ITG Awards 2023 – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 015

After an extended layoff, we decided to get off our sofas & give you a festive gift by recapping what Garage & Bass had to offer in 2023. With award categories for best producer, best tune & best album to name a few… you know there’s going to be mass debate! & that’s before we’ve even started discussing the validity of Christmas ditties & Spotify’s recent changes to their payment model.

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All Your Playcounts Are Fake – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 014

All your playcounts on Spotify are fake! Or are they? We tread the delicate boards of discussing music marketing on streaming platforms and ask how much is to be believed. We also take a look at some fresh bangers from Ed James, Digital Koala, Adam Kronik, Shunji Fujii, Howden & Bakey amongst a whole bunch of others. We also revisit an early Scott Tonic production, and delve into a forgotten gem from the Far East.

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Pushing Garage n Bass To The Redline – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 013

We’re back after a somewhat longer than usual layoff to discuss the latest goings-on in Garage & Bass music, & that only means more hot tracks to discuss. We spotlight fresh stuff from Rhades & FM-3, SHOSH & Kelsey, Clarcq, Indigo Eyes & Blush_ko, Jon Buccieri and Sam Binga/Redders & Bakey. There’s a larger-than-usual run-through of “the best of the rest”, & – as per – we dive back into the lost years of UKG, with Will Phillips & Jeremy Sylvester as our guides. To round off, Rob has a good old moan about the overuse of limiting during the mastering process.

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Jazzstep Boners – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 012

It’s that time again to get tumescent with trumpets as we’re back with our monthly Garage n Bass round up. The tail-end of winter is always an interesting (read: sometimes bleak) time for the music release cycle, as the end-of-year rush stops and people start planning for that summer anthem. We talk about fresh tracks from Duke Skellington, Oppidan, Bake, MPH, MKII, Zegeon and a whole bunch more. We also dive back into the lost years of UKG, with Control-S & DIY as our guides. To round off, we talk about the resurgence (or insurgence) of UK Garage playlists on streaming services like Apple & Amazon Music, and take a quick gander at Kanye West’s new bonkers distribution model.

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With Garage n Bass, Length Matters – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 011

New year, same format… hey, if it ain’t broke – don’t try to fix it, eh? We’re back in 2022, fending off the January blues best we can by discussing the latest Garage & Bass smoke. In this episode, we discuss essential new releases from Backup Plan, Tyde, Ben Hydro, Hamdi, Tom Bull, Kyo and Tom-i. We run through everything else you need to listen to (including 🔥 from the likes of MPH, Hans Glader, Tuff Culture, Sammy Virji and more!), and revisit a couple of lost gems from Lee Rees and Davinche. We also discuss the hot potato that is track lengths (or shorts, as the case may be).

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Xmas Special feat. ITG Garage n Bass Awards 2021 – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 010

Ordinarily, this time of year means binge-watching substandard TV whilst gorging on mince pies. But there’s been no time yet for either of us to do that – as we’ve been busy preparing this suitably festive-edition of ITG for you Garage & Bass fanatics! As always we run through all the essential recent releases you need to hear, before diving into our inaugural End Of Year Awards to recap the best of 2021’s stonking new music & give props to the individuals responsible. With award categories for best producer, best tune & best album to name a few… you know there’s going to be plenty of debate! & that’s before we’ve even started discussing the feedback we received on our Johnny One-Play piece from last month.

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Rise of the Johnny One-Play – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 009

It’s that time of year where every website is hyping up sales around some sort of darkened Friday. Us Brits seemingly adopted this crazed day revolving around spending as much money as you can straight after a public holiday that we don’t celebrate. Quite frankly, it’s baffling. Did not see any UK Garage discounts going on my favourite MP3 sites. But anyway, I digress. We’re checking in on our favourite Garage n Bass thumpers from the past month, with tracks from Laura Alice, kyo, Matt Carey & Hien, Hans Glader, Bass Trick & Friendless. We revisit tunes from yesteryear from MJ Cole & Qualifide. We also debate the rising trend of only ever playing out a song once before it’s gone forever – the Johnny One-Play.

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Is streaming bad for garage artists? – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 008

31st October means one thing… Halloween? Nah bruv – it’s the latest episode of UK Garage’s finest podcast! In this episode, we showcase this month’s essential heaters from Claybrook, Charlotte Devaney, Aliki & Oppidan, MC Cobra & Ollie Weeks, Para, Ross From Friends and Tour-Maubourg & Wayward. We run through everything else you need to listen to, & revisit a couple of lost gems from Chunky, Sunship & Kaz and CJ Reign (RIP). We also give props to Traxsource for implementing a Garage homepage and discuss at length Scott Diaz’s decision to remove his back-catalogue from streaming services.

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To Beatport or not to Beatport – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 007

We’re back once again like the renegade master, chatting about the latest UK Garage tunes you need to hear! In this episode, we showcase must-haves from Impact & Soozy Q, Wiguez, Alltair & P-One, Depsky, Angus Green, Para and Oxossi. We run through everything else you need to listen to, & revisit a couple of forgotten gems from Charlie Sezz and Nu Beez (Proton). We also have a really interesting chinwag about distribution models & the potential impacts they have on artists, labels and consumers.

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Is UK Garage Being Gentrified? – In The Garage With Phonetix and BrainZ – ITG 006

A month on from the last episode, & it’s time again for the lads to pilfer their way through the plethora of Garage on offer – in order to shortlist the stuff you need to hear. In this 6th episode, we showcase the latest must-haves from B15 Project & Lord TCO, BOP, Scott Garcia & Sweet FA, Arc Nade, About 2 & Phonetix, and Disclosure. We run through everything else you need to listen to, & revisit a couple of forgotten gems from MHz and the Wideboys. In the process of discussing all this brilliant music, we also touch on the gentrification of UKG – along with shortfalls in different music distribution models in the modern day.

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