Loefah - Midnight / Woman

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  • You don't have to be a dubstep expert to know that some of the genre's best tracks were dubplates that were never released, or took years to finally hit wax. These two mythical Loefah tunes, which go all the way back to 2004, have escaped any official issue until now. Landing on London label Berceuse Heroique, "Midnight" and "Woman" are a reminder of the pivotal role the Swamp 81 boss played in the development of dubstep. They also show just how timeless the original classics are. "Woman" is one of Loefah's most cerebral tracks. It's almost zen in arrangement: booming kick drums, a chanted vocal and the rustling sound of a rewind, all echoed into the emptiness that surrounds them. Aside from LFO basslines that feel like slow-motion mortar strikes, not much else happens. But nothing else needs to happen. Flipside "Midnight" is more in line with classic Loefah weapons like "Mud VIP" or "Root," but even its fierce wobbles and snarling ragga vocal have a strict discipline to the way they move. It might be the novelty of finally getting them, or merely nostalgia for dubstep's glory days, but these tracks feel somehow monumental. Whatever it is that makes them sound so astounding, getting them ten years after the fact is certainly better than never.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Woman B1 Midnight
RA