Moving forward on the CW promo series comes another fresh sounding EP directed by Prolific Underground co-founder and Southampton resident Thomas Davies, aka Step-A-Side. No stranger to the genre, the young 23 year old British producer has managed to craft out his own style of deep dubstep, being one of the few in his area to push sounds from the more minimal, deeper end of the spectrum. With successful releases on Abyssal Audio, Annihilate Audio and Instigate Recordings to name a few (as well as continued sound support from N-Type on Rinse FM) Thomas continues to collaborate, move forward and keep busy, this time with 2 of the 7 members of the Italian deep bass collective The Hooderz, for a 3 track EP release on the Cardiff based underground label Abyssal Audio.
On the collab with Waeze, 1/7th of The Hooderz, the opening track Hustle drops into a heavy, forward-driving, tribal verse full of percussive backbeat stabs, slick auxiliary percussion fills, crunchy (yet refined) mid-growls and beefy, rhythmic sub tones. The track is thick, full-spectrum and intelligently chaotic, presenting a knowledgable use of offbeat space for an overall groovy, technical and syncopated feel.
Moving forward, Lowryder's remix treatment directs the title track towards a heavier, dirtier half-time feel, maintaining the same technical fills and atmospheres from the original, while presenting his own dirty, rhythmic style of mid-range sounds with a refined percussion workout.
Signing off, the three producers collaborate on the EP closer Sabotage, presenting a more melodic soundscape, distant pad melodies and intricate percussion work. The mids present some impressive, sharp, conversational motifs, as well as some trailing, chopped up synth fills and panned out swelling on the growls.
- Conscious Wave
Catch Step-A-Side's bi-weekly radio show on Fokus.FM every other Wednesday from 18:00-20:00GMT, starting on the second Wednesday of every month - http://fokus.fm/dj-bio/Step-A-Side/
Further reading
Illusive [Instigate Recordings] x Conscious Wave - 500 Followers Free DL
http://www.consciouswave.ca/2014/05/illusive-instigate-recordings-x.html
Step-A-Side - The Divide EP - CW Review
http://www.consciouswave.ca/2014/02/step-side-divide-ep.html
https://facebook.com/stepasidemusic
https://soundcloud.com/step-a-side
https://twitter.com/stepasideuk
https://soundcloud.com/lowryder-dubstep
https://soundcloud.com/the-hooderz
https://soundcloud.com/waezedub
https://soundcloud.com/abyssalaudio
https://facebook.com/abyssalaudio