For those of you who wept at the lack of a Friday Afternoon Banger this week, I have something special for you. In the time that I've been living in NYC, I've gotten really familiar with dubstep. It's been ingrained in my head for years now and with each new release, I miss the old sound more and more. The days of dark and forboding beats are long gone. Now dubstep's in a very strange phase. More dance than anything and even the original heavy-hitters are more influenced by house than dub. It's sad but true. Still, there are some dubstep soldiers out in the studios fighting the good fight and progressing their sound with one true intention. Mala, of Digital Mystikz is one of those soldiers and his newest release, Return II Space is a much-needed breathe of fresh air.
Check out the rest of the review below.
"Unexpected"
Even though Mala refuses to call his first full-length an album, it has all the characteristics of one. From the onset with "Unexpected", the always-present stepped-drum beat and beautiful tonalities create the mood. Much like his early dub plates, there's a certain environment to his beats; zen-like if you will. "Pop Pop Epic" enters with a heavy synth line and hollow "jah" mixes. Stomp away to the beat soldiers of dub. Almost blasting a similar snare from his previous beats, "Mountain Dread March" brings a throwback to the classic Mala lines. I first heard this track in Skream's 2008 "Watch the Ride" mix and frantically searched for it online. Its presence in Return II Space is much-obliged!
"Eyez"
In one of the most anticipated dub plate releases, "Eyez" grabs the crowd with a visceral dose of bass and synth laid over a commanding halfstep beat. Further down the tracklist, we find another classic and familiar Mala cut, "Livin Different". If you've followed his dj sets for the past year or so, you'll recognize this cold and somber reggae jam. Loosely-rocking and steady steppin is the name of the game.
"Return II Space"
Return II Space ends with this crescendo-laden juggernaut of a jam. When Joe Nice dropped this at the DMZ 5-year bash, the bass caused the cameras to shake and the crowd to erupt. I still get goosebumps when I hear the first bassline crush the woofers. This is Mala at his finest. This is dubstep at its finest and no one can fuck with this beat. All this praise, aside, there are some critiques to Return II Space but I won't be too nit-picky with them.
Overall, my only complaint is the lack of new content. Where are the unheard of and circulated cuts? There's hardly anything on this release that hasn't been floating around for at least a few months. I can't really complain though, with LP and EP sales plummeting, the only way a producer can make money is to release a few dub plates here and there and hope that it catches on. At least with Mala and Digital Mystikz, we know it'll be worthy of discussion. I highly suggest you pick up this 3-LP set. It's mandatory!
Comments
I have the exact same view on Dubstep, I'm so tired of "clubdub" Its all about the drop, everything else is a filler
Posted by: Stopism | July 11, 2010 3:24 PM
DL link?
Posted by: greg | July 11, 2010 9:23 PM
this stuff made my day, a much needed break from club dubstep. Pair this up with SALEM, watch the world melt
Posted by: Dusty Gorilla | July 11, 2010 11:01 PM
Fuck off with the dubstep you american pricks, it was great here in england than you cunts got wind of it and made it the commercial shit it is today, then you act like you were 'real' the whole time, get fucked.
"In the time that I've been living in NYC, I've gotten really familiar with dubstep"
point proven, come to bristol or south/east london to get familiar but if you aint you can't talk shit on it you mug.
All you ever post about it is chasing shadows this, dmz that, get fucked you have no clue hipster.
dmz topped with haunted, and thats that.
Posted by: Monz | July 12, 2010 6:10 AM
Go back through and looked what I have posted about longer than two weeks ago homie. Fools here have been throwing it down for over 6 years and that's about as how long it's been going down in the uk. T&B and te dubwar crew does it just fine...
And it'd still be called 'dark garage' if it weren't for us American cunts. Lemme know when YOU make some beats then you can talk until then you don't own shit.
Posted by: prolly | July 12, 2010 7:34 AM
I agree that DS producers were killing it a few years ago with a totally new sound and now many of them are rehashing old house and 8Bit sounds that are played and were usually done better the first time. I don't get it.
But "Livin Different" well that is a totally disgusting bass bomb. DMZ still killing it. What a great track.
As for UK vs. US - that's just stupid.
Thanks for the Friday Bangers Prols, keep it up!
Posted by: anders | July 14, 2010 8:12 AM
http://soundcloud.com/erwtenpeller/war-of-the-worlds
Posted by: Wizard | July 14, 2010 6:18 PM