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

Klasey Jones 'Foreign Buyers Club' EP (Terrorhythm)

Plastician spent much of 2016 touting Klasey Jones as a future star and, on the evidence of his debut EP for his Terrorhythm imprint, he’s not wrong. Clearly inspired by the instrumental strains of UK grime and US cloud rap, Jones also takes cues from 80s synth music, anime and video game scores on ‘Foreign Buyers Club’, merging his various influences to create a one-of-a-kind sound palette. The various phases of gorgeous, spacey opener ‘Area 55’ are a case in point, as the track dawdles along with languid trap beats, hushed melodies and dream-state vocal sampling. Elsewhere, ‘Gang Gang’ deals in pure romance (think luscious string melodies in the foreground, understated bass tones in the back) while third track ‘Yoko & Ano’ switches things up yet again, this time lending itself to the widescreen, arcade-inspired sounds of producers such as Joker. And finally, our tip ‘Cement’ – an icy, dizzying ode to cloud wave, dotted with 80s sound references – is inspired. Some debut.

8/10

Jook 'Juice' (Sector 7 Sounds)

Brigton-based producer Jook’s debut on wax has been a long time coming. Sector 7, the label run by Boofy and Lemzly Dale, feels like a fitting home for ‘Juice’, the A-side of a record that manages to make the warmest, albeit darkest, of sub feel utterly frozen over. For just under a minute, it’s effectively beatless, ushered along with choral sampling and scattershot snares, before the fizzing low-end kicks in like a baseball bat to the chest plate. It’s a simple formula but, when done as well as this, it’s undeniably good.

9/10

Kelly Dean 'Bloodline' EP (Silent Motion Recordings)

Kelly Dean turns in four new tracks for US label Silent Motion with some help from lyricists Armanni Reign and iLL Chill, as well as Chestplate signee Leon Switch. Opener ‘Bloodline’ is all grinding pressure and very little else, with Armanni Reign’s lyrics reminding us of Eminem’s ‘Mom’s Spaghetti’ verse from ‘Lose Yourself’; second track ‘Toecutter’, featuring Leon Switch, pulls off snarling pressure and cranking, mechanical fuzz far better. ‘Wasteland’ continues along a similar theme, only eerier and with more neatly-utilised space on the beat that lends itself well to creating atmosphere, before iLL Chill takes us on an unnecessary trip back to 2008 on ‘Binary Flow’. Flashes of promise, but dated.

6/10

Horror 'Hydro' EP (Macabre Unit Digital)

Macabre Unit releases new music at a rate of knots, and Tony Rocky Horror’s latest EP is a good entry point for the raw dubstep it champions. Opener ‘Hydro’ deals in warped sci-fi sounds, squelchy bass pressure and oddball drum patterns, while ‘Gambit’ treads a similar path. The sparsity continues on the snarling ‘Terraform’, before standout ‘Soothsayer’, again defined by de-tuned square waves and mechanical pressure that can feel tinny in places, signs off.

6/10

Von D 'Ancient Kush/Astronomical Clock' (Trojan Audio)

French dubstep producer Von D has always been a reliable source of inspiration, particularly during testing times for the genre, and he doesn’t disappoint here. Crunchy A-side ‘Ancient Kush’ utilises classic dubstep lean, pressure and rhythm within his own intricate web of idiosyncratic sounds: rattles, clicks, cranks, squawks and twisted, industrial echoes. He then joins forces with Tai One on ‘Astronomical Clock’, which ups the sub pressure and throws distorted bass lines, haunting layers of melody and long phases of beatless uncertainty into the mix.

7/10

Polonis 'Farmer' EP (Pear Drops)

Young Scottish beatmaker Polonis made his name with a series of killer grime edits, but here he shines on an EP for Bristol’s Pear Drops collective. On ‘Farmer’, he dabbles in sugary, crystalline melodies and sino themes, while on ‘G1’ he chops and screws in a harder, brasher fashion that nods to the work of producers like Gundam. ‘Farmer’ remixes come from Letta, who adds skippy, playful beats and plenty of gunshot FX, and Name Less, who opts to deconstruct Polonis’ original into a woozy, dream-like pulp.

7/10

Mr K 'Rib Rattle' EP (Wheel & Deal)

Scorching pressure from Mr K on a record that takes no prisoners. From the power of opener ‘Chit Chat’ to the warm, dizzying sub and cranking, industrial backdrop to ‘Dope Fiend’, this is an EP built for impact. ‘O.G’ stomps along with a harder purpose and maybe a touch less finesse, before ‘Pho’ closes out with flashes of pan-pipe melody and some booming sub rumbles.

8/10

TMSV & Taiko feat Flowdan 'Bang Thing/Shot' (Rua Sound)

TMSV & Taiko join forces on a monstrous collaborative 12” for Rua Sound, drafting in Flowdan on sampling duties for A-side ‘Shot’. If distorted, low-end frequencies, crunchy dubstep bass pressure and short, floaty bursts of melody are your thing, this ticks every box; it might be too cluttered away from the club, but this is purely sound system music. Grizzly B-side ‘Bang Thing’, meanwhile, finds inspiration in spacious, Spyro-esque beat programming.

7/10

P Jam feat. Champion 'Pepper Pot/Chalice' (Hardrive Records)

Killer, vinyl-only fare from rejuvenated OG producer P Jam. Bleepy, frenetic A-side ‘Pepper Pot’ is, in parts, classic P Jam, although it does nod to the warm, tropical, funky notes that were hallmarks of B-side collaborator Champion’s early output, too. On the flip, the two combine on standout track ‘Chalice’, a surprise dubstep heater defined by pure low-end outage and punctuated by trademark P Jam tyre-skid samples, bright, glitchy FX and muffled dub-era vocals.

8/10

Biome 'View From The Edge' (On The Edge)

Biome returns with a bubbling new three-tracker, tapping into a sound that marries influences from dubstep, funky and UK techno as well as various other strands of hybrid bass abstraction. ‘Run’ is deftly laid out, with tribal drums underpinning rumbling bass and blaring purple synth sounds, while ‘Remembrance’ continues on a similar tip, only tenser. The jittery ‘Niagra’ is rooted in angular bass tones and classic breaks, but leans more toward footwork and juke than dubstep stylings.

8/10