- A Bristol label reissues classy German garage.
- It's a good time to reissue tracks from Gush Collective, the first German crew to mold its sonic vision after 2-step. A few outlets—Plastik People, Mixin Potions—have reissued UK garage in the past few years, while some producers from the style's heyday—Groove Chronicles and Mike Millrain—have used Bandcamp to upload old hits and new material. There's also the output of young artists like Harry Wills and Alec Falconer, who produce 2-step/minimal hybrids that share Gush's taste for agile riddims and Technicolor sounds.
Bristol's clothing brand and record label Dr Banana strikes a hot iron with DRBAGAIN05, a sampler of Gush tracks from 2000 and 2001. It highlights the cross-pollination between 2-step's shuffling percussion and minimal's whack-a-mole sonics. Adam K's "Positive" volleys elements of UK garage—bursts of wobble bass, a James Brown-sounding vocal—between hits from a spacious drum section that recreates minimal's start-and-stop jack with sampled one-shots. Bassbin Drivers demonstrate a similar approach on "Niteflite," a bass-led jam that, thanks to its percussion, is light on its feet. Adam K's other contribution, "Selecta," has a more fluid sense of swing. Herb LF's "Sometimes Y" makes similar use of an R&B vocal, putting it over woodblock snares, sinking sub-bass tones and a dash of piano. Gush Collective boiled UK garage down to certain signature vocal and percussive cues, showing the magic of a slapping broken beat.
TracklistA1 Adam K - Positive
A2 Herb LF - Sometimes Y
B1 Adam K - Selecta
B2 Bassbin Drivers - Niteflite