- The London-based Filter Dread is one of the more prolific of grime's new generation. In addition to an EP for Visionist's Lost Codes label, a single for Epoch's Egyptian Avenue and a mini-album for Threnody's UK Trends, since last year he's put out a string of releases through his own Bandcamp. At 40 minutes in length, Space Loops is his most substantial release to date—and his most original. It appears through No Corner, the cassette label responsible for Kahn & Neek's archival grime project, Gorgon Grime. Space Loops has a similarly archeological approach, expanding on the template laid out in Filter Dread's earliest releases, Edge Alt and Tribe 2.
This is UK soundsystem music dismembered, its remains fed through battered equipment and reanimated as zombified grime. The concept is appealing—a raw counterpoint to Lee Gamble's Diversions 1994-1996, perhaps—but Filter Dread isn't weighed down by it. Instead he freewheels through styles, taking in sluggish but euphoric hardcore approximations, halftime steppers reminiscent of early DMZ, "Mentasm"-riddled grime bangers and even a stumbling sort of techno.
There are shades of fellow new-schoolers Wen (in the use of leaden half-time beats and the dread atmospheres of vintage dubstep) and Etch (in the generous helping of hardcore signifiers). But Space Loops pushes further into abstraction, often veering away from the dance floor towards knotty sample collage. In keeping with the spirit of the cassette format, there are jarring crossfades and brief, surreal segues. Some tracks roll balefully along for a good few minutes, others last only a few seconds. The cumulative effect is enormously appealing.
Lista de títulosA Side A
B Side B