New releases this week: UK Garage

Review: Following 'Happy Lovers' just over six months ago, Leo Gibbon returns with another inspiring collection. While the last EP flung its arms wide open to embrace the worlds of house, garage and soulful categories in between, this time we find him zoning in on the 140 grime vibe as he links with Trim for two exceptional messages. 'Orbit Step' is a woozy spacious stepper that gives plenty of space for Trim to flow out some ridiculously smart 16s. 'Danny & Darren' carries much more of a harder edge as Trim gets guttural and unleashes his inner yardman wisdom. Complete with instrumentals and acapellas, Leo and Trim have delivered something really special and super versatile right here.

Review: Cologne-based Belfast boy Dominick Martin has been delivering deliciously good albums as Calibre for the best part of a quarter of a century, frequently departing from his trademark drum & bass sound to showcase his love of other sub-heavy and mind-bending sounds such as dub techno, ambient and dubstep. On Little Foot, his first album in two years and 22nd in total, he leans into this considered eclecticism. For proof, compare and contrast the tactile and dreamy 4/4 dub of 'Blame Dub', the dub-wise junglist bruk-up of 'Special', the mutant two-step delight of 'Ukrained', the angularm, sub-heavy UK techno of 'Threadvare' and the Mark Ernestus style spaced-out dub techno of 'Choosing Beggar'. And that's just CD1. A genuine triumphant from one of bass culture's most distinctive musical voices.

Review: This has been described as Shelflife for Calibre's 120-140 material. If you know the means, methods and magic of Dominic Martin, you'll already have this in your basket. But in case you need a little extra info or new to the abyssal vaults of Calibre, the Shelflife series is a regular collection of projects and unreleased material he's made over the years. While best known for his d&b, his house, techno and dub material is just as prolific, deep and mesmerising. As is the case here as we range from steppy, curmudgeonly techno ('Front Loader') to funky electro style breaks ('The Saki') to bumping shufflesome house ('Ukrained') to vast spacious dub ('Come With Me') Complete with many other deep and reflective shades between, this is yet another fantastic body of work from one of electronic music's most unique and revered artists.

Review: Badboy garage is the order of the night on this latest drop from the unstoppable Instinct label. It's a split EP between Isgwan and Trustee, and the offer kicks off with the low slung swagger and warped bass of 'Right Tehn' complete with gun-finger synths and nawty vocals. Trustee then steps up with some expertly crafted jungle breaks turned 2-stepping beats on 'Watch Dat' with mad low energy wobbles. His 'Shuffle N' Step' is another lip-curling and rude as you like bit of filthy garage, 'Feel Me' (feat Tanya George) is a more emotive sound thanks to the buttery r&b vocal hooks and 'Work Set' shuts down with bumping low-end pressure.