Yeah but you said “stand out tune” and the original sunbeam isn’t really that standout,I mean it’s a good tune don’t get me wrong, but it’s not that stand out of a tune.
was that 2015 though i thought that was 14
While there were some great bangers released this year - Square Off and Sinker being the obvious choices - the only dubstep release of 2015 that left a lasting impression on me was Karma’s 12" on Innamind.
It came through with a fresh and unique take on the sound in the form of Rumblefish, submerging early tearout-style riffage in a sea of bleak dread and underlying it with a ruthless industrial beat. Heal did the whole steppa’s thing better than the lackluster attempts of Lioncharge, WhoDemSound etc., and the emotive collaboration with Dubtro brings some colour and warmth to the table, even though it’s the arguably least novel cut on the plate (doesn’t it sound a bit like a Kahn beat with Mala melody to you?).
Its greatest achievement though - it was one of the very few quality releases that didn’t come with infinite reverb snares and wonky kicks à la Gantz (looking at you, Foamplate, Sleeper et al.)
Honorary shouts to Epoch’s Attraction Dub / No Dread, Iskeletor’s nutty 7" on Boomarm Nation, Kromestar’s Second Home, and probably a few others I forgot.
2 Likes
now you sir have a great opinion!
tbh I’m still not fully sold on this plate, both decent tunes and I used to really enjoy no dread for a time. But it’s not one of those releases I find myself rushing back to or anything
just another indicator of how weak this year was for dubstep.
I mean I wouldn’t say it’s been a weak year, certainly not the greatest but there have been a fair few solid releases
With the likes of Livity Sound and Tectonic leading the way, I think we witnessed far more good examples of how to incorporate dubstep’s heritage in creative and genre-defying ways than there were good examples of how the dubstep sound could be progressed within the existing 140 framework. In comparison, the latter efforts seem mostly uninspired.
Uninspired or not genre-defying doesn’t necessarily equate to a bad tune though, something like say crystal collect is hardly defying dubstep standards but it doesn’t make it less of a tune. If anything it’s more an issue of how the scene is in a sense “closed off”. Early dubstep had guys coming from different places and at the time no one really “defined” it so you could near enough get away with anything. At this point the existing dubstep framework has essentially been set and a lot of producers aren’t really deviating from it, no doubt the whole bro/dungeon phase had something to do with it.
Anyway incoherent mumbling over
What exactly is dungeon? I hear it all the time here and I think I have a relative idea of what it is. Just curious.
1 BigUp
the minimal, stripped-back sound worked by torrent of copycats following this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OFdBSHa_fA
Flee In The Fog is great
Altho am i right that Karma started doing that dunk sub roller vibes before Over Deh So?
Pocosink remix is one of the more inventive tunes as per usual king Commodore
Commodo smashed it again this year and had like what, 3 releases this year? bless up
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btteKMc3HYM- Lac - Pocosink
as sick as the remix is the original is just so gully
Yeah, you’re right. His BTC mix is full of them; I should’ve given him (even more) credit for that. His kicks are imho currently the best in the game; very characteristic, plenty of oomph in a rhythm&sound style.
Sepia release on Joe nice label is a Percy also.
I think it’s been a solid year for dubstep. Nothing outstandingly brilliant but quite a lot of consistently good stuff. Last year felt like a handful of incredible songs in a sea of mediocre stuff.
Was Slippin this year? Feel like as a benchmark stylistically that one was important.
Lot of movement that way now with lazy/behind the beat tunes like that Lionize Etc, with the detuned synths trappy drums etc from Trapped/Commodo etc can see a parallel thing happening in higher bpm with Ivy Lab/perez etc
Lol said etc like 6 times
Definitely, Versa plate was 2015 and slippin came much later.
Yeah i feel like that wonkified vibe is strong atm, when executed properly. Fundamentally Lionize & Slippin are just hench halfsteppers with proper attention to groove & space. Which is what was missing from a lot of 140 past few years.
dunno about any dubs cause i genuinely don’t think i’ve listened to a single new dubstep mix this year but from what i’ve got:
j kenzo’s expansion and mikael’s shut were prob my favourite ds tunes
i remember liking nomine’s album when it came out but only listened to it like twice and have no idea how it sounds now lol
axh - numbskull ep was decent
couple of commodo remixes were p cool specially that nook shot one
pinch & sherwood album was p good but haven’t really listened to it in months
last ds album i’ve listened to was phased entity meets echo wanderer. p good album but nothing really new. just a mix of different styles of ds