The debut record from Knife Party reinstates how we’ve felt about EDM for a while now – it’s not dead, it’s just that not many people are trying anything new anymore. Luckily Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen are here to change all that. 

Much of the scene has been stuck on the shit but successful progressive-house templates of David Guetta and Calvin Harris lately. There’s been a bit of a rejuvenation of the underground house scene and a couple of artists trying to save drum and bass, but when it comes to full on, hard-hitting electronic chaos, we’ve been left at a bit of a loss.

Abandon Ship is a breath of fresh air in that sense, which is funny, because it’s packed so heavily with unrelenting madness that it’s unlikely fresh air will get anywhere near it when its blasted on the loud speakers.

There are a couple of songs tailored slightly more for the mainstream – single releases ‘Boss Mode’ and ‘Resistance’ unsurprisingly fit into this category – but even these are laden with the original beats and synth work that set Pendulum so far apart from anyone else in their field back in their prime.

The KP creativity shines through best on ‘EDM Trend Machine’ though, an ingenious tune that toys with various styles from the electronic world – taking classic rhythms from deep house, house, trance and more – to form something completely original and funky as hell.

To take so many sub-genres, integrate them all into one track and still come out with something so addictive is no mean feat. And it's a very apt symbol for how the rest of the album is run as well.

‘404’ plays on computer errors - of which there have been plenty in the charts of late - and soft melodies around a central, pulsating beat that’ll cause mayhem on the live stage.‘Begin Again’ is one for the old Pendulum fans meanwhile, providing a more traditional, vocal build-up piece reminiscent of 90s electronic rhythms.

A homecoming party is always that bit more special than your regular celebratory bash. So when notorious revelry kings Rudimental returned to London for the first time in months, it was always bound to be a messy night.

The dynamic Hackney four-piece were back in their homeland for the iTunes Festival after an extensive tour of the globe, and they didn’t waste any time easing into their return.

“We love London town,” bellowed DJ Locksmith, bounding out on the stage in front of lights blazing the name of the band around the circular Camden venue.

Accompanying him? The rest of the Rudimental boys and their famous entourage – two lead vocalists, three back-up singers, trumpets and saxophones blasting out brass madness and a crazy drummer combining to crash out the carnivalistic chaos with which the group are now synonymous.

A frantic introduction got the crowd going, and the group built on their bouncing intro with a jazzed up version of album track ‘Give You Up’ – which then transcended into the full drum and bass banger – and ‘Right Here’, the steel drum driven anthem near enough impossible not to love.

Given that the iTunes Festival is an event with free ticketing – meaning the crowd is a mix of loyal fans and those who happened to get a penny-less pass – it’s pretty impressive that the crowd were so behind the gig.

If anyone can win over an audience, though, it’s Rudimental. The sheer mass of musical madness and the hypnotic energy being churned out from the stage is scarily easy to get lost in.

Bouncing next to a group of like-minded revellers as the group unleash ‘Not Giving In’, one sweaty twenty-something shouts out ‘I don’t even know who these guys are – I’m into heavy metal music!’

It certainly doesn’t seem to have affected his enjoyment or hindered his dance moves. Even if you don’t come to a Rudimental gig as a fan, it’s more than likely you’ll leave as one.

It’ wasn’t all the same old, same old from the producers either. New material came in the form of ‘To Cool To Love Me’ and ‘Breathe’, the former a solid song lacking an addictive hook, the latter a banger that goes ballistic at the drop. Caught up in the moment, the crowd lapped it up.

Emile Sande feature ‘Free’ brought a big crowd reaction, but the piece de resistance of the homecoming set came as it began to draw to a close. When you’re in London, there’s one song you can always rely on to make the locals go wild – whatever the day, whatever the occasion.

When Rudimental dropped a cover of Shy FX’s jungle classic ‘Original Nuttah’, then, the place went wild. We were bouncing around harder than a kangaroo on a trampoline reverberating the legendary lyrics back at the stage.

Feel the Love capped the regular set off with a bang, the signature heart signs taking to the air across the crowd and Mark Crown absolute slaying his trumpet solo to make the crowd lose their minds. 

Five or fifteen choruses later and it was time for a brief break and an encore. The song the crowd had been ‘Waiting All Night’ for (Geddit?!) smashed through the speakers to end a night that can best be described as a freakin' crazy indoor carnival.

Rudimental prove once again that they deserve their reputation as one of the best live acts around. They always provide an occasion to remember and the feel-good vibes get the audience mad.

Never let it be said that drum and bass is all about a computer screen.

                                                                                                               Stuart Kenny

It’s around about five o’clock in the morning and I’m at Edinburgh airport with my girlfriend. We’re in the gate waiting to board our flight to Dublin. 

The masses have already inexplicably begun queuing despite the fact that the plane doesn’t leave for another hour. We were zoned out in a zombified state of sleep on a couple seats nearby – myself flicking slowly through a magazine and taking none of it in, my other half staring deeply into an abyss of utter confusion that only kicks in over sleep-deprivation.

Why were we there? The same reason half the other people on the plane were. To make the trip to a spectacular show from a band at the forefront of their genre. We were off to see Biffy Clyro play a one-off show at what was effectively a giant castle in Dublin. 

What better reason to get up at five o'clock in the morning?

After some naptime on arrival, a stroll around Dublin, a tour of the Guinness factory and some extended sampling of that famous local brew, it was time to head to the spectacular Royal Hospital Kilmainham for the super showdown – with Little Matador and You Me At Six providing some top support to the outdoor show made all the more killer by the blue skies and shining sun.

