Martyn - Broken/Shadowcasting

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  • Make no mistake: this is a big single and one that must be heard whether you poison is minimal techno, dubstep, breaks or just the twilight edge of new music. Ricardo Villalobos’ remix of Shackelton’s ‘Blood on My Hands’ did a lot to highlight the link between dubstep and minimal techno, but both the original and remix only ever approached the idea of a hybrid genre from their respective corners. Red Zone founder Martyn, however, has come up with a transcendent chimeric fusion of the two genres that shows the way forward if, er, 'dubstepno' is going to grow as a viable entity. This is a single that exists in a genreless space and it easily dismisses any attempt to pigeonhole it. The A-side ‘Broken’ first made waves when it appeared on the Dat:Music compilation coming out of Marcus Intalex’s Soul:R imprint, and it now receives a vinyl release on the sister drum n bass label Revolve:R. The track kicks off without hesitation, sucking you into a phasing spiral of dub pulses straight from the Basic Channel dub techno school, but with a greater sense of breathable air. The track then slowly unwinds around a low throb of bass, pitch shifted vocals and waves of synth that could almost have drifted in directly off a house track. Its faster than your average dubstep, but slower than standard techno, yet all with a sophisticated and frantic magnetism that is spellbinding. ‘Shadowcasting’ on the flip side is a new track, a little faster and just as special. Again, the high end of the rhythm section is the key to the sound, infused with a perfect balance of pace without fury. Like ´Broken’, there’s plenty of space to listen and breathe, and some more abstracted vocals, but when the bass melody and the rhythm clusters finally lock in, you know you are headed somewhere else. There is a sense of surprise, delight and urgency as the track evolves into a slightly dirty and soulful dancefloor gem. Is this techno? Is it dubstep? It doesn’t really matter and you are pretty likely to find it in played in sets of all types if you haven’t already. So damn good that you will need to move fast before it's hard to find.
  • Tracklist
      A Broken B Shadowcasting
RA