} opening up the ◢sidehatch. gates this year is the dude who kicked us off back in summer 2024 with his MJ Cole remixes – Central coastal California based producer and good friend Brian McNally aka Benito. In addition to the Cole situations Benito has regularly been on Woodland Creatures – dropping huge remixes for Skwirl and Adam Gillett; but, “Beats I Made To Drive To” is the first LP of his own material on either of the labels and phew is it well worth the wait.

}} “Beats…” rides the line between concept record and suggested listening environment as though the record flows between warm spacey jungle and breaks and even spacier sparse dubby minimal tech and electro scapes, what anchors the record is the ever present rumble of bass – a feature sure to cause turmoil in even the most conservative trunk mounted subwoofer.

Beyond being catalysts for rattling bass bins, these tunes are infectiously cheeky and finely tuned workouts. It’s a very heads down, headphones up (or windows down, stereo up) collection of timeless thumpage; and, despite this perhaps, it is a record of subtleties: flowing intuitively and spritely – almost intangibly – for its 43 minute run time with each tune so comfortably in the pocket and well-paced that they leave one wanting more.

}}} “Beats I Made To Drive To” does what it says on the tin: these are automobile friendly bass trap testers dropped by a producer comfortably taking strides around his instantly recognisable and intoxicatingly deep sound. Play it loud.