Deep Dubstep charts

Review: Hyperdub kick off the vinyl side to their ten-year celebrations with this weighty four-tracker from some of the leading lights from the label's story. Mala is in a strident mood with "Expected, Level 10" carrying through that extra touch of melody from the Mala In Cuba LP. DVA cuts loose with the leftfield scattershot groove of "Technical Difficulties", reveling in tonal experimentation and jagged rhythmic flair to a stunning end. Still locked into the sci-fi trap tangent that characterised Severant, Kuedo turns out the haunting "Mtzpn" and Helix pops up for a remix of Kode9's "Xingfu Lu" that strips down to bare essentials with a little starlit soul rubbed into the framework.

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: Nova is a new signing for the Infernal Sounds crew and the artist has saved some of his best work for the occasion. He opens up with 'Bonafide,' a dark and heavy wobbler with a busy, oscillating low end that is full of menace while some subtle pitched up vocals hint at the rave. 'Single Fuse' is a noter one to loosen the bowels and melt your face with its lumpy, leggy rhythms and tripped out watery effects. It's 'Fivers' which then gets more tight and tense with an edgy synth hustling in the background while jittery snares keep you on edge up front. 'Intricacy' closes with a heavyweight bottom end and plenty of reverb to get lost in.

Review: Having initially sprung into life back in 2005 to provide an outlet for dubstep productions by members of Bristol's bass music community, Tectonic has since developed into a must-check hub for heavyweight floor fillers across a range of bass-fixated genres. The label's shift in recent years is amply demonstrated by this latest Tectonic Plates collection, the first since 2009. Demonstrating label boss Pinch has lost none of his deft A&R skills, this quadruple vinyl has some relatively traditional dubstep from the likes of Tunnidge and Ginz rubbing shoulders with typically juke influenced 808 pressure from Addison Groove, while Goth Trad indulges his inner acid. Elsewhere Hoya Hoya alumnus Illum Sphere brings some electric warmth with "Promise A Secret" whilst 2562 and Kevin McPhee continue their efforts to frustrate the genre police with excellent results.

Review: Encrypted keep the vinyl heat on lock with this precision triptych from Kodama. Hot on the heels of his recent Infernal outing, here the Barcelona badman flexes three special bass treats. Each one laced with strong musical elements and threads, 'Westly' is a dreamy two-step delight, 'Murphy's Song' is a big old jolt of euphoria while 'Glimpse' concludes the EP with a poignant, harp-plucking emotional adieu. Stunning.

Review: Koma returns to the scene of the crime, finishing off what he started in 2018. First there was ENV 018 with massive tracks like 'Uncle Sullivan' and 'Moonlight'. Then came some very cheeky unauthorised versions in 2020 which most definitely weren't on Encrypted (the release was even called NOT-ENV to prove this!) Now he returns with ENV 018.1, another stately slab of wax comprising three smouldering 140 jams... The purring 'Dialtone', the militant march and thundering bumps of 'Flick' and finally the woozy swagger and eerie tension of 'Untitled'. Each one as heavy as the last, rumour has it he'll be back with an album. We can't wait.

Review: Following his soundtrack to the Roki game and appearances on the likes of Monstercat, Aether returns to his spiritual home Fent Plates for the first time since 2017. The wait has of course been worth it as 'Fragments' takes us back to the Scottish deepsmith's finest elements; stirring, poignant chords, foggy, disarming textures long lingering-but-tender notes. From the opening airy pads and trembling keys of 'Luna Awaits' to the final slo-mo plod and echo of the finale 'Worlds Apart', it's Aether doing what he does best; conjuring up emotions you didn't even know you were feeling while making you feel like you're in an impenetrable bubble. Beautiful.

Review: Although Rhythm & Sound and Basic Channel man Mark Ernestus has worked with or remixed many different artists over the years, we didn't expect him to join forces with D&B scene stalwarts Calbre and DRS. Yet that's exactly what's on offer here, as the Hardwax founder delivers two typically deep, dubbed-out techno outings crafted from portions of the pair's collaborative cut 'Badman', which is due to feature on Calbre's forthcoming sixteenth studio album, Feeling Normal. Both 'Bad' and 'Badder' are typical of Ernestus' ultra-deep and hypnotic style, with snippets of the duo's original instruments, beats and vocals echoing in and out of a warming, all-encompassing, sub-heavy groove. In a word, it's superb.

