To follow a long awaited single from the legendary D'Arcangelo brothers, Happy Skull has turned to a friend of the family and former Bristol scene stalwart, Bass Clef.
The long-serving producer first rose to prominence via a series of inspired, genre-mangling albums and singles on Blank Tapes, he has since gone on to deliver hard-to-pigeonhole material on fellow Bristol labels Punch Drunk and Idle Hands, as well as PAN and the Trilogy Tapes amongst others.
Those versed in his bulging back catalogue will notice familiar stylistic traits throughout – think an endearing looseness built on hardware manipulation and a playfulness rarely seen in modern dance music. For his Happy Skull debut he takes on acid house, to great effect. This is most evident on flipside "Acid Hearse", a constantly-rising roller built around a nagging, TB-303 style riff and a swinging, off-kilter drum machine rhythm.
Echoes of acid can also be heard in the sparser A-side, "Charnel House", where sharp, psychedelic lead lines and mind-bending electronic motifs weave in an out of a crunchy rhythm track to create a track that is as fun as it is weighty. More

Little fluffy rave clouds... More

Following a busy year of stylistically varied releases under various guises on his own Magic + Dreams label, Ralph Cumbers delivers his first long-player for Punch Drunk. With a title lifted from the lysergic prose of a Brian Aldiss novel and grooves informed by the loopier, more Martian aspects of Chi-town jack and Detroit techno-soul, "Reeling Skullways" marks a subtle, but highly alluring development in the evolution of Cumbers' primary recording project.
Long-term Bass Clef fans may be surprised by the lack of samples on this album, and in many ways it follows a similar creative process to his recent work as Some Truths, with most rhythms and textures sculpted from the raw, elemental waveforms of modular analogue synthesis. But with tighter editing, contagious melodies and perfectly positioned drum patterns, the end results reveal Bass Clef simultaneously at his most stripped-back, focused, playful, complicated, emotional and irresistibly groovy. Unfettered by fashionable production tricks, imbued with a timeless machine-soul heart, "Reeling Skullways" is one of those albums you'll be reaching for again and again. More

Fresh from the release of his stunning third album, ‘Inner Space Break Free’ on the Magic + Dreams label, the unique and acclaimed live performer, Bass Clef delivers an anthemic summer 12” for the Punch Drunk label. An integral piece of Bristol’s musical jigsaw, Bass Clef’s live shows and dj sets have wowed the city for years. His Punch Drunk 12” debut is long over due. Rollercoasters of the Heart’s euphoria fuelled piano refrain combines with dub echoed beats and rolling, ground shaking bass before delving deep into acid bliss, juxtaposing the darker, melancholic yet tough and club ready So Cruel on the other side. If you get a chance to catch Bass Clef live, you won’t regret it!
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Perpetually in demand bonafide Dubstep classic and Bristol anthem repressed. Essential addition to anyones collection
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Kahn blazed his way in to the consciousness of the UK underground back in February this year with his debut release for Punch Drunk. His new 12” marks a return to the label, fully asserting his position at the forefront of Bristol’s new generation of producers. Lead track Illy lures you with it’s colourful immediacy, before torpedoing you headfirst in to a torrent of tumultuous bass and psychedelic riffing. Flipside, Tehran takes you a straight back to the old school of heavyweight subsonic steppers. Immersive. Stripped. Deadly. Powerful ammunition direct to the front of your record crate.
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Bristol music Godfather Rob Smith (Smith & Mighty) was a major force in the first wave Bristol Dubstep scene, not only as a huge musical influence on the likes of Pinch, Peverelist and Kahn but also as a producer in his own right. This typically dubwise and in demand 12" is one of his best from that era, repressed! More

Punch Drunk proudly closes 2013 with a fearsome new 12” single from Hodge. This release marks his first solo release on the label following up his collaboration with Peverelist entitled ‘Bells’, which appeared earlier this year. Previous releases for Deadplate and Well Rounded Housing Projects have been well received, but we believe that this new record is certainly his best to date. On these two new tracks, Hodge draws on distinctly UK influences combining thumping broken jungle techno and modern era Bristolian dub aesthetics. Kicking off the 12”, “Resolve” is a real belter, rugged, visceral and pumped with attitude and adrenaline. On the other side, Prototype Fear delves deeper into the psyche, with shifting hypnotic machine riffing, frenetic nervous rhythms and unearthly bass pulses. Hodge has recently achieved great success with his House based project Outboxx with collaborators Matt Lambert and vocalist Naomi Jeremy, culminating in an album this year on Bristol’s Idle Hands label and a summer touring festivals and clubs throughout Europe. This record is a landmark 12” in defining Hodge as an artist in his own right, whilst adding another classic to the Punch Drunk legacy of hybrid electronic dance music from Bristol. More

