- Finnish producer Lassi Kaarle Viljami Vainionpää was a latecomer to dubstep, with early releases for labels like Black Box and Innamind landing around 2011. Like most artists attracted to the genre, his music began to mutate as it took in ideas from other scenes over the years. Vainionpää's latest release lands him on Innamind's new sub-label, Blacklist, and it's one of his best records yet. He shapes his dubwise swagger into broader 4/4 figures, where the dread of dubstep gets channeled into something sleeker and more streamlined.
On "Jungle Kitchen," dub techno chords drape over a lagging rhythm that feels vaguely sinister. It's how Vainionpää packs so much percussion into an otherwise stark framework that keeps things as lively as they are: "Jungle Kitchen" may be slow, but it packs a punch. "Pocosink" is a bit faster, though it has the same severe, poised sense of movement. It's the kind of wobbly techno that could find itself on a Livity Sound record, which is high praise. Commodo—one of latter-day dubstep's brightest prospects—steps in for a remix of the title track, increasing the tempo to 136 BPM and landing halfway between trap and dubstep. His contribution is the odd one out on the EP, but it's just as well-constructed as the originals. The unlikely dialogue between dubstep and techno continues to produce many great records, and Jungle Kitchen makes LAS sound on the verge of greatness himself.
TracklistA1 Jungle Kitchen
B1 Pocosink
B2 Pocosink (Commodo Remix)