thanks.
Big Apple was the first name i ever heard of when i discovered dubstep.
here, i think i saved the article....
ok, i didnt save the URL, but copy n pasted sections of the article into a notepad to later remember the names. you gotta understand, this was several years ago, and i discovered it searching for news on "dark breaks"
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Hatcha, Benga, Skreams, Menta, Jayda Flex, Plastic Man, Kode 9, Digital Mystikz: there are many key players.
But none make dubwise sounds and textures quite like Benny Ill and Lev Jnr aka Horsepower Productions…
A far cry from garage’s bling bling, this new generation of roducers are using cheap computers and soft studios to drive garage into darker territory. Growling bass drones and lurching rhythms flashback to the darkness of the early junglists. Only rarely do vocals invade the mix, and even then it’s disembodied film samples or severely cut-up song snippets. Based around the 200-capacity Forward club night at Plastic People in London, along with associated labels like Tempa, Soulja and the Big Apple shop in Croydon, they’ve created one of the most exciting electronic offshoots in years.
Zed Bias is probably the most talented producer in the scene. Like creative people everywhere, his hands are wedged in many pies – whether it’s syncopated bliss from Maddslinky, the broken beat/jazz funk of Phuturistix, sinister skanking beats as Nu Design, bass heavy breakbeat as Daluq, or drum’n’bass and grinding 2 step as Es Dubs and Zed Bias - Dave Jones has worked with a truckload of talented people over the past few years, and is the producer
I would recommend as a first stop for any music heads interested in exploring this further.
Other producers of the rough, scuffed beats are El-B (who’s recently turned in garage collabs with Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown), anything by Horsepower Productions and Benny Ill, Kode 9 (who runs the wicked hyperdub website), Oris Jay (who also rocks breaks as Darqwan), DJ Hatcha (resident DJ at the monthly Forward nights), and the darkside garage of Artwork. Coming from slightly outside, check the dancehall devastation of The Bug (otherwise known as techno/hip hop/noise producer Techno Animal). New labels are popping up all the time, but the key ones to check are Soulja, Tempa, Vehicle, Big Apple, Shelflife, Ghost, Bingo and Road.
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