Stereo Raptor - Digital Death

self-released: 2024

(A Patreon Request)

And a 'skip the queue' one at that! Boy, it's been a spell since one of those dropped. Not that the whole Patreon thing is some massive revenue stream to begin with. The few that do trickle in seem content letting their requests sit patiently in the alphabetically ordained queue, even if it's taking me so much longer to get through it these day.

Anyhow, Stereo Raptor is Eduardo Calçada, a Portuguese artist who lists a lot of genre influences among his interests. After listening to his debut album, that certainly tracks, running the gamut among various elements of modern dubstep. Whether it's actually good, however, I haven't a clue, my frame of reference for this stuff no greater than whatever abrasive noise I might hear passing by The Village stage at Shambhala at any given time. There's stuff on here I liked, don't get me wrong, but also stuff that, well... Hey, not everything in music is made specific to my particular taste, which is why I generally don't go out of my way to hear it (much less buy it for myself). When someone's willing to pay you to give it a shot though...

Let's get the stuff I don't like out of the way, since there's not as much of it as I thought going in. There's brostep on here, the sort of aimless, mid-range wobbly noise that I simply don't abide by. Only two tracks really feature it prominently though, an early one and a latter one. Symphony Of The Nightmare at least tries to spice everything up with melodic pianos and such between it, but when the wibbly-wobbly comes back, pure check-out time for yours truly. At least that's a little more tolerable than Gorgonopsid Massacre though, as pure a bro-headbanger as the rail-riders will ride the rail with. Have at it, mates.

In between those is mostly a lot of 'deeper' dub (riddim? Possibly, but who knows with dubstep micro-genres). I actually didn't mind these cuts too much, mostly because they were relatively shorter, averaging in the two-to-three minute mark. Get in, throw in your sound manipulations, get out. Nice. Still, would have liked a longer session of Rotten Unholy Synthesizer, if only because some of those electro-belches reminded me of LongWalkShortDock at his heaviest. Not a bad comparison, nosiree.

Really, the closer to death metal Stereo Raptor got, the more I got into this, which is funny considering hearing the opening metal growl in No End Downfall was almost an instant turnoff (sorry, just can't ever take it seriously). Yet that Automation track near the end, that hit that sweet 'groove metal' flow that's endeared Pantera as a guilty pleasure for years on end. Just, y'know, with a little extra Fear Factory digitization thrown on top. And hey, some doom, dark ambient drone to end on! Feels at total odds with the brostep that came before, but maybe there's actually a thriving 'drone-bro' scene out ther- Haha, no, I couldn't even finish it.

Congo Natty - Jungle Revolution In Dub

Big Dada Recordings: 2015

I'd like to say I got this because I've been a long-time follower of Mikail Tafari, since even his Rebel MC days. I can't front though, this being the first I've really heard anything from the Congo Natty legacy. At least, in a deliberate manner. I've likely heard some music of his over the years. A Blackstar track here, a Tribe Of Issachar cut there, a Lion Of Judah slice elsewhere. Still, I didn't get this particular album because I decided it time to do some proper look-backs on another seminal artist. Nay, I saw the words “In Dub” as a title, a Rastafarian man on the cover, and figured I was in super-safe hands hearing some proper raggae dub t'ings.

And I was right! It just wasn't in such a manner I would have expected. Heck, I never expected spotting such a release on Ninja Tune's web-store in the first place. Yeah, they've gone dancehall dubby in the past (oh hi, The Bug), but it's not their lane. Just as well, then, that this came out on offshoot Big Dada Recordings, most famous for bringing Roots Manuva to the light. I honestly haven't followed them as much – figured they were mostly a grime label, given the pedigree – but even then, hearing a ragga jungle album on there seems a tad askew. Not an “In Dub” rub of said album though!

They go all out for this record too. Lee Perry is here! Scientist is here! Mala is here! All come in to offer brief audio snippits of respect for The Music. No, really, that's all they offer here. Meanwhile, a pile of artists I'm wholly unfamiliar with do the actual remixing. I'm sure if I delved deep into the real world of dub music (or even the white-bread realm of retro dubstep), these would be recognizable names, but there's only so many seconds in the year, my friends.

Occasionally, the original jungle roots are heard in this album. Adrian Sherwood's remix of UK Allstars teases out tear-out before settling back into the easy-going rhythms of reggae dub, while Hylu and Jago do more of a stop-start thing with their go on Jungle Is I And I. For the most part though, we're in that classic, impossible-to-ruin vibe of tunes on the downbeat, the accents going on about Babylon, and the reverb in outer space.

So sounds good if you like reggae dub, but what about that other dub that has equal amounts of detractors. Yeah, there's some dubsteppy elements sprinkled about. Those dreaded mid-range wobbles appear in Young Warrior's go with London Dungeons, while DJ Madd really loves that ultra-hard STEP rhythm. Elsewhere, Mungos Hi-Fi turns in a quite drab, empty, ol' school dubstep thingy on Nu Beginingz. None of it's obnoxious though, which is the most you can hope for with these sort of sounds. Makes me all the more want to hear the album proper. A good record, for another time.

Technical Itch - Digitally Ascended Vol. 3

Tech Itch Recordings: 2017

Technical Itch was clearly content sticking to the singles market, so I gave up hope on ever hearing another long-player from the man, Diagnostics a once in a blue moon event. Much time passes, and I feel a tingling sensation in the back of my head, like a sentient nerve poking me with the question, “I wonder if Mark Caro has anything on Bandcamp?” And holy cow, does he ever, not only releasing tons of fresh material via his own label this past decade, but bringing in new artists that share his classic darkstep aesthetic. With actual physical media too, including CDs! Hot damn, I gotta' get me in on some of that action, but it seems the only hard-copy item currently available from Technical Itch himself is this Digitally Ascended Vol. 3. Whatever, it's gotta' be dope, the man incapable of wrong after such a storied career!

And... he's taken a stab at trap. *sigh*... When will I learn?

Personal petty petulance aside, I'm not tut-tutting Technical Itch here. Doing a modicum of research would have clued me into the fact that this Digitally Ascended series was started way back in 2009 as a means for Mr. Caro to explore that trendy dubstep thing going on, and carried on with other stabs at the slower, grittier side of bass music; for the d'n'b purists, he had the Progression Threat series. Some time in the mid-'10s, he started rolling Tech Itch Digital material into the parent label Tech Itch Recordings, finally offering hard copy options for stubborn holdouts (*cough*). Digitally Ascended Vol. 3 was the first of his own releases to come out during this phase, hence why it was the first Tech Itch item I saw available as CD. There's promise of more to come though, oh yes.

And you may be thinking, what's the big deal about Tech Itch branching out? Nothing at all, but this is one of those cases where his top-notch production doesn't fit the sound he's trying. Trap is all about stripping things down to bare essentials, the most rudimentary drum sounds available from your 808 emulator. In Mr. Caro's hands though, with his menacing widescreen atmospherics, these drum tracks end up sounding like demos or, at best, something from the halcyon days of audio bass sub-whoofer stress testers. The dubstep tracks are only marginally better, in that they aren't far removed from what the genre did sound like in its infancy.

