With only a small handful of releases to his name previously, Paul Rose aka Scuba stepped up in 2008 with a somewhat slept-on masterwork of an album, A Mutual Antipathy. The remix packages (of which there are now four) have been serving to convert any late comers to the Scuba appreciation group, with outstanding re-rubs by Surgeon, Martyn, Vex’d and Substance already available.
For the most recent addition of remixes, the shoe-gazing half step of “From Within” gets an overhaul by Marcel Dettmann, with the Berghain resident cooling things down to a late night icy treat. The kicks suck back upon themselves with a frosty dryness evaporating the fourth of every bar, the eventuating snares are elongated to drawn out snowy scuffs whilst a cryogenic bowling ball knocks over liquid nitrogen-suspended pins. A cool synth breathes through the track like a polar breeze and completes what is an absolutely stellar remix, if not exactly peak time dance floor material. Scuba himself re-edits “Hard Boiled” from a sparse dubstep thinker into a two-faced dub techno burner. What starts off as a fairly characteristic track of its genre with its soft ducking bass and ethereal chords adopts much grittier tendencies as it develops. A distorted refrain of sorts creeps in that is reminiscent of Regis’ newer productions as Kalon or other Sandwell District gears while the bass line takes on some acidic qualities. Both are devastating remixes to add to the faultless interpretations of one of 2008’s must-have albums.
incredible tracks. i’m not really sure what an eventuating snare is, but i know i like the way they sound in the track…mesmerising.
also is there a fourth remix EP? i must be slacking.
Amazing tracks.
deep & cold…
I thought this WAS the fourth remix EP? At least that’s what I thought from the title!
I really liked the Substance one (I forget which number it was, sorry), but I’m still not sure I’m sold on dubstep as a whole.
thought there was only 3 of these. but yeah, they’re all good. the collection really showcases the possibilities dubstep has to offer, which i think is the best thing about the sound.
whilst on the rmx tip..the skull disco rmx thing on marbled grey vinyl is disgusting.
That’s why I was surprised – I thought there were only three:
Martyn/Jamie Vex’d
Substance/Surgeon
Marcel Dettmann/SCB
If there is a fourth then I want to hear it…
As for:
“I’m still not sure I’m sold on dubstep as a whole”
It’d be very difficult to be sold on all of it at the same time! It’s wildly varied enough to mean you could like one part of it and hate others…I know I do. For me it’s Scuba, Skull Disco, Headhunter et al who are really good. A Mutual Antipathy is just mindboggling…
Excellent eps !
@ teleost:
Yes, that’s exactly what I mean! I love some stuff and hate other stuff that other people seem to love. Although I suppose if you were to define the stuff I love, it tends to fall on the outer edges of the traditional dubstep definition…
I guess that’s what it’s hard for me to get a handle on it. I hear the common threads, but some of it seems SO much better than others to the point that it isn’t really even the same thing.
I fear I’m not making much sense here, sorry.
Yes my bad this is the third of the series.
There is definitely two very distinct camps in the dubstep game which is why they can sound so completely different and probably why people have such a hard time distinguishing as to what actually makes something be coined with the term. I think most following this site would probably relate more with this end of the spectrum (the headhunters et al), the other end I can quite happily leave too.
WHEW.
Glad to hear it isn’t just me, Per. Thanks! All the stuff mentioned above (Skull Disco, et al) definitely pushes my buttons, so I was wondering why I wasn’t digging that other stuff at all.
I started to like “dubstep” since 3 months or something, before that i already really liked 2562 and Martyn, but lately i’ve been playing stuff by Scuba, TRG, Pangaea, etcetera.
I guess i could say i’m on the more dubby organic side of dubstep…anybody has tips for names like the above? The really deep organic dubstep, instead of the gnawing grimey stuff (which i dislike)?
Please send me an email for the heads-up!
Thanks!
definitely 2 distinct styles of this sound, but nobody wants to create sub genres because there are enough of those already. so frustrating trying to sell someone on it when all they’ve heard is mid range ear shattering fart sounds though.