November: 7 bass releases you need to hear this month

DVA [Hi: Emotions] 'Notu_Uronlineu' (Hyperdub)

Just when you think you know all you need to about an artist – in this case Leon Smart, aka Scratcha, aka DVA, aka DVA [Hi:Emotions] and so on – he goes and releases an album that forces you to reassess everything. Witty, conceptual, original and above all both musically exciting and enjoyable, it’s an understatement to say that DVA’s second album ‘NOTU_URONLINEU’ is mature. While playfully addressing deadly serious themes of digital duality and encroaching corporate control, it strikes out boldly from his former sound while still relating to it. He’s still making experimental club R&B shapes, but abandons the constrictions of dancefloor formulas for an abstract journey into 21st century soul. This is a rare record that feels ultra-modern without having to resort to current club clichés. We’ve always loved DVA, but now he deserves a new level of respect.

9/10

Rozay Labeija 'Little Sally Walker' (Escape From Nature)

We’re not sure when rappers en masse will realise that there’s a wealth of underground club producers making really hot beats, but let’s enjoy it before it goes mainstream. New York-based rapper Rozay Labeija is a member of the ballroom clan House of LaBeija, which means he probably came up spitting to voguing party battles. This cut, produced by Celestial Trax and Orlando Volcano, comes from an Escape From Nature label comp –and judging by Rozay’s nimble flow and sassy tone, Sally sounds like she’s trouble. 8/10

Asusu 'Hallucinator/Sendak' (Livity Sound)

Peverelist’s Livity Sound label is pretty reliable, both in quality and sound. They specialise in no-nonsense and technofied UK bass, which is what Asus (a Livity regular who, like the label, hails from Bristol) delivers on these two tracks. The A-side, ‘Hallucinator’, sports strong bustle and a buzzing, atonal melody. It has the right mood, but sadly there’s nothing particularly inspiring about the way it’s been put together. B-side ‘Sendak’ is the winner here instead, with its interplay of kick and low-end bass grabbing you from the start in pure Regis-inspired fashion. Bring in the hi-hat tics and snare, and this is one dark, funky groove.

7/10

Kxngs 'Earth Sign' (Ex-Local)

Ah, London: the one city that can always be relied upon to keep electronic music in flux (that’s a good thing, by the way). If ever there was a musical melting pot, it’s the British capital. We just can’t imagine a record like this coming from anywhere else – not because of any obvious London genre affiliation, like dubstep or grime, but because of its fondness for booming bass and the sprinkling of familiar, ravey samples: the opening keyboard ripple was prevalent in the jungle/d’n’b era, for instance, and it also has the kind of minor key chord progressions that only work when you’re full of urban dread. But Brixton-based Kxngs also draws from South African house, Angolan kuduro, reggaeton and Latin flavours. ‘Earth Sign’ feels modern in its global awareness, and the choice of references tend to be good, but the whole thing feels close to a mix of existing material; Kxngs needs to work on finding himself among all of the other styles, too.

7/10

S Olbricht 'ZZM' (UIQ)

Hungarian producer Stephan Olbricht has only been putting out records since 2010, but he’s got loads of them (it probably helps when you run your own record label, as he does with Farbwechsel). Him releasing on Lee Gamble’s UIQ imprint makes perfect sense: they both approach making techno in interesting ways, and they have a fondness for hazy sounds. As such, ‘ZZM’ has a narcotic lushness to it, the kind of fuzz that can induce ASMR or sound-induced pleasure or relaxation. The progression of the EP’s four tracks seems to highlight that: at first, it’s just a top layer on a heady banger, but as each successive track gets slower, culminating in the ambient drift of final track ‘Floa1’, the fuzz’s importance gets amplified (although, if we’re talking about the song’s ambient drift, we should probably also mention that it floats right into a poundng beat that races along at 130bpm).

8/10

Schwarz 'Everyday Is A Winding Road' (Nina Pop)

American regional club music has only started to get the worldwide attention it truly deserves in the past six years or so, even though most of the micro-genres have been gestating for decades (thank you, internet!). Of those, Baltimore breaks (or Bmore club) is maybe one of the least talked about, perhaps because of its sonic proximity to Jersey club (Baltimore itself is geographically pretty close to New Jersey, too); Detroit ghettotech and Chicago juke also serve as useful references here, too, especially in the way they loop vocal snips into catchphrases. Schwarz is the label head of Nina Pop and ‘Everyday Is A Winding Road’ is his debut EP. Besides the gritty club energy that runs at a hyped 130 bpm or so, ‘Everyday...’ is also notable for the vocalists he enlists. Each of the release’s four main tracks features original vocals from a variety of local Baltimore MCs including M.I.A. collaborator Blaqstarr except for ‘Gimme Cash (I Want More)’, which features Oakland’s Kreayshawn (she of ‘Gucci Gucci’ fame). The result is more fun and varied than you might think, especially with a bit of vocal processing, and Schwarz has a good ear for bangers.

8/10

TSVI 'Sacred Drums' (Nervous Horizon)

TSVI is an Italian producer currently living in London and is also the co-founder of the Nervous Horizon label and party, which has been going strong since 2015. But the strongest vibe one gets from his new EP ‘Sacred Drums’ is that he probably listens to a lot of gqom, the darker offshoot of South African house from Durban. Popular knowledge of gqom was aided in no small part by the label Gqom Oh!, run by another Italian, Nan Kolè. It’s a safe bet, then, to assume that the two of them know each other, especially as Kolè has already released collaborative tracks with the other Nervous Horizon founder, Wallwork. Gqom as a genre is fairly skeletal stuff, and TSVI strips it down another notch; as the title suggests, his primary focus is on the funky drums. But he also uses a lot of the kinds of small samples that you’ll hear in gqom, such as animal calls or tribal vocal fragments. As TSVI isn’t actually from Durban, it doesn’t sound exactly the same – the chugging rhythm in opener ‘The Healer’, for example, is slightly too militant, while second track ‘Darabukka’ incorporates a kuduro-esque synth-line – but this release clearly aims to sit in the same sphere, even if the accompanying press release never uses the actual word itself.

8/10