[Hyperdub]

When grime tumbled passed my musical periphery a few years ago, I confess I was more annoyed than intrigued. The aggressive textures and hyper posturing reminded me too much of the elements of American hip-hop that have always turned me off certain artists. In recent years, especially post-dubstep, grime has been going through a renaissance based on a more playful, futuristic sound I find more attractive. The genre’s return has seen a rise in grime instrumentals, with tweaked synths and frenetic drums taking the place of MCs. One producer who exemplifies the evolution of grime is Terror Danjah, a former drum ‘n bass DJ whose leaning and slightly sinister productions (often made discernable by the “gremlin” giggles that sneak inside) have earned him a wide following that’s perhaps second only to Wiley. His distinctive instrumentals were showcased last year on Gremlinz (Instrumentals 2003-2009) on Planet Mu, which also released his recent (and excellent) Power Grid EP. His latest 12″ is his second for Hyperdub, serving up two very different slices of modern grime.

The blinking sirens and elastic synths make “Bruzin VIP” the more typical side for Terror Danjah. A hard and bass heavy breakbeat scatters all over the track, firing off furiously cascading snare hits and relentless kick drum barrages that pound at listeners as if they were nails. Danjah often uses brightly colored synth strains to push his productions past grime’s brooding genre conventions and into something more playful — as if he were the black humored cousin of Joker and Gemmy. And where the beats on “Bruzin VIP” can feel hectic almost to the point of claustrophobia, there is no doubt that fun is on the producer’s mind. Where “Bruzin VIP” speaks to grime’s evolution out from the hip-hop side of UK garage, the flipside, “Hysteria,” heads back to the syncopated 4/4 rhythms from which it was first spawned. This collaboration between grime producer DOK and Terror Danjah bares almost no relation to “Bruzin VIP” aside from its uniquely stuttering breakdown and that familiar maniacal laugh. One can almost picture glowsticks cracking to life as the hardcore-influenced synth lines race up the wall with an almost whistle-like delivery. “Hysteria” seems like it’s splitting the difference between a cheeky stab at reliving the ‘ardkore glory days and the score of a fast-paced video game, and understandably sticks out like a sore thumb from Terror Danjah’s discography. And yet this makes for a intriguing addition — never too serious but still aggressive enough to run with the boys of grime’s London underbelly.