ huge hypnotic stabs generate a late night dub that uses sparse percussion and interesting delay effects to mesmerise the crowd. ‘Life After Life’ is a more euphoric and delicate take on techno and uses subtle percussion and melodies to create an ethereal felt track. Using a more industrial style of techno, ‘Hidden History’ includes lots of snare rolls and a stab that is infectious whilst rolling over a heavy kick drum. ‘Introduction’ is a long player and takes it time to slowly build synth melodies and stabs that morph into an unbelievable record. ‘Morning Mass’ rounds off the EP using an unusual rhythmic instrument and beautiful synth pads to create a record that leaves you wanting more.

DC118 - Manic Brothers - Introduction - Drumcode

A Small Decline (Mark Broom D

Alan Fitzpatrick - Xenomorph

Alan Fitzpatrick - Sub Dubbed

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Funky frequencies 4 part 2 - Goofy Grooves

Contained within this eleven-track compilation is a collection of tracks submitted to Drumcode as demos but which didn’t have other tracks to be partnered with to make up a classical Drumcode EP. Such was the quality and quantity of these stunning one-off tracks that the idea of making them into a compilation was born primarily for practical reasons. As the project grew the idea became a theme and the theme evolved into a finished project – A-Sides - which tells both the story of Drumcode’s recent past with familiarly high-octane tracks from Adam Beyer, Alan Fitzpatrick, Joseph Capriati, Gary Beck, Gregor Tresher and Dustin Zahn & Rachel Palmer but also gives a glance into what is to come as the likes of Patrick Siech, Luigi Madonna, Roberto Capuano, Dhillon and Manic Brothers get their chance to contribute to the shaping Drumcode’s future.

DC97 09 Gary Beck - Struma - clip

DCCD02 - 2 - Alan Fitzpatrick - Mouthwash - Drumcode clip

The EP starts with Mikael Jonasson’s, ‘Benefit of the Doubt’ which uses dark, melodic bleeps to create tension before the epic chord stabs kick in that resonate over the throbbing bass line. Adam Beyer steps up with the second track ‘Never Really Left Home’ that uses a rhythmic synth-line to create a dark and moody piece of music. Ida Engberg then delivers her unique style of techno using old rave sounds and a huge hoover style synth to create a driving techno track that will keep any dancefloor moving. The Manic Brother’s supply another big track named ‘Different Directions’ using reverberated stabs to create an atmospheric, but still functional track with lots of rhythmic percussion thrown in. Patrick Siech then steps up with the next track, ‘Kill Room’ that also uses atmospheric percussion and stabs to build into a funky drum groove. Joel Mull presents the sixth track on the compilation; ‘Rimson’ that uses hypnotic drums to captures the listener’s attention to lead into a floaty synth and vocal line before the track introduces a pulsating bass line. ‘Second Coming’ is the next offering with Petter B using recurrent percussion to full effect to create a purposeful, heavy hitting techno track. The final track by Cari Lekebusch called ‘Xylopeggiator’, conveys a dark, pounding 5 AM rhythm that uses vocal samples and a melodic synth to create a hypnotic drum pattern.

01 - DC107 - Mikael Jonasson - Benefit Of The Doubt -Drumcode

06 - DC107 - Petter B - Second Coming - Drumcode

Independent record label owned by Adam Beyer.