The Attention Deficit Track (edit) - (3:48) 130 BPM
The Attention Deficit Track (Terrace mix) - (6:14) 130 BPM
Review: "The Attention Deficit Track" is a collaboration between scene heroes Skream and Jackmaster. They are said to have made the track with the Terrace at DC10 as inspiration, Skream saying it was an absolute pleasure to finally play it in the said venue at his Circoloco debut. A hypnotic track that takes inspiration from the UK tech house sound from the turn of the millennium, its catchy, whirring vocal sample plays centre stage underpinned by tribal drums. With the track being played by all the top DJs over the last couple of years, its release has been eagerly anticipated so finally - here it is.
Review: When looking through the legendary imprints of dubstep in the UK and worldwide, there aren't many people that won't have Deep MEDi Musik in their top 3 imprints. To celebrate this dominance over the last 15 years, They have pulled together some of their most popular drops from across the years to be re-released in full digital quality. The tracklisting couldn't be more epic if it tried, with the likes of Commodo, Skream, Pinch, Gantz, Kromestar and more. It's a truly outstanding collection and a true celebration of the creativity found within the dubstep sound, a focus point that Deep MEDi have always been at the forefront of. Featuring 20 of the most popular drops from the label's extensive catalog, this is a collection you don't want to miss.
Review: It's always an exciting time to see a new Skream drop land in the store as the Croydon veteran continues to broaden his musical range with this euphoric drift into acidic abandon. Through a combination of blissfully busy drum breaks and stacked harmonic synthesis, this one sends us on somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster across 7 minutes of sonic mastery. As well the original, which is a journey enough in itself, The release also comes complete with a slightly quicker rethink from DART, who combines colourful arpeggio-based blips and a more central-sounding synth line for an interesting twist up of the original. Both of these are going to cause some serious damage in the clubs across the winter months.
Review: As you might expect, these remixes of Rich Nxt's 'Natural', a fine collaboration with Shyam P first featured on last year's Know The Score album, are rather impressive. Former dubstep don turned disco, house and techno enthusiast Skream steals the show with his sizeable revision, which adds beefy sub-bass, angular electronic sounds, oddball riffs and Shyam P's fine lead vocals to a seriously heavy, glitch-flecked tech-house beat. Seb Vito takes a different approach on his rework, reaching for spacey synth sounds, woozy chords and hybrid two-step/techno beats. It's a fine remix all told and one that should appeal to the growing legion of DJs who reach for both tech-house and UK garage.
Review: A well documented founding force in the creation of dubstep - and an artist that's seen a career take flight through disco, house and techno - Skream introduces a new label project in IFEEL via the debut Chesters Groove EP. Reigniting a techno sound that took over at the turn of the last decade, Skream enters warehouse mode with a banger fittingly remixed by Berghain resident Norman Nodge. With Skream's original embracing club-ready, staccato driven dub techno, Norman Nodge relives the so-called Berghain sound in the way only a resident would know how - and there's no denying how his Yin mix would go down in that club. Having proven a class remixer in the past thanks to classic reworks of Function, Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann, Nodge's Yang mix to "Chesters Groove" sends in some slicing 909 drum machine while redefining the original's kicks drum and letting those chords fly.
Review: It's always a momentous occasion when we see Skream returning to his earlier dubstep roots, a theme we seem to see him exploring more and more in recent times. That is why we were so thrilled to see this brand new third edition of the Unreleased Classics series, featuring eight previously unheard heaters. It's a powerful ensemble of original dubstep flavour, from the tribal percussive bounces of both 'Check Em Out' and 'Bloc Party', to the more LFO driven designs of 'The Soul' and 'The Darkside Of Life'. We see a couple of experimental creations make their way forward, with 'Deeper Concentration' exploring trippy synths, 'Jaws' driving down a much more metallic sounding synthetic route and 'Lemon' linking up grizzly basslines with dubwise structures. The pick of the bunch however is the 'Requestline' VIP mix, converting a tried and tested classic into a refreshing, sub-heavy system buster. Fantastic work!
