Tempa - Dubstep Allstars vol.I-VI
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Dubstep has established itself as a musical genre that is not only found in geographically isolated pockets. It has gone mainstream, or at least as mainstream as dark bass line soaked club music can go. Dubstep nights are regular features in most cities, and on the musical front the genre has been expanded by musical entrepreneurs willing to push the boundaries of the style. Burial, Various Production and dusk + blackdown are just some of the innovators.
The transition from club and 12inch records to main street vendors and full length albums has contributed to the continual popularisation of the genre, along with radio airtime provided by BBC’s Mary Ann Hobbs to name one of the important radio DJs.
Tempa, an English record company, was an early bird when it came to release a full length dubstep album. This is how Tempa presented itself in their second release: “Tempa was started in 2000 to cater for a new sound emerging out of south London, which has grown to become recognized as the global underground genre that is ‘dubstep’.” A fresh series entitled Dubstep Allstars hit the shelves. The release was a mix by DJ Hatcha, a resident on London’s Rinse and Flight FM, two pirate radio stations, as well as a regular guest on BCC’s 1xtra – as it was written inside the sleeve of the CD.
The first volume of the Dubstep Allstars are visibly from a narrow selection of artists and labels. But this tight selection was more then broad enough to give dubstep a welcomed push. The highlights on the first record are the tracks are Benga’s ‘Amber’ and DJ Hatcha’s own ‘Conga Therapy’.
2005 marked the second release in the Dubstep Allstars collection. This time around the reign was given to DJ Youngsta, a young DJ from Essex. Having played his mixes on Rinse FM he made his CD mix début on Tempa. His mix is shorter and tighter then Hatcha’s Vol.01, and the mix is based on tracks by Skream, Loefah and Dl. In addition to the shorter roster the records has a fresher/lighter feel to it. The record has a great opening and the first ten tracks still hold their own. Great mix!
The following year the third volume of the series came out. Vol.03 was mixed by Kode9, and featuring The Spaceape. The record starts out with Kode9’s classic track ‘Nine Samurai’. The theme of the third release is several shades darker and denser then the second release. And the length of the record makes the condensed heavy messing beats accentuate the hypnotising qualities of dubstep. The mix finishes with a dubplate from Burial, to be released later on Kode9’s own label Hyperdub. A now legendary LP that would bring dubstep to the full-length album category. Vol.3 is a mammoth of a mix, and should be not digested on a vulnerable day.
The fourth release of the Dubstep Allstars series is a double CD mix, one mixed by Youngsta and one by Hatcha. Once again the two DJs make two different albums. The mix is clearly not one long session that needed to be divided into two because of the limitations of the CD, but is two records for the price of one. The two DJs not only mix in different artists, but it is quite interesting to see the difference in the inclusion of dubplates. Hatcha has sixteen dubplates of twenty-six tracks, having a part where he mixes five Benga dubplates back-to-back, while Youngsta filles his mix with almost no dubplates. Besides such details there are also some wicked tracks thrown into these two mixes. Both mixes are tighter and resemble the other part in greater detail, then volume 1 and volume 2 of the series did. Both are well crafted mixes.
Just as the fourth released was already announced in the sleeve of the third one, the fifth release wasn’t a secret. N-Type is the DJ responsible for the 5th release in the series. Trackwise this is the longest of the lot, and dubplatewise it is from another dimension (38 tracks – just nine track are not from dubplates). Those are the numbers. The tracks are rolling effortlessly in succession, vibrating bass hooks, vocals, light melodies – the 38 track mix is not overloaded with unnecessary tunes, and that is a good feat. The style of the mix is partly lighter and more varied then the earlier volumes of the series. N-Type has his favourite artists, Coki and Benga pops up more often then other names, but the sheer variety of artists show just how big the scene as become in 2007. The part that starts with the track called ‘Burnin’ and ends with the brittle ‘Ruff Lovin’ is one of the highlights of this mix that come to mind.
2008 saw the release of the latest addition of the Dubstep Allstars series; vol.6. Mixed by Appleblim (who co-founded Skull Disco with Shackelton). Martin Clark – Mr. Blackdown himself – explains:“Sometime in 2007 a subsection of dubstep broke cover and headed off in a new direction. Starting in Bristol, it shot over the Channel and headed for the middle ground between itself and Berlin, to unite in a shared love of Jamaican bass, delay and space with a little Detroit groove. Dubstep Allstars vol.6, mixed by Appleblim, is perhaps the definite and most coherent document of this outbreak.”
Musically it is of a different breed then the early Dubstep Allstars . There is one track by Skream (the only artist to feature on every release so far), and Geiom makes another appearance after featuring briefly on vol.3. Otherwise this is a new world of sound. To a certain degree change is unavoidable. The direction of the change is not. There are parts of this mix where the fresh sound sounds quite appealing, but not always. The “Detroit groove” is not always called for. It takes the dub out of dubstep to a degree. Track such as ‘Bad Apple’ or ‘Decisions’ could not have featured on Kode9’s massive mix. But there are plenty of highs as well. ‘Babylon’ by Mungo’s Hi-Fi and ‘Get Up’ by Pinch featuring Yolanda are just some of the great tracks on this mix.
Tempa’s Dubstep Allstars have undergone a few changes since the initial release in 2000. The most notable has been the quick pace in which the genre has expanded in recent times, prompting the DJs who blend the music to go new ways. N-Type did a great job of mixing up the record with dubplates from established and lesser known artists, and Appleblim has shown us an alternative direction that dubstep can evolve in. Tempa has for many years been one of the record companies that have brought the sound of dub out to the masses, and with the Dubstep Allstars series it has brought the musical feel of the dark and sweaty clubs out to those who for some reason cannot be a part of this wonderful scene in person. Their contribution to this scenes growing popularity has been important.
As most institutions, Tempa’s Dubstep Allstars need to insure that the next release in the series doesn’t end up being a rehash of a previous one. If the last three mixes are anything to by they won’t be. Soundscaping is looking forward to listen to vol.7 when they hit the shelves.
The Dubstep Allstars series area available from Boomkat
