2008 was the year Dubstep got angry. Approaching 2010 we see the scene turning down the red pigment and starting to embrace its sensitive side, with five artists not-so-secretly turning up the emoticon-count…

A small group of artists and labels were keen to turn away from the mechanical dystopia of dubstep (some of whom had been pushing their sound since as early as 2003). Enter Joy Orbison. This 22-year young London sprog couldn’t have asked for a faster rise to prominence if he’d stood on his Uncle Ray Keith’s shoulders and held his glorious bass-makings aloft for all to hear. The fact that his debut EP ‘Hyph Mngo’ was more hyped before its release than most electronic artists seminal releases reflects the importance of this particular track. Joy’s heavily anticipated next moves look set to strengthen his reign further…

One act actually took the brave move of following the mould set by Burial, giving it a heavy twist of mellow positivity along the way. Joining Joy in having barely left the pram, Mount Kimbie are a young London duo with a relentless obsession for off-beat pot-n-pan rhythms, ghostly synth drones and high pitched chipmunk vocals. ‘Maybes’, their heartbreaking debut track, is a Kelly Rowland Vs Nelly for the dub generation. The one minute sombre piano intro and R ‘n’ B vocal washes will split your old ticker in two.

If you’re lucky enough to catch a Mount Kimbie show you’re likely to spot another fellow gracing the stage with laptop and mic in tow. As much his own artist as he is Mount Kimbie’s other live member, his name is James Blake and the solo work he grinds out is quite simply phenomenal. Writhing free from his production paws, the offbeat stomps and musical breaths in Blake’s ‘Air and Lack Thereof’ shuffle awkwardly amidst the dream-sequence pads and the otherworldly flakes of noise that pepper the track.

Blake completes the trio of emerging young talent, but who’s getting nods at the older end of the spectrum? Well, the aforementioned Untold (Hemlock Recordings honcho) for one. With a strong jungle background behind him Untold started turning out knee-deep bass workouts only last year, but with 15 years of tune-making experience stored in his subconscious there was only going to be one outcome; deep, house-inspired bass that refuses to be pigeon-holed.

I’m quite surprised it’s taken this long to mention Paul Rose, aka Hotflush Recordings label boss Scuba, as his work for this wave of bass runs deeper than appears upon first view. In 2003 (had anyone even uttered the word “dubstep” then?) he launched his cult label, releasing his own brand of deep, minimal dubstep for all - who at the time likely didn’t amount to many - to hear. Fast-forward to the right-now and Hotflush is the place to get your record out (pretty much proven by the fact four of these artists, minus Joy, have all hosted dub plates here).

Emotion, as is blatantly evident, is the cornerstone of these artists. Surpassing substance, the lines that join the dots here are the uncontrollable urges these artists conjure up. This is beyond love, beyond dance. Beyond joy.

 

See the full article in the new issue of SuperSuper!

Words by: Jimmy Asquith

Article by supersupertv