Juno Recommends Dubstep March 2020

Review: Deep Medi Musik continues to be the leader of the deep dubstep sound after many years in the game. Kahn is now back on the label with new versions of "Dread" which was an absolute stone cold classic way back in 2012. The originally restrained and atmospheric track gets some much-celebrated Dubkasm treatment here and the results are then pressed to limited white label vinyl for the first time. All four versions bring the goodness despite them being heavier takes on the OG with plenty of fresh, fine warrior leads and effects added to the mix.

Review: Since launching in 2014, Portland's ZamZam Sounds imprint has offered up a string of beautifully packaged seven-inch singles from a mixture of big hitters and rising stars from the global bass music scene. Their latest missive comes from Dayzero, a Japanese dubstep producer best known for his outings on Wheel & Deal, Sentry and, most recently, Vomitspit. The two tracks here are weighty, intergalactic and otherworldly, mixing dub style rhythms with the kind of angular, razor-sharp sub-bass motifs more often associated with dancefloor dubstep. Both cuts are quality, though it's rolling A-side "Orbit Dub" - all lolloping dub beats, wobble bass, metallic effects and paranoid aural textures - that really stands out.

Review: Released right at the very end of 2019, Stormzy's much-trumpeted second album, "Heavy Is The Head", is one of the most significant releases in recent times. Made with a gigantic cast list of producers and guest vocalists - Aitch, Burna Boy, Headie One, H.E.R, Tiana Major9, Yebba, Fred Gibson and MJ Cole included - the set includes some of his most thoughtful and incisive lyrics to date, as well as some particularly ear-catching mutations of grime that will further solidify his place as one of Britain's most important artists of the 21st century. Yes, it does include more nods towards pop music - he's a Glastonbury headliner after all - but the beats remain tough.

Review: Every bit as heavy as their name implies; Canadian duo Rockstone make their debut on Navy Cut with four granite jams designed to shake systems. "Atlantic" sets the scene with tidal bass chugs firing on automatic while "Real Sound" flips the vibe with a deep rootsical message. Flip for more stripped back designs; "Creation" is a meditative creeper with an exceptional twist in the bassline midway while "Infrared It" closes triumphantly as Shafique lays down ragamuffin words of wisdom over a tunnelling dungeon bassline. Rock on.

Review: Samba's 26. RAIN label returns for the new year with this deliciously different couplet from Brizzle's Rygby. "Pasqualina" is total whimsy. All uplifting, animated harmonics, this genuinely sounds like nothing else around and sounds so refreshing for it. The same can be said for "Yu Me Us". Imagine a 2020 take on the purple funk sounds; there's some deep under-the-sea enchantment going on with high levels of funk and weirdness. This is a genuinely exceptional and forward-thinking 140 record, Rygby raises the levels again.

Review: Basic Rhythm alter ego East Man returns to his Hi Tek imprint with his second anti gum-flapping manifesto. Rough, sludgy, oppressive; "Jaws" is a stripped back to the bulbous bare essentials. Just a warm 808 bass/kick and snare hits, weaving and bobbing with heavy hypnosis. Flip for "Border Clash" where strange bee's nest textures buzz between the bass hits and shattered percussive hits. Paranoid, confusing, heavy. Dark times inspire dark tunes.

Review: Dial 'D' for dank. Estonian area code crew the 372 return with the second slab of homegrown beats. PTF1987 takes the lead with mystical strings, sudden glitches and crispy beats before Q100 & DMG provide the most leftfield funk jam of the set in the form of the schizoid, bell-chiming oddity "OddBells". Meanwhile on the B, Bisweed brings the darkness on the super-spacious "Akhinea", all warped finger clicks and cyborg funk, while Slin slides down the curtains with a percussive head-twister as rolling sticks start to intertwine with the bass like some possessed puppeteer. 372... You know what to do.

Review: Powerful sounds from Rarefied once again as they welcome London duo Traces to the fold. As always, the brief is simple; cold, original and otherworldly. "Psychopath" sees them on a stern flex as they team up with fellow hot prospect DLDW8 and "Originator" is one for the intergalactic b-boys who dance in slo-motion, all sludgy but full of cosmic attitude. "Toll" seals the deal a flow of twisted chimes that fold over each other like a Dali sketch. Disarming.

Review: After a pretty busy 2019 on the likes of Infernal, Natural Selectas, Well-Rounded and Hotplates, donnie Dubz returns to his own Foundation Audio imprint with four serious meals. "Anxious" lives up to its name as the bassline almost moans a lament and argues with itself over eerie pads and spacious percussion clatters, "Ghostin" with Teffa takes things to a much heavier corner of the dancefloor as the wobbles get increasingly gullier. Flip for two more on-point constructions: "Headnod" ploughs through the ether with a toxic bass stomp and voices of some of the biggest pioneers of the jungle game while "Let Go" closes on a deliciously trippy and squelchy garage flex. What a way to start the decade.

Review: Versa returns to his Atone imprint with more classic dub explorations. "Transcending Space & Dub" sets the parameters with springy, trippy ease; it's warped and so roomy you could lose yourself inside it for days. "Saint" hits with more of a traditional dub warmth countered by the melancholy of the French horns. Finally "Snowfox" is a creeper just as its name suggests. Nodding much more towards dub techno, once again Versa lays down a little hypnosis trickery before the melodica takes the lead and adds a whole other story. Grab this while you can.