It’s been a while since we’ve covered the Pittsburgh-based inclusive bass label VALE, so one new readers could be forgiven if they don’t know who we’re talking about. In the words of Inigo Montoya, “lemme splain.” VALE, which stands for Various Artists, Limitless Expression,started to stand out from the fray of US bass music labels almost immediately with its first releases in 2019 and 2020. With a slight lean towards deep dubstep and soundsystem-style halftime, VALE has become a vehicle for both lesser-known bass artists and household names like Chrizpy Chriz, Subp Yao and Tom Finster let their freak flags fly. No obligation towards style of subgenre here; in fact, VALE’s releases scream “the weirder the better.”
Between lesser-known and household name is where we find Emjulate, the Slovenian multi-genre artist who’s just getting started but is already hammering out big beats. Discovered by Neuropunk after he self-released his first EP Roborat, Emjulate’s discography was shaping up to look mostly neurofunk until VALE approached him. The Pestilence EP, released in August of this year, showed Emjulate’s chops as a deep bass producer, both in multiple tempos: D&B 140 (we hesitate to call it dubstep because it’s so deep, but technically it is) and halftime. Techy with a heavy dystopian vibe, Pestilence had a lot of fans, both of VALE and Emjulate,
While drum and bass channels like Skank & Bass and Data Transmission were quick to grab the funky, crunchy D&B tracks off Pestilence for premieres, the somewhat more experimental halftime and heavy dubstep tracks seemed to languish a bit, so it was a smart move to do a remix EP and put the likes of Subp Yao, Uprising, Klippee and d:enigma on the case. The revamps of the title track by d:enigma, “Petbot” by Subp Yao and “Tinker” by Uprising gave the EP an even more experimental overhaul. 
d:enigma chopped his stems up to filth, making a 174 techno syncopate mess while Subp Yap slowed down his even further and made them deeper, if such a thing is possible (it’s always possible with Subp Yao). Uprising added even more funk to “Tinker,” and when went completely rogue by putting an intense guitar break in the middle.
Our premiere today and the only track not yet out for streaming (thanks VALE!) is the Klippee remix of “Micro Waves.” The original was deep and crunchy and bordering on jump up beat-wise but generally smooth in the synth and bass synth, Klippee made it almost actual jump up. By emphasizing the one and three counts and chopping up and re-arranging the once smooth and sine wavy synths, it’s a whole new track and almost a whole new genre. If DJs and punters didn’t recognize the dancefloor potential of “Micro Waves” before, they certainly will now.
If you thought these tracks were weird enough on the original, you were wrong. These masters of weird took Emjulate’s deep, dark journey to new places. This is the reason some of the best bass producers keep coming back to VALE: that platform of limitless expression certainly keeps these limitless artists and their even more limitless minds engaged and interested.
The full Pestilence remix EP is out now and can be purchased on Beatport and streamed on Spotify.
