Available on: Objekt 12″

Given a rather prominent thumbs-up from Hessle pointman Ben UFO and appearing mysteriously with high regards from Boomkat – cringe all you want but these are the real movers in our bass culture – the debut of Objekt is a stunning bit of dubstep throwback enmeshed with unflinching, self-conscious futurism. The Germanic spelling of the name as well as lack of release information seem to signify one of those mysterious white label alias deals, but in reality, it’s just some kid from Germany called TJ.

The thing that’s so exciting about Objekt, is that like Fis-T’s lauded ‘Night Hunter’ from last year, he transforms old dubstep templates generally seen as obsolete and puts a modernized and highly efficient spin on them. The Goose That Got Away’ takes the Hessle Audio aesthetic of dry, meditative percussion – complete with Ramadanmanesque tangents and minuscule variations – and sticks it over a carefully pulsating LFO beat. It’s not too long before the wobble impulse sublimates itself into a section of intensely banging chords not too removed from some austere Teutonic reimagining of Joy Orbison histrionics. ‘Goose’ is constantly morphing, and its final section combines all the elements with bobbing 808 rimshots and a gruesome kick to the stomach in the form of a ferocious an sudden onset of formidable subs. All of this makes for a finale that feels about as top of the bass heap in 2011 as you can get. Turns out you can be as inventive as anyone else if you just take a bunch of trends and cram them together; square pegs in round holes never sounded so good.

On the other hand, B-side ‘Tinderbox’ seems intent on self-flagellation, whether it be through deep tunneling pillars of dread bass or the overbearing intrusion of white-hot burning analogue synth sounds. Urgent melodies rise from the depths only to melt away before resolving themselves, and diffusive dub chords hint at a Digital Mystikz past while a litany of vintage Roland sounds make up a busy, interlocking rhythm section beneath it all. These are restless, scatterbrained tracks, complete sensory overload with an excess of details and one-off flourishes, yet they sound as if they were carved from marble, vast and empty echo chambers. At the same time Objekt’s music feels intensely focused, pared back to maximum cutthroat efficiency, and is all the more interesting for it. While Bristol continues to explore a greyscale analogue house sound informed by its rich dub and dubstep history, Objekt shows that Berlin has its own stake in the game as well, and Objekt is one of the best firmly dubstep records to emerge in a while.

Andrew Ryce

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