What happened to You Dun Know?

You Dun Know was a great little blog/music 'zine site that covered dubstep, UKG and grime. They gave away freebies, hosted mixes, did interviews, held contests and generally did everything they could to promote the sounds and style of bass culture. The hosted up lot's of exclusive mp3's, I think I got wind of Skream's first Freeism release here as well as Rusko's lost dubs. I re-posted quite a few things from them. And now it's gone. I'm not sure what happened, but a really on-the-spot blog, went and disappeared and now links to some god awful UK fashion blog called http://www.littlebookoffashion.com. Look I'll be honest, I haven't check You Dun Know in a minute, and so my finger may not exactly be on the pulse the corpse seems pretty cold on this, but what the fuck? Trading bass for Fashion just seems, I dunno, kinda wack. Sorry, I realize this is not much of a eulogy, but pour one out for You Dun Know, R.I.P. And remember to comment on the blogs you like so they don't all wither up and die like You Dun Know, give back some love. BTW If anyone knows the full scoop, please feel free to share and comment on this post.

Alex Clare - Up All Night (Skream's behind closed doors remix)

I'm keeping on a darker, break-heavy dubstep tip for a quick minute to bring you a little bit of Alex Clare this Thursday. Croydon's finest, Skream, has worked his particular brand of bass magic to create a rolling blend of unsettling synth loops and growling bass which evolves into slowed-down breaks (I think it's the Funky Drummer break). The final product is the musical equivalent of a hungover moment of clarity; bringing back memories you'd much rather have lost in the sloppy alcoholic haze of the night before.

If you think you've heard this tune before, you're almost right; it bears more than a passing resemblance to Skream's massive remix of 'In for the Kill' which was #5 in NME's list of 'Best ever remixes'. Alex Clare's plaintive, powerful vocals take this latest tune to places that La Roux, for all her talent, could not go; the guilt in his voice is almost palpable as hints at hungover lies covering a host of drunken sins; the line 'oh no, she don't know what I do in my spare time' reverberates through the track like the artist's unforgiving conscience.

I was lucky enough to watch Alex perform to a crowd of roughly 12 people in Oxford in mid-June, the man is ridiculously gifted and my tip to break out of the whole Ed Sheeran/Jamie Woon pack of young British talent; I expect great things. Check his soundcloud here and make your own minds up.



ps. If anyone wants to get at me with new music or their thoughts on any posts, I'm available at michael.oates87@gmail.com

Rico Tubbs – Madness (The Killabits remix)

Finland’s infant terrible Rico Tubbs’ (Bass=Win) latest work with Toronto’s serial remixers The Killabits proves yet again why industry heavyweights Sinden, Switch and Annie Mac are backing both producers for superstardom.

A gritty industrial past and exuberant, genre-bending musical present gives Rico's hometown of Tampere the nickname ‘The Manchester of Finland’ – this monster of a track reflects both sides of its creator’s city. Relentless high-hat breaks and air-raid sirens bring demented rave energy to a dark bassline overlaid with rolling arpeggiated synth and breathless vocal samples. Sit back, turn it up and take a trip to the edge of audio sanity. Then press repeat and do it all again.

Big up to True Tiger for dropping this high-speed collision of jungle, rave, dubstep and d’n’b on 1xtra and making my day. Their whole 3hr mix (sitting in for UKG soldier DJ Q) can be found here, it's nothing but the truth.

GOLDIE LOC (production by Roksonix) - C’Mon Now

This is a guest review by Michael Oates. He writes way better than I do, so enjoy.

After a summer which saw pre-teen rioters rip cities to shreds and Will.I.Am sampling Dirty Dancing, I thought I’d seen it all. I hadn’t. G-Step has arrived and it’s not going away.

