Dubstep 204 Items

A long time coming, we’re excited to welcome Portuguese beat-maker 3WA to the Subaltern family with a selection of some of his best work to date.

3WA joins the LDH family for the second instalment in the Ldhxl series. The long awaited collaboration with Breez, 'Acido Maligno', is accompanied by three solo tracks from 3WA.

700 Bliss is the forward-thinking duo of DJ Haram and Moor Mother. Their first full length for Hyperdub is an album of noise rap that ties together the raw edges of club music and hip hop with punk energy, jazz, house-party catharsis, percussion-heavy analogue sound design, and cheeky skits, ranging from experimental rap tracks with rolling hi hats and lyrical bravado, to poetry set to noise and sound collage. Moor Mother and DJ Haram started collaborating in 2014 and eventually formed 700 Bliss, a blistering live act in Philly's DIY scene, releasing their 2018 debut, Spa 700 on Halcyon Veil / Don Giovanni Records. Since that time, both artists have grown global followings. Moor Mother is a prolific solo artist and collaborator, writer, and member of Black Quantum Futurism while Haram has been curating and creating radio shows, DJing, and producing (including an EP for Hyperdub in 2019). ‘Nothing To Declare’ is a smart, danceable revelation, a chiseled soundscape of dive bombing bass, piercing bleeps, crunchy distortion, and wavering synth lines. Welcoming in a variety of voices from their extended, cross-genre scene, 700 Bliss also bring along a cast of collaborators, including vocalists Orion Sun, Lawfandah, Ase Manual, and Ali Logout (from the band Special Interest), plus Palestinian producer Muqata'a, and writer M Téllez who delivers a surreal sci fi monologue over a pounding kick drum on ‘More Victories’. ‘Nothing To Declare’ is a deeply layered rewriting of hip hop and electronic music that gives more with each listen. You won't hear another rap album like it in 2022.

"With this release, I set out with a particular sound in mind - one through which I could amalgamate my inspirations from over the years to create something fresh and outline a unique approach. With these tracks, I wanted to walk the line of having something energetic enough to tease my UK Underground & Dance Music influences, and yet experimental enough to present the listener with a deeper landscape to explore through the FM sound design." Aagentah

"M4 is a tune that I wrote back in 2017 when I was living in Bristol. At the time I was really into writing melodic pieces and messing around with as many synths as possible. I decided to add some heavy bass to this one cinematic organ progression and laid down some basic drums over the top and called it a day really. I think I sent it out to a couple people (one being Mala) and forgot about it.

Another few years went by and the tune has changed a bit to stay in line with my current production style arriving at the version that's set to be released. Abacus was just an all out bass experiment that I never thought would see the light of day and Dusty really shows off the more melodic style of my productions. After hearing these tunes played on big systems for so long I'm really happy that everyone can now finally get their hands on a copy."

Alxzndr 2022

2022 may bring much much uncertainty to the world but one thing we know for a fact is that we are introducing our most innovative and intriguing new act in years – the French duo Archil & Leon with their five track debut (appropriately called) “Blooming”.

Having both released in the past independently, Archil & Leon were originally brought together thanks to their teenage band His Majesty and from there, their passion to create music together never has faltered. Leon is a veteran session and live drummer who also produces music for his own dance project Ongaeshi and the dance collective moovance. Archil is an accomplished solo electronic musician and the force behind Archil Lab handmade musical devices. Using elements like springs (Springophone) and wheels (Roulettophone), his instruments are lovingly manufactured in wood and somehow carry the characteristics of modular gear but in the most unconventional way possible.

At a first listen, Archil & Leon’s music comes off as a well oiled live jam but as you dig deeper, it’s clear these tracks have a precision and style that separates them into a category of their own. Their EP “Blooming” is the result of two full years of being locked in their studio, writing and experimenting together. Indeed, an underlying flow of 70’s funk permeates throughout their music, however pigeonholing them into such a stereotype would be a travesty as they have impeccable song writing skills and their self made instruments conjure an experimentalism which is through and through rooted in electronic music. We can only hope that fans of now-classic Jamie Lidell / Super_Collider will appreciate where they are coming from, and you agree their “sound” is brilliantly individual. After all, they created their tracks literally from the ground up.

Watch more about Archil & Leon and their wonderfully outlandish instruments.

Rousing Robocop Knock-Outs

To many AxH represents one of the few out there who has held underground strong through the many peaks and valleys of Dubstep, and as such pushed the sound forward all the while. Through Releases on Artikal, Boka, Tempa, and many more AxH has year over year maintained his position as the stateside stalwart. LoDubs is pleased to bring forth three new tunes emblematic of the AxH DNA: Fearsome, at times Frenetic, yet always forward thinking.

