I’ve written about Ottawa’s So Durand a few times now, and I recently included an excellent dub of his in the latest Remix Sunday. The guy is always sharp with his breakbeats, but his latest pulls off the difficult trick of balancing the shuffle and deep pocket of an intact pitched hot pants break with the heft and thud of 4×4. Pair that with some extremely chorused and warbly pads and a couple of effectively placed vocal samples, and we find ourselves in some very nice circumstances.

This is out now on Toronto’s 9D5Dance. Grab it on bandcamp or stream it wherever you get your streams.

So Durand – “Found Myself” (bc)

More genre-bending club destruction from Ottawan So Durand, who I’ve written about a couple of times previously. Hot on the heels of his inclusion on ec2a’s coveted second USB drop (already sold out sadly), “Blue-Tek” just dropped on So Durand’s bandcamp and for streaming. But grab it while you can — you never know how long this sort of ephemera will last.

So Durand – “Blue-Tek”

More fwd-thinking jungle from Ottawa-based So Durand. “Lies II” is a reimagining of one of the tracks from his stellar This Unruly Kingdom release, which I covered earlier in the year. This new version takes what was previously a sludgy codeine trip of an instrumental hiphop track full of warm yellow bulbs, and keys it way way up, substituting all the dope with uppers and throwing it into a strobe filled warehouse night. Roughhouse yet refined jungle for peak time.

It’s out now on Irish label Choki Biki. Grab it on their bandcamp or stream it to your heart’s content.

So Durand – “Lies II” (bc)

Also, while I was on paternity leave, So Durand put out a maxi with a couple of hi-NRG jungle crossovers, and I’d be remiss not to share this one. Grab it on his bandcamp.

So Durand – “MISSME DUB” (ft. Sacha Foster) (bc)

“Take Me Back There” is an energetic cut of rave meets jungle meets hyperactive jackin’ piano house from Ottawa’s So Durand. With all those references packed into one song, it’s hard to believe you won’t be taken back there somehow listening to this. The song appears on So Durand’s newest EP, This Unruly Kingdom, which is similarly varied, though generally rooted in an effective use of breakbeats at jungle tempos. It’s solidly forward-looking stuff, while still referencing of the past enough to feel nicely familiar.

This Unruly Kingdom is out now on the excellent Dublin-based Choki Biki, and is available for streaming on bandcamp. I’ve also included my other favorite from the record for good measure, which is a little headier, and features the sound of children playing — which is like a button that, when pressed, makes any song feel instantly cozier (Boards of Canada knew this trick well).

So Durand – “Take Me Back There” (sc)

So Durand – “Disons Que” (sc)

PS. if you’re looking for more pianos over breaks, we’ve got a playlist just for that.