BristolMusic Weekly

Bristol label The Chikara Project opens the door to Connections Vol. 4 with Mystic State and Third Degree’s You Are Loved, the compilation’s first available track. It is our route into a 14-track selection that brings together collaborations and individual productions from the community around the label.

Mystic State, Mellon, KĀZ & ILÜZI, Motiv, Omnist, Marenn Sukie, Dharma Dutty, Criteria and others appear across the full collection. Nearly three years after the previous instalment, it is a welcome chance to follow those connections across drum and bass and neighbouring bass-music territory. You Are Loved is available to hear now; the full compilation follows on 6 November.

Classic Trucks is Josh Jarman’s solo project, alongside his work with Langkamer and Breakfast. Bird Underwater, featuring Bristol duo Mumble Tide, is available now as a preview of his debut album Eventually.

The forthcoming record brings in Getdown Services, Flora Hibberd and Naima Bock as well as Mumble Tide, connecting indie-pop, alt-country and folk. There is a local marker in the tracklist too: Sea Mills Lane features Bock and Hibberd.

This is a look ahead, rather than an album released this week. Bandcamp lists 4 February 2027 for the digital album, while the physical-edition copy points to 5 February. For now, Bird Underwater is the new entry point.

Bristol producer PERSONAS returns to two tracks first made in 2012 under a different alias, rebuilding them with contemporary production while retaining their original foundations. TranZit began as a response to the zombies map in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, an influence the producer connects directly to its disorienting momentum.

Alongside Trek, it brings bass weight together with orchestral ambience and cinematic textures. That combination gives this release a more specific identity than a straightforward reissue: older ideas revisited through the sound PERSONAS has developed since. A fitting selection for Halloween week’s darker listening.

Bristol-based Transparent Audio welcomes Dubruvvas back for Notions / Mic Man. The pairing crosses from stripped-back drum and bass into dubstep and grime, giving the two sides distinct roles.

Our pick is Mic Man, which brings longtime collaborators Limmz and Kaisan T to the microphone to trade bars over a grime-led rhythm. Notions supplies the minimal drum-and-bass counterpart, built around rolling drums and low-end pressure. It is a neat example of the range that can fit inside a single bass-music release. Bandcamp dates the release 29 October; streaming stores list 30 October.

The davros1 Bandcamp account credits 1994 to Bristol musician David Bence. It appears on Ravy Davy’s Gravy, released on 26 October.

There is an important detail in the artist’s own description: Bence identifies the album as AI covers of his own tunes and directs listeners to other albums for the originals. We are retaining that distinction here rather than presenting this as a conventional new performance. The official page is linked so listeners can explore the release and the wider catalogue directly.

Something heavier for Halloween: Bristol doom band Dewer’s Pack of Hounds appears on the five-track The Whisht Hunt, alongside Sepulchral, Down, Dreamless Sleep and Repent. The record runs beyond half an hour, with Pack of Hounds stretching past six minutes.

The band’s own Bandcamp currently lists 31 October for the album, so we are treating this as a Halloween preview. There is an immediate live connection too: Dewer join Goat Major, Erronaut and Bristol’s Epimetheus at Moor Beer Co on Saturday 31 October. Halloween dress is encouraged.