UK Mainstream has Blooown!

This was really unexpected, after the painful electro-Tinchy-pop of Bad Boy, Skepta has blown me away with this huge dubstep banger. After the success of Tinie Tempah, this has given me a new faith in UK Mainstream music. Download this!

Skepta - Rescue Me

(Apologies for the YouTube clip, I could only find a radio rip)

Down Under

Hey there! Yes, we are finally down under. After a 26 hour journey. Yes, 26 hour, AbandonSilence is pleased to say that we are posting from the opposite side of the world.

We apologise for the dullness of this post, and promise to return with more music for your loyal ears. For now, here's the genius Solid State from Emalkay. This track came to our attention whilst watching Caspa at Chibuku, the thumping bass is fantastic and forces the track along. Give it a go while preparing for further, more plentiful posts in the week.

Much Love, AbandonSilence

Emalkay - Solid State

Plan B vs 16Bit

After another lengthy lay off from Posting, AbandonSilence hopes to bring you some speedy messages over the next week or so. So, let's get to it!

Firstly, 16Bit come in with a huge remix of Plan B's latest single, She Said. The original is in the same jazz crooning styles that are to be employed on forthcoming concept album, The Defamation of Stricland Banks. This remix is heavy. I mean heavy. The incandescent introduction is a rather eponomous precursor to what follows, as the listener is plunged headfirst into some underworld where everyone's ears are sprayed with petrol and matches are common place. It doesn't get much harder than this.

The only respite offered is through the miniscule breaks where Plan B's rap breaks through like a sun through hellish stormclouds. This track is huge, I recommend that you all check this out.

Plan B - She Said (16Bit remix)

Let's Celebrate!

Apologies for the lack of posts, AbandonSilence has been horribly tied down by a presentation on Crime Statistics... niiiice.

To celebrate the end of this monotonously depressing week (apart from last night :), AbandonSilence gives you a diverse trio of tunes to supplement your weekend and beyond.

Fans of Major Lazer will love this. The tribal feel with stabbing Summery synths make a compelling producer. Coming fresh from 16 year old JSaxton. The Leeds based producer is seriously making waves at the minute, the diversity in his productions is unbelievable, AbandonSilence recommends you check more of his stuff out if you enjoy this.

JSaxton - Hype Beat

In a return to a previous post on Reggae styles within Dubstep, I give you an old Chasing Shadows' remix of Damien Marley track, It was Written. The track starts rather inconspicuously, then out of no where you are almost punched in the face by the bass! I apologise for the horrible rhyme and chav styles of the last sentence, but I couldn't think of a better way to describe it.

Damien Marley - It Was Written (Chasing Shadows remix)

Starkey, one of the most prolific producers in the game, recently released Stars, featuring Anneka. The original is a subtly beautiful song, with chiming vocals lavishly comforted by a nice drum build up. However, Slugabed have come in with a remix, which despite not hugely messing with the song, adds some dynamite drums and extra wobbles to create a great club bouncer.

Starkey - Stars ft. Anneka (Slugabed remix)

RUN

In 2008, The Bug released their only LP to date, London Zoo. That album was a fantastic export for UK urban music, the album was packed with proper grime/dubstep anthems. From Angry to Warning, London Zoo was bursting with urban wildlife.

Guest spots from Warrior Queen and Ricky Ranking added grime credibility to proceedings, as The Bug dropped heavy bass line after heavy bass line.

The highlight of the album, Skeng, is still one of AbandonSilence's favourite dubstep songs, the bass in that is just painful. (video below)

So, the reasons for this proclamation of Bug Love. AbandonSilence has come across a new song by The Bug featuring Skeng's contributing wordsmith, Flowdan. The track, titled Run, is incredibly similar to Skeng, with some dark lyrics contributed by Flowdan over a tumbling bassline, culminating in a fantastic combination of bass wobbles and exclamations of, "Run. Run. Run." Brilliant.

The Bug - Run feat Flowdan

Apologies for the recent Youtube love in with this post and the previous Foals post, but this is important! If any readers wanted to know what grime and dubstep combine to create, watch this video. Imagine going round a corner late at night and walking into this lot

Reggae Styles

Dubstep = Dub - Step = Dub to Step to. Dub originates from Dub Reggae and the Dubplate phenomenon. Dubstep has retained some of the reggae genre characteristics, as well as including some artists under it's umbrella to add to the ever expanding range of styles in this one exciting genre.

When you listen (and we hope you will) to the tracks below, you may just think that they are reggae, but by religiously sticking to a 140 BPM and including some bass wobbles and general dirt, they are indeed dubstep - I ensure you there may be a more scientific definition of dubstep, but that'll do for now.

