The Nottingham-based producer and DJ took inspiration from early 2000's bruk and fused it with dub-heavy bass to beef up his latest output on the brand-new Little Red Hand label.
John Wilcox aka Cyclonix has been DJ-ing for 15+ years and took up production around 10 years ago. His earliest release was the Gift Of A Patient Soul EP back in 2012. Since then he's dropped a handful of EPs on various labels, such as Boogie Cafe, Phuture Shock Musik and Dope Tones Records. As a selector his taste includes a broad palette of soul, funk, hip hop, drum & bass/jungle, trip hop, jazz, acid jazz, broken beat, deep house and techno. His productions stay more on the electronic side and range from house, techno, acid, trip hop to the iconic west-London broken beat rhythms. He frequently shows his love for the latter in his 'Back To Bruk Sessions' show on Nuwaveradio. One of my fav tunes in that vein is the 2019 released 'NJ Roller', which builds around a hard-hitting drumbreak.
On his latest creation the overall sound reminisces the early-2000 broken beat explorations with an additional dub vibe. The title track 'Metal Bass' has heavy sub bass lines, smashing drums, sizzling synths and vocal chants you hear in the sound clash culture. This tune would be right at home in a DJ set at the notorious Notting Hill Carnival street parties, but would do just as much wreckage at a filthy rave in a warehouse. 'Chupsed' continues the chopped up broken drum patterns but this time a little more on the dub-side rhythmically, with the occasional cut-up of a classic soulful house vocal sample.
To close off the EP there's the 'Refix Dub' version of 'Metal Bass', which leaves out the more heavy drums and focusses on subtle snares with lots of reverb, long holding sub-bass notes and eerie Fender Rhodes phrases on the keys. The whole EP is surely aimed at a quality sound system and deserves to be heard (and felt) that way. Save these bangers for the next real parties, this won't work via Zoom.
Cyclonix' EP is the first release on his own newly founded label Little Red Hand, who aim to:
"champion the sounds of modern electronic fusion music on the broken beat and future jazz spectrum taking in hints of house, techno and breakbeat culture."
Well, we're digging the first release and will surely keep an eye on their future endeavours.
The Metal Bass EP is out now on Bandcamp via Little Red Hand and after March 26th on all other digital platforms.
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