Author Archives: Jammo

Review: Dogpatrol – Ya Playin Yerself

Read Time: 3 mins

Label // Sneaker Social Club
Released // 21/02/2025

Mannheim’s clown prince of bass, Dogpatrol, returns to the ever brilliant Sneaker Social Club with another instant classic in the form of Ya Playin Yerself EP.

“1200kcal”, with its strange off grid feeling locked groove and a snaking bass, really sets the scene. It occupies that rare space between real meat and gristle, underground bass music, and good old-fashioned silliness. Lessons from Hardcore, Grime, and Garage are deftly executed here. Whether it’s dog barks, ice-laden eski-melodies, PS2 ambience or a flatulent bassline that sounds like a giant ‘Godzilla like’ caterpillar rampaging through Baden-Württemberg, Dogpatrol has an innate ability to summon the spirits of disparate bass oriented subgenres, like some type of sound system Voltron.

Pound shop robotics, ring modulated breaks and more dog barks open “Baby Flame” as we join our sweaty palms and dive into a smoked out world of seaside arcade laden grime. Think of staples like Skepta’s “Autopsy” and Davinche’s “Mega Drive“, but squeezed through a bit crusher—like meat through a sausage stuffer– it’s naughty, it’s fatty, you know you shouldn’t, but you want it, don’t you?

The title track takes an almost soulful turn at first. Opening with light and wafty pads reminiscent of so many Metalheadz releases, it first gives the track a sense of breath—only to brutally cut out, dropping you into a dark Keller of disorientating, clinical funk. Out of tune, weird as fuck and delighting in its off-key samples and pitched ramblings, “Ya playin yourself” teases the listener with depth and drama before pulling the rug right out from under them. 


“Offenbach HBF Riddim” completes the set with Dogpatrol at his maddest. It’s kind of a party breaks thing, I hasten to say it, but it almost reminds me of Big Beat. Now, usually I’d only say this with a sense of scorn, but “Offenbach HBF Riddim” is the exception that proves the rule. It just works! Perhaps it’s a touch of nostalgia, it reminds me of long ecstasy-filled halcyon days, escaping the main floor at the Source (zodiac, Oxford) coming up hard on Mitsis downstairs, Toby Kidd on the decks, doling out happy cuts like Deeds Plus Thoughts’ “The World’s Made Up Of This And That” and De La’s “Three Is the Magic Number” before catching myself and heading back upstairs for some more dark dystopian drum and bass.

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Jammo – The 14th b’ak’tun

An old all vinyl mix, broadcast live during the Mayan apocalypse of 2012 on Mixlr (fashionable at the time) to about 3.5 innocent listeners. I figured if, as I believed was possible at the time, we would all perish in a ball of fire, I may as well have a bevvy, load up the Graham Hancock samples and do an all vinyl prog mix. As it turned out, we all survived and instead entered the 14th B’ak’tun, an age of so-called civilisation which, so far, has made my original apocalyptic concerns seem like kindergarten.

Note: I sent one copy of this out on tape to an unlucky competition winner.


Roy Ayers RIP

Gutted to hear of the passing of Roy Ayers today. Here’s five times his music blew my tiny mind. Rest in Power.


Workroom Playlist / KW40-2023

Read Time: 2 mins

Here’s a little rundown of what’s playing on the workroom stereo this week (Kalenderwoche 40):

Billy Byrd – Lost in The Crowd

A seminal piece of horn-heavy country soul, with an irrepressible rhythm section. Originally released on Scream and later revived on Soul 7. It doesn’t get much better!

Amon Düül II – She Came Through the Chimney

An absolute beauty from one of the best groups ever. Angelic reverb-soaked guitars, flutes, violins, bagpipes? And discordant synths, twist and turn their way around complex percussion. Burying themselves deep into your pineal gland.

Boards of Canada – In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country

Every single time I hear this track, I’m transported to a windy corner of the Kernowek peninsula. Somewhere between Flushing and Penryn. And, as the autumn blues set in, and metropolitan sickness looms in the air, that’s exactly the kind of escapism I need.

Roman Flügel – The Improviser

Taken from Herr Flügel’s 2011 meisterwerk Fatty Folders, this one has never left my box. Proper groovy minimal Techno. Ripping random-seeming bass accents, cute rhythmic stabs, and handclaps-a-plenty! Always building! Always going somewhere! 

 I’m suffering from a real post-pandemic lack of interest in dance music, but some things never fail to rekindle my love. Body music, pure and simple.

The Fall – Dedication not Medication

“And Pierce Brosnan how dare you prescribe, Sad grief and bed wet pills”– Mark E Smith still on top form, 30 albums deep into the Fall. The ominous synth bass tone, combined with loose disco drums, and killing joke-esque metallic guitar chops, make it a post-punk gold standard. An ideal soundtrack for a dirty city.

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