the debut album by kontext on immerse records. blending key elements of dubstep and techno with classic glitch signifiers and idm, his music is instantly recognizable and utterly distinctive.

absolute madness from immerse here, as october is released from his minimal techno day centre to wreak havoc amongst the dubsteppers. elephants is a pretty appropriate name for the a, as bongo loops and ominuous machine noises are summarily flattened by the phasing bass crunch and trumpeting midrange. add a dash of running breakbeat to the mix and you have a strange yet effective dancefloor worrier. flipside, medium opts for broken techno stylings, simmering pads and clattering percussion setting the scene for the tense main event. 8/10 recommended review by diccon c/o idjmagazine

immerse records focus once again on the dubstep with the forthcoming substratum ep: a weighty 2 part release featuring a clutch of new producers repping from bristol to barcelona, all supplying tunes designed to work as well off the dance floor as on it!

two tracks from panther modern (aka vessel) who has recently signed to triangle records and is part of the young echo collective alongside kahn, el kid and zhou. raw slow house and squelchy boogie flavours on bristols immerse label.

continuing the exploration of bristol 4/4 variants, immerse proudly offers forth this decisive two-tracker from the prodigious mind of jacob martin, better know as hodge. you might be more familiar with hodge from his work as part of outboxx, who we proudly debuted on ime025. that said, he first surfaced last year with the deadly conjecture on another fine bristol institution, pollen. one thing rings true in any of the output hodge is associated with, melody. shirking the safety of sterile mechanics that so many producers hide behind, he tackles interplaying notes and harmonies with a fearless exuberance. opening track the fall kicks off on a jerky groove and ice-cold organ murmurs, gently easing in layers and clips of sound with the same joie de vivre as akufen and other micro-house progenitors. ‘crush’ kicks off on a more decidedly broken tip, keeping the twostep shuffle slow and easy as whispers of garage skip in between the warm pads. the overriding vibe on hodge’s ep is one of unpretentious, good times tunage.

the first immerse release of 2011 sees the label taking on a fresh approach while retaining the same atmospherics that have made it an essential fixture in the bristol music canon. outboxx are made up of jacob martin and matt lambert, and their sound is rooted in groovy, analogue house music. with an emphasis on jamming, theres a loose, live feel to these tracks that has an instant appeal but drags you deeper with each listen. >kate libby< kicks off on a swung beat and warm pads, before dropping down to p-funk bass and sparse synth flourishes. >berties groove< places jazzy rhodes playing at the front of the mix with a classic drum machine workout ticking away in the background. this is soulful, authentic house music with not a clinical midi pattern in earshot. despite coming from a different angle, the outboxx tracks slip neatly into the immerse legacy thus far, pointing the way for a year filled with more of the spacious, haunting club music the label has become renowned for.

brendon moeller and shigeru tanabu aka manaboo deliver 2 cuts of dubby electro and electroid dubstep for immerse records.

stanislav sevostyanikhin returns under his kontext guise with four tracks of tightest dubtech minimalism on immerse. these are his first konext productions since the impressive >dissociate< album, continuing a trajectory into widescreen dub techno and clipped, post-dubstep rhythm programming. >no more room in hell< combines the luscious atmospheres of pendle coven or bvdub with subtle glitching rhythms, while >daphnia pulex< adds glassy electronic melodies and padded subs to the equation. most interesting of all is >sattva<, rolling raga drones into his morphing dub chords and crafty future garage stabs, kinda like pole meets farben on a dusky autumnal evening. if you ever wanted a more reduced ramadanman, or a glitchier appleblim, this is well worth checking...