SKC’s a big favourite here at Nerve – he’s let us release some of his brilliant music and he continues to release amazing drum n bass regularly with no sign of any loss of quality control.

He’s also part of Hungary’s Tactile Vinyl collective – and they’ve decided to give away this track from the archives. Originally scheduled for release on Freak, it’s a big techy beast of a track and I used to absolutely cain this when it was first around.

So get it down the pipes and get it in the serato crate and in the CD wallet asap!

(right click and “save target as” to download)

SKC, Longman and Bratwa – Rollercoaster

Cat No: NB018
Artist: Ekaj
Released: 8th March 2010

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

1: “Detox”

2: “Fission Battery”

Paul Reset’s notes:

We’re going back to our roots at Nerve Breaks with this two tracker from Lancaster based producer Ekaj. Big chunky breaks is the order of the day here. “Detox” open’s Ekaj’s attack and whacks the listener around the head with crisp drums and deep bass wrapped around some spacey stabs and razor sharp vocal snippets.

“Fission Battery” is up next – wandering down a slightly rave infused path but retaining the spacey feel by wrapping some ethereal pads around the tough beats and bass.

We’ll hopefully see a lot more Ekaj material on NB in the future so enjoy this opening salvo!

Cat No: NERVEEP007
Artist: Megadrummer
Released: 6th March 2010

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

1: “Blackout”

2:”Here and Now”

3:”Palpitation”

Paul Reset’s notes:

Russian producer Megadrummer makes his Nerve debut with this killer 3-tracker. From the eerie intro of “Blackout” through to the deep techy beats of “Here and Now” before finishing up with some backwards beats on “Palpitation”, the EP showcases his talent for dancefloor beats with a nod to the deeper side.

Megadrummer’s productions first came to my attention when I discovered his amazing remix of Lynx & Kemo’s “Global Enemies” – his production combines crisp drums and punchy bass with a big coating of warmth for good measure.

He’s recently released on Hospital Records also and with this EP he shows that 2010’s gonna be a big year for him!

Two mixes in two days from me (check my Beardism Vol 1 housey mix over at Phuturelabs) and this time it’s straight up drum n bass goodness. A mixture of deeper beats, techy beats, jumpy uppy beats and some harder beats towards the end. Get it down yi.

Paul Reset – February 2010 mix
34 Mins – 224kbps MP3 – 56MB

Download MP3 (right click and save target as)

Listen:

You can also listen to the mix via my Soundcloud and Mixcloud pages if that’s yer preference.

Tracklisting:

“Tundra” – DLR (dub)
“Four” – Linden (dub)
“Bone Structure” – Rockwell & Zero Tolerance (Critical)
“The Lost Isles” – Eveson (CIA Deep Kut)
“Minimoid” – Temper D (dub)
“Millenia” – Y2D (Nerve dub)
“Barefoot” – Sabre & Ulterior Motive (Critical)
“Perch” – Meth (Offkey)
“Anonymous Dubs” – Expect (dub)
“The Mine” – J Majik & Wickaman (Mosquito)
“Hot Foot” – Dose & Trie (Uprising dub)
“My Baby Left Me (DC Breaks rmx”) – Rox
“The Nephilim” – Helix (Skynet)
“Slow Motion (Skynet rmx)” – Amex & Rufftex (Percussiv dub)
“Shellshock” – Noisia feat Foreign Beggars (Vision)
“Robberbaron rmx” – Gremlinz & LaVice (dub)
“G Riddim” – Stranjah (Soothsayer)
“Floodgates” – Counterstrike & Thought (Counterstrike dub)

This is a mix I recorded for my Phuturelabs blog.
It’s snack sized at just over 30 minutes and features some quality house, techy house, breaksy bits and a wee dash of old skool at the end. So get this on your MP3 player of choice and get yer boogie on.

