Back catalogue: Deep Dubstep

Review: Some artists' music is perfectly suited to the album format. You could certainly form a watertight case that deep dubstep duo Author falls into that category. This second album (their first appeared on Tectonic in 2011) offers conclusive proof. Deep and atmospheric, with plenty of neat musical touches and interesting sound selections, Forward Forever is a masterclass in the horizontal possibilities of British bass music. Highlights are plentiful, from the jaunty dub pulse of "After Time" (one of a number of cuts featuring guest Quark), and piano-laden stoner hip-hop of "In The Sky" (on which Jehst and Stig of the Dump guest), to the jazzual two-step gorgeousness of "My Only".

Review: While the cover artwork may make Benton look like a moody former member of an R&B boy band, the music contained on Reflections is as robustly underground as you'd expect. Moving from Burial-ish paranoid atmospherics to deep dubstep-soul via a series of sparse, moody and emotion-rich soundscapes, it portrays the London-based producer as a man for whom the simple pleasures of form and function are just not enough. Along the way, there are growling, murky floorfillers (check the hissing "Herman's Hideout" and "Defect Mind"), dubwise steppers ("20/20 VIP") and occasional blasts of piano-laden beauty (the intricate "We're Both Lost").

Review: Previously known for their pioneering and, at times, outstanding work as Hype Williams, Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland have decided to change tack with a suitably eclectic and unusual full-length for Hyperdub. Black Is Beautiful is an odd but endearing collection that leaps between sounds, styles and genres almost at will. Opening with a blast of fuzzy jazz-rock, its 15 tracks variously touches on skewed dream-pop, E'd-up downtempo curiosities, wrongspeed electronica, calming ambience, woozy demo-pop, skittering, smacked-out rave rhythyms, droning madness and impossible-to-define strangeness. It could just be the album of the year.

Review: Given that he's been on the UK jungle scene since the mid 1990s, it's taken Birmingham-based singer/songwriter David Boomah quite a while to put together this debut album. It was, though, worth the wait, as One World Many Cultures is a fine set. Featuring his distinctive vocals (a mix of toasting and soulful singing) over a variety of sun-flecked styles - jungle, dubstep, soul, dancehall, warm, organic breaks and hip-hop soul - it boasts production from Serum, Rob & Robbie, Benny Page and Aries and Gold. The guestlist also includes mic slayers Tenor Fly, Solo Banton, Harry Shotta, Serocee and YT, guaranteeing an impressive all-star feel to proceedings. There's no doubt, though, that Boomah is the star of the show.

Review: It's been five years since James 'Breakage' Boyle last treated us to full-length exploration of his dusty, dubby, enveloping musical world. Given the half-decade gap, it's perhaps unsurprising that When The Night Comes in is a more mature set than previous explorations. While rooted in the kind of post-dubstep, trap and half-step drum & bass with which he's best known, there are nods to bustling, bass-heavy house, glitch-hop, and modern soul, with a range of vocalists swinging by to lend a hand. For all the enjoyable eclecticism, it's notable that the album's standout moment, "I On U", is a roughneck exercise in pounding jungle revivalism that doffs a cap to the early days of liquid D&B.

Review: Of all the artists past and present who claim to let their music do their talking for them, Burial is one of the elite band of whom this truly is the case. In fact, so reluctant is he to engage with the cult-of-personality hoopla that surrounds almost every modern producer and musician of merit, that he remains a genuine recluse; he has never appeared live, only one obliquely-angled publicity photograph is known to exist, and the number of interviews he has given can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet despite this, his music speaks loud and wide, and the world has been listening ever since his 'South London Boroughs' EP debut on Hyperdub in March 2005. His eponymous album, which began life as a low-key release in May 2006, is now widely regarded as the benchmark release of the ever-widening dubstep genre, picking up unanimous critical acclaim along the way, and ending the year heavily featured in many 'best of' polls. Now Burial returns with 'Untrue', a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporised R&B and smudged 2step garage. Vocal lines are blurred, smeared, pitched up pitched down and pitch bent until their content is cast adrift from their original context and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void. The album continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy. Kicking off with the skittering 2step syncopations and vocal science of 'Archangel', 'Near Dark' and 'Ghost Hardware', before long it descends into a space of radiant divas and ambience. Where 'Burial' first was humid, suffocating and unrelentingly sad, 'Untrue' is less sunless. Many of the tracks are so sweet, they become toxic, underscored by the almost geological rumbles of growling basslines. Unlike the overpoweringly melancholic prevailing mood of before, Burial's sound is now better defined as a downcast euphoria typified by the epic, muted optimism of the album's last track 'Raver'. Forget central heating the radioactivity of this album is all that you'll need to keep you warm this winter. 'Untrue' is available as full 13 track digipack CD, including recent underground hit 'Ghost Hardware', and 9 track DJ friendly double vinyl set, from which some of the beatless pieces have been edited.

Review: William Bevan has now been operating long enough under the Burial alias to be awarded a celebratory "best of" compilation by Hyperdub, the imprint he's been releasing on since 2005. This is no ordinary retrospective, though. It deliberately ignores the celebrated early portion of his career, with the artist choosing to focus not only on tracks made and released in the last eight years, but also those tucked away on B-sides and the darker corners of his EPs. It offers a fine snapshot of the subtle evolution of his sound, quietly creeping between the hushed field recordings and glacial synthesizer lines of "Nightmarket", the intensely up-beat breakbeat madness of "Rival Dealer", the haunting, near 14-minute melancholy of "Rough Sleeper" and the future garage rush of recent single "Claustro".

