Echologist feat. The Spaceape

The Mercy Dubz

Genre: GRIME / FWD

MP3
FLAC

Boomkat Product Review:

German dancefloor imprint Resopal Red drop a bit of a future dub allstars project with Brendon Moeller's latest Echologist outing taking the voice of Hyperdub aka Spaceape, learned techno-scholar and scribe-turned-producer Philip Sherburne and ex-Force Tracks dudes Mri vs UES along for a trip into infinitely deep and sub-sunken house grooves inspired by The The's classic 'The Mercy Beat'. Covering seven tracks in total, including multiple dubs and remixes from each artist, this is an expansive project set up to explore state-of-the-art dub tech production and the relationship between house, dub, techno and dubstep. Moeller's own 'Disco Dub' initiates the session with a purposefully pressurised dub house strider, relegating the vocals to a spectral whisper spatialized into the groove for a deliciously disorientating effect, while the 'Mercy Dub' sits heavy in a more orthodox dub groove, albeit 2009 style with a bobbing ballast of subbass propping up sun-heated chords and esoteric dub poetics from Spaceape. Spinning back to the house and techno floors, Ex-Force Tracks and current Resopal production unit Mri vs UES tuck into an efficient house groove, combining Chicago inherited drum machine patterns with obese subbass pressure and spring cushioned chords sounding much like the Syncom Data 'Horse' rmxs mixed with a smudged Villalobos vibe. But for many, the most exciting tracks here will be Philip Sherburne's awesomely dubstepped versions. His 'Resurrection mix' is obviously created with Spaceape in mind, taking cues from Kode 9's dub abstractions or Timeblinds tech-dub-steppers with a fractured composition held together by spilling delays and reverbed dub ephemera, while the 'Triple Bypass' mix reminds us strongly of Jay Haze's Sub Version project with a danceably loose and abstract riddim making full use of the electro-acoustic possibilities when mixing dub and techno requirements. Moeller finishes the package himself with two extra dub versions, the 'Cosmic Dub' applying lush synth pads and a tuff 4/4 steppers bass, or the final 'No Mercy Dub' version, squeezing the final essence out of the original track to leave a warm glowing and oozy residue of sci-fi atmospheres and an almost organic dub beat pattern left to do its own thing in the shadows. Heady stuff that will appeal massively to fans of Mikkel Metal, Rhythm & Sound, Deepchord or Syncom Data.

MP3 Release (7)