I honestly can’t quite remember how it all started, but one day E.Decay visited us to do a remix for a Rawhill Cru choon. While he cooked some original Italian recipe for us, we showed him Nanodust, Stripshow and some more bits. The next thing I remember is him waving a piece of paper stating “U3R 009″. We quickly agreed and finished that remix (which apparently hasn’t seen the light of day since then). Both tunes contain loads of heavy drum fills, giving them a very “live” feeling, but in a unnatural, harsh manner no drummer would be able to achieve. Nanodust starts with these female vocal bits that seem to originate from a huge airport hall, counting numeric sizing dimensions (giga, mega, kilo, … down to nano), only to turn into an insane monster of a tune, breaking and twisting, while once in a while returning to a dark party vibe part which really pushes things forward. “Stripshow” on the flip is less aggressive and more Neurostyle, relying on a ten-ton bassline.

Review from DnBszene.de:

U3R gründen ein neues Sublabel. Ob der Name Blacklabel jetzt von einer Vorliebe der Labelmacher für schottischen Whisky rührt, oder ein ironischer Wink in Richtung Whitelabel-Bizness-Quatsch ist, entzieht sich meiner Kenntnis. Eines aber soll das neue Imprint ganz offiziell verkörpern: the dunkle und futuristische Seite of Drum´n´Bass. Das erste Release bestreiten die Stieber-Twins, die Kessler-Zwillinge, die Noel und Liam Gallaghers, die Dalton-Brüder des deutschen Drum´n´Bass: N.Phect & Dizplay. Wie gewohnt geben die beiden einen Scheiß auf die musikalische Umsetzung der so oft zitierten rheinischen Frohnatur und hauen viel lieber alles kurz und klein, was nicht bei drei auf dem nächsten Baum sitzt.

“Nanodust” auf Seite A fängt trügerisch perkussiv im Halftimegroove an, um sich nach dem Drop in ein fieses und äußerst schlecht gelauntes technoides Monster zu verwandeln. Wenn ich es mir so überlege – “Nanodust” wäre ein perfektes Küchengerät: während die Beats so ziemlich alles (und wenn man nicht aufpasst auch jeden) in mikroskopisch kleine Teile schneiden; pürieren, stampfen und raspeln die Bässe selbst grobe Zutaten, dass es eine Freude ist, in der Küche zu stehen. “Nanodust” ist aber nun mal kein Küchengerät und eigentlich ist es auf Vinyl auch viel besser aufgehoben, als in meiner Küche.

“Stripshow” auf Seite AA beginnt mit lustigen Tom-Fills und einem knurzeligen Bass und schlägt prinzipiell die gleiche Richtung ein wie Seite A, ohne gleich zu klingen. Die Drums klingen natürlicher, die Arrangement wirkt verspielter, ohne ins Unübersichtliche zu kippen. Spätestens jetzt wird der rettende Ast des oben erwähnten Baumes abgesägt. Blood on the dancefloor garantiert!

Resümee: ein gelungener Start für die Blacklabel-Serie. Ein Pflichtkauf für Freunde von Ed Rush & Optical-Styles und für sowieso alle, die Kraut- Drum´n´Bass voran bringen wollen. Eins aber sollte Euch klar sein, liebe U3Rs: den Sat-1 Chart-Tipp erreicht ihr mit dieser Platte nie!

Clip: nphect & dizplay – Nanodust

Clip: nphect & dizplay – Stripshow

This remix of “Radium” was done by DJ G-I-S of Intransigent Rec. and has been released on Pressure Chamber.

Clip: nphect & dizplay – Radium (DJ G-I-S rmx)

Available via Shadybrain.

“Inside The Hive” is a tune that changed our producing style. The track is based on a nightly session with Noisia when they were to do their first international gig in Budapest and had to catch a flight from Cologne very early in the morning, so our mutual buddy Flo of Phace asked us whether they could stay the night. But instead of relaxing and getting some sleep, the crazy Dutch boys joined us in the studio, going wild and playing around on some bits. I have to admit that their approach was quite inspirational and clearly marked a path for us to follow. Nevertheless, we also had a great time talking about the whole biz. But the most astonishing point is seeing their improvements from that time to the wide variaty they have today. Now that’s a bright future. As for the tune, we’re really happy with what we did with all these new information. “Inside The Hive” is clearly Neurofunk, though it still contains typical “nphect & dizplay” elements, being a bit too ravy for the purest headz out there I guess (and hope, hehe). Rave on.

