Despite the clear ties between the dubstep and drum n bass scenes, there haven't been all that many drum n bass producers who have been willing to slow down the tempo a bit and try their hand at some dubstep. Veteran D n' B producer Breakage is the exception.
After a string of triumphant jungle EPs for labels like Reinforced, Bassbin and Scientific Wax, he began to meld his longtime interest in heavy, percussion-led drum n bass with the slow, intense darkness of dubstep on EPs like Clarendon and Callahan.
After a string of triumphant jungle EPs for labels like Reinforced, Bassbin and Scientific Wax, he began to meld his longtime interest in heavy, percussion-led drum n bass with the slow, intense darkness of dubstep on EPs like Clarendon and Callahan.
Rather than simply sounding like a jungle producer trying to ape the sound of dubstep artists though, Breakage's tunes entered a new realm altogether, maintaining the amen breaks of his earlier tunes but sinking them into the slow-motion menace of the UK's new bass sound.
Truly an innovative producer, Breakage is one of the few who seems to make records that fall outside of any attempt at genre pigeon-holing, but which nonetheless sound purist and minimalist in their approach. In 2009, his recent collaboration with respected UK MC Roots Manuva, Run Em Out, looks to take his sound to an even bigger audience.
