The evolution of Under The Gun Review continues this week with the latest installment of our electronica feature, The Drop. Written weekly by resident basshead Jake White, The Drop is your go-to source for weekly electronic/dubstep/techno news!
If you’re an emerging talent in this area or have a news tip you’d like to see featured, contact us! Write utgjames@gmail.com with the subject “Drop” and we’ll get you or your news featured as soon as possible!
Welcome back, bassheads! It’s been another week, and I’m sure you’re all starved for some fresh, free bass tracks to take home with you. Well, I’ve got yet another prime selection for you today, friends: Leftover Flux & P Circus Casserole, some Cookie Monsta & BadKlaat stuffing, and a several mashup-sandwiches to choose from! So, before my analogical lunacy continues any further, let’s get into some of this filthy music!
- NEW MUSIC VIDEO: Flux Pavilion & Doctor P – Louder
This is already one of my favorite songs in recent memory, and the video gives it even more vitality. Flux & P are great to watch; the video truly captures the blissful live atmosphere of a powerful show. The footage is appropriate, and matches the feel of this party banger perfectly. The sound and video quality are excellent, and the direction is superb. This is a great companion piece to a song that already had me reaching for the repeat button. Great work, Circus. Keep ‘em coming!
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Flux Pavilion & SKisM – Jump Back (Ft. Foreign Beggars)
Flux Pavilion & SKisM – Jump Back (Ft. Foreign Beggars) by MoshFolk
Here’s another massive, grimey banger from some of our favorite players. This one builds like a wall of filthy bricks. Foreign Beggars lace the fuzzy basslines with choice grime, giving the already sick groove even more attitude. Eerie progressions are subjected to time-shifting torsion that tickles the ears, and dense sweeps cascade into coiling fills. Like a river of bass, this track carves a majestic path as it erodes away the bedrock of your cerebellum.
- FREE SONG STREAM: Cookie Monsta Vs BadKlaat – Fishy Gun Fingers (clip)
Cookie Monsta Vs BadKlaat – Fishy gun fingers (clip) by BadKlaat
This one is just a stream, and just a clip. I know, I know. Fuck me, right? Trust me, hit play. Every once in a while I feel like I should remind everyone that the heart of dubstep is still beating strong. It builds up quick and fierce with skippy leads, and drops into a cavernous, industrial and deep bass rhythm. Square waves slice through the spectrum, distracting you from the laser-fury that lies underneath. The drums carry the track on a chassis of jilted hi-hats, snappy snares and thumpy kicks. The sweeps are wound tight, and the samples are darkly lo-fi and tastefully infrequent. This is modern dubstep at it’s finest. A+ work by Cookie Monsta and BadKlaat.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Truth – World is Spinning
Truth – World is Spinning – FREE DOWNLOAD by Truth
Truth blasts their way back into the spotlight this week with a heavy stomper. The versatility of the instruments used in this piece is just baffling. The sonic environment is like a massive cathedral, filled with a rich variety drums and complex, heavy leads. The music box and creepy vocals are perfectly interwoven, and lead the song off draped across a bed of heavily filtered drums.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Lamb Of God – Redneck (Trampboat Remix)
Redneck by Lamb of God (Trampboat Remix) by Dubstep.net
This one comes in with squealing, distorted guitar leads, and builds up with screaming and some added sweeps and pads. The drop hits hard and fast, giving the focus over to the more electronic elements. Though much of the integrity of the original work is maintained, Trampboat’s tweaks and additions really give another whole level of depth to the track. Fat talking bass and chirpy arpeggios are carefully injected throughout, beefing up this already heavy track.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Black Eyed Peas – Can’t Get Enough (AaA Remix)
Cant Get Enough by Black Eyed Peas (AaA Remix) by Dubstep.net
The original song (I have to admit) I already kind of like. This rendition is an interesting one. Right away, I didn’t like how AaA seemed to give the vocal samples a half-step shin-kicking, but that went away when I heard the piano/Fergie swan-dive into electric oblivion. Granted, it’s a little sluggish of a progression overall, but the familiarity of the samples give this track its saving grace, alongside a really, very impressive drop. Though the production value and sonic vastness sort of bring it down a little, it still gets an A for creativity; it’s definitely a great new rebuff of a fading hit.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Sunlovers – Now That We Found Love (Xtra Testosterone Remix)
