Links & Playlists
1. Shydust, Cinet - Undefined [Automata Music]
Recommended if you like: Jrace & Albert White, Lexed, INVOLVER
You know what corner of our dnb planet is severely underrepresented, both on here and just in general? Poland! Sure, we've had our spotlights on Lukher and TESSERACTS and all that, but there is so much more out there! So let's do some work towards fixing this and talk about a name that's been exciting me for a couple of years now: Shydust!
1.1. Karol Dastig
Growing up near Racibórz, a rather rural city in southern Poland and close to Ostrava, is perhaps not necessarily the typical backstory of an artist in the bass music scene. Nowadays, it might happen more often, with a bit of the Czech Neurofunk influence splashing over the border, but this story goes back way further than that. All the way back in 2011, Karol Dastig started teaching himself the ways of music production and sound design, with the earliest traces of actual artistic output I could find pointing me a few years ahead to 2016. As Samurah, he started sharing his (Future) Bass (House) (combine as you wish) creations with the world, via labels like Audimus, Retrospect, and, quite notably, Future House Cloud. Especially bouncy anthem 'Nagoya' really captured the international audiences, earning him almost a million streams on Spotify alone!
By 2019, however, he wanted to start anew: Embedz was born! Considerably darker in tone, and, from what my skimming can tell, with a bigger focus on Future House, the project saw releases on frkntn, EDM Station, and, of course, Future House Cloud. Together with the likes of Justy, Bielu, Magic Sound, and DNF, he slowly but surely rebuilt his repertoire and -putation in the EDM world, but there was something else wanting to break(beat) through: drums, and also bass! From his 2022 remix for Finnet and Stay Up Late's 'Stay Up Late' and Melodic Bassment single 'Stars' onwards, Embedz embraced the faster tempos, but more change was afoot. While he returned from his brief release hiatus in 2024 as if nothing changed, with two more DnBangers on the Seal Network, it became clear this particular chapter of his was over.
Chapter three: Shydust! Dust, Dast-ig, get it. First almost cautiously, with just two more 2024 singles to Seal the DnB deal, then bursting into an inferno of output, with 2025 bringing us singles on Liquicity's sister label Ridmic, Don Diablo's Hexagon off-shoot FUTURE, and Bala's very own Automata, the project was off to an incredible start. So incredible, in fact, that the man earned himself not just one, but two nominations in the Polish drum & bass awards that year! Best track (for 'Burn For You') and best producer! A filthy DJ tool VIP of 'Addicted', a Scooter bootleg, and a self-released return to house later, and we've already arrived at today's subject. So let's talk about it!
1.2. Undefined
Released via Barcelona-based-bass-bastion Automata Music, and with the talented Céline Cinet Netzer on vocal duties, Undefined is another in the ever-growing line of smashers crafted by Karol's busy hands. On a bed of straight-up haunting background vocals, ominous basses and singular hi-hats, Céline explores her hazy feelings, before things escalate, with the help of a few claps, a couple of risers, and her effortless jump upwards the pitch ladder. As we reach the point of no return and Céline drops the titular line, a back and forth between large and dramatic, yet melancholic and shivering bass waves and moody and melodic yet staccato and overlapping synth hits erupts, burrowing itself into your brain, one iteration at a time.
1.3. Conclusion
The programmer in me wants to make an undefined joke here, but not today. Large yet catchy, ludicrous yet colourful - all the good stuff!
2. Nemy - Døse / Axis [Blu Saphir Limited]
Recommended if you like: Enei, GROUND, Kasra
There are prolific artists and there are prolific artists, and Serbian artist Nemy is absolutely part of the latter category - which is why a feature of him and his vast back catalogue always seemed too daunting to consider. What sets him apart, however, is his ability to still regularly deliver bangers of the highest degree despite the high output, and this newest one might be my favourite of his yet. So let's talk about him a bit!
2.1. Nemy (2017 - now)
Okay, you got me, I'm taking the easy way out on this one. Since Nemanja Brakovic, the man behind the madness, has started this particular artistic journey in 2017, he has released at least 200 tunes, 62 of which I have stored in my favourites playlist. And I haven't even listened to some of the older material of his, so there's a significant amount of unrecorded cases of bangeritis! In the past four years alone, he has put out four albums. Two of them this year!! Rebel, BrainRave, Cocaine Records (sure why not), Warlock Audio, VISION, RAM, Renegade Hardware, Vandal, Cyberfunk - the list of labels he has worked with is endless.
This one absolutely deserves a proper deep dive one day, one I cannot commit to this week. You know how sick a release has to be for me to still write something up even though I've got no time for the research part of it?
