Kasra, a reputable DJ and one of drum and bass’ foremost tastemakers is principally recognisable as the founder of a label both highly influential and widely respected.
Critical Music, established back in 2002, is a label primarily synonymous with progressive beats in and around the realms of 170. The back-catalogue is an eclectic body of work that features music by established names such as Calibre, Rockwell and Break. It also represents beats by reputable artists that are more closely entwined with the label – producers broadly perceived as a core part of the ‘Critical Family’: Enei, Emperor and Mefjus to name a few.
The thing that strikes me about Critical Music has been its ability to achieve prevalent popularity yet simultaneously advocate music both left field and pioneering. Kasra champions drum and bass with a diverse twist, he’s created a label that pushes music of innovative brilliance. Critical Modulations, the sister label, a part of Critical that supports acutely unconventional music, is an outlet that enables artists – perhaps not directly correlated with the main label – to pursue even greater creative heterogeneity. The Critical brand is something that’s supported outside strictly the sphere of drum and bass, it has a fan base that stretches into various corners of underground dance music and this is something I feel is an enormous feat. Largely in it being a rarity, but also in the labels achievement of this level of success whilst maintaining upmost musical integrity.
Critical is a cornerstone for quality drum and bass that concurrently contributes to redefining genre boundaries. Most recent release, the highly acclaimed ‘Critical Music Presents: Underground Sonics’ is a clear testimony to this. Here’s what happened when we caught up with Kasra...
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