Music

With a prolific output since his emergence on the scene in 1993, Roni Size took things to the next level in 1997 when his New Forms album won the coveted Mercury Music Prize. The ground-breaking project was a critical and commercial success and contained acclaimed tracks such as “Brown Paper Bag” and “Heroes.” Its release was preceded in late 1996 with the Reasons For Sharing EP, which contained an addictive jazzy roller called “Trust Me,” which had been tearing up dancefloors on dubplate and would go on to be a fixture in DJs boxes for years to come. Roni Size: Back in the day, we were in the studio as much as possible. We didn’t have much equipment at the time so myself, Krust, Die and Suv were using Smith & Mighty’s studio; Tricky and Flynn & Flora would be in there as well. We did that until we could afford to build our own studio, Studio Drum, which we all shared. […]

Warped basslines and inched-up garage have been hurtling through UK clubland since the late ‘90s and rippling through the noughties. Decades on, these sounds have come back into the charts and the underground with a burgeoning new wave. What do the originators think about it? It’s a simple fact: the UK loves UK garage. Although that’s never really been up for debate, particularly as UKG has enjoyed a heavy revival over the last few years, its various strands and orbital genres have waxed and waned in popularity over time. But the throbbing, adrenalised sounds of speed garage and bassline have been steadily creeping back into the dance consciousness. Then in summer 2022, a speed garage-inspired track with a Korg M1 organ bassline shot to UK #1: Interplanetary Criminal and Eliza Rose’s ‘B.O.T.A (Baddest Of Them All)’. Big basslines, breakdowns and warpers are causing havoc in clubs everywhere, with a new crop of producers putting their own take on the rough […]