Sonic Appreciation

The thing about dubstep albums is, are they really albums? Or just a collection of dusted-off dubplates and mp3s that are barely credible for a full length package? We all know that the top boy producers have potentially hundreds of tracks that could easily be lifted for an LP, which is why singles and EPs are often far more indicative of an artist’s sound, style and outlook at a particular time. When Starkey released ‘Ephemeral Exhibits’, I may have been naïve in thinking he produced the tracks specifically for the release (his earlier EP’s only included one track from the full length), but this really is a complete record in every sense.

Starting with the incredible array of styles ranging from pounding Eski Boy style grime on ‘Pictures’ to the harmonic depth of slow burners like ‘Miracles’ and ‘Time Traveller’, and the pulsating liquid dub of ‘Pressure’, the album length is perfect. Clocking in just shy of an hour, it finishes with the image-conjuring ‘Spacewalk’, a tune which in this case could not have been more aptly named. The distinctive cover artwork shows that pretty abstract colours always win over human faces, cartoon drawings or insects (Skream, Benga and The Bug please heed these words). It was released on Planet Mu, a label which has a rich history in nurturing and promoting cutting edge sounds just at the right moment when a scene is becoming a tad watered down. Even the LP name, suggesting that his style quickly evolves and fragments (evident in his recent Starkbass compilation) hints at an enlightened listening experience.    

To be honest it’s wrong of me to talk about dubstep so exclusively. To call ‘Ephemeral Exhibits’ a dubstep album is like saying Russell Brand has taken a vow of celibacy; it’s pure comedy. Starkey has said in interviews that his music could be loosely described as street bass. Good one, in other words it’s every type of bass-driven music you can hear on those mythical entities known as ‘the streets’? Actually he’s probably right, and one of the few producers to successfully eschew people’s automatic sense to reduce a song or artist down to a specific genre for their own NME-style convenience. I gave up trying to describe the first Starkey song I heard, ‘Striking Distance’, resorting instead to a barrage of gun fingers in celebration of that moment when the brazen synths clash with the punchy, snappy guttural wobble that’s so subtle and yet really face meltingly good.

I’d place ‘Ephemeral Exhibits’ in the same ivory towers as Pinch and 2652’s debut albums in that it cunningly manages to take certain symbolic elements and add nuances like short vocal loops, slower BPMs and nutty time signatures resulting in a fresh package of creativity and genre baiting. This is normally the point where one ends with a succinct sentence to round off the piece, but all I will say is: ‘Ephemeral Exhibits’ is absolutely fucking legendary. Tell your grandparents.