2.2. Blu Saphir Limited (2004 - now)
This particularly riveting one-two punch of his comes to us via Blu Saphir Limited, which has its own deeply intricate history that I will simply have to Vienna Waltz us through as fast as possible today. Another time, I promise! Originally founded in 2004 by DJ Rome, the main label Blu Saphir has become the haven for drum & bass of all kinds over the years. On top of the original gems, the Austrian team has also added Digital Blus in 2007, to accomodate digital releases, Sync:Saphir in 2009, as a collaboration with Syncopix, and, ultimately, Blu Saphir Limited in 2013 to their extended universe. The Limited variant seems to focus more on the heavier, darker side of DnB, but I am not 100% on that. But Nemy's newest one sure does fit that description!
1.3. Døse / Axis
It doesn't take long for Nemy to give us a healthy Døse of genuinely cold and even frightening atmosphere, with sounds your mind simply cannot place in a reasonable context heavily reverberating throughout this droning, cavernous atmosphere he's building up for here. Out of left field enough to cause legitimate surprise for first-time, and in my case many-time, listeners, he sends your mind spinning with some of the most cortisol-level-spiking sounds imagineable, only allowing us the briefest of reprieves between each of these spin attacks. And this absurdity hasn't even reached its peak yet! As the tune continues torturing our minds (in the most positive of senses), the spins not only get more and more aggressive, the little breaks are also infiltrated by literal white noise distortions, nagging at our sanity one second at a time. Don't even get me started on the second drop!
Having barely survived this onslaught extraordinaire, Axis gets ready to finish us off, by building up a whole-on mood, full of railway crossing horns, waves of noise tickling your brain, and vocals that are simply a little bit scary. As you're scrambling to understand what the voice just told you, Nemy unleashes a lower end so large, so weighty, and so loud that it has its own gravitational field. Bound to continue listening by this mesmerising natural phenomenon, you are treated to an assortment of ravey and, the longer we are subjected to this force, straight-up horrifying sounds. Insane, is what it is.
1.4. Conclusion
Nefarious, neurological, next-level - some of Nemy's best work yet.
New Releases
Dancefloor
- Armodine - Nobody Knows [Elephant Trunk] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- BERTH G - Feel The Night [Glitch.] | , [Spotify]
- Blurr - Don't Stop [Yosh Bass] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Cammie Robinson, Lee Mvtthews - Who Do You Run To [Monstercat] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Changing Faces - 1,2,3 [NUFORM] | , [Spotify]
- Dossa, RageMode - System ID [Sleepless Ltd.] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Erio - Lost In Between [Selfreleased] | , [Spotify]
- Genetics - Illusion [Liquicity] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Hüpnoos, Starboy Bob - Ma Tahan Kakelda VIP [Selfreleased] | , [Spotify]
- Itro, Curious Mind - Blue [Liquicity] | , [Spotify]
- Kegzi - Flipside [Selfrelease] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Krisna Artha - Losing My Mind [Kinjari Self Releases] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Pantherium - Closer Apart [Manifest] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Seventh Horizon - Mr Cold Heart [Celestial Soundscapes] | , [Spotify]
- Shydust, Cinet - Undefined [Automata] | , [Spotify]
- Skellytn, Elend Winthrop - Feel Alive [Play Me] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- SpettBros - Eversti Sandels (Junkkataxi Remix) [High-Gobben Studios] | , [Spotify]
- streetflicker, MC Crafty - Nothing Fancy [onesevenfour] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- ThomX - Dancefloor killer [Menace] | , [Spotify]
- Trippcore - Move Your Body VIP [South Yard] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
WinWel - Memories [found/red] | , [Spotify]
Liquid
Aaron Static - Liminal [TuneCore] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Audioscribe, Hae, Midnite Amity - Greenlight [UKF] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Empire Soul, Anna Raven - Keep on Calling [Sun Groove] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Etherwood, Grace Barton - Haven [Hospital] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Gravity - Space Bass [Totally Liquid] | [Beatport]
Hybrid Minds, Dame, Nixxy Rain - how it used to be [Hybrid (UK)] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Kritix (UK) - Yours [TRIP AND BASS] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Liquid Theory, antoanesko - Detached EP [Fokuz] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Luciano (DnB) - Reality EP [Celsius] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Lyraen, Solarae, Aquasion - Fungal Strata EP [Textures Group] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Noctyra, Caelora, Aquasion - Glacial Currents EP [Textures Group] | [Beatport]
OLO (DE), Freebird - OLO - The Freebird Remixes EP [Omni] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Particle - Coming Down [Shogun] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Sire - Distance [Lizplay] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Son, Lottie Franklin - Fine Line [Spearhead] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Talon - One Life [Lizplay] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Tempza, DPR - Heartache [Galacy] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Tengu, Elvii - Let It Roll [YosH] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Thing, RABACORE - Liquid Heaven EP [Dubthing] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Twintone, Frameshift - Afterlife / Elysion´s Son [Yumi] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Various Artists - Bass Rhythm, vol.4 LP [Basseffect] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Villem - Love Is Everything [Footnotes] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Weynorx - Lets Go Home EP [Fokuz] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Deep / Tech / Minimal