Review: If we are talking about legends of the UK underground, there really aren't many names that rank above Skream. A veteran of many sounds, we see him return to his roots with this latest selection to release some prized unreleased classics, spanning from 2002 to 2003. This is a must have selection for any serious steppers fan, with the project bleeding authenticity across the entire track listing, from the bubbly drum bounces and warped bass tones of 'Depth Charge' to the grimey synth textures of 'Disfunktional Minds' and high energy eskimo-inspired drum switches of 'Oh My Gosh'. It's one for dubstep historians, that sees Skream's earlier more grime-influenced productions finally land in the public domain.
Review: Following on from the earlier release of the first edition of Skream's Unreleased Classics', Skreamizm now presents a very vibrant second volume, this time exploring his previously archived creations from between 2004 and 2006. Unlike the first volume, this selection sees the sound really take a turn towards that more classic dubstep approach, focussing more on halftime snare structures over bubbling, funky beats. We see Skream move through the weird and wonderful, from the quirky synth glitches and patois vocal samples of 'Hurt The Soundboy' to the slightly dissonant harmonies of 'BassTrapz' and jazzy arrangements of 'Live & Learn'. There's something for everyone in here as we ride through a fabulous chapter of UK music history.
Review: Having already featured both tracks on his recent Essential Mix, Skream now makes DUNNN available to fans and DJs. Drawing on the heritage of tough New York house, the title track centres on tough drums and a driving rhythm that underpins soulful vocal samples. By adding incessant percussion and repetitive riffs to the arrangement, Skream lends it a contemporary electronic edge. On "Tramadollied", he opts for a different approach. Laying down a pulsating groove and adding in outer space bleeps, he delivers a brooding, somewhat bleak techno track that's equally suited to big rooms and small basements. Long may his house and techno fixation last.
Martin Books - "Flitzepulver" (original mix) - (6:35) 128 BPM
Various - "Ibiza 2018 Closing Party" (continuous DJ mix 1) - (1:18:53) 124 BPM
Various - "Ibiza 2018 Closing Party" (continuous DJ mix 2) - (1:19:01) 125 BPM
Review: With the same certainty that the leaves will turn brown and fall from the trees, autumn sees the release of Toolroom's closing party album. It's the label's annual state of the (house) nation address and 2018 is no exception. While this year's edition contains a healthy smattering of feel good house - the most impressive exempts being the vocal grooves of Weiss' "Feel My Needs" and Illyus & Barrientos' "MEA" - there are also more adventurous variants on offer. These include Peggy Gou's tweaked acid take on Shakedown's "At Night", the chord heavy Dusky take on KiNK's "Perth" and the cut-up, abstract "Pale Blue Dot" by rising lo-fi house artist Ross From Friends, which demonstrate that this year, Toolroom is thinking outside the box.
Review: Dubstep pioneer Skream (aka Oliver Dene Jones) is back after a brief hiatus with Face Down In The Water, an action packed three track EP on his own Of Unsound Mind label. There are no short sharp shocks here, with the shortest tune of the three being the seven-minute orchestral-house closer, "Motions". Elsewhere "Let It Go" sounds like collab between John Carpenter and Systematic Records, the title track features soft, oompah-style synth melodies for a surprisingly deep workout. Catch these tunes and more on his upcoming Open To Close tour...if you can get tickets, that is.
Review: No one does contemporary disco like Dimitri From Paris. And no one has the compilation licensing clout like Defected. Naturally this is a match made in glitterball heaven as DFP spans 40 years of grooves with a spotless collection of his own edits and upfront jams. Ranging from his own twists on standard disco gems such as "Le Freak" and "Lost In Music" to the likes of Disclosure's "F For You" and Todd Terje's "Delorean Dynamite" this is, without question, one of Defected's most extensive, expansive and exciting collections to date - which really is saying something. A natural fit for all house, disco and funk fans young and old.
