Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Distance – Repercussions (Planet Mu/Inertia)

Posted: 24 Jan 2009 02:32 AM CST

Distance - Repercussions

Distance is one of the few dubstep producers that are still experimenting with his sounds, he's not pushing the genre too far, but his sounds are well thought out and executed. His new album, Repercussions is a slow burner, happy to plod along, not unlike some of Skreams great early works, creating a percussive journey that could draw comparisons to Shackleton, which is not a bad thing. Distance evades the copyist tag though, there's still enough originality here to make this really interesting.

Greg Sanders uses industrial and metal influences within his tracks, that's not saying everything is set to overload, quite the contrary, one of his greatest assets is his restraint. The sounds he uses fit his influences, the ambient moods, with contrasting abrasive sounds, but he uses these sounds so sparingly there is still space between the sounds, allowing the tracks to breath, happy to be propelled by the sparseness, the sharp snares, the percussive rhythm, creating a perfect blend of all the components. His metal influences really shine through on the final track Skeleton Grin, but still showing his restraint, never letting it get chaotic.

Distance has produced a heavy album, working outside the predictable, proving that this producer will have longevity. There is a second disc included here, of all his releases from his own label, Chestplate. Investigate this, its not your usual dubstep fodder.

Wayne Stronell

Various Artists – Rinse 06 Mixed By Plastician (Rinse/Inertia)

Posted: 24 Jan 2009 02:28 AM CST

Plastician - Rinse 06

Next in the Rinse mix series is by Plastician, and its not going to harm its growing reputation for cutting edge mixes, solidly aimed at the dancefloor, it delivers.

Kicking off with one of his own tracks, with a distinctive eastern influence, blending effortlessly into Thugged Out 9 by Darkstar, which contains Backward by Kode9 & Space Ape, or is a rework of this track? Hard to tell as its not credited on the tracklisting. Next is Fick, an average Skream track, in my eyes not really delivering lately, but works well in the mix. Jakes & Joker roll in with crazed synth lines, showing why they are becoming the darlings of both the dubstep and wonky scenes of late. Plastician then drops his remix of Guilty by Kosheen, breaking the track down to predictable bass and synth pad stabs and washes, the vocal adding to the intensity nicely. Crissy Criss & Maniac add more synth action, while Benny Page & Zero G add a touch of 8bit madness to the mix, a great track. Joker next, doing no wrong, Plastician dropping an Uncle Sam acappella that works a treat, and then his own The Clouds, which is an unusual mix of r'n'b and ambience. A better Skream track, 10 Bit Dreams, much more up to form, when Skream gets it right, it sounds great. More Maniac and Crissy Criss followed by DJ Narrows, Ed Solo, Plastician, K Rio and Babylon Systems, that sound as if they are all using the same sound palette, which for me is wearing a little thin… Moving through much of the same from Benny Page, Jakes, Sukh Knight, Skream and Crissy Criss, its not till Plastician drops two of his own tracks, Walk In The Carpark and Thoughts that the sound changes, taking us back to the land of the rising sun to great effect, again utilizing an Uncle Sam vocal really well.

As with so much dubstep, the major flaw seems to be that such a similar palette of sound is used by many artists, not really delivering the diversity I crave, but saying that, I still believe a set like this would sound amazing in a club through a sound system that could do it justice, mixes of this caliber not always transferring well to the lounge room.

Wayne Stronell