Dubstep Vinyl 306 Items

‘Ran’ is the A-side of the third release by Subtle Recordings, Subtle003, which features two complementary tracks created in collaboration by two of Aotearoa’s finest underground Bass Music artists, Ebb and Headland. ‘Ran’ begins powerfully with a melodic roller, snare stabs, and the occasional slack kick. Combined with penultimate sirens, it lures the listener into a false sense of security before laying down the second drop. An almighty dark synth slathers the floor, creating a suspenseful but murky atmosphere. Drawing the listener in with its hypnotic rhythm and ominous tones, ‘Ran’ brings the heat and gets the crowd frothing.

‘Tsar’ is the B-side of the third release by Subtle Recordings, Subtle003, which features two complementary tracks created in collaboration by two of Aotearoa’s finest underground Bass Music artists, Ebb and Headland. ‘Tsar’, as its namesake suggests, is a formidable force in 140. The track kicks off with a grunting bassline, contrasted overtop with a haunting oscillating hum, setting the stage for all-out mayhem. The track explodes into a sustained highly distorted synth before laying waste with a timely drop in key, cementing a foundation-rattling bassline. We then enter Tsar’s renaissance moment, where a positively uplifting ensemble ensues, until the relentless machine pushes through once again.

A new EP by The Untouchables is always a treat to be savoured, but the opening track of their latest for DNO is so deliciously tense, so foaming at the mouth with anticipation, that it’s hard not to gulp down the whole release in one go. A minute and a half of sinister notes trying to jab their way through a thick filter and there’s no doubting ‘Emu’ is gonna be one hell of a ride — and it doesn’t disappoint, revealing the stabs in all their gritty darkcore glory, and unleashing a torrent of system-shaking subs.

As per, the Belgian duo present a masterclass in merging dub’s unparalleled spaciousness with techno’s unrelenting drive, and delivering it all at a drum & bass tempo. On ‘Punjab Chant’, a South Asian vocal call and various wind and percussive instrumentation from the region are pulled apart, lashed with delay, and layered over rubbery subs, resulting in an intense intercontinental dubwise belter.

‘Ragga Ting’ goes full digi dancehall, maintaining pace while employing sultry dembow-style syncopation and a hefty droning bassline that seems to loop ad infinitum. It’s an innovative move and one that’s sure to get hips swinging in the dance.

And the final track on wax, ‘86 Dread’, is pure bass weight, its boxy drums almost swallowed up by the sullen low-end, with only crisp shakers and the odd sonic squiggle poking above the gloom.

Digital bonus track ‘Planetarium Space’ brings the tempo down, but fills the mix with the hurried tick of hi-hats and pattering congas, dollops of reverse bass that add slippery off-kilter movement, and a rogues’ gallery of ghostly organ and other haunted samples and synths that wouldn’t feel out of place in an ‘80s horror flick.

Always taking a leftfield route to rattle your ribcage, The Untouchables and DNO once again prove they’re a perfect pairing. Yum, yum.

Rhythms of postmodern realism at the very bottom of the DNO.

Albion Collective returns with a slick, boundary-pushing vinyl EP from Bristol’s own ØZ. This three-tracker, following on from Yoofee’s debut in 2021, continues to explore the vibrant, colourful and truly imaginative textures of 140 whilst staying true to the bass-driven ethos at the label’s core.

Opening up the EP, ØZ gives the people what they want. Within 16 bars ‘Namib’ is squelching, writhing and undulating in all the set-igniting ways an A-side should. Deep low- end, pristine sound design and a second drop fit for the steppas, ‘Namib’ is what we came here for. ‘Plasticity’ is why we stay, as it dives headfirst from the dark mystique and wonder of a Guillermo del Toro fairy-tale and into a glitched-out maelstrom sparking with electrified sub-knocks and eyebrow-searing white noise. While the A-side gets darker, the B-side gets funkier with ‘dawn’, unleashing slick keys and a mean trumpet solo over funky licks and ghetto basslines.

Albion Collective is proud to return with their first release in over a year, welcoming ØZ to the label as a brand-new signee with a wholly unique take on 140.

The latest Innamind release is from production duo De-tü. Soundsystem music, true to the underground.