Built entirely using an Atari synthesizer, a vintage drum machine, a handful of rhythmic themes, and few effects, “One Foot Ahead Of The Other” is Zomby’s crisp new nine track EP for Ramp Recordings. At times samey and formulaic, it makes heavy use of arpeggios and triplets, and is generally more playful than the producer’s previous weeded up material. One might hear this and think “video game music,” but like Quarta 330’s remix of Kode9’s “9 Samurai” it plays like a statement of what’s possible despite such limiting retro tools. The title track, for example, combines pleasant 8-bit sounds with a great 2-step beat ala USL’s “Making Love.” The understated sub-bass is a bit of a letdown, but allows the musical ideas their primacy.
Author Archive: Bill Bearden
Mount Kimbie, Sketch On Glass
July 23, 2009 – 11:27 PM
“Sketch On Glass” is the highly anticipated second release by Mount Kimbie, following their highly rated “Maybes” EP from earlier this year, also on Scuba’s Hotflush Recordings. These guys are in the zone! Pioneering a catchy brand of light-as-air, deep-as-the-ocean, feel-good dubstep, here they offer us four more superb tracks.
Current Value & Rodell, Sparse Land EP
July 13, 2009 – 9:34 PM
Much is made of tempo as it relates to time feel in the world of drum & bass and dubstep. When producers of the former try their hand at the latter, it sometimes lacks the genuine feel so essential to a good composition. With Sparse Land, Tim Hielscher (aka Current Value) and Dean Rodell deliver mixed results on an EP that combines the two genres with a touch of hard techno. This very combination is the idea behind Subtrakt, the Austrian label co-owned by Rodell.
Kromestar, Alien
March 30, 2009 – 11:50 PM
Over the past few years Kromestar has emerged as one of London’s most prolific and creative dubstep producers. Real name R. Kalsi, he also goes by Iron Soul when making grime and Droid for a kind of hybrid sound. Using a sonic palette similar to last summer’s “Attenshun,” he channels Lil’ Jon and bangs out another crunkstep classic with the release of “Alien.” A pumping bass note, as though driven by servos, chugs along under what can only be described as machine gun laser synths.
Caspa & Rusko/Unitz, License to Thrill: Part Four
March 9, 2009 – 9:47 PM
[Dub Police] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)
Individually known for wrecking decks and blowing subs with some of the largest bass lines mankind has yet encountered, Gary McCann and Chris Mercer (Caspa and Rusko, respectively) team up to create something surprisingly soulful. Absent are the usual big drops, vulgar movie samples, and even the wobble. Instead, a [...]
Joker/2000F & J Kamata, Digidesign
March 3, 2009 – 12:07 AM
[Hyperdub] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)
Joker, as his name perhaps suggests, is not one to take his productions to seriously. His tracks tend to be brash and rude, and they shun emotion like it’s a man in a collar at a dubstep rave. It’s hard to ignore the attitude of adolescent rebellion hat infects Joker tracks. [...]
Toastyboy, On Something/You’re Special
February 23, 2009 – 8:01 PM
[Halo Beats] (buy vinyl)
Having been on dub for ages, “On Something” has finally been released on Slaughter Mob’s Halo Beats label. For Damien Russell, aka Toastyboy or Toasty, it’s a departure from his signature style of breaks-influenced dubstep. Unlike earlier productions for Hotflush, Destructive, and Storming, this one doesn’t rely on sampled snares and cold [...]
2562, Embrace/Hijack
February 16, 2009 – 9:35 PM
[3024] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)
Yes! Another tune that puts the step back in dubstep and this one is exquisite. “Embrace/Hijack” is the latest left turn by Dave Huismans, aka 2562, whose alias is derived from the area code where he lives in The Hague. After a handful of singles and a full length for Tectonic, [...]