DJ Trace. An original founder and pioneer of the Tech-step sound and movement. Alongside Nico, Ed-Rush & Fierce, he carved out the raw unforgiving sound that was championed by the No-U-Turn records crew in the 90's. The cross pollination of artists and labels then went on to create what would be known as Neurofunk, injecting soul and groove back into the cold mechanical tech-step sound.
Back after some years out, Duncan Hutchison returned last year with his highly praised "Zone EP" on his DSCI4 imprint. Stripping back the overproduced high octane drops of current DnB, Zones saw Hutchison return to a time where it was about the vibe and not worrying if it's going to stand up against the next massive festival anthem. The raw lo-fi hypnotic rollers soon pricked up the ears of like-minded producers Kid Drama, Ulterior Motive and DLR, Also trying to inject the fun and funk back into the music.
This brings us to the "Opaque EP" four cuts of head nodding bliss. Opening track "Opaque" is a subsonic stepper with a subtle nod back to the Dee-Jay Recordings days. "Kyoto", an eyes down roll out, a hypnotic late night trip. The relentless step of "Substance" is a lesson of sometimes less is more, raw drums and bass snarls lead us onto the forth track "Nest". Strings reminiscent of the golden jungle era and crunchy drum beats pound over a fizzy sub bass on the verge of breaking up, there's enough warmth here to fill the club and test the bottom end of their system.
DJ Trace:
Facebook → facebook.com/tracednb/
Soundcloud → @soundcloud.com/dsci4
CNVX:
Facebook → facebook.com/cnvxlondon/
SoundCloud → @soundcloud.com/cnvx