April: 10 dubstep & grime releases you need to hear this month

Footsie 'King Original Vol 4' (Braindead)

The fourth instalment in Footsie’s seminal ‘King Original’ series and another gold mine for those looking for space-age grime beats rooted in soundsystem culture. Although revered for his on-mic persona, Footsie behind a computer is just as deadly – and moreover, exploratory – as ‘Volume 4’ reaffirms. Thematically, there are few threads running through the album (other than each track having to bang on a system), but the dizzying squarewaves and bleepy, zippy FX on opener ‘God Like’ are as forward-thinking as anything coming out of the wider instrumental sphere. The booming standout ‘Brake Light’, meanwhile, is one tip, as is the warming sub on classic dub leaner ‘One Finger’, but we’re most impressed by the sense of impending doom on hoods-up, low-end rumbler ‘Clean Windows’.

9/10