The first track comes from 6Blocc, a collective who have been on the DJ tour circuit for a few years now, they fuse dubstep and reggae in an exciting and original way. The track here is fantastic, if you don't start skanking when the drums drop at 0:40 you clearly have no soul.

6Blocc - Never Scared

The next is an absolute classic, Coki gained mainstream popularity with his collaboration with Benga titled Night, but this remains his biggest tune. The vocals recall Iration Steppas and the 90s reggae groove, but still are brought forward to the 21st Century with a deeeeep bassline. Everyone with us now, "Burnin down the alley way."

Coki - Burning

Here at AbandonSilence we've had real trouble just keeping to the rigorous Blog Rule of just 3 mp3s per post, with so many tracks begging to be included here. Just as a reminder if any of you (you should be) want any more tracks like these, just request it with a Comment below.

Anywho, the final track we have chosen is the nearest to plain dubstep as opposed to reggae out of the three downloads. Flux Pavilion have been coming out with some absolute bangers recently, and with Voscillate they took it down a few notches. However, Roksonix have hit back with this jet powered remix that it is pretty hard to not headbang to. Please enjoy!

Flux Pavilion - Voscillate (Roksonix Remix)

Anyone interested by these artists, please check out Mungos Hi Fi, Warrior Queen and Doorly's remix of a Tinny track (yes, from the Cadburys advert)

Straight to the Bank Remixes

What is a 'by the numbers' remix? Remixes that, regardless of quality, clearly have signs that a lack of care or control was taken in the creation of said track.

The first example I have is this brand new mix by Jakwob of a Kid Sister track. I am a huge follower of Jakwob, I've got my grubby little hands on every track that I can find bearing his plate. However, the predictability and consistency with which he has taken previous templates and just showered the (great) original track with it nigh on patronising. (I hasten to add that another new Jakwob remix has surfaced of the new Audio Bullys track. It is indeed a lot better than this :)

Kid Sister - Daydreaming (Jakwob Remix)

The second is probably the most obviously laxadasical effort that I have ever come across in dubstep. It is a very high profile track, indeed coming from one of dubstep's forefathers, Benga. His remix of Prodigy's Warrior's Dance to be precise. It's just so damn lazy! The same crescendo as the original with just dubstepped drum beats that lead into the same drop that features onBenga's 'Crunked Up'.

If the previous track was unreleased, ie the incredible similarities between Skream's 0800 duband Midnight Request Line, it'd be OK, but Crunked Up is a dubstep classic, and is one of Benga's best original productions. The fact that Prodigy paid Benga as an official remixer on the trackjust gives me the impression that Mr Benga, as they say, laughed all the way to the bank.

Prodigy - Warrior's Dance (Benga Remix)

Brand New MIA vs Rusko. Again!

Despite a horrible piece of misleading advertising - "make sure you get here at 10 so you don't miss out", even though Rusko wasn't playing til 2am?! - Rusko was excellent last night, playing new tracks from his forthcoming OMG LP along with a few other tasty surprises.

One of these surprises, which was a genuine one, was the playing of a BRAND NEW MIA TRACK. Rusko announced that this had never been played before last night, AbandonSilence recorded it on our communal mobile phone and it's now on YouTube...

The track is untitled, and the video isn't the best quality, but from what we can remember the track had a tribal feel and was incredibly bassy.

Sounded good to us, see for yourself here...

Stenchman vs Outkast

After Stenchman's mutilation of the Liverpool Barfly, I feel like sharing huge tune of his with you good people.

His set was pretty safe, including classics from Doctor P and Bassline Smith to name a few, but still did enough on a d'n'b orientated night to take the prize for me! Also, with a mask like that (picture) he did enough to linger long in the memory.

Firstly we have his remix of Outkast's Bombs Over Baghad. The original was voted Pitchfork's track of the last decade, and by adding a dubstep beat along with a few devilish drops, Stenchman has recreated a new perverted classic

Outkast - B.O.B (Stenchman Remix)

As a bonus, we have Killabitt's latest remix. The Toronto-based producer has been creating some ridiculous remixes for months now, and I'm sure this was dropped on Saturday night. This horribly wobbly track is a remix of a Louis La Roche track and has some great drops intervened with cries of 'MALFUNCTION'. Please check this out if you like the dirty stuff...

Louis La Roche - Malfunction (Killabitts Remix)

The XX vs Untold

The XX's debut album was, on par with Animal Collective and The Horrors, my favourite LP of 2009. As their name and reputation continues to grow they release a new single, Islands, with an EP solely containing remixes.

The remixers on duty are Untold, Blue Nile, Nosaj Thing, FaltyDL and Delorean.