‘C’mon Now’ is the lead track off MistaJam (Radio 1xtra) and Snoop’s forthcoming ‘Throw Ya Dubs Up: Dubstep LA Volume 2’ mixtape. The tape’s predecessor, ‘Dubstep LA: Embrace the Renaissance’, featured some huge highlights like Chae Hawk’s rolling, woozy rant ‘Malt Liquor’ and U-N-I’s relentless ‘Drive By’. However, the album itself was laboured and, in parts, a lazy commercial exercise (yes, I’m talking about ‘Snoop Dogg Millionaire’); listening to it felt like being a fly on the wall at an awful, awkward blind date.

The personnel are nothing if not legit: Goldie Loc, a former Eastsida and veteran of the West Coast game weighs in over this grimey, kicking dub by rising British stars Roksonix (Circus Records). Anyone’s who’s heard the duo’s remix of Imogen Heap’s ‘Hide and Seek’ will instantly recognize their fingerprints all over this beat; heavy, kicking bass underpins grinding, dissonant wobble to produce an uptempo, thugged out track which suits Goldie Loc’s tales of LBC life and curbside justice to a t.

The accompanying video looks like the bastard offspring of Pill’s phenomenal ‘Trap go ham’ clip and ‘Training Day’. Everyone has a gun, everyone’s swagged out and there’s even a disabled drug dealer - a tribute to Snoop’s character in Training Day? If you asked a 50 year-old from Kentucky to write a list of things and people he'd expect to see 'in the hood', he'd probably write the plot for this ludicrous video.

The whole experience feels like it was put together by a record label consultant: Credible rapper? Check. Solid production? Check. Thugged out video? Check. It would be perfect if consultants made bangers. They don’t. The few triumphs of the 1st mixtape were based on a pairing the tempo of the rappers’ flow perfectly with producers’ rolling bass and synth toplines. Here, Goldie Loc’s flow stumbles over choppy beats and his attempt to go into double time is almost cringe-inducingly poor. The video is such O.G overkill that it diminishes, rather than enhances, the track’s credibility.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate hip-hop/dubstep as a sub-genre (the Kickdrums’ ‘Trap or Dub’ tape was consistently brilliant) and I’m looking forward with curiosity to getting my hands on Dubstep LA: Volume 2 in October. However, this latest offering is doing little to calm my fears that this is all an exercise to line Snoop’s pockets with Frat Boys’ cash.

Iggy Azalea - PU$$Y Official video

Got this one from my buddy Marco at work, " Oh lord, so we get a new Kreayshawn about once a month now? #disturbing trends". While I somewhat agree, I do think the beats are actually pretty slick. It's a club roller influenced by dubstep and garage, but decidedly hip-hop. And the video, my lord, this thing is visually arresting. I love it and I hate it. I want to punch the D.O.P. in his face and then shake his hand for knocking my socks off. Just look at that kid riding around on that toy mechanical horse, and see if you are not immediately repulsed and sickened. And that close-up of the girl with braces licking her lips.... ugh. Narsty. Just a narsty ghettofabulous video right here. Watch at your own peril. *Update the old version got take down for some reason, here's the new leaked version*

Kim Pimmel - Compressed 02

Compressed 02 from Kim Pimmel on Vimeo.

I love this video. Made with ferrofluids (fluid that reacts to magnetism), a magnet, soap bubbles, and dye this video tells a simple and energetic story. I'll be fucked if I know what the story is, just an abstract tale really. A life/death cycle? A journey of discovery? A chemical rite of passage? The ambiguity is the charm here. That and the soundscape matches perfectly with the frantic energy of theses macro exploring visuals. What's you're take on it?

Excision - X-Rated LP

Excision - X-Rated LP

It's pretty much crap except for Deviance which is a standard robo-steppa that Datsik help fleshed out. Although 8-bit Superhero shows promise, it ultimately fails during the Pendulum-esque intro. BTW can I say X-rated is the worst title track and name-pun ever. I get it dude, the letter X is in your producer name. No need to show me other cool words that have letter X in it. I liked his Shambhala mixes miles above his production efforts. Excision peaked with Swagger, and has been in derivative decline ever since. Do you agree? Tell me what you think.