Honey Badger Records seemingly keeps piling on the heat year after year. The label, which was founded in 2014 by JNS is one of the oldest and most well-known record labels in Seoul. The releases on the label to date straddle the line between house and techno, while maintaining a clear sense of forward-thinking dance music.

For Honey Badger’s latest release, they are re-joined by South Korean producers Wooseok Choi and Minseop Lee, collectively known as Two Tone Shape, with their Every Minute EP. The EP, which marks the first release of the 2022 for both Honey Badger Records and Two Tone Shape, showcases the impressive depth of the duo’s live-programmed productions. Each track on the EP features a unique sonic flare, ranging from expansive breakbeat, deep & slow-burning house, as well as rave-leaning techno.

The second track of the record keeps up the introductory pace set by the opener. Persistence of X is an expertly crafted house music gem. The bassline conveys an indisputable bounce while nestled between a kick that drives the groove home. Two Tone Shape pays homage to classic rave samples yet keeps things interesting with synthesis magic that the duo seems to do again and again.

This release continues the positive trajectory that both Honey Badger Records and Two Tone Shape are on.

The Every Minute EP is available for purchase now!

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Honey Badger Records are already off to a scorching start to 2021. Back on March 5th, label-head JNS dropped the remix-package to his 2020 debut album, Miasma Remix, which we covered on the site. One of the remixes on that project was courtesy of electronic duo Two Tone Shape, which saw the Seoul-native duo lending their expansive, live-set-programming chops to the track, “Tipping Point”. The duo released their own breakout project on Honey Badger last November, Fantastic Machines, and now, the label is giving it the same treatment as JNS’s debut, with a remix album dropping April 7th.

Tapped for closing track “Nouveau Monde”––a short, yet expertly paced ambient closer––Seoul-based DJ, Mignon, drops us right in media res with his remix. Rather than abiding by the slow-burn formula of the original, Mignon immediately hits us with the sonic wall that the original methodically develops. However, he still manages to retain the sense of pacing and grandeur that the original so elegantly displayed, while introducing a higher BPM and several more breaks. The peak of this track soars to heights and a sense of awe only hinted at in the original, but all the while manages to never feel over-the-top or as if it’s fully deconstructing the original edifice upon which it is built. 

With this release, Honey Badger are quickly establishing themselves as one of the most prolific and versatile indie-House labels not only in South Korea, but all across the globe. The range of talent on display here is nothing short of amazing.

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Back in October 2020, South-Korean-based Honey Badger Records founder, JNS, released his debut album, “Miasma”. The album’s dark, cavernous techno and glitchy drum’n’bass textures felt in lock-and-step with the overwhelmingly bleak and unpredictable mood of last year. JNS channeled these feelings of anxiety and uncertainty into an album that pummels headstrong into these emotions, embracing rather than fleeing their all-encompassing dread.

For this new release, JNS has recruited his label-mates to remix four tracks off the album. Opening track, “Miasma”, goes to upstart producer Closet Yi, who takes the decaying, anxiety-laden pulse of the original and turns it into a hi-definition blockbuster of a track. Despite putting on some polish, the track retains much of its corrosive, highly volatile energy, as the central drum’n’bass refrain and synth washes are largely there intact. Yi expertly deploys the acid-squiggles JNS concocted right at the start of the track, to immediately establish that alien, post-apocalyptic vibe.

Yi’s remix betrays a clear admiration for the original. Rather than uprooting its foundation, she takes elements already there and amplifies them to dizzying, intoxicating effect. By the time the track reaches its apex and then devolves into a jerky, drum’n’bass stomper, you’ll be left reeling from the virtuosity on display.

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Cet article JNS – Miasma (Closet Yi Remix) [Honey Badger Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

South-Korean DJ JNS, the founder and head of Honey Badger Records in Seoul, is dropping his debut feature-length album, “Miasma,” on October 30th. JNS is steadily rising in the electronic community. Recently, he performed a killer set for Boiler Room Seoul in 2019 (his second Boiler Room following his debut in 2016) and has debuted numerous original songs and remixes on famed radio stations like BBC  Radio 1, NTS, Redlight Radio, and Worldwide FM. He has also been at the forefront of showcasing South Korean talent through his record label, which is coming off a productive year with three EP releases, including Closet Yi’s sensational “Ruminate EP” which we covered on the site back in May.

Track three on the album, “Sour Grapes,” is a deceivingly mellow cut involving layers of instrumentation that creates a steadily escalating groove. Starting off with a jaunty bass-line, skittering percussion quickly settles in giving the track a slightly high-strung energy. This is soon balanced out by spacey synth washes and that recurring bassline. The track ultimately shapes itself into a tight-yet-languid micro-house tune, existing somewhere in the space between restless and chilled-out. 

JNS seems to languish in this tough balancing act. The tempo increases toward the end of the track but cuts off just before it feels like it might finally spin out of control. It’s clear from this song alone that JNS is a master craftsman of finely-tuned, expressive House that defies easy categorization.

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Cet article JNS – Sour Grapes [Honey Badger Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Signed to “Honey Badger Records”, South Korea’s preeminent and oldest underground electronic label, this is Closet Yi’s first EP under their banner. Her profile has been steadily rising since she released her debut EP for London-based label, “No Bad Days”, earlier in 2020, and the influence of UK 90’s garage and rave music is clear from the very first notes of Ruminate. “Eternal Countdown” takes this homage to a new, gnarled, chaotic level. What starts out as a seemingly standard UK garage beat quickly evolves into a brash, multi-layered, genre-bending stomper. Multiple earworm-y, springy acid lines are juxtaposed with thunderous bass hits and bouncy synths, topped off with what sounds like distorted yelps from a chorus of Korean children chanting in unison. This latter detail lends the track an almost anthemic feel, even as it careens into a paranoid, siren-filled lurch, with skittering hi-hats raising the tempo to dizzying, uncomfortable heights.

The sheer volume of ideas in this one track—and displayed throughout the entire EP—is impressive in itself, but it could prove too cluttered in less capable hands. Closet Yi handles all these elements without falling under the weight of her own diabolical invention, which marks a promising sign that this bold new artist not only has something to say with her wild experimentation, but she has the skill and chops to say it with panache.

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