NKC – The Pyramids EP

So many good records this week & month, particularly for a genre that was in danger of going stale. Full chart up on RA (with extra honorable shouts to the incredible Objekt remixing Sbtrkt’s ‘Wildfire ‘on the Sbjekt #1 plate and also the new Seiji double header No Other / Easy) but here’s the stand-out from the week – and I’m not just saying that because we did his first record, this really is a brilliant 12″.

NKC follows up Marie / Ghettotechno (AWK003) with an absolute stunning EP on Forefront Recordings, who’s first release incidentally was a nice double sider featuring Slackk and Hervey Jenkins. Titled The Pyramids EP NKC serves up four tracks that show just how far he can push his sound, and how much he continues to evolve as a producer in his own right.

All four tracks on the EP are strictly in the sound he’s carving out for himself, but constantly throwing themselves against the walls of genre containment. Untitled for instance sounds as if it’s about to go from funky to a Model 500 mix given enough time and Partisan Efforts comes across as a house joint constructed from the brutal vibes of grime. Not a lot of artists can do that.

As well as working as an interesting and well put together EP, the tracks are massively produced to be played out on their own, preferably on a big system. Considering this is only his second release (overall and for the year thus far) the four-tracker is a calling card of sorts from NKC, who’s definitely breathing a fresh air in to the underground scene, and judging from this plate is going to be able to successfully turn his hand to whatever the hell he pleases next.

There’s a nice interview with him and an additional free track thrown up here, though somehow he’s avoided having a photo of him going up once more. Note he’s mentioned some forthcoming edits, one to keep on the Radar. 🙂

Having seen him on decks, someone really needs to start booking him before his price goes through the roof. Check below for what Boomkat said about the record and the youtube clips. Big ups, proper excited about his year ahead.

via Boomkat
First spotted on a cool white label for Awkward Movements, NKC drops a bulky load of Grime-laced Funky on Forefront Recordings. The label’s last release, Slackk’s ‘Synthetics’ is hands-down one of the releases of 2011, and to be fair, this one isn’t so far behind. With a similarly potent brew of kinetic Grime agility and rolling Funky suss, NKC dips from the relatively nice and breezy House jaunt of ‘Partisan Efforts’, to more slammin’ snares and distorted kicks fused with hypnotic bleeps for the title track, while ‘Sellout’ is a properly muscular road rager, swinging low and burly for the tribalists, before ‘Untitled’ builds a swirling, swaggering groove from hard-edged drums and tripped-out synths. A super solid TIP!