Back catalogue: Deep Dubstep

Review: Bassnectar goes deep into his own take on dubstep here with a new album The Golden Rule on Amorphous Music. It comes across a triple selection of coloured vinyl and wastes no time in getting heavy. 'The Golden Rule' rides on saw tooth synths and slapping synths with 'Unlocked' (feat Rye Rye & Jamalski) bringing some vocal energy and 'I Am Another Yourself' then gets all screwy on some mad bass mutations. Elsewhere Bassnectar collaborates with Rebelwise on the exotic sounds of 'Prayer Song' and Hyper is peak time and maximal jump up for rave times only.

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: "Eclectic digital dub" are the words Digital Sting use to describe the latest from Feel Free Hi Fi. Given Feel Free Hi Fi also run the label, we can take the phrasing as gospel. A few minutes into 'Blood' and you'll be short of any evidence to suggest otherwise, too. Bringing together the timbres, aesthetics and tones that have defined their preceding short form and extended play output, this is a debut album which defines the idea of an amalgamation of sounds. Drawing on their own experimentations, but also a multitude of canons and sub genres, industrial meets weirdo dancehall, meets broken techno, meets spacey stepping beats, meets frog sounds, and then some more. Cinematic, au naturel, yet also born from machines as much as Mother Earth, if you're not hearing this come 10am at one free party this year we'll eat our steel-toed hemp shoes.

Review: One of the most interesting artists to have emerged from the Czech and Slovak based crossbreed movements that dominated the first decade of the century on the harder side of d&b, Forbidden Society has evolved and morphed with the times to a much deeper, emotionally-wrought but still hard-assed sound. This seventh studio album (released on Noisia's iconic Vision imprint) is the best version of his fusions so far. From the dark industrial strength dubstep swagger of 'Wish' to the sci-fi hurricane of cuts like 'Deception' and 'Reaching Zero', this is an incredible body of work from an impressive and unique craftsman.

Review: After the massive impact of Vex'd in the breakthrough years of dubstep, it was big news when Jamie Teasdale chose to swerve in his own direction and emerge as Kuedo. Released in 2011, Severant was a bold statement of intent which didn't wholly shirk what had come before, but placed emphasis on the kind of romantic synthesis you'd readily associate with Vangelis and saw trap and other influences sneaking into the mix. In hindsight, Severant is typical of the times we live in, drawing on a glut of influences and presenting its own idiosyncratic vision, but above all that the emotion and intent of Teasdale's ideas make it an enduring, captivating listen.

Review: Since 2018, the Marble Elephant duo has been colliding drum & bass, deep dubstep and future garage into suns that are both physical but rife with emotion. Truth is a full length which goes deep into their style and shows how versatile they can be. There are atmospheric, immersive sound worlds like the title cut next to glitchy, skeletal garage workouts with sunny melodies like 'Believe', ambient jungle soothers like 'Serenity' and Burial-esque late night cuts like 'Discovery'

Review: The accompanying notes with this say "don't call it a comeback" for NOT_MDK (aka Martin Wood-Mitrovski), even though it is an album that finds him exploring an all-new style. It is a meeting of steady 70/140 bpm grime drums and beats with IDM synth details and evocative breaks that soundtrack an all new type of late night urban conurbation. It's menacing and fresh, perfect for both body and head and is a long way from the jungle this artist made in the late 90s, or the cid and breakbeats he made in the years after that. It's a brilliant reinvention.

Review: Om Unit's Acid Dub Studies album, an inspired fusion of outer-space ambient sounds, deeply psychedelic TB-303 tweakery and outer-space digi-dub riddims, was for our money one of the standout electronic albums of 2021. This surprise sequel more than lives up to the high bar set by its predecessor, with the Bristol-based producer subtly expanding the project's boundaries (see the borderline Balearic brilliance of 'Camo') while delivering more fusions of ambient techno, acid and digi-dub. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks including the slow-motion strut of 'Strange Brew', the intergalactic squelch of 'Pursuit', the warming loveliness of 'To The River' and the borderline tropical melodiousness of 'Liberation'.

Review: London-based label Deep Heads are proud to present the highly anticipated vinyl edition of Deep Heads Dubstep Vol.3, featuring some of the scene's best producers throughout the past decade, and some timeless classics from the imprint's back catalogue. Highlights come from Kromestar with the glassy-eyed and bittersweet bass frequencies of 'Another Day', Biome with the grey area drum and bass experiment of 'Night Flight', Danny Scrilla with the slow motion power version of '#1 Station' and Synpal & Ras Stimulant venturing into dark and murky waters on the meditative riddims of 'Ital Being'.

Review: Mindful missives of the most intriguing order; Spanish collective CEE continue to curate their multi-genre Primary Forest series with the widest remit imaginable. From the pulsating, pensive 140 licks of Pugilist & Forest Drive West's brooding opener 'Polygon' to the more rampant, frazzled slaps of Cocktail Party Effect's dubby, steppy stomper 'Sandpaper Chatter', we're wrapped up tightly in unusual ideas and refreshing arrangements. Elsewhere Flore goes full tribalistic on 'Come Up' while Om Unit & Delay Grounds press the electroid button and hit all the right pleasure sensors. And that's not even the whole EP. It's time to get lost in a whole new forest. See you there?