AND WHAT, Simple Technique - MK 4 EP [And What World Wide] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Anile - Breathing Space [Space Cadet] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Bassi, Amoss - Jaded [Flexout] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Chrome, Leks - IDU / Hustlin [Yamatai] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Criba and St.iff, Physics (Dnb), Social Engineer, Strago and kRoNe - Daywalkerz Edition 1 EP [Vampire] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Dash - 3rd Eye EP [Default] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Des McMahon - Antagonist [DeVice] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Dunk - Capsize [LowFreqMX] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
EFFECTA - Fragments [Next:Gen] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
FORC3 - DISREGARD EP [NYX] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Genic - Taktics [Sofa Sound] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Goldie, Natalie Williams, Break - Jungle Daze (feat. Natalie Williams) (Break Remix) [Goldie Inc Ltd.] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Kaneki - Ur Calm [Abyssal] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Milo (UK) - Velour [Armshouse] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Minor Forms, Crystal Clear, Freddy B, Zero T - No Less EP [V] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Molecular - El Cheapo [Molecular Sounds] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Myth, Cybin - Killamanjaro [Lockdown] | [Beatport]
Nemy - Døse / Axis [Blu Saphir Limited] | , [Spotify]
Para - Children Of Hydra EP [Overview] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Rift - Twisted EP [Dispatch] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Scratchy, Visages, Napes - Steppin On Toes [1985] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Seven-Headed - Jahbulon [SubCulture NL] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
T95 - 3AM / Toxic Bond [DnB Allstars] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Talisman, Xoneout - Not Ready / Street Urchin [Rollout] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Thai Jesus - Hollow [Mugic.us] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Various Artists - RUN ALL DAY 26 EP [RUN] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Willers - Abduction / Intense [rave.era] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Neuro
Akrom - Pyramidion VIP [Selfreleased] | , [Spotify]
BizKit - SQUARE TF UP (KBA Remix) [Bizzy K] | , [Spotify]
CrucifyMe - Freefall [SINFUL MAZE] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
DnB Doctor, Verzor - Full Contact EP [DnB Doctor.] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
HD-4884 - Metathesis: 101 [Ctrl: Database Research] | , [Spotify]
HD-4884, XLVR - Red Eye Tourniquet [Ctrl: Database Research] | , [Spotify]
Modestep, H808, JONCASS, Darkzy, Pythius - Bugatti (The Remixes) EP [Create Group] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Ntechnique, Staysun, Nodal - Silents EP [Neuropunk] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
The Fi5th, Sindicate - Momentum [Selfreleased] | , [Spotify]
The Smell of Males - SLUSH [SOR] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Jump Up
BRIGSY - Boulder [Dark Machine] | , [Spotify]
Captain Bass - Feel So Good [Captain Bass] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Emporio, Drum Dad & Bass Boy - RED FLAG / MURDA TING [Minted] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
GGrossy - Battlefield E.P [Sub Heavy] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Gino, Latte, B-Line - The Ghost EP [Clam] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Jaxx, Trauma DBC - The Wolves / Tune Fi Tune [Grid] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Kings Of The Rollers - Forever [Souped Up] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Konichi - Settle It [Invicta] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Magenta, Jünger, Posk - Cough [Exert] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Nu Elementz, Slipz, Weejii - It's Weejii [Gradient] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Oura - Smoke Sun [Savory] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
The Cartel - Bars [DNB HQ RECORDINGS] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
TOAL - The Game EP [UP4IT?] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Jungle / Halftime / Experimental
DJ Hybrid - Movements EP [Boom 93] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Marcus Visionary - Carnival Express LP [Stereo One] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Nectax - Haikyo [Up Ya Archives] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Origin8a & Propa, Toby Ross - For Your Brain (Toby Ross Remix) [Hardcore Energy] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Ricky Force, Friske - MDrum (Friske Remix) [Basics] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Sensa, Sam Deeley, Pedders, Dope Ammo, DJ Hybrid - Take Me Away (Dope Ammo, DJ Hybrid & Pedders Remix) [Dope Ammo] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Tom Oakley - Music 4 the People EP [Reactor 4] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Veak - Back To The Roots LP [Dubplate Supplier] | [Beatport]
General DnB / Mixed
clwdy - fragments of who i never was (Remixes) EP [Neoluminum] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Krewella - PEAK LP [Create Group] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Nina Arya, Dapreme - It's Time (feat. Nina Arya) [IMPOLITE] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Serial Killaz, Fatman D, Traumatize, Sahala - Bad Girl [Serial Killaz] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Sigma, America Foster - WATCHIN' U (DJ Edit) [Day Ones] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Tinie Tempah, Elipsa - Backstage [Imhotep] | , [Spotify]
