Kenji – Flammable EP on Grid Recordings (GRID 193)

Grid always delivers excellent tunes, and this Kenji EP is no different.   Kenji is a Latvian producer and DJ with releases on Lion Dub, Holographic Audio and Ruffneck Ting. Lets see what he has cooked up for us below.

Flammable – This is a super cool track feat Warhead who has been on Grid before. It’s a great start to the album. It’s super minimal with only a few things going on. Some tight but relaxed drum work and some wobbly bits of bass synth with lots of little fx ideas that really drive the tune forward nicely. It’s got a techy feel to it with some neuro type sounds. It moves along nicely with lots of groove. The tune has bit of evolution throughout, but mainly focuses on glitchy sounds and interesting drum fxs.

Drug Abuse – This starts with some nice atmospherics and again has a minimal vibe as it builds into a lovely roller of a drop. Some well rounded bass makes up the sonics as long with some tight and precise drums. There are a few nice reply leads that bind well with the bassline as well as the odd amen fill. Again it is perfect for mixing and has some nice deep vibes without being too dark. The 2nd drop offers more of the same vibes as the first. There is lots of space within the mixdown, hence the mixability this tune will possess and I think that will add some nice flavour to your usb stick or playlist.

Die – The third tune on the EP has lovely spacious intro again with some deepness and a lovely build into easily the darkest drop so far. It’s a techy jump up feel this time, but with roller drums that are super tight. Not quite as clean as the early tunes. The bass is squelchy and the sub bass is nice and low and offers lots of movement and fills a nice space in the mix. The mid bass and lead sounds are really nice and processed well and the fills complete with “Die” vocal works really well to take us between the sets of 16s. The break is lush in texture like the first one and re drops into the same vibe as the first. Perhaps a little more evolution would have been nice but the vibe is still banging and this tune is my favourite so far.

Pull up – Tune number 4 is true to it’s title with some jungle influenced sounds and some old skool synths with the well known pull up vocal making an appearance before we drop into a really heavy melty type bass. This is a key feature of the EP with various versions of the mid bass synth featuring and wobbling through the tune with some nice undercurrent sub work. The drums are nice and fuller than the tunes before and there is a nice dark swing within the tune which works well. The 2nd break sounds really old skool and very 90’s as it builds into the 2nd drop. A very decent tune this and combines the sounds of the past within the intro and a more modern approach in the belly of the beast.

Sunshine – This is a collab with magenta. It’s deft a style of jump up in the drop. Leaning towards a more techy approach with those trademark tight drums and a nice bouncy bass with some well made reply synths. It pretty funky but the tune is a bit short and I think being a collab could have had more ideas within it and a few more 16s overall to showcase a bit more chopping and ideas. Still a decent tune none the less with vibe and pretty well produced.

Going on – This has the biggest kick of the EP so far with a nice gradual build into the drop. It just kind of rolls in with a little vocal and some nicely fitting synth work and a lovely bassline sound. The groove is spot on and the verby pads and vocal sit really well with everything. I really like the use of space and nothing is too over pushed it just sits well. I think this tune hits the spot between dark and deep and retains a heaviness about it which will make it a favourite among many listeners. I think this is the strongest tune production wise and I love the dark minimal feel which in my opinion has been executed perfectly.

Check out some of the tunes here