Review: Kassian - Gradients EP (!K7 Records)

For those that hanker for the heady days of early Hyperdub, Kode 9, Space Ape etc, Kassian have gradients to bring the sound up-to-date!

London duo Kassian trade darkness for daylight on ‘Gradients’, their third EP for !K7 and a bridge between last year's debut album and a new live show and second LP due in 2027.

As Kassian, Warren Cummings and Joe Danvers continue to sit apart from any one scene, their fruitful relationship with !K7 has spanned eclectic and globally minded club cuts, including the spatial breaks and bass of 2024's best-selling Supercontinent EP. Their 2025 album, Channels, emerged from lockdown and consequently leaned slow, downtempo and introspective. ‘Gradients’ points towards a clubbier, more physical direction.

‘Gradients’ is built for the floor without playing to trends and marks some of the duo's most melodic work to date. Rather than sitting purely in heads-down territory, the EP brings in hooks and vocal fragments that lift you out of the smoke and shadows. The low end is rooted in techno, with potent drums and bass, but vocal hooks and subtle melodies bring a brightness that steers away from the darker, meaner aesthetic dominating much of dance music right now. 'Blush' rides in warm with soft yet bold melodic riffs, looping in arcs over a hunched, speedy tech house groove. 'Inner Dance', with its lurching drums, cavernous rhythm and vocals, makes a playful nod to sound system culture, while 'Ritmo' is a more muscular bouncer with spring-loaded bass. Closer 'Sweat' is the bubbliest cut, with a tight techno low end infused with a velvety vocal.

The ‘Gradients EP’ is a bright, hardware-built prelude to Kassian's next chapter. It's a well-crafted four-tracker that pairs physical weight with classy emotional release.

BUY LINK / Vinyl Pre-Order: Gradients EP | Kassian

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Artist: Kassian

Title: Gradients EP

Release date: 16th October, 2026
Label : !K7 Records
Catalog Number : TBC
Format:  Vinyl / Digital / Streaming / Bandcamp

Review: Rockers Hi-Fi - Mish Mash with 'Now I Deliver' (BiggaBush Versions) (!K7 Records)

Whether it's Lightning Head, Studio Don, BiggaBush or as a co-founder of seminal Rockers Hi-FI, Glyn 'Bigga' Bush is full of electronic  dub/funk/dancehall/boogie to keep us rockin' to Hi-Fi soundsystem sounds with an re-released album 'Mish Mash' with 3 new versions of 'Now I Deliver' by Glyn himself.

Hard to believe that Rocker's Hi-Fi exploded in 1995 with the album 'Rockers To Rockers' on 4th & Broadway with tracks like the classic  'Push Push' and 'What A Life?' [Ed. I've got my copy signed by Glyn].  And whilst Glyn and Dick Whittingham formed in RHF in Birmingham, this and their other collaborations including AirGoose and Original Rockers were more dub and reggae focused than those Black Sabbath rockers.

And with the recent Ozzy revival, just as good a time as any to re-check their follow up album from 1996, 'Mish Mash'.  Originally released as a 17 track triple LP (Ed. did these guys think they were Yes?) it got picked up by WEA for its international release after the original home studio got an upgrade with new dubness in their sound along with, who was to become an almost Rockers ever present, Farda P and a 'new' Mellotron; plus a load of cleared samples.

And the album's title came from this mix of sample all this and more. Rockers Hi-Fi were one of the orignal multi-genre sounds led by tracks like 'Going Under' (featuring Farda P) and 'Now I Deliver' with it's 'Orignal Rockers Hi Fi' rap by Phoebe One.

And just to prove how a head of the genre-fluid game they were, also on the album is a "re-imagined" version of 'Ghetto Defendant' by punk royalty, The Clash as 'Queen Of The Ghetto'.  The mix of dub-poetry, dnb and trip-hop was so far from punk (as The Clash themselves developed) with the Rockers' forming primordial dubstep soup you might say?

The re-issued album comes with 3 BiggaBush versions of 'Now I Deliver' (original, extended and instrumenal) and that you can get a taste of as the single released today (see below).

P.S.  For other BiggaBush info, check out our exclusive interview HERE and the review of 'A Different Style EP' (see HERE) that includes the Hectic Extend'ed version of 'This River'.

BUY LINK: Mish Mash | Rockers Hi-Fi | !K7 Records

Artist: Rockers Hi-Fi
Title: Mish Mash with Bonus Tracks of 'Now I Deliver' (BiggaBush Versions) 
Release date: 9th July, 2025
Label : !K7
Catalog Number : TBC
Format: Digital / Bandcamp