Livity Sound is proud to present a 12” of lean, refined club tracks from UK stalwart Beneath. The Mistry and No Symbols boss has spent the past 10 years exploring a sound which nods to the legacy of bleep techno, dubstep and UK funky while leaning forwards into its own distinctive space.

His stripped-back blend of crisp drums, sprightly hooks and sub bass are instantly identifiable, but across four new tracks Beneath displays the versatility within his reach. Stomping four to-the-floor rollers on the A side face-off with minimalist dub and weighty, synth-rich expressions on the flip that move beyond the demands of the dancefloor.

Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.

In The Joker EP, Biome shows why he is right at the very top of the game. 4 incredibly made pieces of Dubstep mastery, beautifully put together into the first Deep, Dark & Dangerous release of 2021. Creepy intros, crunchy midbass, crisp and slick drumwork, quirky hooks and crushing sub all categorise this release. Each sample and sound meticulously positioned for maximum effect. Biome has always been the king of making sure everything is in it's right place, less is more, every piece of the puzzle has it's purpose and the whole release is a masterclass in this aesthetic. We know you are going to love it as much as we do.

Making his debut on Subaltern with SUBALT014 is Estonian producer Bisweed, famous for his trippy and intricate sound design and original take on bass music. A psychotropic journey into the weald, this is a typically dark and surreal release from the well-established Subaltern imprint.

Calgary, AB's Boneless is back again following a pair of releases on Gourmet Beats and most recently Off-Switch Audio, featuring that low slung, classic era yet forward thinking production we all know from the great many appearances his tunes have made out live on dub and on mixes from the sort-of aformentioned Joe Nice, J;Kenzo and a boatload of others.

`Antidawn' reduces Burial's music to just the vapours. The record explores an interzone between dislocated, patchwork songwriting and eerie, open-world game-space ambience. In the resulting no man's land, lyrics take precedence over song, lonely phrases colour the haze, a stark and fragmented structure makes time slow down. `Antidawn' seems to tell a story of a wintertime city, and something beckoning you to follow it into the night. The result is both comforting and disturbing, producing a quiet and uncanny glow against the cold. Sometimes, as it enters 'a bad place', it takes your breath away. And time just stops.

One copy per customer.

`Chemz' is hooky, rushy and loved-up - both an unhinged premonition of unleashed post-pandemic joy, and a demonic flashback to past ecstasies in a hardcore style perfected in the UK. `Chemz' is a 12 minute rave monster that has ingested several tracks and incorporated them into its distended body. At the other end of the Burial bi-polar spectrum, `Dolphinz' is a 9 minute desolate oceanic love letter to our underwater friends.

The latest offering from French shape-shifter Maxime Primault (High Wolf, Black Zone Myth Chant, etc.) is both a distillation and deepening of psychedelic soundsystem strategies honed across a decade plus of production and performance, in crisscrossing trenches of vibrational exploration. The four cuts comprising IN D EV IL were born of bass and syrup, designed as anthems for baser desires: “I just wanted to make bangers really.” Alien squelches and insectoid chatter pulse above thick swells of low end, intercut with sirens, screwed voices, and seasick wobble, alternately pummeling and prismatic. Masterfully disorienting, flickering with FX, drops, and narcotic murmuring, at the threshold of dissociative and dubstep. Recent years spent performing in clubs influenced Primault’s listening habits, both in taste and production methods, skewing towards a starker contrast of highs and lows. IN D EV IL encapsulates this evolution, hallucinatory but urgent, like DJ tools for an underworld afterhours: tight, tripped, and lightless. The EP’s tracks vary in energy and density but share Primault’s premise of “tunes that sound fat and heavy.” Club music as dimensional gateway, booming and liminal, rippling with tremors, texture, and undertow. Whether deployed in public or private, these designs manifest vividly altered states, testament to their creator’s omnivorous vision of rhythm and sound.

After a 2 year hiatus, Madam X's Kaizen imprint comes back full force, with an upgraded aesthetic and brand new wave of leftfield, off-kilter club music. Kzn009 sees one of Manchester's most exciting up & coming producers, Cartridge, mark his debut with a fierce 2 tracker, loaded with soundsystem pressure and gully 130 artillery in the Banada EP. Melodic Grime, moody Dubstep, and sub-heavy textures sprinkle this wobby release, designed for dark rooms, splintered basements and heavy soundsystems. With an impressive back catalogue on Deep Dark & Dangerous, Albion Collective & one half of Regents alongside Manchester kingpin Strategy (Broke'n'£nglish), Cartridge is no stranger to the UK's burgeoning bass music scene.

