It’s been a while since I’ve posted any dubstep. It is unsurprisingly much harder finding blog-clearer dubstep – or at least good dubstep to post. Of course, there’s an abundance of that Cheap Thrills-endorsed brand of clubstep wonkery readily available for blogging, but the deeper, more serious dubstep is kept a lid on. Hyperdub, for instance, are particularly stringent about even low-bit-rate posts of their releases. But Pelski’s pulled together a number of top-notch free dubstep tunes.
First, I found Skyence’s ‘Precious Time’ on Echodub’s free handout of Loves compilation series. An eerie hum builds for a minute and a half before dropping into some punchy 2-step percussion:
Skyence – Precious Time [pelski highly recommends]
Emalkay’s original exemplifies the emerging mainstream sound of dubstep. Fortunately Sduk has sent through his remix, cutting up that big whirring hook. Keep an eye on Sduk who also co-writes the excellent dubstep/funky/grime-orientated Pipedown blog, also written by Pelski’s Idioteque resident Simon Says:
Bat For Lashes gets the one over from Skream. He brings more of the skippy percussive vibe, energetic snares coupled with those crooning vocals make for a wonderful, dreamy remix:
Not so much dubstep, as garage-tinged wobble, I picked this up from Pipedown too. Echoing synths and vocal snippets puntuate some serious john wonkery:
I was a little disappointed with Martyn’s set at Bestival, but his productions remain flawless offerings in the blurring of the boundaries between dubstep and techno. Here we have his dark tribal beats underlaying Fever Ray’s strained cries:Finally we’ve got a similar vocal remix from a pioneer of the sound, Burial. I also highly recommend you check out Burial’s latest track found on Hyperdub’s 5th compilation CD. Buy it here.
