Download An Exclusive Mix From Formula Records' Hybrid Theory

Back in the late noughties the term "house/bass" was being flung around by a host of electronic music journalists to try and describe a sound that had been around for over thirty years (house) being played by the mass exodus of supreme DJ talent leaving the dying embers of dubstep (bass). This was a few years after "wonky" and around about the time that Whistla was touting his "future garage" tag via the nation's dance music forums. Yeah, it was a wild time for bait genre conception. What the lesser music journalist of the time perhaps failed to focus on at the time is that house music has always had a booming low-end, thanks to the advent of UK garage in the mid-nineties, and it's this most fruitful of genre's that Birmingham's Hybrid Theory draw on to create their own blend of no-nonsense house music.

The Midlands has always had a decent history of electronic music, be it acts such as Surgeon, British Murder Boys, the House of God and "the Birmingham sound" of the mid-to-late nineties, or the more swinging styles of Mike Skinner and nearby neighbour DJ Q. To say Hybrid Theory represent the next generation of Birmingham producers sounds alot like a shitty bit of hyperbole that you wouldn't find here on the pages of Thump - however that's exactly what the Birmingham duo do represent, and they've recently landed on London's thoroughly decent Formula Records (run by much-lauded bass maestro DJ Champion) for the three track 'Drop To The Max' EP.

Taking in a barrage of kick drums, vocal snippets, garage-isms and subbass pressure readymade for balls-out raving, the Hybrid Theory sound is peak time fare, and one that has had considerable success on their own Four40 imprint over the past year, having released their first compilation back in April. However, it's this mix that acts as the perfect introduction to the tuffness of the Hybrid Theory studio - tumbling peels of bass, taught beat patterns and proper club vibes - grab yer Cristal, pull on yer loafers and forget about those badly executed genre titles - this one goes deep.

Tracklist:

Reset Safari & Low Steppa - Lost Our Mind [Simma Black]

A Lister - Needing [Luvbug Recordings]

Motif - Lucid (Sebb ASton Remix) [Spirit Soul Records]

Reset - Safari - How We Flex [Promo]

A Lister - Stop Thinking [Simma Black]

Golf Clap - Dream Trippin [Freeze Dried]

Hybrid Theory - Raw Sex [Formula Records]

Hybrid Theory - Dollars [Formula Records]

Aaron Jay - Dont Need No One [Harry Lime Records]

Wizard - Buss It Up feat Daddy Freddy & Lady Chann (Rain City Riot remix)

DE$iGNATED & Pistol Pete - Hey Papi [Promo]

FCL - Its You (Gotsome Heat Remix) [Defected Records]

Billy Kenny - Work [Four40 Records]

Hybrid Theory - Drop To The Max [Formula Records]

Catchment - Jockey [FAT Records]

Deadbeat - Wheel It Up [Tumble Audio]

Matta - What U Want [EAT]

Hybrid Theory's 'Drop To The Max' EP is out now.

Hybrid Theory on Soundcloud.

Formula Records on Soundcloud.

Formula Records on Facebook and Twitter.