On the A side, we have Banada, a melodic eastern-flavoured instrumental, with elements of Grime and Dubstep carrying the tune to its arpeggiated crescendo.

A singing voice and raspy melody build the tension before a heavily distorted switch up catches you off guard, leading you further down a Dubstep rabbit hole, and into a world of shady and sinister drops, sitting perfectly alongside the label's strictly hoods-up, heads-down tip.

Teaming up with Kaizen heavyweight and local scene hero Biome on the B-Side, Ricky Rosé has proved a firm favourite for those peak-time, no-holds-barred, bass-in-your-face, power hour moments. Relentless in its metallic bassline and thumping 808 drums, this explosive club tool comes with a solid side-serving of gunfingers and screwfaces.

We know you’ve been waiting for this one since last summer! Caspa’s debut on Youngsta’s ridiculously on-point Sentry has been one of the most requested releases in a very long time. Hot on the heels of releases by dBridge, Nomine and Akcept, the Sub Soldier comes in hard with two absolute burn-ups.

Universal Vibrations is my most personal project to date. I came back from a month long trip to Brazil feeling very inspired during the start of lockdown and decided to experiment with some slower BPMs for the first time after producing dubstep for the last 15 years. This album is the result.

One tune came flying out after the other during a crazily productive 2 month period. I was so happy with the beats I thought I'd get some of my favourite MCs on board so spent the next 8 months organizing and mixing down the vocal features.

It all happened very naturally and very quickly, it was just waiting to pop out! To say I'm proud of this album is an understatement. 2 years in the making, I can't wait for you all to hear it!

Love Chad <3

After months of track iD pleas, Dubstep royalty Cimm (system / Sentry / Tempa) makes his Kaizen debut with this dark and dangerous 130 release.

Street Kings is certified festival artillery. Tried & Tested for those Gully, Gun-finger "lick off your headtop" moments.

The B-Side comes through with some restorative energy. Mellow grooves, floating pads, and bouncy UKG rhythms in Day 1 & It's Alright.

Early support from Loefah, Breaka, Jay Carder & Walton.

Back on DNO for the first time since 2020, City1 delivers four more darkling cuts for shaking soundsystems to their core.

On opener ‘Ohmu’, the combination of wind and string instruments brings a folklorish quality to proceedings. Set alongside the heavyweight surge of an 808, it’s as if City1 were soundtracking something ancient, colossal and bewitching — which isn’t far off, considering the tune takes its name from monstrous bugs in the anime, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

‘Jalidi’ is even more cinematic, with mournful strings that make way for a sparse marching rhythm backed with repetitive chanting and propelled by a relentless, lumbering drone bass. While on ‘Sifuri’, City1 sets his sights firmly on the dancefloor. Here, the deep hum of oscillating subs, plenty of dub echo and eerie squeaking stabs that hop about the stereo field provide a surefire way to keep bodies moving.

The EP’s final foray, ‘Butterfly’, presents contrasting ideas linked by a stalwart beat. It begins in spine-tingling fashion, with a discordant lullaby and crusty old vocal sample leading to a menacing dubstep stomp. But the real surprise comes with the introduction of a fluttering guitar riff that juxtaposes the rapid-fire kicks and brooding sonics found elsewhere. Switching back and forth throughout the duration, the parts reflect the unsettling alien oddity of the chrysalis and the fragile, temporary beauty of the creature that emerges from within.

A fine return from the Tokyo-based producer and another superb curation from the DJ Mag award-nominated Brighton label. City1’s ‘Butterfly’ EP arrives on 12” vinyl and digital on 27th of May 2022.

Following an acclaimed EP from Brussels duo The Untouchables, DNO Records stays in Belgium for the next instalment of its global bass odyssey, but offers up a wholly different kind of trip originating from Charleroi.Leading the way are Clearlight & Owl. The pair typically operate together as Glÿph — producing glitchy, modern techstep — but the use of their independent aliases is an early indicator to expect the minimalist experimentalism found in their solo work.

Coltcuts debut EP on Wheel & Deal Records.

Achtung !! Another weighty missive from the desk of Herr Campbell, otherwise known as Consulate - Perth’s preeminent breakbeat bureaucrat, currently stationed in Melbourne, Australia. Smelling like leather and tasting like metal, the “Assassino” EP features four full-excursion incantations for all the midwinter ravers -- solstice steppers enhanced with dubwise technique and enchanted with ancient foreboding. Careful what you conjure when the needle hits this platter.

