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Music

The Most Vital Tracks and News From the Wordwide Underground

Future Classic, jungle's Detroit Roots, Jax Jones, Mak & Pasteman, some fine indie-dance, Disco Donnie, and Belgian techno.

Welcome to Notes from the Underground, THUMP's weekly premiere feature dedicated to shining a light on underground sonics from around the world. Every week, we'll start at the surface and dig deeper into the underground with each track and news story.

In this week's edition, we've got beats from all over the world, and stories from all over the internet. Sit back, strap in, it's time to go deep.


Jax Jones - "Yeah Yeah Yeah" (Mak & Pasteman remix)

Acid vibes rain down as Northern UK lads Mak & Pasteman bring a warped analog quality to the Grammy-nominated Jax Jones' "Yeah Yeah Yeah." The tune has strong techno elements and is raw and raunchy despite and/or thanks to its seemingly minimalist instrumentation.


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Detroit Techno and the Genepool of Jungle

On the face of it, Jungle's hyper-speed breaks and bass have little in common with the melodic four/four that characterised Detroit Techno. However, Ray Keith, A Guy Called Gerald, Eddie Fowlkes and Marcus Intalex explain to us how the techno-energy of the industrial wasteland Detroit helped give birth to Jungle, and continues to vibrate in the bass cones of Drum & Bass.


The Kite String Tangle x Dustin Tebbutt (Charles Murdoch remix)

Indie feels on the dancefloor as Future Classic man Charles Murdoch links up in an all Aussie affair with The Kite String Tangle and Dustin Tebbutt. In true Future Classic form, the tune brings electronic tones to indie sensibilities, and the result is a swirling headphoner of a tune that'll have you weeping softly as you tap your toes.


Disco Donnie Invades New EDM Markets in Atlantic City, Knoxville, and Memphis

Veteran promoter Disco Donnie Presents is a dominant player on the dance music scene in the American South, having thrown hundreds of events in cities like Houston, Austin, and Tampa over its twenty-year run. However, the company has been making moves to broaden its reach to Atlantic City and beyond in the hopes of to foster a growing dance scene in these cities.


Bedrockk - "Dream City"

Fast-rising San Franciscan talent Bedrockk drops more creativity in this one track alone than most of the bass game has in the past year. He brings together R&B, trapstyle elements, beat music and future bass with a real knack for sonic adventurism and progressive songwriting. "Dream City" gets better every time you listen to it.


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Motor City R&B Pop Powerhouse JMSN is Living His Best Life

JMSN AKA Christian Berishaj is the pop-hybrid of cool, known best for silk-laden vocals and pulling off some pretty intense dance moves. Working with artists from Kendrick Lamar to Ta-Ku, he's forever going against the grain of the overcooked pop music that's flooding the airwaves. We caught up with JMSN to talk about his Detroit roots, the Aussie music scene, and where he sees himself (and his beard) in the near future.


Introverted Dancefloor - "Happiness is Such a Mess"

If Hot Chip had a confusing one night stand with a half-comatose Fischerspooner, Introverted Dancefloor is what it'd sound like. "Happiness is Such a Mess" is indie-disco whispered into your ear, smothered with an alluring, insecure energy that suggests some hip nerds are about to hijack the dancefloor.


Forget Pizza, Audien is the Pride of Mystic, Connecticut

What kid doesn't dream about being a local legend? Being able to go back through the halls of your high school thinking: I fucking made it. For Mystic, Connecticut-bred Nate Rathbun, better known under his DJ name Audien, sharing the stage with his heroes like Armin van Buuren, as well as gaining a Grammy nomination this year for his remix of Bastille's "Pompeii" hasn't caused him to forget his small-town roots.


Krueger - Dark Walk

Low key Belgian label Silverback Recordings spits hot fire and nobody even knows it, despite the imprint's four years in operation. Alongside acts like Taskforce, Krueger's a standout act that takes techno tones to very new places. "Dark Walk" is a perfect example -- With the cadence of those synths, it sounds like Daft Punk's "Robot Rock" for evil people.