New Powers Music

Drum And Bass Releases Out Now
For ordering info

Prices are in Canadian dollars (which is around 60% of US money).

All descriptions in "quotes" are from press/wholesale releases or other sources.
Statements not in quotes are my opinions/reviews, or are facts verified by me.

4 Hero remix Terry Callier
Love Theme From Spartacus
Talkin Loud UK CDEP #1/#2/12" @ $12

4 Hero funky drumming remix of smooth soul vocalist's track featuring Spanish guitar, on CDEP #2 (2 mixes) and 12" (1). Also mix by Zero 7, Roy Davis Jr and Aqua Mental. CDEP #1 w/ 3 others including 2 live tracks."

A Guy Called Gerald
Radar System
UK 12" $12

two new tracks

Ascend & JB
As We Go / Ladies
Back 2 Basics UK 12" $12

Features a sample from Isaac Hayes' "Ike's Mood"

Bowling Green
Receptionist E P
Blue Planet UK 12" $14

"Another beautifully fucked up Drum & Bass excursion from Bowling Green who now resides in the same league as Squarepusher or Plug. Cool D&B rhythms with hints of funkiness in the samples and keys."

Bukem associated labels:

Blu Mar Ten

Butterflies & Moths

720 UK 12" $12

TQ One Interactive

Ascendant Grooves UK 12" $12

"2 track minimal d&b from Good Looking off-shoot label"

DJ Hype labels:

DJ Zinc Stretched

True Playaz UK 12" $12

funky-bass roller. w/ Bring The Danger w/ MC GQ

DJ Hype's Ganja Kru remixes Missy Elliott
Beep Me 911
Warners UK CDEP/12" @ $12

D&b remix of the big US rappette from her hit album SupaDupaFly.

Doc Scott's 31 Records label:

Optical

Bounce

UK 12" $12

Title track is something new - a tech step track with tribally congas. Also nice fat wobbly bass and buzzy synth sounds. w/ "The End Part 1" dreamy computery intro, smouldering dark bass into cyclic drone and waiver-y treble, much like the Brass Wolf tracks on Audio Couture.

Dom & Roland remixes Klute
Total Self
Certificate 18 UK CDEP $17 2x12" $22

5 trax, 33m. Pretty good mini-album priced release from Tom Withers who moves into harder and tech step areas, while getting a big demo in those areas by Dom & Roland's remix.
1. "Silent Weapons" mellow electric piano chords, low dub bass notes and tenser atmospherics into slightly harder bass/drums
2. "Hang-Up" funky tech step w/ conga percussion and unique echoey wobble on the bass tones
3. "Tribunal" funky back beat and background atmospherics into dreamy mix of slow synth oscillation, rhythm guitar bites, and horn chords
4. "Blow:Cold" hard drum/bass swing w/ monstrous bass eq
5. "Perceptron (Dom & Roland Remix)" 5.28 eerie vibe/organ drone, tech step beats - 2nd half gets heavier with eq'ed counter rhythms and spooky background

Dom & Roland remix Technical Itch
Hidden Sound Remix
Audio Couture UK 12" $12

Great remix of track with cool sci-fi ambience.

Goldie
Believe
Polygram UK CDEP #1/#2/12" @ $12

CD #1 w/ original slow groove/soul track, extended mix, short & VIP mix.

CD #2 w/ remixes by Photek (similar to his "Modus Operandi" track), Grooverider and 2 house mixes by Groove Chronicles (aka Noodles & Lewis).

12" w/ remixes by Photek and Grooverider.

Limited 12" #2 w/ house mixes

Grooverider remixes 808 State
Pacific 808:98
ZTT UK CDEP #1/#2/12" @ $12

Preview of 808 State remix album, with jungle and Orbital-ish big beat mixes of early classics.
CD #1 w/ "Cubik" original and Grooverider remix of "Pacific State".
CD #2 w/ "Pacific State" original and Monkey Mafia remix of "Cubik". 12" w/ both remixes.

Jonny L
Moving Thru Air
XL UK 10" $12

Limited edition 10" w/ cool tech-steps remixes by Jonny and Optical.

Klute remixes Mogwai
Kicking A Dead Pig
Eye Q UK CD $35 2LP $32

due May. Remix album for Scottish guitar band "w/ remixes by Klute, Alex Empire, Kid Loco, DJQ, Arab Strap and 3rd Eye Foundation."

Lemon D aka Souljah
Urbanology
Hard Leaders UK CD $30

Lemon D moonlights from his contract with London Records to produce tracks as Souljah for Hardleaders. The man has been around for a long time, mastering the gamut of breakbeat styles for Metalheadz, Prototype, Reinforced, V Records and many others. He's also run his own labels, including Planet Earth and now Valves (with Dillinja, who also is taking his time releasing his London debut). As Souljah he gets to roll out his jazzy side, from "R.O.A.R."'s Roni Size-ish acoustic basslines to "Glass Voices"' Bukemesque vibes. But the mood of the times is for the hard and dark material, so Souljah (and a couple of Lemon D 'remixes') delivers the goods on "Rollin", "Fade 2 Black" and the tech-stepping "Urbanology".

