Civil Music’s output has been pretty irrepressible over recent months, churning out a steady flow of hard to sleep on releases at an almost disheartening rate for those of us trying to watch our bank balances. Their scope has been typically colourful and varied, with the full length epics from Starkey and Reso intersected by tough grime ammunition on “Command” and the footwork inspired, 808 heavy efforts from Kuhn and Ital Tek. The imprint continues to encompass wildly differing tempo ranges and ooze those hyper-maximalist, forward thinking sounds that are so in fitting with the label’s aesthetic, ever-solidifying them as one of the most exciting and consistent collectives around. Monday saw the talented Danny Scrilla drop his first full release for Civil following on from his remix of Reso’s “Check 1, 2” last year. Considering he has just a single full 12-inch under his belt previously, based on the levels displayed here Munich based Scrilla rolls with the accomplishment and production depth of a veteran. He builds engaging, multi-textured beats, and it’s when operating up in the higher tempos of around 85/ 170bpm that he seems to deliver his most assured work. There’s a deluge of heavy music in this space coming from Danny and a number of his affiliates; Dawn Day Night, Om Unit, Fracture, Deft, Sam Binga et al, all of whom amalgamate various jungle/ juke/ dubstep/ hip-hop influences to forge refreshing hybridised riddims that are genuinely original in composition. These guys have gone a long way in reinvigorating interest in 170 for many, in the same way that dBridge and Co. did with their stripped-back, devoid of cacophonic excess ‘Autonomic’ sound back in 2009.
Stream: Danny Scrilla – Fluxus EP (Civil Music)
With Danny’s tracks on the “Fluxus EP“, the halfstepping drum frameworks are particularly fresh, creating increased space and syntax in which to interweave other melodic/ percussive elements. Scrilla’s ability to construct rich, heady harmonies is apparent throughout the record; the layering on “Fallout” is ocean-deep, with belching synth riffs and almost Balearic chords overlaying dreamlike pads in the background, rendering it an involving listen. “Thorium” swings and swaggers like it’s some kind of theme to a future-set U.S. cop drama, with a huge, rampant synth line adding a dash of funk into the mix. “Magellenic Clouds” operates in a similar vein, otherworldly cosmic G-Funk with arpeggiated bleeps and audacious melodies riding buoyant swells of sub frequency. The mood lightens a little on “Jolt” with a brisker, more dancefloor-inclined approach, driven by taut, rapid fire stabs and skittish hi-hats; a lean and agile corker of a track that’s perhaps the EP’s highpoint in terms of energy with its level of attack and urgency. Civil have clearly always placed a strong onus on providing quality remixes for projects (as illustrated by their ‘Remixed’ series), and they have truly outdone themselves on this record, enlisting Deep Medi dubstep goliath Goth-Trad and the increasingly in-demand talents of Croydon’s Deft. Goth-Trad in particular is quite the coup considering nothing has surfaced from him since his 2012 New Epoch LP, and it’s a rare venture outside 140bpm from the Japanese dread-bass don. He twists up “Fallout” good and proper, contorting the aforementioned chords to resonate with eastern twang, and applying manic glitches, feedback and bubbling filtered melodies over the constant 4/4 pulse of the subs. Slamming the breaks on the pace a little, the WotNot/ Rwina repping Deft injects “Magellenic Clouds” with whiplash-inducing footwork rhythms and dexterously chopped cuts from the original theme; standardly exhilarating production from a young’un making some of the sharpest UK juke beats around at the moment. With the remixes and originals combined, the EP as a whole is a sonic overload of the senses in the best possible way. Danny picks up where he left off with his Cosmic Bridge EP, builds momentum and delivers a finely-tuned collection of vivid bass-laden beats that help to further realise his undoubted potential.
Danny Scrilla’s Fluxus EP is available now on Civil Music.
