Frozen Plates are celebrating the 20th release on the imprint and are bringing out a collaborative EP from EKSTR, Substada and 11th Hour to mark the occasion.
As always with Frozen Plates, it's a strictly limited dubplate run, so you'll need to move quickly. Like FZP19, there will be an artwork run this time, which is well worth grabbing if you like your tunes to look as good as they sound.
All hailing from Belgium, EKSTR, Substada, and 11th Hour have now shared a couple of releases, one on LDH Records and one on their own Trawant imprint.
It's nice seeing them on board with Frozen Plates too, and it goes to show how far the scene spreads these days. You've got three Belgian artists on a Hungarian label putting out records cut in the United Kingdom (Dub Studio).
FZP20 is a four-tracker with two EKSTR x Substrada collabs and two solo productions from Substrada and 11th Hour.
The eponymous A-side 'Rumble in the West', which you can check out above, starts off the release on a slightly chilled tip. Living up to its name, 'Rumble in the West' has a distinctive old-west feel, the kind of track Clint Eastwood would draw for on the jukebox before pulling out his six-shooter.
There's an excellent progression through the track too. After the breakdown, you get treated to some nice chords that I could only track down to this TommyBoyFame track but must surely originate from a soundtrack somewhere.
On the B-side, so still on the same plate as 'Rumble', you've got 11th Hour's 'Shaolin Technique'. While it's decidedly more energetic than the A-side, it was a perfect call getting it on the same plate.
There's a slightly more overt connection to some classic movies with lots of samples from Shaolin Monk vs Shadow Boxing Kung Fu and Mystery of Chess Boxing.
With 'Rumble' and 'Shaolin' both conceptually tied to the golden age of cinema, getting them on the same plate goes a long way towards glueing the release together.
On the other plate, you have the second EKSTR x Substrada collab 'Jinzo' on the C-side. There's a little vocal stab that sounds like it could be a Darth Vader sample, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Some sick sample work has gone into this track.
Wrapping up the release on the D-side is Substrada's 'Krome'. The off-kilter hi-hat patterns are seriously skank-inducing and make this the wonkiest track on the release. Catch you off guard in the dance type-beat.
This one is coming soon, so keep your eyes on the Frozen Plates Bigcartel to secure your copy!