The Nosaj Thing remix surfaced a few months ago, so is not really newsworthy. However, to AbandonSilence's knowledge, the other four are new and fresh.

In our considerable opinion, Untold's remix exceeds any of the others. The remix is similar to Untold's most popular original production, Stop What You're Doing. The thumping drum beat leads into a cascading bass wobble that leads into the playful male v female vocal battle.

The remix is brilliant, and we thoroughly recommend that you get the whole EP from your local shop or of course the usual internet suspects.

The XX - Islands (Untold Remix)

FabricLive 50: D:Bridge & Instra:Mental

After a nice day shopping in Manchester I popped into HMV as I was heading back to my car, I am so glad I did! As per, I headed to the 'Dance' section and sorted through the shitheap of old Tiesto, David Guetta and Paul Okenfold records to find some decent original pressings. Unfortunately there weren't any new albums to my taste so I plundered upon D:Bridge and Instra:Mental's FabricLive mix.

The tracklist was intriguing, I only knew a handful of the 31 individual tracks fused together within the steel casing, so I gave it a go.

The CD is the 50th in the FabricLive series, and as with number 37 - Caspa & Rusko - Fabric find themselves on the cutting edge of dubstep. Like Caspa & Rusko's CD two years earlier, the mix is defying another genre of dubstep.

The less accessible genre of two-step, dubstep and chilled fusions has slowly eased itself into the musical consciousness. From Joy Orbison to Scuba to Instra:Mental we have seen swarms of similar artists propping up across the board. There are many different theories as to why this has happened, I would speculate the success of the Four Tet/Burial collaboration last year, Moth, that showed that two step and dubstep can be aligned (with a side order of quality production values) to create some beautiful music.

The CD is available from iTunes, Beatport and all the usual suspects. I thoroughly encourage you to check it out. We will offer you Instra:Mental's 'Watching You' as a treat, this track is a stand out from the CD and will hopefully go towards persuading you to part with your hard earned cash for this brilliant mixtape.

Instra:Mental - Watching You

Comment!

This post is in response to 'Hawaii Dan' who commented on the Chilled Mix post asking for an individual mp3.

AbandonSilence are trying to boost this interactive style, where the viewer asks for the music. We like that, it also makes our job a lot easier.

The track 'Hawaii Dan' asked for was 12th Planet's remix of Portishead's Hunter. The track comes from Portishead's 2008 album, Third. The original is a quality track in it's own right, and 12th Planet's remix vamps it up into an eerie dubstep song.

The track, as previously mentioned, was in AbandonSilence's Chilled Mix, so as you could guess, it's not a banger. However, it is beautiful and epic, with a very dark undertone.

I recommend you take this from us, and be assertive! Tell us what you want

Portishead - Hunter (12th Planet Remix)

Introducing: Naiive Dubstarz

As a tasty addition to the previous Avatar baiting post, AbandonSilence is proud to introduce you to Naiive Dubstarz.

The crew come from Manchester in the North West of England. Their Facebook page claims that their, "Subs will soon destroy us all." Definitely a good statement of intent I'm sure you'll agree. We have two tracks from the crew to discuss and share with you.

The first track is titled, "Root", and comes from KillahurtZ. The track itself is similar to the works of jump up producers like Flux Pavilion, Doctor P and Cookie Monsta.

A revolving bassline hits you within seconds, and the track builds and climaxes around this simple repeated bassline. Flames of purple style synths greet the listener at interludes and inaudible vocals are introduced at seemingly random moments.

This controlled chaos is an excellent mix, and comes together to create a well crafted track. KillaHurtz is most certainly one for the future.

KillaHurtz - Root

We also have a track titled, "PornDub", by another Naiive Dubstarz producer, NVision. The track uses, ahem, porn noises to compliment it's own dubstep beat. The combination is an interesting blend, and certainly grows with every listen. It is really an intriguing listen, give it a go...

PornDub - NVision

Check out Naiive Dubstarz at their Facebook page.

Chibuku 6th Feb

Another week, another night. Chibuku this time down at the good old Liverpool Barfly. Crookers are playing, but AbandonSilence is more interested in The Others and Emalkay playing at the same time in a different room.... AND.... They're followed by the Original Nuttah, Shy FX! Sounds like a good night to us.

Hope as many of you viewers as possible will be going, or if not going to a similar night tonight. Let's get on it.

Flying Lotus vs Lil Wayne

The don of glitch and instrumental hip hop, Flying Lotus, has returned with a new remix of Lil Wayne's track 'I Feel Like Dying'. The track comes from Weezy's new album, the long gestated 'Rebirth', his rock-rap album. The album has been lambasted universally in every review I have read of it, but this remix can restore some of my faith in the man. Well, we can at least pretend that this is an original cut.

