Dubstep Allstars: Volume 3 (Tempa, 2006)

*GUEST REVIEW*
Dubstep, like Grime, is generally a London-centric genre, but is bass rather than MC-driven . It's slower, less blunted and more reflective than Grime. Think analogue dubtronica married with Garage's dancefloor tendencies, and max up the bass. Volume 3 collects 28 tracks with customised toasts about them. Spaceape provides the dub poetry in his own distinctive manner. He provides a highly effective monologue that's more haunting Far I than East London MC. Kode 9 provides a mix that includes a Lee Perry sample, a Warrior Queen/Kevin Martin track and snippets of the Counter Eurovision introduction. Dubstep heavyweights are represented by the likes of Skream, Loefah, and Digital Mystikz. This is warped headphone music and shows how dub fans are mutating the genre. In short, this is a decent introduction to doomsday dub that doesn't weigh down the listener with a mountain of white labels.

- ragudave