The Scottish trio came on with a massive bang. Lights blaring, crowd roaring, signature toplessness intact. Let's get going.

‘Different People’, from latest album Opposites, was the opening track. A welcome intro to the set, starting slow, bursting into life and eventually exploding with a kickass chorus that set the tone pretty well for the slamming showcase to follow.

The set was formed from a variation of past and present that an audience of the band has come to expect. Biffy are wonderfully renowned for the quality of their back catalogue – the days of NME slating Blackened Sky now seem a laughable past – and after getting going with a few songs from Opposites and Only Revelations, Puzzle’s ‘Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies’ featured, followed by the likes of Blackened Sky’s ‘Justboy’ and Infinity Land favourite ‘Glitter and Trauma’.

A more surprising inclusion was ‘Questions and Answers’ from 2003 album The Vertigo of Bliss, but the song worked well in the set, slowing the pace after ‘Who’s Got a Match?’ to lead on to more recent success ‘Many of Horror’.

The passion of the band was powerful throughout the set - and essential to the success of the show. From ‘Whores’ and ‘Sounds Like Balloons’ to the wonderful ‘Woo Woo’ and ‘Black Chandelier’, the riffs were heavy, original, catchy as hell and executed ruggedly in a way that means you’re not just listening to a live set of studio recordings – you're listening to a performance packed with the passion and zeal that has driven the trio on to keep upping their game and setting the bar higher each time they take to the stage.

When the group played the heavy stuff, the crowd went wild, and so did the band. When they slowed it down for the likes of ‘The Thaw’, or for solo acoustic takes on ‘God & Satan’ and ‘Machines’ from Simon Neil, the audience turned choir to reverberate the words right back up to the stage.

It’s gigs like this that make it a shame that the whole process of the ‘encore’ is effectively ruined, because Biffy are exactly the kind of band that genuinely leave the audience desperate for more – the kind of band that would almost certainly command a rampant encore in the days when these things actually had to be earned.

Finishing off with ‘Stingin’ Belle’ and big-time anthem ‘Mountains’, it was a sensational overall performance from James and Ben Johnston alongside Simon Neil, who left the stage declaring: ‘thankyou, we’ve been Biffy fucking Clyro’. A jubilant statement to match what most of the audience will have been thinking at the time.

Biffy certainly put on a performance that makes you remember what music should really be all about – the passion, the craze and the love of innovation.

It was a concert that leaves you pining for more, and buzzing for another session with the Biff.

                                                                                                                                          Stuart Kenny
                                                                                                                Photographs: Mairi Petticrew

Ella Eyre – If I Go     2/5

She first came onto our radar providing some sick vocals for Rudimental’s smash hit ‘Waiting All Night’, and since then things have really blown up for Ella Eyre. The 20 year old has now featured with Wiz Khalifa and Tinie Tempah, and impressive with her debut EP Deeper, which stood strong solo and lent itself to some top remixes (check out the Friend Within mix) as well.

After such a strong past year then, it must be said that debut single ‘If I Go is’ a little bit of a letdown. The track is all to generic, with the only thing lifting above the rest of the templated-instrumental beats floating around right now being the artist’s signature, and admittedly splendid, vocals.

While as impressive as always though, the strong, avid singing of Eyre is simply not enough to make this song stand out, with a routine drum beat on the verses and an underwhelming progression to the chorus, which rises to a drum and bass style instrumental beat, proving all too monotonous.

Little Matador – Reasons     3/5

A real stomper of a rock beat guides the latest single from four-piece Brits Little Matador from the second it kicks off. Strong guitar work is seen throughout and a bassline that loops throughout keeps the listener hooked.

The fuzzy vocals in this track dive up and down over a tenacious back beat, giving a raw, rugged feel to the song that compares to early work from Queens of the Stone Age. Frontman Nathan Connolly offers enough differentiation from the rest of the indie-rock and chart-rock work on offer right now to make this track entertaining, although it still would have probably done better in the charts had it been released in 2010.

JproD – We Here Now (So Much Smoke)     3/5

A simple, synthetic and progressive beat moves up and down early on to lay the way for lyrics that take a nice rhythm and hold a nice line over the continual electronic backing.

The lyrics are genuine, taking on more serious, relevant issues than you’ll find in the Flo-Rida school of nonsense that’s been floating around the charts for the past few years, and JproD seems assertive in his work, laying down his words assertively and with a seemingly experienced confidence that grips the listener.

Unfortunately, unnecessary autotune takes away from the solid work of the artist throughout the song. The autotune comes and goes during the three minute plus record, but really only gets in the way of otherwise good work rather than contributing anything of value.

Beyonce – XO (Full Crate Remix)     2/5

A chilled house remix of last year’s release from pop queen Beyonce. A sweet soothing electronic melody starts off this piece before the lyrics of Beyonce step up a notch and the beat turns into a bouncy electronic sounding which is actually rather irritating.

This circulating beat seems intrusive to the song than complimentary, and when the work reverts back to a more casual house rhythm as Beyonce slows it down, the summer-style record proves much more appealing.

Needless to say though, with the bouncing electronic feature recurring throughout the record as Jay-Z’s other half dives into her verses, this song proves more irritable than irresistible and won’t be getting added to the summer playlist.

Click here to continue and find out what our single of the week is this time around, or hit the read more button below.