Russ T – Blackbird – D-LiQ Records

Here we have another review for a release on D-LiQ Records, this time from Russ T.  Here’s a little background on this exciting producer and then we’ll dive straight into the review!

Russ T’s early musical influences included listening to the street series electro volumes, hip hop and 80s soul before moving onto the the acid house scene in the late 80’s.  After that Russ T was introduced to the rave scene by the sounds from pirate radio stations such as Fantasy, Pulse and Defection 89.4 and influenced by the likes of DJ Hype, Eclipse and Mixmaster Max.  Russ T purchased his first set of Technics in early 91 and by the middle of 92 was fortunate to play a few times on pirate radio when rave music was in a transitional period and Jungle/DNB really started to come onto the scene.  Russ T gave up the decks in 94 but never stopped listening to the ever evolving sounds of  DNB and Jungle. After a long hiatus which included a move to Australia in 2010, Russ T’s love of the music still remained.  It was at this time Russ T purchased some decks and continued his passion for mixing DNB and Jungle.  Times and pirate radio have changed, there was no more need to travel to Nightingale Estate in Clapham to play on a pirate radio station, this could now be done online via online broadcasting.  Russ T has been fortunate enough to play on Sunrise FM, DNB Radio and now Eruptionradio.  Whilst continuing to play on radio his love and passion has turned to music production.  Russ T finds his production inspiration from all genres of DNB.  Every bit of free time is now spent creating new beats and sound scapes for new music.

Let’s start with the title track this time, Blackbird.  A really upbeat intro which instantly gets your head nodding.  Some really interesting old school samples are apparent in this tune and they really take you back and this is no different when the tune drops.  There are elements of some really cool old school jump up/jungle vibes with a delivered in a destructive manner with a really heavy beat and amazing bass notes.  Quite frankly this is a seriously sick tune!  You think you might be used to it until the second drop comes in and smacks you round the face with an even heavier riff that is just gritty and grimey.  What a tune!

Next up is a tune called One Day.  This one starts out a bit more serene than the title track but this is refreshing, too many releases have copycat tunes that don’t show off the producers strengths in variety.  The sereneness suddenly does take a bit of a turn halfway through the intro where it gets a bit more gritty but then is accompanied by a lovely vocal which fluidly goes into a wicked old school Jungle DnB vibe.  Nice and bouncy with a wicked bassline that resonates through your system.  Feels like I’ve stepped back in time, in a good way to my early days of raving but with modern techniques and importantly that crisp and loud impact of newer production.  

A fantastic first release on D-LiQ Records from Russ T, I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more from him, you can see how his time in the scene has influenced a really decent style.

You’ll be able to purchase this release on Monday 30th January 2023 from D-LiQ’s Beatport page here:  https://www.beatport.com/label/d-liq-records/90717

Clips below: