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After his last release gained massive support from dubstep’s most discerning and influential selectors including, Mala, Skream and Youngsta; SP:MC follows up the hugely successful ‘Trust Nobody’ with his latest Tempa release, ‘Taiko Dub’ / ‘Bad Dreams’[TEMPA045]

For the A side, ‘Taiko Dub’, SP:MC looks toward the land of the rising sun for inspiration. Taiko are a type of hollow Japanese drum, struck with hard-wood sticks called Bachi. Imagine, if you will, a form of Japanese kettle drum, only these drums have skins on both ends which gives them a particular resonance when struck. The ingredients for ‘Taiko Dub’ are few, and SP:MC’s spatial awareness allows him to afford the track a meditative quality, and in turn ascend the listener to a plane of clarity. His sparing use of sub-bass at once accentuates the Taiko rhythm and adds a contemporary & western reference point, which is in keeping with the originally designed intentions of this folk instrument, an instrument first endorsed (in its proto form) by the Buddhist people.

‘Bad Dreams’ features on the AA side and its title suggests feelings of doom and dread, feelings which can be triggered within the human psyche by enduring low frequencies. SP:MC, alongside Joker D, submerges ‘Bad Dreams’ with multiple layers of bass which creep around the 70bpm flipside at varying pitch. Listening to ‘Bad Dreams’ brings forward long forgotten fears buried in the recesses of your mind and preys on them. Be warned, to play this record is to open your own Pandoras Box. A refreshingly intelligent and effective approach to Dubstep at halfpace, this completes SP:MC’s second outing on Tempa.

Rude tackle from the Iberian imprint dropping an original track from Relocate backed with a an immense Buraka Som Sistema track. It's this remix from the Kuduro stars that should get this 12" noticed, as they switch styles to fit the title 'Hard Boogie For Dub Swingers' with a blend of Funky syncopations and powerful dubstep bass to kill it in the club. Imagine Bok Bok dub-jacking with Skream and you're in the right club. On the flip Relocate keeps up the pressure with 'Origins' setting a tuff pattern of crafty steppers rhythms and dub-tech vibes with a gleaming finish to wipe the club clean. Heavyweight!

Yo, you know we’re all about dubstep, and sometimes we gotta shine the light outside of holland and recognize the rest of the world. So, let’s check out what we got in the mail recently worthy of your ears…
This week we got some cool stuff from the sunny side of Europe. Based out of Lisbon & Barcelona, Iberian Records is run by Conspira & Corsario Riddim (both are producer duos from Lisbon & Barcelona respectively). They claim to be the first from Spain/Portugal to release dubstep vinyl and they definitly rep their climate, releasing tunes from local Spanish and Portugese producers.
Coming out in September, IBR003 features tuneage from Barcelona beatmaker Relocate. The A-side is actually a remix of his tune Dot Dot Dash by Portuguese Kudoro pushers Buraka Som Sistema (if you don’t know about them, do so now!). The original tune (found on IBR002) is a slower, brooding tune, rather minimal in its sounds. The remix gives it some “umph”, starting off chill, then building a bit, some voices & clapping, and then womp – things kick into a solid, dancy beat and bass sound that reminds me of a fire siren going off in slow motion underwater. The upbeat tempo keeps things lively – this is definitly one to get chicks movin’ them hips.
On the B-side you will find a heavy thumper of a tune. The bass sounds like the heartbeat heard in the head of Tyranosaurus as he wanders through a prehistoric jungle, every now and then getting interested in something, interest peaks, and then whatever it was disappears, and he goes on his midnight journey. I dig this tune a lot.
All in all, a solid release from an interesting label. Keep your eyes open for anything from Iberian – and get to know about sun influenced dubstep.

The third plate from Lisbon and Barcelona-based Iberian Records (so an appropriate label name then) is part two of Relocate’s cheekily named ‘Hard Boogie For Dub Swingers’ EP. The first part emerged earlier in the year, at around the same time as he released a gorgeous house-infused dubstep remix of Kontext’s ‘Plumes’ on Immerse.
Continuing where the first plate left off, lead track ‘Origins’ is dusky and understated, a nocturnal excursion thorough that well-tread middle ground between dubstep and techno with its metronomic kicks and delicately bristling snare patterns. There’s a certain Bristolian element buried in its monochrome synth stabs and echo-drenched voices – this brittle, metallic quality is occasionally reminiscent of Appleblim’s early material for Skull Disco, and wouldn’t sound out of place on Tectonic. Still, its very subtlety marks it out: less a disco-wrecker than a slow-building, hypnotic roller, the ever-present rumble of sub bass pressure is as warm and cocooning as it is propulsive.
By way of contrast, then, the Buraka Som Sistema remix of ‘Dot Dot Dash’ on the flip is a beast: the Lisbon collective take the original’s four-to-the-floor pulse and rebuild the groove over the top entirely, subverting the techno elements with muscular, gritty aggression. Its repeated melodic motif and sudden bursts of feedback are all that remain, but are dragged along by a sinewy, elastic bassline that stretches almost to breaking point before snapping back for the drop. It’s minimalist in structure but deadly in its execution, limb-twitching kuduro percussion married to a grinding low-end that through a big system is liable to cause the gut equivalent of tinnitus.
Despite the wildly different nature of the two tracks here, it is to Buraka’s credit that they preserve Relocate’s tonal palette even as they up the energy levels. It exposes a successful shared goal – to bring a little European twilight to the dance.

Barcelona’s favourite ex-pats, Roo and Howie swap hats from their excellent 23Hz & Numaestro to the technoid obsessed Relocate moniker on this absolute gem. The Relocate sound was perfectly realised by the skulking beast of Dot Dot Dash, a record heavily supported by Scuba, and which formed one part of the Hard Boogie For Dub Swingers 12” out late last year. This, the second coming, sees Portugal’s Kudoru kings, Buraka Som Sistema, turn out a remix with more dancefloor magnetism than a group of short skirted WAGs from Ilford. In its shadow is the skulking Origins, a pulsing, galloping hulk obese with dubwise signatures and low-end spasm. Let’s hope people turn the record over to actually hear it!

The Iberian crew are upping the ante with this rather tasty-looking EP
that calls in Lisbon kuduro uber-producers Buraka Som Sistema on remix
duties. Darkside warper ‘Dot Dot Dash’ gets a pumped-up shot in the arm
from BSS as they turn Relocate’s house-influenced sound inside out. Bass
samples drop in and out between midrange ripples and hardcore
Afro-inflected drums, telltale vocal snippets and insistent synth motifs
adding further degrees of hype. Eyes down for ‘Origins’ on the flip,
dubsided skanks delaying across arid tech-scapes and solid bass
foundation.
8/10

This EP is almost a dictionary example of "how one should run a record label". You just need to take your best tune so far, let it be remixed by someone who is already famous and put a second killer track on the B side. That's how this small label from the outskirts of the musical world can gain global recognition with its 3rd release. The best tune so far in this case is Relocate's "Dot Dot Dash" and the famous artists who remixed it are Buraka Som Sistema. It appears to be very much like a top class banger hitting your face with the midrange madness just like many other London produced dancefloor killers. But what is best on this 12" is the B side. "Origins" is Relocate at its best. Bass'n'groove in its purest form. The lowest bass on Earth, precise, steady beats and echoes of the swinging thirties.