For The Heads returns with the third installment of their vinyl series welcoming Germany's own Conzi to the imprint with his inaugural solo EP. This weighty 4 tracker is packed with head-down, nose-curling rhythms on both sides, making this an EP not to be slept on. Having featured on respected labels such as Hotplates Recordings and Foundation Audio in the past, and with support from the likes of Sicaria Sound, J:Kenzo, Ternion Sound and many more, Conzi is a name you will be hearing much more from in the very near future.

Established in 2020 by Duploc & 140 Plates owner Pieter Grauwels and producer Hebbe, Basskruit is a label set up with the sole focus of shining a light on Belgian & Dutch produced, explosive Dubstep & 140 music.

With previous incredible releases coming from the likes of 11th Hour, BunZer0 and Hebbe himself, the imprint is now set for their eagerly anticipated 17th outing.

It comes from Netherlands-based Crowley & Schim, two producers expertly carving their reputation into the underground ‘140’ scene with their stunning, bass-driven productions which have been released on labels such as Duploc, Fkof & Concrete Law.

Meticulously crafted and exploding with bassweight, Bsskrt017 is a four-track EP which boldly traverses the sonic plains of ‘140’, showcasing the variety in both artist’s sound, whether it be the stripped back & swinging Moraal, the reverberating & dubbed-out Skitta or the dark & breaks-laced Wervel, which provides inspiration for a deep & hypnotic remix from Belgian artist Zygos.

Release artwork provided by Joshua Hughes-Games.

Infernal Sounds welcomes their newest member to the imprint, Dark Tantrums. After a brief hiatus from releasing music, the producer who's had previous EP's out on both Deep Medi and GetDarker is back with a bang. From the millitant march of 'Command', to the distorted and twisted mind of 'Darkside', with 'Time Warp' rounding things off in a typical old-school fashion, this EP will knock your socks off and deliver a punch for the dance floor. IFS011 not only displays his ability to adapt his style under the 140 spectrum, but continues to prove why he's one of the most underrated artists to grace the scene.

The 9th release from the Infernal Sounds imprint is probably the darkest and most twisted yet. Hailing from Ireland, Darkimh brings forth his own invigorating style of bass music, and his first to appear on 12”. Backed by a remix from none other than Malleus, and a collaboration with Taiko, this EP is not to be messed with. Every side of the 180g plate will unleash energy and force onto any dance floor.

"Samples, movies and beats. That's the essence of Dead End's brand new LP titled Kino Vol.1. The Portuguese producer takes the chair and delivers a masterful performance that combines music and cinema. Kino Vol.1 is a multidisciplinary album built around samples picked from some of his most loved blockbusters and inspired by iconic movie clips. For the occasion, Saturate's Instagram profile has turned into a video gallery, featuring footage from cult movies and series such as The Office, Sicario, A Fistful Of Dollars, perfectly synched with Dead End's productions. The album experience itself resembles that of a mini-series like Netflix's Love Death Robot or Oat Studios, where every episode is a story on its own, written and shot in a different way. The fourteen tracks, or episodes as I like to call them, range from heavy club to hip hop and halftime. Some are more colorful and atmospheric like the ending tripled composed by 'Cocoon,' 'Voyage' (feat Dj Ride) and 'Flowers Bloom'. These cuts seem to come off reflective and introspective movies. Others are way heavier, as they were made straight for fighting and chase scenes. In this group, you can count 'Melee Attack,' 'Though Break,' 'Stealth', 'Thin Ice'. My favorite instead are those which set up an ambiguous and sinister mood. 'Bullit Drift,' 'The Fog,' 'Shindeiru,' 'The Road,' all these episodes could fit very well in both mental thrillers (a la Nolan) and unconventional psycho/horror movies. They build a palpable tension that successfully keeps me on my toes as I expect a jump scare or a sudden plot twist to come in at every second given. In conclusion, Dead Ends' Kino Vol.1 has the virtue of creating a listening experience that, thanks to its references to the world of cinema, becomes interactive and involves the listener in first person. It's impossible not to try to figure out from which films the samples are taken or to try to imagine which scene would be perfect for a specific track."

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.

Established in 2015 with a vision to push the envelope on bass-driven music at 140bpm, Belgian label Duploc have been doing just that ever since. Now, after a refreshing rebrand and enticing new label plans in store, they welcome Distance into the fold with his darkly raw and starkly haunting Sacrifices EP.

