Article
2012 Artists' Picks
Albums
36
The Alvaret Ensemble
The Boats
Dadub
Day
Enduser / The Teknoist
Alejandro Franov
Christoph Funabashi
The Inventors Of Aircraft
Kostis Kilymis
krill.minima
Lau Nau
Madera Wind Quintet
Todd Matthews
Lubomyr Melnyk
okamononoriaki
The Outside Agency
Oyaarss
peterMann
Pleq + Philippe Lamy
Roach & Metcalf
SaffronKeira
Martin Schulte
Jay Shepheard
Tape Loop Orchestra
Techdiff
TM404
Yard
Compilations / Mixes
Darkroom Dubs Vol.3
Petre Inspirescu
Pop Ambient 2013
v-p v-f is v-n
EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Alis
Arkaik
Babi
Bee Mask
Bungle
drcarlsonalbion
Fescal
Fluorescent Heights
William Ryan Fritch
Greyghost
Junction 12
Lind and Loraine
Alessan Main
Martinez
Mikal
Show Me The Future
10 Yrs hhv.de 45 Vol. 10
Wolf Cub
Arkaik: Cutting Edge EP
Diffrent Music
Mikal: Spiritual / The Chant (Rido Remix)
Utopia Music
More fresh drum'n'bass tracks, this time a punchy two-track single from Mikal (M. Willet) as well as an elegant four-tracker from Arkaik on Hunchbak and Dexta's Diffrent imprint. “Spiritual” by Mikal's got epic written all over it, from the ominous synth washes that introduce it to the pummeling beats that flatten the surrounding terrain with a lethal skip and slam. It's the bass elements, however, that are truly crushing in this case, with Mikal stretching the sub-bass wobble into all kind of damaging shapes. On the flip side, Rido (Pavel Rido) takes Mikal's “The Chant” for a suitably frenetic ride, it likewise teeming with bass warble and powered by a hypercharged beat pattern.
By comparison, Arkaik's Cutting Edge EP eases into view more stealthily, its title track surreptitiously sneaking into position and its intricate beat design content to come into focus slowly. That surprisingly understated opener acts as somewhat of a scene-setter, then, for the more aggressive tunes that follow, including “Lost,” a bright stepper sprinkled with soulful vocal interjections and warm, piano-inflected moodscaping. Arkaik's joined by MCXL on “Game Changer,” with the latter adding cryptically distorted and dread-fueled flow (“Let me introduce you to the game changer”) to the tune's skeletal drum snap and bass pulses. At EP's end, “Serrated” adopts the tone and stripped-down style of “Game Changer” but, notwithstanding a few creeped-out chants of the title, minus the MC's presence. Track title aside, the release isn't a game changer, though there is a cutting edge flavour to it, albeit a subtle one.February 2013