Proxima's debut album, Alpha, released on December 1 through Tempa, follows on from a string of blistering singles for the label, which found the Dutch producer carving out a stark and synthetic vision of 140bpm club music. Across its eleven tracks, Alpha sharpens his already distinctive aesthetic while significantly broadening in scope. It's a manifesto of sorts, centred firmly around his characteristic, titanium-hard dubstep mutations, yet comfortable taking spaced out voyages through melody-soaked electronics, freaked-out sci-fi funk and vocal-led songs.

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*"This is a whole new level of weird", intones a disembodied voice on Proxima's 'Thermal Vision' the lead track of his new 12" for Tempa. It's a perfect summary of its disorienting appeal: winding upwards through a tense opening, it abruptly explodes into a turbulent salvo of percussion. Its monstrous chunks of sound chop violently back and forth from speaker to speaker, assaulting dancers from all sides and broadsiding the senses, while sub-bass blasts upward from beneath. It's both alien and astonishingly intense, poised to detonate on dancefloors without ever resorting to stereotypical 'club banger' tricks. It's easy to hear why Proxima's tracks have become regulars in dubstep scene figurehead Youngsta's record bag.
*Based in Holland, Proxima, who released his first Tempa 12" Formal Junction in 2012 - originally started out making rough-edged, percussive drum & bass tracks. His move into dubstep has retained the latter's restless momentum, but slowing the tempo has allowed him more space to establish an angular, compulsive sense of groove. *'Valve Wars' on the flip is harsher, all battery acid bass textures paired with woody percussive clicks and metallic snare taps. But there's a subtle, dubby ear for melody running through the whole track, discovering moments of unexpected beauty within the fray.




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There's been plenty of exchange between the worlds of deeper dubstep and drum 'n' bass over the last few years, with producers like Instra:mental, Icicle and ASC regularly switching between the two to devastating effect. Holland's Gijs Snik, also known as Proxima, the latest signing to Tempa, is no exception. His tracks blend the best aspects of both genres, retaining the edgy moods of drum 'n' bass whilst channeling dubstep's interest in the physically overwhelming properties of sub-bass. *Having started out producing rough-edged, densely percussive drum 'n' bass tracks, for his first ever solo release Proxima has dropped the tempo and upped the space. The result is a pair of subtly aggressive dubstep rollers that combine the warmer, altogether dubbier tones of genre greats like Digital Mystikz with drum 'n' bass's ceaseless forward drive. 'Formal Junction' is stark and metallic, all grinding robot chatter, constantly shifting percussive patterns and the occasional glimmer of melody. 'Grunge' on the flip is even more pared away, breaks in its rolling conga driven rhythm lent extra dread by sci-fi vocal samples. *With his tracks becoming staples in scene figurehead Youngsta's legendary DJ sets and Rinse FM shows, Proxima is swiftly becoming a name to watch in dubstep circles. His deep and deadly take on the more minimal side of the genre ramps up the pressure to near breaking point. *Though the number of producers making vital-sounding dubstep may have slimmed, both tracks offer evidence that there's still a great deal of power within the genre, locked away and just waiting to be tapped.

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Manchester native Alex Coulton has nurtured a reputation for creating sub-heavy rollers thanks to 12"s for the likes of Black Acre, Livity Sound and Bloc. With Gamma Ray Burst, the next in his series of releases on London low-end specialists Tempa, Coulton consolidates his sound to deliver some of the most sparse, rhythmic work of his career. With the record's title track, Coulton weaves from hard-hitting kicks, through to dizzying tribal polyrhythms the whole time maintaining a minimal, space driven atmosphere that remains omnipresent throughout the track's most intense moments. 'Ground Zero' revels in its spaciousness, allowing reverb to flood into the negative space between flashes of heavyweight techno percussion and saturated ripples of synth while the pulsating kicks that underpin 'Alpha Decay' are punctuated with bleak, discordant bells, rhythmic bass hits and hypnotic filtered percussion. Showing his diverse abilities, 'Phase Two' is an exercise in measured restraint, as a cacophony of clicks and hisses come together to disorientate before forming a driving rhythm section before Coulton maximises his expansive elements on the fog-tinged 'Ascent'. Closing with the steady flowing, brighter-hued melodic work of 'Distant Resonance', Alex Coulton has created a masterful collection of experimental tech-focused electronica that bewilders, intrigues and will draw the listener in with each play.



