London based Ricochet Records induct Clatterbox to their growing crew of electro/breakbeat specialists with this awesome four tracker.

Combining state of the art sound design and proper dancefloor weight this release teleports around genre boundaries. Sounding completely futuristic, whilst keeping enough primal funk to drive the point home.

Opener and title track Autofire is a sub soaked rave in space, massive rolling breaks are intersected with holographic cuts, all driven by a black-hole powered hoover riff. Proper peak of the night mind-melt material for zero gravity DJs.

Stake Out, takes a stealthy but expansive mission into rough territory, the boom bass break spreading out over increasingly deep and complex soundscapes, exploring the resonant interplay between interlocking elements with a cold detached eye.

The ghosts of Tech Step haunt the third track Game Over, from the massive sub drop in the intro the tune descends into a fallout cloud of irradiated low frequencies and spectral echoes. A great reminder of what a real bassline is in these times of frenzied midrange aggro.

The funk is strong in the closing number Beat’em up, a snaking broken dub trip into the outer regions. Propelled by a nicely clattering (pun intended) break, that at times threatens to disappear into its self generated vortex but manages to snap back into focus just in time.

When it seems that every micro scene is building its walls , releases like this EP give me faith that good music and unique artists will bring people together regardless of perceived boundaries.

Highly recommended.

David Kempston may be best known for his stripped-down electro productions on Touchin’ Bass, Clear and Trust … but his dark explorations into dope beat territory are similarly accomplished and unique. These four tracks take us back to the Dark Mode era of hardcore breaks – driving minimal rollers with a deep, sinister underbelly.

Grab

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Clatterbox – Autofire
Clatterbox – Stake Out
Clatterbox – Game Over
Clatterbox – Beat’em Up
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