[Pollen]

A true rising star of the dubstep scene, Brackles is already a frequent fixture at London’s Sunday night Fwd sessions and as his recent FACT mix testifies he knows how to put the tunes together. Sharing a double-headed winner late last year with Shortstuff on Geiom’s Berkane Sol label, the pair team up proper in 2009 for “Broken Harp” on Pollen.

Sidestepping any modern conventions of dubstep, the duo opt for a sound drawing from UK garage and R’n’B as much as modern breakbeat. Immediately striking is the cleanness of the production on “Broken Harp;” where the majority of tracks associated with this genre are infused with manipulated crackles and sonic grit to add texture, it’s a true anomaly to hear something with such an untarnished quality to it. Befitting of the name, the track is a plucked string haven with typically airy harp tones rising and falling with the utmost grace. Guitar strings add the accents while the bass kind of warbles around behind the scenes, providing more of a sonic padding than any melodic direction itself. The percussion is the only element that reminds of a reference to dubstep; skippy hats coupled with a broad clap bearing roomfuls of reverb contrast against the sweetly serene sounds of the stringed instruments. It would be easy to dismiss the relative simplicity of “Broken Harp” as not completely realized, but in actual fact it’s rare to find a dubstep tune that shows such restraint, so it can almost come across as off-putting when it happens. 

For those who like things a touch more grimy, old hand Geiom adds the touches of gristle comparatively lacking in the original on his Geiomix. While he changes the bass line and tools with the melodies a little, it’s the extra flourishes Geiom adds that really bring his mix alive. He brings in different instruments to sound off alternate versions of the main melody, thereby creating more depth and scope to the track. But then the thousand and one other little fills and touches he executes in no small way also add to the beauty of this mix. Fans of Synkro will certainly dig on the original of “Broken Harp,” while the Geiomix will most likely garner more club attention. With upcoming releases slated for Apple Pips, future output from Brackles and Shortstuff looks to be met with ever increasing attention.