double vinyl in printed sleeve with download code included.

grey marblerd triple vinyl in gatefold sleeve with download code included. stay tuned - audio coming soon!

comes on purple vinyl in printed sleeve with download code included.

comes on pink double vinyl in printed sleeve with download code included.

4 tracks from halogenix on silver coloured double vinyl, housed in a full colour sleeve with download code included. repress coming early 2023!

2022 repress in label sleeve, download code included.

halogenix back on critical music. the vinyl release includes a download code.

foreign concept teams up with slay and roxiie reese for “vibe”. the vinyl release includes a download code. audio samples coming soon, stay tuned!

white vinyl in full colour sleeve, download code included.

coco bryce back on critical music, with sam binga on remix duty. pressed on grey marbled vinyl, download code included. stay tuned - audio samples coming soon!

the enei & kasra album on clear blue marbled double vinyl, housed in full colour sleeve with download code included.

green marbled 10 inch vinyl with download code included.

yellow-orange marbled vinyl in label sleeve with download code included.

eight track longplayer from labelhead kasra next up on critical. comes on red marbled double vinyl.

yellow marbled vinyl in printed sleeve with download code included.

critical music presents the debut longplayer from swiss duo qzb. delivered on magenta coloured double vinyl, housed in full colour gatefold sleeve with download code included.

2023 repress - housed in critical music label sleeve with download code included.

2022 repress on black vinyl, housed in critical music label sleeve with download code included.

foreign concept and phase join forces. the vinyl release includes a download code.

critical music celebrates its 20th birthday with a massive 6x12 inch vinyl box. limited supply - 1 copy per customer.

vinyl ep with download code, housed in full colour sleeve.

sam binga and particle go skrrrrr.

pressed on grey marbled vinyl, download code included.

pressed on solid purple 10 inch vinyl.

2021 repress on black vinyl, housed in critical music label sleeve with download code included.

heavy sub weight rollouts from enei, featuring long time collaborator jakes on “master key”. sound samples coming soon!

pressed on dark smokey marbled vinyl, housed in full colour embossed sleeve with extra varnish, download code included.

four bou collabs on semi-clear white vinyl, housed in full colour sleeve with neon foil.

4-tracker from woodforce for the next critical music release. the vinyl ep includes a download code.

limited pressing on transparent vinyl, download code included.

orange & black marbled 10 inch vinyl, download code included.

strictly limited clear 10 inch vinyl with etchingh on the flip, download code included.

pink marbled vinyl in full colour sleeve with download code included.

red vinyl in embossed full colour sleeve with download code included.

next enei release for critical music. the vinyl ep includes a download code.

pressing on grey vinyl, download code included.

vinyl 1 of the underground sonics 2 compilation.

vinyl 2 of the underground sonics 2 compilation.

3 tracks from kasra plus enei remix on smokey marbled double vinyl with download code included.

well deserved repress of a true classic from calibre.

housed in a full colour sleeve with download code included.

2019 repress incoming!

transparent blue vinyl in full colour sleeve with download code included.

turquoise vinyl in full colour sleeve with download code included.

vinyl ep with download ciode included.

2019 repress in generic sleeve with download code included.

pressing on moss green vinyl, comes with download code included.

pressing on silver and black mixed vinyl, comes with download code included.

enei returns to the controls for the first time since his and kasra’s “transmitter” ep earlier this year, laying down five future grooves from the lush vocals of long time collaborate charli brix on “faded” to the raw deal of “rats place”. enei on form once again providing the drum & bass autumnal chills.

a landmark release for both the label and its founder as kasra releases his debut solo ep. the ski mask ep features 4 tracks of rolling low end and marks the start of a new phase for him to make his mark as an artist as well as dj.
kasra says, “after 16 years of running the label i thought it was time i released a body of work of my own. it’s quite daunting after all the incredible music the artists have given me to be doing this for the first time. i hope you enjoy it for what it is: raw, honest drum and bass.”
pressing on transparent red vinyl with download code included.

pressing on transparent & white mixed vinyl, comes with download code.

pressing on transparent grey marbled vinyl, download code included.

foreign concept returns to the frontline with the “gozen ep”. spread across five tracks fc weighs in with a tough selection including a huge collaboration with man of the moment monty. the vinyl release comes in a full artwork sleeve with download code included.

in a few short years halogenix has already had a prestigious career in bass music, after making his mark with his solo projects as well as marking out new territory with ivy lab he is now entering a new chapter and focusing on his own productions. to mark the occasion critical music present an ep full of the dynamism you might expect from such an experienced producer. future thinking as ever the 8-track “deep news ep” rolls from beautifully crafted drum & bass to heavy half-time including the enormous “blej vip”.

