Brooklyn based, OKNF Collective, have served up a massive amount of music, a lot of which has been posted here on LSM, in the shape of 4 out 5 of their ‘We Are OKNF‘ albums. Each of those was packed with collective members and their tough and ready to party House tunes.

OKNF’s latest offering is their free 4 track EP ‘The Warehouse Afterhours‘. Now, with a title like that, you might just be expecting the music to be intense, dark and full of the kind of twisted energy you need to see you power through the early hours of the morning. If that is the kind of music you are expecting, the 4 heavy Techno tracks from Dorian, Stone Castle, UTCA and OMNOM, will hit the spot bang on. Top quality music, from a top quality collective. Get to know if you haven’t already.

Click here to get to Soundcloud to find all the tracks and download links.

Links for OKNF Collective :

Soundcloud / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter / Instagram

It has been just over a year now since the UK based label, Subsound, released their earth shattering album ‘Subsound Volume 1‘. That album featured 12 free tracks from a number of emerging stars and now Volume 2 has rocked up to the party, you can expect to find 15 more free tracks with the same calibre of music and producers on board. Label bosses, Shane Bowman and TZ. have both chipped in with a track each again, but the rest of producers on the new album are new names to us and are one’s that we’re definitely going to investigate further.

Music wise, you’ll find an incredible selection of House, Garage, Techno, Bassline and Grime and the old saying “there’s something here for everyone” could not be more true when it comes to ‘Subsound Volume 2‘. Tuck and reap the rewards!

Click here to get to Soundcloud to find each track and it’s download link.

Links for Subsound :

Soundcloud / Facebook / Website / Twitter

The mighty Plump DJs are here with a couple of bits of great news. Firstly is the release of their brand new tune ‘Fear Of Funk‘, which is a Disco tinged, bass riddled Breakbeat weapon of the highest grade and is it’s going to create some hefty shock waves on dance floors all around the globe, that there is no doubt! The second piece of top news is that Plump DJs have a compilation album coming out that’s due to drop in June on Punks Music. The excitement is through the roof here on the ward and you can be sure that when this slab of epicness lands, we’ll send it your way immediately. For now though, get stuck into ‘Fear Of Funk’ and take this as a taster of what’s to come this summer.

Buy ‘Fear Of Funk’ here from : Beatport / iTunes

Links for Plump DJs :

Soundcloud / Facebook / Website / YouTube / Twitter

https://technique.lnk.to/HoldinOnso

The onset of a new Technique Summer LP is always cause for excitement. When that first taster comes from none other than Drumsound & Bassline Smith, those excitement levels pique considerably

‘Holdin On’ will have you throwing your hands up and calling for the reload. Lush vocals and anthemic pads set to the crashing festival reinforced beats make for high voltage fan on the dancefloor wherever that dancefloor happens to be located.

‘Holdin On’ is the perfect teaser for the upcoming Technique Summer LP 2017 LP, its enough of a reason to buy the whole album in and of itself!!!

Drumsound & Bassline Smith – Holdin On

Over the last couple of weeks, Al Pack has been a very busy boy and has released no less than 8 free D n B remixes of some instantly recognisable tunes. I’ve managed to pick out 3 of those remixes which it has to be said, was a task in itself as they’re all so damn fine! N.R.G‘s 1992 classic ‘I Need Your Love‘, Notoriuos B.I.G‘s ‘Big Poppa‘ and Suzanne Vega‘s ‘Tom’s Diner‘ are the 3 stunners I’ve picked out and I’m sure you’re gonna love the infectious energy and cool vibes Al’s packed into this trio of remixes just as much as I do.

To find the other 5 tracks which include remixes of Beats International, Anita Baker, Souls Of Mischief, Big L and Erykah Badu, head to >>> Al’s ‘D&B Remixes’ Soundcloud page.

Download ‘I Need Your Loving’ here via Hypeddit.

Download ‘Big Poppa’ here via Hypeddit.

Download ‘Tom’s Diner’ here via Hypeddit.