Fortunately, Digitally Ascended Vol 3 offers surprisingly more variety than the early portions of the album suggested. There's a couple dark ambient tracks here (August Ends, Separka), for all your psychological thriller needs. Elsewhere, Rememberance edges as close to tech-step as this series would probably allow, while the final two cuts (Strangest Form Of Magic, Touched By The Gods) have more a trip-hop vibe going for them. Good stuff, just a shame the comparatively under-produced first half of the album sours a full listening experience for me.

Ink Midget - Re-Leave

Exitab: 2012

There's some downright obscure shit out there, my poor Windows Media Player helpless in its attempts at auto-identifying whatever music it's currently decoding and digitizing to my external hard drive. Not a big deal, thinks I while sipping on pinot noir (or a Monster Sunrise). Just slot the CD in its appropriate alphabetical place within my “to review” tower, and I'll deal with the details when I get to it.

Only, I was left stumped on this Ink Midget. I knew it had to be part of my regular queue, as I'd uploaded it to my portable player at some point, but I didn't see it among the surrounding CDs. Might it have been a digital-only item? No, those at least have cover art. Well, whatever, I'm sure once I listen to it, I'll solve its mysterious origin. Wait, this is a dubstep release? How did I end up with this? Did someone hand it to me after Shambhala? Wouldn't be the first time I was given a promo from that festival.

As always though, Lord Discogs finally shed some light on the matter, at the very least providing me art I could identify it with. And upon seeing that Re-Leave art, I went, “OOHH-ooohh... it's that CD. Huh, I thought it was an indie rock thing.” Admit it, just from a glance, you'd never guess this is dubstep, to say nothing of the four-page foldout with even more water-coloured art within. Plus, it's a big, bulky digipak, the sort of thing I've come to expect from... well, not dubstep, that's for sure. Explains why it wasn't in my usual “to review” tower though, not fitting in the slots and all.

*whew* Alright, all that out and sorted, how does this album from Ink Midget stack up. It's... fine, I guess? Adam Matej certainly tries infusing the genre with some ideas against the tropes of the time, but adding a pile of glitch stutter effects to one's half-time beats feels overkill. He's clearly listened to a bunch of Hyperdub material, and wants to make music like that, but overshot the mark on the production level. There's a dub-trap cut in Night Float that's fascinated by the pitch of the snare's reverb. There's the clear nods to Burial ambience in Flue and Clue (heh). There's some “we're getting ultra-wrecked, man!” grime rapping in Fisheye (though Pjoni's Slovak). There's a dope double-time builder in Půlvlk, with a secret ambient song after. Hey, that's a novel bit of retro!

I dunno, Re-Leave feels quite middle-of-the-road where this sound is concerned, though I'm hardly an expert in this particular genre, my experience still at a surface level. Maybe folks who digest every tiny ounce of dubstep, future-garage, and UK (Slovak?) bass could give a better comparison of Ink Midget against the scene's grand pantheon. On the other hand, I had to submit the CD version of this to Discogs, so maybe this is rightfully obscure too.

Various - Hyperdub 10.1

Hyperdub: 2014

It's hard to undersell just how Very Important of a label Hyperdub turned out. Even if you excise the Burial factor, it's been home to many producers that helped steer the course of UK garage into ever stranger and weirder future incarnations. Acts like Kode9 (founder), Space Ape, Zomby, The Bug, Mala, Flowdan, Kyle Hall, Inga Copeland, Darkstar, Ikonika, and loads more have made their home on Hyperdub at one point or another. While I can't say I've messed with many of them over the years, I cannot deny the label's earned a pedigree in tapping unique artists that have caught my ear more often than not. Considering the UK garage scene at large is filled with redundant, generic, cheap-ass half-step beats and gimmicky bass noises, that's no mean feat.

I've long considered diving deeper into the Hyperdub discography than whatever Burial and The Bug have released, and while there are a number of Very Recommended records, I wondered whether there was an easier way, a handier way, a box-settier way. Why, hello there, Tenth Anniversary four-volume, six CD collection celebrating the label, how you doin'? Of course, even this set is a little old now, Hyperdub coming upon their fifteenth anniversary in short order. I don't doubt for a second they won't celebrate that, having done a little roll-out of their fifth birthday too, when all they had to their name were some critically hailed works from Kode9 and Burial.

Things really started rolling from there though, hence a quadrupling of material for this box-set. And kicking things off for Hyperdub 10.1 is nothing less than a double-CD of material, with all the familiar Hyperdub names, and then some. DJ Taye! Cooly G! Ill Blu! Mark Pritchard! (!!) Terror Danjah! LV! DJ Rashad! Too many more to name-drop!

As each volume of this box-set focuses on a specific genre or style of music, you bet the first would feature that dubstep action. Or, post-dubstep, I guess – whatever it was folks tried to label the Hyperdub sound (certainly not bland wub-wub). There's also, according to Lord Discogs: Bassline, Grime, Techno, UK Garage, Abstract, and Juke. What, no Trap? Sure sounds like a lot of rat-a-tat-tat hi-hats and snares among these two CDs. Right, trap wasn't really a UK thing, but they had a whole bunch of other names for ghetto beats.

And that's the sense I get from these twenty-three, two-to-four minute tracks, where drums kits, acid boxes and samples are chopped and screwed in such scattershot fashion, it feels like you're hearing music made by the slummiest of musicians too broke to afford any proper production or studio time. Y'know, real music, like punk rock, unfettered and uncut from the soul, technical limitations be damned. Or something.

I dunno. Sometimes I feel journalists made this stuff seem more important because of that supposed authenticity than any actual musical merit. Wouldn't be the first time that happened, especially in UK-Land.

JāFU - Add To Cart

Waveform Records: 2012

For so very long two acts have dominated Waveform Records: Sounds From The Ground and ZerO One. Their material maintains a consistent level of quality, sure, but likely isn't for everyone, even those who vibe on ambient techno and dubby downtempo. And while some labels get by with a couple core acts, they tend to remain ultra-niche. I don't want Waveform to be ultra-niche – I want more folks to hear their early wonderful releases, their amazing five-year run after the turn of the century. They need new blood to bring in new ears though, so if scoping out a dubstep album will get the ball rolling again, so be it. Besides, my Waveform Records CD collection can't be completed if I skip out on non-redundant items.

And hey, maybe this will turn out as one of those mythical 'good' dubstep albums that I've heard much rumour about. The PR blurb already proclaims this falling on the chill side of the genre, and I've liked a little bit of what I've heard in that spectrum, mostly care of Liquid Stranger's offerings on Interchill Records. James Fuller, the Canadian lad behind the Jafu moniker (or JāFU, if you want to get fancy with it), even appeared on the Saltspring Island label, as well as Dubstep For Deep Heads, and his own conglomerate print Chord Marauders. Waveform was where he got his start though, with this debut album Add To Cart. Man, just how many careers has Waveform launched anyway? Or at least provided that initial push out the door.