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Appleblim's third 12" for Tempa touches on the sonic territories explored on his first 12" (the experimental and amorphus 'Wandered' from Tempa101) while expanding on those ideas. The first track 'Minus Degree' is Appleblim at his most experimental. A beatless affair of sparse soundscapes and atmospheres. Full of tension, and crucially no release, you are swept away by the waves of synths and sub bass. Next track 'Move Them' is more traditional Appleblim - 4x4 and dub techno chords build a sense of momentum over the space of 7 minutes. A traditionally leaning techno tune with a UK twist, Appleblim's use of space and tension will keep any raver entranced. Final track 'Twist It Down' rounds out the EP with a subtle roller. Broken drum patterns and bright synths help in stripping away some of the darker undertones prevalent in the previous tracks.




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Appleblim's third 12" for Tempa touches on the sonic territories explored on his first 12" (the experimental and amorphus 'Wandered' from Tempa101) while expanding on those ideas. The first track 'Minus Degree' is Appleblim at his most experimental. A beatless affair of sparse soundscapes and atmospheres. Full of tension, and crucially no release, you are swept away by the waves of synths and sub bass. Next track 'Move Them' is more traditional Appleblim - 4x4 and dub techno chords build a sense of momentum over the space of 7 minutes. A traditionally leaning techno tune with a UK twist, Appleblim's use of space and tension will keep any raver entranced. Final track 'Twist It Down' rounds out the EP with a subtle roller. Broken drum patterns and bright synths help in stripping away some of the darker undertones prevalent in the previous tracks.




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Kosheen member Markee Ledge, making the most of the groups hiatus, brings forward three solo productions for his debut release on Tempa.



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Appleblim and October - two key figures in the Bristol electronic music scene - reunite forces to deliver 'Other Side of The Sky' for Tempa. A melodic and cycling kick drum and sub-bass pattern propels the spectral, white-noise hiss of the Original Mix forward on side A. Appleblim breaks apart and refixes the track for his remix found on the flip, in a style reminiscent of label mates Horsepower Productions - all dubbed-out tape echo and amped up paranoia.



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From across the pond, US producer Andrew Howard a.k.a AxH lines up another 12" on Tempa after his lauded first outing on the label back in February in 2014. Having also released records on Elk Beats and Dubs Alive - his latest 'Numbskull' 12" charters a familiar murky territory to his previous and features a brawny collaboration with Toronto based Gremlinz. The title track kicks things off with a lively melodies set tumbling over driven kicks, dramatic ride pings and fierce, roaring bass tones before 'Gem Tone' melds off-kilter and vaguely arabesque tones over capacious percussion that sits the tone comfortably in big room spaces. 'Hacker' then shoots off the blocks with mangled feedback signals and sharp, effective rim shots, while dense subs tremble beneath spectral reverberated atmospherics


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Manchester born Alex Coulton has steadily garnered a following throughout a slew of lauded 12”s on Hype LTD, Black Acre, Idle Hands, Livity Sound sub Dnous Ytivil and Bloc’s new imprint. Derivative of the sound championed by Bristol’s Hodge and Peverelist, Coulton has nestled himself in amongst the ranks
and successfully branded his own stamp on the tougher strands of UK-centric Bass music. Now - in the follow up to his Freefall EP on Bloc, Coulton lines up his next 12” on Tempa, his second outing on London’-s stalwart institute that comes in the form of a burly two-tracker titled Hand To Hand Combat / Concealed Weapon. Packed with pugnacious bass tones and dystopian drones - ‘Hand To Hand Combat’ kicks things off. Driven, steely toms and pellucid rim shots scatter across the mix in a high pressure affair before ‘Concealed Weapon’ demonstrates the droit management of atmospherics that’s propelled Coulton’s production path thus far. Dense, throbbing subs form an underbelly whilst menacing growls are intertwined with reverberated claps and snares that work to dial an urgent sense of tension and wrap up another fine addition to Tempa’s ever-expanding catalogue.

