For those of you who didn’t catch Loefah on Benji B last week, the releases for the rest of this year on Swamp 81 were announced. The releases include beats from Pinch, Instra:mental, Addison Groove, Falty DL, and Al Bleek’s new project coming in December: Boddika. Al (1/2 of Instra:mental) has come up from drum n’ bass, excelled at 140, and now has dipped way underground producing dark, true, assembly-line techno as Boddika. Along with the Swamp release (“Rubber”/”2727″) the incredible Naked Lunch have snatched up tunes, and according to his myspace so have Darkestral and Instra’s own Nonplus. Check the clip below and be sure to download his minimix for 1xtra. This material is seriously original and is filling a crack in the UK scene right now; do not miss Boddika. Spray by Boddika Boddika – Swamp 81 Promo Mix for Benji B on BBC 1xtra
The Detroit based, multi-talented Jimmy Edgar recently released his juicy album XXX on !K7 and has had support from tons of big players including Boys Noize, Dâm Funk, and the London based duo Instra:mental, a pair who will make my list for the best of the year without a doubt. Originally bred from the drum n’ bass scene, their futuristic vibes caught the ears of dBridge and dubstep spearhead Loefah, releasing on many labels including their own, Non+ (Nonplus). Before Jimmy Edgar releases his own 12″ on Non+ before the end of the year, Instra:mental were sure to return the favor with a blistering remix of “Hot, Raw, Sex” that went down rather well at Squeegie presents a few weeks ago. Stream or download as you please, and be sure to support XXXhere.
Brand new label Orca Recordings is set to get their toes wet in the growing pool of forward thinking bass music with a special double side featuring Toronto’s XI and Bristol’s Headhunter. For a first release, I couldn’t be happier if I was the Orca crew, as both of these are definitely some tracks to be remembered. XI (aka Ultragamma) brings the blue-grey atmospherics and haunted vocals, while Headhunter stands firm with the DJ-friendly roller of a remix. Support this time around coming from Loefah, Youngsta, Icicle, and Hyetal to name a couple. Keep your eyes peeled, this one’s set to drop the 24th of this month.
True steppers rejoice, today two unreleased Loefah dubs surfaced for free. In his signature minimal half-step style, Loe brings the full bassweight power with “Just a Beat” and the “Booty La La” remix. As you should know, he also runs on of the best labels in the scene, Swamp 81, whose next release will be from Ramadanman, one of the most exciting 12”s of the year. Having been involved with dubstep since about day one, Loefah has one of the more refined ears for showcasing new talent as well as producing his own material, so hopefully we should see some exposure from his end this year.
If you weren’t already familiar, Addison Groove is the 808 sampling, Chicago-Juke-Not-Step producing guise of Bristol staple Headhunter. “Footcrab” has become an anthem not just for those of us on the Squeegie staff (both Brookah and myself own the vinyl promo), but also for DJ’s playing all styles of dance music around the world. Maybe it’s the simplicity. In other words, it is that much more impressive when an artist can work with quite an elementary palette and achieve such hysterical results. What started out as an experiment is quickly becoming a movement that will occupy a substantial sector of bass music in the future.
His latest gift to the public was a mix for Mary Anne Hobbs, packed completely with unreleased Addison Groove dubs. Let’s hope some of these eventually surface, tracks like “Sexual” and “Battle Scene” just possess too much originality to stay under water. As always, go and support Headhunter, Loefah, and Swamp 81 records on myspace, I can tell you with certainty that Swamp has some of the biggest releases of the year still to come. Let me know if you’re feeling this stuff.
Cloud Seed is a strange format for an album. It’s a collection of songs, new, old, and remixes that didn’t necessarily get made to be put on record this year. However, the darkness, vision, and talent of Vex’d shines through from start to finish on this newest release, which dropped on Planet Mu this week. One great thing about this album, is that regardless of it’s format on paper, it feels like an album when listening to it.
Warrior Queen provides powerful support on the into track, “Take Time Out”, accompanied by fizzling electronics from a post-apocalyptic city street. “Heart Space”, “Bar Kimura”, and “Disposition” roll on with half-step rhythms and epic sub bass, each vocal part reminiscent of Deltron‘s 3030 album or early Gorillaz in terms of the way they’re set up like concepts. Cloud Seed is dubstep’s concept album from the future.
For those of you not as accustomed to the album format, this LP may lack some listenability. Others with the ear for production and nuance will be endlessly impressed, especially on tunes like “Remains of the Day” and “Suite for Electronics” remix, where real musical structure and classical sensibilities are apparent.
The highlights of this disc come near the end though, in the remix for Distance’s “Fallen” and “Nails”, both anthems in their own right. The “Fallen” remix reaches from a few years back, grand in the manner of DMZ or Loefah, standardly employing low frequencies beyond comprehension. “Nails” is an experimental, metal-sampling rager that blisters the ears and leaves the listener feeling a little uneasy.
Vex’d do not disappoint with this sophomore album, in fact, they test and succeed with flying colors the long format for dubstep. Although it’s been five years since the pivotal Degenerate, Cloud Seed resonates with a similar attitude. Buy the whole thing in any format you wish at the awesome new Mu website.
It seems like Addison Groove (‘Footcrab’ specifically) is causing quite a ruckus in the scene right now. The minimal nature of the rhythm seems like too little, but anybody who’s tried to write a track before knows it’s hard to, as Blackdown says, “extract the groove from the grid.” If you don’t know, Addison Groove is actually Headhunter in a disguise of skipply house, Detroit ghetto-tech, and the space between bmore and juke. I am absolutely loving this sound right now, although it is not exactly brand new. If this catches your ear, I recommend checking out Joe‘s Hessle Audio release (be on the lookout for ‘Claptrap’, his new banger that Ben UFO has been dropping.) Addison Groove‘s 12” is coming out on Loefah‘s Swamp 81 records, a place usually home to the deep-dark rolling sounds, so this release certainly showcases his ear for new and exciting music. In the meantime, keep clicking on the youtube and shake a foot in your bedroom :)
I’m compiling a playlist of essential dubstep songs for a friend currently, and would like to hear what tunes people think NEED to be on this playlist. Below are a few I’ve chosen, but I need some reader’s help rounding out this list. Please put your additions in the comment section. As always, show Skream, Loefah, and Martyn some support and buy their music.
beatport
juno records
dj download
itunes
boomkat
bleep