We've waited patiently for this one and though the best of summer may already be long behind us,
Artist Recordings latest LP has finally arrived.
The sixteen track LP covers a delivers a broad spectrum of vibrant Drum & Bass tunes, with the kind of high production values we've come to expect from the label. Though the LP is hardly 'one-sided', it could be said that the majority of tracks lean more toward the 'Liquid' end of DnB (and even Dubstep; see
Subranger's 'Underwater' VIP). This is of course by no means a bad thing as the resultingly melodic and soulful tracks fit perfectly with the tone of the LP's 'Summer Vibes' distinction and moreover, there's still plenty of deep bass and euphoric peaks to keep the 'Jump-Up' ravers happy. Naturally as with most
Artist Recordings releases, there's a real plethora of talent on show here, with the release's chilled out, mellow contributions coming from the likes of
Slogun & iOh, Inflex and
Colossus, while
Command Strange, Moleman, Intelligent Mannors,
Genetic Bros, Rameses B and
Maduk are on board to provide the bass filled rollers and dancefloor oriented synth leads. Our personal stand-out track in this regard is
Slogun & iOh's 'Be With You', although it's satisfyingly deep bass rolls and souful vibes are also very nearly matched by Colossus' excellent 'Longer Lasting'.
We could go on, but frankly this album speaks for itself and being a very generous FREE release from
Artist Recordings, this really should be an instant and welcome addition to anyone's music library.
Download each track for FREE via the player below or if you're able, then head over to
Breakbeat.co.uk to buy the LP (£6.99) and support
Artist Recordings.
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UK duo Star One have just sent over their latest release to kick of 2013, the ‘CopyRight EP’. The Kentish siblings are on top form with the FREE five track EP covering everything from bootlegged classics to future bass vibes, trapped out riddims, hard hitting grime and four-to-the-floor rollers. Amongst the reworks, one stand-out is of course their spin on Julio Bashmore's huge 2012 viber 'Au Seve'. In the hands of Star One, this housey roller has taken a darker turn, full of grimey licks and and BIG bassline appeal. Meanwhile for the DnB heads, 'King of Kings', sampling Fanton Mojah's 'Hail The King’, is sure to be rinsed all over junglist dancefloors across the year. 
You might remember Atlantic Connection's DnB remix of Mos Def's 'Travelin' Man' which we featured a few weeks ago. Well Atlantic Connection has dropped another FREE remix, this time of fellow DnB producer Mutt's 'Conservations'. Atlantic Connection has taken the already stellar original track and stripped it back somewhat to the bare essentials, giving it a whole new minimal flavour and diverting all focus to that warm rolling bassline and Kevin King's soulful complimenting vocals. It's a subtle, yet bold change and it really works to give Mutt's original a whole new side.
This FREE DnB track comes courtesy of DNBR. Breeze Block & Skyro's 'Spectrum' is a synth heavy roller that lies more on the liquid/pop side of Drum & Bass.....think Danny Byrd and that new Hospital Records sound. This is of course by no means a bad thing, although the radio friendly accessibility of the track my put some off at first. However given a few listens, 'Spectrum' is undoubtedly a solid tune, well deserving of the support its receiving from the likes of Liquicity and Radio 1Xtra.
It's one uncharacteristically scorching Saturday here in the UK and I know what you're all thinking...we could really go for some sweet FREE DnB right now. Fortunately, Dublin's production duo, Breakshift have come to our rescue with 'Aurora Nova', an out-of-this-world track....complete with transcendent synths, deep bass and smooth liquid vibes.
