Rhythm 'n' Roots

Since it's emergence nearly a decade ago the term dubstep has always been open to interpretation, indeed that was one of the enticing things about the sound. Many have tried to define the style, stating that dubstep uses the snare on the third beat, heavy bass weight, wobble, standard quote from film etc etc. Indeed many dubstep tunes fit this description to a glove, however, it has become an umbrella term for a host of artists making tunes around 140BPM. There are the Ruskos, Cokis and Caspas making near chainsaw dub, aggressive tunes filled with drops and ready for the rewind (An amusing take on these guys by Mr Simon Reynolds in the Guardian in which he called Caspa "The Guy Ritchie of Dubstep" Forum bait,) the synthy madness of Zombie and the Purple Trinity (Joker, Guido, Gemmy), the tech-influenced 2562, TRG, Headhunter, Pevrelist, the dub influenced Mala, RSD, Mungo's Hi Fi, the many arriving from the D'n'B scene, not to mention the countless artists working somewhere in between (where do you put Hyperdub Records?!).


The emergence of the sound and it's structure comes from the dark 2-step garage which emerged at the start of the decade, associated with Ghost Records and artists such as EL-B, Horsepower Productions and Steve Gurley. For an introduction check out the Roots of Dubstep CD on Tempa or United Vibes History of Dubstep Mix. Equally, another, far superior Reynolds' article which appeared in The Wire back in the day is great read charting the progression of UK garage, 2-step etc.


Loefah, of DMZ fame, recently set up Swamp 81 Records (named after the Met police's stop and seach operation which caused the 1981 Brixton Riots), an outlet for the dark, rolling 2-step garage sound in the context today's dubstep scene. The excellent Blackdown blog has an interview with Loefah and Kryptic Minds, who are heading the first Swamp 81 releases. It sums up Loefah's thinking behind setting up the label and his reflections on the scenes progression. Listening to a preview mix (DL here) of the new Kryptic Minds stuff is dark. It is futuristic, murky 2-step, full of atmousphere, clicks and rhytmic urgency. As Reynold's ends his article, written in 1999: "two-step sounds like it has a whole world of places left to go." He was right.


Kryptic Minds Studio Mix - DL here
Kryptic Minds - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - The Weeping - Disfigured Dubz Dub
Kryptic Minds - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Leon Switch - Latin Dub - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Wondering Why - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Unititled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Leon Switch - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Three Views Of A Secret - Swamp 81 Dub
Kryptic Minds - Mercury Rising - Dub
Kryptic Minds - Bad Man - Dub
Kryptic Minds - Rubberman - Dub
Leon Switch - Untitled - Dub
Kryptic Minds - Dissolved - Swamp 81 Dub
Kryptic Minds - One Of Us - Swamp 81
Kryptic Minds - Organic - Swamp 81 Dub
Kryptic Minds - Follow Me - Dub

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