For all of the dubstep heads

Keysound Video presents… Dusk + Blackdown: Margins Music from Keysoundrecordings on Vimeo.

Margins Music the first album from dubstep/ grime duo Dusk + Blackdown is currently (and sadly) not available on eMusic, but I thought I’d share this, the video made to accompany the album, with you nonetheless.

On his blog Blackdown has talked about the sense of (US-specific) place present in so much hip hop and of loving Chicago house and Detroit techno, but only from a distance. Realising this kind of long-distance affair isn’t always productive he turned his sights homewards.

“Yet come the early 00s and an awakening occurred for me through late UK garage and early dubstep/grime, that made me realise I was surrounded by an amazing city and that if no one was feeding me grand narratives to match those of the US, then I should go out and actively find them myself in London.”

I think he and co-producer Dusk have been successful – Margins Music is a wonderful portrait of contemporary London. It moves easily between electro influences and desi borrowings with a strong dubstep backbone. The Observer called it “eye-poppingly open-minded” which is true, but I prefer to think of it in terms of my rain-damp, intricate city where you can walk for five minutes and change your surroundings utterly.