★★★★★
Shedding light on best kept secrets from the vaults and unveiling a host of poisoned chalices and doomed prophecies, Pinch pulls together a personal collection of dubstep and all its interpretations around with a phantomly presence casting spells over a host of A-list labels. Amongst the starkness, the uneasy stillness of night interrupted by land-carving tremors of bass, and the paying of respects to original sound systems (a dubtronic remix mystery of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), Tectonic spearhead Rob Ellis is between fearsome scaremonger and nonchalant puppet master, taking pride in pushing panic buttons activated strictly out of sight so as to up the anxiety tenfold.
Slow but sure will always win the race ahead of blasting brains all over walls (regardless of a few clips emptying on “Attack of the Giant Killer Robot Spiders”), although Pinch still un-sheaths a precision sharpness and cruelty that majors in camouflaging fear factors when stealing your soul away. “Cave Dream” is an underfed pet straining at the leash, the rework of 30Hz’ “Mutate(d)” reeks of bad blood, and “E.Motive” is simply gorgeously intense, leaving the stricken howling at the moon. The classic remix of Emika’s “Double Edge,” with its troubling dial tone made to break you down, is the eternal Tectonic knife edge, and only the brash vocals to his mix of “Rise Up” suspends the hush. The best possible to way to catch up on a stellar career that can only continue ascending.
File under: Loefah, Slaughter Mob, Ruckspin