August: 9 dubstep & grime releases you need to hear this month

Bok Bok 'Salvage 2017' EP (Night Slugs)

Night Slugs label boss Bok Bok’s first solo EP in three years finds him stripping everything back and honing in on day-dot grime sensibilities. Written from a place of disillusionment (although not overtly political), even the EP’s bouncy, summer-time opener ‘Island Hopping’ is rough around the edges – and deliberately so. Made on a 12-bit sampler, ‘Salvage 2017’ offers little hope but plenty of tension; the crunching loops, dogs on time-warp grime beat ‘Know Already’ are a case in point, as are the skittish, anxious patterns and grumbling low-end on ‘Salvage Lurkin’. Final track ‘Pr Drawbridge’ – a beatless, widescreen synth epic – offers a little respite, but the overwhelming mood is grey and comfortless.

8/10