Available via Shadybrain.

Clip: nphect – Punchline

A precious intro with some extensive percussion vibe, made of epic and gentle sounds, pass into roaring basses.

Available via the MP3 label Shadybrain.

My very first drum&bass ballade. I tried to express the mood of a big city life at night. Moving cars flow through the streets and flashing commercial lights brighten up the scenery. there is no roughness in the tune, every element sounds mild and i focused very much on the sound-design to entertain your ears and to stimulate the imagination. The title is inspired by some electronic formation, “deaf center”, which released an ep, called “neon city”, too. i listened to it on “repeat 1″-mode and i was really impressed by the way how you can be thrown into dreaming while listening to music. This type of sound gave my creative thinking some refreshness, so the title is some kind of homage to them.

Released on Assimilate via Beatport.

From a producers point of view, tunes are created in waves and by that reflect steps in the producers development. Both tunes originate from the same step, with their technoid elements and the reese bassline. “Radium” has a very catchy melody opposed to a mighty bassline which digs deep into your ear. It uses some soundbits that constantly change their rhythmic position, to counterpart the loopy feel of most DnB tunes. There have been several remixes, one by label owner Cativo, which is also available via Beatport and one by DJ G-I-S, released on Pressure Chamber. “Bodymoving” has a very epic intro and later on turns into a might roller, with nice vocal bits here and there.

Distribution via Grooveattack.

These two tunes clearly mark a turning point in the way people recognized us, national as international. “The Syndicate” first appeared on the “Basswerk Sessions 2″ compilation and was picked up by several well-known DJs. It’s a very ravy tune, pretty straightforward and comes with several sonic elements like this high-pitched melody, making it quickly stick out on the dancefloor, without sounding cheesy. “Velvet Morning” also has this almost trancey feeling, emphasized especially by those emotional male vocals. For a very long time, we’ve thought this was the best tune we ever did, perfectly combining raw and soft elements. This 12″ also marked the beginning of our long and fruitful cooperation with Basswerk, who appreciate both the ravy and the neuro side of our style. Maybe this openness is the key to Basswerk’s success.
Also available as MP3 on http://www.basswerk.de

Promo text
“velvet morning” is one of the most played german drum & bass tracks ever and already received worldwide attention. now finally the first promos are there. n:phect & diz:play are two young boys from cologne and represent two of the most successful producers out of a new genertaion of german electronic drum & bass artists – together with names such as misanthrop, phace and giana brotherz, who leaded the way 2 years ago. diz:play’s “Syndicate” also is a much celebrated smasher and already had been part of the basswerk sessions #2 compilation, which made the crowd vote basswerk as german drum & bass label of the year (www.future-music.net).

knowledge mag 49
“Velvet Morning” is one of the most-played homegrown tunes of recent times in Germany – and is epic, melodic, muscular and not a million miles from “Morning Light” by Concord Dawn. As is the dark, trancey “The Syndicate”. Not bad at all.

knowledge online review
A monster Ill Skillz-styled anthem from our German brethren as N:phect and Diz:play score a massive coup with the tranced-out, epic vibe of ‘Velvet Morning’. An expert display of controlled emotion with just enough dirt sprinkled on it to appeal across the board, Diz:play’s equally smooth punisher on the flip make this one worth popping on sight.

raveline
D-Kay, Concorde Dawn und N:Phect & Diz:Play haben eines gemeinsam: Alle drei Drum‘n‘Bass-Acts sind nicht aus England, aber ihre durch wunderschöne male Vocals hemmungslos kitschig klingenden Tracks werden auf der Insel zu gefeierten Tracks. Sind Vocals das Geheimrezept? Glockenhell singt auch hier ein Mensch herzergreifend vom samtenen Morgen, während seine Stimme im Kontrast zu den nuskoolig trancigen Strukturen, dicken Wubbelbässen und rasenden Breaks stehen. Auch die Flip hat mit seinen feuernden Breaks, technoid-trancig Elementen und fiepsig klingenden Akkorden Hitcharakter. Kein Wunder, die Stimmschnipsel erinnern an die Thunderdomewerbung: “Out noooow. Hol‘ sie dir!”

Clip: nphect & dizplay – Velvet Morning

Clip: dizplay – The Syndicate