When Arts Editor Tom Powell had a chat with Grime blogger The Levels Are Very High last week, Levels was keen to press upon us some of his favourite dubs, and one or two of his own rips from recent times. So began our inaugural ‘On Record’ feature. We don’t know why we didn’t start sooner.
In Levels’ own words:
‘Here’s something to cling on to, what with the ever expanding slew of new tracks and artists on Soundcloud…’
Sudanim – ‘Seydou’
Some seriously nostalgic Age of Empires styled synths with a very hard close off, no idle villagers.
Kieran Loftus – ‘All Black Outfit’
Drums and vocals as simple and classic as the aforementioned get-up.
Mr. Mitch – ‘Dru (Peace Edit)’
A beautiful vocal tapestry that subverts war dub aggro with its broody bass and high-end heart stabs.
Major Grave – ‘Looking Forward’
Channels those strings, gunshots and 9 Samurai synths to somehow make the claim that swagger and ethereality aren’t mutually exclusive.
Soda Plains – ‘Rushes’
Like the one above, a little bit more video gamey. Goes a little more ham, too.
Shriekin’ – ‘Snowy Island Breaks’
If this is anything, it’s probably unrelenting HD 8-Bit Donkey Kong Grime.
JT the Goon – ‘Still Steppin’,
The last tune on before you go out, the first one on when you get back in.
Levels also gave us a few of his favourite music websites, saying:
‘I see those websites, and myself I guess, as a mediator in what can be a pretty daunting task.’
Son Raw (for Passion of the Weiss)
[track commentaries by Tom Powell]