After a surprising return with dubby, house goodness for TEMPA101, Bristol staple Appleblim and the relatively obscure October battle head to head in a dub tech sound clash to see who takes home the crown for the most delightfully dubby romp. Whereas the slower tempo’d Tempa releases have gone more along the route of tribalist dark workouts from Coulton or Wen, Appleblim’s impressions for Tempa have gravitated towards brighter, house climates with shimmering dub stabs and the swung lilt of pitter-patter percussion and with TEMPA105 we are treated with two versions in classic dub techno fashion.
Recently appearing on Bristolian lynchpins Idle Hands and affiliated label Brstl, October looks to the capital for his first appearance on Tempa. Along with fellow peer Appleblim, the duo debut “The Other Side of Sky”; a Chicago by way of Bristol swung beauty that is just pure positivity. A 303 squelches out a funky little pseudo baseline to compliment the subs while dubby chords shimmer into electric butterfly kisses from some moog synth. Stargazing synths open panoramic, and the chords return in quicksilver fashion. Buried congas hit here and there to give the track a bit more rhythmic kink without things getting too bumpy. Super enjoyable driving music / drive by DJ tool to ease the dance back into the groove, but sadly the track never really lifts off the ground with its formal rigidity.
However, Appleblim’s version trades in the Chi-town rhythmics for a more UK-centric approach. The stabs are blessed with more hall reverb and echo for that swirling, drunken headspace as he unshackles the snare from the two and four to hit at more angular angles for a broken UK feel that is more kinky than the original. A constant building drone reaches an apex as Appleblim strips it raw only exposing the sub offset hits, solar flare melodies and soft finger snaps for the dance to figure out. ‘Blim slight of hands the stabs back into focus but they’ve become more mangled and contorted to proper fuck with your head if your on one until the track sorta just fades away.
TEMPA105 is out March 11th and available from Redeye Records, Boomkat, Intense, Bleep and Juno Download.