Add To Cart opens with a few tunes doing the sort of chill dubstep I don't mind one bit: music that's actually deep and dubby, with a simple, solid downtempo bounce that never loses the plot. Yeah, Jafu still does that over-compressed half-step snare, while tracks like Escalation and Encountering Intruders feature those mid-range wobbles one can't help but associate with the worst aspects of dubstep these days. Mr. Fuller at least rides his rhythms with some finesse and flow though, making them sound none too shabby. All too often producers throw in a bunch of randomized wub-wubs that serve no musical purpose other than wanking off the effects plugins.

Like when he does it in tracks like Subways, Fish Headz, Terminal, and Surgery. Or just go overboard in showboating some 'dope' sound they came up with, as in Yeasaw. Geez, does this ever sound corny. But I get it, I really do! For a generation of kids, this is their distorted guitar solo, or their acid knob tweakage, or their gated supersaw pad, or their flanged hardstyle kick – it's their jam, man! Fair enough, but why can't it stay on rhythm, like in One Lined Face? That shit gets my shoulders boppin', it does.

For as many tracks I like on Add To Cart, at least another third I'd sooner 'add to bin'. At eighteen cuts though, that's still a decent ratio to come away from. On a dubstep album, anyway.

Ashtech - Walkin' Target (Original TC Review)

Interchill Records: 2007

(2017 Update:
Ten years ago, almost to the day, this item dropped, and aside from Meditronica in 2009, nothing since - not even a contributing credit under his real name of Andrea Nicoletti. I know Lord Discogs doesn't have *all* the information out there, but surely it'd have something like added bass licks or keyboard jams to a project elsewhere. Yet checking out Ashtech's website now leads to a laser cutting company. It all strikes me as odd, considering the aggressive PR campaign Ashtech had when he was making his still active. I mean, for such a scant discography currently to his name, dude's got quite the Wiki written up. Anyone know what's up with that?

Walkin' Target has gradually grown better to my ears over the years (decade!). True, it's still not doing much different with reggae-dub and dancehall that you can't hear elsewhere, but it does it so well, I don't give a care. Maybe it's that I haven't heard many other albums of this sort in all that time, due to my lackadaisical efforts exploring this genre deeper beyond its shores. Then again, every time I throw this album on, folks within earshot always get their bop on when hearing Essential Credential, so that must mean ol' Ash' and Gaudi were onto something "natural universal" here.)


IN BRIEF: Ready on d’em roots, aigh’t?

The British must feel an eternal bond to Jamaica since the colonial period; it has to be the reason several UK youth are constantly inspired by the Caribbean island’s music. Roots, reggae, dub, and everything in between is as much a fixture with England’s potheads as grime is with the slums of London. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that many Jamaican immigrants bring their musical philosophies with them; one love between two island nations... or such.

Despite being Italian of origin before settling in London, Mr. Andrea Nicoletti – Ashtech - has felt this influence no less; chalk it up to his bass playing background - when you feel ‘d’em riddims’, the bass-heavy production of dub beckons. Long a collaborator, this is the first time he’s taken center-stage on a full-length, and he doesn’t hold back on exploring what roots music has to offer.

...such to the point he almost falls into the trap of merely copying it rather than providing his own spin. If you’ve casual knowledge of this music, you’ll find there isn’t much stylistically unique on Walkin’ Target. Ashtech honors the foundation pioneers like King Tubby laid out all those decades ago, so if this has never held much appeal for you, then it’s doubtful his album will change your mind.

Also, as this is very groove-orientated music, the direction of a given track is typically found in the sub-bass frequencies. As a result, those without the speakers to bring out the full dynamics of the lower end of the sonic realm (I’m looking at you, iPod generation) will be missing out. That extra layer of sound can vastly change your perspective of a given song here: where a run-of-the-mill roots tune will sound ordinary on ol’ laptop speakers, suddenly there’s something rather special going on once powerful sub-whoofers show just how intuitive that bassline really is.

Hmm, two nitpicks right out of the gate. Am I going to say anything nice at all about Walkin’ Target then? Absolutely, but I know you people can be fickle when it comes to dub, so best I clearly establish the generalizations before I get to the particulars, eh?

So... the particulars.

This is as fine a collection of dub as you’ll find these days. Already mentioned are the basslines, which grumble and growl in many cuts, but let us not forget about all the effects that come with the package. Cavernous reverb, endless streams of decay, stuttery echoes: all accounted for and present, with none sounding superfluous or overdone (an all too common side-effect from too much reefer indulgence with other acts). And while Walkin’ Target is mostly Ashtech’s show, the presence of long-time dub producer Gaudi in the studio with him definitely aids in getting the most out of all the production tricks the genre’s been known for. Even if the roots of the music are over-familiar, there are plenty of unique twists and turns provided to keep the attentive entertained.

And Ashtech does dabble in many variations too. There’s bouncy dub (Beat Da Drum, Gringo , Mahayana), darker ambient excursions (Buzz Dub, R.E.M.), grimier cuts borrowing from London’s dubstep scene (While The Music Plays, DNA), and traditional reggae styles (Sun Shines On You, Essential Credential). Even hip-hop and techno get an influential nod (Individuality and Plain Speaking, respectively).

As good as many as these are though, it’s when Cheshire Cat lends his talents to a track that things are taken up a notch on this album. You may recognize him as the guy releasing pressure or chanting about poor men on Leftfield tunes. While most of his toasting here is in support of Ashtech’s tracks, they add that extra bit of quirky roots vitality which is utterly infectious.

Except for the title track itself, where the Cat completely steals the show. Mind, that’s kind of the point, as he tells a harrowing story of inner-city strife: the death of a young man trying to make it big, dying for his troubles, and the anguish felt by his mother as a result. Ashtech wisely produces a backing track to complement the tale, and is the clear highlight of Walkin’ Target.

I suppose there’s little more to say here, as this release really does speak for itself. Revolutionary? Not really. Niche specific? Yeah, pretty much. Good nonetheless? Damn skippy, hippie! If Ashtech displays this much skill in honoring the past, one can only wonder what his future will hold.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved.

Liquid Stranger - The Arcane Terrain

Interchill Records: 2011

In his near decade of music making, Liquid Stranger has shown no fear in tackling any and all forms of bass heavy dub beats. Sometimes this has led him to the realms of psy-dub or dancehall grime, but other times he's wilfully tackled teeth-grinding dubsteb too. And while I know full well to avoid his (probable) bro'd out endeavours on Rottun, that doesn't mean his material on other labels won't have instances to the stuff either. Even Interchill Records, they of so much world beat vibes, couldn't be completely resistant to it. Fact is if you’re releasing any form of bass music in British Columbia, you have to show your hand on what aspects of dubstep you can bring. The market is just too big, too involved, to completely ignore it. And if ever there was a year to sell-out to that scene completely, it’d be ye’ olde time of 2011, when dubstep was brought screeching into popular discourse by a stray Skr-r-r-r-r-rillex. Thus, this was Mr. Stääf’s big chance to show me how versatile he truly was, whether he could drop a dubstep album on my ears with all these potentially disastrous elements at play.

