With a fevered-pitch buzz surrounding his upcoming sophomore album and the debut of his Magnetic Man super group (seen above starring in a Men in Black reboot), Dubstep icon Skream found the time to bless his twitter followers with a couple of free releases modeled after his now legendary “Skreamizm” EPs for Tempa. I guess that with so many official releases on his plate this was the best way to clear out his backlog of tunes while fostering good will – I’m certainly not complaining. In any case, both “Freeizms” have all the shine and quality of an official release, a welcome quality after last week’s scatter shot Wiley dump which I’m still digging through.
Volume 1 goes for variety and includes his fantastic Dead Weather sampling “remix” of “Cut like a Buffalo” which has been floating around since last year but probably never saw official release due to Jack White’s Amish nature and Luddite tendencies. Pitfall trends a little too noisy for my taste with it’s four on the floor snares but the dark garage of “Show me Love” and the minimal err…”Minimoool” are direct hits and prove that Skream’s secret weapon may well be his adaptability.
Volume 2 opener “Dark Light” is creepy, edgy, dark and an excellent reminder of the space and urbanity that made Dubstep so attractive to so many early on. “Aorola” and “Disturbin Toyz” are a little bouncier and heavier respectively but remain committed to the eyes down vibe with the latter’s 8bit synths standing out as a highlight. Sine Us is aaight if unsurprising but you’ll probably want to skip directly for Loefah’s Indian Dub (Skreamix): a little tune that folks in the know have been waiting on for years. That Skream can casually toss this one out on a vault clearing freebie release isn’t surprising; his upcoming releases will probably veer towards the pop side…but as long as he’s also putting stuff like this out (for free no less) he can remix Kiley Minogue for all I care. Sample MP3s are downgraded for space but the ZIP files are all DJ friendy 320s.
Download:
MP3: The Dead Weather – Cut like a Buffalo (Skreamix)
MP3: Loefah – Indian Dub (Skreamix)
ZIP: Skream – Skreamizm Vol 1
ZIP: Skream – Skreamizm Vol 2