Urban Essence

REVIEW: J:Kenzo ‘Ruffhouse/Therapy’ [TEMPA062]

My latest piece for The Ransom Note, reviewing the latest offering by up-and-coming dubstep producer J:Kenzo on the seminal label Tempa. 

http://theransomnote.co.uk/J-Kenzo-Ruffhouse-Therapy/

Ruff House ft Rod Azlan by J:Kenzo Therapy by J:Kenzo

In the last 12 months, J:Kenzo has been catapulted into the upper echelons of the latter-day dubstep glitterati. His refreshingly retrospective productions first caught the ears of Tempa’s tastemaking mastermind Youngsta back in late 2010 and his debut release on the seminal label followed shortly after with the huge 12”, ‘The Roteks/Protected’. Returning to Tempa for his sophomore offering, J:Kenzo delivers another two slices of furious minimalism and hard-hitting dancefloor devastation with ‘Ruffhouse’ and ‘Therapy’.

Kicking off with sparse tribal drums and an eerie off-key arpeggiator, ‘Ruffhouse’ builds palpable tension before Rod Azlan’s detached vocal snippet cues the track’s descent into eyes-down-hoods-up territory. The unforgiving bass growls beneath the spacious percussion while the sinister sounds of the ghostly synths drift in and out of consciousness, making this a truly terrifying track when heard inside the ride.

On the flipside, the shuffling hi-hats and sonar echo bleeps make it immediately clear that ‘Therapy’ is the more energetic of the two tracks. The snarling sounds of the A side are replaced by a more subtle but no less belly-rattling sub bass, accompanied by the unmistakable synth stabs of classic dub-techno.

Whilst the dubstep I used to know and love seems to have been relegated back to the underground by the commercialised fusion sounds of today’s chart-toppers, drawing on dub-techno influences like J:Kenzo does here is one hybridization that sits absolutely right with me. 

Sixty two releases deep and Tempa is still paving the way for Roots-oriented dubstep, and this offering – by one of its freshest new talents - epitomises its outlook of looking back to move forward. One for the original steppers. 

4/5

MIX: Urban Essence - Volume Four [Obey]

Volume Four in the Urban Essence mix series comes from 19 year old Joe Stapleton, aka Obey, and it also coincides nicely with our first birthday! Happy birthday to us.

We’ve been following Joe’s monthly Autonomic mixes for a while now and in an age compounded by countless nonsensical mixes, meaninglessly collating the latest tunes, what’s striking about his is the painstaking care taken over their curation and creation. We’re all about patience and diligence with creativity here at Urban Essence, so it seemed appropriate to get Joe on board.

For the mix, Joe’s delivered a hard-hitting melange of machine music, comprising an array of tough warehouse-worthy tracks from the expansive catalogue of dubstep, house and drum&bass’ peripheral sounds. Seamlessly drifting between genres in a sort of ethereal haze, it’s a fairly dark and subliminal offering from Obey, from the eerie introductory sounds of They Live, through to the militant tribalism and housey groove of the second half.

We caught up with Joe in the hope he could shed some light on this mysterious mix…

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REVIEW: eleven8 - Changing Colours EP [The Crescent]

Meditative London-based label The Crescent return with a trio of pure unadulterated futurism from the ever-ambivalent eleven8, who brings his typically progressive and unrestrained ethos to the table once more for the Changing Colours EP.

Following on from the frankly stunning Headlights EP from Bath’s Troy Gunner - without doubt one of our favourite releases of the year - the multifarious label continues on a 140bpm path with this offering, exploring the peripheries of the sound from its opposite poles.

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