Following a minor
scuffle in my
comments box (wherever
Dubmugga/
Pollywog lurkes, trouble
invariably follows!) I figured in was time to look at the new
Hotflush compilation
"Space and Time". I love Burial's calcified 2 Step beats, but there's room in my life for other modes of rhythmic expression too. I admit I hadn't really been taking much notice of
Hotflush's output for the past year or so, but then their new admin guy Alex sent me some promos to chew on. The label has been operating for quite a while now, much longer than most of the
dubstep labels that have sprung up in the past couple of years, yet it never seems to get the kind of respect that DMZ or
Tempa enjoy. Maybe because
Hotflush has always championed the
breakier end of the garage spectrum, aka
breakstep, which a lot of people consider to be the 'lower' form of the music, yet spawned some early classics like
Toasty's "The Knowledge" and "Angel" plus the first
Boxcutter EP which set the standard for,
erm, 'intelligent'
breakstep. When I wrote my
Breakstep post in April 2005, I was virtually a lone voice in the
blogosphere to cover that sound, and frankly I don't see much change of attitudes since then.
But Breaks was only one aspect of the
Hotflush sound. As far back as 2004, they released Distance's vastly underrated exploratory early effort "Nomad/3rd Wish" and of course label-head Paul Rose has been investigating various other avenues via his Scuba project. But what does
Hotflush represent at the end of 2007? Well for me "Space And Time" is a mixed bag. Opening track "One" by
Jazzsteppa starts out nicely with some authentic-sounding
Rootsy atmosphere, but is quickly let down by the predictable wobbly
bassline and lumpen
halfstep beat. I'm not completely anti-
halfstep (as I will shortly demonstrate), but this sort of plodding kick-snare pattern is becoming a real fucking drag, merely marking the passage of time like the most unimaginative sludge-rock. This is quickly followed by an even worse
halfstep offender from Vaccine, featuring that awful, dominating snare on the 2's and 4's. It really is like listening to a macho industrial-rock group (despite the female vocal) - all testosterone grunt and thrust with absolutely no
Fwd propulsion. To hell with it, I say.
But
halfstep doesn't have to be so dull and unimaginative - there's plenty of space between the kick and snare for further percussive ingenuity (go ask Pinch) as ably demonstrated by
Intex Systems, who's "
DS9" is a real highlight of this compilation, with it's edgy, restless groove skittering under soft-focus chords. The dub techno producers should take note of this track too, because it shows you can be texturally deep without falling back on that basic kick/hi-hat 4/4 beat which plagues that scene at the moment. Top tune, although I'm a little wary of those languid 'blue notes' - let's not get too mellow and jazzy just yet, please.
I wasn't too keen on previous
Gravious tracks, but "Subterfuge" is the best thing I've heard from him so far. Yes, the
halfstep beat is a bit
orthadox, but at least it sounds proper electronic and snappy with a nice
rollin' conga loop in the second half, but what really sells this tune is the
grimey cello riff and the bright, tumbling melodic elements that give the track an urgent impetus. Slaughter Mob make an
appearence with "No Big Deal", the title of which says it all, really. Of course, the 'Mob have been
reppin' for longer than anyone else on this collection, and none of us are fit to lick their boots, but they do seem to be riding the
Coki-clone wobbly-
halfstep current a bit too heavily here. I'd rather listen to the stuff they released on
Rephlex and
Soulja three years ago. Scuba contributes two solid tunes, of which "Inmost" is the one that moves me the most, mainly on account of that gorgeous evolving analogue-style pad sweep offsetting the bell-like digital tones - another deeply personal track from Paul there, I reckon.
Elemental is possibly one of the strongest
exponents of
breakstep right now, and his "Raw Material" cements his reputation further. It's a busy tune full of frantic randomised arpeggios and
metallic chord stabs, but keeps the shit dirty and funky the way proper
breakbeat should be.
Boxcutter contributes two typically cerebral variations on the
breakstep theme, with "
Infraviolet" being a particularly intense textural extravaganza, and also remixes
Elemental's "Sparkle" into a cavernous tunnel of dub-matter. If you like these then make sure to get hold of
"Glyphic", his superb second album for Planet Mu.
Toasty's aforementioned
breakstep classic "The Knowledge" gets another makeover courtesy of
Vex'd, who apply their trademark caustic sound palette to deadly effect. The original
"I seek knowledge" sample gets heavily
timestretched, and the effect is a bit similar to the woozy vocal
sampledelia of Boards Of Canada circa "
Geogaddi", but with added murderous intent. Si
Begg undertakes a remix of
Toasty's "Angel" that's surprisingly respectful to the original and shows that an old techno dog can still learn a few new tricks from this
dubstep lark.
So maybe some of it isn't to my taste, but all told I think
Hotflush have come up with a pretty adventurous collection that reflects the various aspects of
dubstep as it stands. Recommended to anyone looking for a good scene primer that doesn't focus on the 'big names' (you know who I'm talking about) in a genre that still doesn't have enough useful compilation albums.
The Massif
Misoh: short but sweet
Pinch and Jabba
Expect all the usual bass heavy badness. Future bashment, dubstep/techno, 2step .... 