Moving Shadow labels:

EZ Rollers

Weekend World

UK CD $34 4LP $44

2nd album from A. Banks and J. Hurren (JMJ)

Various

Transcentral Connection 2

UK 2CD $35 3LP $32

2nd collection of UK d&b from the Midlands of England . "this double CD features lots of exclusive unreleased cuts from Carlito, Spinback & Q Project, Organic Synthetic, Guardians Of Dalliance, Vext, etc. Disc 2 is a mix from DJ Addiction."

Various

98.1

UK CD $14

Budget DJ mix by Rob Playford w/ Hoax, EZ Rollers, Tech Itch, Flytronix and more.

Omni Trio
Deepest Cut
Moving Shadow UK CD $26

Repackaged first album of classic early tracks, now with new mixes.

Optical Vs Matrix
Data Life
Ad Hoc UK 12" $14

Brother vs brother on new EMI label. Title track features a funky back beat, electric piano, boomy bass tones and choral backing. w/ "Crossfire" funky back beat w/ low funk bass synth line and background atmospherics

Origin Unknown & Various
Sound In Motion
Ramm UK 2CD $38 5LP $52

Highly recommended 2nd compilation from top UK junglist Andy C's Ramm label. He and his various collaborators (particularly Ant Miles in Origin Unknown and Concept 2) specialize in that LFO-tweaked fat, wobbly bass-synth sound. His "Valley Of The Shadows" was a dark jungle classic in 1994, and since then he has only got better. Now into tech-step beats and featuring a couple new producers on the label, this 2nd collection starts cooking and doesn't stop. An essential buy, especially when the Ramm singles disappear so quickly. 2nd CD is a mixed disc by Andy C, with some additional tracks not featured on the first disc.

CD #1
1. Origin Unknown "Sound In Motion" tech-step with whispery voice, jittery snares, throbbing/pulsing bass and background synth/piano textures
2. DJ Freedom "The Zone" jazzy tech-step with funky groove
3. Moving Fusion "Turbulence" from preview 12"
4. Origin Unknown "Emotion =" jazzy tech-step with cool plunging bassline
5. Moving Fusion "Deep Minds" jazzy tech-step with funky bass wobble
6. Shimon & Andy C "Live Line" horn & muted horn bytes over rolling beats and walking acoustic bassline
7. Red One "Hard Edge" S Bourne - tech-step w/ flute, electric piano and soul vocal bytes
8. Origin Unknown "Broken Road" tech-step & rolling beats with guitar notes, techno-y sounds
9. Shimon & Andy C "In Session" funky tech-step w/ wah-bass and psychedelic background sounds
10. Origin Unknown "Termination" tech-step w/ bass beats on the off-beat, spacey background, horn bytes
11. Shimon & Andy C "Mutation Remix" funky wah-bass, spacey synth line (like something Cabaret Voltaire would do around 1984) and police radio ambience

CD #2 DJ Mix by Andy C
1. Shimon & Andy C "Mutation Remix"
2. Concept 2 "No Mistake"
3. Origin Unknown "Termination"
4. Shimon & Andy C "Primal Fear"
5. Moving Fusion "Deep Minds"
6. Shimon & Andy C "In Session"
7. Red One "Hard Edge"
8. Shimon & Andy C "Live Line"
9. Concept 2 "Unlock The Secrets"
10. Origin Unknown "Emotion ="
11. Origin Unknown "Broken Road"
12. DJ Freedom "The Zone"
13. Moving Fusion "Turbulence"
14. Origin Unknown "Sound In Motion"

Origin Unknown, Dom & Rowland remix EZ Rollers
Tough At The Top
UK CDEP/12" @ $12

CD w/ 6 trax. Worthwhile EP based around a Roni Size-ish jazz track with flute, acoustic bass, horns and female vocal. Not to mention the cool remixes by Origin Unknown, Timecode and Dom & Roland (on the 2nd 12").
1. radio edit 2.49
2. Vocal Mix 6.10 acid jazz-ish track in an up mood w/ jazzy flute melody, Size-ish acoustic bassline, horn bytes, jazzy vocal and voice/applause samples.
3. Origin Unknown Remix 6.44 Andy C can't miss in my books: a jazzy roller before the dark throbbing bits drop - if you can't afford his new compilation check this out!
4. Timecode Remix VIP 7.27
5. Instrumental 8.04
6. Timecode Remix Pre VIP 7.16
12 #1 w/ Andy C/Origin Unknown and Timecode mixes.
12" #1 w/ original and Dom & Rowland mix (his usual dark tech-step style - not one of his most exciting mixes)

Peshay
Miles From Home
Mo Wax UK 12" $12

title track engineered by Decoder - tech step track w/ jazzy acoustic bass/cymbal rides/horns and xylophone bytes
w/ "Underdog Remix" jazzy hip hop w/ horns, acoustic bass and electric piano to tech step beats and dark bass

Prototype label:

Trace

Sonar

UK 12" $12

title track is engineered by Dom - jazzy d&b w/ echoey keyboard bits that spoil the track - goes to louder beats with dark bass.
w/ "Sphere" by Trace & Optical - funky tech step w/ held string synth chord and acid-y sounds

Reinforced label:

Paradox

Kuba

UK 12" $14

"Paradox is Dev Mixrace, who with his partner DJ Trax first started releasing tracks on Moving Shadow, with follow up releases on Renegade Hardware, Timeless, 720, Ninebar & others."