Links for Al Pack :

Soundcloud / Facebook / Bandcamp / Twitter

https://www.beatport.com/release/penelope/1986130

A lush serving from Spanish Electronica/Dance imprint Parallel Label- Stevie R’s ‘Penelope EP’ is a delicate and tasteful trip into the velvet curtains of the mind’s eye

The original ‘Penelope’ unfolds into a rich Mediterranean psychedelic swim of submerged and sun dried beats and mercurial melodies plus vocal samples of Twin Peaks character ‘The Giant’

The Monkey Brothers take a more conventional but no less enjoyable route with their mixture of Progressive/Tech House sounds used in remixing ‘Penelope’

‘Afolabi’ is a tech-fueled dance into the early hours with strange Gypsy-like vocals.  A further dub mix removes the vocals for some Diggers style pumping tribalism. Agent Cooper would definitely brand this ‘Damn fine dance music’

Stevie R – Penelope EP

I’ve always been a firm advocate for techno preferring the harder unyielding form to some of the techno that seems to be flavour of the month these days which seems to be closer to the feel of deep house than the hard hitting German and Detroit techno that I’ve always loved. Of course there are lots of artists producing the harder edge but not many fans of it in this country where we have never really taken it to heart – apart from the subculture of tekno but personally I prefer to leave that to those who love it. Maybe it’s too cold and stern for us, maybe there’s not enough hooks or, dare I say it, singing but play techno anywhere but a techno club and you’ll have a dance floor emptied quicker than a  lift from a fart -and with the same amount of distain.  So in steps Taro Records to try and rectify this. To the uninitiated this EP by the Argentinian Pablo Guarino may sound unrelentingly hard but give it some space and really listen and you’ll hear the funk and all of a sudden techno isn’t the scary black clothed humourless juggernaut you thought it was – it has become a thing of beauty and light. At least that’s what I say but I’m probably not the best judge of light and dark as I think Nick Cave sings songs of happiness and joy.

The first track Paranoia clocking in at a very reasonable 130 bpm seems at first listen to be an unforgiving banging techno riot with a hard drumbeat and distorted percussion but about one and a half minutes in there starts a lighter refrain hovering in the background. This builds and the relenting beat takes a back seat as the drums become more friendly and the synth sounds take on an ethereal quality and all of sudden all is right with the world.

A remix of Paranoia follows by Unit Shifter that lives up to the tracks’ title more. The beat is faster and the percussion more insistent. There are voices somewhere deep down in the mix but you can’t quite place where. The whole piece is somewhat disconcerting but I can hear the groove in there.

The pin sharp percussion on the next track VK 9V comes as a pleasant relief from the intensity of the previous track and the syncopation of the rhythms gives an uplifting lilt to the track. The hook, although obviously not in the same bracket as a Justin Bieber one, still makes me nod my head and although it is repeated throughout the track it doesn’t pall or make me want to cave his head in – unlike Justin Bieber.

Next up are 2 versions of Voodoo. The first original one is to me the most danceable track on the EP with it’s almost rave like feel. The bass is more a rumble and a caress than a bash over the head. Long time Taro contributors Conka remix the track for the final track on the EP giving it an almost dub house feel with its synth stabs (this is relative to what’s been before you understand). The beat is more in your face but the whole track is positive in its feel – to me anyway – you may feel otherwise.

This all adds up to quite a release for Taro Records and one that should be supported so that they can release more.

Music to buy – out May 11th 2017 (probably not in Woolies)

Certified Jackin’ regular, DJ Dilli just dropped this full phat House refix of FSOL’s ‘Papua New Guinea’

The vibes of this 1992 classic are kept well and truly alive in the shiny casing of chunky 4×4 kicks with a pleasing bounce and funky Techno/Tech House arrangements. The breakbeats of the archetype ‘Papua New Guinea’ are increasingly teased as Dilli’s rerub progresses until we joyously revel in those uplifting keys of old. You can stream this tasty tune below!

Dilli – Papa Nu Dilli

The Rogue Element were a DJ/Producer duo haling from the UK consisting of members Ben Medcalf and James Tomlinson. Ben, the original member of The Rogue Element certainly needs no introduction. An international DJ, Breakspoll award winning producer and has released on labels such as Skint, Exceptional and Fat Records. He has remixed and collaborated for the likes of Fat Boy Slim, Lee Coombs, Krafty Kuts, Stanton Warriors, Soul of Man and the list goes on.

James known to others as Call Me T is a solo artist in his own right. Both were at the top of the scene when the Tech Funk Breakbeat genre was at it’s height and released a lot of music through the now defunct label LOT49.

This mix was recorded LIVE in Spain back in 2007.

In the early days of Breakzlinkz i once received an email from a lovely lady called Sonia Push asking me to help promote various Breakbeat artists that were clients of hers as she run her own PR music company called Push Promotions. From then on Sonia would send over to me exclusive material including DJ mixes and tracks with which i would help promote by posting on Breakzlinkz, Soundcloud and various music forums from back in the day. Unfortunately and sadly Sonia passed away a few years back so i’m quite proud to still have this promo CD for a tour she did around Australia back in September 2001 with her life partner and DJ/Producer partner Toby. Sonia and Toby make up their artists name SOTO and this mix is a rare Botchit Breaks Promo only CD.

R.I.P. Sonia