Dubstep’s codes have had an equally significant influence upon IDM bedrooms as they have the dancefloors of the ‘hardcore continuum’. The manner in which these practices are taken by artists working outside of dubstep’s – indeed, music’s – ‘standard’ settings offers even greater diversity. The London Highpoint Lowlife label have actively monitored these developments, among numerous others (twee pop, noise, drones, post-rock, etc.), maintaining a near buy-on-site level of quality control, not disappointed by this breathtaking debut by newcomer 10-20.
It’s easy to use geography as a prism through which to view an artist’s output, and 10-20’s Devon locale throws up a whole new range of signifiers. His is a fisherman’s 2-step, the cavernous bass from bunkers in London and Bristol emerging salty and dry, mnml even. In opener ‘Milvus’, this is paired with a glittering backdrop of bejewelled pings and glassy clinks reminiscent of Heartthrob or Troy Pierce, yet without the pernickitiness, more like flotsam. Familar pulses and synth shudders also rear their heads, but they’re windswept and ghostly compared to their urban cousins.
The thread that binds 10-20 is the dense web of sound lurking behind each track, a shimmering tapestry of machine noise, circuit hum and coastal field recording. In ‘jjuvxszla’ and ‘wdtrhjvelgrad’, for example, pointilistic shards dance and twitter like clinical Mille-Plateaux experiments, smeared into a dubbed-out haze. The aptly titled ‘Arcadeagle’ beautifully fuses ‘real’ and synthetic sources, delayed arcade blare awash in confused static, while the rhythm swoons like Wolfgang Voigt. 10-20 offers plenty for attentive listeners, and those keen on more skewed dancefloors.
Joshua Meggitt