Oh, who am I kidding? This is all just coincidence. I picked The Arcane Terrain up because the cover intrigued me, as quirky covers so often do. Artist and label aside, I’m still not sure how this wasn’t a forest psy CD.

And while that ‘show me’ angle does have some truth, it’s all pretty much moot Yes, at times The Arcane Terrain sounds like it’s an album entirely geared for the festival circuit. That doesn’t mean it’s a dubstep love-in, Liquid Stranger more often than not getting his muse on with the dancehall side of dub than anything else. That still leaves him with some annoyingly barebones tracks though, like second track Bombaclaad Star, nothing going for it than a steady hand-waving bop and an occasional mid-range fill (MC Shells’ toasting is hopelessly dull); y’know, the scene of every cliché dubstep party ever. Other tracks like Steam and Timeless follow this template too, but if Liquid Stranger was just a one-trick pony in this vein, I’d never have started digging into his discography in the first place.

I could have done without the protest-grime cuts Rise and Babylon Beast, but cool on Mr. Stääf’s part in getting KRS-One and Killah Priest on these tracks. My jam though, is always the pure reggae roots of dub music, with The Molecule Man and Vigilante doing the deed just fine. We also get some dabbling into bhangra (Totem, Laguna), gitch-chill (Overlord), trip-hop (The Squid Strander), and whatever’s going on with Zero Gravity (Balearic chill-grime?). More than ever, it shows how diverse Liquid Stranger can go, even when he doesn’t have to.

The Arcane Terrain is probably still too dubsteppy for those who can’t stand the stuff, but if you have some tolerances for the mid-range wobbles, there’s plenty other dubbed-out tunes to satisfy your ears.

Scuba - Sub:Stance

Ostgut Ton: 2010

Sub:Stance may as well be the turning point of Scuba's career, going from dubstep darling to tech-house tease. True, the hints didn't come to fruition for another couple years after this CD, but the very fact he's palling around with Ostgut Ton, they of Serious Technos Only acts like Surgeon, Shed, Klock, and Dettmann, had to give some signs of his future developments. Okay, there’s also the nugget of Mr. Rose hailing from Berlin, thus likely having ties with the Berghain posse regardless. It’s a pairing that was all but inevitable, what with Scuba's early techno dystopian approach to UK bass music.

What I find most interesting is that it was with Ostgut Ton that he made his commercial DJ mix CD debut in the first place. Why not do it on his own Hotflush print? Too many licensing issues? A friendly favour? Come to think of it, most of his mixes have been online efforts (podcasts, streamers, Boiler Room rinse-outs), this and DJ-Kicks about all he has for hard copy options (and a Mixmag offering, but who cares about those). Maybe he’ll do a Balance or fabric one soon, since he’s all about that house now.

In 2010 though, Mr. Rose was still mixing in the heady post-dubstep tuneage, with many of the trendy names of the time getting a look in. There’s Sigha, Pangaea, Shackleton, Mount Kimbie, James Blake, and Joy Orbison, including his one big track everyone wouldn’t stop playing back then, Hyph Mngo. Man, looking at that list, it’s like reading a super-hip indie write-up from back then, dropping names and proclaiming this is the future of music, forward-thinking while honouring the past’s influences. Dubstep was moving on from its inner-London roots, ready to take on all urban locales with techno hand-in-hand, Scuba seemingly ready to play the part of lead and general. Then a Skrillex happened overnight and changed everything. Oh well.

Meanwhile, Sub:Stance does a good job of providing various rugged rhythms and deep basslines. Scuba runs the gamut from minimalist dub (Sigha’s Early Morning Lights, Badawi’s Anlan 7) to UK garage nods (Joy Orbison’s two cuts, George Fitzgerald’s Don’t You), and technobass beasts (Surgeon’s Klonk Pt. 4, Untold’s No-One Likes A Smart Arse, Intra:Mental’s Voyeur), with plenty of abstract broken-beats spread throughout (James Blake’s rub of Mount Kimbie’s Maybes, Ramadanman’s Tempest). As with his DJ-Kicks set, the mixes are quick and surgical, tracks seldom lasting longer than three minutes with only their key features utilized. No sense dawdling on repetitive loops and pointless drum programming, right?

Another similarity to that future mix is ending with an unabashed, hands in the air anthem, in this case Joker’s Psychedelic Runway. Given how heads-down and dark Sub:Stance generally is, it’s shocking hearing such garrish synths and cock-rockin’ rave riffs set to a standard dubstep break. Though considering Scuba ended his Boiler Room set with Madonna’s Vogue, I suspect he can’t help but go for the cheeky climax every time. I will always approve of such shenanigans.

Liquid Stranger - The Intergalactic Slapstick

Interchill Records: 2009

Yeah, I went on a recent Interchill Records splurge too. And why not? The label’s just across a strait of ocean water, practically next door in Canada terms. I’ve never been let down in my dabbling with their output, so why not check out a few artists further. Say, look at all those Liquid Stranger albums. Mr. Stääf’s found himself a home with Interchill, which explains his huge popularity on the festival circuit around my slice of the planet. I’m almost certain I’ve heard him at Shambhala, and anyone that gets a tune on an Ultimae CD must have a sound I’ll find appealing. On the other hand, Liquid Stranger does have an album out on Rottun, they who be responsible for the popularity of bro-friendly, raging hosebeast dubstep. While I can’t possibly see Interchill ever promoting the stuff, I don’t doubt some of it wormed itself into Liquid Stranger’s palette.

As for Mr. Stääf, he made an immediate impact on the dubby chill side of downtempo with his debut The Invisible Conquest, offering up trippy reggae dub without falling into the psy side of things. Flash forward two years and we have The Intergalactic Slapstick, featuring cover art that looks like it was intended for a quirky Israeli psy trance compilation. Make no mistake though, Liquid Stranger’s having none of that scene, staying the course with his dub influences while adding in a few new sounds that had developed in the time since The Invisible Conquest. That’s right, he’s gone Burial!

No, of course not, but he did adopt the style of another ‘dubstep’ producer who gained a ton of critical acclaim during those years, namely The Bug with London Zoo. There be grimey dancehall on here (Rough Road, Full Metal Jacket, Tantrum), including Madame Warrior Queen herself for a guest feature on Mutants. While not quite at Kevin Martin’s level of crushing bass attacks, Liquid Stranger handles himself within the genre most excellently. What’s funny is The Intergalactic Slapstick didn’t even start out that way, the first few tracks sounding like carry overs from his first LP. He bridges the two styles of Jamaican dub rather wonderfully though with Soundboy Killa, bringing in the dancehall toasting while keeping things on the laid-back, cavernous bouncy vibe the best reggae dub goes.

And yes, there’s that other development in dubstep present here too: the gratuitous mid-range wobble. Not much of it, thankfully, but gads that sound never ceases to grate. Most annoying is in Dub Missle, with so much pointless meandering mid-range that- wait, suddenly it changes to spacey pads and reggae echoing off the cosmic plane. Dub Missle is awes- ah, shit, there’s that stupid wobble again. Argh!