2018 repress in plain white sleeve.
critical come extremely correct once more with what is bound to be an early summer smash as a certain dub phizix picks up where the almighty marka left off. teaming up with fellow manchester scene stalwart fox proves an inspired choice here which critical just couldnt ignore, so invited him back to drop these two more astonishingly fresh tracks for this, his second outing on the label. simply put, >never been< is baaaaaad man business. a lean, stripped back percussive intro leads us to a breakdown where fox greets us with the sickest of vocal hooks that you will be trying to decipher until the end. when the tribal half-time break drops its time to bounce as the undulating b-line rolls heavy throughout with dub phizix teasing with awesome drumedits and amen shakedowns. riddim! cinematic soundscapes and a solid beats combine on >codec<, a more bass-led slab of equally dance floor drum & bass that retains the dub phizix air of originality with an experimental break the kicks like a mule. another winner without doubt from a very exciting splinter cell coming out of the north of the uk right now.

2018 repress!
with our indian summer holding strong it seems to have spread into camp critical too as the label that has delivered the finest grade d&b since 2002 drops another sumptuous release from the man with the midas touch, calibre. showing off his more experimental self is a release that sits perfect on the critical mantle, sit back and enjoy.

emperor returns to critical with his first solo ep in nearly 3 years. a spectrum spanning work, with all styles of the genre covered with a deft touch.

circuits is the new collaborative project from insideinfo and kasra. two artists coming from different angles sharing a similar musical grounding to create minimal but heavyweight drum & bass. the “coming through ep is the first of several releases planned” for 2018 and beyond. pressing on solid white vinyl, download code included.

2018 repress incoming! double 12 inch plus download code for the full album.
since bursting onto the drum & bass scene back in 2008, the uber-talented young russian upstart alexey egorchenkov has become one of the hottest properties in electronic bass music. better known as enei, his brand of forward thinking musical muscle has featured heavily ever since in the sets of kasra. friction, andy c and many more, and in 2011 kasra snapped him up to become criticals first ever exclusive signing. a name on the tip of most tongues, eneis debut album has been the talk of the d&b town and is now finally ready to unveil as we head towards the close of 2012. >machines< is set to catapult enei to new heights, a long player of devastating proportions full of incredible bass-wayed angst, vocal masterpieces and production that’s second to none. get ready for the sound of the >machines<, the most anticipated drum & bass album of 2012 and you are about to find out why.

pressing on transparent green marbled vinyl with download code included.

the talents of enei and critical boss kasra combine once more to kick off 2018. with the infamous jakes on title track vocal duty, the transmitter ep rolls out four pieces of low-slung, sci-fi drum & bass designed for darkened rooms across the world.
the vinyl release includes a download code.

“i’ve said it before, but dancehall and its influence on uk music has been a massive inspiration for me, going way back to hearing chris goldfinger on radio 1 playing music that was like nothing else i’d heard before. i love that fundamental rhythmic pattern, and i love how within the same world you can have some tunes that are built around the sweetest melodies and harmonies, and others that are built around super-tuff minimal drums and crazy squeeks and bleeps.
when it came time to build another ep for critical, i decided to link up with my good friend and long-time collaborator rider shafique, who has a much deeper knowledge of this music than me, and together create something that references both old and new dancehall, while still being playable in the kinds of sets i ve become known for. there’s no halftime and no chopped-up jungle breaks here - we wanted to make something really focussed and even disciplined - and hopefully we’ve succeeded.
big shouts to the vocal collaborators - super hyped to work with stush on a tune, irah came through with the righteous fire, and tiffanie malvo absolutely bodied her beat - but ultimate biggups have to go to rider. this wasn’t a project where i made the beats and rider voiced them - for pretty much every tune, we worked and reworked the riddims together. we’re both stoked on the results, and it seems like people in the dance feel the same way.” - sam binga

coloured vinyl + dl code

burgeoning swiss duo qzb come with a big bag of future for critical’s systems series, their first release on the label.
featuring four tracks of industrial-edged, expertly produced drum & bass and half-time, these guys should be firmly on your radars.

russia’s finest delivers his first new music of 2017 with the ‘wolfpack ep’. back on critical pushing his sound even further enei gifts us an array of expertly executed drum & bass from the jump-up feels of lead track ‘wolfpack’ to the double-bass funk of ‘dark water’ featuring long time collaborator charli brix.
pressing on transparent green coloured vinyl.

brighton’s klax crew return to critical with their very first full blown ep release on the label since their systems series debut back in 2015. from hard-hitting industrial strength and half-time leanings through to warm liquid gold, the klax boys deliver yet another outstanding, fresh take on drum & bass.

production powerhouse mefjus and critical label boss kasra team up for their much anticipated debut single release. a single that swoops from heads down warehouse atmosphere to raw funk. featured in the sets of noisia, camo & krooked and more.
limited release on transparent vinyl.

