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Starkey

Starkey
Ephemeral Exhibits
(Planet Mu)
www.myspace.com/starkey

The Americans are at it again. Not content with making everything bigger and better than ever before, they’ve only gone and got great at making dubstep. Philly native Starkey is a man who wants to mix things up a bit and with his new album, Ephemeral Exhibits, he’s done just that. Whilst some dubstep can get a little monotonous over the course of an hour, especially if it sticks to the same style for the whole time, Starkey has made sure that there isn’t a moment to get comfortable.

Taking influences from grime, bassline, garage and dubstep, Starkey has created what is becoming known as street bass, where anything goes. The beats bang, the bass wobbles and the synths create atmospherics seldom heard in such contexts. But what sets this album apart from the rest of the scene is the use of vocals to enhance to tracks.

The track you can hear by clicking above, Pressure, is a perfect example of that, giving a multi-dimensional feel to the song with a build up so well defined it’s impossible to imagine how the track could have been any better.

Americans have begun putting their stamp on the South London sound, but if its as good as this, no-one is going to care less. A very late entry in to the album of the year charts, but richly deserved.

Abjekt.