One of the projects I am working on at the moment is the tenth edition of my Drop The Hammer series of crate-digging mixes. For the tenth edition I am utilizing a concept I got from the /r/realdubstep subreddit a while back – a mix composed entirely of dubstep remixes (one of their other ideas, of dubstep white labels, is something that I am saving for the future). In the end, I’ve picked twenty tracks for this mix, but in the process I ended up discarding a whole bunch of great tunes, because they didn’t quite fit the flow of the mix and there was no logical place to include them. This happens with every mix I do.
So, for today’s edition of the Tuesday Time Machine, here are three choice ‘leftovers’:
The Body Snatchers – I Like What I See (Joker Remix) (Passenger)
First up is this awesome remix from Bristol’s purple maestro, Joker. The original might be a fairly straight-forward fidget house tune, but this remix is all brightly-colored synth squiggles, cavernous drums and pulsating bass. Probably one of his lesser-known productions, but still a fine piece of work.
Pinch – Get Up ft Yolanda (RSD Remix) (Tectonic)
Secondly we have RSD taking on ‘Get Up’, which originally featured on Pinch’s (excellent) album Underwater Dancehall. RSD, for those of you who are unaware, is the dubstep alias of Bristol music legend Rob Smith, best known as one half of Smith & Mighty. Rob Smith is one of the longest-serving members of the Bristol scene, having been involved in production since the 80’s, and having released everything from dub to hip-hop to jungle and beyond. I’m personally a big fan of his dubstep output as RSD – always rhythmically complex, danceable, fun music. This tune is a particularly joyous example of his sound.
Juju – Half Ounce (Tes La Rok Remix) (NarcoHz)
Finally, there’s this tough remix from Finnish dubstepper Tes La Rok of the Colombian San Franciscan dj/producer Juju. Actually, think about that for a second – this is a Finnish guy remixing a Colombian guy doing a style of music that had only emerged from London a few years earlier. Dubstep was definitely the first stop on the nuum where the internet allowed people around the world to get involved right from the start. By comparison, it took years for drum n’ bass to go truly, unambiguously global.
This is a fine example of the minimal, dark side of dubstep – this remix doesn’t really do all that much, but what it does, it does well.