Dubstep Recommendations February 2015

Review: Destination Utrecht for Artikal's first release of 2015... TMSV sets up Kenzo's imprint for another fine year of underground dubstep with three riddim-heavy rollers, all primed for the dance. "Jackhammer" is a pneumatic slapper with its militant snares and high pressure atmospherics. "Guillotine" is as sharp as its title suggests as big ricochet drums and a paranoid hook do all the driving. We conclude with "Elegy". The heaviest track of the set, here we find ourselves back into heaving halfstep nasty time with a hook so barbed and brutal it could melt bones. Home is where the hurt is.

Review:  Tempa turns back time while staring defiantly into the future: Youngsta takes Truth's summer 2013 thunder-jam "Devil's Hands" and turbo-charges it with such a steppy dynamic you can see the speed lines firing from your speaker. Next up, take J Kenzo's 2012 minimal blunderbuss and introduce an added synth texture and a slinkier groove to the bass. Both fine examples of how to smash a remix while paying respect to the strong originals.

Review: After an early digital airing last year New Zealand duo Truth finally deliver their debut own-label release on vinyl. And it's a stunner. The Ill Chill-fronted title track is more hip-hop than it is dubstep. "Last Resort" follows with a heaving halfstep, all edgy and paranoid. "Love Someone" plays a neat contrast with its epic drums, major chords and heavy romantic air while "Istanbul" is a squelchy, funky nod at one of the most epoch-defining horn samples ever to grace a rave. For added measure and DJ pleasure, they've utilised the vinyl's most overlooked creative asset with two locked groove loops on the end of both sides. Undeniably clever.

Review: "Minger": Ace title, naughty beats. All spiked out and fist-thrusting, it's charged with a surging sense of raw drama and driven by nifty, unpredictable drum dynamics with cool amen fills spluttering in and out of the mix. "Yeah Yeah Yeah (Dun Know)" provides a neat contrast; crisp, chilled and breathy, it's the soothing sexy yin to "Minger"'s raging ugly yang. A highly comprehensive release. But we'd expect nothing less from both Numbers and Danny Brown affiliate Darq E Freaker.

Review: Deep Medi's Quest makes his Innamind debut. And he does so with two frenetic slabs of darkness with vision squared firmly on the floor. Check the wobbling sub bass on "Vampires" for all of three seconds and you'll understand the heavy pressure this can provide to the right dancefloor. Doubling up on the rhythmic elements after the first drop, then gradually growing with an eerie synth line shortly after, there's a paranoid progression throughout. "Overcome", meanwhile, is a tub-thumping roller, all ricochet snares and undulating kicks coated in icy sheets of synthetic atmospheres. Deep dancefloor dub doesn't get much better.

Review: Alpha by name, alpha by nature... Proxima has set a brand new benchmark in modern dubstep albums. Rich in dynamics, fresh ideas, weight, depth and character, a muscular narrative is peppered with twists and turns - P Money's rapid-flow breakneck grime on "Pressurized", the juxtaposition of classical strings and angular leads on "Prologue", the cosmic psy-like acidity of "In Vacuo", the graveyard echoes and bumps of "Hokusai", the Machine head chugs of "Smog", the firing D&B collaboration with his cousin Icicle - as Proxima presents his broadest production palette with boldness, dexterity and toxic levels of badness. This is what a really well-crafted debut album sounds like.