Paul Reset – Beardism Vol 1

Download Mp3 (right click and “save target as”)

Listen:

Tracklisting:

“Stay Out All Night (Radio Slave rmx)” – Josh Wink (Ovum)
“Feelin (Joris Voorn Cant Cick This Feelin When It Hits Mix)” – Pitto (Phonica)
“Work The Week” – Nic Fanciulli (Rejected)
“Green Light” – Alan Fitzpatrick (Tokio)
“The Infinites (Jake One rmx)” – Bomb The Bass (K7)
“Christ Martin” – Joe & Will Ask (Gulp)
“All Day” – Zodiac Cartel (U&A)
“Dominos” – Chris Lake & Michael Woods (Rising Music)
“Killa Sound (Heavyfeet rmx)” – Dj Zinc (Bingo)
“Welcome (Global Warming rmx)” – Etienne De Crecy (Pixadelic)
“Frequency (Hostage rmx)” – Altern 8 (Booty)
“Alpha Centauri” – Noisia (Vision)
“Dj’s Take Control (Seduction rmx)” – SL2 (XL)

Cat No: NERVE027
Artist: Matt U
Released: 12th February 2010

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

A: “Close Call”

AA: “The Alchemist”

Paul Reset’s notes:

I’ve been a big fan of Matt U’s work for a long time, from his early releases on BSE and Moving Shadow through to his recent dubstep outings, his unique brand of tough edged beats ‘n’ bass have always been a favourite of mine and while Matt’s been concentrating mostly on the dubstep genre of late, he’s gone back in on the drum n bass tip and delivered two chunks of techy goodness for NERVE027.

“Close Call” kicks off the release with hard beats driving a techy synth hook over rumbling sub bass with catchy female vocal snippets and crisp percussion overlayed for good measure. “The Alchemist” on the flip is a chunky dubby roller on an eastern vibe with sinister undertones.

More info:

Matt-U on Myspace

ICR has delivered time and time again for Nerve (with NERVE018, NERVEBP002 and NERVEBP003) and he’s a producer I’m constantly pestering for new material. An ability to draw on any number of influences to create a drum n bass concoction that’s uniquely his own and free of any associations to passing trends in dnb has seen him carve out his own niche and build an untarnished reputation.

While he was previously one of the most prolific producers in the scene, other commitments have seen him spend less time recently on new material. But thankfully he’s back with an amazing new free album called “Restored”.

Showcasing his ability to create otherworldly atmospherics and wrapping them in tough beats and bass, he’s also included his headwrecking remix of Goldie’s rave classic “Krisp Biscuit” and DJ Trax pops in at the end to turn in an amazing hip hop remix of “Less Than Three”.

Here’s a coupla clips below to give you a taster and you can also download the album in a handy ZIP file complete with artwork here:

Download ICR’s “Restored” LP

ICR – “Nevermore”

ICR – “Heavy Water”

ICR – “Less Than Three (DJ Trax remix feat. Assorted Anonymous)”

Watch out for more new material from ICR in the shape of two albums – one for his own Misspent Music imprint (“Between Nowhere and Goodbye”) and one for Counter Intelligence (“Such Unimportant Things Like Us”).

Cat No: NB017
Artist: Ronin
Released: January 27th 2010

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

1: “Quarantine”

2: “If You Fear Dying”

3: “Vicious Tradition”

4: “My Own Summer”

5: “The Battledrums EP (seamless mix)”

Paul Reset’s notes:

I first came across Ronin’s work through a tip off by Venkman from Iller Clothing, he pointed me to Ronin’s myspace and I was literally blown away. Absolutely epic downtempo hip hop with jaw dropping production and hooks a-plenty. His first album “Best Laid Plans” (available to download for free) is a total must for anyone with a taste for Shadow’s earlier work and early Ninja Tune and Mo’ Wax.

I was delighted when he agreed to put together an EP for Nerve Breaks and off to work he went! I’m very very proud to present “The Battledrums EP”. Taking a harder route than his debut album but keeping up the epic factor, this serves as a taster for his second album “Remixes From The Field”. I asked Ronin if he’d explain why these tracks are on the harder side of things and he had this to say:

These tracks are a taste of things to come, they represent the harder edge of the album. Trying to show as much variation in style as possible to reflect my range of influence, so the album ranges from the downtempo ways of the first LP to 190bpm efforts like the My Own Summer remix. Composition is a big part of what I’m doing so I like to think some songs span the whole spectrum within the same track.

