- Much like recent "mainstream" dubstep, over time techstep-and particularly its subgenre neurofunk-has been transformed from a carnal, physically powerful medium into a pathetically carnivalesque sideshow (they don't call it clownstep for nothing). Not everyone enjoys obnoxious midrange racket, and it's no wonder that the ever-thriving techstep scene largely hasn't been included in the ongoing critical re-evaluation of drum & bass thus far.
That's no thanks to frequent German collaborators Phace and Misanthrop, who, through their forward-thinking Neosignal label, have been releasing the best in ferocious neurofunk, tracks made with care and expertise and a few hundred pounds of brute force. The label's seventh single release is a Misanthrop solo job, in which he exploits his midrange preoccupation to his advantage, immersing his beats in a swirling vortex of analogue; the glimmering, silvery backdrop of "Latitude" continuously feeds energy to indefatigable drums that rocket forward, occasionally distorting and crackling like crumbling asteroids hitting the stratosphere.
On the other hand, "Sidereal" features staggered, thrashing drums and those familiar ugly basslines, but here they're thrilling, indiscriminately slicing erratic paths right through the track like buzzsaws. There's something eminently satisfying about these tracks, an indefinable quality that extends to most of the Neosignal output. Maybe that quality is just quality, but whatever it is, Misanthrop has got it in spades.
Tracklist A Sidereal
B Latitude