Caspa and his Dub police crew got featured on the Scion CD Sampler series. This sampler comes with 14. banging tracks – alongside J Kenzo, Caspa, Trolley Snatcha and more.
1. Caspa – Ready Eddy
Label bossman Caspa sets off the disc with a proper half-time grinder. A huge wobbling bassline over pared-down drums, sprinkled with robotic vocal fragments.
2. Emalkay – Critical Hit
A seemingly harmless filtered synth at the top quickly gives way to a frantically swung out hat and giant splash of a snare. Massive 3 oscillator bass sound rides the groove all the way through.
3. The Others – Quantum Leap
Serious bass odyssey here ya’ll. Once the theme is established at the top, it’s play time. The Others run the gamut here, playing with call and response ideas, basstones, and breakdowns.
4. Subscape – Dominant Species
This track puts the emphasis on the double time feel implied frequently in Dubstep. An incredibly aggressive bassline reminiscent of the late 90’s drum and bass sound drives relentlessly throughout.
5. Trolley Snatcha – Slow Down
An ominous minor key string loop opens this heavy piece and sets the tone for this lumbering giant. A slow motion dirge whose bass is as heavy as its mood.
6. Matty G – Turf W*rz
80’s drum machines get the full dub treatment on this tune as synths and snares echo across the stereo field over subdued basslines. Dark and spacious, this beat shows the more laid back side of the beat movement.
7. Unitz – Light Ina Distance
The most directly Jamaican-influenced track on this sampler, Unitz incorporates many familiar dub conventions including the keyboard skank, pure sine-wave bassline, and everything drenched in reverb. Great use of the 80’s keyboard/horn tone nods respectively to many reggae classics.
8. Orien – Strawberry Kiss
Lush atmospheric pads and a subtle double-time skanking keyboard paired with racing stick and hats give this track a paradoxically relaxed and excited feeling. Very textural and visual track with plenty of room to breathe.
9. LD -Oh Yeah
A round, dubby bassline and double-time tambourine and hats are featured prominently in this tune and recall early 90’s jungle. Flutes and synths are delayed out with vocal fragments creating a vibe full of energy, but not abrasive.
10. D1 – BRB
Situated a bit more on the modern electro side of things, this up-tempo club rocker repeats and tweaks an ascending synth line over a four-on-the-floor kick to great effect. Still, the persistence of the hi-hat and clap patterns ground this track in the Dubstep world as well.
11. J Kenzo – Constant
A minute-long intro featuring a double-time bell, super low snare, and occasional synth snarl build tension into a minimal beat driven by a sub-bass that wobbles away on 16th notes. Plenty of space in the mix, definitely a bass-bin punisher.
12. Distinction – Bionic Bug
Clever use of synths emulate the sound of insect wings swarming in the distance while more immediate sounds pan across the stereo field to get you instinctively swatting the air for digital mosquitoes. These effects, underpinned by a giant splash of a snare and sub-rumble of a bassline make this tune a winning experiment in the vast reach of the modern synth.
13. L-Wiz – Back Stabba
Decidedly filmic synth pads create a very dramatic tone on this track complete with air raid sirens and a brassy synth melody looping from 2 minutes in. Heavily swung out 16th note hi-hats keep the energy high throughout.
14. Dubwoofa – 7am Ghost
Rounding out this Dub Police collection, Dubwoofa creates a hauntingly minimal vibe with lush synth pads and a drum pattern that is both sparse and incredibly tense. A deft marriage of the texturally ambient and rhythmically aggressive.