Ed Rush / Optical
Funktion
V Records UK 12" $12

"Funktion" is a serious hard jazz/tech step tune, updating the V Recordings style - highly recommended! Starting with the atonal organ loop and tech step beats, getting into Jamaaladeen Tacuma-style jazz-funk guitar bytes and dark synth bass growls. Essential.
"Naked Lunch" another serious hard jazz tune with fast snares and tech step beats - like Roni Size on steroids. Woodwind bytes and acoustic bassline.

Squarepusher aka Chaos AD
Remixes EP
Rephlex UK 12" $12

For those of you who like your Squarepusher wild and acidic! Remix by his brother aka Ceephax. "The man behind the audio acidic madness Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher proves his talent is stronger than ever.
A. "Psultan (Squarepusher RMX)" acid-y d&b w/ melancholy keyboards, rap/hip hop samples - gets faster in the middle
B "Bioslate" Ceephax Mixes
1. "Every time Mix" fast acid
2. "Tarzan Mix" fast acid & screaming
3. "Headstrong" bass kick and noise, organ drone

Wax Doctor
Selected Works
R+S Bel CD $35 3LP $TBA

Former Metalheadz artist who records with Alex Reece. w/ the singles from Metalheadz and R+S including "Heat" and "All I Need".

Zend Avista
Queen Of Siam
Artefact UK 12" $14

"2 tracks of abstract jungle from Aleph"

Various
Further East - Westercisms
Law & Auder UK 2CD $38

The English label Law & Auder's worthy sequel to East-Westercism reaches further east in search of new fusions of World music sounds with dub, hip hop and drum & bass rhythms. Certainly more of the participants are adding elements of Asian, Indian and Arabic musics into their sounds than the previous collection. Junglists PCM, Pearl and Decal colour their beats with splashes of Tibetan gongs and cymbals much like Photek's "5th Column", while Fructose adds a plucky shamisen, a Japanese stringed instrument, to his funky jump up rhythms on "Veena". Producers from the Asian underground find new settings for their traditional sounds, as Nusrat remixers Joi sample the big man once again on the electro-hip hop "Shanti", and the Nation label's TJ Rehmi creates a split level tabla d&b/Arabic dub track "Prisoners Of Freedom". But the underlying tone is definitely electronic, as heard from the leftfield breaks of Mung or Freeform, or the discordant synth drones of Canadian David Kristian's tribal excursion "The Market". Among the 24 tracks are also found exclusive cuts from James Hardway, Makyo and Bedouin Ascent.

Various
Rock & Roll: This is Jungle Sky V
Liquid Sky US 2CD $40

I was recently told that a US DJ says there are two types of jungle: the kind that sounds like the B 52's and the kind that doesn't. My comment was: "that explains why the American d&b producers are several years behind." Now along comes DJ Soul Slinger (the first US-based artist who's d&b tunes got respect in the UK) to baffle us with a remixed track that samples "Rock Lobster"?! With the familiar twangy guitar samples and voice cut-ups, Soul Slinger crosses several beat boundaries with the party rockin' "God Is A Lobster", that does more for the New Wave revival than the progression of drum & bass. I wonder what is going to happen when the Yanks discover that the B 52s' drumming came from surf music! Jungle Sky VI: Pipeline? More noteworthy are the producers DJ Ani and DJ Wally who are tuning into the UK-influenced lfo-effected 'wobbly' bassline, and DJ Ming & FS, whose "Breathless" is a nice dark rolling tech-step track. And then from the non-d&b side of things you have Germany's Frank Heiss aka Tube, doing what he does best, on the electro-tinged jump up track "Let's Get Mental".

Various
Hardleaders 04 - Inside Out Symphony
Kickin UK CD $30

For more of the hard sounds don't miss the latest Hardleaders compilation which stars Decoder's effect laden tech-step track "Turn." This Bristolian duo, also known as Alpha Proxima, includes Mark Caro aka Technical Itch, who runs the Second Movement and Technical Itch labels. Among the other Hardleaders regulars like Regulate and Served Chilled, is Venom, another contract-skirting "top d&b DJ who has to remain anonymous" and Dillinja who mellows out as Basic Influence on the oceanic tech-step tune "Still Waters (Run Deep Mix)".