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

Slick Don 'Highs & Lows' (BAD TASTE)

Birmingham MC Slick Don teams up with Walter Ego for the first time since 2016’s ‘Brap’ on new single ‘Highs & Lows’. This time, there’s less up-front club pressure and more reflective storytelling, although Ego’s beats are still laced with raw power. “What do you know about highs, what do you know about lows?”, asks Don on the infectious hook before reeling off verses about the struggle behind the grind, as Ego’s heavyset stabs, bruising squarewave patterns and twinkling melodies do the business underneath.

8/10

Various 'HOS015' (Hear Other Sounds)

London’s Hear Other Sounds makes its first leap to wax on ‘HOS015’, a four-track salvo courtesy of label affiliates Scalade, Nights, Charlux, Fresh Paul and J-One. Scalade and Nights join forces on the gorgeous freeze-dried opener ‘Stasis’, which draws on elements of trap and grime with a solid atmospheric pull, while Charlux channels his inner eskiboy on ‘Chanel Handbag’: think growling bass tones, timely eski flutes and trickling, bleepy FX. Elsewhere on the release, Fresh Paul – who was responsible for one of our favourite instrumental grime EPs of 2014 – goes in hard on ‘Janet Again’, a snarling, off-kilter journey through a mixture of classic grime sounds, rasping bass, haunting atmospherics and skewed melodies. Finally, closing track ‘The Fever’ rounds off a really strong 12” as J-One brings two-step swing into the mix, only with moodier arrangements and a thumping bassline.

8/10

Swi$jay 'Greaze' (Thanks For Trying Records)

Working under the tutelage of The Last Skeptik, young grime beatmaker Swi$jay is one for the future. His debut single ‘Greaze’ harks back to the early days of grime production: it’s rough around the edges, but uses classic techniques to build tension as he deploys strings, chops up warped bass tones and knits it all together with skippy beat patterns. All it’s lacking is an MC for now, but Swi$jay should be on your radar.

7/10

Various 'Slimzos All Stars Volume 1' (Slimzos)

Slimzos showcases four of the new generation from the label camp. From AS.IF KID’s pulsing 8-bar workout ‘Bombay Mix’ to Dallen’s ghostly jam ‘Demons’, this is ruffneck grime production at its best – no frills, all the spills. Our tip is Garna’s demonic, twisting beat ‘Killer’, a track that seems to zap away at your soul as you listen, while Stirling’s ‘Alleyway’ signs off with more of a trap feel – think booming, iced-out 808 patterns and classic gun-cocking FX.

7/10

Fallow 'Loco/Touch Ya Knees' (Blood Frenzy)

Manchester’s Fallow has been a fixture in instrumental grime circles for the last few years, and although his debut on wax has taken longer than expected, the delay feels fully vindicated here. A-side ‘Loco’ is a killer starting point, as glossy, earworm melodies and razor-sharp claps sit above a snarling, heavyset beat, while B-side ‘Touch Ya Knees’ is all pitched-up dancehall vocals and thumping, 4x4 bassline rhythm.

8/10

Various 'Weightless Volume 2' (Different Circles)

Here are six new tracks from Mumdance and Logos’ genre-defining imprint, including their own crackly, washed-out and beatless cut ‘Cafe Del Mar’. The follow-up to the label’s first ‘Weightless’ EP, this time Glasgow’s Inkke, Italian producer Shapednoise, Fis, Sharp Veins and Local Action’s Yamaneko are also on board to showcase grime-leaning beat abstractions at their most extreme. Fis’ screeching, deconstructed masterpiece ‘Angels Of The Water Table’ is a standout, as is Yamaneko’s slow-burning ‘Shadow Temple Early’ and the hypnotic arrangements of Inkke’s spiralling ‘Pioneer’.

8/10

Deadcrow 'Light Trails' EP (Terrorhythm)

More widescreen, cinematic club music courtesy of Plastician’s Terrorhythm imprint, as Deadcrow returns to the label after his 2016 debut ‘Night Wonder’. Although ‘Light Trails’ pays homage to the Wave movement (an online community of producers skewing grime and cloud-wave rap), it certainly isn’t defined by it, as the bright, sci-fi fantasy of the opening ‘Viper’ suggests. There are signature booming trap patterns throughout (see ‘Strayed’), while the beautiful, hi-def melodies Deadcrow seems to have made his calling card come alive on standout track ‘Blade’. This is a sparkling intro to a promising beatmaker.

8/10

Repulsion 'Repulsion' EP (Substantial Audio)

Killer dub pressure on fledgling label Substantial Audio, courtesy of US-based producer Repulsion. Opener ‘Agreement’ offers a rattling, percussive introduction to an EP that packs a tonne of bass weight, as evidenced by the whirling, mind-binding bass patterns and euphoric breakdowns on second track ‘Easy On The Syrup’. Third track ‘Sector C’ follows ‘Agreement’ in honing in on a percussive sound, this time melding together tribal drumwork and angular bass textures, before ‘Seekers’ closes out with more percussive rattles and snaps providing the foil for short bursts of frenzied bass explosions.

7/10

Bazza 'Conduct' (Triangulum)

Bristol producer-on-the-rise Bazza returns to DJ Cable’s Triangulum hub for his first outing of 2017. ‘Conduct’ marks an excursion from the harder, 8-bar style beats he’s made in the past, instead taking a lusher, romanticised route through grime. An ode to producers such as Dark0, he ties together bright, full-bodied string melodies with booming claps and crunching beats.

8/10