Liquid Stranger ends The Slaptastic Interspacer rather oddly. Bodily Needs features quirky dialog detailing the neccesity for health and sex over a tune that’d have The Orb giggling, Lotus goes full world-beat boppity-boo, and closer Dew Point sounds like… Kitaro? Huh, never underestimate one’s influences. Still, solid album all around.

Adham Shaikh - Basswalla

Black Swan Sounds: 2015

As finely crafted his ambient compositions are, Adham Shaikh couldn’t keep recycling them into a lengthy career. Okay, he could, though it’d be difficult topping Journey To The Sun, and given the various musical influences he’s encountered in his travels, you know ol’ Adham would feel the creative itch to explore them. That naturally led to more ethnic fusion tracks, no doubt helping his headline status on the outdoor festival circuit. The times though, they keep ever changing, and bass heavy jams from the realms of dubstep and glitch hop have encroached even the crustiest hippie tent. Instead of retreating from these developments, Mr. Shaikh’s taken them on full-stop with his latest album, Basswalla, a concept I won’t deny being apprehensive about. Too many psy dub and world beat types who've jumped on that bandwagon turn out tunes that come off like rote imitations of those genres.

And sure enough, the opening titular cut delivered what I expected. There's a solid beat in there somewhere, but man, why throw in all those out-of-sync mid-range wobbles? Yeah, I get it – it's what all the dubstep guys do, but it's never sounded much good, no matter what a generation of rage-heads claim. It sounds like ol’ Adham’s only included them because it's just what fans of the sound expect to hear, damn the pointlessness of it all.

Of course, Mr. Shaikh promptly slaps some humble pie into my cynical face immediately after, delivering the solid album of funky, worldy vibes I was hoping to get. Second cut Sabadub has the hallmarks of a track-long build, yet doesn’t leave me feeling wanting in the least. Collective hits the groovy dub business with plenty of ethnic dabbling and rising harmonies. Vibe Hunter’s a bit goofier with its hip-hop and electro funk leanings, but follow-up Beyond I comes correct with mysterious ambient noodling before unleashing a proper world-beat funk jam. Still Shakin… hot damn, that vocal at the end! India-meets-Flamenco Rumba Dub has more modulating bass throbs, but it’s not at all obnoxious as so much dubstep goes. By comparison, Crossroads is almost quaint, the sort of ethnic-fusion dub tune you’d expect of Adham Shaikh’s discography, but he closes out with an incredibly clever track in Water Prayer. Already seriously ear-wormy and hip shaky, the added use of splashing water as another piece of percussion is wonderful, something I don’t hear nearly enough, at least not in the way utilized here. The only other track that felt out of place is Cultivation, a bhangra-hop tune including a rap from local Shamik. Yeah, the man responsible for an ambient classic now has a rapper. Weird.

Also, one more niggling point. The album’s called Basswalla, but if I’m honest, there didn’t seem much bass-bass; y’know, the ultra-rumbling kind that punishes sub-whoofers. It’s all very clean low-ends, never overwhelming other frequencies. It’s not a deal breaker, the tunes on this album sounding find as they are. Man though, a serious ear-drum rattler or two would have been mint.

Burial - Burial

Hyperdub: 2006

About time I get some Burial up in this here bloggin' bitch. I've made reference to him in a dozen other reviews, so it's only proper that I take the once-enigmatic post-dubsteppy future-garageist darling under the critical scalpel at some point. If only he'd have a higher workrate, chucking out EPs, LPs, and CDs at enough of a clip that I'd have covered at least one release by now. Wait... no, never mind, it wouldn't matter anyway. Lord Discogs tells me almost all his musics are titled in the bottom end of the alphabet – that are available on compacted discual format anyway. Man, when Burial goes low, it be low indeed.

Appropriately enough, I'm beginning this Burial business with his self-titled debut album. Come, let me take you to a bizarre time in electronic music history, when dubstep had barely squirted out of the London City underground. Hyperdub, the ultra-cool, savvy UK bass music label known for critically hailed acts like Kode9, Zomby, and DJ Rashad, had just launched. Many pegged it an upstart in the early dubstep scene, as few looked capable of toppling the mighty Tempa in those days. But they hadn't counted on a secret weapon in the likes of Burial emerging from those grimy South London Burroughs.

Thing about early dubstep is it was still entirely indebted to grime rap for its inspiration, especially so the ‘dub’ instrumentals. Grime, however, had emerged from UK garage, a rugged, aggressive counter to that scene’s glitzy urban attributes. D’em London rude-boys, they want no girly vocals and emotions in their gritty beats. Then Burial said, “Nah, guy, we can bring the garage soul to the warehouse. Watch.” And that’s what he done did, taking in garage samples and overdubbing them so they came out as ethereal whispers of UK clubbing’s past, contorted into something abstract and haunting. And geez, does it ever tug at your nostalgia memory centres. Small surprise everyone was quick in making the Boards Of Canada comparison, and it can’t be a coincidence that the Scotland duo took a long hiatus almost immediately after Burial emerged (yes it can).

But that’s the Burial as we’ve come to know, which broke out of UK obscurity with his sophomore album, Untrue. For this album, we only hear that half the time, and no surprise these are among the best tracks within. Distant Lights, Southern Comfort, U Hurt Me, Gutted, and Pirates all play to a sense desolate inner-city soul, even as the rhythmic shuffle echoes crisp and clear off abandoned buildings recently used for squat parties. There’s gentle rain-soaked ambience too (Night Bus, Forgive), but the rest of Burial is still tied to dubstep’s pure-grime roots, music much too sparse and rhythmically clunky for those uninterested in anything UK bass related.

Ultimately, Burial’s debut sounds like he’s exploring where his music can potentially go rather than being bothered in creating a cohesive LP. Considering how many copy-cats its spawned though, he definitely hit upon something special here.

ACE TRACKS: January 2014

Whoa, wait a minute here! How can there already by an ACE TRACKS playlist for January when we’re barely a week into the month? The answer, to the surprise of no one, is that this is the January playlist from last year. Ah, I remember that time so fondly, spending nearly two days straight of finally giving this blog actual sound clips and links via Amazon. Boy, if only I had a different audio service available to me at the time that would have made that process so much easier. If only…



Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Doc Scott - Lost In Drum N’ Bass
The Orb - Live 93
DJ Aaron Carter - Lit Up

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 26%
Percentage of Rock: 4%
Most “WTF?” Track: Archie Bleyer - Hernando’s Hideaway (get your tango on, mate)

This was quite an eclectic month, as far as musical genres are concerned. Beyond the highly recognizable electronic names like Leftfield, Ladytron, Infected Mushroom, and FSOL, there’s obscure acid techno, reggae, world music, and grimey UK bass. Also, live albums, so expect to hear more cheering crowds than a KLF record. Surprisingly, the end result isn’t as convoluted or forced as other 'kitchen sink' playlists I’ve done. I won’t deny a couple clunky transitions, though (sorry, Rae’).

The total runtime is about 10 hours here, but that’s because I gave three whole albums Ace Track status that month: Asura’s Life², Bob Marely’s Legend, and GZA’s Liquid Swords. Instead of clumsily worming these LPs’ individual tracks throughout, I’ve lumped each one at the very end of the playlist. It makes better sense having albums that are great straight through represented as such anyway.

