Gemmy’s ‘Supligen’

Dubstep as a style can be be traced from the streets of south London to a number of commercial artists such as Britney Spears and Rihanna. The roots of this music can be traced to DJs in the late 90s using reverberant samples and hard bass lines. This had grown out of earlier styles like 2-step and even breakbeat. An element of funk was added to the rhythm and you ended up with songs that have an often unmatched enthusiasm in the electronic genre. 

Gemmy is a permanent fixture of the dubstep scene in Bristol. His recent album, ‘Supligen’ is a polished and exciting offering. Now let’s be frank, the first and title track: ‘Supligen’ is the sort of song that hits you in the face within the first second of pressing play. It is OK to interpret these first sounds as a warning for your ears. Within 30 seconds you begin to get the idea that your sub-woofer might soon part ways with your shelving unit, and the experience doesn’t seem to reach an appreciable crescendo until near the end.

 

Make no mistake, ‘Supligen’ has a very smooth and clean feel for a genre where the ‘grimy’ sound often gets the most attention. The second track, appropriately titled ‘BT Tower’, brings us back to the roots of dubstep with what can only be described as a “filthy” sounding song. There is a good reason for this, however, as the BT Tower is a reference to the giant radio tower which disrupts the landscape just north of Bristol. This is abruptly apparent just before the one-minute mark where, what had been an ethereal and intrepid beat, becomes a massive and devastating mechanical bass line.

The hard hitting feel of dubstep is a force that simply can’t be ignored. With elements creeping into mainstream media like motion pictures, music, and media. It’s nice to take a step back and acknowledge some of the history. In 2011, a lesser known DJ Fresh made the #1 spot on the UK singles charts, the first time a song with dubstep elements made the top spot. Lucozade Sport Lite, the Uk’s leading low calorie drink shot a video for the song, going so far as to hire award winning director Ben Newman. Granted DJ Fresh’s track ‘Louder’ has been tamed for the pop market. The sampling is a lot sunnier and the vocals soften the punch, but those hard hitting melodies are still there hammering away the same as Gemmy’s ‘Supligen’.