The latest offering from Shakhta Records comes from the label head, WZ.
I wrote a review of WZ' release on Soul Ex Machina back in July, and if you want to get a feel for his production and style, I highly recommend going and giving that a read-through. I'm going to try and avoid covering the same ground here, so I'm going to quote myself to provide you with all you need to know about his production style:
"The king of keeping it spacey, WZ's productions are distinctly on the minimal side and are driven by their rib cage rattling basslines."
Although we've hosted a few Shakhta Records' tunes on YouTube before, we've never actually written about the imprint. Shakhta is definitely one of the most interesting labels out there at the moment.
Headed by WZ himself, the label focuses on the scenes over in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, giving local artists a platform for bassweight. For me personally, my introduction to Fizzy, Johney, MyCa$h and Lostleg came through their output on Shakhta, and they've all quickly become some of my favourite producers out there.
Even though there's a focus on geography in the label's roster, WZ has managed to curate a cohesive back catalogue with a definite sound behind it. Like his productions, WZ has curated a label emphasising the 140bpm spectrum's heavy yet minimal end.
I think it's also important to shout out the label's artwork direction too. It's also quite minimal, but each release's colour change really ties everything together and gives the imprint a real identity.
The three tracks on this latest release, 'Downtown Steppin', 'Undertone' and 'Vibrations', all share WZ's characteristic blend of weight and space.
Strap a zoot and nod your head type beats.
SHKHT006 will be dropping in October - keep an eye over on the Shakhta Record's Bandcamp page.