- As DJG, Dean J. Grenier established himself as one of San Francisco's most exciting bassheads, pushing big melodies and sumptuous textures into the stratosphere on the back of high BPM counts and ingenious sound design. But Grenier is now, well, Grenier, and under his own name, he's in the process of switching gears. Two unreleased DJG cuts ended up on Photek's recent DJ-Kicks mix, and now those tracks get a release of their own under the Grenier tag on Rupert Parkes' own label.
Mixed and tweaked with pro chops and considerable confidence, these tracks bear the same platinum production we've long looked to DJG for. Settling into an OG dubstep roll after a massive introductory swell, "Here Come the Dark Lights" merges low-end intensity with Kuedo-style expansiveness. Grenier impresses (and differentiates himself) most, however, when he deflates his BPMs even further from drum & bass. "Say Something" finds the producer in the same strobe-lit brainspace Scuba's been mining for a minute, replete with sweeping vocal hook, hands-in-the-air chords and steam-releasing drops. Grenier revels in the nooks and crannies this tempo allows him, building a peaktime landing pad on intriguingly warped rhythmic ground.
Tracklist A Here Come the Dark Lights
B Say Something