Review: This first album on Kode9's deeply-respected Hyperdub label comes from the mysterious Burial, who carves out a sound which sends the dormant slinky syncopations of UK garage, via radio interference, into a padded cell of cushioned, muffled bass, passing through clouds of Pole's dense crackle dub en route. 'Burial' - the album - explores a tangential, parallel dimension of the growing dubstep ouevre, using sounds set in a near-future South London submerged underwater. You can never tell if the crackle is the burning static off pirate radio transmissions, or the tropical downpour of the city outside, taking its loud-quiet aesthetic neither from the latest digital glitch software nor a mere nostalgia for vinyl's intrinsic physicality. In their sometimes suffocating melancholy, most of these tracks seem to yearn for drowned lovers, as haunted echoed voices breeze in and out, on roads to and from other times. The smouldering desire of 'Distant Lights' is cooled only by the percussive ice-sharp slicing of blades and jets of hot air blowing from the bass. Listen also for a fleeting appearance from Hyperdub's resident vocalist, the Spaceape, unravelling his cryptobiography. 'Burial' is a renegade signal from other frequencies, a tidal wave of seductive low-impact noise submerging all but the crispest syncopations, and is well on course to be universally welcomed as the standard-bearer for creative vision built upon the grime and dubstep blueprint.

Review: Under the Calibre alias, Dom Martin has never been afraid to supplement his main drum & bass work with tracks that explore different musical styles. He's gone one step further on this album for Craig Richards' label, the Nothing Special. Stripped of all jungle intent, Grow impressively shuffles between jazzy future garage, hazy post-dubstep soundscapes, warm, breakbeat-driven grooves (the early Blu Mar Ten style bliss of "Thunder Fog"), throbbing futurist dub (the brilliant "Over The Top"), and, perhaps most surprisingly for those keen on D&B, four-to-the-floor deep house (the clandestine "Mention"). The fact that it's all rather good confirms what many in D&B already knew: that Martin is a hugely talented producer.

Review: Scott Monteith is something of an electronic veteran, having plied his trade with the likes of Scape and Wagon Repair since the turn of the 2000s. Over the years, he'd steadfastly refused to stick to one style, flitting between dub techno, glitchy minimalism, jaunty electronica and paranoid ambience. Throughout, his releases have retained a heightened sense of atmosphere. Here, he delves into his varied box of tricks for eighth solo full-length. Those familiar with his style will feet right at home, as Monteith contrasts the organic-electronic fusion of "Alamut" and deep dubstep-pop of "Lazy Jane", with the ricocheting minimalism of "Punta Des Chorros" and dense dub techno of "Yard".

Review: When it comes to dubstep, Distance (AKA DJ/producer Greg Sanders) has pretty much done it all. Since making his debut in 2003, he's released two fine albums on Planet Mu, mixed a volume of the Dubstep Allstars series, and laid down a string of killer 12" singles. With this history in mind, it's perhaps unsurprising that Dynamis, his first full-length for Tectonic, sees him look further afield or inspiration. While heavyweight sub-bass and the rhythmic swagger of dubstep remain at the heart of his productions, the album also incorporates elements of dubstep, experimental electronica, IDM, electro, ambient, and even Nine Inch Nails style fuzz-rock intensity.

Review: Former turntablist DJ Foster has been one of the biggest names in the Italian dubstep scene since the mid 2000s. The timing is clearly right, then for this debut mix album. Mining the deeper end of dubstep - think evocative chords, smooth but deep basslines, skittish rhythms and intoxicated sounds - Bloodstock is a fluid and sensual journey perfect for post-club sit-downs and horizontal listening. Along the way, there are notable tracks from FNC, Occult, J Robinson (the more obviously dub reggae-influenced, Mad Professor-ish "Lions in Croatia") and Konvex, whose sparse but fearlessly rhythmic "The Fight" provides a clear highlight.

Review: Dusk and Blackdown have been operating on the progressive end of the dubstep spectrum for some time, having released their first material way back in 2005. Desaflex, their second full-length, continues where previous sets left off, offering a deep but surprisingly floor-friendly take on dubstep. Taking influences from a variety of sources - IDM, electronica, garage and UK funky, most obviously - they offer-up a series of well-polished but pleasingly analogue-sounding cuts full of energy and, most importantly, good ideas. At times, their brand of finely tuned bass-tronica sounds like early Black Dog with a dubstep pulse, at others like a futurist outing to Croydon. Throughout, it's a delightful listen.

Review: UK techno veterans Mark Broom and James Ruskin first joined forces under The Fear Ratio alias back in 2011, delivering the inventive - and hugely enjoyable - IDM-meets-techno full-length, Light Box. Here they join forces once more for a follow-up that gleefully explores similar sonic territory, whilst throwing a few more influences - most notably experimental hip-hop and vintage electro - into the pot for good measure. The result is a hugely entertaining album that naturally doffs a cap to Skam Records' dystopian roots, as well as the heavyweight soundsystem throb of dubstep, the hypnotism of dub techno, and the crackling electronic wizardry of Autechre.