Review: No other label can rep dubstep like Tempa. Many would argue it was the first label to truly herald and nourish the sound. Here they explore their vaults and dust off some of the most genre-defining, idiosyncratic tracks that have helped shape the phenomenon we know today. From SPMC's paranoid murker from 2008 "Trust Nobody" to a whole series of Skream sessions such as "WTF", "Wibbler" and "Vacillate", the collection is a reminder of how influential Tempa has been, how talented their roster has always been and, most importantly, how slamming and stimulating dubstep can be when nourished and developed by the right label. Recognise.
DJ Madd - "The Life You Chose" (Distance remix) - (4:38) 140 BPM
Stinkahbell - "Film Noir" - (5:37) 140 BPM
Sleeper & Thelem - "Arrakis" - (5:15) 140 BPM
Kryptic Minds - "The Divide" - (5:32)
Various - "This Is Dubstep 2013" (continuous DJ mix - part 1) - (1:13:24) 140 BPM
Various - "This Is Dubstep 2013" (continuous DJ mix - part 2) - (1:09:30) 140 BPM
Review: Sixth in the series, This Is Dubstep is one of the more comprehensive, on-point series the scene has given us (ie: many!) Across the 40 tracks every single shade is covered; from rave-tinged (Noisia's remix of "Smack My Bitch Up") to all-out technicolour bass (Drumsound & Bassline Smith), This Is Dubstep 2013 pays respect to all corners of the dance - including the really far-out experimentations of Mala and his Cuban project. With exclusives such as V.I.V.E.K's "Barcelona" and Killawatt's "Single Entity" thrown in for good measure, this isn't just a summary of today's dubstep; it's a slice of the future too.
Review: As January nears its bitter end, it seems this the time to release mega compilation albums. AEI, the company behind Get Darker, UKF and D&B Arena unveil their next project: Get Darker Presents: This Is Dubstep 2012. And what an album it is. Bringing in all the flavours of contemporary dubstep, it succeeds in providing a sweeping panorama of an increasingly fractionalized scene. From the deeper sounds of Author, VIVEK, Kryptic Minds, Icicle & Distance and Phaeleh, through material from scene pioneers such as Horsepower Productions, Skream and Benga, to the more aggressive sounds of Gemini, Flux Pavillion, 16 Bit and Nero, it's all covered. A brilliant "who's who" of dubstep in 2012 - highly recommended.
Review: Dubstep overlord Skream finally offers up the next instalment in his long running "Skreamizm" series, his first since 2009. While last year's Outside The Box LP allowed him to experiment with varying genres and tempos, this six tracker sees him knocking out the anthems with consummate ease. "Xmas Day Swagger" is a dancefloor banger, simplicity itself while "Indistinct" brings a shuffling beat and an Eastern vocal. "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle DUMB!" featuring Trim will appeal to the grime heads and "Abstruse" and "Snarled" are stripped back head nodders. EP closer "FNKONOMIKA" is a blissful minimal D&B track which oozes sheer class.
Review: "Streets So Warm" is the latest track to be released from Toddla T's huge new album "Watch Me Dance". Following the heavy disco-funk leanings of single of the same name, this release sees the producer return to the dancehall influenced sound that he is most well known for, with a range of remixes on an old school tip. The original features a simple trilling synth line which complements Wayne Marshall's vocals, whilst Zed Bias' "Old Skool remix" takes things back to 2000 with an infectious 2-step version of the original. Serial Killerz meanwhile deliver a DnB remix, and Ross Orton and Pipes deliver a remix which takes the dancehall original and beefs it up with some contemporary bass production.
Review: The dubstep don turns his hand, as he is apt to do, to a bit of jungle. Returning to where he left off with "Burnin' Up" in Sept '09, Skream re-works the Loleatta Holloway sample, adding some warm, reverberating bass and clinking piano keys to "Hats Off" alongside rolling breaks and euphoric builds. "Heavy Hitter" does exactly what it says on the tin with smashing snares, grizzled b-line and thumping kicks, Hatcha style. "Rigging" is a bit more grimey, dominated by groaning SFX, clashing SFX and murky subs. "Sea Sick", possibly the rowdiest of the three dubstep cuts with wrenching synths a-plenty, concludes the EP.