Review: One riddim track, three hugely distinctive voices; Dub-Stuy continue their riddim series with "Santa Muerte Riddim". Loose, spacious, mystic and led by cold steel string twangs, Jonah Freed's beat sings on its own merits but each vocalist adds their own touch. Rider Shafique takes the lead with his signature smoky tones and poetics, Jahdan Blakkamoore contrasts between his gravelly spoken word and musicality on the chorus before Pupajim lets the beat breathe a little more before going full harmonic ham. Holy moly.

Review: It was only a matter of time before Boofy landed on Pinch's Tectonic. Both Bristol. Both magnetised to the fringes. Both responsible for untold low end hurters like these... "Back In The Box" is a heavy pressure cut with pneumatic kicks and ominous stretched brass textures while "Herbie" is a highly strung piece that's stripped back to just drums, subs and an eerie faltering lead and builds and twists when you least expect it. Flip for the churchy chords and rattled percussion of "In My Head" before "Perfunktion" closes with jazzier chords and a stone cold steppy kick arrangement. Classic Boofs.

Review: Last year Burial and the Bug joined forces as Flame 1, delivering an in-demand EP on the latter's Pressure label featuring two sizable slabs of industrial strength soundsystem science. Here they return as Flame 2, once again offering up a pair of weighty dancefloor excursions. A-side "Dive" is a loud and claustrophobic affair, as the duo wraps dystopian dub bass and sparse, mutilated post-drill rhythms in layers of apocalyptic aural textures and mind-altering dub techno style processed noise. Flipside "Rain" is arguably more suitable for dancefloor plays and sees the esteemed twosome combine pulverizing sub-bass heaviness with dancehall style drums that come smothered in mind-melting effects and paranoia-inducing aural smoke.

Review: Sleeper man Alex Fox debuted the GRAMZ alias earlier in the year via a two-track 12" on Sentry Records built around paranoid sonic textures, serious bass-weight and rolling 140 BPM beats. For this 10" outing on Crucial, Fox has taken a deeper approach, ratcheting up the smoky atmosphere while retaining sizeable low-end pressure. "Joken" and flipside "Get Them Bags" are hazy, ultra-deep dubstep workouts, with both doffing a cap towards hip-hop and grime (check out the manipulated MC vocal samples on the latter, in particular), as well as the crackling sonic textures of Burial. "Joken" rolls along nicely while remaining pleasingly subdued, while "Get Them Bags" has a little more sonic strut. Both, though, are excellent.

Review: Woof! Hyperdub bring together two of the most recognisable and enigmatic artists of recent times on this 10", as Zomby and Burial square down ahead of the former's new album for the label. Zomby's Ultra LP is undoubtedly one of this year's most anticipated albums and "Sweetz" suggests it may be a very moody affair indeed. Whilst rooted in UK dance, Zomby and Burial do look elsewhere for inspiration too. Just under seven minutes long, "Sweetz" veers through various sub-heavy soundscapes with intermittent rhythmic patters and a distinctive looped vocal sample whose pitch changes with dramatic effect.

Review: Blind Prophet & Ishan Sound come together for their first pan-atlantic collaboration here in what is a fine return to the ZamZam label. The pair first met in Portland in 2019 and so it's good to finally have some sounds to get stuck into from their meeting of minds. 'The Labyrinth' kicks off with hefty and stepping drum rhythms that are overlaid by bright synth lines and mystic flutes. The interloping melodies and a menacing bassline finish it in style. On the flip, things get much more dark with 'Minotaur Dub' which is a shadowy world of refracting drums and oodles of reverb and echo. There is a predatory sense to the rhythm that never lets up as fizzing bass pries every deep into the dead of night.

