Dubstep 14 Items

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.

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

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'.

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.

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."

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.