The song choices for this EP are amongst the heaviest on the album to contrast with my previous stuff.

In making this new effort I set out to make what I was feeling, regardless of what genre any given track might then fall into. With any luck they’re still all very much “Ronin” tracks, so not to fret – there’s still all the dreamy, cinematic stuff pulling these tracks together. The tripped out, spaghetti western shit is still very much a part of my M.O, I just like to think I’ve got a bit more in there aswell now!

So down to the specifics, Quarantine samples primarily “In a Heartbeat” from the 28 days later soundtrack, the vocals are scratched and cut from a Thom Yorke acapella. On “If You Fear Dying” that is indeed Zach De La Rocha (RATM being one of my all time favourite bands) The track remixed is from his One Day As A Lion EP. Vicious Traditions is a rework of a track by The Veils, and My Own Summer I assume speaks for itself, that track just deserved a remix that took it in the opposite direction from the downtempo NIN remix!

I’d also like to add that although in places it might not sound it, I think this is very much a hip hop album, using “old school” hip hop techniques. 99% of it is still MPC work, filters & turntablism, its just used to different effect in parts.

In my (humble) opinion, the original hip hop of old sampled and remixed soul & funk records because that was the music of the time. I’m just doing the same thing with the music that I love from MY era. It just comes down to trying to be as honest as possible with the music I create.

So there you go – without further ado I recommend you download this ASAP and get the headphones on LOUD. The tracks are supposed to be listened to in order with no gaps so we’ve also included an MP3 of the tracks segued together. For more info on Ronin – head over to his Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/roninonetwo.

First mix of 2010 from me. A nice mixture of deep n moodiness with a bit of jungly amen goodness, some techy rollers and finishing with some eerie bizness from Morphy for good measure.

Paul Reset – January 2010
38 Mins – 192kbps MP3 – 53MB

Download MP3 (right click and save target as)

Listen:

Tracklisting:

“Waiting” – DBR (dub)
“Dark Age” – S.P.Y (CIA)
“Autonomy” – Y2D (Nerve dub)
“If Only” – Taxman (Ganja)
“On The Slate” – Saburuko & Morphy (Nerve dub)
“The Bug” – S.P.Y (Spearhead)
“Untitled” – Mute, Mako & Linden (Dispatch dub)
“Rotten Earth” – DLR & Octane (Peer Pressure dub)
“Crunchy” – Break (Critical)
“Direct Order” – The Funktion (Run DNB)
“The Execution (Serum rmx)” – Spinback & Gwange (CIA)
“Blackboard” – Marcus Visionary (Liondub)
“Blue Notes” – Propaganda & Meth (dub)
“Defrag” – Future Signal & Zero Method (Climate)
“Banshee” – Jade & Mindscape (Citrus)
“Armshouse (Tech Itch rmx)” – Digital & Outrage (Function dub)
“Shackles” – Morphy (Voodoo dub)
“Haunted Ocean Pt2″ – Max Richter (Delabel)

Cat No: NERVE026
Artist: Receptor / Zero Method
Released: 14th January 2010

Tracklisting – click track title for 320kbps MP3 download

A: “East Electra VIP” – Receptor

AA: “Muskeg” – Zero Method

Bonus track:

“East Electra” – Receptor

Paul Reset’s notes:

For Nerve’s first release of 2010 we’re coming out of the corner fighting!

First up – Russia’s Receptor delivers “East Elektra (VIP)” – a big slice of chunky techy dnb with an absolutely huge sound and when the half time breakdown in the middle drops it’s always absolute mayhem on the floor! Also we’ve included the original version (minus the half time breakdown) as a bonus track. Don’t miss his other recent brilliant releases on oBSEssions and Breed 12 Inches.

Next up Zero Method delivers the amen driven techy roller “Muskeg”. Tough beats and bass drive the track alongside funky as hell synth stabs and this is another sure fire dancefloor filler from one of Hungary’s finest. Also watch out for the release of his second EP on DSCI4 – coming soon and including the absolutely amazing “Timeworm”.

More info:

Receptor on Myspace
Zero Method on Myspace