Pev marks his return to Punch Drunk for the first time in 3 years with this collaborative 12" with Hodge More

Zhou is a UK soundsystem act formed of digital stepper Ishan Sound and Amos, one half of Hip Hop duo Jabu. Both are members of Bristol based crew Young Echo, whose members also include El Kid , Kahn & Vessel, as well as a sprawling extended group of Djs and vocalists. Shows are focused around a continuation of soundsystem culture and an aim to uphold certain key values in a time where dance music in general is moving in increasingly rapid cycles. 2013 will see the second physical release via the mighty Punch Drunk and a number of individual and collaborative releases including a Young Echo album with RAMP. More

Intrusive Incidentalz Volume 2 is the concluding part of Ekoplekz?s collection of dark, oppressive atmospheres and violently unstable interludes, inspired by childhood memories of terrifying electronic soundtrack music from the 1970s. Developed through studio improvisation and channelling a sense of dread informed by the social, economic and political climate of life in 2012, Ekoplekz has delivered some of his finest, most vivid work to date. A bleak retro-futurist fantasy, or oblique soundtrack for a broken Britain? The truth probably lies somewhere between the two. More

Following a busy year of stylistically varied releases under various guises on his own Magic + Dreams label, Ralph Cumbers delivers his first long-player for Punch Drunk. With a title lifted from the lysergic prose of a Brian Aldiss novel and grooves informed by the loopier, more Martian aspects of Chi-town jack and Detroit techno-soul, "Reeling Skullways" marks a subtle, but highly alluring development in the evolution of Cumbers' primary recording project.
Long-term Bass Clef fans may be surprised by the lack of samples on this album, and in many ways it follows a similar creative process to his recent work as Some Truths, with most rhythms and textures sculpted from the raw, elemental waveforms of modular analogue synthesis. But with tighter editing, contagious melodies and perfectly positioned drum patterns, the end results reveal Bass Clef simultaneously at his most stripped-back, focused, playful, complicated, emotional and irresistibly groovy. Unfettered by fashionable production tricks, imbued with a timeless machine-soul heart, "Reeling Skullways" is one of those albums you'll be reaching for again and again. More

After a prolific 2011, Punch Drunk jump straight back in to action in the New Year with the searing percussion of new signing Tessela. Direct from his debut for Dublin?s ever impressive All City label last year, Tessela joins the ranks of Punch Drunk to kick start the year in fine style. With a signature razor sharp rhythmical workout and erupting molten subs, lead track ?D Jane? unleashes Richter scale tremors unto the dance. Without a pause for breath, the greased rolling funk of ?Channel? keeps the pressure at boiling point with it?s DND / Menta style bass line swagger and punctuated chops. Two devastating dance floor tracks that make for an impressive Punch Drunk debut. Expect to hear a lot more from Tessela in 2012. More

Staying true to it’s half decade strong objective of documenting next generation, cutting edge sound system music from the City of Bristol, Punch Drunk is proud to introduce newcomers Zhou for it’s final chapter of 2011. As part of the Young Echo collective, alongside peers such as Kahn, Vessel and El Kid, they have forged a unique identity within the city limits as producers, collaborators and live performers. Defining their sonic vision of submerged aesthetics and low end pressure, tracks ‘I Remain’ and ‘Noboru’ comprise the duo’s debut 12”, delivering a tense and intoxicating odyssey into their chamber of dub.
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Following critically acclaimed releases with Mordant Music and Further Records earlier this year, Ekoplekz delivers his first album for Punch Drunk. Dispensing entirely with notions of accessibility and dancefloor friendliness, 'Intrusive Incidentalz vol.1' is a 12 track collection of dark, oppressive atmospheres and violently unstable interludes, developed through studio improvisation and inspired by childhood memories of terrifying electronic soundtrack music from the 1970s, yet combined with a post-dubstep sensibility and a sense of dread informed by the social, economic and political climate of life in 2011. A bleak retro-futurist fantasy, or oblique soundtrack for a broken Britain? The truth probably lies somewhere between the two.
More

Fresh from the release of his stunning third album, ‘Inner Space Break Free’ on the Magic + Dreams label, the unique and acclaimed live performer, Bass Clef delivers an anthemic summer 12” for the Punch Drunk label. An integral piece of Bristol’s musical jigsaw, Bass Clef’s live shows and dj sets have wowed the city for years. His Punch Drunk 12” debut is long over due. Rollercoasters of the Heart’s euphoria fuelled piano refrain combines with dub echoed beats and rolling, ground shaking bass before delving deep into acid bliss, juxtaposing the darker, melancholic yet tough and club ready So Cruel on the other side. If you get a chance to catch Bass Clef live, you won’t regret it!
More