Juno Recommends Dubstep October 2021

Review: Major league reissue business as enigmatic Hyperdub alumni Zomby returns to his early work and brings it back to the future on a series of Warehouse Rave revisits. For 'Spliff Dub' it's all about that classic Billy Boyo sample that Zomby flipped in swaggering style back in 2008 and for good measure he's brought in the massive Sukh Knight remix that arguably became even bigger than the original with its big organs and even bigger basslines. Massiveness... And there's more to come. Keep the evil away.

Review: Belgian label DUPLOC continues to break new ground in a world where bass, dubstep and grime all intersect. This new split 12" from Oddkut and Duploc has already been getting high profile plays from dons like Kenzo, N-Type, Ternion Sound and ENiGMA Dubz, and for obvious reasons. Oddkut's two joints are dark, stark, slow motion wobblers with devastating bass weight. Ninety then gets trippy and late night with a mystic warrior lead and steel plated, stepping drums on 'Ghoul' and then lays down a dark, high-pressure bit of minimalist bass to lock you to the floor on 'Skull Territory.' Fierce stuff.

Review: Putting the DUB into Dublin, Irish engineer Sabab returns to J:Kenzo's Artikal with more sub bass guidance. Once again taking the classic traditional dub approach, 'Out Of Step' is a cavernous roomy number with plenty of space for those big reverbs and echoes. Remix-wise Quasar steps up to step out with an added layer of twisted bassline pressure. Creepy, slimy, tense. Just how we like it. Step out or step aside.

Review: Feeling like there's not enough Francais in your life? You're not alone, Frenchless feel that vibe too. But that's literally all we know about this mystery duo at this minute. All we have are these heavy pressure sounds, but it's more than enough to go on for now... '3C 273' takes us to the stars on a rocket of absurdly dense kicks, a menu of percussive sounds and textures and haunting eastern pipes. 'Grunks' meanwhile takes us much deeper into their anonymous French-dry hearts with a lolloping, woozy system melter where the kicks once again take the lead and every vibey element duly follows. Merci la Frenchless... Qui que vous soyez!

Review: The return of the Belgian boss Zygos. Back on Encrypted, where his journey began five years ago, here he once again lays down some genuinely unique moments of 140 pressure. 'Get Nowhere' is a powerful star-gazing piece that sets the tone with its euphoric synth tones that wouldn't go amiss on a Booka Shade or Ame record. Elsewhere 'Bottom Line' is all about the spiralling drones that cascade with tension while 'Jamais' closes the EP with a sweet off-kilter eastern steel string / pipe riff that seems to skate over the beats like a slide guitar. One of a kind.

Review: Fire in the VIP hole! For their latest vinyl outing Fat Kid On Fire take an interesting approach and ask artists to return to previous tunes on the label and give them a VIP booster. The result are four favourites all given special new twists as Ourman, Roklem, Substrada and WZ all go in on their own work. Highlights include a whole new level of aggy mysticism on 'Calibre VIP' and the percussive new twist on 'Nirdsong VIP' but the whole EP absolutely sizzles with freshness.

Review: Fent Plates unleash a big old reissue right here as they revisit on of Vacant's most pivotal records - 'Nocturnal'. Landing after years of self-releases, this was his first label release that put him on the map as one of dance music's most intriguing, beguiling and unique post garage artists. His status still intact, this four year old release still sounds every bit as timeless as it did back in 2017 from the disarming ambience of 'Farewell' to the cosmic two-step of 'Left Behind'. Grab this if you didn't catch it first time around.