This Ain't Bristol - Amsterdam Selections

One of the first blog posts on freshdrops was the original TAB Selections back in 2015. Now they’re back with another massive compilation of driving tech-house in preparation/commemoration of the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) coming up at the end of October. 14 tracks from artists like This Ain’t Bristol regulars like Maximono and Nick Olivetti, along with some new faces. The sound throughout is signature TAB though - grimy, deep, dark and pounding tech-house.

My two standout picks from this compilation are definitely BYOR - Call Me Up, and MKJAY & Lowdown’s Afterhours.

The official release isn’t until October 12th, but check out the sampling of the entire compilation below.

-KJ

NVTE - rune w/ IGAZI

This is a really nice trap production from NVTE and IGAZI. Heavy but not overbearing energy, and some really nice piano work rounding out the breakdown and leading into the drop. It’s also up as a free download (in WAV format, go lossless!) so grab a copy.

-KJ

rgry - 9302018

I’m jumping back in here with a few posts, and what better way to start than with the freshest piece of trap from a producer I’ve been following for a long time. rgry just dropped 9302018, which is a short but intense burst of experimental bass. Check this out soon though, rgry tends to upload and delete from their soundcloud page often.

-KJ

Yugen - Calgary

We wanted to share this track earlier, but felt like it would fit best as a Mellow Monday post and held off until today. Abbey Fontaine and Edwin O'Hara are long term friends and a duo out of Melbourne working under the project name Yugen. After both having had to pull through some tough personal battles, they were faced with the choice of whether or not to continue with their musical project. As you can tell since you're reading this here, they decided to continue and put everything into their music.  This approach definitely comes across in their first track. Yugen sent some of their material my way through freshdrops email, and I'm glad they did - Calgary blew me away with the emotional depth and vocal chops exhibited on it. The backing track is a fairly simple but driving beat, but the real strength of this piece comes from the ambience created in the background along with the slow evolving melodic elements all working in unison with Abbey's superb vocal work and lyricism. Best of all, Calgary is released as a free download from their Soundcloud, which can even be downloaded from the embedded player below.

Yugen has already had some attention from Triple J, and have also put together a short teaser video available on Vimeo. Calgary is the first piece of work from Yugen, but it has me just waiting on their next piece. Make sure to follow their pages and watch for this duo as more material becomes available.

- KJ

Nocturnal Sunshine - Take Me There

If you enjoy your electronica deep, grooving, and on the dark and dubby side, Take Me There by Nocturnal Sunshine will be right up your alley.  This is the first production taken from the debut album by Nocturnal Sunshine, Maya Jane Coles' new alias. If you have been around the deep house scene for any length of time at all in the last several years, Maya Jane Coles should not be a new name to you.

The album is available for pre-order through iTunes, and you can download Take Me There immediately to hold you over to the full release on May 25th.  However, if you would rather just grab the single on its own without pre-ordering, it is also available as a single from Beatport.

For those of you needing a refresher on some old Maya Jane Coles, here is one of my favourite tracks of hers, and arguably one of her most well known tracks, What They Say from back in 2010.

- KJ