Every now and again Coki pokes his head above the parapet and drops a mad tune from a great height; ‘Goblin’, ‘Red Eye’ and ‘Burnin’ all spring to mind. Following this trend, his latest blast of sporadic genius is ‘Emergency’, a step back to the days when dubstep was frightening and the bass kicked harder than a ’90s rave mule. Wheeled up about a million times by Chef on Rinse FM the other day, it’s as heavy as a hefty dose of swine flu and will make you want to swing your grandma by her legs until you take off like a fucking helicopter. Madness.
Not only does he bombard the world with mediocre tunes and clog up music channels with his pudgy bulldog face, Timbaland has now claimed to have created dubstep. Recently talking to Danny Walker from RWD, Timbaland discusses the UK scene as if he somehow conceived it in his super-womb, possibly around the time he incubated Kanye West’s foetus in a nest made of Missy Elliot’s liposuction run-off.
“The UK scene”, he muses, “they’re always telling me that I started it. You have Dub-bass…”. George Lamb — yes, George Lamb was there — interjects at this point asking if he’s talking about dubstep and Timbaland exasperatingly continues “Yeah, dubstep but I call it dub-bass [as the room laugh]. It’s the bass that drives the music. It’s funny cos they went back to some of my old music that really created that sound and just, instead of going fast, they went slow with more bass. To me, I like it but they call it dubstep. I like how they dance to it now, it’s cool.”
So basically, Timbaland reckons he initially created and further inspired dubstep. What. The. Fuck? He thinks that Horsepower, El-B and Oris Jay were sitting about listening to Bubba Sparxxx and Destiny’s Child thinking “How do I make thiiiis?!”. My neighbour’s sausage dog makes better bass than Timbaland when it farts. He’s a lunatic.
His half of Dubstep Allstars Vol. 7 was sweeter than an iced kitten with a mini-cast on its injured paw and 99.9% of everything he produces is focused, resonant and downright magnificent. Honestly, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who has a single bad word to say about Bristol heavyweight Ramadanman…apart from perhaps a pocket of jealous producers frantically trying to emulate the fluidity of his sound.
In light of this, it should come as no surprise that I’m infatuated with his recent remix of Scuba’s ‘Tense’. A seemingly frenetic tune that appropriates its name by threatening to buck the constraints of tempo yet beautifully pacing itself via a simple bobbing synth, it’s a masterful rework of Scuba’s hypnotic original. Hints of IDM merge with the skeletal majesty of dubstep as a break-neck rhythm inexplicably maintains anodyne dignity. The NHS should play this in ambulances as they race the injured to hospital…no-one would slow down but everyone would be as calm as a sloth with a cold one.
Appearing on the latest release on Scuba’s cunningly titled Abucs imprint, ‘Tense’ is the b-side to ‘Eclipse’ on ABUCS007 and whilst not completely over-shadowing the title tune, is certainly my favourite of the two offerings. Listen below and don’t forget to support the bad motherfuckers behind it!
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
2 to be exact. Don’t really know how new/old they are, I’m going on the Myspace play count. Nice and long but with plenty of variation too. Bass Clef is probably one of the most honest musicians out there and these newbies showcase that perfectly; nothing too fancy but no attempted disguises either and it all just works. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching a lot of Thomas the Tank Engine recently but I’m hearing a lot of nostalgic sounds and it’s bloody awesome. Fresh Prince snares and squeaky synths all taking me back to a Caribbean beach in the 80s. Shit dude back to the office next week, got a stock market to bring to it’s knees (again).
Myspace is still holding it’s own and you can find these 2 new tracks there. If you can’t wait that long then here’s a live recording to get you all excited about falling out of your hammock and seeing one of the UK’s finest live musicians. He’s playing at The Big Chill. Love live analogue.
The last 12 months have been pretty large for Skream. His remix of La Roux’s ‘In for the Kill’ shot the Croydon producer’s profile through the roof of dubstep and into the glossy pantheon of mainstream notoriety. Numerous remixes, unquantifiable media exposure and hell of a lot of touring later, the godfather is back. This time with something huge. Outside the Box, set to drop on Tempa on July 27, is the 14-track follow-up to 2006’s Skream!. Featuring appearances from Murs, Sam Frank, Freckles and La Roux, as well as production collaborations from the likes of dBridge and Instra:mental, the album is shaping up to be an interesting affair. One I am certain will surpass the disappointing lows of Rusko’s recent OMG.
The tracklisting released a couple of days ago comprises a few tunes we’re already familiar with – such as ‘Wibbler’ and ‘I Love the Way’ – alongside some which are yet to surface. Judging by what I’ve currently heard though, I’m excited for this release and am expecting big things. Things big enough to wobble my woofers and make my pet hamster’s exercise ball bounce up and down like a cheap petrol station football. Melodic bangers notwithstanding, of course.
Bristol boys Koan Sound yesterday divulged the existence of two new tunes scheduled for release on Screwloose at some point later this year. ‘Hesitation’, a collaboration with Southampton’s downtempo maestro Asa, is a beatifically tranquil track driven by celestial vocals and lo-fi garage inspired drums. It’s quite a peaceful listen and should probably be played at the start of the 10 o’clock news tonight to calm everyone down about this election, hung parliament and who can look the least stressed malarkey.
The second tune, ‘Coast to Coast’ is a completely different vibe and fits the filthy profile more in line with what we’re used to from the Koan camp. The bassline is unpredictably sporadic and diverse and sounds like Batman beating up a rapist in a fucked up Philip K. Dick inspired dystopian future. Seriously. It makes me feel like I’m being subjected to a Voight-Kampff test whilst Harrison Ford tries to figure out if I’m a robot or not…
MP3 Disclaimer All MP3s posted on Box Musique are intended for promotional use only. We actively encourage our visitors to support artists and buy their music. If you would like us to take down a particular track, e-mail david@boxmusique.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
28 June 2010 
20 June 2010 
19 June 2010 
17 June 2010 
01 June 2010 
08 May 2010 
