“Part of me thinks that all this stuff, funky, bassline, 2-step, grime, dubstep, is all part of the inter-connected, post-garage world of underground music in the UK. You don’t have to like everything within one niche or another” – Kode 9
There’s more: who’d have guessed in 2008 that three of the most popular records of this year from producers associated with dubstep (Kode 9′s ‘Black Sun’, Martin Kemp’s ‘No Charisma’ – a track that was played by Funky DJs like Cooly G as well as dubstep ones – and Ramadanman’s ‘Wad’) would be made closer to house tempo than garage? Or that TRG, one of dubstep’s best producers who’s released on Hessle Audio and Tempa in his time would be referring to himself as making Hi-Tek House? Either way, there’s a lot of good music being made that falls into this seemingly freeform house division, so let’s actually listen to some rather than endlessly theorise it:
Stream: Deadboy – U Cheated
I’ve referenced Deadboy twice in this article without introducing him. He’s a producer from South London, whose debut EP comes out this month on Well Rounded – a new label that specialises in “coming at house from different angles.” Its lead track, ‘U Cheated’, is everything that’s good about this strain of house: both the cut-up vocal and title recall UK garage’s ghetto melancholy (see angst anthems like Monsta Boy’s ‘I’m Sorry’), while the percussion could be Martyn or Ramadanman and the bass hits sound tailor-made for London’s Plastic People club.
Finding fans in Jackmaster (whose Numbers collective have signed him up for a future 12″ on their label), Shortstuff and more, Deadboy’s 12″ is one of the debuts of the year: it continues with ‘Heartbreaker’, an aquatic rattler with subtle rave hits that filter through like beams of sunshine under the surface of the sea, and ‘Brock Lee Riddim’, which is oxycontin 2step, screwed to within an inch of its rhythm. Deadboy’s remarked before that his “tunes are not sure what they’re supposed to be, but I’m into that, I like hearing a record that sounds like a bunch of disparate stuff all working together, as long as its coherent to some degree and not ‘novelty’. But its all definitely rooted in garage.” In the same interview, he goes on to suggest that UK house is “much more of a continuation of garage than dubstep is”.
“There’s all these sub-movements…people doing their own thing. Like, what is Bok Bok or L-Vis1990 on…or Shortstuff? Wot U Call It…for real?” - Starkey
Stream: Mosca – Square One
I’d like to talk about new producer Jam City, whose Baltimore-via-Camberwell edits and original tracks fit into this equation, but I know Kiran Sande’s going to write about him this month. So let’s talk about Mosca‘s ‘Square One, which has become a bit of a national anthem for this previously uncharted territory. Combining tribal house percussion with the sort of horns you’d expect from a Karizma track, the longing bassweight of Joy Orbison and cut up R’n'B vocals and patois samples, it’s a melting pot of everything influencing underground UK music right now. Zeitgeist gumbo.
Scratcha DVA’s ‘Natty’, forthcoming as a 12″ for Hyperdub, gets an even bigger reaction at Plastic People: tribal drums being spun round an air-tight, moistureless vacuum that simultaneously halts and ignites dancefloors in the same way Untold’s ‘Anaconda’ does. It’s not just new producers dropping the BPM either: Grievous Angel’s best tracks to date have been at house tempo, and Dusk and Blackdown recently debuted their first 130bpm production on their Rinse FM show. In a musical year where Bristol house upstart Julio Bashmore is a more hyped name than all but a select few new dubstep producers – it’s clear where FWD>>-thinking London’s priorities lie.
Category page image by Steve Braiden.
Tom Lea
Current Top Ten:
01 Darkstar – Aidy’s Girl’s a Computer [Hyperdub 12"]
02 Ikonika – The Idiot [Dubplate]
03 Bok Bok & L-Vis 1990 – Night Slugs EP [Dress 2 Sweat 12"]
04 Jackmaster – Dress 2 Sweat 2007-2009 [Dress 2 Sweat mix CD]
05 Terror Danjah – Gremlinz [Planet Mu 3x12"]
06 Untold – Stop What You’re Doing (James Blake Remix) [Hemlock 10"]
07 Redinho – Bare Blips [Numbers]
08 Bok Bok feat. Bubbz – Citizens of the City [Dubplate]
09 Kavsrave – Various myspace bits [Numbers]
10 Instra:mental – Watching You [Exit 12"]
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