Five Years of Yamatai Records: 15 Tracks That Shaped the Label

This track was made during lockdown on Discord, with us talking and making tunes in the server every day. It was also the label’s first big project, our first VISION Radio play and the first track to receive support in a club setting. Cauzer played it at Printworks for Critical Music’s 20 Years of Underground Sonics. It was our first taste of people enjoying our music and hearing it played in a super club.

Arguably one of my favourite Kalane releases to this day. It’s a super-unique cross between minimal and jump-up, and it was also the first track we released to receive support from the legend Kyrist herself on SWU FM!

A release that didn’t get the attention it deserved, from a very, very talented producer from Leeds. This one stays with me because I remember getting a phone call at 11 p.m., while I was half-asleep, to be told that QZB had just played “3am” on the main stage at Let It Roll in 2022!

Undoubtedly one of the most creative and sonically immersive tracks we have ever put out. It was a statement to show that we love all varieties of drum & bass and will support anything we love! To this day, this song still gives me shivers. A massive big up to the legend Ewan for making this masterpiece!

A track that tested the boundaries of our drum & bass style but ultimately became a household classic within our catalogue. Produced by our very good friend Louis, the track featured on his All Your Ways EP, and the whole project was a true test for him. He mainly focuses on neuro and techy drum & bass, so releasing on Yamatai meant finding a way to keep his style while incorporating the underground, minimal direction we had.

My oh my, did he do just that. This track and the entire release have arguably gone down as his best-known work, to the point that “All Your Ways” received a remix from the mighty Disprove a couple of years later! One of my favourites from a very close friend.

This track and release are something I hold very close to me. It was an EP Ben had been working on for ages – and I mean ages. The entire project was written for his dad, who had sadly passed away. The sheer emotion and meaning behind this release touched a lot of people, and it is still being played nonstop and appreciated to this day.

Our first-ever remix project was designed to leave a mark within drum & bass and show that we were not here to mess about. The Molecular remix was a clear standout from that project. Raf smashed it out of the park, and actually hearing it played live by Monty at Hospitality on the Beach was a memory I’ll never forget.

This track featured on Dan’s debut EP for the label and was the reason we signed him as a core artist. It is one of the most beautifully written atmospheric tracks I’ve ever heard, and when you hear it played in a club setting, it’s truly something else. So, so unique and so, so Chamba.

This is the style he does so well, and the release was a complete success because of it. The rest is history: Dan has now been a core artist for well over three years!

One of my favourite tracks made by the boss man Leks. I could genuinely have put him on this list earlier and more than once, but I think this is his best piece of music to date. It also takes me back to our first-ever show abroad as a label, in Innsbruck, Austria. “Skins” was used as the promotional track, and its artwork was used for the event flyer.

That trip was one of the best. It’s where the Yamatai x Empathy Audio relationship really blossomed. But yeah, “Skins” brings back a lot of good memories while also being an absolute rude boi tune.

Oh gosh, arguably the biggest anthem on the Yamatai imprint, from an artist I had my eyes on for years. Not only that, but as our very first Beatport number one, “We Return” has to go down in the Yamatai history books as one of the best tracks we’ve released.

I still get so many compliments about this track today. It firmly slotted itself within the scene. Massive props to Alex – I remember him sending me the V1 like it was yesterday, and I just thought it embodied the label’s sound perfectly. Banger!

A track that featured on our MC-focused project, which was designed and promoted to celebrate the MC side of the scene – an absolute staple of the genre that doesn’t get as much attention as it should.

I chose this track specifically because it features our core vocalist, MC Flow. It was his debut release with the label and the reason he became a core artist. The track was well received and became a favourite, and rightly so. It’s a perfect blend of minimal and new-age jump-up elements.

Now we get to a personal favourite of mine, by an artist I believe in so, so much. We first found out about Rue through his brother James, who is our graphic designer. Apparently, Rue was sitting on loads of tunes after producing for around 10 years. He’d had a handful of rejections and false promises from labels, and we couldn’t understand why—the tracks were insane.

Roll on two years: he challenged himself to write a mini-album, and “Reflection” was one of the tracks. Gosh, oh gosh, it was perfectly written. Drawing heavily from his emotions, Rue made it as the final track for the mini-album.

To this day, this is one of my favourite tracks ever. You can almost feel the deep emotion and torment in it, and it was made by one of the most talented producers in the game. Well done, Rue!

Now we get to a track I never thought would be on the label. After hearing it in mixes for years, it was so, so surreal to have Fearful send it to me in an unsigned folder. This was a dream signing. When you start a label, you never think you’ll release music from your favourite artists, especially established names like Fearful and Amoss.

This was a top-tier single, and “Beldray” is one of those generational tracks, made by two of the scene’s biggest artists. Even now, it feels like a dream. To make things even crazier, we have a remix of the track coming out in December from an even bigger name!

One of the highlight releases from last year. Boss man DKN came in clutch with the old-school rave flavours on “Detonator '92.” I included this track because it’s definitely Deen’s biggest track with us, but also to highlight the history behind our relationship.

We met around six years ago through radio. He was a core member of Subtitles, and I was always a big fan of his work, but I never thought he would eventually become one of our artists. I always thought he was out of reach. But yeah, roll on five years, the opportunity arose, and now he’s a staple member of the team!

It’s funny how things work out, but I’m glad they did, haha! “Detonator '92” is such a good track to summarise him: slapping drum work, but also a crazy amount of creativity. That is just Deen all over!

Now, finally, we get to the last track on the list – and it is not just any track to me. This is my personal favourite from our catalogue, and there is a very specific reason for that. Not only is it a perfectly written track that incorporates emotion, suspense and an insane Hans Zimmer-style build-up to the second drop, but it is also a track I watched being created before my eyes from start to finish.

Acris and I are always on Discord calls, and I remember him starting “Let It Go” one time. I was invested from the get-go. Hours passed, and I had done nothing but sit there and watch him create this masterpiece.

I genuinely think there’s something special about watching someone create a piece of art while you simply observe. There was some direction from my side, such as keeping in the ridiculous build-up to the second drop, but that was so needed. It’s musically perfect, made by one of my closest friends, and that’s why it deserves to be on the list.