Starmix: The A Sides
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Welcome to the candy shop… As Diffrent Music sister label SweetBox prepares for its 19th single release, we delve into the archives to collect all the A-sides so far into one ultra-delicious ‘Starmix’!
From the 2015 — the bleepy, dubbed-out ‘Bubblegum’ by Crypticz — through Lakeway’s rowdy ‘Fireblast Riddim’, the alien swagger of ‘Flying Saucers’ by HØST and Luke Sentric’s halftime ragga bomb ‘Gobstopper’, the label’s development from casual side-project to Certified Banger Delivery Service is clear to see.
Perhaps most pivotal is Howitzer’s 2018 damager ‘Blackjacks’, which successfully threaded a junglist note into the label that’s since become a key part of the SweetBox sound. It laid the foundation for Constrict’s hit sunset slammer ‘Refreshers’ and the nosebleed breaks of TYPE’s ‘Cola Cube’, not to mention the hardcore bizznizz offered up by K Super on ‘Flumps’ and Mani Festo’s ‘Toxic Waste’ — the latter being the label’s first proper vinyl pressing.
Elsewhere there’s a roaring jungle tekno/jump-up hybrid by Dexta & Iliad taken from 2019’s ‘Pick & Mix Vol. 1’ compilation. Dusty Ohms & RaptorHandz are on a footwork-inspired flex with ‘Shake Shake’. The mysterious James Bless delivers sludgy rave, while Kije goes intergalactic with ‘Acid Drops and D’TCH serves up boss level sonic battery on ‘Sour Twist’.
So grab a handful… in fact, why not take the whole pack? Heads and ravers love ‘em lots, the tasty bangers of SweetBox!