The track is very different to the original, with glitchy steps following by drawn out bass that adds layers and depth to Wayne's rap, which is restricted here to just a few bars. The track is brilliant and I really beg you, if you like this, which you will, to check out Flying Lotus' back catalogue, he is peerless in his field.

Lil Wayne - I Feel Like Dying (Flying Lotus Remix)

Jakwob 30 Minute Mix

Jakwob is a name that has mysteriously appeared in the dubstep world, and through a hard graft of multiple remixes of relatively well known artists, he has built a repertoire and a fanbase.

However, very little is actually known about this guy. As per, he is a Londoner, but not much else is known. Last week on Mistajam (prick) 's BBC Radio 1Xtra show, he showcased a 30 minute mix. The tracklist is very interesting, including some original works, some of his remixes and some hip hop.

In 30 minutes Jakwob crams in Ellie Goulding, Jurassic 5, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dead Prez and Skream, just to name a few. This is a mean set list, and is a brilliant showcase for Mr Jakwob's style and tastes.

Check it out for free at Mistajam's BBC site.

Fortnightly Mix 01

We at AbandonSilence have decreed that due to the mass of songs we receive weekly, we need an outlet to insure that every track reaches your precious eardrums. Thus, we have devised the idea of a fortnightly mix to get every track in.

This series will run alongside current concoctions like the monthly chilled mix and normal posts. Don't worry, all it is is even more music for the masses! Enjoy the inaugral AbandonSilence fortnightly mix here.

AbandonSilence - FortnightlyMix 12 - 26 Jan '10

Tracklist (Under 'Lyrics' if uploaded to iTunes)

Numan - Light

Untold - Never Went Away

Sub Focus - This Could be Real (Joker remix)

Calvin Harris - You Used to Hold Me (Nero Remix)

Flux Pavilion - Got 2 Know

Foreign Beggars & Noisia - Contact (Excision & Datsik remix)

Skream - Listening to the Records on my Wall

These tracks may be reviewed individually in the future, if you would like to see any in particular, comment below and we'll do that for you coz were nice like that.

The Redemption of Flux Pavilion

After the downright rude lambast Flux Pavilion received in a previous post for their track 'Digital Controller', I thought I'd rush out to assure you of this producer's quality. The track in question is titled 'Got2Know'.

The track is very similar to the works of Doctor P, the jump-up Prince to Rusko's King. The sound barrier breaking high shots pummel your eardrums, whilst a lowly drum pattern takes the rest of you with it. I fully recommend anyone serious about their live dubstep to take this, it'll never be on the Pitchfork top 100 but you can guarantee you'll be hearing this out and about in the near future.

Flux Pavilion - Got 2 Know

Bonus: Flux Pavilion & Doctor P - Air Raid

Tonight's Plans

AbandonSilence is now chilling in it's cushy apartment awaiting the evenings event.

Tonight were attending Playdub in Liverpol at The Kazimier. Ive never been to this location so should be an interesting night.

Coki, nu:tone, Cotti and Irration Steppas are playing. Hoping for a good night

DO THE DISHES

After a long few days I'm back with a set of new tunes for your pleasure.

Firstly, I have a new tune from Flux Pavilion, titled 'Digital Controller'. This track is similar to Chase and Status' White Lies remix and the works of Mt Eden Dubstep. The lyrical content is piss-poor, but the music is uplifting and wobbly. The whole rap can be summed up by the line, "Up on your profile page, how many hits can you get today." I am suprised that I would give it the time of day, but the track is so happy and just plain 'nice' that I can't ignore it.

Flux Pavilion - Digital Controller

Joining Flux Pavilion in this countdown will be one of the funniest tracks I've heard in a long time. The track in question is Borgore's 'Act Like a Ho'. The track rolls around with jumping synths accompanied by a light rap by a guy to his girl, and his demands for the bedroom. Then, from nowhere, the track breaks down and it is announced, "But first.. Do The Dishes!" Seriously funny, and also followed by a ridiculously heavy breakdown, which is becoming Borgore's trademark, after tracks like 'Cry me a River' and 'Ice Cream'

Borgore - Act Like a Ho

So now I will leave this post, not for today, just for now. The final track will be Emalkay's 'Angie Got Stoned'. This track is just another feather to Emalkay's very birdlike cap. It takes things a few notches down from 'When I Look At You' and 'Heroics' to a pulsating beat with some beautiful vocals. Give it a go, maybe partake in some activities similar to what happened to 'Angie', nice.

Emalkay - Angie Got Stoned