Dubstep 21 Items

The combination of exotic instruments, deep off-beat rumblings and Rider Shafique vocals, deliver an almost hypnotic journey through Gantz's mind.

"Rare, super limited 005 from Saturate! Records 7'' single series, featuring the now defunct Naive Machine and Krsur with some smooth hyper colored Garage and Footwork vibes, I don't want to say this but Calling Me has that James Blake feel. It's better, with the swing and even more uptempo."

Record has a few scuffs and hairlines.

Reissue on black vinyl. Rarely you come across a record which embodies Dubstep so well that rallies the entire scene behind it. From the brosteppers to the deep heads this record has been getting love from all corners of the earth. We're talking about "Under Control" the latest outing from Germany's next top wobble aka Bukez Finezt. Its eerie intro sets the tone perfectly to interlude this hypnotic stomper. Once the sonic warfare is unleashed it'll transport you to a word of desolation, where aliens run rampant and technology has absorbed everything around them.

"You Don't Belong Here" & "Pace Yourself" are on a equal tip. 2 bigtime subloaded heavyweights that'll remind you that Dubstep is still very much alive and reminds us why we fell in love with this minimalistic bass heavy genre to begin with.

Alter Echo & E3 return for their third chapter on ZamZam with a dark, low-slung steppers featuring the one Rider Shafique of Bristol’s esoteric Young Echo crew. AEE3’s first collaboration with a vocalist, “Heights” provides a rockstone riddim for Rider to step forward with a powerful lyric, a declaration of principles and intention to trod outta Babylon, tearing off mental chains along the way with total focus on the destiny of liberation for those with the will to persevere. Rider’s presence transforms every track he graces into pure message music, as heard in recent months on collaborations with Gorgon Sound, Ishan Sound, Gantz and more.

"Heights" rocks with swirling atmospheres and pointillist detail, powerfully psychedelic dubbing at once organic and metallic, always with fundamental dub principles anchoring and propelling forward, ever forward. The version “The Sound Tonight” strips the vocal out completely, using that space to push the kick, bass and ricocheting snares further forward with extra dub flourishes, mirages, and sample grinding.

Mesck fuses another cog in the label’s machinery, giving Chestplate one more flavor while sticking to the no-nonsense frequency construction that has characterized Chestplate’s aesthetic. The EP offers a cohesive journey through vibrant dynamics, rolling out with the hollowed kick patterns and ominous underscoring of Conquista. Collusion slows the momentum with more minimal percussion, leaving plenty of space for the labyrinth of subtle detail commandeering the atmosphere. A bongo-driven plane of chambered flux transitions the mood as Arcane Glimpse enthralls the soundfield with guttural and interchanging reese patches. Mesck sends us off in Lucid Form with a beat that deploys hefty swing while discombobulating the senses as voices hop left-to-right in the scape.

DJ Rashad / Djunya / DJ Spinn / DJ Earl / Quarta 330 / Champion/ Ikonika etc.

The second of the Decadub vinyl-only releases dedicates three of its four sides to a volley of woozy and twisted footwork from most of the key members of Chicago's Teklife crew. Side One starts with DJ Rashad and Gant Man's squiggly 303 banger 'Acid Life' and moves onto Taso & Djunya's Darwinian banger 'Only The Strong Will Survive'. Side Two descends into DJ Spinn's bombastic 'All My Teklife' and then Earl, Rashad & Taye's 'Bombaklot' which takes Hyperdub full circle with a yardcore bomb like a 2014 upgrade of the label's early days. Side Three leads with DJ Earl's immaculate diva vocal cut-up of 'I'm Gonna Get You', then moves on into DJ Taye's fizzling R&B jam 'Get Em Up’ and the stone cold, warped humour of 'Icemaster' by Heavee. On the fourth and final side, Tokyo-based ally Quarta330 returns to craft ‘Hanabi’, an epic, uptempo synthesiser jam. Young gun Champion follows with ‘Power Cut’, its minimal, energetic and militant kicks and bass molded with cowbell and lots of tight edits, before dropping some neat keys and a warping bassline two thirds in. Ikonika finishes things off with the solemn march of 'Tug Zone', opening slow but building in flickering high hats and gaseous cymbals into a track which could have emanated from Battlestar Galactica.

Somewhere between House, Detroit Techno & Bass, Martyn comes through strong with a little help from Four Tet & Inga Copeland!

There's astonishing depth contained within Nomine's music. His debut for Tempa took dubstep into altogether more tropical territories. Tis three-track follow up continues his progressive trend.

Echo-drenched melodies drift like a distant brass chorus, sub-bass as soft and powerful as an ocean current, and turbulent, continually shifting percussion abound across 'Nomine's War'.

Finnish producer Desto returns to Rwina to deliver his first full length album, ‘Emptier Streets’. As with his previous releases on the Dutch label, Desto strips the music back to its bare-bone essentials, fulfilling the album’s title with a sound that’s spacious and eerie, bleak and punishing yet still offers warmth in its apparent coldness. Stylistically the album is most obviously aligned with the aesthetics of Dirty South hip hop and the dubstep diaspora, deploying booming drums, rolling hats and cold synthetic melodies and voices inside cavernous sonic landscapes.

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs, closer to VG+