Wednesday, September 7, 2011

HIGH MAINTENANCE - WITH YOU / NOWHERE [APORN015]



‘With You’ / ‘Nowhere’ is the debut single from Brighton based producer High Maintenance, the newest exclusive co-signing to Shimon’s AudioPorn Records and DisasZt’s Mainframe Recordings labels, which have already seen landmark releases by Dirtyphonics, Ram Trilogy, Camo & Krooked, Matrix, Tali and the massive ‘Choose Me EP’ by fellow new AudioPorn signing, Xilent.

Already an established part of the drum and bass scene due to his hugely successful Brighton DnB events, ‘Frequency Sessions’ (which have hosted nights with the likes of J Majik, Loadstar, DC Breaks, The Prototypes and Matrix & Futurebound), High Maintenance is that rare type of artist, a new producer whose tearing DJ sets can match his stellar production.

With his recent remix of Tali’s ‘Dark Days’ still smashing it in the clubs and on 1Xtra (with support from Crissy Criss), this debut single proper marks the arrival of another genuine talent from the AudioPorn stable.

‘With You’
For his debut dubstep track ‘With You’, High Maintenance has pulled out a big horrible bassline bomb that will scare and delight in equal measure. Opening with tripped out spooky chords, a hypnotic vocal loop then rolls out to the short drum roll and drop, where a truly disgusting bassline unleashes. The deep warping brass bassline on this track lurches as though unsteady after escaping dazed from a nightmare, each punishing bass drum and snare relentlessly pushing the track forward against its will. As though recovering its mind slightly after the first 8, the bassline then starts to scatter, raining descending clipped sub bombs between the beats. This is as paranoid, disorientating and mild altering as dubstep can get. Not for the faint hearted, this is dubstep for the lovers of the dark and twisted. Deranged swamp step business.

‘Nowhere’
Showing his precocious talent at all tempo’s, ‘Nowhere’ is anything but a B-side and is an out and out DnB club banger. This is set starting genius of the highest order. It’s impossible when listening to this tune to not think of the opening of a peak time set at Fabric. Junglists, set your faces to screw. Again loading on the fear and nervous energy on the intro with ghostly vocals layered over atmospheric FX, the intro then starts to build until the drop where everything instantly dissipates except for a rising and falling buzz saw bassline and the two step boom-click of heavily processed bass drum and rim click snare. This is a club destroyer without falling back on the cheap tricks of jump up. Tripped out and terrifying, this is delusion inducing hallucinogenic dancefloor gold.

High Maintenance
A. ‘With You’ – Dubstep
B. ‘Nowhere’ – Drum and Bass
Label: AudioPorn
Format: 12’’ vinyl and download
Cat no: APORN015
Released: 10th October 2011
Beatport/Audioporn Exclusive: 26th September 2011

Book High Maintenance
http://www.cybergrooveam.com/hm.html

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