Dead Weight EP

Four tracks of darkly ambient 2-step from Duke Spook, featuring a stoned - though paradoxically, mature - production style.

Burial's "intelligent garage" sound has a lot to answer for, having spawned many a cheap imitator. Luckily, Dead Weight doesn't fall into this category. Combine a stylish production approach with tweaked-out low end like this and you're onto a winner.

It's first-rate in terms of its textural intricacy. Superbly subtle swathes of ambient noise condense overhead into thoughtful clouds, that are layered on top of each other seamlessly. Reminiscent of ambient hip-hop type DJ Spooky's soundscapes (i.e treated with lashings of reverb and delay), they pulse and breath hypnotically. Elsewhere, Dead Weight is competent but not inspired. The beats are sufficient to get the head nodding and keep it doing so, but none of the tracks contain a final drop or twist that really blows your ears off. The real star is the low end production, which gently rumbles underfoot like an earthquake wrapped in rubber. It's a welcome change from the "this one goes to to 11" approach of many in the dubstep contingent - a 'less is more' style that is scrupulously EQed and seductive in its subtlety.

Opener Crosswaves is reminiscent of Goldie's Dark Metal, all tightly thudding subs that sound like the speakers are trying to stamp through the floor. A nicely understated, spooky ambience shifts in and out of focus before a chunky, growling bass is thrown in halfway through. Brooklyn Bridge is built around a superb 4-bar bass riff that divebombs to a satisfyingly tight low note in the 4th bar - it should be flappy and loose - but, amazingly, retains its body perfectly. It's a clever way to drive the track forward - as soon as the loop restarts, the low note is nicely built up to, keeping anticipation levels high. Futurepasts is a nice and dubby 2-step workout. It features layers of breathy ambience that are added until some expertly implemented trumpet and orchestral samples slot in; amongst crisp beats and a deep, rolling bassline.

Dead Weight is only let down slightly by the somewhat irritating Duul's Rage Against Jah, which is built around a nasal mid-range wail and some cliche syncopated dub guitar. It's a small gripe though, given the hugely polished quality of the production throughout the rest of the EP - there's a glossy sheen to it that most will find exceedingly listenable. Rhythmically, it might have been nice to to move out of its comfort zone towards the end of some of the tracks - but then again, this might have detracted from the interestingly explorative sound design elsewhere. Classy stuff.