- Menacing techstep from the mid-'90s influences UVB-76's sound. But rather than being a throwback factory, the label reflects drum & bass's progression over the last decade. Much of the Bristol operation's output doesn't even include breaks, leaving the mid-range ominously empty while emphasising space, bass and texture. And when breaks do feature, like in Ruffhouse's remix of "Kilo" by Aspect & Gremlinz or Overlook's Nights Into Dreams / Scarlett, they feel like breaths of fresh air rather than nostalgia. Outer Heaven's latest EP feels more indebted to the past, but there's a minimalism and linearity that puts it in the present. The No U-Turn label is a touchstone, but its '90s blueprints were sequenced more frenetically than these refreshingly measured tracks.
The keening string pads that open "Pathos," "Moonfunk" and "Outback" are textbook techstep. Much of the breaks are also standard issue, but the familiarity and restraint makes the peak moments of each track all the more effective. Take, say, the subs that enter at 2:20 in "Pathos." Suddenly it sounds like someone is moving sheets of paper around a microphone, a curious texture amplified by a pad that sounds equal parts sci-fi and eerie cloister. "Moonfunk" is also deceptively classicist, but subtle quirks—garbled voice, the entire mix being sucked into a lone bass wobble—reveal a measured take on what can be an overly severe style of music. Outer Heaven isn't holding back, but the unlikely coincidence of intensity and understatement makes this record a subtle killer.
TracklistA1 Pathos
A2 Azimuth
B1 Moonfunk
B2 Outback