Juno Recommends Dubstep July 2018

Review: Sometime Tempa regular turned enthusiastic label-hopper AXH pops up on Boka for the very first time. As usal, there's much to set the pulse racing and get the guts trembling. He sets the tone with opener "Tokyo", where percussion hits and exotic Japanese samples fizz above a ragged sub-bass assault, before wrapping ear-pleasing far eastern melodies around a punchy dubstep groove on "Devilman". Over on the flipside, "Gamera" is another sub roller powered by ten-ton sub-bass, while "Indokashira" is as sweet and melodious as they come, thanks in no small part to the presence of a particularly bluesy vocal sample amongst the typically rolling rhythm.

Review: Bean grinding business; new Dutch driller Mob Killa makes his debut with a hot cup of joe that's so potent it'll have you hoovering your whole street. "Nation Nation" (so good he named it twice) swaggers with distant mournful horns and swashbuckling drums, "Ghost Sleep" takes us for a romantic walk down the local graveyard on a vehicle made of strange clicks and whirrs while the title track stumbles into view on the B with lilting harp plucks, stirring textures and a refreshing feeling of unease that only super strong coffee can provide. As always with Rarefied, the detail is right down to the very last groove with stunning artwork and weighty vinyl.

Review: One-time "purple" genre inventor and long-serving Bristol bass-head Joker has been in a celebratory mood of late, serving up a gaggle of EPs to mark the tenth birthday of his Kapsize label. Here he keeps up the pressure with two more killer jams. A-side "Boat" contains his usual bold, P-funk-influenced '80s synth melodies and chords bobbing and weaving above crashing waves of red-raw grime bass and punchy, trap-style beats. Flipside "Deploy" takes a similar approach while ratcheting up the dancefloor pressure, wrapping interstellar electronics and kaleidoscopic synthesizer lines around military grade drums and wobbling, bowel-bothering bass.

Review: Winston Salem, North Carolina's GourmetBeats return with White Label 002. The Te Vas EP is the second release in a series of exclusive releases featuring GourmetBeats artists. The production duo, Subtle Mind from California, masterfully rework two Latin-jazz classics into dubwise masterpieces. Subtle Mind honed in on their instrumental approach to American style bass music, on the 2016 release of their debut album titled Allusions. The duo has earned Mixmag's coveted Tune Of The Month award twice, as well as global support from the likes of tastemakers like Joe Kay (Soulection), Gantz, Joe Nice, The Widdler, Doctor Jeep, Sukh Knight and Truth.

Review: Run somewhere between Berlin, Hamburg and Bristol, Subaltern Records are back with more deep dubstep goodness by San Francisco's Saule (Infernal/Crucial Sounds) and Italy's most wanted: D-Operation Drop Family aka DPRTNDRP on the Gorilla Glue EP. They bridge the gap between low-end theory and modern grime aesthetics on the totally dope title track, until Saule goes it solo for the remainder of the EP. His B side contribution "Close Chatter" was undeniably the highlight on the EP: a serving of emotive urban melancholia on a semi-dystopian tip in the vein of legend Burial. Perfect headphones listening for the stoned ride back home on the night bus.

Review: Fresh from a fine outing on White Peach, Baltic beat-maker Teffa brings his brand of bass-weight badness to Foundation Audio. The skank is strong on A-side "General", a leisurely deep dubstep roller smothered in dub-wise effects, jaunty reggae riffs and the patois toasting of guest Conzi. The reggae soundsystem influences continue to come to the fore on the flip, first via the electroshock beats, undulating sunshine horns and mind-altering bass-weight of "Young Man In A Dance", and then via the vintage dubstep business of "Old Days". The latter sounds like a tribute to the early days of Croydon dubstep.