I hear good drum and bass all the time. I search it out. My musical taste is varied, but if there’s one genre I had to pick as my favourite then drum and bass wins, no contest.
There are loads of drum and bass fans who read SGTMT, but I know it’s not all of you so I don’t post about all the good tunes I hear. I wait until I hear something really special.
At its best, drum and bass is innovative, forward-thinking, soulful, deep, occasionally violent. Because every producer is trying to out-do everyone else and make something original the scene moves incredibly quickly. Of course there are some who just copy what they’ve heard in the club the night before, but there’s always someone trying something new, or distilling a sound and doing it better than anyone else. Sometimes it’s a producer or a group of producers. Sometimes it’s a label.
Critical Music and its chief, Kasra, are examples of those people pushing the music on. Their back-catalogue shows a wealth of quality and class, as well as the occasional mainstream radio-bothering hit. Their next release, from the trio of Sabre, Stray and Halogenix, takes things to a new level in terms of that quality and that class.
Don’t take my word for it though, take this man’s:
“I don’t throw the words avant-garde and celestial around lightly but this touches the very nerve of the craft of this music drum and bass; many years from now when we look back this tune will be a ‘waypoint’ of the times.”
Goldie, Metalheadz label head, DJ, producer, legend.
This is what the label boss had to say:
“Its hard to think of a single being perfect but for me Oblique and St Clair combine many of the elements that make drum and bass amazing.”
Kasra, Critical Music head.
Ready for a listen? On the A-side Oblique, featuring the heavyweight soul vocals of Frank Carter III, combines tight, simple but effective drums with sweet warm bass and light keys to create something which sounds to me, well, perfect:
The flip side, St Clair is a heavier affair, with the same remarkable attention to detail and sweet vocal clips. This will do some damage:
This is next level business right here. A wonderful release. Classy and nuanced. The ultimate in quality. A new standard. I am dying to get my hands on it.
*Update* Here’s the video to round things off:
Oblique / St Clair is released on 27th February. Order yours here (CRIT061).
