REVIEW : V.I.V.E.K - FEEL IT EP

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Genre : Dubstep/Bass/Experimental/Dark Ambient

Year : 2010

Label : Deep Medi Musik

In a time and age where the poster boy of dubstep, Skream, is thinking out of the box, Magnetic Man is already being heralded as a future radio staple (Benga declared in his interview for ‘The Guardian’ that, “We are trying to add emotions to this music, it’s not about club smashers or just dubstep fans, this is for a much broader crowd”), dubstep is aloof of its origins (think Hotflush or Night Slugs 808 heavy production or artists like Roof Light, Joy Orbison and PANTyRAiD) because of countless mutations; nevertheless attracting wider attention due to these, Mary Anne Hobbs, the queen of dubstep has retired from BBC Radio 1and bass music is reaching the audiences in very loathsome ways that hardly carry any weight of attached feeling (read Brostep) or through viciously ear-splitting bass drops, the older darker tunes that were once the toast of the London underground are now being given the slip. It never came as a surprise when Blackdown in an interview for ‘Drowned In Sound’ remarked that dubstep was going through an upheaval. That being said, there still are prolific producers like Mala (of Digital Mystikz fame) who know how to keep the flame burning. Having established the DMZ label (which also released the wonderful and belligerent ‘Return To Space II’ this year) to release his own material and of his peers; because, he received a favourable response from other artists in terms of striking original material, he gave birth to ‘Deep Medi Musik’, an extension of his efforts to capture the sounds he wanted to, but, those that he found in other artists. V.I.V.E.K. aka Vivek Sharda, one of his finest and recent signings, who was introduced to him by Silkie, in his second release (his first being Kulture/Meditation Rock) on Deep Medi, gusts the signature percussion heavy, portending, insane but deep tunes with amazing deftness that will leave you cold on the dance floor.

Echoing literally, the aforementioned sentiments in the form of sampled words in the EP opener ‘Feel It’, that say, “Many soundsystems play very loud bass, we would like to play deeper sounds where people can still stand near the speaker; it doesn’t hurt. People do respond to the bottom frequency. People have to feel it”, make the utmost use of the relationship with ambiance as a medium to express the heartfelt emotions. Anchoring these heavy words, is the ominous lurking and enveloping drone (that somewhat reminds oneself of the low frequency drones of Thomas Koner) that locks the phrenetic congas, the 2-step mimicking manjiras that provide momentum to the head bobbing track, the entrenched rumbling bass and the tension building wood block strikes. Like a ticking timebomb (could be a passing reference or metaphorical like the first track), the second track ‘Grandfather Clock’ slowly tick-tocks its way into a buried and periodically surging bass serration, creaking horror inducing noise, a striking gong (as if the devil were ringing the death knell) and thumping dubstep beats until the buried bass skyrockets and swivels with a swashbuckling surge. This track is spine-chilling and fierce; it will make you cringe and look for cover in the dense and disorienting atmosphere. Spilling over the fully established emotionally scathing elegy into the next track, the minimalistic and envisaging ‘Motherland’, the EP brings the Burial like distant pleasure concept to the fore. Reminiscent of Loefah’s ‘Indian Dub’, ‘Motherland’ maintains its class by avoiding cheesy ragas and instead uses a part of the alluring, spiritual but withered and yearning vocals and imbues it along with entrancing flutes into the soundscape of intermittent tumbling dub chords, scuppering and skittering bass swipes, airy maracas, sprightly congas and sparsely but precisely circularized tabla beats. The last track on this sonically satisfying EP; ‘Strategic’, hints towards dub techno in its use of pitch-shifting and form changing pounding dub chords that propel the track by synchronising with the garage like skeletal and nimble beats. It is still sombre and away from the serenity that dub techno is usually associated with.

Clocking around twenty five and a half minutes, the EP effortlessly and smoothly flows but like hot volcanic lava and is a showcase of Vivek’s blazing new freshness. It is a sound that compliments Digital Mystikz and the Deep Medi label and justifies his signage. Of course the fans of these will devour the record, but, for other new listeners this is pure melancholic, uncompromising and benighted bliss at its spearheading best. For vinyl lovers there's more to cheer since there is an additional 45 minute mix that features all the above tracks and his upfront dubplates. Not to be missed!

Rating : 8.7/10

http://www.myspace.com/vivek321

http://deepmedi.com/future_medi.html

http://www.myspace.com/deepmedi

http://www.last.fm/music/V.I.V.E.K.