King Cannibal - Ninja Tune XX Presents: The Way Of The Ninja

Ninja Tune: 2010

70 Minutes Of Madness? This one’s insanity, two-hundred fifty-six tunes utilized, some barely for a second's worth of sample. This isn't a DJ mix in the traditional sense, but rather an overambitious collage celebrating Ninja Tune's twentieth anniversary, ramming and jamming as many cuts and blends possible so no one significant is left behind. And while King Cannibal was at it, here's the sub-labels getting repped too: Big Dada, N-Tone, and Counter. Can’t deny Mr. Richards’ passion for this project, but can there be fault in the final product?

Depends how you approach The Way Of The Ninja. As a DJ set highlighting all the Ninja Tune, it’s far too stuffed with content for any sustained flow. The label made their name with acid jazz, trip-hop, turntablisism, and other down-low soulful-funky genres of the ‘90s, and even as their influence waned, they kept their fingers on the pulse of new developments - dubstep, grime, and even indie rock found homes within Ninja Tune’s archives, always signing music and acts beyond class. Just as well, then, that The Cannibalistic Lord divided everything up into uniquely titled sections featuring specific genres or highlighting certain artists. Including the Intro, Way Of The Ninja has twenty of these mini-megamixes within the mix. And remember, there’s two-hundred fifty-six individual tracks used, all crammed into these indexes. This CD, it’s full of musics!

The Intro track alone, at just under two minutes long, has nineteen bits and pieces listed. The shortest track on here, subtitled Big Tunes, Big Hits, runs a minute-twenty and has a ‘mere’ eight tunes, including two mixes of More Beats & Pieces. Meanwhile, the lengthiest one, Welcome To Our Ageing Sideshow, clocks in at the heftier side of six minutes, also with nineteen tunes squeezed in (ooh, Timber’s in this one!). Hell, two more chunks, I Wanna See All The Hands and Tings Get Heat Up, Rewound And Torn Down hold about the same number of tracks, with a mere four minutes of run-time. So much musics, man, just so much musics.

Artists? Coldcut, Amon Tobin, Herbaliser, Roots Manuva, DJ Vadim, Mr. Scruff, DJ Food, Hexstatic, Bonobo, Neotropic, The Bug, Sixtoo, Jaga Jazzist, Super Numeri, Funki Porcini, Qemists, Cujo, Spank Rock, Thunderheist, Fink, 2 Player, Wagon Christ, Anti Pop Consortium- Look, I’ll be here forever if I list off the near-entirety of the Ninja Tune roster. Same with pointing out specific tracks, although obviously not every single song’s on here. And, while King Cannibal tries giving many their due, some get cut short (no Irresistible Force, what?) or have barely a token sample tossed in. For instance, I was gutted the bass drop of his own Flower Of Flesh And Blood never materialized. Wow, I actually missed a dubstep drop. Crazy.

So’s The Way Of The Ninja. It’s a fun CD if you want to relive so much Ninja Tune in a short amount of time, but best treated as a novelty rather than a proper showcase of the label’s rich history.

Various - FabricLive.43: Switch & Sinden Present Get Familiar

Fabric: 2008

*cover art brought to you by FabricLive's “Random Crap Smashed On People's Faces” period*

What? No. No! I'm on vacation, damn it. Leave me alone, Fabric On A Budget project. I'll deal with you when I get back in a week. What do you mean I always intended to carry on with this while away from home? Okay, sure, I brought the music with me, but that doesn't mean I'd write reviews for it – keep myself familiarized with the CDs while I was away, that's all. But there's only two left, an end goal in sight, easily attainable, not worth leaving hanging and forceably getting excited for upon my return. This year's Fabric excursion has turned into a slog after all – more good mixes than bad, absolutely, but dealing with the same topic over and over and over drains the creative synapses something dreadful. Maybe I should...

Oh, alright, I'm already bored out here in the Peace River region. Sometimes I forget just how hinter these hinterlands get.

Let's take a look at what's next, then. We're finally out of the 30s, and entering another weird, transitional period in electronic music's history. Dubstep was blowing up big, the nu-EDM was just around the corner, older forms of UK garage were finding fondness among young clubbers, and many producers of the old guard were scrambling to keep up with these shifting trends. The two cats with credits on the cover of FabricLive.43, Switch & Sinden, were riding this wave with some success, in part due to an occasional night at Fabric called Get Familiar. Don't care about the deep underground, simply having an urge to cut loose with fun-time club jams that even the most Axe-drenched bro can enjoy? These guys got you covered – or Sinden does anyway, since Switch wasn't the DJ.

More so, if you love the UK's various rave-garage aspects, you'll adore FabricLive.43. Speed garage! Throwback hardcore anthems! - no actual classics though. Grime-house! (!??) Dubstep! Bassline! (re: speed garage) No 2-step though, that stuff's strictly for the chicky-poos, mate. Only hard wobble dirt low-ends, and rot-snot. Bleh.

I know this stuff's pure heaven for its targeted scene, but my tolerance for hoodlum UK garage only lasts a few tracks before the novelty of shuffle rhythms and south London rappers wears itself out. I've never figured out how such nonsense bassline sounds are taken seriously, but then this is the same country that also gave us 'donk' music. Sinden's mixing doesn't do much to warm the music up either, always in a hurry to drop another track in a different style with no regard for set flow. Can't let the tunes linger too long, I guess, lest the listener realize how silly it all is and put on something with more substance instead.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
I could have bought $5 beers at the nearby redneck bar playing bro-country, and it would have been a better bargain.

Beto Narme - Multiple Choice

Sublime Porte Netlabel: 2010

I have no recollection of how a digi-EP from an Istanbul net label found its way into my possession. As it's a 2010 release, I suspect it was part of some MP3 promo-pool I briefly subscribed to, but I've nothing else from Sublime Porte, which makes having this stranger still. If an MP3 promo was good enough for me to keep that year, I usually kept an eye on the label too, hoping another EP might get released that could knock me out of my then writing stupor. Maybe Sublime Porte simply lost its promotional power, unable to penetrate an overcrowded digital market. After all, who'd ever be interested in dubstep from Turkey?

If Multiple Choice is anything to go by, they should be. Right, it's impossible gauging a whole scene of an entire country based on four tracks from one label, but we gotta start somewhere. Plus, Sublime Porte’s still in operation, even recently taken a tentative step into the realm of limited-run CDr. They must be doing something right with their dub ambient techno dronestep if they’re still around, even though Lord Discogs tells me they don’t have a consistent roster. Even this Beto Narme, or Tufan Demir to the Istanbul legislate, has but this one four-year old EP to his name, though a smattering of remixes too. His Discogian bio is almost certainly out-of-date then, suggesting this was an “ever-growing dubstep project”. Maybe he got a high-paying job as that sound engineer he was striving for.

