The newly rebranded and more easily Googlable AL/SO (previously ALSO) and High Maintenance seem to have managed to release the breakout hit EP of May. Their Korsakov release Hypersonic hit the top three in all the pertinent D&B categories on Beatport last week, claiming the number one slot on the Best New Hype Drum & Bass: May and Secret Weapons: Drum & Bass charts. It was a DJ and fan favorite, with calls for track ids littering livestream chats before the EP was even released.
The reason Hypersonic has gotten so much hype is because it’s a perfect mashup of steppy, hyped-up dancfloor vibes, clean beat and synths, a good lashing of darkness in the bass and a cheeky sense of fun to the tracks, the titles and even the album art.
EPs like Hypersonic are made for the dancefloor, whether it’s at a festie or during a lockdown livestream. These bangers are guaranteed to become mainstays in many a DJs playlist for our erstwhile festival season and beyond, so Bassrush asked High Maintenance and AL/SO to put together a playlist of their favorite live set standards. With these tracks, it’s no wonder they’ve created such a dancefloor smasher of an EP. Listen and boogie below.
AL/SO:
High Maintenance & AL/SO – Here We Go Again
This is the first tune we made together and it just felt right from the start. I kept wanting to call the tune “Cowbell Fever” but we settled for this. I daresay it slaps some absolute sack.
Mind Vortex – Gravity
Mind Vortex are absolutely ridiculously good and this is their standout tune for me. It’s such an integral part of my sets I’m sure I’ll one day fight whoever is on after me if I’m out of time and haven’t played it yet at the rave.
Delta Heavy – Here With Me ft. Modestep (The Prototypes Remix)
Probably my favorite D&B track. It is on such another level of banger that I can’t even put it into words. This, to me, epitomizes everything that makes D&B great and it’s just perfect. No other word describes it. Perfect. Big up Nick and Chris you magnificent bastards!
Cyantific – Colour In The Shadows ft. Benji
I used to not even be into melodic D&B but this is the tune that changed it all for me. Until I heard the above Prototypes remix this was probably my favorite D&B tune, and in all fairness it might still be. The energy in this is unrivalled and it works in any set no matter how heavy you go. Believe me, I tried.
Drumsound & Bassline Smith – Cold Turkey (Tantrum Desire Remix)
If you can listen to this and not move you’re a goddamn psychopath. Jay absolutely tore this one up, one of the sickest remixes I’ve heard in forever and I don’t think it’ll ever leave my sets now that it exists
High Maintenance:
Camo & Crooked – Watch It Burn (High Maintenance Remix)
This was the first ever official remix I did. Camo helped me a lot with meeting people and production techniques when I first started. After I did this remix, C&K put me on the guestlist at Fabric. It was the first time I had been there. I arrived late and a soon as I walked in, they were playing my remix with Ayah Marar singing the vocals live in front of a packed club. Just because of that moment, I always try to play this tune in my sets.
Stan SB – Anyone Out There
I’m sure everyone knows, but Fox Stevenson used to be called Stan SB. No matter what his name is, his music always shines. When I first heard of him, I saw a DJ mix he did on a controller. There were so many of his own tunes in the mix and all the drums in his own tunes were Pendulum caliber or higher. So punchy, shiny, and aggressive.
Wideboys – Addicted 2 The Bass (Tantrum Desire Remix)
I could probably put every single tune that Tantrum Desire has ever made in my list. I grew up loving neurofunk. To me, nothing could ever be better than 2008 Noisia butTantrum Desire showed me that no matter how cheesy a vocal is, it can always sound as fun as a reese bass.
Jaguar Skills – Lust (Break Remix)
Everyone loves Break. He manages to make music not sound too complicated but his drums are always so technical. One of the first vinyls I ever owned 13 years ago was a Break and Fierce tune (think it was a whole EP on a label called Quarantine), and I still to this day haven’t heard the man release a shit mixdown. He’s a beast!
Metrik – Out of the Fire
I always find myself accidentally copying Metrik’ss tunes when I’m producing in the studio. I’ve listened to every tune he’s ever made to death and the melodies are just stuck in my head. I feel like we are living in an age of foghorn drum & bass, where a whole tune can consist of a one-note bassline. It makes me value artists like Metrik so much more. Music is supposed to be musical, and that boy knows how to smash out a chord.
Hypersonic is out now on Korsakov Music and can be streamed or purchased on multiple platforms here.