In recent years the Drum and Bass gods’ have most certainly been smiling down on East Anglia, with the plethora of talent that has emerged from the region being nothing short of phenomenal. One of the artists behind this movement is the man of the moment T>I. With his trademark ruff and rugged sound, T>I has taken the scene by storm. He has become one of the most exciting acts to grace the drum and bass scene in recent years. After his recent exploits on the iconic Critical Imprint,T>I returns to the Natty Dub ranks this winter with his floor shaking Blue Panda EP. This EP consists of four heavyweight sonic projectiles ready to be locked, loaded and aimed squarely at the dance floor.
The first round in the chamber is the title track “Blue Panda”. Eery white noise open proceedings, punctuated with open hats lead us into a breakdown accompanied with a voice sample “you are looking at the actual models of spacecraft now being developed by agencies of the United States Government, this is an Apollo Spacecraft designed for an elliptical purpose” and boom. The track launches into a grinding distorted bass line along side a powerful strutting drum loop in that classic T>I style we all know and love.
Providing covering fire we have our second rhythmic bullet in the form of “Treacle”. Uplifting metallic synths complimented by teasing drum hits give away to a dominant drum loop that progress into a gritty pumping bassline to create pure rolling magnificence.
The penultimate weapon in the arsenal is “Serve Cold”. Ghostly soundscapes studded with voice teases and creepy atmospherics break down into a heavyweight bassline that mutates and crawls through our post apocalyptic battleground.
The final assault comes in the form of musical steamroller “Blocks” powerful sub bass scythes across the dance taking heads of left, right and centre, timeless T>I percussion loops and drums ensue complimented with hostile futuristic FX and a jungle swagger that makes for a suitably assertive finishing move in his latest audio barrage.