January: 7 bass & club music releases you need to hear this month

RP Boo 'The Ultimate' (Planet Mu)

Chicago footwork producer RP Boo is best known for being a stalwart of the city’s dance music scene as well as a genre innovator – he flips the conventional rhythms and bass patterns in such a way that his songs wrap neatly around themselves. The effect is tautly controlled, frenetic energy, and this new release finds Boo expanding on those same themes. Opener ‘The Ultimate’ builds gradually with an angular synth riff and suspenseful hand claps that circle around a drop that comes, eventually, but not necessarily in the way you’d expect. ‘The King’, meanwhile, works pulsating bass around claustrophobic clicks and a vocal sample from the 1994 crime film Fresh which asks “are you ready to be the king?”; paired with the track’s ominous instrumentals, it seems more like an aggressive challenge than an invitation. This is his third full-length out on Mike Paradinas’ Planet Mu imprint, and it’s good to see that a producer who was initially unwilling to make music his full-time job has found a supportive platform through which to grow his legacy.

8/10