Sunlovers-Now That We Found Love(Xtra Testosterone Remix) by XTRA TESTOSTERONE
Great job once again, Xtra Testosterone. This is one of those that has your head bobbing by the end of the first eight bars. There are so many layers here, it’s impossible to describe. The overall texture is full yet balanced. The progression is positive upbeat but anxious. The vocals capture your focus and hold it hostage, delivering you to the bass demon waiting just over the horizon. And once you arrive at the jaws of the beast, he demonstrates just how little time he has. The kick pounds in time like a pendulum while the bass demon devours. Lush saws carve up and down the scale with precision giving added tension to the already tense ensemble. This is definitely a more side of Xtra that I’m not used to hearing, and I like where he’s going with it.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: RobotPirateMonkey – Hellevator
Hellevator by RoboticPirateMonkey
The samples for this track bear all of the personality of a rust-themed marching band made up of cowboy zombies. I’m not sure what the theme is here, but if they were going for “Monday Night Football in 1846″ they nailed it. Then, the future-bass comes in and stirs shit up like the angry fist of Robot-Lincoln. The electro elements are an excellent compliment to the samples. The bass leads are thick and fuzzy. The environmental processing is top-notch. The sweeps cover the seams with grace. The samples dance in and out of the spotlight, sharing the stage with brilliant arpeggios and fat bass.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Kanye West – Can’t Tell Me Nothing (GRiZ Remix)
Kanye West – Can’t Tell Me Nothing (GRiZ Remix) by Thissongissick.com
‘Nother remix. This one is Kanye, and apparently you can’t tell him nothing. Well, GRiZ must have gone over his head, because this shit is hard: harder than Kanye could even pretend to be on his own. It has a glitzy, loose bounce that reeks of class. The drop is as filthy as it is catchy. The piano is great, but there’s just something meh about the “la la las.” Nevertheless, the bass wobbles are an impressive conservatively-utilized touch. The sweeps are big, the sax is sexy and the sirens are fun. GRiZ funks it up good.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Big Gigantic – Nocturnal
Big Gigantic – Nocturnal by Thissongissick.com
This one kicks off with metallic keys jumping around erratically, leading you up into a sweeping wobble and an unexpectedly groovy sax melody. The whole thing fills out at the drop with buzzing bass leads that feel just great underneath the sax. This is only the start for the bass… It comes down into a chunky, sparse verse before diving into a double-time, fully developed bass groove. The saxophone upstages all yet again, as the song rounds the finish line, leaving your heart-rate in a surge and your mind on the edge of a cliff. Excellent production from Big Gigantic, and I can’t wait to hear more.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Tallan – Skanka VIP
This is some real dubstep right here! The melody is as vast and as dark as an ocean of hot tar. The thunky, delayed leads penetrate the sounscape like prizms colliding in space, and the sub gives the whole thing an effect of breathing life. The choked and re-verbed rimshots give a sharp edge to the battle axe that is this song. For being a VIP cut, this song still defines itself with empty space, which fascinates me. I think this track has a lot more life left in it… It’s one of those you could put on repeat for hours and never notice the repetition.
- FREE SONG DOWNLOAD: Stizreth – Subsiding (ft. N.B. J*Ras LadyPopCorn)
Subsiding feat- N.B. J*Ras LadyPopCorn by Stizreth
Here’s some more much-anticipated work from Stizreth. I don’t have much else to say, he continues to impress me with every release. The changes are perfectly timed and perfectly crafted. Wet bass wobbles under a tapestry of reflecting sounds. Beat gives way to the bass. The bass gives way to guitar, which gives way to some fresh and unexpected vocals. The vocals are an amazing match, demonstrating the ear for detail that we all like to see. His style of waning female vocals accent it all after a point, and give it a real characteristic Stizreth flair. Talking bass competes with the the guitar before they both give up in a tangled struggle, fading out for us to wish we had more.
That’s all this week! Come back again next Friday for another dish out of some of the newest, bestest, free-est music around. I’ll be here once again next week, tapping into electronic music’s main nerve and squeezing out enough bass-juice for everyone. Peace!
Jake W
