ColtCuts x Cartridge – Fxck (DDD100) [HNYBSS Premiere]


That’s right, following yesterday’s premiere of Basura & Slaine‘s ‘Marches On‘, we’re back today with another solid collaboration taken from DDD100! Twenty-four collabs feature on the record and ‘Fxck‘ happens to be one of my favourites by ColtCuts and Cartridge. Over forty producers are involved on this project so there’s quite literally too many names to mention, but I’ll give it a shot!

Kicking off DDD100 we’re already faced with something more imposing than a regular collab; a trio of legends! Label heads Truth work alongside pioneers Youngsta and N-Type on the devastating chugs of ‘Connected Illusions‘. It’s a hugely progressive cinematic journey in its own right and it’s an assault on the subs and senses from here on in. There’s other collaborations that go further than just a pairing including Hypho, Ternion Sound and Pav4n working together on ‘Relentless‘, featuring Strategy on the mic and ‘Cataclysm‘ featuring Truth once again, alongside Pushloop and Kwizma. ‘From Birth‘, featuring vocals from Rider Shafique, also presents a triple threat of Abstrakt Sonance, ColtCuts and Confusious. Between Rider‘s verses, the track reveals itself to be more than an moody slow burner when it throws itself into a chorus of stank-faced wubs and laser gun synth stabs.
ColtCuts is one of the most represented producers on the record as the Canadian also features on the wild colourful ride that is ‘Scars‘ with Wraz, ‘Mecha’ featuring The Widdler and of course today’s premiere ‘Fxck‘, alongside Cartridge. It’s a track that finds chaos in a wide open space; a stripped back cut where the subs take a hammering and the staggered gritty mids set the ears on fire. Cartridge‘s contribution to the album cannot be overlooked either thanks to a second collaborative effort, this time with Lampa. With it’s epic rising horns and epochal brass melody, ‘Blabba Mouth‘ is easily one of the largest and most recognisable tracks to feature on DDD100 and rightly has a spot on the vinyl sampler.

DDD100 also brings together interesting pairings that I’ve never considered before even if it makes total sense in hindsight. For example, Mythm and ENiGMA Dubz combine on the gut punching ‘Reality‘, where you realise their equally confrontational and at times brash sounds were made for each other. Two of the genre’s most impressive talents Oxossi and Hypho, join forces for ‘Lana‘. As expected with anything that Oxossi touches and Hypho generates, it’s one of the more unorthodox tunes on the record that involves the crunchiest and most intensive bassline, aligned with the kookiest sampling.
Even though they’re relative newcomers to the label, Internal Frequency (who featured on the blog earlier this week) and Outsider achieve a deserved spot on the vinyl sampler with their hard hitting, atmospheric effort ‘Before The Fall‘, displaying some beautiful musicality and a killer switch.
We’re also treated to more familiar duos, like the perfect pairing of Japanese pioneers Karnage and Dayzero who are no strangers to shredding the buttons together, but this time they go a little laidback with the vibrant ‘Heavenward‘. And prolific German duo Roklem and Sebalo reconvene not long after their latest DDD EP, with their emblematic industrial flavours of ‘Inner Turmoil‘.

Dubstep super couple Woven Thorns and Mesck have individually stood as two of my favourite producers for a while so their latest collaborative piece ‘Known Enemy‘, had to be one of the first tunes I checked out! It’s an archetypical moody number brimming with ominous tones and reesey goodness and the darkness infects it’s way into other areas of the record such as NotLö and Chef BoyarBeatz‘s ‘Swamp Salute‘, and the 808 booms and whiplash snares of ‘Bad Cave‘, by City1 and Substance. An interesting combination of Leon Switch and Widow also deliver the darkness with ‘Fallen Angels‘, a haunting finale track that demonstrates the true meaning of deep dark and dangerous.

With all that said, I’ve still missed out the contributions from the likes of Khiva & JLEON, Rez & Senncoria and Enochi & Bisweed. There’s also appearances from Leo Cap alongside Chef Boyarbeatz and Distinct Motive alongside Wraz and with that, I think I’ve finally mentioned all involved! As expected for such a landmark release, DDD100 is a stacked project and, except for DUPLOC’s similarly incredible work this year, I don’t think there’s anything else out there on this scale. It’s a classic Deep Dark & Dangerous selection, where each production is suited to both the big room and the basement.

DDD100 is out 11/11/22 and available to pre-order digitally from the Deep Dark & Dangerous Bandcamp. It’ll come as no surprise that the vinyl sampler is already a sell out!

Check out ColtCuts on Soundcloud and Instagram.
Check out Cartridge on Soundcloud and Instagram.
Check out Deep Dark & Dangerous on Soundcloud and Instagram.