Crossover balearic/leftfield house cuts from newly minted Australia based Within Reason Records.

We are extremely happy to welcome another talented artist in the Moonshine Recordings family. EchoBoy previously known as Riddim Tuffa is a Czech based producer that is about to mashup the todays reggae dubstep scene in the upcoming months. His first moonshine release will drop on May the 6th on beautiful marbled hazy red vinyl.

We don't skip cat numbers around here. It was predestined that ENiGMA Dubz would appear on the Duploc050 milestone release. The Birmingham based dubstep don has been working with us since literally the first day of the YouTube channel. Almost 10 years later ENiGMA Dubz is a well established artist and is regularly featured on his home labels Duploc, Deep Dark & Dangerous as well as his very own imprint Morii Records. Where "40 Fathoms" and "Silverback" are sound system shellers, "Earth Giants" runs on a heavier vibe while the digital bonus track "Too Close To The Sun" is a melodious masterpiece. All by all his Duploc050 shows how strongly versatile ENiGMA Dubz' sound is.

Take a Deep, Dark & Dangerous interstellar voyage far into the Cosmos with ENiGMA Dubz, the newest signing to Truth’s burgeoning label. With this EP, ENiGMA DUbz transports the listener to the far flung reaches of the universe with his otherworldly sound design and top notch production. Beginning our travels at “Area 51”, you can hear the alien experiments, top secret technological research and conspiricys being hatched. From there, we’re taken deep “Into The Ground” where everything becomes very etherial, beautiful synthwork, vocal layering and crispy breakbeats.

One per customer only!

‘saturday Specials’ sees the legendary Bristol drum & bass don Clipz remixing Everything Is Recorded’s acclaimed second album ‘Friday Forever’ in its entirety. Released Digital on 29th January via XL Recordings, ‘saturday Specials’ is Clipz’s first album length project and is a drum & bass masterpiece, split across three 12” vinyl editions. The album features a host of the original album’s vocalists and collaborators (including Berwyn, Ghostface Killah, Aitch, Sampha, Flohio and A.K. Paul) weaving in and out of Clipz's trademark future-facing productions.

‘saturday Specials’ sees the legendary Bristol drum & bass don Clipz remixing Everything Is Recorded’s acclaimed second album ‘Friday Forever’ in its entirety. Released Digital on 29th January via XL Recordings, ‘saturday Specials’ is Clipz’s first album length project and is a drum & bass masterpiece, split across three 12” vinyl editions. The album features a host of the original album’s vocalists and collaborators (including Berwyn, Ghostface Killah, Aitch, Sampha, Flohio and A.K. Paul) weaving in and out of Clipz's trademark future-facing productions.

‘saturday Specials’ sees the legendary Bristol drum & bass don Clipz remixing Everything Is Recorded’s acclaimed second album ‘Friday Forever’ in its entirety. Released Digital on 29th January via XL Recordings, ‘saturday Specials’ is Clipz’s first album length project and is a drum & bass masterpiece, split across three 12” vinyl editions. The album features a host of the original album’s vocalists and collaborators (including Berwyn, Ghostface Killah, Aitch, Sampha, Flohio and A.K. Paul) weaving in and out of Clipz's trademark future-facing productions.

First taste of the upcoming Tempo Dreams Vol. 5 album, compiled by LA based beatmaker Free The Robots. Coming in with a seperate vibe all it's own, the 7" features the exclusive track "Nasi Goreng", a lo-fi psychdelic beat heavy romp through South East Asia, complete with Gamelan vibes. On the flip, "Marano" is a downtempo ultra bass heavy joint with sparse production, vocal chops and swirling synths.

Infernal Sounds strip things down and go back to basics with their next endeavor, returning to their roots by releasing a two track single by debutants, Frenchless. Not only is it their first venture on the label, but this is their first ever release under this moniker from the mysterious deadly duo.

It's been a few years since Gemmy returned with a release, but he's back in business with a brand new 12 on Infernal Sounds. Entering the imprint on the milestone 30th release, this is a record of pure character and old-school licks that you'd be more than accustomed to if you've listened to the purple-laced producer in previous years. 'Irreversible Culture' kicks things off with a rough and tough low end kick and step, layering that ultimate groove and steppers delight.

We are proud to announce the latest addition to the Moonshine Recordings artist roster - Halcyonic & G Roots - two young talented producers out of Bristol, UK. Their debut moonshine release entitled 'Future' with vocal support from Junior Dread and additional remix by Violinbwoy will be released on the 6th of July on vinyl & digital.