With the glut of dubstep producers swelling by the day, it was only a matter of time before we would start to see cross pollination between other genres, collaborations between producers, and labels showcasing their take on the genre. Scape has been a well respected electronic label, bringing some ground breaking artists to the fore, artists like Pole (who feature here) and Burnt Friedmann, and now has become yet another label to showcase its slant on dubstep, pushing it in new directions.
It was inevitable really, since Shackleton remixed Pole, and the favour recently returned for the new Skull Disco compilation, that the Scape trademark of intricately edited dub electronica would grow to encompass not just dubstep, but variations on the theme. Scape do seem to favor the dub techno end of the sphere, warm electronics and glacial soundscapes, and there are many fine examples here, Martyn, 2562, Untold, Pole, Syncom Data, Ramadanman, Pinch, Peverelist, Elemental and Pangaea make up the roster for this compilation. This compilation didn’ really grab me when it was first released, but has since grown on me, from the Detroit stylings of Martyn, the minimalism of Peverelist, to the almost live feel of Elemental.
While all the tracks contained here never venture too far from the Scape aesthetic, there is still plenty of variety, refreshingly, Scape has not opted for the mid-ground of boring formulaic dubstep, not breaking new ground entirely, but stretching the boundaries a little.
Wayne Stronell
