CRATE Pulls of the Week

Every Friday we update CRATE with the records that hit a little harder than everything living on Condensed. Bass music, UK garage, breaks, electro, festival weapons, late-night discoveries... if it rattles the speakers, it probably ended up here. Here are this week's favorite additions.

AHEE – “Cosmic Club”
AHEE is officially becoming a KKS repeat offender. I’m seeing some outlets classify “Cosmic Club” as Trap, others as Future Bass, and even Hip-Hop. I love that nobody can quite agree. The disagreement feels appropriate for an artist whose music keeps wandering around the bass ecosystem without much concern for the signage. Genre appears to be more of a suggested route than a set of directions, and we’re happy to get lost. Just recently, you might remember AHEE was stranded on Earth because his cat stole his UFO. Two weeks later, we’ve gained entry to the “Cosmic Club.” I’m starting to think the cat stealing the UFO was less a punchline and more the pilot episode.

Dirt Monkey – “Candy”
Technically, Dirt Monkey is a stranger, so accepting “Candy” from him violates one of the earliest lessons I was taught as a child. Then again, nobody preparing me for stranger danger accounted for bass music. Bass music thrives on a certain amount of identity confusion, which brings me to Razzles. First it’s candy, then it’s gum, an astonishing amount of narrative development for something that comes in a paper pouch. “Candy” understands the assignment. It spends its time shifting shapes, letting you settle into one idea just long enough to make the next one hit harder. So yes, I took the candy. Please don’t tell my parents.

“I'll Be There” — D.O.D, Aya Anne
D.O.D does not miss, so there was already a considerable amount of trust established before I pushed play. I’m responsible for an irresponsible number of streams of “Sunshine” with RAHH, which is saying something because I’m more of an overcast-with-a-chance-of-rain person. I’ll get the SPF out for that one. Then there’s the Sub Focus remix of “So Much In Love,” one of the greatest musical creations of our time, a statement I will not be taking questions on. Now Aya Anne joins Dan O’Donnell, mystery of the initials solved, for “I’ll Be There,” the next look at his forthcoming debut album Everything, Briefly. Warm, euphoric and built around the kind of vocal that already seems to know where your arms are going when the chorus arrives. D.O.D says “I’ll Be There.” At this point, so will I.

“This Time” — Harriet Jaxxson, Pola & Bryson
Not every record needs an elaborate thesis. Sometimes the right ingredients make it into the pan, everybody knows when to stir and, crucially, nobody decides at the last minute that what this really needs is truffle oil. Harriet Jaxxon brings the heat, Pola & Bryson mind the temperature, and “This Time” gets to simmer into exactly the drum & bass record it came here to be. No substitutions. No notes. We’ll order this again.

“Run It Up” — Sam Binga, Machinedrum, Cesco
While the rest of this week's CRATE Pulls have shown varying degrees of restraint, “Run It Up” will mug you, steal your wallet and immediately run up the tab buying Jägerbombs for the entire bar. Your card is already down. Don't bother arguing. Sam Binga, Machinedrum and Cesco built the bones of Niche Flex during one intense morning overlooking MacArthur Park, then kept tinkering between LA and Bristol until four tracks emerged from the wreckage. “Run It Up” is the least interested in behaving. Breaks, acid and low-end pressure keep changing the terms of the agreement until we're no longer entirely sure what we've consented to. Another round? Put it on our tab.

“JJ Tribute” — Laidback Luke, A.S.H.A.
Janis Joplin seems like she would have been one hell of a night out. Catch her at Woodstock in 1969, lose track of the evening somewhere along the way, and spend the next morning piecing together a story nobody at home is going to believe. Give us one night with her in 2026 and we’re skipping straight to the rave. Different decade. Same appetite for a little beautiful chaos. Which makes “JJ Tribute” a pretty incredible time traveler. A.S.H.A. built the original rave classic around a sample of Janis in 1990, twenty years after her death, and more than three decades later Laidback Luke is sending it around again for 2026. Her voice has now traveled from rock and blues into Italian house and through generations of dancefloors that didn't even exist during her lifetime. Woodstock to the warehouse. Janis still sounds right at home.