Juno Recommends Dubstep November 2020

Review: Oofff.... Ragga tip business from Sub Basics right here as he lands on J:Kenzo's Lion Charge with two special lick-ups. 'Walk & Skank" is exactly what you'd hope it would be... The classic Jah Screechy sample that SL2 flipped into a rave monster all those years ago. No dibby-dibby cheese on this one though, just pure anthemic pressure. "Forward" carries the same weight. Creeping into the light with warm harmonics and a prowling, almost techno-like lead, it's another killer cut from the Temple Of Sounds don.

Review: ZAMZAM goes bang bang once again as the dutty dubstep label hits release number 80. Cause keeps it utterly filthy on the a-side with 'Hiss,' a heavyweight nobler with a menacing bassline that's so fat it wiggles as it walks. Crashing hits and sci-fi synth motifs make this a most astral crawler. 'Palms' has whirring synths and a bassline curried oceans below. Freaky vocal sounds are haunting and dark and add tension to the track as it prowls along through an utter wasteland. Atmospheric stuff, to be sure.

Review: After a couple of years in which he released very little - somewhat surprisingly - Dom Tarasek AKA Commodo returned to action in May via the creepy trip-hop-meets-dubstep paranoia of 'Loan Shark' on Black Acre. This speedy follow-up for the same Bristol-based label is similarly terse and tense, with impressive A-side 'Stakeout' showcasing Terasek's ability to blend punchy dubstep drums with musical motifs and foreboding electronic sounds more often heard on 1960s British spy movie flicks and unsettling B-movie horror flicks. Elsewhere, 'Transit' is a deeper, darker and far more paranoid affair marked out by some intriguing percussion programming, while 'Crooked Law' sounds like Mezzanine-era Massive Attack after several hits on an oversized bong.

Review: For Dubs Galore's 007 release they leave us shaken and stirred as label boss Von D goes toe-to-toe with two close compadres Mr K and Arta for two 10" system bubblers. 'Dem Tuff' lights the fire with bulbous kicks, wafting flutes and snake-like percussion as K and D lock in for a 2am heads down stamper. 'Let Down' takes us further into the night as Arta and Von strip the elements right back into something more authentically dub. Dreamy pads, rolling hang drums and a series of strange bass tones underneath. Sometimes the old ways are the best...

Review: Celebrating 10 years of Butterz and keeping spirits up with killer reloads until brighter days return, Newham Generals dig deep into the vaults for two of their earliest cuts and two long, long, long awaited dubs - many of which featured on their game-changing 'Best Of Newham Generals' mixtape back in 2006, and all of which are remastered by Joker. Dubs include the Pig & Dan style UK edge to 'Frontline' that still prods and pokes with tension and early wordplay exploration 'Humpty Dumpty' while the reissues are two veritable foundation tracks from 2005: the spooky grime stepper 'War Wid' and the rasping, venomous 'Prangman'. Seminal.

Review: In the press blurb accompanying their latest EP, Subchaser, Truth's Andre Fernandez and Tristan Roake describe their return to Deep Medi Musik as "coming home". Certainly, it was Mala's label that helped them establish their reputation and the Digital Mystikz man has a knack of signing their best material. There's certainly plenty to get the bloody pumping across the EP, from the warped, machine-gun style wobble bass pattern, hot-stepping beats and clandestine electronic sounds of the title track, to the mellow chords, undulating high-range electronic melodies, rumbling bass and hot-stepping beats of 'Shadow Samurai'. Also worth a listen is 'Tui', a wonderfully evocative, textured, musically layered and atmospheric collaboration with legendary New Zealand producer Tiki Taane.

Review: Bristol boy Khan remains a leading light on the bass heavy end of the city's electronic spectrum and follows up a thrilling three-way collab with Ishan Sound and Rider Shafique from earlier in the year with a new down and dirty ditty. 'Imhotep' (named after an Egyptian chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser, who was also an architect responsible for the Djoser's step pyramid and high preset of the sun god Ra) is a mysterious tune with real warmth. The skeletal beats and hits make the groove while sustained pads and distant motifs all draw you in deep. Boofy remixes it into something a little more direct but just as deep.

Review: Tyler Myroon AKA Abstrakt Sonance has released some of his most potent music since joining Truth's Deep, Dark and Dangerous label, so hopes are naturally high for this first missive for the imprint in two years. Title track 'Ishtar' is particularly potent, with the self-proclaimed "bass music force" wrapping clandestine chords and creepy melodies around punishing dubstep drums and gargantuan sub-bass. The EP's other instrumental cuts, 'Behind Closed Eyes' and 'Nightmares', offer deeper and hazier variations on a similarly bold and aggressive theme, while the two vocal cuts - and in particular opener 'We Nuh Pay', where Killa P, Long Range and Crowell trade verses - sound like future party-starting classics.

Review: Last spotted on Strictly 140's Overseas VA LP, Spanish new-gen bass chef serves up his biggest dish to date on Subaltern. Linking up with longstanding baron XL One for the opener, 'Cronauer'. Unhurried, twinkling but laced with a bitter bass bite, it sets the dark dream tone. 'Piranha Plant' and 'Dorsia' see Kodama going solo. The former is a woozy arpeggiated charmer that sits on the hip-hop side of the beat spectrum. The latter hums with similar melancholy but much more of an edge to the drums and that ominous waspy bass tone. Graveyard grooves.