Refined 4/4 beats from a well known Drum'N'Bass figure on The Nothing Special.
Officially starting out life as a label in 2010, but lying almost dormant until last year, I found it quite surprising that such a great curator of club music like Craig Richards took so long to start a fully-fledged label of his own. After becoming known as "the DJ's DJ" he takes his knack for discovering quality House and Techno and delivers a slew of classy electronic records on an imprint smartly titled: The Nothing Special.
Clearly not afraid to flirt with deeper, alternative strains of club music, The Nothing Special has already called upon D'N'B stalwart, Marcus Intalex under his highly tipped Trevino alias earlier this year, and the majority of the other releases you'll mostly find labelled under Electronica. By their own definition they aim to deliver "mind altering electronics." So as you can imagine - it's brave stuff. Unapologetic dance music aimed squarely at the kind of DJ's that are willing to dig that little bit deeper, like Richards himself.
Lending his hand to all decks (in more ways than one), he released his own excellent debut 'Sleeping Rough' in 2013, penned some notably stylish artwork for this particular release (see above), and road-tests everything on the monumental soundsystem at Fabric during his weekly residency.
Drawing a 4/4 track from another well respected Drum & Bass head is proving to be quite his forte, with Callibre delivering an impressive two-track EP this time around. Sleazy and sophisticated in equal measures, it's classic Richards fodder. Effective club music first and foremost, but shimmering with deep and experimental elements.
On first listen, the B-side is the clear winner of the two. Sleek and pacy throughout, 'Getter Go' has the trademark beating heart of analogue sleaze that Richards is known so well for. An urgent bassline underpins the laidback house framework, with lo-fi piano motifs and a neat breakdown full of washy pads and shimmering synths around the half way mark. If you've been lucky enough to experience Craig live in the flesh at Fabric, it would be the kind of stuff you'd expected around 7-8am when things start to get really deep.
On the flip 'Trimming' is a more straightforward affair. Restrained in all the right places, it bumps along at a cool 120 for the duration. With punchy drums and a wholesome warm-up feel about the whole thing. It nails the understated class that only a label called 'The Nothing Special' could achieve.
A well rounded record, and one for the heads. 4/5
Buy Trimming here
Buy Getter Go here
Ethan McNamara
Follow Ethan on Twitter @ethan_mcnamara