What held my interest with Multiple Choice was how, for an EP promoted as dubstep, it sounded very little like dubstep. Rather, Mr. Demir shows he’s definitely a student of Detroit and dub techno’s never-ending influence. Aside from occasional drags of the low end, Cellophane Dub is straight-up funky dub techno, including a breakbeat that’d have Carl Craig nodding approvingly. Elsewhere, Outranked Spectacles and Figment Dots gets closer to the half-step beat we’re all familiar with, but we’re still firmly floating in dub techno’s spacious waters. And warm waters they be, not those frigid, sterile bays other Detroit-inspired dubsteppers so loved to frequent. Beto Narme can’t help himself though, getting sucked into the lands of ‘wub’ on last cut Simmer Down. It’s a fine tune when you hear the vintage reggae vibes, I could just do without the requisite Rusko modulations every dubstep producer threw in during those days.

I have an almost inescapable bias against most forms of dubstep, subconsciously preparing myself for a given track letting me down by indulging in nonsensical, erratic drops. Aside from the aforementioned brief bit in Simmer Down, that moment never came on Multiple Choice, and I could enjoy all the polyrhythms without worry (dear God, I know different forms of dubstep). Yeah yeah, I know there’s tons of dubstep – sorry, post-dubstep (future garage?) like that out there. With so many netlabels pushing the stuff though, how does one even begin to filter it all out? Maybe start with this Turkish label?

The Bug - London Zoo (Original TC Review)

Ninja Tune: 2008

(2014 Update:
Oh dear, is poor, poor 2008 Sykonee ever unaware of what else was happening in dubstep, outside the MetaCritic narrative anyway. Little did I know it would be tracks by Rusko, Coki, and Benga, seemingly novelty wub-wub cuts, that would dominate dubstep's future. Fortunately, acts like Burial, Martyn, and even The Bug were retroactively reclassified as other branches of UK garage, thus properly being distanced by fans and commentators from all the bro-drop nonsense to follow. Guess that dates this review a little, in that it was still that transitional phase where lines were being drawn, but had I been following dubstep's development from the beginning, I'd have known of these differences already. Yeah, well, it took most American-side folks even longer than it did your's truly to figure it out, and I was just beginning to give it a chance in 2008. No blame.

Kevin Martin hasn't been terribly busy on the production front since releasing London Zoo, a smattering of singles all to his name. Following up such a critically hailed album must hold some pressure on the long-time UK dancehall tastemaker, but if he continues down the acid road as he explored with last year's Hardcore Lover, here's hoping another ace LP is in the works.)


IN BRIEF: Delightfully deviant dancehall.

A year ago, a then anonymous Burial helped propel a then anonymous young genre called dubstep into wide recognition. His sophomore effort, Untrue, was not only hailed as a classic by those within its scene, but by nearly everyone who came within earshot of it as well. And something that I’m sure no one could have ever predicted, it sits atop the best albums of 2007 at Metacritic (interestingly, sharing the spot with The Field’s From Here We Go Sublime; who said electronic music was dead?). Surely though, that was just a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence. After all, dubstep itself is far too urban, simplistic, and London-based to have any real impact beyond its core fans of jungle refugees, spliff-heads, and inner-city stylists, right?

For a good part of 2008, it appeared such a claim would hold true; very few dubstep producers that suddenly came out of the woodworks seemed capable of matching Burial’s impact. Then practically out of nowhere, longtime reggae and dancehall tastemaker Kevin Martin (The Bug) released his third album to much critical acclaim, such that, as of this writing, it currently sits atop Metacritic’s best albums of 2008. Considering it shares the honor with a retrospective from influential cut-n-paste hip-hop producer Steinski, that’s an impressive feat - an album of fresh material standing toe-to-toe with a double-disc of back-catalogue. With less than two months left in the year, it looks as though dubstep is set to be riding a critical high into the New Year once again.

Is it warranted though? Sure, the music is undoubtedly the freshest to emerge in some time but could all the critical praise for it be nothing more than a “nu-genre” honeymoon? After all, isn’t dubstep just a bunch of half-step beats, gratuitous dub reverb, displaced jungle basslines, and crackly white-noise fluff? Nay, mon - The Bug proves there’s a great deal one can do with the sound.

Truth be told, London Zoo isn’t a strict dubstep album; rather, Martin’s roots in, er, roots is the dominate focus, with the rich history of Jamaican-influenced music bursting through every pocket. Yeah, yeah… what’s with Britain co-opting their former colony’s culture for their own use, you quibble. [TranceCritic]’s been over this one plenty enough, so let’s not get into it; just accept that there are Jamaican transplants in the UK, such that themes of Jah and fights against oppression sounds just as pertinent here as on any Marley or Perry record.

Besides, with Martin’s skill behind the knobs injecting dubstep’s futuristic aesthetic into the works, classic dancehall jams are re-invigorated for the modern era with brilliant results. Even if you’ve never fancied the sound, the wobbly, punctual rhythms and grimey atmospherics will grab your attention right out of the gate and hold it until the final obligatory ‘repent, for Judgement Day is nigh’ finale. And that bass. Good God (Jah?), that bass! Every track’s bassline is totally unique from the other, easily putting to rest any qualms that “this stuff all sounds the same”. Sometimes it’s a low rumble but other times, like in Fuckaz and Skeng, it roars like some kind of Imperial Star Destroyer engine, with drops that’ll ensnare even the most conservative folk; the dancers that literally wobble to this stuff undoubtedly do so because these low frequencies liquefy bones, turning dancehall punters into masses of jelly.

Of course, no dancehall album is complete without some toasting on the mic, and The Bug has rounded up quite the cast of MCs to complement his tracks. Old standbys like Tippa Irie, Aya, and Ricky Ranking are in as fine of form as ever, but it’s members of the newer cast of dancehall toasters that steal the show. Aggressive chants from Flowdan and Warrior Queen, ominous spoken-word from Killa P, wobbly spitting from Spaceape, and cool crooning from Roger Robinson all combine to make London Zoo as much a showcase for all their individual talents as it is an outlet for Martin’s productions. There’s a sense of urgency in all their voices, as though they realize this is their biggest opportunity to let the world know just how vigorous dancehall MCing can be. They don’t disappoint in this regard.

In case it isn’t clear by now, London Zoo is certainly deserving of the critical praise that’s been handed to it. Even if you’ve never heard of The Bug (a large number of you, I reckon) and these Jamaican influenced sounds have only brought confused glances to your face (a lesser amount of you, I hope), this album should still find its way into your collection. It’s musically fresh, wonderfully paced (strong openers, classy middle, rousing climax), and proves dubstep – in all its forms - remains a genre to keep an ear open for.

King Cannibal - Let The Night Roar (2014 Update)

Ninja Tune: 2009

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review.)


It took me some time in finding dubstep I could get behind. There was the dancehall influenced stuff, sure, and also the material Burial put out that was retroactively called ‘post-dubstep’ or ‘future-garage’ or whatever. Yet something straight-forward with the signature half-step beat and wobble basslines? Dear Lord, no! Too much of it struck me as gimmicky nonsense (even before brostep ever got popular), and while I’ll grant my general exposure to it during the late ‘00s wasn’t the best (for the love of God, stop playing those same Benga and Coki tracks over and over), there wasn’t much incentive for me to dig further.

