[Ramp Recordings]

As of this writing, Doc Daneeka has only had one release to his name, but such is the rapid pace of UK bass music that the London producer is already somewhat of a celebrity in the larger UK funky scene. His first EP was a set of muscular funky house workouts on Pattern, and his second release is a gutsy one-sided twelve on Pattern parent label Ramp Recordings. Releasing a one-sided single is an obvious show of brash confidence, but “Hold On” is nearly monumental enough to justify it; its skeletal and spare atmosphere suggest levity but its implications and execution are anything but.

Appropriately enough, Doc Daneeka’s release on the oddball Ramp is much less traditionally “funky” than his tracks on Pattern; “Hold On” is a subtle track centered around an ancient sample of what sounds like a string quartet. Everything is antiquated: the kick sounds dusty, the bass is rickety, the drums are obscured — this is the kind of age and grit that gives vinyl fetishists wet dreams. It proves disorienting as the sampled vocal phrase is pulled apart and swept under the beat, pulled along for the ride as a new percussive element rather than the focal point. That Doc Daneeka manages to make what is still at its core a UK funky banger out of such subtle elements, with such painstakingly conceived atmosphere, speaks to his talent as far more than someone who can just string some beats together with a nice bass line. This doctor’s got soul, groove, and an ear for sound design to boot.