- Comparing a dubstep release to the intricately tailored and impeccably planned dance routines of Torvil and Dean—one of skating's most indelible and unsurpassable pairings—may seem a little strange to include in your press release. But for 23Hz & Numaestro, it makes sense: It's almost impossible not to recognise similarities in the way that each track on the sixth release from the Reading-based 2nd Drop Records spins and evolves. When the thick low end bass lines bound and pirouette around the mix, you can't help but be mystified and locked in an awe-powered trance the likes of which millions of Olympic viewers must have experienced that magical day in Sarajevo back in '84 when the two ice skating supremos were awarded 12 perfect 6.0's.
"Zumo" drives its punching snares into carefully cut shards of female vocals and a heady mixture of square wave stabs and deep sub bass. Adding subtle touches as it goes along, it unfurls with phasers and flangers colouring the pockets of hi-hats, thus altering the groove enough to keep the momentum feeling loose and away from the malignant rigidity of a 2-step beat.
"Fantasmas" is the one though, and it's a mover—pure and simple. There are echoic vocal slices that make the higher frequencies bubble and pop into life with a flavour not a million miles from the work of Pangaea and his Hessle Audio label mates. The rough and ready crunch of the rhythm spurs the mix at you, but the descending bass line that wraps and taps on your chest in unison is undoubtedly the vibe that delivers the knockout punch. Without the swirl of sine waves it could easily be just another stepper that sets up another in the mix, but with it, it's a focus puller; and an emphatically replay-able one at that.
Tracklist A Zumo
B Fantasmas