The dubstep genre is always evolving. On one end of the spectrum is the emotional, mellow sounds identified by Flufftronix and Dirty South Joe on their Luvstep mixes. On the other end is the preponderance of heavy, aggressive sounds known dismissively as “brostep.”
Brostep is a derisive nod to the bro-heavy audience that yearns for non-stop, facemelting, power-tool beats. Rusko, whose popularity and dalliance with harder sounds contributed to its development, has even apologized for brostep. To put it crudely, the pissing contest of producers and DJs crafting the most brutal beats possible cannot hold.
But what of the wobble? Who can carry the torch of hard-edged dubstep without falling into the silliness of brostep? Enter Flinch.
Adam “Flinch” Glassco is an electronic music veteran, crafting bass heavy music for over a decade. Like many of his peers, he started in the drum-and-bass world before slowing things down with dubstep.
The Trouble and Bass associate (who headlines U Hall’s monthly T&B party tomorrow night) is a master of dubstep that is as melodic as it is aggressive. The label’s eleventh edition of its Heavy Bass Champions of the World series featured one of the hottest bass bangers in recent memory, “Hiero.” I once described the track as “throwback jungle breaks [and] a bass blast that hits like an 18-wheeler;” I stand by that.
Flinch and frequent collaborator 12th Planet have found remarkable success on remixes like Jinder’s “Youth Blood” and Dave Nada’s “Apocalypse Theme,” tracks that sit at opposite ends of the dubstep spectrum. The latter is especially notable for finding a way to make the Apocalypse even more foreboding than Nada did on the original.
There is a fight for the soul of dubstep. Luckily, there is a way for bass to survive without being reduced to the demands of the lowest common denominator. For fans of the occasional fist-pumping wobble, Flinch ably answers the call of “Hiero” to “take me higher and higher.”
Bonus: stream Flinch’s Smashcast mix for Trouble and Bass.
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