Back catalogue: Deep Dubstep

Review: Of all the artists past and present who claim to let their music do their talking for them, Burial is one of the elite band of whom this truly is the case. In fact, so reluctant is he to engage with the cult-of-personality hoopla that surrounds almost every modern producer and musician of merit, that he remains a genuine recluse; he has never appeared live, only one obliquely-angled publicity photograph is known to exist, and the number of interviews he has given can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet despite this, his music speaks loud and wide, and the world has been listening ever since his 'South London Boroughs' EP debut on Hyperdub in March 2005. His eponymous album, which began life as a low-key release in May 2006, is now widely regarded as the benchmark release of the ever-widening dubstep genre, picking up unanimous critical acclaim along the way, and ending the year heavily featured in many 'best of' polls. Now Burial returns with 'Untrue', a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporised R&B and smudged 2step garage. Vocal lines are blurred, smeared, pitched up pitched down and pitch bent until their content is cast adrift from their original context and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void. The album continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy. Kicking off with the skittering 2step syncopations and vocal science of 'Archangel', 'Near Dark' and 'Ghost Hardware', before long it descends into a space of radiant divas and ambience. Where 'Burial' first was humid, suffocating and unrelentingly sad, 'Untrue' is less sunless. Many of the tracks are so sweet, they become toxic, underscored by the almost geological rumbles of growling basslines. Unlike the overpoweringly melancholic prevailing mood of before, Burial's sound is now better defined as a downcast euphoria typified by the epic, muted optimism of the album's last track 'Raver'. Forget central heating the radioactivity of this album is all that you'll need to keep you warm this winter. 'Untrue' is available as full 13 track digipack CD, including recent underground hit 'Ghost Hardware', and 9 track DJ friendly double vinyl set, from which some of the beatless pieces have been edited.

Review: William Bevan has now been operating long enough under the Burial alias to be awarded a celebratory "best of" compilation by Hyperdub, the imprint he's been releasing on since 2005. This is no ordinary retrospective, though. It deliberately ignores the celebrated early portion of his career, with the artist choosing to focus not only on tracks made and released in the last eight years, but also those tucked away on B-sides and the darker corners of his EPs. It offers a fine snapshot of the subtle evolution of his sound, quietly creeping between the hushed field recordings and glacial synthesizer lines of "Nightmarket", the intensely up-beat breakbeat madness of "Rival Dealer", the haunting, near 14-minute melancholy of "Rough Sleeper" and the future garage rush of recent single "Claustro".

Review: This first album on Kode9's deeply-respected Hyperdub label comes from the mysterious Burial, who carves out a sound which sends the dormant slinky syncopations of UK garage, via radio interference, into a padded cell of cushioned, muffled bass, passing through clouds of Pole's dense crackle dub en route. 'Burial' - the album - explores a tangential, parallel dimension of the growing dubstep ouevre, using sounds set in a near-future South London submerged underwater. You can never tell if the crackle is the burning static off pirate radio transmissions, or the tropical downpour of the city outside, taking its loud-quiet aesthetic neither from the latest digital glitch software nor a mere nostalgia for vinyl's intrinsic physicality. In their sometimes suffocating melancholy, most of these tracks seem to yearn for drowned lovers, as haunted echoed voices breeze in and out, on roads to and from other times. The smouldering desire of 'Distant Lights' is cooled only by the percussive ice-sharp slicing of blades and jets of hot air blowing from the bass. Listen also for a fleeting appearance from Hyperdub's resident vocalist, the Spaceape, unravelling his cryptobiography. 'Burial' is a renegade signal from other frequencies, a tidal wave of seductive low-impact noise submerging all but the crispest syncopations, and is well on course to be universally welcomed as the standard-bearer for creative vision built upon the grime and dubstep blueprint.

Review: Cologne-based Belfast boy Dominick Martin has been delivering deliciously good albums as Calibre for the best part of a quarter of a century, frequently departing from his trademark drum & bass sound to showcase his love of other sub-heavy and mind-bending sounds such as dub techno, ambient and dubstep. On Little Foot, his first album in two years and 22nd in total, he leans into this considered eclecticism. For proof, compare and contrast the tactile and dreamy 4/4 dub of 'Blame Dub', the dub-wise junglist bruk-up of 'Special', the mutant two-step delight of 'Ukrained', the angularm, sub-heavy UK techno of 'Threadvare' and the Mark Ernestus style spaced-out dub techno of 'Choosing Beggar'. And that's just CD1. A genuine triumphant from one of bass culture's most distinctive musical voices.

Review: A giant leap for Punch Drunk, this debut LP by Bristol producer Guido could lead to an avalanche of fans for the burgeoning "purple sound" of young Bristol producers like Guido, Joker, and Gemmy. After only a handful of singles and remixes, Guido has fashioned a perfect album that drips with freshness and originality. Combining post-dubstep styles with a pop sensibility and the production clarity of The Neptunes, there's a host of unlikely sounds thrown into the mix that strangely end up working - check the Kenny G-style sample flipped perfectly in the appropriately named "Mad Sax" as an example.
While the album starts off on an exclusively instrumental tip, "Beautiful Complications" bucks the trend and features a deliciously warped female vocal that works a treat with Guido's sparse and gritty beats. As the album steadily grows in energy, tunes like "Way You Make Me Feel" and "You Do It Right" pack more beats into the bars and the album really feels like a journey, not just a random collection of songs. Not only is it an accomplished debut, it's fiercely original and exciting, and comes very highly recommended indeed.

