dark (but not particularly depressive) atmospheric not-quite-drum-n-bass. lots of clicky rhythms, some propulsive, some not. lots of stretches of percussionless ambience. some vocal samples. weaves other rhythmic influences into it’s DnB scaffolding. has the gritty night time vibe of early dubstep.

RIYL: amon tobin, burial

1. slow-rolling bassline, shuffling snares and hats, looped female oohs and aahs. occasional chiptune synth flourishes, occasional strings low in the mix, occasional static and noise washes and random percussive interjections. chill but propulsive, DnBish, but not crazy. goes beatless and very slowly fades out over the last minute thirty. 5:25
2. hazy pads and crunching/clinking found sound reminiscent of burial. a bit of voice low in the mix around 1:30. stays beatless, could be an ambient interlude or a lead-in to track 3. 3:41
3. flows right from the prior one. synth pads get switched out for something more foreboding, and very intermittent punchy kicks start to come in, with samples of what sounds like a girl giving a school presentation on cigarettes. occasional camera clicks, and steady snare rattle. nasty DnB percussion comes in around the 45 sec mark, and it stays a DnB workout for the rest of its short run time. 2:32
4. starts almost percussionless, with an implied rhythm that’s sort of housey, but just after :30 the drums come in and it’s this weird bouncing break (all distorted and blown out). drums slowly become less heavy. unintelligible vocal samples, a synth line that sounds like it might’ve been knicked from a pre-”fat of the land” prodigy track. a bit of a horror movie vibe. 1:55
5. slow cymbal tick over warm pads. intermittent kicks and rising shaker and clinking chains enter around :30. what feels like an impending DnB onslaught comes on much more slowly and gently than you’d expect, and ends up having more of a slinky 2-step garage feel. a bit of “permutation”-era amon tobin bass in the background at a few points. 5:45
6. ratking’s vocals are chopped, echoed, and buried into the beat. dark 303-ish bassline, skipping 2-step drums, occasional wordless female vocal samples. stays slinky when the beat’s there, though the drums frequently drop out to let the atmosphere do the talking. 3:56
7. opens with clean rising undulating synth phrase on the high end, and a dirtier descending synth phrase on the midrange, and some trip-hop-esque drums. beat kicks in around :30, and it’s propulsive and jungly, with occasional stuttery breakdowns reminiscent of aphex. does very well blending the percussive tricks it borrows from various subgenres. 3:10
8. atmospheric pads slowly give way to clicky percussion and glitchy piano notes. glitchy stuttery aphex-esque beat comes in around 1:00, but keeps losing its footing and having to right itself (in a good way). starts winding down like a gradually slowing turntable in the last 45 sec. all stuttery echoed drum machine cymbals for the last 15 sec. 3:47
9. opens with the outline of a DnB beat and a couple thin but gradually growing synth washes. background rain sounds come to the fore and take over for just a bit. drums keep threatening to take over, but don’t, until they do around 1:10, and then it’s a cascade of slippery glitchy DnB fills to the end. has a good swagger in the middle, gets a little manic in the very end, abrupt stop. 2:57


recommended: 5, 2/3, 6