Today’s post will be a mix of some of the best new dub techno, dubstep, and ambient sound I could find.  We’ll warm things up, turn down the light, and then drone off into the ocean.  Today’s art is some of the incredible futuristic concept art (by Sparth Construct) I’ve been checking out at the very well-curated Concept Ships blog.  Oh, and speaking of the ocean and the catastrophic gulf spill that has been unfolding in the wake of barrel-fulls of failure and frustration, check out my newest submission to Typcut, a more detailed post about the design will be forthcoming as I see how the idea grows.

Federsen – Octavian – Magnetic Transmissions

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I’ve got to say, good dub techno has been hard to come by this year, but the Venice-based Deep in Dub netlabel, helmed by Maurizio Miceli, is among a few community-based netlabels, similar to Thinner or Beko DSL, where many releases are free, and listeners, producers, and DJ’s can all come together and discuss it.  has a FREE new release out called Magnetic Transmissions, tracks like this make me wonder why such great dub is so rare these days.  Big props to the Deep in Dub crew for keeping it sizzlin’ hot.

Breakage – Vial (ft. Burial) – Foundation

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Last year I posted up a great tune by dubstep/dnb producer , dark and brooding, it had the low-pitched growl of darkstep in the bassline, with the background of rainfall, it made for an immersive if not slightly pulpy listening experience.  His newest release, Foundation, features a couple stand-out collaborations, including this one with none other than the famed and elusive antihero of dubstep, .  This track has enough of Burial’s signature style to sound almost like a track left out of his landmark ’07 release Untrue.

Kyle Bobby Dunn – Dissonant Distances – Rural Route No. 2

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

dropped me a line recently with his newest release– the two-part Rural Route No. 2.  As a musician whose music plays almost nightly in my sleep playlists, I find a piece like Dissonant Distances to live in an entirely different realm.  This is ambient drone music, to be sure, but KBD also exhibits his classical leanings in what might be the most prominent way I’ve yet heard.  The wax-smooth sound of string instruments become submerged as colossal earthquake-rumbling lows grow and resonate in a glacial crescendo.  This belongs in a playlist you listen to while awake and able to attend to it, it’s entirely too dominant to function simply as background music, which as you might know, is remarkably rare in the genre of ambience.

Kuniyuki Takahashi – Ocean Waves (Minilogue Dream Drone Remix)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A short while back, I had posted a solid release called Koss.  Well, I have to say this is definitely sitting high on my favorite EPs of the year already, and it’s really more thanks to the incredible, incredibly diverse selection of remixes from .  I had posted the deep, dubby remix of Ocean Waves earlier, but there is a more ambient dub techno version, and then this drone version, which are notable not only for sounding great on their own, but also for sounding cohesive together.  Being able to express that many takes on an original track is astounding, this is a highly recommended EP.

Posted in Music Posted by on Jun 03 2010 01:25 pm

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,