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The New Kid with Isaac McFarlane

Neck Beard’s and Post Dubstep.

How, do you do? It’s great to meet you finally. My name is Isaac, and I’m the New Kid, making my first graceful indents in this hallowed and disgustingly amazing electronic literary heaven that you like to call MENU but I now call home. When I haven’t been too busy frolicking gleefully in the snow that was actually warming up my igloo of a flat, I have been trawling through the best and the worst of what the Internet tells me is “the best new thing” coming out this moment. This month, I can’t avoid it; I must share my love of James Blake, SBTRKT and post-dubstep with you.

It’s undeniable, Dubstep has been leading the charge in an electronic music renaissance and attempted war on commercial music, slowly infiltrating popular culture and emerging from the incredible grime ridden clubs it was born in. Not only is it gaining itself exposure and growth as a genre but also it has now started to evolve at a higher rate, producing a wide variety of splintered styles, including post-dubstep. Although the term itself maybe arbitrary,  certain neck-bearded friends of mine certainly think so (bordering on hate), but it really just means music that is influenced by dubstep but should be considered distinct from other contemporary styles of dubstep. James Blake, Mount Kimbie and SBTRKT, all mutate the Dubstep ideals and formula’s into often beautiful and creative new forms. Think the absolute opposite of Datsik and Excisions face melting Bro-Step.

James Blake adds his classical jazz piano upbringing and amazing voice to the melting pot, creating one of last year’s crossover singles, “Limit To Your Love” and heart wrenching piano and voice line mixed with helicopter reminiscent oscillating and beautifully destructive sub bass. His debut album delivers on the premise and promise made by the lead single in spades from the Bon Iver influenced, guitar laden ‘Lindisfarne II’ to my personal favorite ‘I Never Learnt To Share’ featuring a haunting repeating vocal that Blake loops over and over adding more and more voices to the emotional choral. This is post-dubstep at its most raw and human. What makes it post-dubstep? The recurrence of the 140bpms tempo, the electronic 2-step percussion and the respectful use of smooth and heavy sub-bass.

SBTRKT is another beast entirely, embracing the orchestral and atmospheric synths of the likes of Gemini and mixing with chilled out instruments and some great vocal cameo’s. It sounds like the love child of dubstep and café lounge house music, something to relax and sway to, with memorable vocals, interesting percussion and a huge hit single ‘Wildfire’. Relaxing and catchy until the end.