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Next on Tempa comes the label's landmark 100th release -- a double pack of essential classics to mark the occasion. 500 COPIES ONLY Founded in London in 2000, Tempa swiftly evolved to become one of the most vital and influential labels in the last 15 yearsof UK dance music. At the epicentre of dubstep as it evolved from a mutant offshoot of garage into its own unique sceneand sound, Tempa has fostered many of the genre's best-known names and some of its most powerful So for our 100th release, we're marking that legacy by casting an ear back into our rich archives. Across two 12"s we're re-pressing a selection of pivotal tracks from Horsepower, Skream, Digital Mystikz, Benga & Coki, DJ Abstract and SP:MC,which together chart the history of dubstep's emergence. Tempa100's first disc gathers together the heady, dark percussivesounds of the genre's early years, rich in smoky atmosphere. It opens with a track from the very first Tempa 12", the slinkilyrobotic freakout of Horsepower Production's 'When You Hold Me', before drifting through DJ Abstract's humid and romantic'Touch', High Plains Drifter's 'Sholay (Epic Mix)' and Digital Mystikz's ultra stripped-back early roller 'Give Jah Glory'. Thesecond plate ups the ante with a clutch of dubstep's most iconic dancefloor bruisers - Skream's seminal 'Midnight RequestLine', Benga & Coki's anthemic 'Night', the cybernetic halfstep of SP:MC's 'Trust Nobody' and the dub disorientation ofCoki's 'Tortured'. Just as powerful as when they were first released, the music on Tempa100 is both a celebration and a reminder of thelabel's ten-tons-heavy contribution to UK music history. Designed by long time collaborator and art director Give Up Art, the packaging contains two unique printed inner sleeves, and includes previously unpublished photos from the archives of photographer Shaun Bloodworth


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Somewhat mystifyingly, Appleblim has throughout his career remained one of the great unsung artists to emerge from Bristol's late-noughties golden era of producers. His collaboration with Ramadanman on 'Void 23' remains a club staple, his work with Komon mines the deeper shades of house, while he touches on tightly woven techno with Peverelist on 'Over Here'. A defiantly singular producer, Appleblim's latest for Tempa is a three tracker that opens with the idiosyncratic 'Avebury', whose momentum builds steadily towards the track's apex before a rude bassline plunges the skittering keys into a deep, measured lull. The 12's centerpiece is its most challenging offering, with the almost ten minute 'Wandered' not possessing a kick of any sort, but instead chooses to bubble menacingly under the surface for the duration, recalling some of Actress' more thought provoking work. The greyscale 'Auburn Blaze' rounds off an eclectic selection of tracks that as a whole feel most at home reverberating off the walls of a dank south London club, or on the night bus home across a buzzing metropolis.




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gigantic resonant spaces rich enough in detail to reach out and touch. The former's gently plucked strings and trickling water summon up a contradictory tangle of atmospheres, with meditative warmth mingling with inescapable creeping anxiety, all underpinned by seething sub-bass. 'To The Sky' is a beautiful, vast abyss of a track: Iustina's vocals drift through space amid reedy drones and environmental sound, conjuring up an unlikely nexus point between British electronic dark masters Coil and the rugged sound system intensity of Digital Mystikz. Finally, Nomine ratchets up the club energy for closer 'Nomine's Robot', a sleek, broken techno slow-burner built around an entire echo chamber's worth of reverberating drums - hypnotic dancefloor manna for the very early hours.