2017 repress ... at the start of 2012 sabre, stray and halogenix teamed up to drop one of the most blissful pieces of drum & bass that year, *oblique*. since then the dreamteam have continued their late night studio sessions and are now ready to announce their new collaborative project, ivy lab. kicking off criticals 2013 season is the first fruit of their labour, *afterthought*, again featuring the esteemed vocal talents of frank carter iii to create the most inspired start to the year we could wish for.

vromm switches from his last ep on critical’s binary series to their equally outspoken systems series to bring another four pieces of future music. ranging from the minimal riddim of lead track level up with rider shafique riding the waves to the abstract industrial grind of ashes of shame, vromm’s sound design lends itself perfectly to the critical camp.
limited edition purple marbled vinyl with download code included.

critical music reaches its 100th release in its 15th year, celebrating with the landmark album fifteen years of underground sonics. spanning the broad spectrum of drum & bass that the critical sound represents, the exceptional 15 album is as bold as it is beautiful and looks to serve the test of time in the d&b history books.

after a temporary break away from music to work on other projects foreign concept is back with the skit city ep, the first in a series of new releases.
inspired by his long time friend jack ramsay s new graphic novel of the same name, the title track, featuring mancunian mc fox, creates the perfect sonic backdrop to the intricate aesthetic of the skit city book from which the artwork is taken. watch out for the video coming soon.
a very welcome return to the scene complete with a beautiful collaboration with halogenix and a killer remix by lsb.

the ivy lab trio return to critical for their first full solo ep release since ‘20 questions’ back in 2015. since then the lab sound has been breaking down even more doors across the globe. they prove why with a new ep full of cuts of proper half-time groove.

the drum & bass heavyweight current value finishes up 2016 with his first solo release with the critical crew since his enormous “biocellulose” lp earlier in the year. this time notching up some extreme sounds for systems, volume 6 is another iron-clad addition to the series.

something special from camp critical as two of electronic music’s leading lights lock horns for a vs battle of epic proportions. taking the jungle fleck of “mind & spirit” from sam’s “wasted days” lp of last year and one of breakage’s most memorable cuts from way back when (2005), the results are as you’d expect from these two. utterly essential listening.

having debuted his first critical release “monolith” back in 2012 the emperor name has become synonymous with some of the most breathtaking drum & bass of recent times. since the begin ep” and his collaborative “hello world ep” with mejus took the scene by storm, emperor’s heavyweight approach culminated with the utterly outrageous “into black ep” which pushed all the levels to the max. now “dispostions” looks set to cement his status at the top of the leader board.
the white double vinyl release includes a download code.

ivy lab and alix perez have been astounding electronic music audiences for years throughout drum & bass and further afield with their own 20/20 and shades projects respectively. now in 2016 the two forces combine for a collaborative release like no other, drawing their own distinct styles to create the beautifully diverse, *arkestra* ep. the double 12 inch vinyl includes a download code.

this 2017 repress includes a code for free download as 320k mp3.
a dreamteam collaboration to start off criticals 2012 season from the hugely lauded sabre, who returns after a long break since his astonishing debut album of 2010, stray and halogenix. the perfect antidote to soothe us out of those january blues, simply gorgeous. critical coming on strong as always for the new year. keep em peeled.

first part of critical musics underground sonics compilation comes with 4 tracks on double 12 inch plus downloadcode for the full album.

with one of the biggest artist lineups to have ever graced one ep, critical music presents phace, and his friends. the perfect outro for the labels most successful year yet. the double 12 inch includes a download code for all tracks as 320k mp3s.

big tunes - repressed for a reason! the vinyl ep includes a download code.

sam binga returns to drop his debut ep for critical music. inviting back the infamous redders for vocal duties, picking up where his trail blazing single ayo and the much loved lef dem from criticals underground sonics lp left off. a deft combination of low slung beats and bass with a nod to the jungle tradition.

after what many would consider one of the most meteoric rises to d&b infamousy in recent times, mefjus gets set to deliver his debut album emulation through critical music. an extension of his explosive trademark production style, the music of mefjus stands tall as an aggressive powerhouse of some the most deadly dance floor drum & bass seen in 2014. drawing on a handful of carefully selected collaborators from the jaw-dropping phace & misanthrop to the hip-hop infusions of dope d.o.d, emulation looks set to shatter dance floors for years to come, marking a clear-cut arrival of one of the most gifted producers in the d&b game, mefjus.

already declared by backdrop as one of the best drum & bass releases you are likely to hear in 2014, ivy labs missing persons ep is nothing short of sublime, a collection of work from sabre, stray and halogenix that will simply take your breath away. featuring their mainstay vocal collaborator frank carter iii on the title track, ivy lab carry us from sumptuous, warm liquid through to acid tinged tech with emperors input and finish with some west coast, lo-riding electro crunk. essential is an understatement..