MARKLEmarkgurney@gmail.com
QUICKIES Last Japan
Darsk EP Space + Time Records 7.0
A solid five-tracker, featuring grime rising star Merky Ace on ‘Paid In Full’, and a mixture of swampy grime vs garage DJ tools awash with accessible vocal elements.
Tunnidge
Rag & Bone Chestplate 7.0
When done well, the tougher, grottier side of dubstep can be superb. Chestplate label boss Distance has always managed to stay the right side of this line. As has Tunnidge, nicely demonstrated on this 12”. ‘Rag & Bone’ and the adjoining ‘7 Breathes’ remix have the fullness of sound, depth of bass weight
DUBSTEPREVIEWS
and carefully restrained wobble that prevent them from tipping into the vat of toss known as brostep.
Letherette
After Dawn Ninja Tune 8.0
Head straight to the Barker & Baumecker remix for the surprisingly skippy and filtered club vibes, and then to ‘Bibio’ for some superb low-slung dutty boogie action.
The Aliens UK
Alien Attack EP Alien Noize Recordings 6.5
Big, ballsy mainroom dubstep music with a third kind of obsession, brimming with more snap, crackle and pop than a lazer beam.
Synkro Look At Yourself (Djrum
Remix) MIndset
10
I love a good 12” that has quality and versatility on both sides, especially in these austere times. Clocking in at 11.15 mins in length, this is another opus from Djrum. And what an absolute cracker! It’s a stunning aural narrative that takes you through the emotions like a particularly affecting short film - allow this to burn into your soul. Joining Djrum on remix duties is ASC who takes on Szare’s ‘Leaning Tower Of Concrete’ from 2012, transforming it into superbly cold, dystopian machine technoid funk.
Alex Smoke
Dust R&S
8.5 DEMONMACABRE UNIT
01. BIOME ‘Function’ MUV Dub “This sums Biome up perfectly, slightly unhinged.”
02. NOMINE ‘Nomine’s War’ Tempa “Amazing dynamics on this one, the best intro tune.”
03. VERSA ‘Footseps In Tibet’ MUV Dub “Simply perfect from Versa.”
04. DEMON ‘Physics’ MUV “The flow on this one takes me back to my d&b days.”
05. REKTA ‘Champion’ MUD “Rekta taking no prisoners with this industrial banger.”
06. NDREAD ‘Grandeur’ MUV “Great epicness from Dread, one of the biggest tracks of the year.”
07. BIOME ‘Abyss’ MUV “Another boast of great individuality from the man like Biome.”
08. DEMON ‘Parachutes’ MUV Dub “This one detonates on the dancefloor.”
09. SLAVEN ‘Decode Error’ MUD “A real dark energetic piece from this young warrior.”
10. DCULT ‘Liu Kang’ Dub “Dcult delivers this moody roller in true Shaolin style.”
Still with the fallout from his new Wraeltic project coating his shoulders in a fine layer of critical acclaim, the tireless Glaswegian crafts a wonderfully melancholic gas chamber that will entrance even the most joyous into a fug. This delicately syncopated number weaves and creeps its way into the subconscious, leaving you feeling as delightfully numb as an ice bath infused with codeine. Remixer Tessela is the God-fearing auntie who’s come round to toss you into rehab, but one where they play the ghosts of hardcore to speed up the cure. This is rather good.
Bar 9
The Lost Dubs Never Say Die Recordings 5.5
I thought I was going to be able to make some droll, lazy quip about wishing these ‘dubs’ would stay lost, but I can’t. Why? Because I’m probably right in saying that these were made around 2008/09 in the wake of Coki’s ‘Spongebob’ game-changer. And to be fair to the lads, these are quite tame compared to the psychopathic oscillations that followed. Check ‘Sorrow’, ‘Untitled’ and ‘Demons’
for some pretty tidy, unabashed brostep.
Call Super
Black Octagons EP Houndstooth 8.0
Hot on the heels of his debut Houndstooth release from February comes this, a three- tracker with a more developed sense of dancefloor intention. ‘Informer’ wastes little time in showing its wares; tough drums, crunchy snare/clap hybridized percussion and a lovely minor chord melody that has a slight Balearic waft to it. ‘Dewsbury Severance’ and ‘Black Octagons’ are more complex organisms, and therefore need a bit more time to seep in to the sub-conscious.
Demon
Physic EP Macabre Unit 7.5
Demon and his Macabre Unit were regular faces on the London dubstep scene from the early days. So it’s good to see him coming through as a producer properly, getting solid support from the likes of Icicle and JKenzo. ‘Physics’ and ‘Morning Glory’ are both in the “dungeon” vein, or just dubstep, as it used to be called. But check ‘Molecule’ for its busy, technoid energy and galloping drum patterns for something getting close to Mala at his most frantic.
J Tijn
Fall EP WNCL Recordings 8.0
Much like a castrated pitbull, this EP may look on first glance like a terrifying beast, but without
those little testosterone triggers, the ferocious bite is tamed. Whilst known for his unsullied techno machinations, here Mr Tijn employs all the usual tropes but turns down the nosebleed- inducing elements just enough to present a more accessible face. Check ‘U U U’ for some lovely dub chord business, ‘Decimated #4’ for some broken syncopated distortion, and ‘Flat’ for the D.I.S.C.O.
Jus Now
Bare Wine Gutterfunk 8.0
Hells yeah! Get your bogle on to this bass-spiced, tropical, soca-fied banger on DJ Die’s label. Nuttin but fun and carnival vibes slathered all over ‘Bare Wine’. It makes you want to grab the nearest gal dem and dagger! But toss it over and you have an after- hours riddim which floats like a moody yardie between bashment, SX-style grime with a hint of dubstep weight. Seek out!
Mau’lin
Quotient EP Diskotopia 8.0
Coming out of the gate at 128 bpm but feeling like 140, the energy quotient is indeed high on this great EP. Lead track ‘Quotient’ is a careful chemistry between wonky bleepage and soft pads, a wickedly useful techno/ house/bass hybrid. The same goes for ‘From From’ but here the vibes drop one level into eyes-down viscous techno-land, and sounding good for it too. Boxwork pops out a remix of the latter, beefing up the kicks for a peak-time beast.
djmag.com 069
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