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The next release on Tempa marks the return of J:Kenzo, with Urban Gorilla, the dubstep firebrand's first release since last year's crushing Magneto 12". Kenzo remains one of the leading lights of the genre's current generation: his tracks are thrilling exercises in futuristic, synapse-scrambling minimalism, but still deeply rooted in the community-led sound system attitude that inspires them. Lead track 'Urban Gorilla' epitomises that aesthetic - it features the tough, ruffneck yet dextrous vocals of Ghost crew member Juiceman, famous for his loping chat on El-B's perennial 'Buck 'n' Bury'. Here he's on incendiary form with a beat to match, with his deep baritone looping around percussion and bass that slinks and scuttles - equal parts dub soundboy fury and tense dystopian nightmare. 'Expansion' trips still further into the dark, with its whiplash bolts of sub-bass and eerie, two-note refrain instantly recalling the characteristic immersive, physically powerful sets of scene lynchpin Youngsta. The EP closes with the instrumental version of 'Urban Gorilla' recast as 'Technoid', drawing out the track's contours in sharp, brusquely metallic relief. Tough yet fluid, they're potent reminders of the force coiled within J:Kenzo's music.





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Recall/Wiretap, from Manchester's Alex Coulton, follows on from his stark, atmospheric contribution to the recent Tempa Allstars Vol. 7 compilation. Across acclaimed 12"s for labels including Livity Sound, Black Acre and Mistry, in recent years Coulton has honed an ultra stripped-back, rhythm-driven aesthetic that refracts techno through a sub-heavy sound system prism. This makes him a natural ally for Tempa, which has always focused on music that draws maximum club impact from a bare handful of elements. Both tracks on Coulton's Tempa 12" roll out around hypnotic, sidewinding rhythms, packing intense, percussive energy for peak-time 'floors. 'Recall' is a gradually unfurling firestorm of distorted kickdrums, reverb and molten sub-bass, which repeatedly dies away to near-silence before returning with twice the impact. On the flip, 'Wiretap' is lighter but no less intense: a whirling assembly of drums, warping bass and freakily catchy struck melodies that's as tough yet elastic as tensile steel.




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Bristol's Facta and Hodge are a pair of rising young producers who, more than most, have absorbed the influence of Tempa's early music and wielded it to create something defiantly their own. Hodge has been on a powerful run of form over the last two years, with a string of acclaimed 12"s for Livity Sound, Idle Hands and Hotline striking a unique balance between brutalist sub-bass muscle and vortex-like whirls of voice and percussion. Facta's releases for Soundman Chronicles and Idle Hands have been equally striking - dark, hypnotic and dread-filled rollers for the moodiest of dancefloors. You can hear both producers' approaches vying for attention on this collaborative 12", and the resulting tension turns the atmosphere electric. 'Spheres Of Costa Rica' draws a glancing sample of traditional chanted music into a dubbed-out, sidewinding riddim that seems to sink deeper and deeper as it plays, drawing your mind and feet along with it. Flip the record and 'Visions' mesmerises you further still: its swung drums summon the ghosts of UK garage, but blast them out into deep space, where fragmentary whorls of noise and firestorm sub-bass erupt all around you. As an EP it's a bold statement from all parties: dark, unerringly forward-thinking new music that takes Tempa's legacy in a vital new direction.



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Proxima's debut album, Alpha, released on December 1 through Tempa, follows on from a string of blistering singles for the label, which found the Dutch producer carving out a stark and synthetic vision of 140bpm club music. Across its eleven tracks, Alpha sharpens his already distinctive aesthetic while significantly broadening in scope. It's a manifesto of sorts, centred firmly around his characteristic, titanium-hard dubstep mutations, yet comfortable taking spaced out voyages through melody-soaked electronics, freaked-out sci-fi funk and vocal-led songs.

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