Thirty-two tracks across two drops this week, and the loudest theme is the past showing up uninvited. NGHTMRE got Jordin Sparks back to re-sing “No Air,” Inner City’s “Good Life” got a trance rebuild, Yomanda’s Y2K anthem came back rerecorded, and Skrillex’s “Bangarang” picked up yet another edit. DnB took the biggest share again at eight posts, but dubstep and house both brought heat.
Track of the Week
IMANU & A Girl Named Sue - All U Need
IMANU keeps operating on a frequency nobody else in drum and bass can tune into. “All U Need” opens delicate and human, A Girl Named Sue’s vocal floating over a few processed chords, and then the bass arrives — warped, elastic, bending in directions your ear cannot predict. He leaves air everywhere, single sounds ringing out and decaying on their own clock, and the drop lands and pulls itself apart halfway through before reassembling into something stranger on the other side. The rest of the scene is still taking notes. Listen →
The New Drops
DnB (8 posts) — Drum and bass owned the week by volume and quality. Friction teamed with IRAH for jungle-tinged dnb that puts her voice bone-dry at the front of the mix, zero reverb, like she’s in the room giving orders. Culture Shock reminded everyone he’s still absurdly consistent with “U & I.” Dimension and Subsonic built “Ghost Town” around the contrast between an eerie vocal and a bassline the size of a bus. Makoto gathered three collaborators for soulful liquid that sounds less produced than grown, live-instrument warmth and a drummer’s swing most dnb doesn’t even attempt. Bensley turned a slower cut into a full D&B engine and the transplant landed clean. IYRE and Breezy Lee made liquid that somehow floats at 170bpm, and Loboski and Elipsa had enough personality in the details to escape the Monstercat-melodic-dnb blur.
Dubstep (6 posts) — Flux Pavilion turned a Frank Walker pop song into a weapon without losing the hook. Klinical named his track “2003” and built it to sound like the year, skeletal and patient deep dubstep that hypnotises. Oliverse brought melodic dubstep with actual sound design, a detuned growl that sounds like it’s straining to form a word. COSTA’s “You Got Me” has a half-time pocket near the back where the drums vanish and the sub just breathes, and that silence earns the last drop. SHOSH and BEANIE built “Villain” to hurt and meant it. And the Bangarang BRLLNT edit is “Bangarang” with a tighter low end, which is still “Bangarang,” which is still absurd fun after fourteen years.
House (5 posts) — Melé and IRAH built pure dancefloor fuel, all hips and chopped vocals and a groove you feel in your ankles. Moby’s “Natural Blues” got a Defected rebuild with Jacob Lusk from Gabriels singing the melody with a gospel weight that honors the original Vera Hall sample. Oden and Fatzo built another one of those smirking basslines that locks into the pocket and refuses to leave. Croell and PITM brought sleazy bass house with neon energy, and Dani Thorne made a bratty electro-house party starter that’s tighter than it needs to be.
Trance (3 posts) — Nostalgia corner. Inner City’s “Good Life” got a trance-leaning LOSTBOYJAY rework that keeps Paris Grey’s vocal front and center. Yomanda’s “Synth & Strings” came back rerecorded with a LAWTON lick that actually sounds like someone loved the source material. And SUPERSTRINGS went full Balearic with a guitar line sitting where you’d expect a synth arp, shameless arms-in-the-air stuff for people who miss when dance tracks weren’t embarrassed to feel things.
Electronic & Everything Else (10 posts) — Andrew Bayer and Vancouver Sleep Clinic made 2am music for the people who never leave the party, patient and soft and never once wallpaper. NGHTMRE brought Jordin Sparks herself back to re-sing “No Air” with seventeen more years sitting in her voice. Habstrakt dragged moombahton back out of 2013 and gave it teeth. Icona Pop delivered the template they’ve been running since “I Love It” — sticky hook, real energy, the talent still there, the ambition on vacation. NCS had a strong week: HESTER, Cartoon with Jozels and Kazhi, and EMBER with Gabriel Eli all cleared the bar with genuine hooks and actual songwriting under the production. Elderbrook’s “Is It Over Now?” got a melodic-bass upgrade from IONITY that genuinely improves on its source. And Rival, Biometrix, and CRVN made a mid-tempo stomp built on pure attitude and zero apology.
Also Banged This Week
- Friction & IRAH - Lead Dem — zero reverb on that vocal, jungle DNA underneath, on repeat since lunch. Listen →
- Moby, Jacob Lusk, BLOND:ISH, Kiko Franco - Natural Blues (TECIE) — a sacred sample handled with real care, Lusk turns it into something closer to a spiritual. Listen →
- Klinical - 2003 — deep dubstep that trusts you to feel the weight of what he leaves out. Listen →
- Makoto, Gabriella Bongo, PVC & Blocksberg - Better Days — soulful liquid with a live-drummer swing and warmth you cannot fake. Listen →
- NGHTMRE & Jordin Sparks - No Air — nostalgia bait made with actual affection. Did not plan to feel anything about a 2008 ballad today. Listen →
See you next week. Coldplay still sucks.