Selections: A.G
In this series, Selections, we invite DJs, producers and label heads to dig into their digital crates and share the contents of their Bandcamp collections. This week, A.G. spotlights recent favourites spanning vibey grime and garage, percussive club cuts and electrifying edits
A.G. is no stranger to DJ Mag’s Selections series. Numerous selectors have bigged up the East London producer in their own choices, emphasising her distinctly emotive take on the sounds of garage, grime and UK drill. Throughout her prolific Bandcamp catalogue, which has seen her release 12 EPs, singles and remixes since the beginning of 2020, A.G. sculpts sweet melodies and skipping rhythms, wrapping them in clouds of crunchy bass weight. The resulting music is irresistible and nocturnal – tailor made for solitary bus rides home from the club, when the electricity of the dancefloor still fizzles in your chest, but something quieter and more contemplative starts to settle in.
It’s a feeling embodied by the self-designed 8-bit graphic artwork for A.G’s most recent EP, ‘donotdisturb’, which boasts some of her most striking work to date. ‘dolittle’ is a chiming future garage cut a lá Jacques Greene, which dazzles like a Mario Kart racecourse and soars on the sounds of skittering samples, flute-like keys and strings. ‘always, you’ and ‘attention seeker’ are ethereal drill cuts that wrap their cold, pressurised beats in blankets of melodic atmosphere. Keep an eye out for more new gems from A.G on her Bandcamp, and dig into her Selections below.
“Manga Is one of the first artists I started copping bandcamp songs off like 10 years ago, I would highly recommend going through his whole bandcamp discography as it’s nuts. ‘Ultima Deluxe’ is Manga refixing Manga, and ‘Top Boy Spitter (Never Been)’ is perfection.”
“SusTrapperazzi is one of my fav producers – another bandcamp discography I highly recommend checking. ‘Sincerely,Sus’ is one of my fav instrumental releases. Full of bangers and blending R&B, trap and drill, this gave me a lesson in making multi-track releases varied but cohesive.”
“MoreNight has been on a roll this past 12 months, blessing us with amazing songs consistently. ‘Through the Clouds EP’ is three actual hits and it’s actually hard to choose a fav as they are all amazing.”
“KG is expensive and I need you to know this! This is the second volume of ‘Sensei’ and it sounds rich like the summer we wish we had. ‘Koko’ is obviously a world class hit but my fav track is ‘Mantra’ with Taliwhoah – such an ethereal sound.”
“The fact this is Arma’s fourth volume of edits is crazy because they all slap. Every DJ should have some Arma tracks in their collection and this is a good project to start off with.”
“Every time one of these tracks pop up on shuffle I get stuck in a replaying loop. Wize is bringing new energy to some of my fav grime freestyles and he doesn't miss. Check out the previous series too.”
“The legend with the crazy drums. This is another DJ must-have release. ‘Nocturnesque’ is my fav on this; I mix it into everything at a different tempo each time. Name a song and this goes into it perfectly.”
“Anz is thee queen of feel good music and I’ve really enjoyed this. Two really sick tracks with ‘Unravel In The Designated Zone’ being euphoric and bubbly, with a crazy synth lead that I wanna play Mario Kart to.”
“A second instalment of amazing packs from Daytimers, made to raise funds for charities in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in India. My fav song is Oceantied ‘Reality’ because it’s so smooth. It’s a perfect summer vibe. Honourable mention to Manara because her ‘Dhak Dhak x J Sweet (Live Blend)’ is nuts.”
“I play a lot of Freeza Chin as he’s another one with a crazy discography. Whenever I play this track in a set I get asked for the ID. His recent Frank Ocean ‘We All Try’ remix is LIFE too!”
