Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Bass Clef

Zamyatin Tapes Vols 1 & 2

Label: Blank Tapes Release Date: 03/12/2007

29832
Mike_Diver by Mike Diver December 3rd, 2007

Yeah, I saw the plaudits, checked the outta-tens, and blagged a copy: I still don’t get the acclaim that’s coursed the way of Burial’s Untrue, apparently a truly unforgivable omission from our end-of-year best-of list. I’ve noted the ‘correct’ context over a dozen or so (sound-alike) reviews: hop aboard the night bus, let the rain turn London’s neon kebab shop signs and bright yellow incident notices into a blur of otherworldly colour, magical and, quite literally, untrue. But what if I’m not riding the night bus? What if I’m just at home, mindlessly wandering YouTube for Knightmare clips? What if context doesn’t fucking matter to me in my assessment of clinical dubstep?

Bass Clef is Londoner Ralf Cumbers, back in the capital following a number of years soaking up the creative freedom of Bristol’s anything-goes underground. His take on dubstep – dubstep not dubstep as he referred to his music in September’s Plan B – isn’t exceptionally subject to assimilation in synchrony with a surrounding that matters; it has an affect on the listener whatever the weather, so to speak, in a manner much like odd nodsam’s scatter-beat drones and – going back to IDM roots – FSOL’s glitch-cored alien FX. It’s simultaneously weird and freak-out wonderful; soothing like the few break-the-mould moments of Untrue and yet as breakneck hectic as the most jumbled Aphex jitters.

Conceptually, these two discs – three tracks on each – are based on the writings of Russian novelist Yevgeny Zamyatin (hence the titles), but without lyrics to reinforce this background element in proceedings, the listener is left to deduce their own meaning from meandering clicks and sweeping phase effects. The pick of the six, aesthetically, is volume 2’s ‘Eight Zero Eight’, which possesses a vortexual beat that waxes and wanes, closely followed by ‘Get On The A10 And Drive And Drive’ from volume 1, an offering that breaks rank three minutes in to transform from acerbic to blissful in the blink of an eye. Quite what the main drag north from London Bridge has to do with Russian literature, I don’t know. But it sounds awesome.

More a companion twin-release for debut album A Smile Is A Curve That Straightens Most Things than a marked progression, these Zamyatin Tapes make for engrossing listening, and are essential purchases for anyone truly moved by other shakers in this genre field. If I – as someone who cares little for Kode 9 and cohorts – can get it, even while wasting time surfing the ‘net on a wet winter day, I’ve no doubt seasoned veterans will rate it higher still.

Read more reviews of this week's singles here

  • 8
    Mike Diver's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

Manchester Orchestra

I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child

Mobback
29809
30266

Tom Brosseau

Amory

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND