Aaron Frank has been hustlin, hustlin.
With American dubstep mutating into ever-undesirable forms, it’s satisfying to see the artists on Oakland’s West In Dust label adding their own flare to the recent revivals in house and UK bass. Most of these artists have been making silky, uptempo electronic jams since well before the dubstep craze landed on American soil and their efforts are significantly more complex and evolved than the typical 15-year old working off a freshly pirated copy of Fruit Loops. And though they may not have gotten the attention of fellow boutique labels like FoF Music, West In Dust recently released an impressive free compilation and their schedule of upcoming releases should see them on the same playing field soon.
West In Dust 2012 spotlights 14 new tracks that run the gamut from ambient-inspired, Tim Hecker-style tracks to more upbeat, club-centric material a la Salva and B. Bravo. The common thread linking everything together is each artist’s well-defined style, particularly that of the more seasoned talent like Placeholder, Yalls and Xavier Leon. Label founders Glenn Jackson, who moonlights as a writer for XLR8R, and Dave Reep, known under the moniker Elephant and Castle, both make impressive contributions as well, but Placeholder’s “Pot Pan” will likely be remembered as the most staggering of the lot.