Review: You ever danced with Josi Devil in the pale moon light? Well now is your chance! Making his debut on Innamind Josi (AKA Joe Dreamer) hits hard with three unique system shakers. 'Madnuss 2 Long' creeps out at the front, unhurried but very focused. It's backed up by two more heavyweight flavours - 'Sunk Still' is straight up dub with a clinically obese sub bass melting all over the kicks while 'Horn Switch' hurls in a bucket of warm, squiggly alien funk. Exceptional.

Review: Dark dubstep allstar Dayzero first came to out attention with 'Allca', where they pitted themselves alongside contemporaries Gantz or Coki in their unique displays of wonk and lo-fi production techniques. 'Pages' and 'Sen' continue this charge; watery, knocky and psychopathic, both tunes sound like a tank trudging through sludge. Militant and gritty.

Review: LEA is back up to his activities as he comes crashing back onto planet Sneaker Social with three beautiful broken beat fusions. All sitting around that dubstep/techno/23rd century garage axis, the focus is on the groove, the subs and that lean, timeless funk he's made his signature. 'Sent West' sounds like a dark B-side of a 2005 CoOp joint, all mean and minimal but suddenly opening up into a jazzy flourish. 'Neurosis', meanwhile, subverts the two-step vibe for a spacious dub jam that could work across a multitude of genres before the brilliantly titled 'Dry Chat Wet Rag' closes off with a slo-mo jungle breakbeat fix. Moist.

Review: Last spotted on Strictly 140's Overseas VA LP, Spanish new-gen bass chef serves up his biggest dish to date on Subaltern. Linking up with longstanding baron XL One for the opener, 'Cronauer'. Unhurried, twinkling but laced with a bitter bass bite, it sets the dark dream tone. 'Piranha Plant' and 'Dorsia' see Kodama going solo. The former is a woozy arpeggiated charmer that sits on the hip-hop side of the beat spectrum. The latter hums with similar melancholy but much more of an edge to the drums and that ominous waspy bass tone. Graveyard grooves.

Review: Roel Funcken is back with another genre-bending, mind melting sonic workout that makes for a perfect soundtrack for your transition from the real world and into an alternate reality. It's a record set in a faraway future, with the title translating as "are you a tourist guide?" in Turkish hinting at that concept further. It's a powerful headspace to be in, with warped bass and pixelated keys racing down on broken beats that lurch forwards into the unknown. This interplanetary exploration comes with a fantastic cover filled with colour and patterns that capture the essence of the music perfectly.

Review: James Blake's debut album is undoubtedly one of 2011's most keenly awaited releases, and its arrival via his own (major label funded) Atlas imprint ensures their is no lull in momentum for a producer who enjoyed a watershed 2010 with releases on Hessle Audio and R&S. The results here differ wildly from his previous sonic excursions - gone are the shimmering R&B soaked melodies of "CMYK" and the sheer experimentalism of the Klavierwerke EP, which saw the young Londoner depart from the confines of the dancefloor and enter a realm where there was only a passing reference to rhythm-based music. Instead we are treated to Blake's own yearning, raw voice, delicate pianos and an underlying sense of melancholy. Ubiquitous single "Limit To Your love" and the crackly sonic terrain evoked on "The Wilhelm Scream" are among the most immediately pleasing moments, but there is much to explore here. It's a fascinating opus and surely the catalyst to a long and fruitful career at the top.

Review: From the eastern sorcerer who gave us 'Dying On Acid' a few years ago on Deep Medi comes 'Pusher Acid', one of the most beguiling EPs Gantz has cast our way in some time. Six tracks over two 12"s, there's a real measured pace and sense of tension running across the collection as we gradually build up to the pensive, fierce and well-chiselled title track. Elsewhere we have the eerie cinematica of 'Sleepless Elite', the left-footed lollops and slug-like bassline of 'Chiral' and the palpitating, slo-mo seduction of the vinyl-only cut 'Spineless'. Keep pushing on.

