- Over the past two or three years, some English producers formerly associated with emergent forms of dubstep, grime and dark garage have developed in softer, more restrained directions. The likes of Wen and Parris barely deploy a drum in their latest releases, whittling down what was vital about their earlier work into quietly powerful music. K-Lone fits a similar dynamic, moving from angular bass workouts on his formative releases to the luxuriating ambience of his latest and strongest 12-inch, Old Fashioned.
Smudged hues and the hiss, crackle and pop of Chain Reaction sift through these three tracks. Rhythms are used to reinforce ideas rather than push things forward. The ten-minute centrepiece, "Old Fashioned," sounds like DB1 in slow motion and lands on the dub side of dub techno. K-Lone keeps you gripped until the end when contented pads push past the murk, seeping through like daybreak after a stormy night.
"In The Dust Of This Planet" is even better, making fine use of chiming bell tones, earthen drums and clouds of hiss to build a twinkling yet pulsating mass of sound. It's a hair under five minutes but seems even shorter, such is the mediative poise it induces. The O$VMV$M remix raises a wry smile by placing an air horn in the midst of K-Lone's shuddering ambience, presenting an ever so slightly tougher front than the other tracks. Even so, we're still floating in the clouds, looking down on the dance in a state of calm.
Tracklist01. Old Fashioned
02. In The Dust Of This Planet
03. Old Fashioned (O$VMV$M Remix)