Then I heard King Cannibal’s Flower Of Flesh And Blood. It wasn’t one of those “OMG, EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS GENRE/MUSICIAN IS THE GREATEST THING EVER!” moments – and yes, I have had tons of those over the years. Heck, it wasn’t even one of those “Ah, now I ‘get’ dubstep” moments. I got dubstep quite early on, as it’s a very simple form of music to get in the first place. What this track did, however, was prove to yours truly that dubstep could, in fact, not only be good, but really damn good!

Yeah, yeah, the Hyperdub print kinda-sorta already did that, but I’m talking about the visceral thrills all the bro-steppers were going off on about. Flower Of Flesh And Blood has the same cavernous snare hits, the growling mid-range basslines (though rather similar to jungle tech-step), and an aim squarely at massive crowds. It’s also properly dark and nasty, not like all those try-hard attempts the likes of Excision and Datsik were offering – like the difference between Slayer and …anyone trying to be Slayer.

Maybe it helped that King Cannibal’s debut album wasn’t strictly a dubstep affair, though definitely owing much to the UK bass scene. With emphasis on the grimier aspects of the music than cheap thrills, Let The Night Roar has held up remarkably well while so much other dubstep of the time remains stuck in that era. Good ol’ Ninja Tune, they sure know how to pick ‘em, and if you missed out on this album the first time around, it wouldn’t hurt for you to give it a second chance. Unless, of course, you figure Borgore the height of dubstep sophistication.

And what of Le Cannibale De Roi? He released a Ninja Tune tribute mix the following year, titled The Way Of The Ninja. It features two-hundred fifty tracks from the label within seventy-four minutes of madness. The… fuck…!!? (!) I’m tempted to scope that out, for sure. As for Mr. Dylan Richards, his output dried up following Let The Night Roar. The… double-fuck…!!? (!!) What happened there? Did his Ninja Tune deal end? Is Lord Discogs being dishonest with me? Apparently he released an album called Kill The Lights as House Of Black Lanterns last year on Houndstooth. From what I’ve heard of it, it’s… different, I’ll give it that.

Various - FabricLive 32: Tayo

Fabric: 2007

*cover art brought to you by FabricLive’s ‘ARTIST IN BIG FUCKING LETTERS’ period*

First off, what exactly is the difference between Fabric and FabricLive? Most point to a difference of genre highlighted between the two, the main series sticking to techno, house and the like, while the other one features music of the broken-beat variety. That might have been true from the outset, but as the series has evolved, so too has its selection of DJs, genre specification be damned. Are FabricLive mixes actually mixed live at the club itself or in the studio? Kudos for doing so if that's true, but it seems like a funny gimmick for CDs this day in age.

Oh well. With Tayo's contribution to FabricLive, the vinyl crackle throughout his mix is a clear indication we're dealing with a proper live set. Damn but would I love to hear this one out. I'd never heard of Mr. Popoola before this, a crying shame if number 32 is anything to go by. The Almighty Discogs informs me his turn-of-the-century career was defined by breaks of the nu-skool sort, yet judging by the tracklists of his Y4K series, little of it would have stood out from the pack; or maybe so. There's a definite reggae dub and dancehall influence in Tayo's sound, which is spliff-bliss nectar to my ears no matter what incarnation it comes in. If his other sets offer this bent, I should check them out.

He’s adept at mixing things up throughout a set too. For sure there’s your nu-skool, with familiar names like Bassbin Twins, Aquasky, and Tipper cropping up. This being a 2007 mix though, the influence of grimey UK garage is also felt; and yes, there’s dubstep here, but it’s good dubstep. This was when the sound was blowing up with crazy amounts of potential and diversity, and what Tayo brings to 32 would have made even the most ardent doubter weak in the knees. Example? How about the transition between More Than Money from Sarantis and Warrior Queen into Skream’s Lightning? Those sorts of moments, mang, gave dubstep all the thrills and excitement missing from so much other electronic music of the time.

Of course, it helps to have a competent DJ creating such moments, and Tayo’s set is superb for his chosen sound. Momentum is continuously maintained, with expertly placed lulls for your breathers before coming back fiercer than before. There’s enough genre diversity to keep the music fresh and varied throughout, and plenty of memorable anthems you’ll be anxious to hear play out again.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
Fuck yeah, it was! Admittedly I’m biased towards reggae dub, but Tayo’s set is so much fun, only a right dullard couldn’t vibe to this. I’m actually dismayed someone offloaded this CD for such a pittance. Is it because the cardboard is lightly frayed? Neverland skips when played straight from the disc (no problems came up with the rip)? Whatever, their loss.

Various - Echodub Loves, Vol. 2 (2013 Update)

Echodub: 2010

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

Oh hey, looky here. It's the last release I wrote a proper review of before I went on that two-plus year hiatus. Funny how it's also the last review for TranceCritic, and looks to remain that way. That website sure ended with a whimper, though I guess I'm partially to blame since I never did officially declare my writing tenure there to be over. I wonder if anyone still goes there expecting something new.

So what did happen, anyway? Sorry, nothing scandalous or the like, but with TC having not evolved much during the time I promised to commit, I saw little point in carrying on if it was just going to be me writing reviews; it’d be nothing but a glorified blog, and I already had a middling blog for myself at the time. More than that, however, was I found myself less and less interested in whatever the latest electronic music had to offer. My ears kept turning to the past, not so much for familiarity, but to unearth what I’d missed before, and what I could discover further back. Not exactly conducive to a website aiming for coverage of the latest releases.

“But, Sykonee,” you might have said back in the Summer Of 2010, “there’s plenty of great new music too!” Hey, I wouldn’t doubt you. Echodub Loves 2 certainly was proof of interesting things going on in the elsewheres of electronic music. Listening to it again today, I’m actually rather saddened dubstep didn’t explore these roads more, instead venturing further into bro or... whatever else it did in the UK. Or maybe it did, and I’ve been missing out on a bunch of great atmospheric material.

There entails the other frustration I had towards the end: being overwhelmed by releases, and never knowing what I should be listening to for coverage. I’m quite proud we were able to review such a wide range of electronic music at TC, but without ample manpower, it’s a self-defeating process when you don’t specialize. What gives precedent over something else? Do you buy into PR hype about what “will” be the next greatest thing? Not bloody likely, as almost every fucking release comes with such ridiculous marketing. Going through new releases becomes a chore, and the passion and enjoyment that comes from listening and writing about music evaporates. Ask any music journalist and they’ll likely tell you similar feelings of futility when swamped in promos; however, they’ll plug on, because that’s their job. TC was not my job (I sure didn’t get paid to write), but nor was it a hobby. Ultimately, it became an obligation, one I felt fulfilled after five years.

Of course, there was a lot of other bullshit I was dealing with that year too (2010 was not a happy funtime for yours truly), but that’s chit-chat for another time. As for Echodub Loves 2, I’m pretty sure it’s still available for free at the label’s website. Some good tracks available, you should check them out.