Review: Russian producer Kercha has already served up two superb EPs that cemented his reputation as a contemporary deep dubstep great, and now he backs it up with a standout first EP of 2021. His Mental Ballast EP comes on the label he is a firm part of, DNO Records, and is complete with his signature off-kilter rhythms. Opener 'Ignornants' has shimmering oscillations and deep, dark dub. Plenty of subtle samples flesh out the eerie groove including a clip of Russian maestro E. Ponasenkov. 'Analysis' is another gem, this time with Berlin artist Yoofee with plenty of purple flourishes. There is serious wobble to 'Tigers' that keeps you on edge and 'Acid' is a real spin out to close.

Review: TMSV has the honour of closing out another solid year for the Deep Mehdi crew. His debut on the label gives a fine representation of his sound across a quartet of dark dubstep gems. 'The Glow' opens in eerie fashion, with low end oscillations and late night tones leaving long tails in their wake. 'Revenge' gets more tense and taught as it traps you in some edgy loops and 'Housing' layers up what sounds like broken glass, ominous drones and flashing synth work into something brilliantly. 'Stay Closed' wraps things up with fractured melody and plunging bass.

Review: Almost 20 years have passed since Australian duo's debut LP Alleys To Valleys landed in our collections. Now we see these valleys from the flip perspective as they creatively scale us to the very summit of Mirror Mountain, their most ambitious body of work so far. Sitting somewhere between Booka Shade, Four Tet and Chemical Brothers, there's a vibrancy and energy that they've only ever hinted at before. From the soaring euphoria of 'Promises' to the emotional, cinematic breaks of 'Golden Hour' and the gentle lament of 'Tides Of Time', the pair weave a beguiling narrative through their work that really brings the album to life. Stunning.

Review: Bengal Sound is a rising star in the Bristol bass scene and now he makes another mighty fine statement with this two tracker on Wych, the increasingly essential label run by K-LONE. This one comes after his various standout tunes from self-released cassettes fusing dusty old Bollywood samples to red hot club bangers. 'Solace' is the opener and is heavy on the rubbing and cavernous bass with icy leads and on the flip is 'On My Mind' which is just as atmospheric.

Review: Visages are a four-strong crew out of Toulouse who fly the flag for a true-school, soundsystem approach to club music. Their drops to date have spanned labels like Flexor Audio, Impact Music and Dispatch Recordings, but since 2020 they've been building something formidable with Alix Perez's 1985 Music label. Now this build up culminates in the knockout From Lead To Gold, a masterful long player of hard-hitting steppers and snaking d&b workouts which will have seasoned heads and new listeners alike getting giddy. Perez himself lends a hand on 'Black Katana' but really the achievement is all in the hands of these four talented up and comers.

Review: Few labels have been as important to the development of deep dubstep over the last decade than the Deep Medi Musik crew. Here comes another of their fine transmissions, ready and waiting to rattle your ribs and test your bowels. Somah is at the buttons for the four cuts and kicks off with 'Irked' which has inky bass and haunting late night leads over a heavy but deft bottom end. 'Mirrors' pairs more eerie empty space with echoing hits and distant sirens and 'Cold Chain' has a warmer, even slightly soulful sound thanks to the pad work. 'Unmarked' closes with a clatter of percussive menace.

Review: French producer Moresounds delivers a simple nine-tracker of rather advanced and pleasing trap beats, upending the idea that any beat as such needs an MC to survive. It's a miracle that this kind of music can emerge from the French countryside. Deep drops and wonky hat triplets abound, nodding to the deep dubstep tropes heard on international labels like Innamind, but retaining the clean production Moresounds is known for.

Review: Two certified dubstep donnies collide for 'Ascension', a unique album that explores 140 music from the system roots to the very outer edges. Made remotely during the recent frustrating years, the pair developed a strong creative code and built a body of work that taps into Nomine's 'Blind Man' signature but trembles with that minimal Mondays vibe Youngsta famously pushed. This 12" is a great snapshot of the LP with some of the beguiling features; Breezy Lee brings a Portishead like earnestness on 'Catch Me', there's the disarming violin work and stark bass tones on 'Chasm' and Lelijveld's spelling-binding whispers on 'Hidden' will stop you in your tracks. '528' takes us far east for a final blast of special inspiration. A unique set.