Nicole from the most excellent record shop Sounds of the Universe gives us the low down on her favourites of the recently dropped vinyl at the store.




1.Untold - 'I Can't Stop This Feeling' (Hessle Audio)12"

Fresh on BLUE VINYL Untold drops his third release for Hessle Audio! Untold has surpassed any other of his other releases to date with this blinding new 12".  'I Can't Stop This Feeling' is like a deep jackin' old skool Detroit techno record with enough shuffling bass and 2 steppy drum programming to keep the Dubstep heads interested. This is outrageously good! On the flip 'Anaconda' is a sparse bass heavy stabbing number with almost a digital Dancehall vibe to it with mental whistles and quirky sound effects over it. Fans of Hands On The Plow will love this! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...

2. Benga- Buzzin'/One Million (Tempa) 12"

Benga returns to Tempa with undoubtedly one of the biggest tunes of the year.  Buzzin' is as infectious as Benga & Coki's massive hit 'Night'. 'Buzzin' is peak-time rave weaponry, bound to kill off any sound clash. 'One million' on the flip should not be overlooked with its filthy heavy bass and catchy as hell hook. Essential!

3. Starkey- Miracles (Jamie Vex'd Remix) (Planet Mu)

USA's Starkey gets a heavy remix from man of the moment Jamie Vex'd. Jamie Vex'd is on FIRE at the moment with a string of heavyweight singles and this is no exception. He twists up 'Miracles' into a half step number with old skool hip hop stylee drum programming, schizophrenic synth lines and Burial esque vocal cut-ups! LARGE!

4. FaltyDL- To London (Ramp)

Ramp are one of the most interesting and forward thinking independent record labels around at the moment. Drew Lustman aka FaltyDL pushes the labels left field dancefloor ethos further with this quirky three tracker 12". Although FaltyDL hails from New York City, 'To London' as the title suggests has a very British sound with its fast paced skippy beats and obvious nods to the UK garage/dubstep scene, although the squelchy crunchy sounds leading the rhythm sound a lot like Flying Lotus and the LA beats scene.  On the flip 'Metacognist' is am slo mo lazy groover with cheeky little vocal snippets of nineties r'n'b group SWV's 'Weak' making little appearances. Fans of Flying Lotus' 'Roberta Flack' and 'Tea Leaf Dancers' will love this! We are love this one here! Big tings a gwan for FaltyDL!

5. Unknown -Square Off/Warlord Riddim (Dancing Demons)

We were more than a little excited when this sexy new plate dropped here at SOTU! Armed with only the titles on the label we had to just use our ears to identify the artist of this shy guy on brand new label Dancing Demons! We are 99.99999% sure this is a COKI (Digital Mystikz) production. 'Square Off' is an outrageously heavy bass number with a frantic schizophrenic alien like effect trampling over it! This nasty piece has been tearing up DMZ for months! Sure to have you shocking out like a complete loony bin by the end of it! On the flip 'Warlord Riddim' is a deep chugging heavy dub filled rocker! Ridiculous!

NICOLE MCKENZIE