Review: Following on from his debut artist album Cyclical in 2008, Brighton based producer, Ital Tek brings us his sophomore outing, Midnight Colour on the highly respected Planet Mu imprint. Kicking off with "Neon Arc" - a deliciously fuzzy broody number, with a nod to the Joker-style 'Bristol Sound' in the synths - it's a promising start to what soon unfolds into a magnificent album. Moving through the melodic, reflective Mount Kimbie style "Talis" with its evocatively drawn dripping and chiming, and hollow textured soundscape, to the more abrasive "Moonbow" and "Babylon", it's easy to see why Ital Tek has garnered such a reputation for himself in such a short time. Midnight Colour picks up on the sound that has come to define Ital Tek, taking the whole 'post-dubstep' tip to new lengths, weaving 2-stepping garage rhythms round sonic textures with plenty of moody atmospheric melancholy.

Review: Given that Young Echo operatives Kahn (AKA Joe McGann) and Neek (Sam Barrett) have been working together for well over a decade, it's a surprise to discover that this is the post-grime, dub-loving duo's first collaborative album. Wisely, they've utilised the potential of the album format, choosing not to fill the set with bona-fide club bangers (there are naturally some present), but instead take us on a deep, psychedelic, mind-altering musical journey that effortlessly blends dark ambient, deep dubstep, grime, twisted electronica, smoke-charred sonic textures, dub-wise riddims, chiming electronic melodies and countless guest raps from some of the best MCs in the business. In a word: excellent!

Review: Great Lengths, the first album by singular Dutch producer Martyn made big waves last year. Yet another talent to drift from drum and bass into 2-Step/dubstep/wobble territory, he put his own unique stamp on the genre and was shown a lot of love around the world as a result. This revisit to Great Lengths sees two very spooky gentlemen, Zomby and Redshape, take on two of its tracks.

Zomby's output has been fairly prolific of late and he's established a fanatical fanbase who follow him hawkishly. Anyone who's heard his Rave homage "Where Were U In '92?" will know how extreme he can get, but on his mix of "Hear Me" he plays it relatively safe. He keeps things nicely sparse, keeping the "Can you hear me" line from the original while adding some nice arpeggiated synths and a funky Soca beat over the top. Needless to say, his fans won't be disappointed as it's bound to blow up big time with DJs over the next few weeks.

Berlin-based Redshape is an enigma, a man whose identity is unknown and who wears a mask to hide his face at all times. He also does an awesome line in Detroit techno, which is thankfully fully visible on his mix of "Seventy Four". A wicked whispering vocal keeps the tune driving along nicely over gliding synth pads to create a mix that's as woozy as it is pumping. Both of these mixes come very highly recommended.

Review: Hessle Audio's baby faced production genius David Kennedy effectively uses this Fabric Live mix to sign off the Ramadanman pseudonym that has delivered so many classics of recent times. FabricLive 56 should be seen as a wider celebration of the many disparate strains of forward-thinking bass music that populate so many screen inches and record shop shelves. The 30 track selection expertly weaves through everything from dubstep, future garage, stripped-back post-rave and UK funky to next-level electro, noughties bruk, tropical beats and heavyweight 808-workouts. The impeccable mixing, action-packed vibe and heavyweight tracklist (MJ Cole and Wiley, Addison Groove, Joy Orbison, Pinch, Girl Unit, Mala etc) combine to make something very special indeed a lesson in 21st century beats and bass from one of the scene's brightest stars.

Review: Elevator Music is the best example of the cross pollination between dubstep, grime, house and techno that is becoming more and more prevalent over the last few months. If nothing else, Fabric's first instalment of this new series proves that dunstep doesn't reach its limit with warbling baselines peppered with hazy atmospherics.

Although bass is certainly the name of the game, it is bass that reaches the feet passing the mind first. Not just a reaction to the bass and beats, there is an intelligible and refined sense to the artists and music that feature on Elevator Music. There are warm baselines reminiscent of some of garage's darker moments aligned next to percussive elements of funky house or the bold and brash energy of techno and grime.

Fittingling for Fabric, most of the tracks on this compilation are dancefloor focused. Amid the previously un-released tracks of Elevator Music we are treated to a diverse mix of palettes, again mirroring the vibe of Fabric's club, and the bass heavy genre as a whole which gives it a strong appeal to fans of each sub genre without diluting the ethos to any.

Elevator Music is more than your average compilation and way more than just a collection of tracks. It is a representation of the styles and influences of a sub genre of music that takes in, uses and borrows from a host of already established tastes. Like the Fabric dancefloor itself, Elevator Music embraces all it can, regardless of genre, to remain fresh, new and exciting