The explosion of interest in dubstep since Christmas has brought with it a new fan base. In dubstep, any division made between the producer/DJs and the fans is artificial: the ravers of the present are the producer/DJs of the future, just as the current stars used to stand in the crowd, scheming and dreaming. To celebrate this, it's New Dubstep Producer month on Pitchfork. Please find below a subjective, non-comprehensive dive into the newest, freshest talent out there.
First up is Zomby. His sound is pure riffage with carefully chosen synth sounds that reference grime. Jammed right up in your ribs like a loaded rebore, the maximalist riffs are the inverse of halfstep's negative space chase, as they drive the tracks energetically onward not unlike a Coki DMZ riddim. Gems to hunt down are the raggariffage "Ganjaman Dub" and melodic feminine pressure "Memories".
One of the biggest tunes over the past few months from a relative newcomer is Quest's "Mirage". A west London producer who rolls with the same Anti Social Entertainment camp that gave you No Lay from Unorthadox and Rinse FM's Heny G, you can hear "Mirage" on Joe Nice's March 06 show. (In fact all of Joe's shows are a great resource for new producers, it's one of the many things Joe does well. Check his "ar-chives" here). "Mirage" is a dubby summer flute jam with a hint of the same ticking clock sounds DJ Premier once used on a Royce Da 5'9" beat. Lush.
A lot of hype this year has been around the internationalisation of dubstep, so it's nice to see Croydon-- the birthplace of dubstep-- can still step up with new talent. Ironsoul aka Kromestar has received plays from some of the biggest dubstep DJs including Youngsta, Skream, Chef, and N Type. An entry point is his "Kalawanji" riddim. It's forthcoming on the mysterious Deep Medi label. Watch out for Ironsoul's production partner Cessman, too.
There has been lots written about Bristol-based H.E.N.C.H. crew, mostly by Gutterbreakz' blog. The crew has several members who produce, including former BMX rider Headhunter, Whiteboi, Wedge, and Komanasmuk. MC Jakes, of d&b fame, is a member as is MC Scorpio, while darkcore d&b big hitter Tech Itch shares a label with Headhunter called Ascension. The d&b connections are interesting given the obvious parallel with the birth of jungle in London and the formation of a strong outpost in Bristol by Roni Size and his Full Cycle camp a decade ago. And while we're not talking Mercury Music Prizes just yet-- the initial focus seems to be dark halfstep-- it's great to see a new concentration of talent building their own powerbase and using the advantages of collectivism to grow. With Headhunter's recent signing to dubstep foundation label Tempa, his appearance in Distance and Youngsta sets and the immanent release of "Sleepwalker" on Tempa, he seems to be making rapid progress for someone who, by his own admission, only recently began producing.
The U.S. dubstep powerbase continues to grow around two lynchpins: Joe Nice and New York's Dub War parties. Most prominent of the new producers is Moldy. While a little sonically clean, Moldy has a good ear for melodies and a healthy work rate. Check Joe Nice's "ar-chives" for loads of Moldy riddims. Also based out of the U.S. are Secret Agent Gel, Mathhead, Revol'Dub, and DJ Craze cohort Juju. The latter, already well known for his d&b productions, has an interesting take on tension-through-delay, as on the tasty digital "Youthman Dub".
Even further afield from dubstep's birthplace and core sonic traits are a New Zealand producer and Japanese producer united by a common sinodub thread. Goth-Trad might be based in Japan, but his sound resonates with the UK Sinodub/grime experiments of Jammer, Kode 9, and Horsepower. "Back to Chill" has a particularly incredible intro. Over in NZ, Pollyw*g might have an unintentionally racist name but "Chinese Whisper V01" haunts and crackles like it's lost in a vast interior wasteland.
Back in the UK people should check for Skream's brother Hijak, Cluekid, N Type, and his mate Walsh. On an aggier tip don't sleep on 8Bit's "Monstaz" and Luke Envoy's massive "Honour Kill". Although perhaps not newcomers, Appleblim and Shackleton are always good bets for coming up with something fresh, especially given 'Blim now has his own Riko VIP.
Grime is all about two 'm's these days: mixtapes and MySpace. Both have 'p's' in common too. MySpace is good for promotion, mixtapes good for pounds.
The line between grime mixtapes and albums is increasingly indistinguishable. Grime mixtapes aren't even actually mixed and they're focused around the best of one artist. Bar the influence of a label's A&R and the inclusion of the odd sneaky commercial r&b revocal, what's really the difference between a mixtape and an album?
What difference mixtapes could really make is the final nail in grime vinyl's coffin. £7 for 20 tracks in CD quality or two tracks for £8.99 on vinyl-- a format the majority of grime's fan base who aren't DJs don't even have the equipment to play? No contest. Given the cheapness of pressing CDs, their potential large audience and big profit margins, is it any surprise every MC and their gran are all about mixtapes right now?
