- If you've been following the "halftime" trend (that's a very loose term for the mélange of drum & bass, jungle, hip-hop and footwork that's filtered through the bass scene in recent years), you'll likely know about Ivy Lab and their 20/20 LDN label. Last November, that trio of Critical-affiliated producers—Sabre, Stray and Halogenix—launched the new project to release their first halftime mixtape, called 20/20 Volume One. It was mostly a grim and nihilistic affair, all cold sounds and shiny metal surfaces, with few traces of human life. There was none of Ivy Lab's "fluffy-cloud drum & bass," just bleak, battle-ready broken beats.
20/20 LDN has since signed artists like Deft and Shield to present their version of the micro-genre. On his My Flava EP, the latter producer, a classically trained percussionist, revels in the kind of bass perversions producers are free to make in the world of halftime. And his tracks are pretty distinct. "Fools," for instance, sounds like a bee hive trying to communicate with us, while the title track delivers one of the most subversive and catchy drops of the year. "March Of Giants" nails a big, bassy swagger. Lastly, "Straight Forward" is as it says, the EP's most straight-up hip-hop track, and it fully delivers on that front.
TracklistA1 My Flava
A2 March Of Giants feat. Submarine
B1 Fools
B2 Straight Forward