Scientist is something of a legend in dub quarters. His
seminal ‘80s album
Scientist Rids The World Of The Curse Of The Evil
Vampires is regarded as a dub cult-classic, and his sound engineering
skills are widely reputed across all bass genres. With these accolades in mind,
it’s hardly surprising that Tectonic boss Pinch was tickled by the concept of Scientist
re-dubbing twelve new and exclusive dubstep tracks for his latest label compilation.
Perhaps surprisingly the strength of the album is not in its
association with Scientist, but the twelve previously unreleased tracks
from some of the dubstep scene’s heavy-hitters. This is underground bass at its most varied: the unmixed selection ranges in style and tone from the cold, menacing sub-bass of Pinch and Kode
9 to the warm, bouncy cuts from Guido and Jack Sparrow (whose track Red Sand
Dub uses Latin vocal samples and maracas, and is dubstep as its funniest
and least self-conscious ).
The new cuts range from good to excellent, with several
individual tracks making the album a worthy purchase by their mere presence. Distance’
Ill Kontent is one such standout track, its sparse drums, brutal
riffs and long-held droning whirrs produce 90 BPM dubstep at its most
destructive. In a similar vein of goodness, but in a completely different tone,
Guido’s Korg Back shows the direction that dubstep is inevitably going
to abound. Using (could you have guessed?) Korg-sounding synths and beautiful house
keys over a blinding sub-bass, this could conceivably further dubstep
cross-fertilisation with house.
Before you worry I’ve forgotten the ‘other’ disc, Scientist’s
CD is a remarkably subtle affair. He tightens and tweaks the original tracks,
adding bits and pieces of accompanying percussion, but never radically
re-designing or re-imagining. Anyone hoping that Scientist would have turned
the original tracks into a slew of proper dub numbers will be disappointed. Apart from the
inclusion of raga horns on RSD’s After All (which was a fairly dubby
track to begin with) and propping steel-sounding drums on Jack Sparrow’s Red Sands,
the remixes are as dubstep through and through as their master copies.
It is Scientist’s subtle reworking that shows his true
intuition and rightful place within the dubstep elite. His rework of Kode 9’s Abeng
is a master-lesson in 'less is more': the track's elements are slowed down
and spaced out, drum rolls are added and booming claps compliment the original’s
menacing vocals and drums to produce a spine-tingling conclusion to the compilation. Despite a wide array of dubstep styles, detractors might argue that the two CDs in themselves are too samey to warrant being
released together and in this they might have a point. Yet, with some of 2010's best sounding dubstep cuts, there are too many solid tracks to deem this anything but a success – for Tectonic, Scientist and the health of dubstep itself.
Scientist Mixes
1. Pinch ft
Emika - '2012 Dub'
2. Armour (Roly
Vex'd) - 'The Long Way Dub'
3. Guido - 'Korg
Back Dub'
4. Shackleton -
'Hackney Marshes Dub'
5. King Midas
Sound - 'U Dub'
6. Loefah &
SGT Pokes - 'Dog Money Dub'
7. Distance - 'Ill
Kontent Dub'
8. RSD - 'After
All Dub'
9. Jack Sparrow
- 'Red Sand Dub'
10. Mala (Digital
Mystikz) - 'City Cycle Dub'
11. Cyrus (Random
Trio) - 'Footsteps Dub'
12. Kode 9 &
Spaceape - 'Abeng Dub'
Dubstep Originals
1. Pinch ft
Emika - '2012'
2. Armour (Roly
Vex'd) - 'The Long Way'
3. Guido - 'Korg
Back'
4. Shackleton -
'Hackney Marshes'
5. King Midas
Sound - 'U'
6. Loefah &
SGT Pokes - 'Dog Money'
7. Distance - 'Ill
Kontent'
8. RSD - 'After
All'
9. Jack Sparrow
- 'Red Sand'
10. Mala (Digital
Mystikz) - 'City Cycle'
11. Cyrus (Random
Trio) - 'Footsteps'
12. Kode 9 &
Spaceape - 'Abeng'