Leading the pack is T.H.E. M.O.V.E.M.E.N.T. aka Mercston, Ghetto, Scorcher and Wretch 32. Ex-NASTY member Ghetto's already working on his second, but it's newcomers Mercston and Scorcher that have hit the road running.
Both mixtapes-- Scorcher's Simply the Best and Mercston's Da End of Da Beginning-- are mixed bags: four or five good tunes with some fillers and freestyles, but at £7 a go it's well worth it, though someone should have drawn the line at Scorcher's Tina Turner intro/outros. His collaboration with Ghetto on "Talk of the Ghetto" is ruff, all strange crash cymbols and 80s rock drum rolls. "Beef With?" is yet rawer still, a brutally cold monologue aimed directly at a local foe. "I should carve up his bigface/tryin' to act like he's a star on a big stage/like I ain't the reason there's a scar on his ribcage/Yeah that's right/I carved up the kid/marked him for life..." Two tracks later and he's reconnecting with his childhood on a cheerful jam "80's Baby", like it's smiley culture time again. Next track he's flowing over Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". If you think that's weird, check the video grindie freestyle over an acoustic guitar on Wretch 32's MySpace. Grime MCs? Comfortable with artistic inconsistencies? Yup.
Mercston's mixtape contains less howlers and one total killer. Good Old Days ft Ghetto, which starts with DJ EZ's intro tune, reconnects grime this time with the scene that it severed itself from, UK garage. Recalling their fanboy memories from 'dem day dere,' Ghetto nails it with the bars: "Check check/ It's G-to-the-H/ And I'ma get the old school scene to relate... keep movin'/ Keep it movin'." While grime's leap forward from garage brought benefits from switching from a DJ-based to an MC/artist-based scene, namely the potential to market itself via the powerful mediums of TV and radio, the internal anger that the scene perpetuates has killed the act of dancing, and with it the club scene (not to mention also scaring off mainstream TV and radio). You get the sense that the grime MCs reminisce wistfully about UKG simply because back then there were big clubs where people actually danced, and some of those people were actually female.
Someone who clearly understands this is man of the moment JME. No stranger to the mixtape-- Boy Better Know is out, Poomplex Vol 1 is due about now-- he was on the Roll Deep Rinse show recently (download it here) playing female vocal mixes of his brother Skepta's old school garagey riddim Duppy, and chatting about how this summer everything's going, erm, "tropical." Not content to sit about, there's a tropical myspace page already. Joke or not, it does suggest an attempt by grime to step away from the male-centric war/guns monoflow and re-engage with female fans who want to have fun and possibly even dance a bit. While this might seem like a step back from the experimental dark side of grime that initially sonically wowed so many fans, if it's a choice between the scene imploding/exploding into violence, or diversifying to become more inclusive, it's worth supporting-- just so long as Cindi Lauper or Tina Turner refixes aren't involved.
One producer hell-bent on diversifying grime's fanbase is Statik, the man behind the indie/grime fusion movement grindie. After spending time refixing indie bands and getting grime MCs to revocal them (grindie's initial offering), his second studio album Broadband is finished and extends the movement. It features Wiley, Fire Camp, Lethal B, Scorcher, Skepta and others, alongside people from the indie world such as Babyshambles, the Rakes, and the Holloways.
While it reeks of desperation that grime has to collaborate with tepid indie acts to get coverage (notably in the NME), Statik's efforts seem to stem from a genuine interest in finding new musical avenues-- risk takers and boundary breakers should be encouraged. It's a relationship of mutual benefit, where grime gets PR exposure and the navel-gazing monocultural indie scene gets its eyes open to multicultural urban Britain, if only for a second. To deny Statik room to collaborate with indie acts on artistic grounds ("Is it 'authentic' grime if it has guitars?") is to further reinforce the cultural isolation and harsh circumstances grime acts live in. Isn't there a case to be made that anyone who says "real" grime is only the gun lyrics badman style is condemning MCs to the negative cycles of their current situation? That's why the Roll Deep album was so key: it might have been an artistic departure from their raw pirate radio style-- that frankly I'd rather listen to-- but I wouldn't condemn them or any other UK "road" act for wanting to make a legitimate living from urban music. Except, of course, if Cyndi Lauper or Tina Turner refixes are involved.
Martin Clark's new single Lata / The Danger Line / Crackle Blues / Crackle Blues (Burial remix) is out in June on Keysound.
Also check his debut single with Dusk, or download his latest mix from his blog for free.
Next week: Dave Steflox on the month in dancehall/reggae.
