No time to do label scans — been meaning to do this post for days already…
But… the remix double-header on Hotflush is FAB. Vex’d’s remix of Toasty’s The Knowledge Loefah’s mix of Search And Destroy’s Candyfloss (I got caught out by the labels being transposed on my pressing!) is LUSH as you like. Gorgeous halfsteppin’ bassline wobbler. Meanwhile Loefah’s mix of Search And Destroy’s Candyfloss Vex’d’s remix of Toasty’s The Knowledge is simply the biggest noise you will hear all year, for all the world sounding like Swans do dubstep (now THERE’S an idea for a boot! Soon come — Shards Fragments and Totems’ competition for best suggestion of a Swans track to remix…). Probably the best record of the year so far.
D1’s Degrees is, well, the one we’ve been waiting for since Youngsta’ sets on Rinse in May last year. Great Blade Runner-esque synth washes and corruscating bass. Yes he’ll probably turn into the Photek of dubstep, and probably very soon, but in the mean time can he PLEASE just bang ’em out?
Skream’s Skreamism is, well, reviewed somewhat late here, but y’know, I’ve been working. And I was surprised by just how good these tunes are in the mix. Yes Hag comes a bit too close to Marcus Warp’s pet peeve of dubstep becoming second-rate digidub, but the rest is fab. The untitled one and Smiley Face are good beyond belief while Lightning is that “Amen-break dubstep” tune you’ve all been reading about, and it’s terriffic. Well worth your eight quid and the packaging is gorgeous — did N Type really do that illo? Cool!
And… DMZ 007. Digital Mystikz. Anti War Dub. You just KNOW it’s going to be magnificent, but this is special. Loefah might be my favourite dubstep producer, but Digital Mystikz are my favourite dubstep GROUP. Mala and Coki enlist Spen G to create dubstep’s second most emotional tune, and it’s deceptively simple and melodically direct, while the steppers’ blueprint is adapted to near-techno formalism and represents a new departure for dubstep. (Since you’re asking, Kode 9’s Kingstown is the most emotional dubstep tune yet made; Dusk & Blackdown’s Lata will be the third.)
It sounds better every time you hear it and (whisper it) there’s some politics in there. Makes a nice change. Buy it while you can.